- 15 minutes ago
There’s plenty of blame to go around in regards to Washington’s 24-22 loss to the Eagles this past weekend. In this segment, The Sports Junkies dive through some player grades and debate which grades they agree/disagree with. Which players do you think held the Commanders back against Philly?
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00:00We always like to go through the PFF grades, and you take them for what they are.
00:04They don't know the assignments per se.
00:06They don't know exactly what each player's responsibilities are.
00:10But, you know, they make educated guesses and go through them.
00:12To the point where we know guys like Ron Rivera really relied on them, right?
00:17Their stats are they have some value to NFL teams.
00:21In fact, driving on, we're talking about it yesterday.
00:22I think a lot of their focus more now is on kind of servicing NFL teams than it is almost
00:28the fans, right?
00:29It's a little more difficult to get some of the numbers.
00:31But I do have a bunch of them.
00:33Thank God for AI and the ability to dig through these numbers through various sources.
00:39Antonio Williams got a really, really high grade.
00:42And we shouldn't be surprised by that, Cakes.
00:45He had a really great debut on some limited work.
00:50He got a 91 grade overall, which is considered elite by PFF standards.
00:58Good for fourth amongst 58 qualified wide receivers.
01:02Now, he was only in on 26 offensive snaps, only 12 pass snaps.
01:09But he went four for four, 64 yards, a touchdown.
01:14Every catch resulted in either a first down or a score.
01:22158.3, which I think is the perfect passer rating when he was targeted.
01:27He almost scored twice.
01:28He was tackled at the one, and then Bill gets the touchdown.
01:32Right.
01:32Bill rolled over the guy's leg.
01:34Yep.
01:34Yeah, that was great.
01:35So, anyway, that was great.
01:37I think it's just a taste of what he can do.
01:41And certainly, Cakes, I think, going to earn him some more playing time.
01:45Were you surprised, and I don't think you could be, that both Trelon and Luke were inactive for the game?
01:53I was surprised by it when I first heard it.
01:56Which one surprised you?
01:58Either or just the fact that both?
02:01Probably McCaffrey for me.
02:02I was more surprised by McCaffrey.
02:03Because he was the kickoff guy.
02:05The kickoff return duties for me.
02:06Yeah.
02:07Right.
02:07But they clearly thought that Lane and White could handle that.
02:10That other guys could do it.
02:11Yeah, for sure.
02:12But, yeah, I mean, Williams was their best receiver statistically.
02:15Yeah.
02:15Now, we know these guys, they all get hurt.
02:18It's a long season.
02:20There will be games, I'm certain, where Luke McCaffrey is active.
02:24Same thing with Trelon Burks.
02:25But I do think that Antonio Williams is going to be targeted a little bit more.
02:30I wish I had it right in front of me.
02:31But I don't think there's going to be any sort of rush to get those guys in the lineup, like,
02:35anytime soon.
02:36Oh, I don't think they're going to change anything.
02:37No, I don't think it's going to take an injury.
02:39They want McLaurin to be more involved, clearly, going forward.
02:43I think you're going to see an emphasis on that.
02:45You've got to get him involved early on Sunday.
02:47And Diggs had nine targets.
02:48So, it's going to be tough for those guys to crack their way into the lineup.
02:52Unless, at one point, maybe they swap De'Ami Brown out at one point and sub in Luke.
02:57Yeah, because De'Ami didn't do anything.
02:59Yeah, I mean, De'Ami, he was targeted twice.
03:01Didn't, you know, didn't haul in any balls.
03:03One was a long pass down the right sideline.
03:05He just had no shot.
03:07Yeah.
03:08It was good coverage.
03:09So, yeah, you're right.
03:09They might switch that out.
03:11I think.
03:11But McLaurin's going to get double the targets minimum.
03:14He's going to get eight targets.
03:15I would think.
03:16I would hope that's the case.
03:18I'm trying to find who had it.
03:20I wish I had it right in front of me.
03:22I saved it, but I forgot to get it during the break.
03:25Somebody pointed out that they made a point of targeting Cooper De'Gene, actually.
03:30They went out of their way, and it was really Diggs against De'Gene.
03:34They did that on Diggs' touchdown.
03:36Maybe even Antonio Williams.
03:37They went after De'Gene like eight or nine times, and were very successful.
03:43If you feel like it's a weakness, you should keep attacking.
03:45So, that could also explain a little of Terry's usage or lack thereof.
03:50They were going after Cooper De'Gene.
03:52Guessing he was covered by Quinion Mitchell then?
03:55Maybe.
03:55De'Gene was on Diggs.
03:56That makes sense.
03:57So, if someone could pull up that tweet.
03:59Somebody highlighted that, and I bookmarked it somewhere, but I forgot to get it during
04:03the break.
04:04Other higher-graded guys offensively, believe it or not, Jaden Daniels got a 74.9 grade.
04:11You know, very solid, I thought, overall.
04:14Slow start, but the fourth quarter, I think, really picked up for him.
04:18And also, the rushing obviously helps his grade.
04:20Sam Cosme.
04:21People were really highlighting some of the work Sam Cosme did.
04:24And I think it was on Jalen Carter, where they were like, you just don't see guys one-on-one
04:29handle him the way Cosme did.
04:32He got a 72.6.
04:34Josh Connolly, good rating.
04:36Katron coming in late, holding on to football, getting some positive yards.
04:40He was good.
04:41Your lowest-rated guys, Rashad White, Terry with a 49, De'Ami with a 48.2, Bill with the
04:49fumble that hurt him, 45.9, and Allegretti, 44.8.
04:53I think I found what you were looking for.
04:55This is from Jeff Kerr, who covers the Eagles.
04:59Jaden Daniels targeting Cooper DeGene.
05:017 of 9, 83 yards, a touchdown, a 142.1 rating.
05:07He allowed five first downs and 30 yards after the catch.
05:10Arguably the worst game of DeGene's career.
05:13So they saw something on film.
05:15Somebody, I think, else was characterizing it as they just, like Diggs and maybe even
05:21Antonio, their short area quickness just really matched up well against DeGene.
05:27And so that was one of Blau's point of emphasis.
05:29I mean, he completely froze DeGene on the touchdown pass.
05:33When it's isolated, I mean, he's literally a statue, and Diggs has three steps on him.
05:39And it couldn't be an easier layup for Jaden to throw the touchdown.
05:42I was just about to tweet that I had a man crush on Diggs, and then he, like, dropped
05:48a second ball, and it kind of pissed me off.
05:50Yeah.
05:51I think, I already know the fan base is all in because he's local and they wanted him.
05:55I think they're going to completely be head over in heels with Stephon Diggs this year.
06:00I think he is going to be.
06:02I mean, if he keeps playing like that week in, week out.
06:04They're going to be head over heels.
06:05I mean, they already love him because he's local.
06:07I mean, he went to, you know, he spurned a ton of other more high-profile colleges to
06:14go to Maryland.
06:15Yeah.
06:15Like, that was not a conventional move by him back in the day to pick Maryland over teams
06:21like Florida, Auburn, Alabama.
06:24He chose to stay home, and I think that clearly resonates with people here.
06:29I distinctly remember, too, him being passed over in the draft and going, what is it, the
06:33fourth or fifth round?
06:34I believe it.
06:34Whatever the hell that was.
06:35I remember talking about it in here, how crazy that was to us that Diggs went that low.
06:41Yeah, I mean, on that touchdown, you're right.
06:43I mean, Dejean just thought he was going outside, and he goes inside.
06:48I mean, just such crisp route running.
06:50He gives him a jab step, and it goes inside, and it wasn't even close.
06:53It was over.
06:54Yeah.
06:54I mean, there's no way Dejean recovers from that.
06:57Now, defensively, some of the highest-rated guys, Javon Kinlaw, he flashed.
07:03He had a 78.9.
07:04And Mika Robertson graded out pretty well.
07:07I'm kind of surprised by this.
07:09Leo Chennault got a 75.2.
07:11Tim Settle.
07:12Tim Settle jumped out at me.
07:13He had a 71.2.
07:15Lowest-rated guys?
07:16Well, you can guess.
07:17Mikey Sanistrel, team low, 29.9.
07:20Wow.
07:21I think DQ even said something to the effect of one of those plays where he gave up a touchdown
07:25in the end zone.
07:26I can't remember which particular one was.
07:28That was Wicks.
07:30Completely unacceptable.
07:31Yeah.
07:31Like, basically saying he was kind of, like, not locked in.
07:36Correct.
07:36Not focused.
07:37That kind of lack of focus.
07:39Unacceptable.
07:39I watched it, like, five times.
07:41Hurts motions Wicks over to the left side of the formation.
07:44And Mikey is trailing him.
07:47And Wicks just gives him a move in the end zone.
07:50And, I mean, Saner still, he's trying, but it doesn't look like he's completely, like,
07:56focused in on covering Wicks.
07:59It's like, you got to cover the guys right in front of you.
08:01Like, what are you doing?
08:03Yeah.
08:03You got to give more of an effort than what we saw in that clip.
08:07Right.
08:07It was a little bit disturbing.
08:09I mean, he was just so far away from him.
08:11And also, he was kind of just jogging.
08:13There just wasn't a suddenness to him.
08:15You know what I mean?
08:16That's what I mean.
08:16He was, like, before the play is called, or before the ball is snapped, he's just kind
08:21of jogging following Wicks, who's going in motion.
08:24Yeah.
08:24And then once Wicks starts his, you know, starts his route, it's like, Saner still didn't
08:32even know what to do.
08:33He looked like he was moving in slow motion.
08:34He really was.
08:35Yeah.
08:36I was very surprised by that.
08:37That's got to be corrected.
08:38I don't know if that means he's just going to be taking a seat against Dallas and you sub somebody
08:42else in.
08:43I mean, unless Saner still can't play a hundred percent of the snaps playing like that.
08:46Yeah, you just can't.
08:47Yeah.
08:48Chase on at a 32 low grade Quan Martin, kind of a low grade.
08:52This one shocks me because it's very middle of the pack lowish.
08:55I thought he popped for me.
08:57He was one of the number one guys that popped for me was Nick Cross.
08:59He had a 46.8.
09:00So you'd have to explain to me.
09:02I'm sure there are reasons for it.
09:03But from what I saw, we needed him.
09:05He was big.
09:06He made some big plays.
09:08What was his grade?
09:0946.8.
09:09What was Sonny's?
09:12Sonny's.
09:12I wanted to get to that.
09:13I have Sonny here.
09:15Sonny's grade was a 50.
09:17Sonny's style was a 49.9.
09:19It should be a 52.
09:20That's his number.
09:21Well, he got a 52 in coverage, Cakes.
09:24All right.
09:24There you go.
09:25Very on brand.
09:2650.2, second amongst all qualified linebackers in pass rush, right, where he just destroyed
09:32Saquon.
09:33But what really brought him down was run defense.
09:37He got a 32.
09:38So overall, you know, I'd say up and down debut for Sonny.
09:43He definitely made a couple big plays.
09:45Played 48 snaps.
09:46That was 87% of the snaps.
09:48He had one sack.
09:49He had three pressures.
09:50He had four tackles, three solo, two tackles for lost, a couple missed tackles.
09:54So, you know, up and down day, I'd say on the whole, but he definitely flashed, which
09:59is at this point, that's all I was looking for.
10:02So I'm surprised at the number.
10:03I thought the number would be higher than that.
10:04Yeah.
10:06I do want to go through just because I made a point of doing it.
10:12Just Jaden's first half.
10:13I went through every pass, Cakes.
10:15I did this yesterday.
10:16And I'll tell you the ones where, you know, I had a question or, you know, I was like frustrated
10:22with in the others.
10:24Um, where I was okay with.
10:25First one, remember, was a little low to Terry, but Terry, Terry didn't haul it in.
10:29Should have caught it, in my opinion.
10:30First pass, dropped by Terry.
10:32Second pass, hit Diggs for first down.
10:34Third pass was the busted flea flicker, if you remember.
10:36And they just threw that away.
10:38Fine with that.
10:39That play just was a disaster.
10:40Fourth pass, dropped by Diggs.
10:42Fifth pass was that deep out to Deami where he was under duress and Deami just frankly
10:48didn't get separation.
10:49I was okay with that.
10:50You're not going to hit on those all the time.
10:51I thought it was a fine play, just, you know, Deami wasn't there.
10:55Sixth pass was a simple play action to Bates.
10:58Seventh pass, Terry fell down.
11:00You know, maybe he'd like that throwback.
11:02Eighth pass, he avoided the rush.
11:04Missed Diggs on.
11:04That's the one that I had the biggest problem with in the first half was, if you remember,
11:10he rolled out.
11:11He avoided the rush.
11:11He did a great job of keeping his eyes downfield.
11:14And he was rolling right.
11:16And he just missed Diggs on the run.
11:18Just, you know, he was on the run.
11:20It's a harder throw.
11:21And he just missed him.
11:22That was the one pass in the first half that I didn't like.
11:24Because that would have been a big yardage gainer, right?
11:26That would have been 20 plus.
11:28Oh, yeah.
11:28It would have been huge.
11:29He had also one where I just got to give Zach Bond.
11:32Zach Bond's just a beast.
11:33He had one where he's just a little short to Diggs where Bond broke it up.
11:39He had a screen pass to Bill, whatever.
11:44He had one, remember, where he bought time, rolled out right, and he threw to Chig on the
11:49sideline.
11:50And the Eagles defender caught it out of bounds.
11:53So that one, like, whatever.
11:54He was throwing that away.
11:55Twelfth pass, pressured, throws it away.
11:57Thirteenth pass, throws it away in the red zone.
11:59And the 14th pass was the completion to Antonio Williams.
12:02So, I mean, it certainly wasn't a highlight reel.
12:06But I really only had a problem with...
12:08So that was all first half?
12:09That was all the first half throws.
12:10I really only had a problem with the one where I really think, oh, you can definitely do
12:13much, much better.
12:14And that was the one where he was rolling out.
12:17I wish he had that one back.
12:18Let me see.
12:19What else do I have here?
12:20Cakes.
12:22I have all of the...
12:23I have all of the snap counts.
12:25Let's see.
12:26Whose snap counts do you think Cakes will change?
12:29I definitely think Mikey Sanistro playing 98% of the snaps.
12:33That could change.
12:35That's got to go down.
12:37Adafi Elway.
12:38You got to be pleased with that.
12:40He was in on 84% of the snaps, considering he was injured from a lot of preseason.
12:45That was a good sign.
12:46Payne.
12:47I don't know.
12:48We need more from Deron Payne.
12:49I don't have his PFF grade right in front of me, but he was in on 62% of the
12:53plays.
12:54It just did not flash.
12:56Hopefully, we could get an update on Luvu.
12:59He can increase his production, get out on the field a little bit more.
13:05And then just offensively, Diggs was in on 63% of the plays.
13:10Chig just 56% because he also was injured.
13:14I was a little surprised Diami got as much run as he did.
13:17He was in on 53% of the plays.
13:20The one guy, though, who I think will see more PT, and he has to, is Antonio Williams.
13:25He was only in on 37% of the snaps.
13:28That number needs to go up.
13:29That's going to go up.
13:30I bet you Antonio Williams is one of those guys who's getting picked up on fantasy teams.
13:34I would imagine.
13:35Oh, yeah.
13:35I would imagine he's getting scooped up.
13:37Oh, yeah.
13:38Go scoop him up if you can.
13:39All right, coming up later on the show is Sean Syed from Sumer Sports.
13:44He'll break down the film and tell us what he's seen from week one in the NFL.
13:48He's coming up at 8 o'clock.
13:50And Matthew Berry, now part of the Odyssey family, he will join us coming up at 925 right
13:55here on The Junk's.
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