- 15 minutes ago
Kevin Sheehan reacts to the news of that defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw underwent season-ending MCL surgery, leaving Washington without its top two interior run-stoppers, pushes back on caller skepticism regarding the defense's legitimate year-over-year improvement and reacts to ESPN reporting that teams are inquiring about Mikey Sainristil ahead of the trade deadline.
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00:00We'll start with our team. Javon Kinlaw is out for the season. He underwent season-ending surgery
00:08yesterday on his MCL. So he's headed to the injured reserve. Deron Payne is on the injured
00:17reserve and they've lost their top two interior defensive linemen for the rest of the season.
00:24The loss of Kinlaw for me, as much as I've been a Deron Payne fan over the years, the Kinlaw
00:33loss
00:34is massive. They played well on Sunday night without him, but yes, Dan, your high school team
00:44probably could have played well defensively against Tanner McKee and the Eagles. Now let me just,
00:49again, for emphasis, say that when I watched the Eagles against the Cowboys, the Eagles against
00:56the Panthers, which were the two games leading into the game Sunday night, I did not think that
01:00their offensive line was a bad offensive line, even though there have been major changes to it
01:06during the course of the year. I actually thought it played pretty well against Dallas. That's not
01:10saying much. And I thought it played okay at times against Carolina. And that's not saying much. I
01:15understand those two defenses are bad. But yeah, that is a big blow losing Kinlaw. Kinlaw has been a big
01:27part of their resurgent run defense this year, which currently ranks in the top 10 in almost every
01:35statistical category, traditional or advanced. Currently per DVOA, they're ninth in the league
01:41in rush defense. You can say, you know, during the course of the season, you know, Dallas didn't
01:48really try to run it against them. Seattle didn't really try to run it against them because it was
01:53so easy to throw the football. The Colts did run it against them to a certain extent with Jonathan
01:59Taylor, but most of that came in the second half. The 40, the Giants didn't run it against them until
02:05Scadaboo had the big one in overtime. The 49ers pretty much had their way with Washington in the
02:11first half, not in the second. And then, you know, Saquon Barkley and Elijah Mitchell was they both of
02:17them completely shut down Washington's through seven games, Washington's rush defense has been
02:24really good. There are there's context around all of this. And I just gave you some of it. But it
02:32has
02:32been good. And hence for me, the defense compared to last year, much improved, much improved,
02:40not saying much really about last year's, you know, ease in clearing that bar to be improved.
02:48I think it's much improved, but this is a blow to the hopes that the team will continue to grow
02:56defensively and become not only a much improved defense, but Dan, as you suggested, I said, and I
03:03an actual good defense, or it's certainly a mediocre middle of the pack defense. It's currently 21st in
03:10the league per DVOA, much improved from last year. But losing Kinlaw is a blow. Losing Kinlaw and Payne
03:20together a massive blow. And we're going to find out whether or not this particular area of the team
03:27has the required depth to keep this team as a decent run stopping team the rest of the way they
03:37will get tested on Sunday for sure. With Kyron Williams, Blake Corum, and the the LA Rams offense.
03:46But we're going to find out. Can Shai Tuttle play a lot more snaps? Tim Settle's been solid. Charles
03:51Amenehu played well as a pass rusher the other night. We'll get more Dietrich-wise. We'll see whether or not
03:57they'll move somebody inside. They just signed Ricky Barber, who's been on the practice squad, to the main
04:04roster. We've seen him here and there since, what, the end of last year. So, yeah, or actually going back
04:13to the
04:14beginning of last year, right, Ricky Barber? Is that the dude that was wearing number 66 in the
04:19preseason? Find out what jersey number he was in the preseason. This is going to be a big test.
04:30They have now, for a second consecutive year, this is just fact. It's not, you know, not here to
04:39prop up Adam Peters and Dan Quinn and say, you know, hey man, I don't know. It's not their fault.
04:46It's just a fact that I'm going to state. Last year, the most injured team in the league in terms
04:51of frontline week one starters. And this year, before the season began, they lost their second
04:58best player on the roster. In week six, they lost their third best player on the roster in Terry
05:06McLaurin. And in week seven, they lost arguably their fourth or fifth, certainly a top six or seven
05:14player on the roster in Kinlaw. I don't know where you'd put Payne at this point. Duran was playing
05:22good football this year. Kinlaw's played good football since they got him. This is a big
05:28blow to the defense. Now, there's an opportunity to upgrade the offense if you want to hear about
05:35it. Can I sell anybody on Brandon Iyuk who is going to likely be available come this weekend?
05:42Reports this morning from Adam Schefter. Brandon Iyuk, who we knew yesterday from the reports
05:49from Schefter, hired Drew Rosenhaus to represent him. Drew Rosenhaus, finally a voice that he's
05:58willing to listen to, has said to him, hey, dude, you got to actually turn in your paperwork and
06:02you've got to apply for reinstatement because you're on the reserve did not report list.
06:08You've been there for a while. I don't know if anybody told you this, but there was no chance
06:13that you were going to play in Washington on October 19th against the 49ers unless you actually
06:18applied for reinstatement. So Drew Rosenhaus turned in Brandon Iyuk's paperwork to be reinstated
06:26yesterday. And according to Schefter, who talked to Rosenhaus, the plan is that Iyuk will report to
06:35the 49ers training facility on Friday afternoon. I think we understand what comes next. The 49ers will
06:46briefly say, any takers for a seventh round pick, and they will all say no, and they will release
06:56Brandon Iyuk. This could have happened five months ago, easily could have happened five months ago. He
07:03could have had an entire summer with somebody, but he was clearly not stable. And the 49ers,
07:11look, are they going to do an about face on this one? Kyle Shanahan was asked recently, as recently as
07:18September, if he would reconsider a reunion with Iyuk. And he had a one word answer. No.
07:28When he went after Lynch and Shanahan repeatedly on social media, especially when he accused Lynch of
07:37stalking him, that was it. And some of the reporting out of San Francisco was that the 49ers were so
07:44livid
07:44with his condition. And what he was saying is that they were going to go after more of the money
07:51that
07:51they had paid him, uh, through, through, uh, by suing him. We do, we do not know if that's happened.
07:58We don't know if it will happen. The 49ers need another receiver right now. You know, they could
08:04use another receiver. Uh, and my guess is they're not going to do an about face here. That would be
08:11an all timer. I mean, literally they have said zero chance of this player ever playing for their team
08:19again. That would be really entertaining to see Brandon Iyuk back on the 49ers,
08:26but they do need a receiver as desperate as they are. I think they're going to release him
08:31on Friday afternoon or Saturday or whenever, cause they're not going to pay him.
08:36You know, that that's not going to happen right now. Um, let's just see his base salary. Uh, well,
08:47the base, well, it would include basically they'd be paying him, I think nine, a $9 million base.
08:55When you count the, um, the bonuses that would then kick in, uh, if he is added to the roster,
09:04they're not paying him anything. I don't think, I mean that, that look, they, they don't like this
09:11guy clearly, and they probably would like to exact some level of payback, but they got $27 million
09:19voided, but maybe there's a deal where they're going to say, we need you to cut us a check for
09:2510 million bucks that we've already paid you and we'll release you. I don't know. I don't know if
09:32they can do that. Um, certainly the NFL players association hasn't done anything to help Brandon
09:43Iuke at this point. I mean, he basically said that in many of his videos. And the reason is I
09:49don't
09:49think they felt at any point they had a leg to stand on with this guy, but he's going to
09:55be available.
09:56And it's probably going to be sometime Friday afternoon when the 49ers release him, unless what
10:02comes next is a protracted negotiation where there's some sort of quid pro quo. We'll cut you,
10:10but we want more of our money back because you screwed us so badly. We'll see. Uh, that's coming.
10:17I do not think that Washington will be in the market for Brandon Iuke. I just don't see that
10:28at this point. Certainly they could use another playmaker. It's been two years since he played.
10:33We don't even know what he would be on the field. We have no idea. It's been over two years.
10:39His last
10:40game was, uh, was in October of 2024 when he got injured. And the truth is after he signed that
10:48extension, that, that contract extension in that particular off season, he wasn't off to a super
10:54quick start in 2024. Uh, but this guy, how many times did he imply, did he suggest that he wanted
11:08to
11:09play in Washington with his college quarterback at Arizona state Jaden Daniels? This could get
11:18interesting. I'm not expecting it to, I'm really not, but stranger things have happened for teams
11:26that are in a desperate situation. And Washington is in a bit of a desperate situation to win games
11:34and to turn something, uh, uh, as it relates to this season into, into a winning season. They need
11:43to win games. I doubt it though. My, here's my guess at this point, he gets cut, nobody signs him.
11:51And
11:51then somebody in the off season takes a shot at him and sees if they can get him during an
11:59entire
11:59off season to be a normal functioning NFL player physically and mentally. Maybe somebody will take
12:07a shot at that by, by signing him, bringing him in, signing him to the practice squad. Maybe it's a
12:12practice squad signing that's available to him and he's going to have to prove it for a few weeks. Um,
12:19but no one's really had the chance because it would have been tampering to talk to him outside of the
12:2749ers. I'm open to anything. I'm kidding. I think this guy's nuts. He's also was, was, and I don't
12:38know that he still is, but he was really, really good in 2023. He was in a, you know, approaching
12:46an elite level receiver in the league. It's been a long time though, since he's played, um,
12:53Kinlaw loss, a big one, kind of like with Duran came out of nowhere. Um, devastating. We'll see
13:01what they put out there. We're going to see, obviously a lot of them many, Hugh. We're going
13:05to see a lot of shy Tuttle. We're going to see a lot of a guy that we've already seen
13:09a lot of Tim
13:09settle. We're going to see more of wise and we'll see whether or not, you know, guys like Armstrong
13:15play a little bit more, uh, in the middle. We'll see what they do with a guy like Ricky Barber.
13:21Um, in terms of trade deadline, and most of you are with me, this should not be a team that
13:28is buying,
13:29uh, prior to the trade deadline, but there is, believe it or not, a lot of talk about Vita Vea,
13:34but that's a rental. Um, so yeah, uh, I think they have what they have and we're going to find
13:41out
13:41that Johnny Newton is available to return, forgot about him easy to forget about him. Um, but he's
13:48going to get more opportunities. That's for sure. If he's healthy, but man, I'll tell you the, the
13:54additions that they made in the off season, none have been superstar level. Okay. Understood.
14:01Sonny styles has maybe a chance of being that, uh, but I'm talking about the free agent acquisitions,
14:06but they have all contributed to a much improved overall defense and a much, much improved run
14:14defense. But a lot of that's been Kinlaw and pain. So they're going to have to, you know,
14:21continue that because I don't think they have any chance to turn around their season. If the defense
14:26doesn't continue to progress the way it has, uh, big loss, Kinlaw, Iooks available. Yay. Um,
14:36yeah, that's, I guess, wrapping up all of the NFL news. Although the Ravens who play tomorrow night,
14:44Thursday night football, in addition to losing Lamar Jackson, pretty much for the rest of the
14:49year, we believe, I don't know that he's been ruled out. I think indefinitely is what the word's
14:54been on the thumb injury. Uh, but Tyler Huntley suffered a season ending turf toe injury in the
15:02game against the bill Sunday. So Joe Fagnano is the quarterback for the Ravens and their seasons
15:11about to go South in a hurry, unless, unless they make a move for somebody like Jacoby Brissett.
15:18Well, I would imagine the Ravens are going to try to make a quarterback move prior to next Tuesday.
15:23Is that a name that's been out there with the Ravens? I think it has been right.
15:26It has, but there are some other things going on with the Ravens. Uh, if they suffer their, uh,
15:33predicted fate on Thursday night against the Jaguars, Derek Henry could be a name to watch
15:39according to some sources. I read that. Do you know what else I read this morning in
15:44Graziano's column with Jeremy Fowler? What'd you read? That teams actually have interest in Mike
15:51Sanristill. Washington, they don't believe is interested in dealing him. Uh, I don't like that.
16:00I mean, I'll find the, I'll find it and read it to you. That's paraphrasing, but essentially,
16:05uh, yes, Mikey Sanristill, apparently teams have expressed interest in him and Washington per that
16:14story this morning, essentially does not appear to be interested in moving Mikey Sanristill.
16:21Uh, but, um, right now, when you think about the players, Washington has to move, let's just say
16:28they get blown out Sunday by the Rams. I don't expect that to happen by the way, as an aside.
16:32Um, but a guy like Andrew Wiley, you know, could get moved. Certainly everybody on a one-year
16:39contract. Caleb on chase on at this point, I think would have some value for sure. Nick Cross might
16:45have some value. Ameek Robertson's on a two-year deal. He'd probably have some value at this point.
16:51But let's wait to see. Cause I think Sunday was a reprieve for Adam Peters and company,
16:56at least inside that building where they don't feel like they need to address that anymore. Um,
17:02Sunday could tell a lot, you know, these games not only come with actual final scores,
17:09but they come with context. Like what if they lost and lost the quarterback in the game?
17:14Well, then you're a big seller because the season's officially over.
17:18So those are, I'm not, I hope that doesn't happen. And so far three for three on the brace,
17:24three for three on the brace, seven for seven on Anthony Davis, who will play his eighth game
17:30tonight. Big game for the Wizards, actually home game against the Atlanta Hawks. Uh, and they are
17:37two and a half point underdogs in that game. Uh, how about this? Um, I've been telling you a lot
17:44over the last week or two about how the big underdogs this year have just been a covering
17:53machine and an outright winning machine. Uh, for the fourth, well, three consecutive weeks of the
17:59biggest underdog on the board winning games outright. Uh, we had Tampa over Dallas, Arizona
18:05over the Rams, the giants over Houston, almost had that happen again with Tennessee over, uh,
18:13the Bengals on Sunday. They covered easily in the game. Um, this from the action network,
18:19NFL favorites of minus seven or more are six, 20 and three against the spread this year.
18:29That is the worst against the spread start in the Superbowl era. And we have five of those games
18:37this week. Jackson, uh, Jacksonville tomorrow night at Baltimore, a 10 point favorite Detroit's a seven
18:44point favorite at Miami. The chiefs are nine and a half point favorites against the jets.
18:49The Niners are 10 point favorites against the Raiders and the Seahawks are 10 and a half point
18:55favorites against the Cardinals. Um, and then I think I saw something, uh, that I wanted to, Oh,
19:04the rest advantaged teams this year. So far, uh, teams with a rest advantage like Washington had last
19:14week against Philadelphia, you know, any rest advantage game, even if it's a one day advantage,
19:19you know, you're, you play Sunday and your opponent plays on Monday night, Washington had a scenario in
19:25which they played on Monday night, had a bye week, and then Philadelphia played on Monday night.
19:29By the way, the Eagles will play their second consecutive game against a team coming off.
19:34It's by in the giants. That's a tough schedule break, but teams with rest advantage this year,
19:42this is, you know, a Warren sharp, you know, research of the last seven or eight years he's
19:49been doing it. Teams with a rest advantage are 26, 10, and one against the number. And teams that
19:58have a rest advantage playing at home are 14 and three against the number. So for those of you who
20:05love to bet the NFL rest advantage matters, you know, Sunday night mattered to Washington in a big
20:13way. Uh, they do not have a rest advantage over the Rams Sunday. The Rams played on Sunday,
20:21Washington played on Sunday.