- 2 days ago
Ben Standig from The Last Man Standig Podcast and Substack joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to preview the Commanders’ week 9 matchup vs the Rams, assessing wide receiver injuries to Treylon Burks and Dyami Brown, Johnny Newton's potential activation, Lucas Patrick stabilizing the interior offensive line, Dorance Armstrong's pass-rush resurgence, and score predictions.
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00:00Ben's with us.
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00:07You can follow Ben on X at Ben Standing.
00:11So, who's going to be available to play wide receiver on Sunday?
00:18Is your hand in the air?
00:20Are you willing to?
00:21I'm not volunteering for that.
00:22I can hold for field goals and extra points.
00:25I can do that.
00:26Okay, well, now we actually need to see that occur.
00:30Yeah, it's a great question.
00:34Traylon Burks, De'Ami Brown, not at practice today.
00:37I was listening to Adam Peters on the Junkies earlier today,
00:42and he said that it doesn't look great for De'Ami,
00:45and it sounds like with Burks it's sort of a to-be-determined,
00:49maybe game-time decision type deal,
00:51depending on how he comes out of things the next couple days here.
00:55So, somehow either one of them went.
00:58You're looking at Antonio Williams, Stephon Diggs, Van Jefferson, Luke McCaffrey,
01:02and if they bring up somebody off the practice squad.
01:04So, that's obviously a very different group than, you know,
01:09you think about with this team.
01:11Van Jefferson and McCaffrey don't even have a catch yet this season.
01:15So, yeah, definitely looking like it could be a thinner group.
01:18Let's see if Burks is able to get ready to play.
01:23How do you think they feel about the current rotation minus Kinlaw and Payne up front?
01:31Is there still a belief?
01:33Were they encouraged by Omenihue, by Settle,
01:38by some of the performances against the Eagles?
01:40Is it a position group?
01:42Do you think that if they were going to have multiple losses to,
01:46this is one they would have chosen?
01:52So, Settle, I think, had a pretty good game this last week,
01:56and we saw Shai Tuttle was one of the guys that got a sack.
01:58Plus, you know, Omenihue, you know, he's more of a 4-3 end,
02:03but he could slide inside, and we saw that.
02:05Same thing with Dietrich Wise.
02:07I don't know that we'd say that this is a group where you could afford some depth.
02:13I mean, let's remember that they're basically going with, like, a 3-4 look,
02:17meaning three down linemen.
02:19But, you know, I don't know.
02:21How much are they still going to do that?
02:23They did that less this past week than they had been doing it.
02:27So, you know, they do have options.
02:29And I will say just in general, as these injuries have continued to go on,
02:33the depth of this team has shown up.
02:36Offensive line, I think the one group that's been thin all year,
02:39but even there, you had a little bit of depth with Coleman.
02:42So, you know, I think that's something to note,
02:44just to reflect the team in general.
02:46But, yeah, look, I think they're optimistic.
02:49It's just hard with the Eagles game last week because the Eagles are such a mess,
02:52especially on offense, that how can you really tell for sure what you're doing
02:57on defense is really good versus the other team is just bad.
03:03We'll find out a lot about this week because the Rams obviously have a very good
03:06offense and two really good running backs that they'll jam down their throat
03:10if they think they can.
03:12Yeah, I think, too, that they'll play, you know, more 13 personnel
03:16than maybe they typically see week in and week out,
03:20which typically results in more base defense.
03:23So more of their down three linemen with their outside edges.
03:29And those three down linemen are going to be, I would assume,
03:33Tuttle, Settle, and Amenahue to start.
03:36I mean, and then the issue is, is Newton involved in the rotation?
03:40Is Barber at this point involved in the rotation?
03:43Is Wise involved?
03:44Because I don't think they'd want Tuttle and Amenahue and Settle
03:48to play like 25% more snaps than they've been playing,
03:52but they'll probably have to play certainly an increased number.
03:56Yeah.
03:57No, I forgot to mention Johnny Newton.
04:00I mean, it feels like he's going to get activated.
04:02I just, that was my gut.
04:04And I'm listening to Adam Peters today.
04:05It seemed like he was pretty much acknowledging that reality.
04:08Obviously, that's great.
04:10Johnny Newton's not necessarily a guy you want.
04:12It's like a run stopper.
04:14He's not the biggest guy, but obviously, you know, he's healthy,
04:17which I presume what he would be.
04:18You know, he gives you speed on the line.
04:20Hopefully that can at least help the pass rush.
04:22So, yeah, I mean, look, again, they have some options for sure.
04:28It's hard to say.
04:30Last week we were playing against a beat-up Eagles offensive line
04:32and take on Barkley not close to 100% versus Tyron Williams, Blake Corum,
04:37a good offensive line, and you have to worry about Stafford in the passing game.
04:41So, it'll be a real challenge for sure.
04:44Obviously, the linebackers will have to be on their game as well.
04:47You mentioned the 13 personnel.
04:49You know, is it possible that means more of a 4-3 to some degree
04:55with Jordan McGee coming in as another linebacker?
04:58We'll see how they decide to navigate that.
05:00But, yeah, I mean, look, they were having to test their depth all over the place,
05:07and, you know, the defensive tackle situation is kind of off the charts right now.
05:11Yeah, talking to Ben Standig, they played the Rams Sunday at 1.
05:17You know, a big game for them.
05:19I mean, to put back-to-back wins together heading into a game against the Giants
05:24would totally give this season a completely different feel,
05:28at least for a moment, if they were able to pull it off.
05:33I've had this sense all week, and I have described it today.
05:38I think this is definitely a winnable game for them.
05:41What do you think heading into Sunday?
05:44They're banged up, but the Rams are a bit banged up as well.
05:47No Jalen Watts in a corner, it looks like.
05:50I don't know if Garrett's going to be back or not.
05:52We know that Devontae Adams has been out for a while,
05:54but it feels like one of those games on the NFL calendar
05:59that you could see the lesser team winning.
06:06Look, I mean, the Rams have been playing with their food all year.
06:08You know, I mean, they just lost to the Cardinals a couple weeks ago.
06:11They're only 4-4.
06:14It's not like they have not looked at the team
06:16that people are projecting as the Super Bowl champions.
06:19That said, you know, they've got a lot of talent on both sides of the ball.
06:23You know, it's a formidable group, to say the least.
06:27But for me, in terms of keys to the game for Washington,
06:30I don't really care so much about the tactical stuff.
06:35Come out from the start, play solid football.
06:41No more pre-snap penalties.
06:43Show up with the energy that you need.
06:45I heard you talking earlier about that.
06:46Earlier in the year, they were having good starts, bad finishes.
06:49The last couple weeks, it's been the opposite.
06:51Okay, you've got to come out strong.
06:52You've got to set the tone, and you've got to play well.
06:55They may play as well as they possibly can, and the Rams still win.
06:59And that's okay if you're not the one sort of screwing it up.
07:04But if you're giving them just too many opportunities,
07:08then that to me is like, I don't want to keep hearing about
07:11you had a good practice week and things like that.
07:13I mean, let's not forget the Eagles, a mess of a team right now,
07:16had the ball at the Washington 13 with nine minutes to go
07:19with a chance to make the go-ahead touchdown.
07:23It wasn't like they blew them out.
07:25So, you know, they've got to just play a lot cleaner of a game.
07:27And if they can do that, I'm not saying this is not a moral victory deal,
07:31but in terms of, like, what they can do going forward, you know,
07:34that's, to me, the first sign.
07:35They win.
07:36That's incredible.
07:37That's great.
07:37And, you know, the Rams have been, you know, eh.
07:39They are what their record says they are to a degree.
07:42But you can't have the first quarter you've had against this team
07:46and expect to win.
07:47And, you know, you can't keep making all the mistakes against a team
07:50that's just very talented and expect to pull it out.
07:54Two players I wanted to ask you about and just have you give us a sense
07:58of how you think they feel about the performances.
08:02And some of this may have been asked of Dan Quinn or even of Durante Jones
08:06in the last few days.
08:07But Trey Amos and Dorrance Armstrong.
08:10I thought Dorrance Armstrong was excellent last week.
08:12Looks like he's rounding back in form.
08:14What do you think they believe about him?
08:16And then what do you think they've seen in Amos' first few games?
08:21Yeah, no, I've asked about Armstrong.
08:23I asked about him last week, kind of where he is coming off of, you know,
08:28the ACL surgery going into last week.
08:30He had yet to record a sack.
08:32You know, he had five and a half in the first seven games last year
08:35or six plus games last year until he got hurt.
08:38And, you know, the stats weren't quite there.
08:41Durante Jones says, I think we're getting close.
08:42Well, then this game he looked more like the guy we saw last year
08:45with the sack, the forced fumble.
08:48And, you know, I think that's a bit of a game changer, right,
08:51because you have O.A. and you have Kason to have three guys
08:55who can really get after him.
08:57I'm not saying he wasn't getting some pressures or things like that,
08:59but if he can turn that into production, I think that's a huge deal.
09:04Plus, like, he's a bigger body.
09:06You could almost throw him inside as well on passing downs
09:09to have all three of those guys on the field if you want.
09:11So I definitely think they like what they've seen.
09:13I think that's a big deal for sure.
09:16For Trey Amos, I mean, look, he gives them better size on the perimeter
09:19than they had.
09:20I think they've seen, you know, some good work out of him.
09:22He played a ton this week.
09:24It wasn't, you know, the first game was a little bit lighter
09:26than you might expect this week.
09:28He played a bunch.
09:30So, you know, I think it's been good signs of progress for him.
09:35So, yeah, you know, again, that was a weak area, as we talked about,
09:38until he was going to come back.
09:40You know, there were questions there, and obviously it played out that way.
09:43So, yeah, I think they've got to be pretty confident about both of these guys,
09:46and I think with Armstrong in particular, he may be, you know,
09:49after six games getting to be in the shape, or not in the shape,
09:53but getting, you know, back to his football norm,
09:55maybe he's ready to really take off here.
09:59Through seven games, do you think there's been a bigger pickup
10:03in terms of the importance of his contribution than Lucas Patrick's?
10:12I mean, we don't talk about the center situation anymore, right?
10:17I mean, yeah, he's been solid.
10:20I mean, this is a guy, sorry, there's some construction workers
10:24driving by right where I am.
10:27Hold on, let me walk inside.
10:30Yeah, I mean, he's been huge.
10:32I mean, you know, he's given them a solid piece there in the middle.
10:37You know, again, we're not talking about that circumstance anymore.
10:42Yeah, I mean, obviously it's definitely helped a lot.
10:45I know some of his past blocking numbers have been pretty standout.
10:48So, yeah, I mean, of course, this is the type of guy that everybody wanted
10:53to start a training camp, but he wasn't.
10:58He had to move to a new area, and it appears to have impacted his reception.
11:03So we'll try to get Ben back.
11:06But think about that.
11:08I mean, look, Ben said something at the beginning of this call,
11:11which I know a lot of you will have a hard time dealing with it,
11:16but they've actually had some depth this year step up and play well.
11:22Kane Medrano, when Frankie Luvu was out, stepped in and played well.
11:27Last week, without Ken Law and without Payne,
11:30they were very good up front with guys like Shai Tuttle and Omenahue.
11:36Tim Settle's been a factor all season long.
11:39You know, early on in the season when Trey Amos was out
11:43and Sandra still was struggling, Amik Robertson, not that he was depth.
11:46I didn't mean to say that everything I was going to speak about
11:49was going to be depth, but Amik Robertson has played well.
11:53They've had, you know, and then with Lucas Patrick along the offensive line,
11:57they didn't pick him up until after they realized, you know,
12:00Houston, we've got a problem with Nick Allegretti,
12:03something that certainly justifiably, you know,
12:08a terrible decision in hindsight and certainly one that it's reasonable
12:13to be very critical of, but they've gotten a really solid performance from him.
12:19We'll see what happens here at wide receiver.
12:21You know, they played one full game without Terry,
12:24but against a good defensive football team, and they were able to get the win.
12:30Do we have Ben back?
12:31We do.
12:34Max, do we have Ben back?
12:36Okay, we got you back.
12:37I was just saying, and I was pointing out something that you alluded to,
12:41and not everybody likes to hear this.
12:43You know, the Adam Peters has to go group, which, by the way,
12:47about nine months ago was the Adam Peters let him cook group.
12:52The depth has actually paid off a little bit more this year.
12:56They've had it.
12:57They've had it at linebacker when they didn't have Luvu with Medrano playing well,
13:01when they didn't have Armstrong early on.
13:03They had some depth there.
13:05We saw some depth step up in the game against Philadelphia.
13:08Yes, not a great offensive football team, but guys like Tuttle and Omenihue playing well.
13:15And, you know, we've seen it at center, which is where you and I left off with Lucas Patrick.
13:21And so from that standpoint, they, no, they didn't add Patrick before the season started.
13:27They picked him up midseason, but they've actually done a decent job with some of their losses,
13:33which, you know, goes back to the teams that have injuries.
13:39Not all injury situations are alike, even if the player count is the same.
13:43Last year, they didn't have their quarterback for 13 football games, essentially.
13:48You know, he played in seven, but only played four complete games.
13:51That's much different than what they've had this year, even though they didn't have him for two and a half
13:55games.
13:56They won one of those games that they didn't have him in.
14:00But, yeah, I think that there has been some depth.
14:04And you mentioned a name, Jordan McGee.
14:06When's the last time we saw Jordan McGee out there?
14:11Yeah, it's been a minute.
14:13Basically, Lou Boone's isles played, I think, every snap but one last week.
14:17So McGee and Medrano, that was not a game for them.
14:22But, you know, yeah, I mean, look, again, depending on what they want to do this week,
14:27with that multiple tight end look that the Rams are going to give,
14:30maybe this is an opportunity to get a guy like McGee or maybe Medrano out there a bit more.
14:37And, you know, look, depth is important.
14:40You've got to obviously have the front-line guys, too.
14:43And we know it took too long, like you said, to get the center, the cornerback situation.
14:47You know, we'll see running back.
14:49Tech has gotten incredibly thin now with the injuries.
14:53But, yeah, I mean, it is okay to note where things have improved.
15:00I mean, the depth has definitely improved.
15:02But, you know, that doesn't change.
15:04You know, you've still got to execute and all that kind of stuff.
15:07And that's where it's been a bugaboo most of the season.
15:10You know, one thing, and I don't have it in front of me.
15:13I'm trying to pull it up right now.
15:15But the snap count for Joshua Josephs has changed.
15:19A lot of that is Armstrong being back, clearly, right, for starters.
15:23But he was another player that, from a depth standpoint, you know,
15:28gave them some, you know, moments early on in the season.
15:31I think he got picked on a little bit in coverage.
15:34That was for sure.
15:35But, you know, we've seen, I think, I'm guessing that his snap count
15:39feels like his snap count's gone down.
15:42But I would attribute that, I think, fairly right to Dorrance Armstrong's return.
15:49Yeah, I mean, it's just sort of the usage of the team.
15:52I mean, you have the three, you know, true edge guys ahead of him.
15:56They're going to play.
15:57You know, then depending on what look they go with,
15:59they're going to have a Menehu or some others playing more of a 4-3 end.
16:04And I think also with Joseph, yeah, we've seen some good things.
16:07He had a pretty good training camp.
16:09We saw some good stuff in the preseason.
16:11But he is, I think, to me, the definition of a raw prospect.
16:14He still needs to learn, you know, kind of all the intricacies
16:18that come with playing the position.
16:20And that's probably why a guy like that has got his length,
16:23his ability to rush the passer, slips to the fifth round.
16:26It's a bit of a work in progress.
16:28And to me, at the start of the year, my goal for him was to be ready for 2027
16:34when Chason and Armstrong are free agents, and we'll see what they do there.
16:39If he, you know, whatever he does now is a bonus, but I don't, you know,
16:42it's not, I don't think they're, I don't think it's okay that he's not playing
16:46a ton because they do have those other guys.
16:50All right, let's wrap it up.
16:52Give me your prediction for Sunday.
16:57Yeah, I mean, look, we can play the game, you know,
17:00you win the turnover battle, penalties, all that kind of stuff.
17:04And you certainly would get a puncher's chance playing the West Coast team
17:07at one o'clock at home and all that good stuff.
17:09I just, you know, the Rams just feel like they're the better team, right?
17:12And I just haven't seen enough out of Washington.
17:14You know, again, I give them credit for last week against Philly,
17:16and you give them credit for coming back against the 49ers.
17:20But, you know, pre-Mike Evans' injury,
17:22they just were not still looking like a team.
17:24That was going to get it done.
17:26So I'll go Rams 27-17.
17:29And, you know, look, hopefully Washington, as I said,
17:32can avoid the self-inflicted wounds.
17:36And if they can do that, you know, that gives them, I think,
17:38hope going forward because the Giants game is critical.
17:41But, you know, I just don't know if they have enough
17:43to keep up with the Rams this week.
17:44All right.
17:45Talk to you on Monday.
17:45Thanks.
17:47Yeah, man.
17:47Ben Standing, everybody.