It is the JR Sport Reef Show here on the Infinity Sports Network. We're getting closer to the start of the NFL regular season. We still have moves that are being made as teams are getting ready to cut players. We got teams that are trading players. as they look to fortify their rosters moving into the regular season.
The Washington Commanders were one step away from the Super Bowl with a rookie QB last season. And they're looking to stay in that same spot. Is it likely? I don't know about that. The commanders have already moved on from Brian Robinson.
They got Dan Quinn here, Mr. Happy Go Lucky, to talk about this team, what we can expect when Terry McLaurin is getting paid. Joining us right now. Is Ben Standig, who covers this team for 980 Radio in the DC area, as well as the Last Man Standig Substack and Podcast. Ben, how are you?
Hey, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Without a shadow of a doubt. I guess the big news for the commanders right now.
Brian Robinson was expendable given the emergence of well, they already had Austin Eckler there. He's pretty old in that regard. But having Krosky Merritt there as well, what are your thoughts on what they got in return and moving on from him? Yeah, I mean, I think they were prepared to release him if need be, so getting anything for it was fine. And for a team that only had five draft picks next year, getting an extra pick, even if it's late in day three, you know, good to Good addition to their haul.
Yeah, I mean, look, I think Brian Robinson is a fine running back, but he's a little bit One dimensional in the sense that he's not a big factor in the passing game. And I think that was part of the issue. This team was looking for more explosive plays out of the backfield. That's also not something that Robinson does, and they wanted to have I think guys who are out there, if it gives you more run pass option to, you know, to disguise for defenses, things like that.
So, Robinson, I mean, the fact that Krotsky Merritt showed well this summer certainly helped. Give them more options. If they were to make a move, Chris Rodriguez, who had a 40-yard run on his first carry in the Bengals Monday night game, was another guy that. They can use he gives you a little bit of what Rod Rodrigue sorry, Rhett Robinson does as well with the power. You mentioned Austin that clerk.
He was pretty effective last year in small doses.
So they don't have an obvious one guy, but I think they've got a committee that they feel pretty good about. And what do you think that balance is going to look like, knowing that Eckler is older, we don't know what Krosky Merit is going to do throughout the course of a year, same thing with Chris Rodriguez. What is that balance going to look like? Or is it going to be game to game?
Well, this is all obviously happening so so suddenly and and so late into Training camp in the preseason, and it's almost a little hard to know. There's not a lot of clues, I guess I would say. My guess would be early on, it's a true committee between Eckler. Rodriguez and Krosky Merritt. You also have a Jeremy McNichols, who was the third running back last year.
He's still around. But like I said, I think Eckler, he's the. He's the safe bet. He's the guy you have on the field, certainly like late in both halves, you know, when you're. Potentially in a little hurry-up situation if you're trailing or maybe to help salt things away.
And then, you know, Rodriguez is the hammer. Krosky Merritt's the guy that has the one-cut home run potential.
So I think it's probably going to depend a little bit on matchup, a little bit on game circumstance with how they do that. I think over time, Krosky Merritt's the one who has the bigger ceiling of the group. And so he could be potentially moving to some more of a.
Something closer to a lead back. role. But uh you know they also have Debo Samuel who's gonna get Three to five touches a game out of the backfield based on his career.
So they have, and then also you've got a quarterback who led the team in rushing last year, you know, and is obviously one of the better mobile quarterbacks in the league.
So The run game in total, they have pieces to make that work, but exactly how it's gonna fall out, I hate to say we'll have to see, but I think we're gonna have to wait and see a little bit. Commanders reporter Ben Standig is here with us on the JR Sport Brief Show. You mentioned D Bull Samuel. There seems even when he was back with the forty nine as there was always a conversation about his size, his shape, his fitness. What does he look like so far here in this preseason portion?
Yeah, he looks good. He looks like a guy that's focused. Obviously, he gets traded in the offseason. He's in the last year of his contract.
So there's a lot in play for him. He and Jaden Daniels, I would say, not exaggerating. Almost every single practice, make one or two big plays down the field, uh, connecting and He has looked really good. I think they're going to use him still in that sort of Debo Samuel ways here, there, and everywhere. He's not a traditional receiver, just find current.
Creative ways to get him the ball. In the last preseason game, the very first play of the game was an end-around with Debo going for 19 yards.
So he looked good.
Now, it's all weird because Terry McLaurin has not been out there at all this year, obviously, because of his contract situation.
So we don't know how it's going to look with the two of them. together uh and I don't think Debo is like a Traditional one should McLaurin situation continue to be a problem. But yeah, he's looked very good so far.
So the thing with him is, you know, can he stay healthy? I think that's always a concern. The way he plays, he's a very physical player, runs hard, plays hard. And that can get him into some trouble, but it's also how he makes plays, especially yards after the catch. Ben, do you think Terry McLaurin is going to be out there with a new contract for week one?
I mean, I assuming that he's gonna be out there, but I've been assuming a lot of things for the last few weeks that haven't happened. I I would have thought this would have gotten done by the time training camp started. It doesn't seem like this should be that much of a Of a gap in contract, you know, in contract numbers between the two sides. But obviously, here we are. You know, look, he's under contract for one more year.
If nothing happens, he'd have to decide: does he want to forego a million dollars a week basically to if he's going to continue to hold out? That's a lot of money. Not to mention, you know, what what is it helping him per se? On the other hand, does he really want to take the contract that they're offering if he doesn't think it's it's of fair value for him?
So maybe he plays out the final year of his contract. I still I'm assuming that they eventually get some kind of a deal done. But like I said, this has gone on way longer than I would have thought.
So it's you know, I'd be lying to say I feel good one way or the other, but my sense is that there's still a gap between the two sides. You just have to think, you know, logic eventually here shows up and they figure something out.
Well, Ben, we've done a lot of talking about the offense. What about the defense? We see some additions here to the team. You got Von Miller in. We know his job is just to go out there on situations and chase around the QB.
The offense carried them last year. What can we expect from the defense this year with Washington? Yeah, I think that's a great question. All things being equal, if we assume that Terry McLaurin is there and they've got their pieces, you know, this was a group that averaged, they were fifth last year in scoring 20 and a half points a game. They carried this team.
The defense, especially against the run, wasn't so hot. They were 30th against the run. Saquon Barkley tortured them all year. I know he did that to a lot of teams, but in particular, to Washington.
So they went out and added a lot of size up front. Javon Kinlaw was their big signing. They had Dietrich Wise, another huge guy who's a noted sort of run defender, solid piece. They have Deron Payne in the middle, and they had. Second-round pick Johnny Newton last year.
He missed pretty much all the offseason a year ago because of some foot issues.
So he was fine, but not great now. He's healthy and he looked pretty good so far.
So I think they're hoping that it's sort of a quantity over quality situation up front. And the secondary is miles better than it was a year ago. The cornerback room. You know, Marshawn Lattimore struggled last year after they made the trade deadline deal with the Saints, but largely because of injuries, we believe he's been healthy now. They had second-rounder corner Trey Amos.
This year, he's had a great summer, and they just have a lot more depth at that spot compared to where they were a year ago.
So there's reason to be optimistic. I think there's still depth questions kind of all over the place. But, you know, if. If the cornerbacks can Wow, uh Defensive coordinator Joe Witt to send more pressure up front. That's what he's hoping for.
Then that's how they offset not having sort of like one or two obvious. Pass rush experts up front. They also still have Bobby Wagner in the middle of the defense. They added Von Miller as a sort of specialist pass rusher.
So we'll see. Like I said, they don't have the obvious Pro Bowler up front, but they've got a lot of guys who've had success in this league, and they're hoping that, again, that quantity over quality aspect can kind of come into play. What is Bobby Wagner now, about ninety years old? Yeah. You tell him that.
I'm not going to say that. But yeah, he's been up there for sure. And I know he's been written off. You know, and based on the age and experience and all that, I think it's what, his 13th year, I get it. But look, he's one of those guys where, yeah, the speed isn't there compared to what it maybe was, but the instincts allow him to just be where he needs to be, seemingly at all times.
There was a play, I know, they did the joint practice in New England, and there was a play where he deflected a pass and it went for an interception. And we asked him afterwards, you know, what happened there? He just very casually was like, well, I could see the ball was going to, the pass was going to go here.
So I just went there and knocked the ball. And there you go. I think the whole thing is that. With the defensive line, as I said, being bigger guys, hopefully that helps and then frees up him to use those instincts with cleaner running lanes than he saw a year ago.
So he's been, you know, he's still good. And, you know, hopefully the big man up front can help get him through another year at a pretty good level. Yeah, what a novel concept. Getting older and using your brain. I think more people can take heed.
A commander's reporter, Ben Standig, is here with us on the JR Sport Brief show. I mean, just looking at the team, just flat period, all around the board. There was no expectation for them to get as close to the Super Bowl as they did. Last year. What's the expectation from the fan base?
What's the overall vibe as to what they can look forward to? They just like, hey, let's go back to the playoffs and see what happens. What are the thoughts here? Oh.
Well, you know, there's the delusionals who think, hey, it made the NFC championship game. One more step, let's go. And I think the reality is when you have Jaden Daniels. They're in the mix because he looked that special last year. I don't think it was a fluke.
I'm not expecting a sophomore slump. He has the goods as long as you have enough help around him, just like you would for any quarterback.
So I think that keeps them in play. But their schedule was very difficult this year. They're playing the NFC North and the AFC West combined. Those there were six playoff teams in those divisions a year ago, not to mention you have the Philadelphia Eagles within the division. Dallas and the Giants, you know, are going to be formidable to varying degrees.
And They also, I don't want to say they got lucky. But a lot of things went their way. They won. Late in the year, they won five games in a row. Every game was decided on the last play from scrimmage.
Now, they were the team that made the plays, and it went their way. And, you know, that's something they work on: end-of-game situations, end-to-half situations. But, you know, it's hard to believe that you're going to get. every break kind of going your way. They didn't play a lot of good quarterbacks last year.
This year, they face a gauntlet of them.
So, I think, from like a schedule and perspective, and just sort of. Odds of things evening him out. A 12-win season in the NFC Championship game feels perhaps a little bit rich, but like you said, nobody thought they were going to get more than six or seven wins a year ago. And look what they did. And as long as you have Daniels, you've got a puncher's chance.
So, yeah, I think as long as they get McLaurin in and avoid injuries, that's like you would for any team, I think they certainly still have a shot to make the playoffs. And then. You know, they won two road games last year with a rookie quarterback, so I'm not going to rule them out if they can get there. Yeah, they got the QB. Let's see what they can do otherwise.
Hey, Ben, last question for you. Does it look like this stadium inside DC proper is going to move forward? Can we anticipate that?
So Well, I mean, I think the answer is yes. I mean, the hiccup has been, or the wonder had been: would the DC City Council approve a new stadium in their budget? Already did, they already voted on it. There's still another sort of perfunctory vote that has to happen in September. I guess my only wonder though is, you know, without getting political here, the you know, the President of the United States is sending in National Guard troops to DC and he's threatening to, you know, to if Federalize the city and all these types of things.
And I don't know enough to know what that means, but could that mean some some stopping of the stadium? I mean, I don't think it's inconceivable if if, in fact, the federal government takes control. The government the federal government was helpful in getting the The whole stadium to this point because the site they're going to use is on federal land and so on and so on. the the wildcard element right now that's that's going on in the White House makes it maybe Little uncertain, but in terms of the team and the city, it's a it's it's uh you know. Ready to go.
It's just now. Hopefully, nothing else gets in the way. Yeah, and listen, Ben, I don't want to drive out the FedEx or whatever the heck they're calling it, okay? I don't want to do that drive anymore. I'm tired of it.
Yeah. Yeah, well, I think you speak for all of us. It would be great to have, I mean, also just like, you know, to have a really cool stadium with a dome, like, you know, I think it would just be a cool atmosphere. To be in FedEx, you know, FedEx Field, Northwest Stadium now, it's fine. It's generic.
It's a little bit older. It's not so great. Let's get new and different because the whole thing here is new and different following the ownership change a year ago and plus Jaden Daniels.
So get a stadium to match the vibe would be great. Yeah, let's see if they can keep on with the good vibes for this upcoming season. Hey, Ben, thank you so much for the time. Where can people follow you in all your work? No, I appreciate it.
I'm on uh writing on Substack these days, last manstandig uh dot substack.com. You can also find uh podcasts with the same name. And uh yeah, I mean, it's been uh it's been an interesting time so far and excited to get going for the season. It's gonna be an interesting ride. Hey, Ben, take it easy.
Catch you down the line, okay? Awesome. Thanks so much.
