David, how are you, man?
I'm doing good, how are you? Excellent, thank you for taking the time to join us. Are you surprised at the ride that you've been on right now with the commanders? I'm not surprised at how fun it's been, how adventurous it's been, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised at how long it's been.
I don't think anybody expected us to be here at this stage, but I'm thoroughly enjoying every second of it while we got it. David, everybody talks about, and you can watch it in his play, the maturity of Jayden Daniels. He doesn't operate like a rookie who doesn't know what he's doing, he's not prepared, he knows what he wants to do, he's efficient.
What has impressed you the most about what he's been able to do this season, especially now heading into the postseason? Yeah, it's just the maturity that he's approached everything with. I know he's a little bit of an older rookie, but he's still a rookie and still a young man in his first NFL season. A lot of coaches have been asked this week about when they first felt that Jayden was the real deal, and a couple of them went all the way back to rookie minicamp. I like that because that's where I always go back to is watching him in rookie minicamp.
I haven't seen all the quarterbacks that have come through, of course, so I've seen a good amount of quarterbacks come through for their first camps or their first practices and things like that. Jayden looked like a guy who wasn't on his first day on the job. He looked like a guy who was in control, knew everything. The coaches raved about how he knew specs, he knew calls, all these things from the playbook right when he came in for rookie minicamp. The question then was, okay, when the veterans come in, how is that going to look?
When the veterans came in, it was the same thing. He's immediately impressing guys like Terry McCorn with his knowledge and his execution, and then his interest in coming to him and saying, hey, after practice, let's take the extra period that we have and work on that route that we didn't connect on so I can make sure we get this right. These are just not things that you usually see from a rookie, but it wasn't a I'm the number two overall pick, Heisman Trophy-winning stud on the field.
It was a very humble way of taking control, and it's something that's really stood out to a lot of people, including guys like Tyda and Zach Ertz, who said he's never seen it before from a young quarterback. Well, David, we see and hear so much about Jayden Daniels, and for good reason. But when you think about the team in whole, who hasn't gotten the attention that they deserve, and they've certainly contributed to where they are? Is there another player that should be garnering a little bit more attention and love?
Yeah, I mean, I think maybe Zach Ertz. I think a lot of people see what he's doing on the field and certainly are impressed with the fact that I think most people kind of thought his career was over or, you know, towards the end, and certainly what he's finding with the commanders, even me myself, is, okay, older Tyda probably doesn't have a lot less to say, more so a coach on the field or in the locker room, a mentor for these younger guys than anything else, but he's balled out physically. But also, just bringing that coaching aspect that we really all kind of talked about. He has history with Cliff Kingsbury, so he had the ability to kind of help get everything accelerated a little bit.
Obviously, it's a scheme that fits him best. It was really part of the decision to come here, making sure that he was in the right fit, because that's what he felt like really went wrong in Arizona for him that ultimately didn't work out with the short stint that he spent with the Lions on their practice squad, and that was a big part of it. So, you know, stuck at leader, zero team, I don't know if you can say he's not necessarily getting a lot of attention, but I mean not a lot of probable nods, not a lot of, you know, all-pro talk or anything like that, but I think certainly Zach Ertz is one of the critical parts of this team that's made this thing go.
David Harrison is here with us, covers the commanders for SI as well as the Locked On Commanders Podcast. There's been a lot of talk said about the run defense, and we all know that the Philadelphia Eagles go out and employ Saquon Barkley, who's an MVP candidate and is likely to be the offensive rookie of the year. What do you see Washington doing on the defensive side of the ball to try and slow down Saquon? Yeah, it's easier said than done, right, but, you know, every level has its own assignments. You know, the first level, you know, you've got to maintain your gaps.
You can't get pushed out of your gaps and out of your lane. Second level has got to hit their fifth, and they've got to hit aggressively, violently, be on time, and if that's where he's coming through, you've got to make the tackle. Third level, just be able to flow with the play and be able to cut off angles and not get, you know, broken down by them. That's something that a lot of guys talked about this week, is not just his ability to get through the first level into the second level, but also his ability to break down safeties and really take advantage of the angle you're taking.
You might feel like you're taking the right angle and that he does something, and suddenly you're woefully out of position, and that's something that they've got to defend against, and it really is. Joey Jr. says it's 11-man football when you're trying to stop Saquon Barkley, and so I think it's as simple as it all sounds, and, like, every, you know, football-watching question out there would say, well, of course you want to do all those things, but it's not that easy to do, so, you know, that's kind of the key is being disciplined. It's actually funny, so, you know, I went back and broke down the 61-yard touchdown run to Jamison Williams, the Lions receiver had against the commanders' defense last weekend in the vision round because that play, even though it's a wide receiver running, it's a trick play and all that other stuff, really kind of illustrates the importance of doing all those things that Joe Jr. was talking about with the gap discipline and the fit discipline and the angles because pretty much every part of that run went wrong in all of those levels and all of those aspects, and it just shows you what can really happen when you don't follow those disciplines.
So I think that's going to be a big key in this one in that, obviously, you know, when you get there, you got to be able to make a tackle. The good news is they've got 11 guys on the field that are all willing to get in the way. There's not going to be a lot of business decisions happening out there with Saquon Barkley in this game.
No, we saw Detroit still put up 31 points in a victory that Washington just had, and we know that Saquon is quite dynamic, and I would still put the Lions offense ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles. Dan Quinn has been in this position before. I know everybody here in Atlanta certainly knows what took place against the New England Patriots in that loss, but his background is defense. What effect has he had on this team and on the city? Is he getting respect? Is he appreciated for what he's done? He's a joke here in Atlanta.
People can't stand him. Yeah, he's absolutely beloved here in D.C. Everybody loves what he stands for. They love the messages that he brings. The guys are embracing the message that he brings, and they really embody it. You hear him talk about going out there and being aggressive, playing fast, doing all the things that, you know, a lot of them are cliches that every coach speaks, but this team really kind of adapts to it and kind of embraces that and embodies that, like I said.
So everybody here, obviously, when you're winning, I'm sure that when Atlanta was making the run to the Super Bowl, everybody loved him. It's just kind of the way that things happen in pro sports. Dan understands how that kind of flows with it, but right now everything is symbiotic. Everything's working together, and there's a lot of things it kind of looks like he has learned from the past, and the run defense isn't as good as maybe you would hope it would be.
We'll see what they do in the offseason to go about trying to improve that, because I know that's been an Achilles heel for him in the past as well. But then looking at the offensive side of things, I mean, coming from having a quarterback like Matt Ryan the last time he was an NFL head coach to coming in with an offensive mind like Cliff Kingsbury, who couldn't be, you know, much more different than a guy like Kyle Shanahan, but also getting a quarterback that is more the new breed type of quarterback really shows that Dan is not only talking the talk of learning from the past and keeping up with the times and trying to stay ahead of the times, he's actually out there physically doing it. David, let me ask you this.
Let's get to brass tacks. What do you think is going to happen on Sunday afternoon? Are you going with the Eagles, or do you think the Commanders are going to continue to shock the world? Yeah, you know, right now I'm going with the Commanders, and I think that when we look at the history of the NFL, you know, there's been plenty of years where you look at it and you maybe say the best team in the NFL didn't win the Super Bowl. You know, that's unfortunate when that happens, but a lot of times when we get to this stage of the postseason, it's not just who has the most talent, it's who has the most healthy talent, right? And the Philadelphia Eagles are obviously dealing with some injuries. You know, Dallas Goddard is going to play, but he's dealing with an ankle injury. We'll see how that affects him.
You know, Kim Juergens is questionable. I think he's going to play. But, you know, a back injury with the center, that's a fairly big deal depending on how serious it is. And Jalen Hurts, I know he's going to go, but he's going to have that knee brace on his left leg.
And I don't think he's going to be able to be as mobile as he wants to be. And, you know, anytime you have a quarterback facing 11 defenders, but also having to face fighting against his own instincts because of an injury, that's not usually good news. And the less that he's able to move, the more the Commanders are going to be able to stack the box and sell out soft stake, Juan Barkley. That happens, and I think that we see the Commanders take control in this one. So, again, not fully knowing what to expect from those injured Eagles, just the fact that they are as injured as they are and banged up. Cleon Mitchell is dealing with a shoulder injury, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the Commanders run a lot of running back, pulling passes, slaps, screens, you know, that way, and try to make them tackle or test out that injury. I just think the Commanders have too much going for them health-wise, but also match up pretty good talent-wise.
So, that's where I'm going right now. Well, David, whether or not the Commanders win or they lose, this has certainly been a successful season, one that anybody can't be disappointed with. By the time we pull into April and March and May and June, what do they need to do, regardless of how the next couple of weeks play out, what do they need to do to continue on what they've done so far this year? Yeah, I think you're going to see them make an investment in the trenches, you know, the defensive line, not just from a run defense standpoint.
Their pass rush penetration hasn't been superb this year. You know, I think you're going to see them probably invest a little bit on the defensive line. You also see them target maybe a slot corner in free agency or the NFL draft. Jordan Lewis is a free agent coming out of Dallas, obviously. He's got the familiarity with the staff.
I would expect the Commanders to probably make a run at him. If they're not able to bring him in for whatever reason, then you look towards the NFL draft, and there's a couple options coming out there as well. And then on the offensive line, you know, whether they love Nick Allegretti, don't love Nick Allegretti, their left guard, how they feel about Andrew Wiley, Sam Cosby, their right guard, arguably their best offensive lineman. They lost him last week to an ACL injury. I mean, the way those ACL injuries come, you know, go, if he's back by Thanksgiving of next year, that's going to be a miracle, but that's going to be pretty impressive. So they've basically got a situation where they're going into not just the rest of this postseason, but all of next year. They've got to look at it without one of their best offensive linemen, and he's on the interior. So you've got to look interior offensive lineman and figure out how much you really want to lean on Andrew Wiley as your right tackle moving forward. Well, before we get there, I know you're hoping for some more football.
We certainly have at least one more game. Hey, David, I appreciate the time. Where can people follow you and all of your work following these Commanders? Yeah, a lot's on Commanders. It's five days a week. It's on YouTube. It's on all the podcast platforms.
Commandergameday.com for Sports Illustrated. And then on that, be Harrison 82 if you want to go there. I appreciate your time and the invite. No doubt about it. Enjoy the weekend and enjoy the game. Okay, David? Yes, sir. You too.
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