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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Washington Commanders · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:00
Speaker 1: Hey there, everybody, it's Jeff. I wanted to let you
0:02
Speaker 1: know that we recorded this Opposition Territory podcast show on Tuesday,
0:06
Speaker 1: August twenty seventh, twenty twenty four. By the time you
0:09
Speaker 1: hear this, some things may have changed here or there,
0:11
Speaker 1: but we hope you enjoy the show. Welcome to Opposition
0:31
Speaker 1: Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the
0:33
Speaker 1: longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world.
0:36
Speaker 1: That's right eleven years strong. We've got a great show
0:39
Speaker 1: coming your way in a great discussion about the Washington Commanders.
0:43
Speaker 1: What are they going to look like this year? What
0:45
Speaker 1: does it mean for this team to be competitive with
0:48
Speaker 1: it in the NFC East, and will they be competitive
0:51
Speaker 1: in the NFC East. I think they could be a
0:53
Speaker 1: surprising team quite Frankly, I'm looking forward to getting into
0:57
Speaker 1: this discussion. We've had him on before. Love our guest
1:01
Speaker 1: right now that we're gonna be talking to, so let's
1:03
Speaker 1: get right to it. It's great to have back on
1:05
Speaker 1: the show. From the Trap or Dive podcast. You can
1:08
Speaker 1: check out what they're doing on YouTube, check out what
1:11
Speaker 1: they're doing on Apple podcast Spotify as well. And he
1:14
Speaker 1: also does some work over at hoggshaven as well. We've
1:17
Speaker 1: got the one and only Jamal Forest.
1:20
Speaker 2: How you doing, buddy, I'm good, Jeff, appreciate you having
1:23
Speaker 2: me back home.
1:23
Speaker 1: Boss Man Dan. It's great talking to you, a great
1:26
Speaker 1: seeing you. The NFL season is here. Basically, my gosh,
1:29
Speaker 1: I can't believe the regular season is right around the corner,
1:32
Speaker 1: and the Commander season, man is right around the corner too. So, like,
1:36
Speaker 1: I really appreciate you taking the time to jump on here, Jamal,
1:39
Speaker 1: because I am interro. I am very interested, you know,
1:42
Speaker 1: taking off my Eagles cap in Kpe here. I'm like
1:46
Speaker 1: really interested in what the Commanders are gonna be doing,
1:49
Speaker 1: and we're certainly gonna be getting into it on this show.
1:51
Speaker 1: But first I want to talk about new head coach
1:53
Speaker 1: Dan Quinn. I mean, he's been a head coach in
1:56
Speaker 1: the league before. He's had, of course, as we know,
1:59
Speaker 1: recent success with the Dallas Cowboys in terms of their defense,
2:02
Speaker 1: and he has certainly shown that he has been able
2:05
Speaker 1: to grow as an NFL coach. And it was reported
2:09
Speaker 1: earlier this year that he told the Commanders how willing
2:12
Speaker 1: he was to work hand in hand with the front office,
2:14
Speaker 1: how he's just learned a lot from his previous failures
2:17
Speaker 1: in terms of coaching and again that growth that he
2:20
Speaker 1: has seen. So I wonder what kind of head coach
2:23
Speaker 1: are the Commanders going to be getting with Dan Quinn.
2:26
Speaker 1: I mean, what are your thoughts about how his second
2:28
Speaker 1: stint as a head coach is gonna go? Here?
2:30
Speaker 2: Well, I think most importantly, like he was definitely sorry
2:36
Speaker 2: this this dog was very disruptive.
2:39
Speaker 1: Hey, yesterday was National Dog Day. You gotta love dogs?
2:42
Speaker 2: Man, all right, Well she gets a slack for the
2:44
Speaker 2: first ten minutes of his interview.
2:45
Speaker 1: There you go.
2:46
Speaker 2: But no, so like Dan was definitely more uh focused
2:54
Speaker 2: this time around about how he was going to coach
2:56
Speaker 2: a team and how he was going to develop players
2:58
Speaker 2: rather than focus on the personnel, Man said. And I
3:01
Speaker 2: think that's what he emphasized a lot that than to
3:03
Speaker 2: this season. And I think throughout the course of training camp.
3:07
Speaker 2: Now I can't give specific answers, but he was asked
3:10
Speaker 2: specific questions about what he's learned this time around, and
3:13
Speaker 2: he gave his examples specifically in details of how he
3:16
Speaker 2: practices situational moments and how he practices and how he
3:20
Speaker 2: wants these these players to learn situations and also how
3:25
Speaker 2: much time things would take in certain situations to get
3:28
Speaker 2: things set up. So, like from a from a football side,
3:30
Speaker 2: like those are the details that he's ironing out in practice.
3:33
Speaker 2: From a competition standpoint, he's really focused on everything in
3:37
Speaker 2: terms of like, if you are the best player for this,
3:39
Speaker 2: for this roster and for this position on this depth chart,
3:42
Speaker 2: this is where you're going to be. It's ther main
3:45
Speaker 2: reason why Johan Dawson was even traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.
3:49
Speaker 2: He didn't work out in Washington, and he didn't work
3:51
Speaker 2: out in Washington from the vision that Adam Peter ses
3:54
Speaker 2: Uh and and by extension, Dan Quinn and by extension
3:58
Speaker 2: Cliff Kingsbury obviously the offensive coordinator. Yeah, when it comes
4:01
Speaker 2: to Dan, I think a lot of his time was
4:05
Speaker 2: consumed in Atlanta. From my understanding, a lot of his
4:09
Speaker 2: time was consumed with coaching and leadership and developing players,
4:13
Speaker 2: but he was also worried about the roster. And you know,
4:17
Speaker 2: when you're dibbling and dabbling in both, you know, it's
4:20
Speaker 2: hard to really say that you are really focused on
4:23
Speaker 2: one thing one percent. Obviously, So for Dan, I think
4:26
Speaker 2: that's the main thing in terms of what we're going
4:28
Speaker 2: to see, I can't sit here and tell you this
4:32
Speaker 2: is going to be out the gates a ten plus
4:36
Speaker 2: win team, though you didn't ask for numbers, but I
4:39
Speaker 2: can't say, like, this is a team that's that's changing
4:41
Speaker 2: their mindset. They want an attitude that's going to be physical.
4:44
Speaker 2: They want fast players, they want people that's going to
4:46
Speaker 2: compete on every single down, and I think that's kind
4:49
Speaker 2: of the main thing that that they're focused on right now,
4:53
Speaker 2: developing that that commander mindset quote unquote, and then you'll
4:58
Speaker 2: see where things go from there.
4:59
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I think when I envision one word for where
5:03
Speaker 1: this Commander's team is right now hitting into this twenty
5:06
Speaker 1: twenty four season, Jamal, that one word for me is promise.
5:09
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of promise underlying, you know,
5:13
Speaker 1: at the bottom foundational aspects of what this Commander's team is.
5:16
Speaker 1: And we're certainly going to get into that that word
5:19
Speaker 1: of like promise in a bit here as we're going
5:21
Speaker 1: through the discussion, because out of the gate, I mean,
5:24
Speaker 1: it's going to be the Jayden Daniels show, right out
5:27
Speaker 1: of the gate here, that's what it's going to be.
5:28
Speaker 1: And taking off my again taking off my Eagles hat
5:32
Speaker 1: and cap here. I'm really excited to see what he
5:35
Speaker 1: is a player can do and how he can lead
5:37
Speaker 1: this offense and how he can make his impact in
5:40
Speaker 1: the NFL. I mean, I loved what he did at LSU.
5:43
Speaker 1: You know, he's an incredible athlete and an incredible quarterback,
5:47
Speaker 1: and I think he's going to come in and shock
5:49
Speaker 1: a lot of people. Shouldn't be a shock if you
5:51
Speaker 1: look at his film from college, shouldn't be a shock
5:54
Speaker 1: at all. But I think he's going to everybody's talking
5:56
Speaker 1: about Caleb Williams rightfully, so Caleb Williams great talent as well.
6:01
Speaker 1: But I think Jaydon Daniel's really going to show the
6:04
Speaker 1: NFC East and I think he's going to show the
6:06
Speaker 1: NFC and NFL what he is all about right out
6:08
Speaker 1: of the gate. But a two part question for you here,
6:12
Speaker 1: where do you think Jayden Daniels is going to excel?
6:15
Speaker 1: And where might he falter? Because it's not gonna be
6:17
Speaker 1: like lollypops and rainbows here right out of the gate.
6:19
Speaker 1: But great player, where do you think he excels and
6:21
Speaker 1: where may he falter?
6:24
Speaker 2: I think he exceales with his processing. He does a
6:27
Speaker 2: really good job in terms of his study Habit's like
6:29
Speaker 2: just diving into the playbook, but also like his preparation
6:34
Speaker 2: just from from by all accounts, I'm not there day
6:36
Speaker 2: to day, I'm not boosts on the ground, but by
6:38
Speaker 2: all accounts, just how he studies, how he prepares, and
6:42
Speaker 2: how he approaches the days leading up to game day.
6:46
Speaker 2: And I think that was even more so evident against
6:49
Speaker 2: the Miami Dolphins where you're out of the huddle. Now granted,
6:52
Speaker 2: in the second and in the third game, excuse me
6:54
Speaker 2: aast the knowing the Patriots he saw the same thing.
6:56
Speaker 2: So you're you're seeing like up tempo offense, but you're
7:00
Speaker 2: also seeing an offense a difference and how it was
7:04
Speaker 2: led from Jayden Daniels against the Miami Dolphins, and then
7:07
Speaker 2: the kinks that needs to be ironed out from the
7:11
Speaker 2: third and four stringers against the New England Patriots. But
7:15
Speaker 2: but Jaden is a person who can see the field well.
7:18
Speaker 2: He understands coverages, so that makes things easier for him
7:22
Speaker 2: and Cliff to diagnose things. The ball is gonna come
7:24
Speaker 2: out quick because he's a quick processor. Now granted, there
7:27
Speaker 2: may be some some situations where he makes a mistake,
7:30
Speaker 2: like really quickly, and you know, I don't. That doesn't
7:33
Speaker 2: necessarily mean that it'll be a bad play, but he
7:35
Speaker 2: may have just went the wrong way. And in terms
7:39
Speaker 2: of like how he should have got rid of the
7:40
Speaker 2: football or who he should have targeted initially, like his
7:42
Speaker 2: first read, So like processing is one thing that I
7:45
Speaker 2: think is going to come out the gates with. You
7:47
Speaker 2: don't have to worry about that. The obvious one was
7:49
Speaker 2: his legs, Like you can use it. You can use
7:51
Speaker 2: your legs like he's a he's a he's an athlete,
7:54
Speaker 2: he's a dangeroustep with his legs. But it's a person
7:56
Speaker 2: who as a quarterback, who can think as quickly as
7:59
Speaker 2: he can and understand coverages as well as he can
8:02
Speaker 2: with the help of Cliff. That's gonna be his strengths
8:05
Speaker 2: his weaknesses. It's hard to say right now in terms
8:09
Speaker 2: of like now, granted there's there's weaknesses, right but I
8:13
Speaker 2: think it's hard to say specifically what he'll do like
8:19
Speaker 2: consistently negative or or something that he'll have to work
8:23
Speaker 2: to develop on, right And and that's just me being honest,
8:27
Speaker 2: but that's also me saying that, like we'll have to
8:30
Speaker 2: wait and see, like what are those consistent habits that
8:33
Speaker 2: will that will actually be wrong. Like I think that
8:35
Speaker 2: he's a he's a learner. He's a person who works
8:38
Speaker 2: to get better, and that was shown through like his
8:41
Speaker 2: time from Arizona State to LSU, Like he's gotten better
8:43
Speaker 2: as a processor, like and and there was times where
8:47
Speaker 2: he would hold the football a little bit too long,
8:50
Speaker 2: and I think that's kind of that's kind of one
8:52
Speaker 2: of the things that you know, he worked to get
8:53
Speaker 2: better at. So I say that to say, coming into
8:56
Speaker 2: the rookie season, I'm sure there's gonna be something that
8:59
Speaker 2: he'll get then he'll have to work on, But I
9:02
Speaker 2: don't think that there will be something that's like a
9:04
Speaker 2: drastic like red flag. So it's hard to see like
9:07
Speaker 2: what those what that weakness or that one weakness is
9:09
Speaker 2: for Right.
9:10
Speaker 1: Now, processing speed is everything for rookie quarterbacks. As you know,
9:16
Speaker 1: if you can get your processing down, the game comes
9:18
Speaker 1: to you that much quicker and you're able to develop
9:20
Speaker 1: that much faster. For me, I'm going to be looking
9:23
Speaker 1: at the chemistry, the chemistry that he has with Terry McLaurin,
9:26
Speaker 1: with the other receivers on this team. I mean that's
9:29
Speaker 1: part of the equation too. You know, you can have
9:31
Speaker 1: the greatest processing speed. But if you don't necessarily have
9:35
Speaker 1: that chemistry and the understandings of what you know when
9:38
Speaker 1: and how a guy is going to break in his
9:39
Speaker 1: route and making sure that that ball gets to where
9:42
Speaker 1: it needs to be, that could potentially be a place
9:45
Speaker 1: where he does falter. But again, we see quarterbacks continuously grow,
9:49
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna be looking at the chemistry when it
9:51
Speaker 1: comes to Jaden Daniels and the wide receiver corps and
9:54
Speaker 1: tight ends as well. But as we're moving along with
9:56
Speaker 1: the conversation here, jamal uh, you know, there's a lot
9:59
Speaker 1: of new parts to this commander's offense heading into this
10:02
Speaker 1: upcoming season. You mentioned earlier John Dotson coming over to
10:06
Speaker 1: the Eagles in a trade here, So, like I said,
10:11
Speaker 1: a lot of moving parts here. What parts of this
10:13
Speaker 1: offense are you looking forward to most of this season
10:16
Speaker 1: and which do you think is the most underrated actually
10:18
Speaker 1: at the moment?
10:20
Speaker 2: Okay, So I think what's underrated is the strength of
10:24
Speaker 2: the run game. Yeah, I think the running backs are
10:27
Speaker 2: actually and Brian Robinson and Austin Actley. I think that's
10:29
Speaker 2: a sneaky two headed horse. I don't know who that
10:32
Speaker 2: third person is gonna be right now. That's actually part
10:34
Speaker 2: of the preseason battle, yep, because I think Chris ry
10:38
Speaker 2: Riguez heading into this season was the person you know,
10:41
Speaker 2: people projected, but as the season and all season went along,
10:44
Speaker 2: you kind of seen Jeremy McNichols come around. You've seen
10:47
Speaker 2: Michael Wilie. I think as a rookie, he's coming along
10:50
Speaker 2: as well. So they're gonna try and stamp their name
10:52
Speaker 2: is that they're running back. But point being those top
10:55
Speaker 2: two dogs that Brian Robinson developed him going into his
10:57
Speaker 2: third season, that's somebody that Cliff really likes. Uh. He's
11:02
Speaker 2: developing as a pass catcher to as a route runner
11:04
Speaker 2: in a sense. He always had hands, I think, but
11:07
Speaker 2: I think one of the things that hurt him is
11:10
Speaker 2: the fact that Alabama just didn't really utilize him in
11:13
Speaker 2: that fashion. So like he's growing and blossoping in front
11:15
Speaker 2: of our eyes. But also Austin Act as we know,
11:18
Speaker 2: who's like a six to seven year pro. He's able
11:22
Speaker 2: to run routes like a wide receiver. You can spread
11:24
Speaker 2: him out wide. So I think the running back room
11:27
Speaker 2: but also the ability to use those running backs in
11:29
Speaker 2: the ground game in relation to the threat that Jayden
11:32
Speaker 2: Jaden Daniels provides that's gonna be a sneaky underrated aspect
11:37
Speaker 2: of the offense. I think one of the things that
11:42
Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to the most you actually said it
11:44
Speaker 2: was was the relation with the receivers receivers meaning actual
11:48
Speaker 2: wild receivers and tight ends pass catchers. I guess with
11:52
Speaker 2: with Jaden Daniels, question mark is an offensive line. But
11:57
Speaker 2: that's that's more so like I don't think it is too.
12:01
Speaker 2: I actually don't think it's like like a super negative.
12:05
Speaker 2: I think that when you think about Sam Howe and
12:08
Speaker 2: and previous quarterbacks, Yeah, poor poor poor quarterback played with
12:13
Speaker 2: a with a mediocre average mediocre to average offensive line.
12:16
Speaker 2: It ain't gonna it ain't gonna look good. That whole
12:19
Speaker 2: operation ain't gonna look good. And Sam Howe was a
12:22
Speaker 2: person like when we talk about somebody hold on to
12:24
Speaker 2: the football too long and you're you're dropping him back
12:27
Speaker 2: fifty times a game, you're gonna see terrible results. And
12:32
Speaker 2: I think that's the reason why I say, uh, it's
12:34
Speaker 2: a it's a it's a question mark. But I think
12:36
Speaker 2: Jayden Dames is a person who thinks a little bit
12:39
Speaker 2: quicker on his feet but also can see things a
12:41
Speaker 2: little bit easier as well, So you're not going to
12:43
Speaker 2: see him get into too much trouble back there with
12:46
Speaker 2: the offensive line in terms of how he's seeing things,
12:50
Speaker 2: but also the time and protection that they give him.
12:52
Speaker 2: So it really is that the receiver the pass catching
12:55
Speaker 2: group that I'm interested in in in the most. I
12:59
Speaker 2: think that the way he's built things, build relationships with
13:03
Speaker 2: Terry and Diami to this point has been impressive. Uh,
13:07
Speaker 2: and I'm also waiting to see, like if that's something,
13:11
Speaker 2: if that's something, if that is something that translates into
13:13
Speaker 2: the regular season, because Yami is a person who's been
13:16
Speaker 2: itching for a breakout season, and three years in Sue
13:19
Speaker 2: his career, it's been nothing short of like disappointment. I
13:24
Speaker 2: see you like that?
13:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right again, folks talking to Jamal Forrest from
13:28
Speaker 1: the Trap or Dive podcast. They recently had Adam Schefter
13:33
Speaker 1: on their show. Was fantastic, great, great discussion. Follow him
13:37
Speaker 1: on Twitter at let Maul tell it, and uh, he's
13:41
Speaker 1: a great great follow great, great tweets or just a
13:45
Speaker 1: post on on stupid X. I can't believe I'm still
13:47
Speaker 1: calling it X.
13:48
Speaker 2: All right, I still call it Twitter.
13:49
Speaker 1: I know, man, I know it's ridiculous. So anyway, let's
13:53
Speaker 1: move over to the defense here, Jamal. I mean, I
13:56
Speaker 1: think this is an improved unit from last season, and
14:00
Speaker 1: I think they really could be an underrated unit. I remember,
14:03
Speaker 1: I remember last year it came on the Trapper Dive
14:05
Speaker 1: podcast we talked about the defense, and I was really
14:08
Speaker 1: high on him last year. Probably shouldn't have been as
14:10
Speaker 1: high as I was necessarily last year. But I'm wondering,
14:14
Speaker 1: because I'm always thinking that the Washington defense is going
14:18
Speaker 1: to show us something good, and I think they do
14:20
Speaker 1: have a lot of talent this year. What part of
14:22
Speaker 1: this defense are you looking forward to most? And again,
14:24
Speaker 1: like we were just talking with the offense, what do
14:26
Speaker 1: you think is the most underrated aspect of this defense
14:29
Speaker 1: at the moment?
14:30
Speaker 2: M Now, this is gonna be a little bit more tougher.
14:35
Speaker 2: What I'm looking forward to the most, honestly is the
14:38
Speaker 2: use of that front seven. I gotta put them in
14:40
Speaker 2: a collective space because, uh, like you're going to see
14:45
Speaker 2: Frankie Louvu, the new addition from Carolina Paranthers. Yeah, there
14:51
Speaker 2: was a rookie linebacker who's probably gonna get put placed
14:54
Speaker 2: on I R and Jordan McGee out of temple matter
14:59
Speaker 2: of fact, and I think he's gonna get put on
15:03
Speaker 2: I R. But they had plans for him, is why
15:05
Speaker 2: it is why I mentioned his name. And then obviously
15:07
Speaker 2: with the guys already on the front, the front line
15:10
Speaker 2: and Durrance Armstrong, Deron John Allen uh and obviously the
15:17
Speaker 2: speechter from from Dallas, and I keep forgetting his name.
15:21
Speaker 2: Uh and and it upsets me, good lord, and I'm
15:26
Speaker 2: gonna be stuck on it. Uh.
15:29
Speaker 1: It'll come to you right after we hit the stop button,
15:31
Speaker 1: you know what I mean.
15:32
Speaker 2: Report. Yeah, But but those that's listening and in the
15:36
Speaker 2: in the moment, they'll be able to google or or
15:38
Speaker 2: remember the name. And I'm thinking Dante Fowler, yes.
15:43
Speaker 1: Yeah.
15:44
Speaker 2: So like the way that they can kind of scheme
15:47
Speaker 2: up that front seven, that the pressures and in the
15:49
Speaker 2: line games, all of those things with the mix of
15:52
Speaker 2: the linebackers that they can use, uh in terms of
15:55
Speaker 2: how they can get creative. I don't know what the
15:56
Speaker 2: plan is for Jamie Davis in terms of like if
15:58
Speaker 2: he even want to make the roster. They like them,
16:00
Speaker 2: but is he gonna make the roster? I don't know.
16:04
Speaker 2: I just like, I just I am very interested in
16:06
Speaker 2: seeing how they kind of draw that stuff up, because
16:08
Speaker 2: I think they can get really creative up there in
16:10
Speaker 2: terms of how they disguise, in terms of how they
16:13
Speaker 2: can can really uh show some pressures and and and
16:16
Speaker 2: kind of like disguise those pressures in those instances. But
16:19
Speaker 2: that's gonna be one thing. And then in terms of concerns,
16:24
Speaker 2: cornerback is the main concern. Yeah, uh, I know you're
16:30
Speaker 2: dealing with Ben Saint Jus as your starter projected starter.
16:33
Speaker 2: You have Emmanuel Forbes, who Philadelphia Eagles fans know as
16:37
Speaker 2: uh no disrespect to to my man force, but you know,
16:41
Speaker 2: y'all know him as A J. Brown and Devonte Smith's
16:44
Speaker 2: mainly AJ Brown's uh step son. So that's that's the
16:49
Speaker 2: very unfortunate truth of the matter going into this season.
16:52
Speaker 2: And you know, Michael Davis came in from the Chargers
16:56
Speaker 2: last season, but you don't have that much depth, and
16:59
Speaker 2: you don't you're you're hoping that's somebody steps up there, alright,
17:01
Speaker 2: Like that's probably one. It was two weak spots undoubtedly
17:05
Speaker 2: going into the season for the Commanders, and it was
17:08
Speaker 2: literally the receiver room and the cornerback room. Yeah, those
17:12
Speaker 2: are one of the top two. Obviously, the offensive line
17:14
Speaker 2: is a unit was a concern because you don't really
17:17
Speaker 2: know too much, but those are the two position groups
17:19
Speaker 2: in particular that was really sketchy going into this to
17:22
Speaker 2: this season. Safeties, I know you asked for underrated, but
17:28
Speaker 2: I like them, but you just got to see a
17:30
Speaker 2: little bit more. I think Kawan Martin is I'll just
17:32
Speaker 2: say Kwan Martin is probably a name that people are
17:34
Speaker 2: going to have to start paying attention to.
17:36
Speaker 1: Okay, very good, very good. Alright, Well, got a couple
17:39
Speaker 1: other segments here and discussion points. Wanted to get into
17:43
Speaker 1: with you first and foremost here that we have the
17:45
Speaker 1: standout and stepped on that segment. I like to get
17:48
Speaker 1: into this during our Opposition Territory podcasts here if you
17:51
Speaker 1: can give me one player you think it's going to
17:53
Speaker 1: be a standout this coming season on the Commanders and
17:56
Speaker 1: why who's that one person?
17:58
Speaker 2: Jamal Well, I would go Jayden Daniels, but I feel
18:04
Speaker 2: like that's a layup. Let's see one person that cause
18:10
Speaker 2: I know Philadelphia fans we're talking about the Nfcast Division,
18:13
Speaker 2: y'all are too familiar with some of the veterans so
18:16
Speaker 2: I guess one of the younger guys or maybe new guys.
18:19
Speaker 2: I would say it's Frankie Louvu. I think I kind
18:22
Speaker 2: of mentioned him earlier briefly on that linebacker shot. So
18:25
Speaker 2: I think Frankie Louvu is a person who's looking to
18:27
Speaker 2: really like he loves Dan Quinn and Joe Witt Junior's scheme,
18:33
Speaker 2: and like he turned down more money from Carolina to
18:36
Speaker 2: come to Washington, and I think that really makes his
18:40
Speaker 2: situation and whatever they pitched in terms of how they
18:43
Speaker 2: want to use him, like much more attractive. So I
18:46
Speaker 2: think you're talking about a person who can really really
18:49
Speaker 2: stand out in terms of regardless of record. You're talking
18:53
Speaker 2: about a person who can probably really make something shake
18:55
Speaker 2: from an individual performance standpoint impact standpoint obviously.
19:01
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, well the stepped on part of this
19:04
Speaker 1: segment too. One player you think is just going to
19:07
Speaker 1: be stepped on throughout the coming season, and who that
19:10
Speaker 1: player is and why. I know we don't like to
19:12
Speaker 1: disrespect certain players, but I think on every roster there
19:15
Speaker 1: are players where you're like, you know what, this this
19:17
Speaker 1: is gonna be a rough season for this particular gentleman.
19:20
Speaker 1: So who's that one player. You're thinking on the commanders
19:22
Speaker 1: that maybe stepped on throughout this coming year. Man, you're stressing.
19:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, it's it's a little worth to say. I
19:33
Speaker 2: think let's say, let's let's put it this way. I
19:35
Speaker 2: think I don't think Emmanuel Forbes is done struggling yet.
19:40
Speaker 2: Okay now, And I want to preface that by saying,
19:43
Speaker 2: I'm a I'm a fan of Manuel Forbes's game from
19:47
Speaker 2: the standpoint of I liked what I saw in college.
19:49
Speaker 2: For the most part, I liked how he plays. It's
19:52
Speaker 2: like with Forbes, I'll be quick because I know I
19:56
Speaker 2: could talk about ten minutes before. I think Forbes really
19:59
Speaker 2: like his best His best ability is with eyes towards
20:03
Speaker 2: the quarterback. Like when you can see in front of you,
20:06
Speaker 2: you can let the routs develop, you can play those concepts.
20:09
Speaker 2: I think that's where Forbes is really good at. But like,
20:12
Speaker 2: there's not gonna be a ton of situations. Let me
20:15
Speaker 2: let me rephrase that. There's gonna be several situations in
20:18
Speaker 2: which teams can target him with his back towards the
20:21
Speaker 2: quarterback right, and they're not gonna hesitate in doing that.
20:23
Speaker 2: And I think he's undeveloped in terms of howing to
20:26
Speaker 2: and he's underdeveloped in terms of his comfortability playing the
20:29
Speaker 2: receiver and the football at the catch point with his
20:33
Speaker 2: back towards the quarterback right. And I think that's that's
20:36
Speaker 2: where he really gets himself in trouble. Like he could
20:39
Speaker 2: be in position or as good enough position as you can,
20:41
Speaker 2: like you all seen that in the two times y'all
20:43
Speaker 2: played against Forbes. Like he's in position, but he is
20:47
Speaker 2: getting cooked and it's unfortunate, and.
20:50
Speaker 1: He can't get up to the catch point. He really can't.
20:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, And it's and it's unfortunate because you know, you're
20:55
Speaker 2: talking about a person who who while he does he
20:57
Speaker 2: gets beats on double moves too. Yeah, And that's another
21:00
Speaker 2: actor in terms of like how aggressive he is, but
21:02
Speaker 2: also like what happens when he's not he's not solely
21:04
Speaker 2: focused on those concepts playing out in front of him
21:07
Speaker 2: and being able to really trust and read and react
21:09
Speaker 2: in that fashion. But I don't think. I think that's
21:12
Speaker 2: a person that I don't think is done struggling yet.
21:14
Speaker 2: It's probably gonna take him much longer than one off
21:16
Speaker 2: season to get together. He did woke up, and I
21:18
Speaker 2: appreciate that he did look a little bit physical, and
21:21
Speaker 2: it's in his run fits. He didn't hesitate, but again,
21:24
Speaker 2: this is preseason. The only reason why I give credence
21:27
Speaker 2: to like how he played in the run game is because,
21:31
Speaker 2: like again we talked about Johann Dotson his fit. Uh,
21:34
Speaker 2: if they didn't like what Emmanuel Forest is bringing in
21:36
Speaker 2: the off season, they probably would have made him me
21:39
Speaker 2: spendable too. Yeah, and that's kind of that's kind of
21:41
Speaker 2: where it's like, all right, maybe he is showing a
21:43
Speaker 2: little bit more physicality uh than they anticipated coming in.
21:47
Speaker 2: So but that's one person. I don't think it's done
21:49
Speaker 2: struggling yet.
21:50
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, Well, as uh as we wrap up
21:53
Speaker 1: our discussion here, you know I've been saying on this
21:55
Speaker 1: podcast platform that the Commanders could be a sneaky team
21:59
Speaker 1: in the NFC. Easted. Yes, well, I still think the
22:01
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles are projected to win the division and arguably
22:04
Speaker 1: have a better overall roster, and in certain areas of
22:07
Speaker 1: the team, I think the Commanders may be able to
22:09
Speaker 1: actually fight for a wild card spot this year if
22:11
Speaker 1: certain things do end up breaking their way and if
22:14
Speaker 1: certain guys end up developing Jamal Look, I mean the
22:17
Speaker 1: Giants are a mess. The Cowboys. You know they're while
22:20
Speaker 1: they did, you know, give Ceedee Lamb his extension. You
22:23
Speaker 1: know they got Dak Prescott in the background. They've got
22:26
Speaker 1: you know, they've got Michael Parsons in the background. You know,
22:29
Speaker 1: these guys want to get paid and they want to
22:30
Speaker 1: make sure that they're gonna be there for the long term.
22:32
Speaker 1: There's a little discord there in terms of some contract
22:35
Speaker 1: issues going on behind the scenes. How may that affect
22:38
Speaker 1: the Cowboys play? If you had to give a percentage
22:42
Speaker 1: chance on the Commanders possibly getting to the playoffs this year,
22:46
Speaker 1: what would that percentage chance be and why? Like I said,
22:48
Speaker 1: I'm kind of high on them to make a play
22:51
Speaker 1: to make a wildcard run here, But I don't know
22:53
Speaker 1: what are your thoughts. You are much more engaged with
22:55
Speaker 1: the Commanders than I. What's that percentage you give them?
22:59
Speaker 2: That's a really good question. I had to pull up
23:01
Speaker 2: Pro Football Reference to answer this for a second because
23:03
Speaker 2: I had to look at the entire conference and just
23:07
Speaker 2: give me two seconds to kind of brainstorm for a second.
23:10
Speaker 1: I was absolutely but.
23:14
Speaker 2: I do think like when you like, for example, I
23:16
Speaker 2: love what Minnesota does and in terms of uh, good Lord,
23:23
Speaker 2: I'm not Teah. Kevin O'Connell was Cliff O'Connell, but I
23:27
Speaker 2: like what he does from a leadership standpoint, And obviously
23:29
Speaker 2: you bring in a defensive coordinator, you know who's who's
23:33
Speaker 2: got himself in some trouble with TUA over the last
23:36
Speaker 2: couple of seasons, but you know he's he was a
23:38
Speaker 2: defensive coordinator last year with him, and like he's turned
23:40
Speaker 2: that defense around from a standpoint of like being consistently
23:43
Speaker 2: good and in terms of how he brings pressure, how
23:45
Speaker 2: he schemes things up. That was one team that I
23:47
Speaker 2: thought that that could really do something if they had
23:49
Speaker 2: their starter. I don't trust Sam Donald right now, and
23:51
Speaker 2: maybe that was their projected starter. But at the same time,
23:55
Speaker 2: JJ going down just makes things a little bit murky
23:58
Speaker 2: there Chicago and Green Bay. The whole reason why bringing
24:01
Speaker 2: this up is the NC North is probably one of
24:03
Speaker 2: the top divisions just compared to the AFC North from
24:05
Speaker 2: last year. Like that is that is one of the
24:07
Speaker 2: top dogs in the conference, so you got to consider them.
24:11
Speaker 2: I think you're looking at two teams maybe possibly in
24:13
Speaker 2: the NFC South that's competing for uh that's for sure,
24:16
Speaker 2: competing for maybe a wild card spot. So like I
24:19
Speaker 2: think about them, I think about the West and the Rams.
24:22
Speaker 2: Rams is always competing so long as Sean mcvahan and
24:24
Speaker 2: Matt Stafford are a duo, and and so is Seattle
24:29
Speaker 2: by extent. But they got a rookie head coach who
24:31
Speaker 2: knows what's going on over there. Percentage wise, man, I
24:35
Speaker 2: probably have to give it like a forty five percent
24:37
Speaker 2: chance going into the season. I think the ceiling, if
24:40
Speaker 2: we're talking about playoffs at this point, I think the
24:42
Speaker 2: ceiling for Washington is ten wins. I think the floor
24:46
Speaker 2: can be as low as probably seven, maybe even six, honestly,
24:50
Speaker 2: but if I had to put a number on it,
24:51
Speaker 2: for sure, I would say the floor can be seven
24:54
Speaker 2: wins with Washington this year. So I don't, I don't really.
24:59
Speaker 2: I would take a lot uh in terms of like
25:02
Speaker 2: how they compete weekend and week out to say, all right,
25:04
Speaker 2: this is probably a play off.
25:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, very good again, folks. Jamal for us
25:07
Speaker 1: from the Trap or Dive podcast a great great podcast.
25:11
Speaker 1: Listen on whatever podcast platform you're listening to us on.
25:14
Speaker 1: Check them out on YouTube as well at let Maul
25:17
Speaker 1: Tell It Onto the Twitter slash x buddy It was
25:20
Speaker 1: great talking to you. I always love having conversations with
25:23
Speaker 1: you about the commanders, about the NFL. Man, I'd love
25:26
Speaker 1: to talk to you again at some point down the road.
25:28
Speaker 2: My friend appreciated boss Man. You know where to find me. Man,
25:31
Speaker 2: you got my ig, you got my to it a doll,
25:33
Speaker 2: so just hit me. Appreciate you, Jeff.
25:35
Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for us here on Opposition Territory
25:38
Speaker 1: this week. Please share our podcast with your friends and
25:41
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25:44
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25:51
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