Latest / Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast / Episode 68 feat. Kevin Nibley - Commanders Year in Review & What's Next, Wagner winning CPOY, the Gore trade to the Rangers

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Episode 68 feat. Kevin Nibley - Commanders Year in Review & What's Next, Wagner winning CPOY, the Gore trade to the Rangers · Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast

• 0:25
  Welcome to another edition of the Sports Ave.
• 0:27
  Twisted podcast. We have a favorite guest that's
• 0:31
  back once again, and we love to have him on because he covers
• 0:35
  all Washington sports, usually the Nationals and the
• 0:37
  Commanders. But this time we're going to
• 0:39
  talk about the Commanders. And we welcome back Kevin Nibley
• 0:42
  once again. And we love having you on
• 0:44
  because you have great insight, great information.
• 0:46
  Welcome back. Yeah, Thanks guys.
• 0:49
  I I really appreciate you having me on and excited to do another
• 0:52
  one here. Yeah, thanks for fitting us in.
• 0:56
  You said about about us fitting you in.
• 0:58
  But, you know, we know you're so busy these days and, you know,
• 1:02
  traveling between, you know, New York and Washington and whatnot.
• 1:05
  So thanks, man, for joining us. And we're excited to talk
• 1:09
  commanders with you this time, get a little bit of your insight
• 1:12
  on the team going into the side offseason.
• 1:16
  Yeah, no, always a pleasure, you know, excited to get into it.
• 1:20
  Yeah, for sure. And let's get this thing started
• 1:23
  here. So let's talk about the year
• 1:26
  before. So the Commanders drafted Jaden
• 1:30
  Daniels #2 pick overall. Yeah.
• 1:33
  Nobody really knew what the Commander's expectations were
• 1:36
  heading into JD Daniels season. And not only they made it to the
• 1:42
  NFC Championship game, JD Daniels became Rookie of the
• 1:44
  Year and exceedingly so. Like coming into the 2025
• 1:48
  season, the expectations were high, but unfortunately, the
• 1:51
  season didn't go as it as it should have been.
• 1:54
  But Kevin, so talk to me about this, man.
• 1:57
  So what went wrong? Where did it go South?
• 2:01
  And like what happened over all that things that should have
• 2:05
  happened didn't happen this year.
• 2:08
  Yeah, it was kind of like the perfect storm.
• 2:11
  I, I guess you could look at it, you know, if 2024 was the
• 2:15
  perfect storm in terms of everything going right and this
• 2:18
  rebuilding team getting all the way to the NFC title game, which
• 2:22
  it was, you know, 2025 was sadly like perfect storm in the other
• 2:26
  direction where everything went wrong and the team, you know, I
• 2:30
  think at one point they'd lost nine in a row or something like
• 2:32
  that. But yeah, I mean it, it all
• 2:33
  started in training camp. Terry Mclaurin had issues with
• 2:38
  his contract. He held out.
• 2:40
  That became this huge distraction.
• 2:44
  Then when he finally did sign before the season, he got
• 2:46
  injured really early on, I think in the second game of the year
• 2:50
  against the Raiders and he was out.
• 2:52
  I think not really having that deep threat to take the top off
• 2:54
  the defense really screwed up the offense the way it's
• 2:59
  designed. So, you know, if if you watched
• 3:02
  any of the games, the defenses were, you know, pushing their
• 3:05
  safeties up and committing everything to stop the run.
• 3:08
  And, you know, without Mclaurin, we really didn't have any great
• 3:12
  receivers. Diva Samuel was OK, but I think
• 3:14
  he's a little past his prime. He doesn't have a separation.
• 3:17
  He used to and you know, we drafted, you know, or Noah Brown
• 3:23
  was injured the whole year we drafted.
• 3:27
  Sorry, his name is Escape Me. Luke McCaffrey What was?
• 3:30
  It. Oh, yeah, Luke.
• 3:31
  Yeah. McCaffrey didn't quite step up
• 3:33
  Jalen Lane. Sorry.
• 3:34
  I was. He was.
• 3:35
  Escaping for a second. We drafted him and he's a decent
• 3:37
  punt returner, but you know, we tried him in the slot, we tried
• 3:40
  McCaffrey, but yeah, essentially just they didn't really have any
• 3:44
  receivers that were really kind of like the Bills, honestly,
• 3:48
  like they're having issues at the receiver position.
• 3:50
  They didn't have enough to make up for it.
• 3:52
  And then unfortunately, as you all probably saw, Jaden Daniels
• 3:55
  took some really big hits. He spent most of the season
• 3:59
  injured. And I think it was just this
• 4:01
  perfect storm of of that the offense wasn't producing.
• 4:04
  And then the defense for whatever reason, took a huge
• 4:07
  step back and was pretty awful for the first half of the season
• 4:11
  to the point where they had to fire the defensive coordinator.
• 4:14
  And, you know, the defense got a Dan Quinn took that over towards
• 4:18
  the end of the season. It got a little bit better down
• 4:20
  the stretch, but at that point the season was lost and yeah, it
• 4:24
  just was like kind of the year from hell.
• 4:26
  I guess I put it that way for for Washington.
• 4:30
  Yeah, you mentioned Jayden Daniels.
• 4:32
  You know, he goes from the winning the rookie of the Year
• 4:35
  and taking the team to the NFC title game.
• 4:38
  And, you know, I I draft him in fantasy.
• 4:41
  So I was so excited. I'm like, I got Jayden Daniels.
• 4:44
  He's gonna tear it up this year. And then, you know, he just has
• 4:47
  a just a forgettable season, you know, with injuries and, and
• 4:51
  when he was on the field, he really didn't perform.
• 4:53
  But we don't know if he was playing through injury, probably
• 4:57
  was it was just one of those seasons where it's like, you
• 5:00
  know, you just, you know, wipe the slate clean, go into next
• 5:04
  year and hope for the best. But tell us, tell us a little
• 5:07
  bit about, you know, the season he had and what he was dealing
• 5:11
  with and, and everything like that.
• 5:15
  Yeah, no, just a rough season. You know, I mean, they they look
• 5:18
  good in the first game against the Giants, everything looked
• 5:22
  like it should. And then they went up to Green
• 5:24
  Bay like on a short week for the second game of the season and
• 5:28
  they got the defense. Just that was when Green Bay had
• 5:31
  its full healthy defense with Michael Parsons, you know,
• 5:33
  coming over from Dallas. And they just got to their, you
• 5:37
  know, their butts kicked on defense and, and and Jayden got
• 5:41
  hurt in that game. So then he was out for a couple
• 5:44
  games and Mary Odo is in the next couple weeks.
• 5:46
  He he came back against the Chargers and, and looked pretty
• 5:50
  good. And, and that was like probably
• 5:52
  the last game where the commanders look good as they
• 5:55
  beat the Chargers in Los Angeles 27 to 10 and they look like they
• 5:59
  did in 2024. And then they had a rough loss
• 6:03
  to Chicago. Then they Jaden got hurt in
• 6:08
  Dallas again. He he took a sack in a rough way
• 6:11
  where his knee got twisted. And then that was pretty much
• 6:14
  like the end of the season. I I think he eventually came
• 6:16
  back against Seattle and which everyone saw and he he got his
• 6:21
  elbow broken or dislocated and twisted all awful.
• 6:24
  And then he was out for a few weeks.
• 6:25
  They tried him again against Minnesota.
• 6:27
  Then he got hurt again. So yeah, it was just like this
• 6:30
  it it seemed like he got injured early in the season and maybe
• 6:34
  they rushed him back when they shouldn't have.
• 6:36
  It's hard to say. But it seemed like when they
• 6:37
  tried to bring him back, he got hurt again.
• 6:39
  And it's rough because now, you know, going in, I think we're
• 6:43
  all traumatized. Every DC football fan was
• 6:45
  traumatized by what happened with RG3, where he like, had
• 6:49
  this amazing year and was the rookie of the year and then the
• 6:51
  following year got hurt. And I think a lot of us are
• 6:53
  worried. OK, is Jaden going to be?
• 6:56
  Sometimes we joke and call him RG 4, you know, or.
• 6:59
  Is he going to be the next? Version of that where we had
• 7:02
  this one amazing year and then now, you know, because they do
• 7:05
  have similar frames. They're both kind of speedsters,
• 7:08
  but but a little skinny for quarterback.
• 7:10
  And, you know, I I Jaden, I think is a much better passer
• 7:13
  and I hope he has a better career.
• 7:15
  But and I think he will, but but yeah, and obviously you have to
• 7:19
  be concerned about his durability after the season.
• 7:22
  You just saw where I couldn't stay on the field and it just
• 7:24
  seemed like every hit he took really, you know, he got really
• 7:28
  hurt damage. So yeah, really rough season.
• 7:33
  Let's dive into the coaching staff here, and this is probably
• 7:36
  a very important topic to talk about.
• 7:38
  It's that Dan Quinn was hired offseason prior to that and
• 7:43
  coming off a down year, he cleaned house like he he didn't
• 7:47
  mess around. And if you look at they had to
• 7:49
  fire Cliff Quinsbury, they fired their DC as well.
• 7:53
  And they hired, they promoted David Bluff as the new OC.
• 7:57
  And also they hired an interesting guy with Durante
• 8:02
  Jones. He came for the Vikings
• 8:03
  organization. Well, he was also assisted with
• 8:06
  Brian Flores. But the interesting hire that I
• 8:10
  saw, and this is interesting to me, is that the Commanders hired
• 8:13
  Eric Henderson from the Rams, who was pretty much Aaron
• 8:16
  Donald's spy as AD line coach. And that's a fascinating hiring.
• 8:22
  And talk about why it had to happen, what went wrong with the
• 8:27
  coaching staff and what do you expect with the new coaching
• 8:30
  staff realigned? Yeah, no, like, obviously the
• 8:36
  defense was atrocious last year. You know, you could argue
• 8:40
  whether that's coaching or the roster.
• 8:42
  I mean, there's not a lot of, they're not a lot of pass
• 8:46
  rushers. You know, I think Von Miller,
• 8:48
  you know, who obviously is towards the end.
• 8:50
  Of his career. You know, as one of our leaders
• 8:53
  in sacks, so that that tells you all there is to know.
• 8:55
  I mean, I Doris Armstrong was a really good the end.
• 8:59
  He was getting some pressure, but he got injured.
• 9:03
  So did Baptiste, so did Dietrich wise.
• 9:06
  So it like we we had some decent pass rushers, but they all got
• 9:10
  injured like early in the season.
• 9:12
  And so it's kind of just like a throw in, you know, a lot of
• 9:17
  backups and just just kind of trying to patch a hole in the
• 9:19
  boat sort of with with with any type of pressure.
• 9:22
  So, you know, we didn't get much pressure the the secondary for
• 9:27
  whatever reason, they were really poor last year for most
• 9:31
  of the season. So I I do understand why they
• 9:33
  fired with it defensive coordinator that had I mean, it
• 9:37
  was just embarrassing how bad the defense was through the
• 9:40
  first half of the season. So obviously it changed to be
• 9:42
  made there. Hopefully, yeah, hopefully the
• 9:45
  new regime comes in and and tightens things up.
• 9:48
  Even when yeah, Dan Quinn took over the defense towards the end
• 9:51
  of last season, it got a bit better.
• 9:52
  So I'm hoping and and they do have some cap space and and you
• 9:57
  know, some draft picks, hopefully they can patch the
• 10:00
  defense up a little bit. In terms of the offense, I, I, I
• 10:03
  was a little surprised that Kingsbury, I guess they say they
• 10:07
  didn't fire him, but they did the thing where they're like,
• 10:09
  they mutually agreed to part ways, but that's more or less
• 10:12
  means he was fired. I was a little surprised that
• 10:15
  that happened. There were some rumblings that
• 10:18
  Quinn and Adam Peters, the GM, didn't really like.
• 10:22
  They didn't think the offense was helping the defense or
• 10:24
  helping the team in the sense that Kingsbury likes to run a
• 10:27
  lot of no huddle, fast-paced, fast tempo.
• 10:30
  And that's great when you're scoring a lot of points.
• 10:33
  But when you're not, you know, you're basically going 3 and out
• 10:36
  and taking 40 seconds a minute off the clock and putting your
• 10:39
  defense right back on the field. You know, that fast-paced
• 10:42
  offense, when it's not producing, puts a lot of strain
• 10:44
  on the defense because you're not controlling the clock or,
• 10:47
  you know, anything like that. So yeah, I think that might have
• 10:50
  been a reason they got Kingsbury out.
• 10:53
  You know, it might make more sense.
• 10:54
  Like, one of the strengths of the team is Frosty Merritt, the
• 10:58
  rookie running back they got looks like he could be, you
• 11:01
  know, a star potentially. And then Chris Rodriguez was
• 11:05
  very good as well. So in in theory, you know, they
• 11:08
  could have a good running game. And I think also too, if you
• 11:10
  want to protect Jaden's health a little bit, you know, leaning
• 11:14
  maybe reshaping the offense to be a little like kind of what
• 11:17
  the Bills did, you know, where they tried to run the ball more
• 11:21
  at a certain point, you know, under Joe Brady, like, you know,
• 11:24
  maybe that's something that the commanders will try to do.
• 11:27
  And, and maybe that's why they want to get Kingsbury out
• 11:30
  because Kingsbury really loves kind of a spread air raid type
• 11:35
  of situation. And and potentially I could see
• 11:38
  they're they're trying to maybe remake that a little bit.
• 11:41
  So that that would be I think the reasons and and yeah,
• 11:44
  hopefully, you know, obviously the Vikings have had some pretty
• 11:48
  good defenses. So, you know, I hope that the
• 11:52
  defenses improves and and you you really just hope that you
• 11:55
  can keep Jaden healthy a quarterback next year.
• 11:58
  And and that's going to decide what's going to happen with the
• 12:01
  offense. And when he's healthy, he's one
• 12:03
  of the most electrifying quarterbacks in the league.
• 12:05
  So it really comes down to a plan to did not get him hit so
• 12:09
  much like he was last year. Just talk a little bit about the
• 12:14
  wide receiver in the tight end rooms and, and, and a little bit
• 12:18
  about, you know, going into to last season, Mclaurin had that
• 12:24
  contract kind of hold out at where he, I think he accepted a
• 12:28
  three-year deal. You have, you know, you have
• 12:34
  Debo Samuel there, you have Traylon Burks, Luke McCaffrey
• 12:39
  and Noah Brown ended the season on IR.
• 12:42
  And then at tight end, I believe Zach Hertz is a free agent now.
• 12:46
  I don't know if he's going to retire or not.
• 12:48
  You know, he's, he's getting up there.
• 12:50
  So, and I, I believe you have Benson not as your number one
• 12:54
  now with John Bates and, and Colson Yankov as, as your
• 12:58
  backup. So what needs to happen going
• 13:01
  forward to improve that chord, do you think, in your opinion,
• 13:06
  as we head into the offseason here?
• 13:09
  Yeah, I mean, I definitely think wide receiver would be a need in
• 13:13
  the draft or free agency. Mclaurin, when healthy, is still
• 13:20
  top flight receiver, a deep threat.
• 13:22
  He can, you know, take the top off the defense or at least
• 13:25
  force the safeties to stay back. And I think they really missed
• 13:28
  that last year. You know, the safeties are able
• 13:30
  to cheat up and stop the run and stop the short pass and, and
• 13:33
  clog the field where when you have Mclaurin out there, it
• 13:37
  forces them to respect that. You know, you can beat them over
• 13:40
  the top. Debo, you know, I, I think he
• 13:44
  would be all right as a, as a slot, like he's an interesting
• 13:47
  guy. I don't know, I, I they could
• 13:50
  potentially cut him for some cap savings.
• 13:53
  I I'm not 100% sure if he gets brought back or not.
• 13:58
  He was fine is the #2 But yeah, when he was forced to be the
• 14:03
  number one for most of the season with Mclaurin out, he
• 14:06
  just doesn't have the speed to be that guy.
• 14:08
  I don't think anymore. Burks was interesting pick up.
• 14:11
  They got him off the street in the middle of season.
• 14:14
  He he was like once a high draft pick.
• 14:16
  He he showed some flashes. So you hope maybe that's a guy
• 14:20
  that they can kind of activate or get to live up to, you know,
• 14:25
  the potential that he had coming out of the draft.
• 14:28
  But yeah, that would be, you would think that they would
• 14:30
  spend a draft pick on a receiver or try to maybe get a veteran
• 14:36
  free agent or just someone to help that core tight end.
• 14:39
  Yeah Ertz I want to say he screwed up his ACL.
• 14:44
  He had an injury towards the end of the season.
• 14:46
  So he's a free agent and he's probably out for like a year or
• 14:49
  so. He's definitely not going to be
• 14:50
  coming back. So Suno, who was a second round
• 14:53
  pick, is probably going to be the guy.
• 14:57
  You know, he was one of Adam Peters picks.
• 14:59
  So you would think he'd they'd give him this next year to prove
• 15:03
  himself. But yeah, I, I, you know, that I
• 15:07
  do think they're missing some playmakers, you know, or just
• 15:10
  depth, maybe. I mean it when Mclaurin and
• 15:12
  Samuel and everyone are healthy, the offense looks pretty OK with
• 15:16
  Jaden out there. But as soon as they, you know,
• 15:18
  once Mclaurin was out of these games, they were kind of exposed
• 15:22
  as not really having any kind of deep threat to threaten the
• 15:25
  safeties and and they were pretty easy to defend.
• 15:28
  So you would hope at least in a draft, maybe they get a young
• 15:32
  speed guy, if not with a first round pick.
• 15:37
  You know, I know that they they traded away some of their picks,
• 15:40
  but but you know, hopefully like a first or second day young
• 15:44
  receiver might be something that could benefit the team for sure.
• 15:49
  You mentioned about the RB situation.
• 15:51
  You like you said they they promoted David Boff as a, as the
• 15:56
  OC of this team. But The thing is like I was
• 15:58
  looking at this way, like prior to this year, like Austin Eckler
• 16:03
  was technically the RB-1 heading into season, but he had the
• 16:07
  unfortunate season ended injury. And we thought that Jacoby
• 16:14
  Krosky Merritt would have been the RB one, but it didn't seem
• 16:17
  like they utilized him to start the year.
• 16:19
  They did at certain moments, but it seems like they they pivoted
• 16:23
  to other running backs like the Jeremy Mcnichols and the Chris
• 16:26
  Rodriguez. And if there's more, just so if
• 16:28
  you could mention it as well, like like could you see JCM as
• 16:32
  the RB-1 heading into next year or do you think that they could
• 16:37
  go and address another running back outside the organization?
• 16:43
  I think that that that Krosky Merritt would be the guy next
• 16:47
  year. You know, I do think there's
• 16:48
  something to the fact that he was a rookie and maybe they felt
• 16:52
  like he needed to work on his pass protection and kind of, you
• 16:55
  know, the the non sexy parts of being a running back, like, you
• 16:58
  know, like picking up blitzers and and you know, his work and
• 17:03
  receiving and things like that where, you know, guys like
• 17:05
  Mcnichols or Rodriguez are a little more experienced and
• 17:08
  maybe a little bit better with that stuff.
• 17:09
  But you know, he's had some crazy good runs.
• 17:12
  I mean, he had some runs against the Chargers and then on
• 17:15
  Christmas Day against the Cowboys, he broke a few.
• 17:17
  So he's definitely the most explosive kind of interesting
• 17:22
  back they have and I would think he would probably have the shot
• 17:26
  to be the number one guy. And Rodriguez for a backup is
• 17:29
  pretty solid. So I would say with all the
• 17:31
  needs they have, I mean, they definitely need like a pass
• 17:34
  rusher. They might need help in the
• 17:36
  secondary. Bobby Wagner's not getting any
• 17:38
  younger at linebacker. They they have needs all across
• 17:41
  the defense that I would think maybe they roll with what they
• 17:45
  have at running back, you know, But that being said, you never
• 17:48
  know. I mean, Krosky Merritt himself I
• 17:50
  think was a seventh round pick. So yeah, you never know.
• 17:52
  Maybe they try to get someone late in the draft this year, but
• 17:56
  I wouldn't expect them to address running back early or
• 17:59
  with any kind of marquee free agent, You know, wouldn't be my,
• 18:02
  you know, but you never know with these things.
• 18:08
  In a league where protecting the quarterback is so paramount and
• 18:14
  you know the offensive line has so much importance.
• 18:17
  Last year you used a first round draft pick on Josh Connerly
• 18:21
  Junior. You went and traded for Laramie
• 18:25
  Tunsil, Chris Paul, Nick Algretti, Andrew Wiley round out
• 18:31
  your offensive line. So tell us a little bit about
• 18:34
  where it stands heading into this season and is this
• 18:38
  something you feel they need to add to?
• 18:42
  I think in general, it's one of the strengths of the team.
• 18:46
  Connor Lee struggled a little bit.
• 18:48
  I mean, they did kind of just throw him out there, you know,
• 18:52
  to sink or swim, but he got better as the year went on.
• 18:55
  I mean, Tonsils, obviously a proven name at left tackle.
• 18:59
  He was very good last year and in general, you know, I I think
• 19:04
  it was the line I thought did OK.
• 19:06
  I mean, you could always add depth to it.
• 19:08
  Coleman was a high draft pick that, you know, maybe he gets a
• 19:12
  chance to play a little bit better and start or take one of
• 19:15
  the guard spots from caller Wiley.
• 19:18
  But you know, it, Allegretti you could probably or I guess be a
• 19:23
  Daz was injured. He would probably have been a
• 19:25
  starting center. So maybe they look at bringing
• 19:28
  in a younger center. But in general, I didn't feel
• 19:32
  like the offensive line was a huge problem for the team.
• 19:35
  It really just seemed like the passing game, especially with
• 19:40
  Jayden out and then just not having enough separation from
• 19:45
  their receivers, you know, that was kind of an issue.
• 19:48
  And especially, you know, with a coordinator like Kingsberry who
• 19:51
  wants to run, you know, passing 1st, like kind of air raid
• 19:55
  scheme to not really have receivers open was a problem.
• 19:59
  So yeah, I I do think, you know, I would look at maybe adding
• 20:03
  some depth to that offensive line.
• 20:04
  But I don't think you need to go out and like make a splash or
• 20:07
  get some big name lineman or use like a day, you know, a first
• 20:11
  round draft pick on one, I do think.
• 20:14
  The offensive line is good enough for now, you know, and it
• 20:18
  would just be something I'd look to strengthen the reserves.
• 20:21
  So if there is an injury, it's not going to, you know, totally
• 20:24
  take the team down with it. Right.
• 20:28
  I just look at their D line right now as it stands, like you
• 20:31
  said, like we'll talk, we'll bet you about Bobby Wagner later
• 20:34
  about that, but just talk about yeah, we'll talk about that.
• 20:37
  There's a there's a reason why, but talk about the other guy
• 20:41
  like Bob Miller. I mean, he was with the Bills
• 20:43
  and Bronco. I mean, he's been the league
• 20:44
  forever now. And I don't know where it says
• 20:47
  right then you got Frankie Louvre, you got Jeremy Reeves,
• 20:50
  Will Harris has been around for a while and Mike Sandrist, St.
• 20:55
  Ristol, another one, Stan Ristol, Preston Smith.
• 20:59
  I know it's a bit age, but at the same time like like you
• 21:03
  said, they had a down year defensively, like what seems to
• 21:07
  be an issue. Do you think there has to be
• 21:09
  improvement? You would have to think right.
• 21:12
  Yeah, that the defense is pretty poor last year.
• 21:16
  And and I think one thing that a lot of people might forget is in
• 21:18
  2024, you know, with such a great season that they had, the
• 21:22
  defense wasn't like really amazing in 2024.
• 21:25
  It was just that the offense was so good in 2024 that, you know,
• 21:30
  we're winning a lot of games like in the 30s or, you know, it
• 21:33
  wasn't like we're winning a bunch of games in 2024, like 17
• 21:37
  to 10 or anything. I mean, we're winning shootouts.
• 21:40
  So yeah, the defense, I mean, the first thing that jumps out
• 21:44
  is they don't have a great pass rush, at least on the edges,
• 21:48
  like up the middle on the line. They're pretty decent with Duron
• 21:51
  Payne's a good veteran who's been around.
• 21:55
  And then Johnny Newton was a second round draft pick, I
• 22:00
  believe. And he's he's shown flashes that
• 22:04
  he could become a star at a certain point.
• 22:06
  So they they look OK at D tackle, but you know, on the
• 22:10
  edges when Armstrong got injured and Baptiste and those were some
• 22:16
  solid edge rushers and and they really didn't have anyone to
• 22:20
  step in and make an impact. So you would think like with
• 22:24
  their first round pick, you know, targeting an edge with, I
• 22:28
  believe I have a 7th pick overall that would probably make
• 22:30
  sense. And in terms of the linebackers,
• 22:35
  Lulu is still solid. But yeah, Wagner is just, he's
• 22:37
  getting older. I mean, Miller's very old.
• 22:40
  I, I, you know, my wife's from Buffalo.
• 22:42
  And so I've, I've watched him now on the Bills for a few years
• 22:44
  and then now on the Commanders. And I I mean, nothing against
• 22:47
  Von Miller, but he's when you look at his numbers, it looks
• 22:50
  like, oh, he did OK. But honestly, he's like the king
• 22:53
  of getting a sack in a game you're losing by like 21, you
• 22:57
  know, in the fourth quarter. He's not he's he's not getting
• 23:01
  his sacks are not coming in crunch time of close games.
• 23:06
  I mean, you know, the last time he did that was before he tore
• 23:09
  his ACL on the Bills. You know, that first years with
• 23:11
  the Bills, he was still could do things like that.
• 23:13
  And I think he won them a game against the Chiefs pressuring
• 23:16
  Mahomes late. But you know, it's been a few
• 23:18
  years and I do think Bob Miller's kind of playing out the
• 23:20
  string. So he's a guy I'm not even sure
• 23:23
  if he'll be back with the team. Maybe he's a cut.
• 23:27
  Yeah. So they need they need some help
• 23:29
  at linebacker. I mean, Medrano was a was a
• 23:32
  draft pick last year. So maybe he ascends and and
• 23:36
  steps into starting role. But you would think in general
• 23:38
  they need help at linebacker. Marshawn Lattimore, who was a
• 23:42
  quarterback they traded for and wasn't very good.
• 23:45
  He was our number one corner the last year and 1/2.
• 23:49
  He tore his ACL I believe at the end, you know, towards the end
• 23:52
  of the season. So he's probably going to be a
• 23:54
  cut. He's probably off the team.
• 23:56
  Sandra Stills was another, was a guy we drafted before in 2024.
• 24:00
  He's a good nickel corner, but unfortunately we've had to kind
• 24:03
  of play him on the outside because we haven't had enough
• 24:07
  good corners to keep him inside. So yeah, I would think
• 24:11
  quarterback would be another need.
• 24:14
  So yeah, they have essentially needs all along the defense.
• 24:17
  And I mean, I guess what I would hope is the new coordinators
• 24:21
  able to, you know, install a scheme or or maybe get some of
• 24:24
  his guys, you know, to come from Minnesota just for depth or
• 24:27
  whatever. Just, you know, hopefully can
• 24:29
  put in just because a lot of times with the, you know, if you
• 24:32
  get the the right scheme and the right coordinator who can kind
• 24:36
  of get guys who aren't necessarily stars playing above
• 24:39
  their ability level, than that can mask some things.
• 24:42
  And, and I think that's what you got to hope because, yeah,
• 24:44
  they're they're not a lot of big names on this defense or the
• 24:46
  ones that we do have are definitely at the end of their
• 24:48
  career. So, you know, defense needs a
• 24:51
  lot of work. With all the issues you just
• 24:55
  mentioned on defense, there was one bright spot this season.
• 24:59
  Bobby Wagner had 79 combined tackles, 83 assists to tackles,
• 25:04
  4 1/2 sacks, 2 interceptions, enough to win comeback and
• 25:08
  comeback Player of the year. So I just just, you know, tell
• 25:13
  us the kind of player Bobby's been for you guys and just talk
• 25:17
  about the way he goes about his business on and off the field.
• 25:22
  Yeah, no, he's a great leader and, and I want to say he was
• 25:25
  like the Walter Payton Man of the Year maybe.
• 25:28
  I mean, he's he's great in the community.
• 25:29
  I think he's a great guy to have in your locker room.
• 25:33
  And yeah, he's he, he had a really great 2024, like 2025.
• 25:38
  I just feel like he might be getting a little older.
• 25:40
  I think he's really good against the run.
• 25:42
  But I know that sometimes they would kind of isolate him in the
• 25:45
  passing game where they'd have him, you know, trying to cover
• 25:47
  slot receivers, and it was like a big mismatch.
• 25:51
  So he's a, I'll be interested to see, you know, if they bring him
• 25:55
  back for another run and start him a lot or maybe he's more in
• 25:58
  a rotation. You know, it's just he's 35.
• 26:01
  And, you know, that's just in football years, you know, as a
• 26:04
  linebacker, you're getting kind of up there, you know, But in
• 26:08
  terms of like a guy in the locker room and a leader, you
• 26:10
  know, you couldn't ask for anything better from him, for
• 26:12
  sure. So the Commanders have the 7th
• 26:18
  pick in this upcoming draft in April, and right after that it's
• 26:23
  the 71st pick because I think that you guys traded some of
• 26:26
  your draft assets right to the Texas.
• 26:28
  Yeah, I think I was like that. For Marshawn Lattimore.
• 26:30
  Right. So you guys and also for.
• 26:34
  For tonsil those, yeah. They kind of.
• 26:36
  Lost some? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 26:39
  So how do they maneuver this now?
• 26:41
  But I mean, the 7th pick, the 7th pick, it's pretty high pick
• 26:44
  in the draft. And like you said, some people
• 26:47
  say that teams do need a need, but at the same time, some
• 26:51
  people think it's the wrong direction to go.
• 26:54
  Could be BPA best player available.
• 26:55
  Like how would you look at what Adam Peters needs to do to
• 26:59
  address to get the next like probably big player?
• 27:02
  Because when you go that high, you always go go get that the
• 27:06
  next like core player of the team.
• 27:11
  Yeah, No, I in a perfect world, a team that needs a quarterback
• 27:15
  that maybe missed out on a quarterback in the first couple
• 27:18
  picks would want to trade up to seven and like pay you a haul.
• 27:22
  And then maybe you could like move down to 18 and pick some up
• 27:25
  in the 30s forties. And if so, if a deal like that
• 27:28
  came about, I would do that because I do think this team,
• 27:32
  especially on the defensive side, I think they have enough
• 27:35
  needs that more would be better in terms of pick.
• 27:40
  But if, if a deal like that doesn't come together, I think
• 27:43
  you got to look at an edge rusher.
• 27:46
  I mean, I, the defense badly needs an impact edge rusher.
• 27:50
  I, I, you know, we didn't have it and the past defense as a
• 27:54
  result, you know, just kind of was hung out to dry with the
• 27:57
  other teams quarterback having all day to, you know, like JJ
• 28:00
  McCarthy is like picking us apart because he's standing back
• 28:04
  there, you know, and all day to throw.
• 28:05
  So definitely an edge rusher would be a pretty big need.
• 28:10
  And then I mean, you know, or if you really want to double down
• 28:13
  on Jayden and the offense, a wide receiver, some kind of
• 28:17
  speed was like a like a a wide receiver that could be a true
• 28:22
  number one and and take the top off a defense type of a player.
• 28:25
  This would be the two biggest needs.
• 28:27
  But you know, I would think with Quinn being a defensive head
• 28:30
  coach, it's that picks probably going to be on defense if they
• 28:33
  stay at 7 and most likely an edge rusher I would think.
• 28:40
  The Commanders have $67,000,000 in cap space, which is 6 most in
• 28:44
  the NFL going into this offseason.
• 28:47
  So how do you figure that this team will go about using some of
• 28:52
  that money to improve? Yeah, no, definitely.
• 28:56
  And and they could have more too.
• 28:57
  Or I believe if they cut Lattimore, which I'm sure they
• 29:00
  will, that's like another 20 million depending what they want
• 29:05
  to do with Debo. With Debo, that could be another
• 29:08
  12. And Bob Miller, I don't have his
• 29:11
  number in front of me, but that'd be another guy.
• 29:12
  I'm not necessarily sure they're bringing him back for another
• 29:15
  year or so. Yeah, they definitely have some
• 29:18
  some room to play with with the cap, which is great because like
• 29:22
  I just said, the team does have a bunch of needs and they did
• 29:25
  trade some of their draft picks for Tonsil and for Lattimore.
• 29:29
  So yeah, no, I mean, again, like edge rusher, probably a
• 29:33
  linebacker, probably a player in the secondary, those would be 3
• 29:37
  right off the top. And then, you know, maybe
• 29:41
  another veteran receiver if they don't draft 1 and, you know,
• 29:46
  it's just some some depth on the other line, like potentially a
• 29:49
  center. I could be someone or someone
• 29:53
  who could swing between center and guard would be needed.
• 29:58
  So, yeah. But you know, I I really think
• 30:00
  they got to look at that defense because it just was not good
• 30:04
  enough last year. And that would be the first
• 30:07
  thing I do in the draft and free agency, to be honest, is get
• 30:10
  that unit under control where they can be an effective
• 30:13
  defense. And then maybe take a little bit
• 30:15
  of pressure off of Jayden. I I think one of the reasons
• 30:18
  Jayden got hurt so much last year is he's trying to kind of
• 30:22
  put on the Cape and be Superman in a lot of these games.
• 30:24
  And just, you know, and I think they need to kind of try to
• 30:28
  build the whole team and try to come up with a it's kind of what
• 30:32
  the Bills did with Josh Allen at a certain point, you know, when
• 30:34
  they committed to James Cook and, and play in a certain way
• 30:37
  where it's like, you know, you want to make it so that this
• 30:40
  your quarterback doesn't have to to be Superman in every single
• 30:43
  game for you to win. And and I, I would start with a
• 30:45
  defense for sure. No, like The thing is like for
• 30:48
  you guys because like you said, a lot of things went downhill
• 30:50
  and right and with that meant much cap space.
• 30:54
  Like like you said, there's other ways you could maneuver
• 30:58
  from from Claire more Cap, like how much more do you think they
• 31:02
  could go? Like if they choose to go that
• 31:04
  way. Yeah, no, I mean, definitely, I
• 31:09
  want to say Lattimore's like 20 million and that's almost
• 31:12
  guaranteed. I mean, they're not going to
• 31:13
  bring him back to sit on IR, you know, and he's he's not under
• 31:17
  contract. So yeah, I think he's gone 100%.
• 31:22
  I would, you know, Devo Samuel was 12.
• 31:25
  You know, it's one of those things where I think it's like
• 31:27
  if they do it after a certain date, it goes to the following
• 31:29
  year, you know how they take that hit.
• 31:31
  But they could, it wouldn't shock me if Deebo didn't come
• 31:34
  back. Von Miller.
• 31:37
  I mean, I know we just talked about how nice Bobby Wagner is,
• 31:39
  but he's 35. I mean, that's another guy you
• 31:42
  might, you know, want to move on from just due to age.
• 31:46
  So they do have a lot of, you know, space to clear.
• 31:51
  So yeah, I mean, in theory, you know, they make a few moves or,
• 31:54
  you know, also you can obviously do the extensions and create
• 31:57
  more space that way. So it's, it's very possible that
• 32:00
  they could get up to $100 million or more in cap room with
• 32:04
  a few more moves. So, so they, they, they will
• 32:07
  have the ability to make some moves in, in free agency for
• 32:11
  sure. I know you mentioned earlier in
• 32:14
  the show that you didn't feel like they needed to add a
• 32:17
  running back, but I know there's been some talk online about
• 32:22
  after, especially after Kenneth Walker winning Super Bowl MVP
• 32:26
  and now he's a free agent this offseason.
• 32:29
  And you know, the story kind of would write itself if you went
• 32:32
  to play for you guys and you know what I mean?
• 32:35
  So I just you think they think they what would it be?
• 32:38
  What would he, what would you feel like if they went out and
• 32:40
  signed him tomorrow and be like, you know, I mean, he's a great
• 32:43
  agency, begins. He's a great running back and
• 32:47
  obviously it'd be hard to hate on that.
• 32:48
  But, you know, I, I do feel like a lot of us here are still
• 32:52
  traumatized by the Dan Snyder years, you know, and that would
• 32:56
  be, that would totally be a Dan Snyder move is go spend all your
• 32:59
  money on this, on this big name that just won a Super Bowl.
• 33:03
  And, you know, so where I do think winning football, you can
• 33:08
  find running backs in later rounds.
• 33:10
  You know, it's, it's, it's, I do think like I, I don't see Adam
• 33:14
  Peters being that kind of guy. He came from the San Francisco
• 33:18
  culture where, you know, they're picking backs up in the 5th, 6th
• 33:21
  round. And that's what he did with
• 33:22
  merit and merit was pretty good last year.
• 33:24
  And, and it looks like a young player on the rise.
• 33:26
  So I I'd be shocked if they spent that kind of money and
• 33:29
  those kind of resources on, you know, a guy like Walker who's,
• 33:34
  you know, at the at the peak of his value, probably right, you
• 33:37
  know, but you never know. I mean, this team did make a
• 33:40
  mistake though, after after 2024, you know, they did make it
• 33:44
  to the FC title game and I think they thought they were like one
• 33:46
  or two players away. So they, you know, they go out
• 33:49
  and they get Debo Samuel and they go out and they get tonsil
• 33:52
  and they traded at the, you know, for Lattimore and, you
• 33:55
  know, I think they thought a few more guys and like, we'll be a
• 33:59
  Super Bowl, you know, winning team.
• 34:01
  And obviously they couldn't have been farther from that last
• 34:03
  year. So yeah, I mean, if I were them,
• 34:07
  I would focus more on building the defense and just trying to
• 34:11
  make something a little more sustainable with the younger
• 34:13
  players. Look at it more for like we're
• 34:16
  building for the next four or five years, hopefully with Jane
• 34:19
  Daniels being healthy, then like we're going all in for one year.
• 34:23
  With that being said, though, you know, a lot of it has to do
• 34:25
  with schedule. We're like 2024, they were
• 34:27
  playing a last place schedule and, you know, they were able to
• 34:30
  go 12 and five and make it to a title game.
• 34:33
  And, you know, and then last year they were playing, you
• 34:37
  know, a good schedule and, and, you know, they had a tough
• 34:39
  schedule and played a lot of good teams and they didn't do so
• 34:42
  well. So, you know, this this coming
• 34:43
  year, they'll be back to playing, you know, an easier
• 34:47
  schedule and and, you know, maybe they can, you know, maybe
• 34:51
  with a couple moves they can be good again.
• 34:52
  But yeah, I, I wouldn't, yeah, Walker would be, I, I wouldn't
• 34:56
  do it. But you never know.
• 34:58
  You never know these days. I, I, I couldn't agree with you
• 35:00
  more. I couldn't agree with you more.
• 35:02
  The way you know, defense is so important, so I couldn't agree
• 35:06
  more. Could you see the Commanders
• 35:11
  make a splash this offseason? I mean, could they go for big
• 35:14
  free agent signing or could they go via trade?
• 35:16
  Because you saw the trades they made.
• 35:18
  They they went to go get Lattimore at the trade deadline
• 35:22
  in 2024. Then they went to go get Debo
• 35:25
  Samuel from the 49ers in the offseason last offseason and
• 35:29
  then they went also they got Lurby Tonsil.
• 35:31
  Could you see something like that?
• 35:33
  Let's just say if they have to trade someone from the roster or
• 35:37
  they get some sort of capital in return and do some trades
• 35:40
  because you know that this team is in a wind out mode.
• 35:44
  Yeah, no, it would be interesting.
• 35:46
  It does seem like that is Adam Peters style.
• 35:49
  I mean, we've only had him at GN for a couple years, but he has
• 35:54
  been bold to make moves for guys like Debo or or Lattimore or
• 35:58
  Tonsils. So yeah, it wouldn't shock me.
• 36:00
  I'm I'm looking at the list of the top free agents right now.
• 36:03
  Like George Pickens would be an interesting guy.
• 36:06
  I mean, that would help Trey Hendrickson from the Bengals.
• 36:10
  That would help Pierce on the Colts is interesting.
• 36:14
  So yeah, I mean, and they do have some money.
• 36:16
  So I I wouldn't be shocked for them to like get maybe 1 big
• 36:20
  free agent like that cuz cuz they really do have needs at
• 36:23
  receiver and edge. So wouldn't and, and looking at
• 36:28
  this this list now also to Kyle Pitts, looks like he's a free
• 36:31
  agent. Yeah, he's a free agent as well.
• 36:32
  That might be an interesting. That might be an interesting
• 36:35
  grab to pair with some no like, yeah, no and if you have some
• 36:39
  money, so it wouldn't shock me. I just as a fan though, I hope
• 36:45
  that that if they are signing guys, they're signing guys in
• 36:47
  their 20s and they're not doing the thing of getting the, the
• 36:51
  free agent in their mid to, you know, mid 30s for like one last
• 36:54
  push. Because I, I don't think we're
• 36:56
  at that point where we're like, you know, the bills are a team
• 36:58
  where you can get a guy in his 30s who's going to try to just
• 37:02
  ride for one season and try to win a title.
• 37:04
  I don't quite think we're there on the commander.
• 37:07
  So I do hope they make an impact in free agency, but I, I hope
• 37:11
  they're focused more on players that you're going to have around
• 37:14
  for the next five years versus like, let's get a guy for one
• 37:17
  year to try to win it this year. I I just don't think the
• 37:20
  roster's in that kind of shame. Did you see the commanders make
• 37:26
  trade within the roster to clear even more money?
• 37:29
  Because I know you mentioned or even some restructure guys,
• 37:34
  restructure candidates that could be available.
• 37:38
  Just I know you mentioned about cutting some guys that are dead
• 37:42
  weight essentially on the roster for this season.
• 37:46
  But yeah, is there any other ways that you can see this team
• 37:50
  making even, you know, making themselves even more cap space
• 37:53
  to go like really hard and free agency per SE?
• 37:58
  Yeah, no, I guess that Mariota I think is at the end of his deal.
• 38:02
  So so he'll he's going to come off the books and you know,
• 38:05
  Bobby Wagner I guess also is as well and and you know Von
• 38:09
  Miller. So those, you know, that they're
• 38:12
  going to have more space there. I mean, in terms of guys they
• 38:15
  could restructure, they just resigned Mclaurin.
• 38:19
  So I don't think they can do anything with him.
• 38:21
  But Tonsil would be an interesting guy.
• 38:24
  You know, maybe I think they he's under contract this year
• 38:28
  and potentially next, but that he would be someone that they
• 38:31
  could maybe play around with his figure who's, who's probably
• 38:35
  stands to be here for a few years, Frankie Louvu
• 38:40
  potentially. But yeah, no, I mean, again, and
• 38:46
  Debo would be a guy that I'm not sure I he is under contract, but
• 38:50
  I'm not sure they bring him back.
• 38:52
  But yeah, no, I don't know. I mean that that's I, it's, it's
• 38:58
  funny when you look at the Deron Payne, I guess would be a guy a
• 39:02
  lot of people talk wonder if they they they're going to cut
• 39:04
  him. I think I read somewhere that
• 39:06
  they are, they at least said publicly they don't want to do
• 39:09
  that. But he's a guy who he makes a
• 39:13
  lot of money at D tackle. He's a good D tackle, but maybe
• 39:16
  not worth what you're paying him.
• 39:18
  He'd be a guy potentially, you know, surprise cut or maybe they
• 39:22
  could move him in a trade or do something to free up some more
• 39:26
  money there. What would you say is Jaden
• 39:32
  Daniels next contract? I know that that's not going to
• 39:34
  be a conversation anytime soon, but when healthy, the way he
• 39:39
  plays, the ways his athleticism and all is like what contract
• 39:45
  could he potential potentially get in his next contract?
• 39:50
  Yeah, I mean, if, if he if we just prove, if he proves that
• 39:53
  this past year was like an aberration and that it was just
• 39:58
  a fluke season. And, you know, with, with just
• 40:00
  weird injuries, which every quarterback, you know, usually
• 40:02
  has at some point in their career.
• 40:04
  If he's able to come back and, and do another season that looks
• 40:08
  just like 2024 and, and, and follow that up and, and just,
• 40:12
  you know, if he's able to show he's the guy from 2024, then
• 40:15
  yeah, I think the Sky's the limit.
• 40:16
  I mean. You'd be talking, I don't know
• 40:18
  who makes the most right now. It's like 60 million a year or
• 40:21
  something. I mean, he would be in line for
• 40:23
  that kind of a deal like the highest paid quarterback, you
• 40:26
  know, or whatever it would be in a couple years when his contract
• 40:29
  is up. It's just it.
• 40:30
  But, you know, if he comes back and struggles with injuries and
• 40:33
  he can't stay on the field, then I think that, you know, changes
• 40:36
  the calculus a lot. So I mean, there's a there's a
• 40:38
  lot at stake for him and just in terms of reputation, in terms of
• 40:42
  money in this next year or so to prove that he, you know, that
• 40:46
  he's not the second coming of RG3, that he he is a guy who's
• 40:50
  going to be a durable quarterback.
• 40:52
  And, you know, someone you can count on, you know, right,
• 40:55
  Because like in the NFL, like they don't mind paying
• 40:57
  quarterbacks fifty $60 million if if you know, you're a star
• 41:02
  and you can take the team, you know, deep into the playoffs.
• 41:05
  But if you're only going to be available for four weeks a year,
• 41:08
  you know, you're not going to get that kind of money.
• 41:09
  So I do think there's a lot at stake for Jaden to prove he's
• 41:14
  that last year was a fluke with all the injuries.
• 41:17
  Yeah, especially the way quarterbacks are getting paid
• 41:20
  nowadays. It's insanity.
• 41:21
  Like if you think about this, like quarterback is the number
• 41:24
  one position in the sport and you see all the quarterback,
• 41:27
  even with Rob and myself being blue Bills fans.
• 41:30
  I mean, Josh Allen got that contract.
• 41:32
  I may rightfully so. He's our friend.
• 41:34
  I mean, he's the best quarterback in the game.
• 41:35
  But if you look at the way it's trending, like for example,
• 41:39
  Brock pretty got a big contract set you Trevor Lawrence, Jordan
• 41:43
  love, right. So you would have to think that
• 41:45
  Jaden, if he if he plays all, all to his standards, he
• 41:47
  probably gets more than any of those guys, right.
• 41:52
  Yeah, no, I mean he whatever that, you know, like I think he
• 41:55
  wouldn't come up for a couple years, but you know, whatever
• 41:58
  the going rate would be then I don't know if it'd be at that
• 42:01
  point with a salary cap, it would be 6570 million, whatever
• 42:04
  it would be. He would be in line to get that,
• 42:08
  you know, but yeah, he needs in a way, it's actually
• 42:11
  advantageous for the commanders this trajectory where he had his
• 42:16
  breakout year right away and then he struggled with injuries.
• 42:19
  So, you know, I think for the commanders, it's like, all
• 42:22
  right, we'll like let's, you know, see what you can do next
• 42:25
  year and the year after in terms of staying healthy and all that.
• 42:29
  And if he's not able to, then maybe they dodge a bullet and
• 42:31
  they're they're not spending all of their cap on this guy who
• 42:34
  can't stay healthy where, you know, how some quarterbacks it
• 42:36
  takes him a couple years to have the breakout, you know, So I
• 42:40
  guess with Jaden, they've seen what he can do.
• 42:42
  It's just, and the question isn't about his down on the
• 42:44
  field. It's just like, can this guy
• 42:46
  take hits? Can this guy and also also can
• 42:49
  he protect himself? I mean, one of the issues that
• 42:53
  he's had is he sometimes takes hits that are, that are
• 42:56
  unnecessary. And that was a knock on him
• 42:59
  coming out of LSU. You know, that he he, he doesn't
• 43:03
  slide as much as he should. He doesn't get out of bounds.
• 43:05
  He doesn't, you know, sometimes he'll run recklessly into the
• 43:09
  middle of the defensive line and get clobbered.
• 43:12
  And and you know, I, I will say though, I mean, hopefully he,
• 43:16
  you know, I, I believe in Jaden Daniels.
• 43:19
  I think he's a good kid. I think he works hard.
• 43:21
  I think he has like all the traits you would want.
• 43:24
  And obviously when he's healthy, he's a a great talent.
• 43:27
  You know, so you would you would hope that that this season was
• 43:32
  was a real learning experience and he's somewhere now working
• 43:35
  on what his plan is going to be for next season to stay healthy,
• 43:39
  get rid of the ball quicker when he and and try to when he
• 43:42
  decides to run. Like I've noticed that again, my
• 43:44
  wife's a bills fan. So I've seen like every Josh
• 43:47
  Allen game ever going back to 2018.
• 43:50
  I have, I've literally we started dating the year he was
• 43:53
  like, you know, started playing for them.
• 43:55
  So I've literally seen every Josh game and and you I've
• 43:58
  noticed with Josh as he's gotten older, he he doesn't run
• 44:01
  recklessly. He waits till the fourth
• 44:02
  quarter. He waits till when the team
• 44:04
  really has to happen and he's got.
• 44:07
  Learned that? Yeah.
• 44:08
  Yeah, because I'm sure he realizes, like, I wanna have a
• 44:12
  long career. I wanna maximize my career, and
• 44:15
  that's not gonna happen if I'm taking crazy hits.
• 44:18
  And Josh is like a big Josh can take a hit.
• 44:21
  He's a big guy, Jayden, definitely skinnier and and a
• 44:24
  little more fragile. So, so he needs to be even
• 44:27
  smarter about when he kind of turns on The Jets, when he runs,
• 44:30
  when he just throws the ball away and and you know, and, and
• 44:34
  hopefully he really comes into the offseason like focused on
• 44:37
  that because that's really going to be the difference whether he
• 44:40
  has this great long career or if he if he does become another
• 44:44
  flash in a pan like like RG3, which I hope he doesn't, but
• 44:47
  we'll see. You know, there was, I think it
• 44:50
  was Brett Favre called Josh Allen and told him, like, if you
• 44:54
  keep playing like this, you're not going to be around to play
• 44:57
  at all, you know what I mean? And I think it woke him up.
• 45:00
  And yeah, so some quarterbacks have to learn that, you know,
• 45:03
  learn that, especially the mobile ones, right?
• 45:06
  So yeah, hopefully Daniels can learn that lesson sooner and
• 45:10
  later. Yeah, no, definitely.
• 45:13
  If this past season doesn't teach him that nothing's going
• 45:16
  to. Because it just seemed like
• 45:17
  almost every game he was in this year, he took a scramble and and
• 45:22
  went, you know, into harm's way and got hit.
• 45:25
  And it just. Yeah, it's just a rough, awful
• 45:27
  year for him. But you, you hope it could.
• 45:29
  It could, I guess. It's hard for me to imagine next
• 45:32
  year being worse than this year. In.
• 45:34
  Terms of how things went. So you know, you hope that it
• 45:37
  can only go up from from here. Yeah.
• 45:42
  So let's switch over to the other Washington team that's
• 45:46
  that's in baseball, that's the Washington Nationals.
• 45:48
  And Kevin, you were here last time and I know that we made a
• 45:52
  little quick segment about like trades after trades.
• 45:54
  And we talked about Paul Tabani being the GM now kept coming
• 45:59
  from the Red Sox organization, highly touted by the way.
• 46:03
  And now after all this, Mackenzie Gore, we talked about
• 46:08
  Gore and you were we were talking about elaborate about
• 46:11
  it. Were were you surprised?
• 46:15
  Well, you shouldn't be. So I mean, we're not surprised
• 46:17
  about Gore. But like the package deal, were
• 46:20
  you were you surprised about it? Because we got to mention the
• 46:23
  guys there in the deal. So Gavin Fian's the top second
• 46:26
  best prospect in the Rangers assist from now is fifth with
• 46:29
  Washington. Alejandro Rosario, Devin
• 46:32
  Fitzgerald, I heard a lot of good things about him, Jeremy
• 46:35
  Cabrera and Abby Malik Ortiz. And these guys are probably at
• 46:41
  least a year or two away, maybe further down.
• 46:44
  We'll see. But like, what were your initial
• 46:46
  thoughts when you saw that trade?
• 46:47
  And do you think it was enough for the Gord deal to be like,
• 46:51
  OK, this is worth the deal? Yeah, no, I was OK with it.
• 46:55
  It's it's definitely like a polarizing trade.
• 47:00
  And in the sense that, you know, when you go on like X or
• 47:02
  whatever, all the Nats fans were like, oh, they didn't get
• 47:05
  enough. There weren't enough top 100
• 47:08
  prospects in the deal. But then all the Rangers fans
• 47:10
  were like, wow, we gave up way too much for a pitcher with a 40
• 47:14
  RA and all the you know, so so it seemed like both both fan
• 47:17
  bases didn't love it. But you know, it's it's an
• 47:20
  interesting deal. Yeah, on the surface there were
• 47:22
  there were no top one hundreds, but you know, fiend, I'm pretty
• 47:26
  sure will be a top 100 very soon this season.
• 47:28
  Sorry, I I'm totally blanky. I'm just having a brain fart on
• 47:34
  the name of the pitcher. I was it Rosario?
• 47:36
  Rosario the pitcher Rosario. Yeah, sorry, yeah, I just
• 47:39
  getting late for me here. Yeah, no, Rosario was, he was a
• 47:43
  top 50 prospect a year ago. He he's having ATJ.
• 47:47
  So he I think he kind of fell off the list with injuries.
• 47:50
  But this is a guy who's a top 50 prospect at one point, Feen will
• 47:53
  be 1. And then I've heard a lot of
• 47:55
  buzz around Fitzgerald that that if he keeps it up, he's going to
• 47:59
  be a top 100 prospect pretty soon too.
• 48:01
  So there's a chance that like, you know, maybe by June, you
• 48:06
  know, you have two top 100 prospects and Feen and and
• 48:10
  Fitzgerald and then a guy like Rosario who could come back in
• 48:13
  2027 and and be that level of a prospect too, in which case, you
• 48:17
  know, that's a lot for two years of Mackenzie Gore.
• 48:20
  And, and I do think the other thing that plays into this, you
• 48:24
  know, obviously what the Dodgers are doing, signing everyone
• 48:27
  under the sun for millions of dollars, you know, that there's
• 48:30
  going to be potentially a work stoppage or, or lockout or a
• 48:35
  contentious labor negotiation in 2027.
• 48:39
  So for the teams trading for Gore, you may only be trading
• 48:43
  for 2026 and, and, and maybe not a full season in 2027 if they're
• 48:48
  labor issues. So I do think that kind.
• 48:50
  Of plays it to the. Yeah, it's possible.
• 48:53
  I mean it's happened before. So and and I mean if, if, if, if
• 48:57
  the smaller market teams are talking full blown salary cap.
• 49:00
  I mean, you hope it's not no season at all, but that's the
• 49:04
  type of thing that might take a lot of miss games to settle.
• 49:07
  So, you know, we hope it doesn't go there, but I, I think the
• 49:11
  return was fair. I mean, also to you have to to
• 49:14
  keep in mind that that Goris A Boris client, he is, is going to
• 49:19
  market the Nats. We're not going to reside him to
• 49:22
  an extension before he goes to market.
• 49:25
  And you know, when he goes to market, I, I don't think in two
• 49:28
  years paying Mackenzie Gore, you know, thirty $40 million a year
• 49:35
  to be a, you know, you're, you're a starting pitchers
• 49:37
  probably where the Nats are going to be as a franchise.
• 49:40
  So I do think it made sense to get rid of him.
• 49:44
  And I, I think it made sense to get rid of him, especially the
• 49:47
  way that that arms get hurt. You never quite know, you know,
• 49:51
  how long pitchers are going to last these days to get rid of
• 49:54
  him while he had a lot of value. So I think the return was fair.
• 50:01
  The last time we had you on, we talked a bit about CJ Abrams and
• 50:04
  the potential that he might be dealt.
• 50:07
  There was a there were there was a potential deal in the works.
• 50:10
  I believe with the Giants. It came close but never
• 50:13
  happened. And there's a lot of rumors
• 50:16
  swirling about that. So what can you tell us about
• 50:19
  the situation with CJ Abrams heading into this season?
• 50:23
  Yeah, I mean, you know, Taboni has said that he's our shortstop
• 50:27
  and he, I think he's gone so far as to say he's like listening,
• 50:31
  you know, like he'll listen on any player, but he's not
• 50:33
  shopping him. I do believe he clarified that
• 50:35
  where he's like, I'm not, it's not like he's on the block and
• 50:37
  we're calling teams to ask for offers.
• 50:40
  It's just, you know, if someone calls us about him, we'll
• 50:43
  listen, but we're not actively trying to trade him.
• 50:46
  With that being said, I mean, I've said this a bunch, I just
• 50:51
  don't think he's he's got a great bat and he's obviously can
• 50:55
  be a tear on the base, tear on the base pass when he's, when
• 50:59
  he's playing well, But I defensively he's probably not a
• 51:04
  shortstop for the rest of his career.
• 51:05
  He would probably be much better at second base.
• 51:09
  So for me as a Nats fan, I mean, I, I don't think I would be
• 51:12
  trying to extend him unless he would be willing to move to 2nd.
• 51:17
  And if he's not, then I, you know, training him probably
• 51:20
  makes a lot of sense where, you know, I think we have them for
• 51:23
  three more years. We already talked about the Nats
• 51:26
  in 2026 don't look like they're going to be that great. 2027
• 51:30
  could be labor problems. And then, you know, yeah, maybe
• 51:34
  by 2028 the Nats with all these young players are starting to to
• 51:38
  become something interesting. But he would be in his walk year
• 51:40
  then. And you might not honestly, if
• 51:43
  and if you're a good team, you might not want him at short.
• 51:45
  You might want him at 2nd. So with all that being said, you
• 51:49
  know, I, I would listen, I, I, I could see, I, it wouldn't shock
• 51:52
  me if he's dealt. I I doubt he'll be dealt before
• 51:55
  the beginning of the season unless it's like just an amazing
• 51:58
  offer, because I, I do think there is something to, you know,
• 52:01
  you do have to sell tickets to these games and you don't want
• 52:04
  to set the fan base any further, you know, So maybe maybe if the
• 52:09
  deadline would make more sense, if some if the other, if he has
• 52:12
  a good first half and he has some value and, and teams become
• 52:15
  interested in a man and maybe he could get a bidding war or
• 52:18
  something. But it wouldn't shock me to see
• 52:20
  him moved. I do like him though.
• 52:21
  I'd let and I do think Nats fans are desperate to keep a star.
• 52:25
  I mean, we we've like had so many we were on.
• 52:27
  It's funny that we're we used to be the Expos and you know, right
• 52:31
  now it's feeling like we were still the Expos.
• 52:33
  We're basically like a farm system for, you know, making
• 52:36
  these stars that then go to these other teams, you know,
• 52:38
  with Harper and Soto and Trey Turner and you know, now
• 52:42
  Mackenzie Gore. And so the Nats fans would love
• 52:47
  to keep one of their own young stars, but it wouldn't shock me
• 52:51
  the CCJ moved. I think for the Nats, James Wood
• 52:54
  is the guy. You got to just do whatever, you
• 52:57
  know, just write him a blank check.
• 52:58
  You got to keep him because he's a local kid and everyone loves
• 53:02
  him and, and, you know, but we'll see.
• 53:04
  We'll see what happens. You mentioned a good team would
• 53:07
  probably play about second base. Unless you're the Mets.
• 53:09
  You move them to 3rd right? Yeah, yeah.
• 53:12
  I mean, it's just defensively, defensively it's.
• 53:16
  Shortstop. Yeah, yeah.
• 53:20
  Well, the Mets, yeah, I mean, the poor Mets and their
• 53:23
  injuries. I saw like Glen Doors already
• 53:24
  gonna be hurt. And it's funny where like a
• 53:27
  quick a Side Story. I was living in Queens during
• 53:31
  Covic and I actually got my first vaccination at Citi Field.
• 53:35
  That was like, they'd set it up for vaccinations.
• 53:38
  And, you know, basically that was the joke where it was like,
• 53:43
  they gave me a shot in my right arm for COVID at Citi Field.
• 53:46
  And all my friends were like, well, you'll never be able to
• 53:48
  use that arm again if the Mets doctors, you know, gave you a
• 53:51
  COVID shot. Do you think the Nationals make
• 53:57
  up any other movies or what's next for them?
• 53:59
  Because if you look at the roster right now, like what do
• 54:02
  they do with keeper Ruiz now that Harry Ford is now the full
• 54:06
  time catcher for this team? And do you think anybody else
• 54:09
  could be said or, or or if there's players have been
• 54:13
  linked? And I think I talked to you
• 54:14
  earlier about this, that Miles Michaelis has been linked to the
• 54:19
  Nationals and that's AI. Don't know where he fits because
• 54:23
  he was in Saint Louis throughout his career, right?
• 54:25
  Yeah. What are you?
• 54:26
  What are your thoughts about that?
• 54:29
  I mean, they definitely could use some veteran pitchers.
• 54:34
  So like Michaelis, I guess makes sense as an innings eater.
• 54:37
  I mean, I would hope they, you know, as a Natsman, I would hope
• 54:40
  maybe. I think Zach Litell's still out
• 54:42
  there and, and you know, they're, they're few veteran
• 54:47
  starters that would be a little more interesting to me than
• 54:50
  Michaelis. But again, it doesn't, you know,
• 54:54
  yeah, I mean, I, I, I would think I'm also, when you look at
• 54:56
  their bullpen, I think Clayton Beaters are closer at the
• 54:59
  moment. I mean, we, I think we have like
• 55:01
  2 career saves in our bullpen at the moment.
• 55:04
  So, you know, a veteran reliever too would make sense.
• 55:07
  I mean, I, I don't think we're necessarily trying to compete
• 55:09
  this year. I think that's pretty obvious.
• 55:11
  You know, especially with like a lot of the guys we got back in
• 55:14
  the Gore Trader a couple years away.
• 55:16
  I don't, I think we're kind of building towards 2028, sadly,
• 55:20
  but just to keep the product somewhat watchable and and to
• 55:23
  get people to come to games. I think like some veteran
• 55:28
  pitchers, you know, not necessarily stars, but just
• 55:31
  veterans who could help stabilize the staff would be
• 55:33
  good because like right now, I mean, you're running out.
• 55:37
  It's like Cavalli Saya Gray coming back off a TJ Brad Lord.
• 55:43
  It's just it's not I think a Griffin, a guy from Korea that's
• 55:47
  that's coming over. But I mean, it's, it's the
• 55:49
  starting rotation, certainly not exciting on paper.
• 55:53
  And, and, and the bullpen is even more unproven.
• 55:56
  I mean, it's like Clayton Beater and Cole Henry are your back end
• 55:59
  right now. I mean, I so, yeah, I mean, I, I
• 56:03
  think all of us as NASA fans have assumed they're going to
• 56:05
  like pull some veteran pitchers in before the season, but they
• 56:08
  haven't yet. So yeah, I'm, I'm getting a
• 56:10
  little concerned about that. I think we need a few arms just
• 56:16
  to, you know, guys who have pitched in a major leagues
• 56:18
  before and can eat some innings. So we'll see.
• 56:21
  So what do you, who do you think, who do you think could
• 56:25
  get called up for the nationals this year?
• 56:27
  If you look through their minor league system and you know,
• 56:30
  they're a young team, they have all this, you know, they're
• 56:35
  developing team. So who, who would be next in
• 56:37
  line to in your opinion to get called up and and you know, the
• 56:42
  next guy to develop on the roster?
• 56:46
  That's an interesting question. Ortiz, who they got in the Gore
• 56:52
  trade, he's the closest and he he had a good run in AAA last
• 56:57
  year. So I I could see him coming up
• 56:59
  to be part of the first base mix.
• 57:02
  Also with another guy, yo-yo Morales from University of
• 57:05
  Miami. He's another prospect that I
• 57:09
  could see debuting this year. Yeah.
• 57:12
  I, I, I, I think that they haven't signed a veteran first
• 57:16
  baseman, so I could see them. It seems like they're going to
• 57:19
  kind of try younger kids there and see what they have.
• 57:25
  So I could see, yeah, Morales and Ortiz, I believe Susanna, he
• 57:31
  was injured, but I I think it's I think he's going to be OK at
• 57:35
  least a month or two into the season.
• 57:36
  It was like a lad injury. So that's a guy that would be on
• 57:39
  the pitching side prospect. I could see potentially making
• 57:43
  his debut at some point this year to see what he can do, you
• 57:48
  know, as a starter or if not, you know, he he's still a
• 57:52
  starter, but he also, I I think you know, with his velocity
• 57:55
  could, could profile some pretty interesting back end piece.
• 58:00
  So this would be 3 I'd look at. But you know, and Robert Hassle,
• 58:04
  who he's kind of bounced between the Major League roster and
• 58:07
  triple AI mean he originally when we traded for Soto, he was
• 58:11
  the headliner in the deal at ranked ahead of Gore, CJ and
• 58:14
  James Woods. So that would be a guy he's he's
• 58:17
  had a lot of injuries. He would be, that would be
• 58:18
  someone who, you know, maybe if he can be healthy and put it
• 58:21
  together, that's a guy that that, you know, becomes part of
• 58:27
  the the rotation in the outfield and maybe pushes James Wood to
• 58:31
  DH or, or something like that. But yeah, I mean, I guess the
• 58:35
  one good thing about the Nats is that they have a lot of young
• 58:39
  prospects that we're top 100 at some point that haven't quite
• 58:44
  broken out. Like Brady House is another one.
• 58:47
  Obviously, you mentioned Kay Bear Ruiz, who, you know, I
• 58:50
  assume he'll probably start the season as catcher.
• 58:52
  I don't know if they're going to start Ford and catcher.
• 58:55
  They do the thing where they like bring them up in May or
• 58:57
  June to get the extra year. But the Nats do have a lot of
• 59:02
  younger guys that we're top 100 prospects and you know,
• 59:07
  theoretically Butera and Taboni and their staff, their whole
• 59:10
  thing is player development and unlocking the potential of these
• 59:14
  these kind of guys. So, you know, there is a world
• 59:17
  where like maybe if they do what they say they can do and you
• 59:20
  know, they are able to unlock some of these these things with
• 59:25
  some of these players you haven't quite clicked yet in the
• 59:27
  majors. And then then all the sudden
• 59:28
  they have a really fun young team.
• 59:30
  It just I just worry on the pitching side.
• 59:32
  I don't you know, I there's a world where I could see the
• 59:35
  hitting side of the mats, you know, the line up being very
• 59:38
  interesting with a lot of exciting young players in terms
• 59:41
  of rotation. I don't know.
• 59:43
  I mean, they're going to need a lot to go right for that
• 59:46
  pitching staff to be competitive, I think.
• 59:49
  I know Travis Sikora was there for N AA for a couple games last
• 59:53
  season. Where do you see him starting
• 59:55
  this season? Yeah, he he was, he was exciting
• 59:58
  prospect. Unfortunately he got injured, so
• 1:00:00
  I he's going to miss this whole season, I believe.
• 1:00:03
  I think he had to have a TJ. So that's the thing where it's
• 1:00:06
  like, yeah, he's he's an exciting prospect.
• 1:00:08
  But I I think we're looking at him more in 2027 along with
• 1:00:13
  Rosario, who he got back for Gore.
• 1:00:17
  Yeah. Right.
• 1:00:19
  Let me ask you this. And you saw the more hirings
• 1:00:22
  they got the GM, right? They have a new GM now.
• 1:00:25
  And how young is this staff like in the front office?
• 1:00:31
  Holy smokes, right. It's like like what are your
• 1:00:35
  thoughts about that? I forgot because I think it's
• 1:00:37
  like, I think after we finished with you, it's like like.
• 1:00:41
  We did. Yeah.
• 1:00:44
  It's, I mean, I'm in my 40s and I feel old.
• 1:00:46
  It's the first time I felt like really old.
• 1:00:48
  Where like it's one thing when the players are younger than
• 1:00:51
  you, but it's when the manager and like the GM and, and
• 1:00:54
  everyone is much younger than you, then yeah, I'm starting to
• 1:00:58
  feel old. But yeah, no, it's, it's, it's
• 1:00:59
  all guys in their 30s or mostly guys in their 30s from the front
• 1:01:04
  office down to the to the on field staff.
• 1:01:07
  So, you know, yeah, it's just it'll be interesting.
• 1:01:11
  I mean, there it, it seems like the direction of the nationals
• 1:01:14
  is they want to be like the Tampa Bay Rays or the NL E.
• 1:01:18
  They're gonna, you know, the Milwaukee Brewers or that kind
• 1:01:21
  of team where they, you know, or like the card counters at the
• 1:01:26
  blackjack table type of thing where they get these good young
• 1:01:28
  players and they compete with the bigger budgets.
• 1:01:31
  I mean, that's a little disappointing because, you know,
• 1:01:33
  back in, during our run in the 2000 tens, I mean, we had, you
• 1:01:37
  know, top five payrolls and we were up there, you know, we
• 1:01:41
  signed Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin and we were up there
• 1:01:45
  competing for top free agents, you know, so I, I don't know why
• 1:01:49
  our, you know, owners are worth like $8 billion all the sudden
• 1:01:53
  that they don't. Have the money to do that.
• 1:01:55
  You know, yeah, I mean, I don't know what happened, you know,
• 1:01:57
  what's going on with them. We're all the sudden.
• 1:01:59
  But I, I think actually, to be fair to them, I think what's
• 1:02:02
  going on is I think a lot of people around baseball is, you
• 1:02:05
  know, expect a lot of rules changes and a lot of the
• 1:02:09
  economics to change in the next agreement, you know, labor
• 1:02:13
  agreement because of what the Dodgers have done.
• 1:02:15
  So, you know, I I do think our ownership, you know, the teams
• 1:02:18
  probably not ready to compete. So I think they're just keeping
• 1:02:22
  their money and they wait to see what the rules are in 20272028
• 1:02:27
  and go from there. So it seems like how they're
• 1:02:29
  playing it. But yeah, so at the moment we're
• 1:02:31
  trying to be like the moneyball Nats and then we have all these
• 1:02:34
  young whiz kids and but to be fair, like you said, they're
• 1:02:37
  very well respected. I don't think I saw one person,
• 1:02:40
  one article not praised the Bony higher.
• 1:02:44
  He was very well thought of in Boston And and you know, it
• 1:02:47
  seems like every time the Nats make a they got, I'm totally
• 1:02:51
  blanking on the guy's name from Philly, but one of you know,
• 1:02:54
  someone from Philadelphia's front office who is well
• 1:02:57
  respected there and, and you know why everyone in Philly was
• 1:03:01
  obsessed. It does seem when they've made
• 1:03:03
  these hires like, you know, people who really are experts on
• 1:03:08
  baseball executives and front offices seem to think the Nats
• 1:03:12
  are doing a great job assembling his dream team whiz kids staff.
• 1:03:16
  So I I guess we'll wait and see, you know, but but it does seem
• 1:03:20
  like maybe that is the right staff to hopefully unlock again.
• 1:03:23
  We have just so many young players, young prospects that at
• 1:03:27
  one point were top 100, you know, that had a big prospect
• 1:03:33
  pedigree. So hopefully you know these
• 1:03:36
  these younger guys and get them the right information and and
• 1:03:42
  unlock their talent and then all of a sudden we have this fun
• 1:03:44
  young baseball team in Washington.
• 1:03:47
  Is is the guy you're talking about Ani Kalambi?
• 1:03:51
  Yes, yes, thank you. Yeah, no, his name was escaping
• 1:03:54
  me. But I I do know that, like,
• 1:03:56
  Phillies fans were very upset that he left to come here and
• 1:04:00
  they credit him with a lot of their success.
• 1:04:02
  So, yeah, I mean, you know, they are putting together a, you
• 1:04:06
  know, a front office that that people seem excited about.
• 1:04:09
  So, you know, again, we'll see. I don't, I don't know if we're
• 1:04:12
  going to see it this year, but but we'll see it hopefully, you
• 1:04:16
  know, start to bear some fruit before too long.
• 1:04:20
  So to wrap up this episode, and we know the Nationals
• 1:04:25
  expectations like they're they're they're building for the
• 1:04:28
  future, of course. So yeah, but if you have to ask
• 1:04:32
  yourself this in this upcoming season, what would you be
• 1:04:35
  excited about for the Nationals? Yeah, I mean the line UPS really
• 1:04:42
  interesting to me. I mean, Daylin Lyall was so good
• 1:04:45
  down the stretch last year. Yeah, I really want to see a
• 1:04:48
  full season out of him. I mean, if he is the kind of
• 1:04:51
  player that he showed he was towards the end of last season,
• 1:04:53
  right. I think he had like 11 triples
• 1:04:55
  and his his OPS the last month or two was like well over 9.
• 1:05:00
  He looked like an absolute star with a bat and James Wood in the
• 1:05:05
  first half of last year looked like an absolute star.
• 1:05:08
  So, you know, there's a world where those two guys, if they
• 1:05:11
  can three stars, you know, throughout the season and then
• 1:05:14
  maybe Dylan Cruz has a breakout. You could have one of the best
• 1:05:17
  young outfields in the majors, if not the best.
• 1:05:20
  Robert Hassle is an interesting guy to see if he gets in the
• 1:05:23
  mix. Obviously Ford, you know, they
• 1:05:26
  got from Seattle for for rare. You know, that's it'd be
• 1:05:30
  interesting to see if he takes that catcher job from Louise.
• 1:05:35
  And yeah. And like, I, I do think we're
• 1:05:36
  going to see more of Brady House.
• 1:05:38
  We're going to see some version of yo-yo Morales or Ortiz or
• 1:05:43
  Matt Mervis or, you know, we're going to see we're going to run.
• 1:05:46
  I think there's going to be like a lot of young first baseman
• 1:05:50
  given a chance to win that job. Yeah.
• 1:05:54
  So there's a lot of interesting potential within the lineup
• 1:05:57
  that, you know, maybe if things click the right way, they could
• 1:06:00
  be a fun young team. Yeah.
• 1:06:03
  The pitching side, I don't know, man.
• 1:06:04
  I mean, I I, you know, I guess there's a world where Josiah
• 1:06:07
  Gray comes back and he's an All Star and like, he was the first
• 1:06:11
  half a few years ago. And, you know, maybe Brad Lord
• 1:06:16
  continues pitching away. He did.
• 1:06:18
  Maybe, you know, Griffin, a kid from Korea is like the next guy
• 1:06:22
  who went to Korea and comes over here and is great.
• 1:06:24
  Like, I don't, you know, I mean, maybe there's some world where
• 1:06:27
  where they surprise. I just, I'm not super
• 1:06:29
  optimistic. The pitching staff worries me
• 1:06:31
  right now. I'm, I'm not going to lie, I've
• 1:06:33
  said that a few times. But but yeah, no, there are some
• 1:06:36
  good. You know, I do think if you're
• 1:06:37
  NASA fan, I mean, yeah, they're, they're going to be some good
• 1:06:39
  young players to watch and prospects to follow And, and,
• 1:06:43
  you know, for baseball fans, that's exciting.
• 1:06:44
  You, you hope that this will be the start of a new era.
• 1:06:47
  I I do think I'm hoping that the new, you know, Butera and the
• 1:06:51
  new management last year, we were really sloppy with a lot of
• 1:06:54
  getting thrown out on the bases, a lot getting picked off first,
• 1:06:57
  just a lot of really horrible defense.
• 1:07:00
  You know, our fundamentals are really poor last year.
• 1:07:02
  And I think that was a part of the reason Davey Martinez was
• 1:07:05
  let go. So yeah, I'm just hoping, you
• 1:07:08
  know, better fundamentals, like just hard, you know, young team
• 1:07:12
  that plays hard, right? That would be exciting for me
• 1:07:14
  and and a lot of Nats fans, I'm sure.
• 1:07:17
  Well, Kevin, we appreciate you doing this once again.
• 1:07:20
  We always enjoy your company every time you Oh, thank you
• 1:07:23
  guys. I appreciate.
• 1:07:24
  You oh, for sure with your knowledge and your and your
• 1:07:27
  work, your hard work, make sure you check out his podcast with
• 1:07:31
  talking nuts. But Kevin, since we mentioned
• 1:07:35
  about talking nuts, like where where else can they find you in
• 1:07:38
  social media and everywhere else?
• 1:07:40
  And make sure you give the handles of where they can find
• 1:07:43
  your podcast as well. Yeah, no thanks.
• 1:07:46
  Yeah, so I, I'm doing a podcast for the Talk Nats blog, which I,
• 1:07:51
  I'm sure a bunch of you heard they just like shuttered the
• 1:07:54
  Washington Post sports section, which is crazy.
• 1:07:56
  So actually like Talk Nats is one of the primary places you
• 1:07:59
  can get Nats coverage now. So yeah, we have a podcast that
• 1:08:02
  we restarted just, you know, a month or so ago in the new year
• 1:08:08
  and it's called the Talk Nats podcast that's on X at Talk Nats
• 1:08:11
  podcast. That's also if you on YouTube,
• 1:08:14
  that's our handle and you can search Talk Nats podcast.
• 1:08:17
  It's on every podcast platform, you know, Spotify, Apple,
• 1:08:21
  Amazon, all that. And then yeah, I also have kind
• 1:08:25
  of tied in with that. We have like a little clothing
• 1:08:28
  store in DC called old DC apparel.
• 1:08:31
  That's at shop old DC on on X and Instagram.
• 1:08:35
  And and that's also the website isshopolddc.com.
• 1:08:38
  We we sell a lot of fun, cool fan gear.
• 1:08:41
  So check that out. And yeah, go to talknats.com,
• 1:08:45
  especially if you're Nats fan. That's probably the best place
• 1:08:48
  to get your Nats news now. And yeah, me, I'm just K under
• 1:08:52
  score Nibley on X and at K Nibley on Instagram.
• 1:08:57
  And, you know, in addition to all that, I'm also a filmmaker
• 1:09:01
  and work in television. I have a.
• 1:09:03
  Short film. I have a.
• 1:09:04
  Short film doing. Yeah, right.
• 1:09:06
  Like I have a short film doing this circuit now.
• 1:09:08
  If you're in New York, it's playing February 18th and 21st
• 1:09:13
  for the New York Comedy Film Festival.
• 1:09:15
  So if that's, if that's something all you're interested
• 1:09:17
  in, come on, get on my Instagram.
• 1:09:20
  Actually, I have like discount codes for that.
• 1:09:21
  If you're if you're a film lover in New York City and you want to
• 1:09:24
  see that, let me know. So, yeah, thanks guys.
• 1:09:26
  I appreciate it and thanks for letting me promote all that
• 1:09:28
  stuff. Awesome man, thanks for joining
• 1:09:31
  us. We had a great time, but we love
• 1:09:33
  having you on. So anytime you want to come back
• 1:09:36
  man, the floor is always yours. So thanks for joining us and
• 1:09:40
  keep up the great work man. You're you're doing it all these
• 1:09:43
  days. So it's awesome, man.
• 1:09:44
  Thanks. All right.
• 1:09:45
  Well, thank you guys. I really appreciate it and I'm
• 1:09:47
  happy to come back anytime. Well, what what we'll do is
• 1:09:50
  since we'll get all the information from Kevin, where
• 1:09:54
  you can find him at the the Comedy Film Festival and
• 1:09:57
  everything else on, on X on Instagram, wherever it is.
• 1:10:01
  But we will place your description below as well where
• 1:10:04
  you can find Kevin Dipley in there and all his information
• 1:10:07
  and his work and, and a job well done.
• 1:10:09
  But till next time, take care. Be kind to each other.
• 1:10:14
  Signing up for the Sports Ave. Twisted podcast on Tuesday,
• 1:10:17
  February 10th, 2026.