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

0:00
Speaker 1: What's up everybody, Hope you are doing well. Wanted to
0:03
Speaker 1: let you know. This podcast episode was recorded on Wednesday,
0:06
Speaker 1: March twenty sixth, twenty twenty five. By the time hear this,
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Speaker 1: some things may have changed here or there, but we
0:12
Speaker 1: hope you enjoy the show. All right, everybody, Welcome to
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Speaker 1: Opposition Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show,
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Speaker 1: listening to us on now we have got a great,
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Speaker 1: great Opposition Territory pod coming your way this week where
0:54
Speaker 1: we are going to be focusing on the Washington Commanders
0:58
Speaker 1: and what their offseason has looked like like thus far,
1:01
Speaker 1: very interesting team here in the NFC East that are
1:04
Speaker 1: looking to compete with the Philadelphia Eagles, the Super Bowl
1:08
Speaker 1: champions this coming season. Let's get into what has been
1:12
Speaker 1: going on with this team's off season. Let's do it.
1:14
Speaker 1: Joining us this week to get into this Commander's team.
1:16
Speaker 1: From the Trap or Dive podcast, you can follow the
1:19
Speaker 1: Trapper Dive Podcast on Instagram. You can also follow my
1:23
Speaker 1: guest on Instagram as well. You should give him a
1:27
Speaker 1: follow subscribe to the Trapper Dive Podcast. We've got mister
1:30
Speaker 1: Jamal Forest. How you doing, buddy, Hey man, I'm doing
1:33
Speaker 1: all right.
1:33
Speaker 2: Jeffppreciates you for having me. Yeah that's awa before hanging
1:37
Speaker 2: in there.
1:37
Speaker 1: But yep, both All right, Yeah, let's talk about this
1:41
Speaker 1: Commander's team this off season. But first, I mean, I
1:44
Speaker 1: want to kind of go back to last year because
1:46
Speaker 1: I think this Commander's team really shocked a lot of people.
1:49
Speaker 1: Quite frankly, it was a successful season, or at least
1:53
Speaker 1: what I objectively speaking on the outside, I look at
1:57
Speaker 1: this Commander's season past season as a successful season. They
2:01
Speaker 1: have a new rookie quarterback in Jaden Daniels who took
2:05
Speaker 1: the offense to the next level, really showed so much promise.
2:08
Speaker 1: He showed so much poise throughout the season as well,
2:12
Speaker 1: make it to the NFC Championship Game. And you know,
2:15
Speaker 1: I wonder if you can kind of reflect on what
2:17
Speaker 1: that season meant in terms of what this offseason means,
2:20
Speaker 1: and then what the expectations are going to be for
2:23
Speaker 1: this team moving forward here in twenty twenty five, Jamal, So,
2:27
Speaker 1: what are your thoughts here when you reflect on this
2:28
Speaker 1: past season and where this team may be going.
2:32
Speaker 2: Well, twenty twenty four was all about Jade and Daniels
2:39
Speaker 2: and his development. Yeah, I'm going into the season. You know,
2:43
Speaker 2: you didn't necessarily know what you were going to get
2:45
Speaker 2: from an outsider's perspective, which you talk to people around
2:49
Speaker 2: the building, not like me literally but just having like
2:52
Speaker 2: observations from quotes, pressure interviews. But you listen to those
2:57
Speaker 2: guys and you kind of understand that they knew really
3:02
Speaker 2: early on. For instance, zach Ertz, y'all, y'all old guy
3:07
Speaker 2: Cliff Kingsbury got him to sign to Washington and one
3:12
Speaker 2: of the first things Cliff said to zach is, look
3:15
Speaker 2: at look at this. Look at this kid's practice practice
3:18
Speaker 2: film from rookie Minnie Camps. Zach Ertz was like, wow,
3:23
Speaker 2: Like I don't why do I need to do that?
3:24
Speaker 2: Like I don't need to do that, none of that stuff.
3:26
Speaker 2: But he cut the tape on and he knew. Zach
3:28
Speaker 2: ERTs knew early on, like Yo, this dude is legit.
3:31
Speaker 2: He's the real deal. And zach Ertz stood on ten
3:34
Speaker 2: toes about Jade and Daniels like before the season, then
3:37
Speaker 2: he started like he was that confident. So from from
3:41
Speaker 2: that perspective, from an insider's perspective, they knew who Jade
3:45
Speaker 2: and Daniels was, but they had to see it in game.
3:48
Speaker 2: And for everybody involved internally externally, it was all about Jayden.
3:54
Speaker 2: And you know, the season, as you mentioned, was unexpected
3:57
Speaker 2: in terms of the level or the disc in which
4:00
Speaker 2: they went up into the championship game. You fell into
4:04
Speaker 2: it or you ran into a bus. So unfortunately, you know,
4:07
Speaker 2: you helped you hurt yourself with all them damn turnovers. Yeah,
4:10
Speaker 2: but you know, I think at the end of the day,
4:12
Speaker 2: you just see how Jaden can how far Jaden can
4:17
Speaker 2: take you knowing how good he is, the leader, he is,
4:22
Speaker 2: all of those things that he provides, and once you
4:26
Speaker 2: understand that and you recognize what he can do for you,
4:28
Speaker 2: now you have a goal in the off season, and
4:31
Speaker 2: your goal in the off season is how can I
4:32
Speaker 2: maximize Jaden Daniels' ability and its current development, because I
4:36
Speaker 2: know he's going to get better. How can I maximize
4:39
Speaker 2: this opportunity that we have before we have to actually
4:42
Speaker 2: start giving him new contract offers? And the goal and
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Speaker 2: the expectations became, Look, we're gonna do everything we can
4:51
Speaker 2: to insulate Jaden from office of line perspective. We need
4:54
Speaker 2: to find a way to get this defense stable. They
4:59
Speaker 2: were drafted better from the previous year going into twenty
5:03
Speaker 2: twenty four. I'm excuman going into the new season, Like,
5:07
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four was much better than twenty twenty three,
5:09
Speaker 2: but twenty twenty four still wasn't good enough. So like,
5:13
Speaker 2: how can we stabilize the defense? How can we replace
5:16
Speaker 2: some of these players who may find better offers in
5:18
Speaker 2: free agency or better situations in free agency. And you know,
5:22
Speaker 2: their strategy is out there in terms of it being
5:27
Speaker 2: worked to their standard. Will it's to be determined, but
5:34
Speaker 2: you know, let's go ahead and get you some superstars
5:36
Speaker 2: on offense and depot and Larmie. Right, let's see if
5:39
Speaker 2: that works out for Washington. Let's go ahead and get
5:43
Speaker 2: Retoor this entire defensive line. Now, you really didn't get
5:46
Speaker 2: that much pressure last year, so you know edg rush
5:48
Speaker 2: is gonna be up on the board, But how can
5:50
Speaker 2: we find a way to at least get better against
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Speaker 2: the run, find a way to get our leaders back?
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Speaker 2: Jaden I mean, I'm not Jayden. I'm sorry, I'm the
6:01
Speaker 2: middle linebacker while I'm Bobby Wagner. I don't know why.
6:04
Speaker 2: All right, Bobby Wagner, get your get your Bobby Wagoner back.
6:07
Speaker 2: Let's get Zach Urzbag. Let's get your old your old
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Speaker 2: head leaders, the veteran guys who really know what they're
6:11
Speaker 2: doing and they can still hoop. Yeah, let's get those
6:15
Speaker 2: guys back, and let's find a way to retool around
6:17
Speaker 2: this secondary as well. So like the expectations has become
6:21
Speaker 2: like I don't know if I mean, super Bowl is
6:23
Speaker 2: probably something that they're thinking. I don't think they're saying it,
6:26
Speaker 2: but it's something that they're thinking that windows open. Uh,
6:30
Speaker 2: But now we have to find a way to make
6:32
Speaker 2: sure that we're better in some of the most important
6:35
Speaker 2: things up front and around Jayden.
6:38
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely. Look I I look at what this front
6:42
Speaker 1: office has done in terms of some of the re
6:45
Speaker 1: signings and you know, making sure that certain guys are
6:48
Speaker 1: coming back to this team this coming year. And it
6:51
Speaker 1: really seems like, and you know, I could be mistaken
6:53
Speaker 1: about this, but it seems like front office maybe taking
6:57
Speaker 1: a page out of the Philadelphia Eagles front office handbook
6:59
Speaker 1: and in terms of doling out and dishing out a
7:03
Speaker 1: lot of one year deals. I mean, there's a lot
7:05
Speaker 1: of talent that is returning to this commander's team on
7:08
Speaker 1: these one year deals. And I'm wondering what your thoughts
7:11
Speaker 1: are on how they're constructing this team, at least this
7:14
Speaker 1: next season with so many one year deals. As this
7:18
Speaker 1: team really looks towards the future again talking about possibly,
7:22
Speaker 1: you know, about getting into the playoffs and possibly making
7:25
Speaker 1: it right through the playoffs to the super Bowl, how
7:27
Speaker 1: these one term deals may impact that in terms of
7:31
Speaker 1: this next season. What are your thoughts here? I mean,
7:34
Speaker 1: they did it last year too, did they. Okay, it
7:37
Speaker 1: made a lot of sense last year. I mean that's
7:39
Speaker 1: why you had like twenty eight free agents.
7:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, some of them were on the last year of
7:43
Speaker 2: their deal, but I would say like seventy percent of
7:46
Speaker 2: them are one year deals, and they did the same
7:48
Speaker 2: thing this year. I personally don't think it's sustainable, and
7:52
Speaker 2: I think you're gonna have to start finding a way
7:54
Speaker 2: to have like guys where you start to want them
7:59
Speaker 2: on for the long term. Long term comment like three years,
8:01
Speaker 2: like three year contracts, you don't have to mean like
8:03
Speaker 2: five or whatever, even though you rarely see five anymore anyway.
8:06
Speaker 2: But you know you have to find a way to
8:08
Speaker 2: get these guys on long term. But I think in
8:10
Speaker 2: the process of you really overturning your roster, this is okay.
8:14
Speaker 2: I think you have to find the guys who's gonna
8:16
Speaker 2: want to find these landing spots. But you also have
8:19
Speaker 2: to find people who you think are commanders, like the
8:22
Speaker 2: commander mode, the commander tag that Adam Peters like to
8:25
Speaker 2: mention the same thing as Dan Quinn. You have to
8:28
Speaker 2: find these guys and why would you overspend right now
8:32
Speaker 2: or overpay certain people when you know they need that
8:39
Speaker 2: opportunity to prove themselves. Javon Kinlaw was one of the
8:43
Speaker 2: bigger names because you know he got like twenty something
8:46
Speaker 2: million guaranteed. I don't have the numbers in front of me,
8:48
Speaker 2: and he got a three year contract. But if you
8:50
Speaker 2: look at the numbers, is essentially like one. It's like
8:52
Speaker 2: one big year, which is the first year you're getting
8:55
Speaker 2: like eighteen million, and then the second year the salary
8:58
Speaker 2: cap lowers and then you have an opportunity to move
9:01
Speaker 2: on from him. So it's not like you had you're
9:04
Speaker 2: you're stuck with the guy given the base contract numbers.
9:07
Speaker 2: But like again it's a person like he has something
9:09
Speaker 2: to prove, but he does fit the mold of a
9:12
Speaker 2: commander and quotations for those that's listening, But like that's
9:15
Speaker 2: what this is. And while he's the one who had
9:18
Speaker 2: the three year contract, there's others who have one year.
9:21
Speaker 2: And that's your will Harris to say today, brought in
9:23
Speaker 2: from from New Orleans, who's supposedly in here to replace
9:28
Speaker 2: Jeremy chan You know, we'll have to see how that
9:29
Speaker 2: goes during training camp and all those other things. Deebo
9:33
Speaker 2: Samuel one year contract. Jeremy tuns was on a two
9:37
Speaker 2: year contract. Zach Ertz, I mean we'll not zach Ertz.
9:42
Speaker 2: I'm sorry. There's somebody else that we got Michael Gallup
9:46
Speaker 2: one year contract, veteran minimum. They really loved him after
9:50
Speaker 2: the workout, that's why they signed them. And then like
9:53
Speaker 2: two or three other people on the defensive line and
9:55
Speaker 2: Dietrich Wise, Jake Jacob Martin, all these one your one
10:00
Speaker 2: year deals with like if things work out, somebody's going
10:03
Speaker 2: to get extended again. Yes, I mean, shoot, no, egg
10:05
Speaker 2: Monogni had a hell of a season last year. That's
10:07
Speaker 2: why he's back on the roster, right. That's also why
10:10
Speaker 2: Benjamin Saint Jus is gone. But these these one year
10:13
Speaker 2: deals work out in your favorite but eventually you're gonna
10:16
Speaker 2: have to find to start start finding your core gas
10:19
Speaker 2: in the midst of this. But you know, I'm okay
10:22
Speaker 2: with it, but I don't think it's sustainable long term.
10:24
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, that's what I was wondering if you would
10:27
Speaker 1: have that type of sentiment with regard to these deals.
10:30
Speaker 1: And as we're moving along with a conversation here, Jamal,
10:32
Speaker 1: you know, I'm wondering what has been the best part
10:36
Speaker 1: of this offseason in terms of free agency for the
10:38
Speaker 1: Commanders thus far. You knows, as fans see it, as
10:41
Speaker 1: you know, analysts like yourself see this. I mean, is
10:44
Speaker 1: it Deebo Samuel coming to the team, because there's a
10:46
Speaker 1: lot of discussion about where he is at in his
10:49
Speaker 1: career at this point. Maybe it's a signing that's been
10:52
Speaker 1: under the radar. I mean, what are your thoughts here
10:54
Speaker 1: on what you think the best part of this offseason
10:56
Speaker 1: has been for the Commanders thus far.
11:00
Speaker 2: I think it's actually just their mentality, their approach and
11:07
Speaker 2: understanding and being aware of the moment and also like
11:10
Speaker 2: being willing to push the boundaries of their principles. And
11:13
Speaker 2: what I mean by that is like they build through
11:16
Speaker 2: the draft. That's what Adam Peter stood on. That's what
11:18
Speaker 2: they that's what he wants to do. And you supplement
11:21
Speaker 2: your roster through free agency. But when you see opportunities
11:25
Speaker 2: to like Larremy Tumsel, he was on a trading block,
11:31
Speaker 2: it was under the radar, but you really had to
11:34
Speaker 2: do your homework and like be in the mix, and
11:35
Speaker 2: you had to really know to to figure out like
11:38
Speaker 2: what you can really get for him, And you had
11:41
Speaker 2: to know that Houston was really itching to sign their
11:45
Speaker 2: younger players. You know that they've drafted in recent years.
11:49
Speaker 2: And like I think Adam Peters being able to to
11:52
Speaker 2: do his homework and getting a mix for certain things
11:54
Speaker 2: certain players right is just the important part. Larremie tunsl
12:00
Speaker 2: a cornerstone offensive linement. Right, pay pay the price, do
12:04
Speaker 2: what you gotta do, but don't don't destroy your draft capital.
12:08
Speaker 2: They were able to. They were able to do that.
12:11
Speaker 2: Deebo Samuel while Washington was on his short list, as
12:15
Speaker 2: he acknowledged, like the upside from getting a Deebo Samuel
12:20
Speaker 2: and providing him to an offense who really only had
12:23
Speaker 2: one explosive player. I mean, I mean Diamy Brown took
12:27
Speaker 2: off into playoffs, but like for a seventeen game sample,
12:31
Speaker 2: he wasn't. He wasn't much of a factor at all
12:33
Speaker 2: this season. So like, if you can get a debo
12:35
Speaker 2: Samuel on your team and the upside hits, like you're
12:40
Speaker 2: talking about an excellent addition to your roster. Yeah, and
12:44
Speaker 2: this is before the draft even happened. So like, defensively,
12:48
Speaker 2: what's the approach? Like you see that your your run
12:52
Speaker 2: game was good at in some occasions, but it wasn't
12:56
Speaker 2: good enough and it wasn't acceptable, It wasn't to a
12:59
Speaker 2: great standard. All right, Well, let me get like several
13:02
Speaker 2: different pieces who can adapt to several different run schemes
13:06
Speaker 2: from offensive coordinators and and like stylistic players Like that's
13:10
Speaker 2: that's on the other side of the other side of
13:12
Speaker 2: the ball. All right, Well, let's see if this was
13:14
Speaker 2: gonna work for us moving forward. Like I said when
13:18
Speaker 2: I initially started, I understand their approach and like, like
13:23
Speaker 2: whether or not the players work out or how I
13:27
Speaker 2: feel about the players, that's one thing, right, But if
13:31
Speaker 2: your approach is like clearly out there. I'm willing to
13:35
Speaker 2: give you a chance to see if it works. I'm
13:37
Speaker 2: not saying they took the wrong approach. It's more so
13:39
Speaker 2: just like that's how, that's how I thought about the
13:40
Speaker 2: previous staff and everything. Just if I see it and
13:42
Speaker 2: I understand it, I'll give you an opportunity to see, Like,
13:45
Speaker 2: you know, is this something that makes sense? Let's give
13:48
Speaker 2: you an opportunity. So absolutely, my most my most impressive
13:52
Speaker 2: thing or favorite thing about the off seasons just just
13:54
Speaker 2: their mentality, like they understand where they are, they understand
13:57
Speaker 2: the window. Uh, and they're being active as opposed to
14:00
Speaker 2: like recent years, like you're not really they're not really
14:02
Speaker 2: active in free agency from like that first wave. They're
14:04
Speaker 2: not trading for you guys. Yeah, they not. Honestly, I
14:08
Speaker 2: don't think you would have been able to land so
14:09
Speaker 2: many people today landed with the previous situations. But that's
14:13
Speaker 2: a conversation.
14:14
Speaker 1: Absolutely definitely. Well it's interesting how your answer was, you know,
14:20
Speaker 1: the mentality of where you know, this team, this front office,
14:24
Speaker 1: this organization is really at because it's something different that
14:27
Speaker 1: we are seeing as football fans, as people who follow
14:29
Speaker 1: the NFL and people have understood, you know what this
14:32
Speaker 1: Washington team has been for so many years. It's just
14:34
Speaker 1: a different time right now. And like I think it's
14:37
Speaker 1: probably new to Commanders fans to say, wow, we actually
14:40
Speaker 1: have some vision here. But on the flip side of
14:42
Speaker 1: the coin, in terms of the best part and most
14:46
Speaker 1: interesting part of the off season thus far, what's been
14:50
Speaker 1: the most disappointing aspect of free agency or this offseason
14:54
Speaker 1: thus far for the Commander's team in this organization.
15:00
Speaker 2: You know, I, if I had to say something, I
15:06
Speaker 2: understand that Jaden like he he made a really good
15:12
Speaker 2: or he did a really good job last year of
15:14
Speaker 2: like quote unquote making his receivers right, Like I had
15:18
Speaker 2: a lot, I had a lot of faith and OZI
15:23
Speaker 2: like before the season even started. So I'm not surprised
15:25
Speaker 2: about what he did. And I'm not saying it like
15:27
Speaker 2: he was supposed to be some superstar pro bowler, but
15:29
Speaker 2: more so just like the role that in which he plays, Like,
15:32
Speaker 2: I had a lot of faith in what he can do,
15:34
Speaker 2: and he showed up. Diammy Brown, I'm not gonna go
15:39
Speaker 2: through the whole list, but Dammy, he's cool. Noah Brown.
15:42
Speaker 2: They brought him back and like you're familiar with knowing
15:45
Speaker 2: we all are because of his time in Dallas before
15:48
Speaker 2: he went to Houston. So like, I don't have to
15:50
Speaker 2: say too much about Noah, but you get like some
15:53
Speaker 2: of these pieces and you know that they're not top
15:55
Speaker 2: tier players that's playing beside Terry, but you do at
16:00
Speaker 2: a Debo right, and again, Debo is an ultimate gadget guy,
16:06
Speaker 2: but a playmaker who can really like thrive off with
16:10
Speaker 2: the ball in his hands, right, but with as many
16:15
Speaker 2: receivers that were available in free agency, not ones that
16:20
Speaker 2: you traded for in Debo. But I don't know just
16:25
Speaker 2: how comfortable I am like going into the draft with
16:31
Speaker 2: the core that they have.
16:33
Speaker 1: Now, you were hoping maybe more of that Stefan Diggs,
16:37
Speaker 1: perhaps maybe Cooper Cup potentially coming to the Commanders, hoping
16:40
Speaker 1: for that, maybe being a little disappointed that they went elsewhere.
16:45
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's like those I mean, I
16:47
Speaker 2: know what you're saying, like that type of.
16:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, that type of understood, Yeah, I would I.
16:52
Speaker 2: Would have appreciated a veteran getting another veteran in here,
16:57
Speaker 2: because like you're at some point in this off season,
17:01
Speaker 2: it was just Terry and Luke McCaffrey right, So they
17:04
Speaker 2: did a good job of like retooling the receiving corps
17:07
Speaker 2: and I'm okay with that. But at the end of
17:10
Speaker 2: the day, like my fear is going into the Week
17:15
Speaker 2: one of the regular season and your main core is
17:19
Speaker 2: the exact same court as you got right now before
17:21
Speaker 2: the draft. They may draft a guy right and but
17:25
Speaker 2: he may end up not being as good as they
17:28
Speaker 2: wanted him to be. It depends on the draft. Like
17:30
Speaker 2: this is before the draft, so my opinion may change,
17:33
Speaker 2: But to this point, like I don't think they have
17:37
Speaker 2: a true number two. I think they have Debo who
17:39
Speaker 2: can do a lot of things, but like that number
17:41
Speaker 2: two who can really threaten all three levels of the field,
17:46
Speaker 2: or somebody who can really be a U a super
17:51
Speaker 2: a sponge to in terms of like receptions and targets,
17:55
Speaker 2: like I don't know, like a down on a on
17:57
Speaker 2: a on a drive to drive basis, Like I don't
17:59
Speaker 2: think they had it. Keenan Allen could have worked, if
18:03
Speaker 2: Stefan Diggs could have worked. There's something like a veteran
18:06
Speaker 2: of that magnitude. I think is somebody who can really
18:09
Speaker 2: like control a drive or dominate a drive. I think
18:13
Speaker 2: it's something where I'm like, all right, I would have
18:15
Speaker 2: appreciated that here as well. Yeah, So like that's if
18:18
Speaker 2: I had to say one thing, that would be it, okay.
18:21
Speaker 1: And I think what's interesting is like the theme here
18:24
Speaker 1: and I think the theme within Commander's Nation is the
18:27
Speaker 1: fact that you know, this new regime that is running
18:30
Speaker 1: this organization now is doing a pretty damn good job
18:33
Speaker 1: of it. And we've seen alterations here or there how
18:37
Speaker 1: they're doing business, how it inevitably affects the players, their
18:41
Speaker 1: play on the field, the success of last year getting
18:44
Speaker 1: to the NFC Championship game. And I do wonder if
18:46
Speaker 1: more and more teams and even like the Commander's Organization
18:49
Speaker 1: in general, you know, may start to emulate maybe what
18:52
Speaker 1: the Eagles have really done consistently year after year after year,
18:55
Speaker 1: which is just investing in the trenches on both sides
18:58
Speaker 1: of the ball, both on offense, both in defense as well.
19:01
Speaker 1: I'm wondering, do you see the Commanders maybe moving to
19:04
Speaker 1: that philosophy more and more, Jamal or has it been
19:08
Speaker 1: a bit of a challenge. I mean, they do want
19:11
Speaker 1: to build their team through the trenches. From my understanding,
19:14
Speaker 1: right now, we're gonna get to some draft talking just
19:17
Speaker 1: a bit here, but I'm wondering, do you see them
19:20
Speaker 1: moving to that philosophy because of you know what an
19:22
Speaker 1: NFC East rival has done and has been pretty successful doing.
19:27
Speaker 2: Well. I do think that the Eagles is a standard.
19:31
Speaker 2: I mean, I mean they just they just won a
19:32
Speaker 2: super Bowl with Also, like the way you all are
19:36
Speaker 2: able to dominate on both sides of the football, like
19:40
Speaker 2: in the trenches one. Yeah, whether it's through one player
19:44
Speaker 2: and on defense who can really take over a game
19:48
Speaker 2: and jay Len Carter, or whether it's through an offensive
19:51
Speaker 2: line who has years of experience together with a running
19:55
Speaker 2: back in a quarterback duo who can who's just is
19:59
Speaker 2: dangerous and a threat to uh the defenders as as
20:04
Speaker 2: a run option. I if there's like an additional thing
20:11
Speaker 2: that I was also disappointing would have been the fact
20:16
Speaker 2: that you know, you don't really have like a true
20:19
Speaker 2: past restaurant on the edge, yet you're probably going to
20:22
Speaker 2: find it in the draft. You probably will end up
20:24
Speaker 2: going for that in the draft, and that's understood, right,
20:28
Speaker 2: But like I think that's probably like another thing that
20:30
Speaker 2: you would think about. Yeah, But like again, like I mentioned,
20:33
Speaker 2: like their strategy, it is what it is. And you know,
20:36
Speaker 2: they offered a one year to the markets. Lawrence, I'm
20:39
Speaker 2: actually glad that he didn't. He didn't take it.
20:42
Speaker 1: I was gonna actually ask you about that.
20:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, like they have. They offered him a one year deal.
20:47
Speaker 2: Glad he didn't take it. And like you know, there's
20:52
Speaker 2: other people out there that you know, just went to
20:54
Speaker 2: like more respective places in terms of like what they
20:57
Speaker 2: were comfortable with. You know, it is what it is. Yeah,
20:59
Speaker 2: But I think the trenches, like the philosophy, you know,
21:03
Speaker 2: I mean, when you see what happens like last year,
21:05
Speaker 2: you can barely like when we played a lot of
21:09
Speaker 2: teams and even when we playedy' all the first time
21:10
Speaker 2: and we did it, we did it both times you played,
21:12
Speaker 2: but when we did it the first time, I mean
21:13
Speaker 2: we played y' all the first time in in Philly,
21:16
Speaker 2: Like you see the amount of help that our tackles
21:20
Speaker 2: get from the chip helps with your receivers, your tight ends,
21:24
Speaker 2: your running backs off tackle, and they're chipping the edge
21:29
Speaker 2: before they get into routes like you're you're you're kind
21:31
Speaker 2: of dimming down the the potency of Cliff Kingsbury's scheme
21:36
Speaker 2: and in its offense, so like the trenches is important,
21:40
Speaker 2: and I think they've they've made a case to try
21:43
Speaker 2: to offensively at least to really like free up the
21:46
Speaker 2: flexibility or make things more flexible for for the offensive line,
21:51
Speaker 2: but also what happens when you can have more receivers
21:54
Speaker 2: in space and they don't have to take up time
21:56
Speaker 2: chipping their dressers. Yep, absolutely, you know, same kind of
22:02
Speaker 2: the same thing in terms of just like where they
22:04
Speaker 2: are from a guard tackle standpoint, a center guard standpoint.
22:08
Speaker 2: You gotta find people who can play better against the run,
22:11
Speaker 2: and they identify some guys who knows what it's gonna
22:13
Speaker 2: look like. But you know they're they're trying, So I
22:17
Speaker 2: get the philosophy. I don't think it was ever foreign
22:20
Speaker 2: to them. But you know, you can't overturn the roster
22:23
Speaker 2: all in one year, So I think I think that's
22:25
Speaker 2: kind of the thing that they're realizing, is like we
22:27
Speaker 2: really got to do some things with this defense.
22:29
Speaker 1: Yep. All right, very good again, folks. We're talking to
22:32
Speaker 1: Jamal Forrest from the Trap or Dive Podcast. Subscribe on
22:36
Speaker 1: whatever podcast platform you're listening to us on. Check out
22:39
Speaker 1: the Trapper Dive Podcast on YouTube. Uh also check out
22:44
Speaker 1: Jamal and Trapper Dive over on Instagram as well. They're
22:47
Speaker 1: doing great, great things. And before we leave, got to
22:50
Speaker 1: ask about the draft and what the commanders may do.
22:53
Speaker 1: They're gonna be sitting. I believe it's number twenty nine
22:56
Speaker 1: in the first round, and it's my understanding, I think
22:59
Speaker 1: they have a total like five picks. I think it's
23:01
Speaker 1: round one to two and then round four, round six,
23:05
Speaker 1: and round seven if I'm not mistaken. Uh, it's not
23:08
Speaker 1: a lot necessarily for the front office to work with, Jamal.
23:12
Speaker 1: So I'm wondering how should we be looking at how
23:15
Speaker 1: the commanders are going to be heading into this draft
23:17
Speaker 1: in terms of what they're gonna be prioritizing. I know
23:19
Speaker 1: you've mentioned Pass Rusher. It's likely going to be uh,
23:22
Speaker 1: you know, possibly looked at with that number twenty nine
23:25
Speaker 1: overall pick. But you know, what do you think they
23:29
Speaker 1: really need to prioritize? Is it the trenches that we
23:31
Speaker 1: were just talking about. What are your thoughts here?
23:35
Speaker 2: Prioritize? Excuse me, prioritize? I think definitely Edge rush Year. Yeah,
23:39
Speaker 2: you're gonna have to find a way to get somebody
23:42
Speaker 2: who can potentially play three downs at some point of
23:45
Speaker 2: his career, but spider who can really win against the
23:48
Speaker 2: pass rush I'm excuming against in the past game. Yeah,
23:50
Speaker 2: and you know, I mean, there's there's several options out
23:54
Speaker 2: there for Washington, and but I think what makes you
23:57
Speaker 2: hard for them is that they pick a twenty nine. So, like,
24:00
Speaker 2: you never know how the draft in the first round
24:01
Speaker 2: is going to play out, and you never know who's
24:04
Speaker 2: really going to fall that far, let alone who may
24:07
Speaker 2: be surprised in terms of who's taken. I don't think
24:10
Speaker 2: trading up makes sense for Washington this point because of
24:12
Speaker 2: the draft capital that they did. They did use to
24:15
Speaker 2: get Laramie Tunsel and ultimately Deebo Samuel as well. So
24:20
Speaker 2: like the only candidate is to stay at twenty nine
24:23
Speaker 2: or trade back, I think is their options. Yep. But
24:26
Speaker 2: prioritizing you're thinking that edge like edge is going to
24:29
Speaker 2: be somebody that is a position that they're looking at
24:31
Speaker 2: early on. Depending on how the board plays out, you
24:35
Speaker 2: may look at a piece of the secondary cornerback, but
24:39
Speaker 2: somebody who can really be versatile up front is definitely
24:41
Speaker 2: going to be like their number one or number two option,
24:44
Speaker 2: And depending on offensively, depending on how things fall, you're
24:48
Speaker 2: probably looking at receiver, Like running back is gonna be
24:52
Speaker 2: somebody they're going to I mean, running back is just
24:54
Speaker 2: a deep class, defensive line, edge rust specifically deep class.
24:58
Speaker 2: So you'll be surprised like when they may take either
25:02
Speaker 2: or like in terms of like they may not take
25:06
Speaker 2: defensive line or edge in the first round. Depend on
25:08
Speaker 2: again how to draw, how to draft falls. But you'll
25:11
Speaker 2: be surprised in terms of like how deep or how
25:15
Speaker 2: patient they are that allows them to go deeper in
25:18
Speaker 2: the draft and selecting some of these guys. But priority
25:21
Speaker 2: is definitely going to be finding that pass rush er.
25:23
Speaker 2: You're gonna need somebody at receiver, and then like running
25:27
Speaker 2: back is going to be Uh. Now, I think people
25:31
Speaker 2: in the commander's community may actually undervalue just how much
25:35
Speaker 2: they appreciate Brian Robinson. He did have a terrible finish
25:38
Speaker 2: of the season. Noay fans or buts about it, like
25:41
Speaker 2: statistically and on the field he didn't look too good.
25:44
Speaker 2: But at the same time, uh, you know, if they
25:47
Speaker 2: want to have like a more explosive backfield, something that
25:50
Speaker 2: they're lacking, they're probably gonna have to find a way
25:54
Speaker 2: to upgrade there. And I think those are probably your
25:57
Speaker 2: main position is edge or receiver running back?
26:01
Speaker 1: All right, very good. Well, it's gonna be interesting to
26:04
Speaker 1: keep watching this commander's team and organization see where they
26:07
Speaker 1: go this offseason and specifically in the NFL Draft. Again, folks,
26:10
Speaker 1: he is Jamal Forrest and the Trapper Dive podcast is
26:15
Speaker 1: a podcast you should really listen to. So that being said, Buddy,
26:19
Speaker 1: it was great talking to you. Thank you so much
26:20
Speaker 1: for taking the time, my friend. Hoping to talk to
26:23
Speaker 1: you at some point down the road.
26:25
Speaker 2: Appreciate you, Jeff, Thanks for having me as always.
26:27
Speaker 1: Take care, man, that's gonna do it for us here
26:30
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26:37
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