- 9 minutes ago
Ben Standig joins the show to discuss life after the Jayden Daniels injury for the Commanders and preview the Wizards season.
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00:00Yeah, I mean, I haven't heard much about what his situation is
00:04or what the thinking is inside the building beyond what Dan Quinn has already shared with us.
00:10I will say that in speaking with a medical professional who I had on my podcast last year
00:18when this elbow incident came up and then listening to other doctors, surgeons,
00:25what have you on other shows and podcasts,
00:27the idea of having surgery, again, this is just an outside opinion,
00:31the idea of having surgery seems much more prominent now because of the reoccurrence.
00:35And then the question becomes, you know, is everybody going to be good with that?
00:40Because it may very well mean the end of the season for him.
00:44From sort of what you were just kind of saying with Jackson Dart,
00:47from a long-term perspective, surgery just may be the better option.
00:51I mean, it's obviously now kept happening, and it's only more likely to keep happening
00:56now that there's been this reoccurrence.
00:58But on the other hand, you know, he had the surgery, like I said,
01:01that probably ends his season.
01:03And, you know, we're only in week three.
01:05A lot of lot riding on the season that this is staged, so that would be a tough call.
01:09But, you know, that's, I think, what the decision is probably coming down to
01:12in the inside the building.
01:14Are they – they say – I mean, but I know surgery probably would end the season.
01:18But is surgery the only way to get him back on the field?
01:24No, I think, you know, from – I think similar to the last time,
01:27the nature of the injury to the non-throwing arm is not the world's biggest deal.
01:34This is the – it's this.
01:38It's this.
01:39But call it a fluke, call it whatever, it's now happened again.
01:42So, yeah, I think he could go back out there and play.
01:45You know, he was out a month last time when it happened,
01:48the first instance against Seattle, ironically.
01:51So, you know, we'll do that again.
01:53Maybe that takes him through the bye week here.
01:56So that's possible, for sure.
01:57But, again, it's just a matter of what do the doctors think is the likelihood of this,
02:03you know, reoccurring.
02:05You know, again, it wasn't like he got pummeled by Clinton Williams or somebody
02:09and got driven to the ground.
02:11He just, like, braced – you know, put his arm out, braced himself, and that happened.
02:14And so, you know, and I don't know that a brace is going to be a catch-all either.
02:18It might be with help, but I don't know that it's going to solve everything.
02:21So that's where, you know, I think this is – yeah, I think he can go back and play.
02:26It's just to what end.
02:28And, again, if you also wait for the surgery, then, you know,
02:32at some point the clock starts ticking when you do have it,
02:35and then what does that do for the next season?
02:37Yeah, dude, it's funny because, to me, the imperative at this point has to be fixing this.
02:43And if that means he plays and then gets surgery later, like,
02:47there has to be an answer moving forward that you don't expect this to happen again.
02:53And I don't know how you arrive at that.
02:55That's obviously why he's going to meet with these specialists and such.
02:57But we know Jaden well enough that he wants to be out on the field
03:02and he would happily play through pain.
03:04We've seen him do that.
03:05But you've got to get to a place where he can fall on his left arm
03:09and not have to be carted off the field too.
03:12Yeah.
03:13But I think even that can happen after he has surgery and have a brace on.
03:19He can still be driven to the ground and may have to go.
03:21Sure.
03:22But ideally not the same injury again.
03:25Yeah.
03:26I mean, kind of, you know, other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?
03:30But, Ben, they do have a game this week,
03:31and it happens to be the Seattle Seahawks who are just absolutely loaded.
03:36Are you surprised how fast we've arrived at kind of a doom and gloom situation
03:41for the commanders?
03:45Well, sure.
03:46I mean, like, I think we all, you know, going back to when the schedule was released,
03:49we're all kind of like, oh, man, this thing is really front-loaded.
03:52It's not inconceivable after they start two road games against NFC opponents
03:57that they enter this game against the Super Bowl champs down 0-2.
04:01And, you know, that was with thinking Sam Darnold would be playing at all the ceiling.
04:05He's not going to be able to erase issues that come up, i.e.
04:10the secondary giving up gobs of passing yards or not creating turnovers,
04:15things along those lines, right?
04:17There's only so much he can do.
04:18I do think, though, he is capable of doing plenty, and he's got better receivers now,
04:22just like Jaden did, than he had the last two years.
04:24And I think it's even more important for him that he has Diggs and McLaurin out there
04:29versus what was going on last year.
04:33You know, this is a weird stat.
04:34It's completely irrelevant.
04:36But last year, if the defense had held opponents to 21 or fewer points in the eighth area of the
04:42start,
04:43instead of going 2-6, they would have gone 4-3-1.
04:46Now, again, that doesn't really mean anything.
04:48But my point is, like, he's capable of keeping them in the game.
04:51He's just not going to win you the games.
04:54So it's a crisis.
04:55There's no doubt about it.
04:56And this could maybe not be the worst team you could face, but he's capable of getting it done if
05:03he has help.
05:05Yeah.
05:06Where does the help come from, then?
05:09Well, you know, obviously that's the other conversation is, you know,
05:12the secondary has been a big mess.
05:14And, you know, this is a new system, a new coordinator and all that,
05:20and yet a lot of the same problems are arising, you know,
05:23which leads you to think, okay, well, you've got to make some personnel changes.
05:26We know they're limited at corner without Trey Amos.
05:29You know, Mikey Sanders still, you know, it's not just him,
05:32but he's the one that's gotten picked on the most.
05:35And, you know, one, you have to ask the question of should he be still out there.
05:40You know, Russell Douglas, again, not to suggest he's the fix himself,
05:45but he gives you more size, he's more experienced,
05:47and it's probably just a steadier play-to-play option.
05:50He played about half the snaps, I think, of Sanders still last week.
05:53So you could flip that and go from there.
05:56But, you know, look, I mean, you've got Jackson Jigua coming into this game
06:00with football right now.
06:02So the task is only not easier.
06:06But I think the other key is we saw at least in week one the pass rush was there,
06:11and while there were still explosives allowed,
06:13it was just sort of a couple of plays here and there.
06:15Against Dallas, just felt like the Cowboys could do whatever they wanted,
06:17and the pass rush wasn't there consistently.
06:19So you've got to have the consistent pass rush,
06:21but I think we may have reached a point where you really have to strongly consider
06:25making some kind of personnel changes in the secondary.
06:28They spent a lot of money on the pass rush on the defensive line.
06:33Do you think that if the pass rush is much better,
06:37that that could help the secondary out a little bit?
06:41Yeah, I mean, it's the whole point of this defensive setup.
06:45It's why, you know, we were told they're probably not going to spend a ton on
06:49cornerbacks, even though going into the year we're all kind of like,
06:51oh, they need more help there.
06:53Because, like, if the pass rush does its job, the front seven, you know,
06:57confuse the quarterback, all that, it makes life much easier for the secondary.
07:02The issue last week, like I said, was just, you know, give Dallas credit,
07:06but, like, Washington's pass rush just wasn't nearly as vibrant as it was in the
07:11Philly game.
07:11Not just the pass rush, but making plays at the line of scrimmage, so on and so
07:15on.
07:15Ironically, well, not ironically, but, you know, Nick Cross, who I would say has
07:19probably been their best defensive back.
07:21Yeah, we have no influence.
07:23What's on Nick?
07:25Yeah, no, all right.
07:26So we don't even know if he's going to be available after, you know,
07:30all these injuries sound terrible to a layman like me who doesn't like really
07:34getting off his couch.
07:35But the internal injury that kept you hospitalized, even if he got released the
07:40next day, it definitely doesn't sound great.
07:42So a lot of questions for sure there.
07:45And, you know, that's just going to make the job even more complicated if he's
07:48limited or out.
07:49Talking with our friend Ben Standig here on the Rude Guest Hotline.
07:53You can give Ben a follow at Ben Standig.
07:56Check out the Standig Room Only sub-stack, Last Man Standig sub-stack.
08:01I feel like it keeps changing names.
08:01I can't keep track of it.
08:03Benny, I know on your podcast you talked about this viral meme that shows
08:09Giants players standing around dart versus when Jaden went down and some of
08:13the players were going into the locker room.
08:15I think it's like really kind of complete junk because it was halftime and the
08:19guys first stopped with Jaden and then they realized he was down again and they
08:23were bringing the cart and the guys had to get in for halftime.
08:26I just think it's like people reach for these things when it comes to Jaden
08:30Daniels.
08:31I'm curious how you viewed that.
08:34Yeah, you know, I go back to 2015 when Kirk Cousins was replacing RG3 as the
08:45starter and the national media was apoplectic about this because they are not
08:51here all the time.
08:51They're only paying attention to 32 teams, not just one.
08:55And their belief was that RG3 is better than Kirk Cousins because that's what the
08:59narrative that has been out there.
09:01And I say this because that was one of the first times I was like, oh, you know
09:05what?
09:05They really have no idea what they're talking about.
09:06Like they know what they're talking about if the information they have is
09:09accurate or they're willing to listen to it.
09:11But if you're not, then they're just throwing garbage out there.
09:14And then that pattern just repeated itself, not just here, all over the place.
09:19And this is a perfect example of this, the idea that the inference is that the
09:25offensive lineman or his teammates just don't like Jaden Daniels that much, right?
09:28Because why else would you walk by the guy who was hurt?
09:31That seems so callous.
09:32You only do that when like there's a, you know, an obvious head case at
09:35quarterback, right?
09:36Well, obviously that's not remotely the case here.
09:39I mean, there's been, I mean, it's, it's the opposite.
09:42I mean, there are more people who claim to be Jaden Daniels' best friends than I
09:47have contacts in my phone.
09:49You know what I mean?
09:49Like this guy is super popular.
09:51So the idea that people were like walking away from him is not.
09:55And then, like you said, it was halftime.
09:57The players only have so much time to go in there and do what they need to do,
10:00meet with the coaches, get IV, get reach tape, whatever.
10:05Like the rule is you have to feel.
10:07There's, you know, stuff happening, halftime show or whatever.
10:09So they got to go.
10:11Now because of the injury and it took longer to get, to get them off the field
10:15with the card and everything, you know, people came back out and maybe halftime
10:19was extended.
10:19But yeah, it's, it's just another example of where we understand what, not only
10:25picking on the national media per se, it's just the, the, what they're asked to do
10:28here, to talk about these random topics, have an expert opinion on them at all times.
10:34It doesn't matter whether you actually know anything or not.
10:36And in this case, I definitely think they do not.
10:38They need to be picked on sometimes because all they do is, they run in and they just
10:42want to basically look at headlines instead of looking at the depth of a story.
10:47Because the people locally here, I think, shouldn't know because you're always here
10:53compared to somebody who rolls in every damn blue moon.
10:58Oh, yeah.
10:59A hundred, a hundred percent.
11:00And this goes on for other topics as well, for sure.
11:04It is just an unfortunate deal.
11:06And, you know, it's only even made more so just, you know, like, I mean, we don't
11:09forget into the whole social media stinks and people and where people get their
11:13information from and, and, and all this stuff that goes way beyond just sports.
11:17But yeah, I mean, this is just an unfortunate part of the narrative.
11:21Like I almost, I just wish they would come out and say, you know what?
11:24Jaden's laying on the ground.
11:25They're walking past and they clearly don't like them.
11:27Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't have them.
11:30Right.
11:31You know what it, just say it, be, go, go for it.
11:34Be bold.
11:34Don't act like you're, you know, because the inference almost annoys me more.
11:38Not that the other part would be right, but at least you're owning it.
11:41This is just like some nonsense.
11:42It's like, oh, those look good.
11:43Well, what do you, what do you think?
11:45Were they supposed to all stop there and just crowd up the whole area?
11:49Well, they stopped for a minute.
11:50Yeah, but they told them to move on.
11:52The refs were like, we can't delay halftime.
11:54Yeah.
11:55Talking with Ben Standig here, you can give him a follow at Ben Standig, S-T-A-N-D-I
11:59-G.
12:00We did this segment earlier, Benny.
12:03What is the path for a commander's win against the Seahawks?
12:07Like, give me a couple specific things that have to happen to pull off what would be a pretty
12:11significant upset.
12:15Yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, winning the turnover battle, but because you actually
12:19can create some turnovers, right?
12:21I mean, that would be huge.
12:22I mean, look, Drew Locke has played well in the two games he's been around.
12:25He's had to play because Sam Darnold got hurt basically right away in the first game.
12:30He is still a guy that everybody was making fun of 10 minutes ago.
12:33And as a guy who's, you know, like a lot of backups, he's not a guy you're probably looking
12:37to win you the game.
12:38You're looking for him to not mess up the game.
12:41So make him mess up.
12:42This is a perfect place for this defense to cause confusion and, you know, put him off
12:48his game.
12:48And maybe he throws something in the traffic or some jump balls or what have you.
12:51And then on offense, you know, again, we have seen Terry McLaurin succeed with far worse
12:57quarterbacks than Marcus Mariota in his career.
12:59Stephon Diggs is the same.
13:00I don't think those guys are going to be affected by the change.
13:03Again, I'm not saying that Mariota is equal to Jaden, but those guys will help a quarterback
13:08in ways that guys last year just simply couldn't.
13:11And then, you know, obviously you got to keep the pressure off of the quarterback, at least
13:15to some degree.
13:16Maybe he doesn't, it's not realistic to think you're going to slow Seattle down totally,
13:20but don't make it such that, you know, Mariota's having to run for his life on every single
13:25play.
13:26If you can do those things, then, you know, hey, I don't think, you know, anything's
13:29possible.
13:30Weird things happen.
13:310-2 at home.
13:32I'm sure Seattle's a pretty good favorite.
13:34Everybody, I'm sure, will be betting Seattle out there.
13:39There, that's how you, you know, that's how you get the job done.
13:42You just got to play smart, fundamental, and make the plays where you can.
13:45If they can do that, hope through lock, you know, turns back into a pumpkin, and, you know,
13:50you go from there.
13:52Yeah, I agree.
13:53I just, everybody's so dismissive that it's possible you get a ball game here, and I just,
13:58whenever you have that, it is weird to me, I know you pay attention to this stuff, that
14:02Vegas hasn't moved the line up at all, because everybody is just hammering the Seahawks.
14:07I wonder if we see that kind of later in the week, or maybe they're just waiting to see.
14:12You think, if you're Seattle, are you getting Darnold on the field for this one?
14:17I don't think so at this point.
14:19I mean, the lock has played really well, and then, obviously, you know, I am sure they're
14:26talking about Marcus Merritt, and I believe he's the second coming, but at the same point,
14:30you know, there's got to be a reality to it.
14:32I don't know what Seattle's schedule is after this week, but, you know, they're off to a
14:37good start, pretty reasonable chance they can win this game without him, so I would, without
14:42knowing his injury situation, I wouldn't rush it back, at least.
14:44I wouldn't feel like he has to be out there.
14:47You know, I did want to take a minute, though, Benny, because I've noticed you're doing more
14:50and more Wizards coverage, which I think is smart.
14:53I think there's more and more interest in the Wiz.
14:55And you had a conversation about kind of the starting five for Washington, because it's
15:00awesome that they have added these veteran players, right?
15:03Like, it could be really cool, but I want these young guys to keep developing.
15:08I think you had a post on your sub stack, when it comes to rounding out the starting five,
15:12the Wizards no longer need a wing and a prayer.
15:15Like, what did you mean?
15:16How do you see this Wiz season?
15:17Because we're only a couple weeks away from this thing starting.
15:22Yeah, so I think this is a perfect example of what I was just discussing in terms of
15:25the national media perspective.
15:27The national media perspective on the Wizards currently is, why would you expect anything
15:33different?
15:33They've been garbage for all these years, and, you know, I've covered them for many of these
15:36years.
15:37There's no, I get that argument or that logic or the idea that people haven't been paying
15:41as much of attention to them in recent years.
15:43But that said, or then maybe now they see, wait a minute, they gave Trey Young this big
15:49contract, they got Anthony Davis, so it's surely going to give him a big deal.
15:52Why are they bringing in a vet like Chris Middleton?
15:55They're going to block these young guys, aren't they?
15:58I see zero reasoning to think that any of that is actually going to happen.
16:02I mean, in terms of the blocking, they went out of their way last year to sit vets or trade
16:07vets away because they wanted to keep tanking.
16:11It worked perfectly.
16:12They weren't nearly as bad as their actual return indicated last year because they threw
16:17away so many games late and over the second half of the year.
16:21The young guys are pretty promising from A.J.
16:24DeBonta on.
16:26And, again, like Trey Young, again, is he a top five point guard?
16:30No.
16:30Is he a top half of the league point guard?
16:32Yeah.
16:33He kind of reminds me of the way people talk about Kirk Cousins.
16:36Like, everybody focuses on the negatives and don't pay attention to he's at least a top
16:41half of the league quarterback, you know, sort of Minnesota or Kirk Cousins or when he
16:45was here.
16:46And so people are viewing the Wizards as like this as if they're making moves to win a title.
16:52No.
16:52They're just trying to be better and help the young kids improve by having actual vets
16:57around them who are good.
16:58So I think they'll be fine.
17:00Again, I'm not worried about them blocking the play of young guys because of some vets.
17:06Yeah, Davis will play.
17:08Young will play.
17:09DeAndre Ayton is the main backup center.
17:11Other than that, I would expect the kids to be out there.
17:13They've got to earn it, of course, you know, that whole deal.
17:15But I don't see it getting blocked.
17:17And I think this is the most interesting Wizards team we've had, at least since, you know,
17:22peak wall deal.
17:24Yeah.
17:24So, you know, somewhere in that general range.
17:26So, yeah, this is a pretty exciting time to pay attention to this team.
17:30And I don't really get people ragging on it.
17:34It really makes no sense to me.
17:36People can't look at the future.
17:37People love looking in the rearview mirror.
17:39Or they like looking way out in the future.
17:41So, like, the 2026 or 2027, rather, NFL draft.
17:46Betty, I've planted my flag.
17:48I think the Wiz start 2-0.
17:50I think they beat the Bucs and the Raptors in those first two games.
17:54Maybe that's crazy.
17:54But maybe Toronto's better.
17:57I don't know what the Kawhi situation is.
17:58Kawhi's signed now.
18:00Yeah, but, like, who knows?
18:02The Wiz are starting 2-0.
18:03What do you think are reasonable expectations for the Wiz?
18:06Like a play-in?
18:07A succeed?
18:09Like, I want competitive basketball, man.
18:13Yeah.
18:13It's unfortunate, of course, this being the Wizards, it sounds about right,
18:17that the time they are finally ready to make a move,
18:20the Eastern Conference is at its strongest in, like, 20 years.
18:24So, you know, they could be improved and still be on the outside looking in.
18:29I do think that a play-in situation is there for them.
18:33I mean, look, so much hinges on Anthony Davis, who doesn't stay healthy.
18:37But if somehow he can magically stay healthy when this may be the last time
18:43for him to show he's worthy of a big contract from somebody,
18:48then I think they can be a play-in team.
18:51I think if everything went perfect, which is never going to happen,
18:55they could be, like, a sixth seed.
18:56But realistically, the play-in range, I think, is something that you can look at
19:00and aim to.
19:01And as long as the younger guys continue to develop,
19:04whether they ultimately get there or not, because other teams are pretty good, too,
19:07we should be looking at a much-improved team.
19:10Yeah, man, I just – what do you – do you think it's still possible
19:13if AD plays well and stays healthy, do you think they could still flip him
19:19than just say, like, oh, the timeline wasn't right?
19:22Or do you think he's – because they've been clear that they'll talk contract
19:25once they get into the season.
19:26I'm not sure if you've got this young of a team.
19:28Do you really want to talk contract with Anthony Davis?
19:31Like, where do you think that goes?
19:34Yeah, I mean, my best read is I would be surprised if they give him the type
19:41of extension that people think you might get from them,
19:44especially after the Trae Young situation, which is a whole other conversation
19:49I wrote about that and sort of the justifications to why they spent what they spent.
19:53But, yeah, I think they could absolutely flip him.
19:56I mean, I think to me, people – again, I think people are looking at this
20:00as, like, the Wizards think they're going all in with Trae Young and Anthony.
20:03Now, they are going all in on helping their younger players have better help
20:08around them.
20:09That's what they went all in on.
20:10And if that means flipping Davis to get stuff because he's proven to be capable
20:15and some teams willing to give you, you know, a pretty good offer,
20:19he gets traded.
20:21Right.
20:21I mean, other than, like, they're having, like, some monstrous surprising year.
20:25If he's having a great year, they're signing him.
20:28I'm going to let you all know that right now.
20:29Hey, Benny, we've got to let you go, man.
20:31Appreciate you making time for us.
20:33All right, man.
20:33Of course.
20:34See you.
20:34All right.
20:35That's our guy, Ben Standig.
20:36Give him a follow, at Ben Standig.
20:39Make sure you check out his sub stack and his podcast.
20:41Let's get started.