- 16 hours ago
Will the Washington Commanders look like a better football team after the bye week?
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00:00BMitch and Finley, 106.7, the fan.
00:02I did want to talk about something Dan Quinn said yesterday,
00:05asked about the commander's offensive line.
00:07We've seen Jaden take a lot of shots.
00:10We've seen a complete inability to run the football by this team.
00:15And so it's a fair question to ask, you know,
00:19because he said after the Niners game,
00:23we're going to look at everything, right?
00:25We're going to take a look at everything.
00:27Yeah.
00:28Of the offensive line, I don't know if we have this cut, Stallion.
00:31I'm looking now.
00:32Okay.
00:34Can you give me number eight, please, Jeffrey?
00:36Dan Quinn talking about the offensive line for the commanders.
00:38Yeah, I think more strategy than personnel as we're going through that topic, Ben,
00:44especially like the run game.
00:46You know, how do we utilize all of it more?
00:50And that can mean all 11, the blocking tight end receiver, you know,
00:55the quarterback's carrying out fakes, all of it.
00:57But I want to make sure, Ben, more than anything,
01:00that the finishing of run plays, like, that's noticeable to you, you know,
01:04in the weeks ahead.
01:06Downfield blocking, the finishing at the pile, moving the pile forward,
01:10the two-yard run that can turn into four.
01:12Those are the ones that I want to make sure.
01:14Not every run's going to go clean and big, but trusting our tracks that we're on
01:18and then finishing blocks downfield, those are, like, two specific ones
01:22that I'm really, you know, got my mind ready to watch it.
01:28All right.
01:28So, I think there's multiple angles to this.
01:33Is there an offensive line personnel change they could make?
01:40I'm not entirely sure there is.
01:42It could probably make one.
01:43It probably won't make them better.
01:44Like, Alec Gretti played left guard for you in 24.
01:47They won a bunch of games.
01:48You've got Chris Paul in there now who's not playing like he did last year.
01:52Could you swap those two out?
01:53Maybe.
01:55But it was interesting.
01:57So, last week, Doc was in here.
01:58And Doc was repeatedly, he said this so many times in a row,
02:04why couldn't they help Coleman in the Niners game?
02:07Yeah, yeah.
02:07Like, when he talks about the strategy, like, it's entirely possible
02:13you have to use your tight ends and your backs more in the pass game.
02:18When I heard that quote right there, the first thing I thought was, help.
02:25Like, if you're not going to make personnel changes,
02:27then you damn sure got to give the people that need help, help.
02:31And I remember when Scott was here.
02:33Scott didn't do that.
02:35Okay?
02:37And I haven't seen it done much this year either.
02:40So, I don't know if that's the concept that Blau may have.
02:43But I know one damn thing.
02:46I did it for 14 years.
02:48Right.
02:48It ain't that damn hard to help and still get out.
02:52Even, to be honest with you, it's probably better when you help
02:56and then you leak out because when you help, the people stop paying attention to you
03:01because now they think you're a blocker and not a pass runner.
03:04So, you become an outlet for the quarterback.
03:07You know what I mean?
03:08Yeah.
03:08And if you feel like the guy is beating the tackle, you stay there longer.
03:14Because I think the quarterback getting the ball off is more important than sometimes
03:19you running that two-yard, three-yard, four-yard route.
03:23You know what I'm saying?
03:24Yeah.
03:24I think having McNichols back, who's a very capable pass blocker, will help them a lot.
03:31I don't know that the run game will get going.
03:35And it's tough because the numbers suggest that the run game is still functional, right?
03:40They're ninth in the NFL in rushing yards.
03:42A lot of that is based on explosive plays from Jaden Daniels and Marcus Mariota when they've
03:47been in action.
03:47Um, the actual running backs, the, you know, the yardage hasn't been there.
03:55Bill being out for a while, it will make an impact on this team.
04:00Um, I think it's, it's just going to be really tricky for them to kind of figure this out.
04:07Like if you look, Rashad White averages four yards a carry.
04:11Eckler's at three, nine.
04:12Bill was at three, six.
04:14McNichols is at two, six.
04:15And that's over their body of work.
04:18White to me has value as a pass catcher, but running the football going forward.
04:26And I understand you're probably trying to balance Eckler's carry, like his workload for me at
04:34this point, I think white should be third out of those through out of Eckler, McNichols,
04:41White, as far as getting carries, I'd, I'd rather more go to Eckler and McNichols.
04:47I think they both give you a physicality, a downhill notion with it and a level of explosion
04:56that I just don't see from white.
04:58White has this like gliding smooth style of running where it works like when it's more
05:06of a spread type offense, where you got two wide outs, two slots in the single back and
05:12they put their nickel in.
05:13But when it's like the big boys are in there, it doesn't seem to work.
05:19I think he's better when there's more space.
05:22Like in those second and long third situations, that's when I think he's much better because
05:29you look at the draws, the quick hitters, things like that, where you have more space.
05:35And it doesn't seem like when they're like tight end in there, more linebackers.
05:41He has that.
05:43Probably can do it as the game goes on, but early on, it takes him a little time to get
05:48started.
05:49Agreed.
05:50I think McNichols is often kind of shot out of a cannon.
05:54McNichols hit the ground.
05:55He's a special teams guy.
05:56Do you know what?
05:56When he steps on the field, he knows he's got to be ready to go.
06:00A dude like that with the career he's had, I believe he was an undrafted guy, but maybe
06:05he was just a late draft pick.
06:07I'll pull that.
06:08But he was a fifth rounder in 2017.
06:11Like to hang around.
06:13Fifth rounder and he's still in the what, 10th year now?
06:15To hang around that long, you have to have a...
06:17You're a baller.
06:18Yeah.
06:18It's a different mindset.
06:20And they were always keeping McNichols.
06:23That's probably why you had the IR situation because they wanted to see enough of Catron.
06:27They, with Bill, even with Bill healthy, they don't have like kind of a traditional power
06:32guy.
06:34You know, there was a lot of talk that that could be Catron Allen.
06:38Obviously, they didn't think so.
06:39And Catron's now, is he on the Dolphins practice squad or is he on the Dolphins?
06:46I guess he's played in a game for Miami.
06:48Or he's dressed for a game in Miami.
06:51I don't believe he has a carry down there, but he is dressed.
06:55He had six special team snaps for the Dolphins at some point.
07:05When you look at the run game, we had heard so much.
07:10And I'm not going to just say we heard it.
07:12We saw it in training camp.
07:15Play action.
07:16Yeah.
07:17And then when you get into these game situations, we're just not seeing it.
07:21We are starting to see more of the boots, which I think Jaden's really effective at.
07:25And when teams are blitzing heavy, getting Jaden on the move has helped.
07:30Do you think there's a book out, Brian, on the Blau offense with these zero blitzes they've been facing?
07:36Well, the book is the film.
07:39When they started, they didn't have any answer for it.
07:42People are going to do whatever someone did successfully one week.
07:46The next week, the guy's going to come in and jump right on that.
07:50Totally.
07:51And until you stop it, they're going to keep coming.
07:55Billy's coming to town.
07:56I'm not sure.
07:58What that Eagles defense is after watching them last night, certainly not great.
08:04But it's just interesting from what we saw in camp to what we've been seeing in games.
08:15And they haven't had health.
08:18Quinn's going to say all the right things.
08:21How much do you think this McLaurin injury is going to impact everything?
08:24Because I think it's fairly significant.
08:26I think we saw it in the second half of that Niners game.
08:28When they needed somebody to make a play.
08:31It's going to hurt.
08:31It's going to hurt.
08:32But I think you have now seen Traylon Burks be way different than he was when he first got here.
08:41Chig started to get involved.
08:42We know what Diggs is capable of.
08:44Antonio is there.
08:45You got Van who's experienced.
08:48You got to lean on those guys.
08:52Listen, football is the most cutthroat sport in the world.
08:54You got to forget about Terry.
08:56And you got to go with the guys that are on the field.
08:58One thing Doc always said, I care about the ones that are going to be on the field.
09:01And that's what you got to be concerned about.
09:02Because we know what Terry would do if he was there.
09:06But now he's not.
09:07And he's not going to keep coming through the door to help you out.
09:10You got to go out there and prove to it.
09:13The guys that are on the team now got to prove, okay, this is why you kept me.
09:17Well, and it is remarkable how much last year when McLaurin went down, you had Debo, then Debo got hurt
09:25too.
09:25Like, they're in a much better position this year to suffer the McLaurin injury from a football perspective.
09:34As a human, our heart goes out to the guy.
09:36But from a football perspective, a big part of that is Steph Diggs.
09:40A big part of that is Antonio Williams.
09:42Jeff, Quinn, number seven on the McLaurin situation and how it's going to impact the receiver room.
09:49Steph is doing well.
09:51Workload shouldn't change as much.
09:53I think it'll be others that would climb up more.
09:55Antonio, Barry is one that you'd see getting more targets to go.
10:02So we'll look through the week as we're going to go.
10:04But I like Steph, especially on the options, the third downs, the things that he can do.
10:09And so I would say the natural progression is probably Antonio some more.
10:13Not necessarily at the same spot, Barry, but a higher volume.
10:21Steph has gotten volume already, I would say.
10:24I don't know if you agree with that.
10:26Steph, I think he has.
10:28I'll pull targets.
10:31Yeah, Steph leads his team in targets with 38, and he missed a game, right?
10:36So, like, he's gotten volume because he's able to work kind of that short underneath stuff so well.
10:42I think you're going to see Williams' target share really climb here.
10:46He's gotten 26 so far through six games.
10:49Chig, those numbers are going to go up.
10:51If you had to pick somebody of Burks, Deami, I mean, hell, maybe it is Van Jefferson, who I imagine
10:58will get added to the active here.
11:00Like, who do you think emerges as another option for them?
11:08Burks, definitely.
11:09He's been an option now.
11:11And I think, you know, you got to, he's made some big plays.
11:16I think you got to just start going to him more, you know, because I know you wanted to, you
11:21had to go out there and throw balls at 17.
11:25He's not there now.
11:26So, 13 should get some more.
11:28He's the big target, you know.
11:31Deami, they've been throwing the ball down the field to him.
11:33But that may have to come out there again because, like, one of those have to connect.
11:37So, now you back people up a little bit.
11:39But we know Van has experience running routes, and he has some speed.
11:44He saw that speed over and over in August.
11:46He can bring that to the game, too, where he can loosen up that defense just a little bit.
11:53Any chance it's Luke?
11:56I mean, Luke has been on the field.
12:00I'm now, when you're in this position, you're looking for experience, not still learning.
12:05And in my book, he's still learning how to be a receiver.
12:09You know how many catches Luke has on the season?
12:11How many?
12:12Zero.
12:14Brandon Coleman has more catches than Luke McCaffrey.
12:16So, hey.
12:17Remember when Coleman got that ball?
12:19That was hysterical.
12:20That's what I'm saying.
12:21So, man, it's like, right now, bro, you're trying to win games, bro.
12:25Desperately.
12:26You're not trying to bring people along.
12:27Whoever has what ever on the team now needs to be out there presenting it.
12:32Yeah, and there's like a bigger topic conversation about the development of some of these players over now three seasons
12:42and what you're getting.
12:44And is that enough?
12:45Because I think the way NFL buildings work is coaching staffs on one side and front offices on the other.
12:54If you get to a month from now and things have gone really sideways, like, there's going to be some
13:00fingers getting pointed.
13:02Like, oh, you didn't develop.
13:03Oh, you didn't draft well.
13:04Like, you didn't give me something to develop.
13:07You can't make a steak dinner out of hamburger meat.
13:10See, we discussed that yesterday.
13:11But you can make a really good burger if it's the right person.
13:14We discussed that yesterday about development stuff.
13:17We could look at quarterbacks in the same draft, picked around the same times.
13:23Some guys go, some guys don't.
13:25And I know the coach get the credit for that at the next level.
13:30That guy came ready.
13:32Some people just come ready to play.
13:34Or some people know how to adjust and not feel like it has to be one way or I can't
13:40do it.
13:41You know what I'm saying?
13:43So I went through the same stuff as a lot of running backs that I came in here with.
13:48I listened.
13:50Because they didn't perform or get to the level they're supposed to be.
13:54Does it mean the coach wasn't coaching?
13:56Wasn't developing?
13:57He developed me?
13:58I went from being a damn quarterback to being a running back.
14:01These guys played running back their whole life.
14:03But they wouldn't listen.
14:05So is it always just they didn't get developed or they did not want to be developed?
14:11It's I mean, it's chicken or egg, man.
14:14Like there is no crystal clear answer to that.
14:19But it is certainly part of it.
14:22And that's kind of what we're seeing unfold here.
14:27With a team that is now desperate to get a win coming off the bye.
14:32They're going to be as healthy as they can be.
14:34It didn't sound like Kinlaw is going to play.
14:36I would say it said he's not going to be back at practice today, tomorrow, tomorrow.
14:43A man who should be back.
14:46Marcus should be back as a backup.
14:49That helps.
14:51Last one, Jeffrey.
14:52Number six, Dan Quinn on what he noticed from the guys being back in the building after a few days
14:57off.
14:58Yeah, I think it was heavy the first few games, Scott.
15:02Some adversity for sure.
15:03But, you know, like carrying that heaviness into, you know, after the game and discussing it of where you want
15:09to get to.
15:10We were all disappointed, obviously, about having some games go the other way.
15:14Then it turns into what do we need to do?
15:17And there's certainly players I kept up with over the last few days, you know, by call or by text.
15:22And so I think there was energy, optimism, you know, to kind of get started again.
15:27And although it was needed, some guys have been playing as tough as you can imagine.
15:32But it was needed at this time for us, for sure.
15:36I think it was needed.
15:37I think it's a very good reset for a team that needed a reset.
15:42Like, just do something different, right?
15:45We'll see if that's able to translate Sunday night.
15:49And it's the lights could not be brighter, could not be brighter for this team and this organization that has
15:57real trouble.
16:00You cannot, you cannot confuse.
16:07Josh Harris seems to be a, I would say like a kind guy.
16:13Like, he seems to be friendly and easygoing.
16:17Dude's a billionaire.
16:18And he made his money on Wall Street.
16:20You are a freaking shark.
16:23Oh, yeah.
16:24You are a killer.
16:25That's what you have to be.
16:27And that's not a dude that's going to be consistently embarrassed.
16:31Yeah.
16:31Embarrassed by the product.
16:32Remember when they came out with those grades, what did he say?
16:35I'm not an F- guy.
16:36And he quickly changed a lot of stuff around.