Random Commanders Thoughts

Thinking about the rookies and free agent acquisitions this morning and circling back to concerns I had on draft day.

I think this team suffered from two philosophical problems. The first was their obsession with flex in team building. The old cliche "Jack of all trades and master of none" kind of fits with how we built the o line and how we drafted. We've acquired too many players who can play guard or center or guard and tackle over guys who are a great tackle, guard, or center. Likewise, the reason that Quan Martin excited the front office, Rivera, and JDR was that he could be a corner, a safety, and maybe even a big nickel hybrid player. Stromberg and Daniels too were apparently chosen for their ability to fit in at multiple positions. Someone once described our o line as four guards and a tackle. Wylie is a guard playing tackle. Cosmi is a tackle playing guard. Charles is a tackle playing guard. Gates is a guard playing center. In other words, pretty much our entire oline is playing out of position. Is there really any surprise it hasn't worked? We have too many tweeners and not enough prototypes.

The other thing I wonder about is the philosophy of flex while married to a needs-based draft. Looking at recent drafts, I can almost always guess what position they are going to take. This draft was no different. First round cornerback. Second round (okay, this surprised me) Third round oline, etc.

It seems to me the combination of not going for the best player because you desire positional flexibility combined with not going for the best player because you have a needs checklist and you are determined to draft a specific position each round has really hurt them this year. What it has led to was a draft where almost all of their players were considered reaches. What it has meant this year is that almost none of them have panned out or even seen the field... not even on special teams. Don't get me wrong, flex is great when you need to counter injuries and it helps in add confusion in certain schemes, but it's overvalued here.

So going forward, along with new coaches and a new front office... I really hope we develop a new philosophy.
 
Nicki Jhavbala cited a stat that the 2nd-7th round picks in the 2023 draft plus Mitchell Tinsley have played a combined 13 snaps so far this season.
 
I agree. He’s got a big leg but you can’t have a kicker who routinely misses kicks under 50 yds in big spots.
 
Yeah, that missed kick against the Bears squelched all hope. We didn't deserve to win, but we were coming back. Slye is a big reason I was opposed to going for three early in the game. Didn't trust him to make a 51-yarder. Thought converting a fourth and four was a surer bet.
 
My favorite Redskins game of all time magically appeared in my Youtube feed this morning. 🥳

 
Lot of talk that the defense played better yesterday. I don't want to say that. We still gave up 400 yards and lost the TOP battle by 12 minutes. We forced few punts. Our pass defense was a sieve. Thankfully, we got the turnovers, but pretty much all of those turnovers negated points on successful drives. Happy for the result, but it hardly represented a major turnaround for the D. It has a long way to go.

Yesterday for the first time, I'd say most... probably over half of Howell's sacks were on Howell. He clearly was holding the ball. His instinct to step up put him into harm's way. There were a number of times where he scrambled straight into the teeth of the defense. Just throw the ball away or at least run where they ain't. Lot of coverage sacks, too. The broadcast showed too many times where Howell really didn't have a throwing option. All this brings up the question, should Cornelius Lucas start? Did he solidify the line enough to warrant benching Wylie once Leno comes back from his bereavement to see what would happen?
 
The pass defense will never get good. It's good for a 7 every game and it's obvious that Del Rio is a open book for even the worst offensive coaches to exploit.
 
burgold said:
Lot of talk that the defense played better yesterday. I don't want to say that. We still gave up 400 yards and lost the TOP battle by 12 minutes. We forced few punts. Our pass defense was a sieve. Thankfully, we got the turnovers, but pretty much all of those turnovers negated points on successful drives. Happy for the result, but it hardly represented a major turnaround for the D. It has a long way to go.

Yesterday for the first time, I'd say most... probably over half of Howell's sacks were on Howell. He clearly was holding the ball. His instinct to step up put him into harm's way. There were a number of times where he scrambled straight into the teeth of the defense. Just throw the ball away or at least run where they ain't. Lot of coverage sacks, too. The broadcast showed too many times where Howell really didn't have a throwing option. All this brings up the question, should Cornelius Lucas start? Did he solidify the line enough to warrant benching Wylie once Leno comes back from his bereavement to see what would happen?
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To be fair, the defense was on the field most of the 2nd half because the offense could not convert a 3rd down. And yet they still managed to force key turnovers and make stops. The yards and TOP matter and I get that - but in truth, they only matter if they contribute to the final score result. The team gambled they could ride out a 14 point lead by going uber-conservative in the 2nd half. And they were right. As Kevin Sheehan said this morning... there are a ton of games where JDR and this defense deserve to be criticised, but Sunday's wasn't one of them. I think he's mostly right on that one.
 
I hear you, but that argument never quite sits right with me. After all, there’s no reason teams can’t trade three and outs.
 
Boone said:
To be fair, the defense was on the field most of the 2nd half because the offense could not convert a 3rd down. And yet they still managed to force key turnovers and make stops. The yards and TOP matter and I get that - but in truth, they only matter if they contribute to the final score result. The team gambled they could ride out a 14 point lead by going uber-conservative in the 2nd half. And they were right. As Kevin Sheehan said this morning... there are a ton of games where JDR and this defense deserve to be criticised, but Sunday's wasn't one of them. I think he's mostly right on that one.
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Chance can only compensate for systemic incompetence for so long...and the lack of conditioning on guys not under Bienimey's watch. This defense is what it is. Mediocre. Enough for optimists to have hope but consistently falter. It's basically a collective Jason Campbell or Carson Wentz.

Atlanta was more interested in making film than winning, and so were the Commanders because they know young QBs usually don't take a team to the promised land in their first year starting.
 
No argument with your larger point but we were discussing the Atlanta game. I’m not going to criticize the defense in a game they literally were the reason we win one on the road.
 
Where's Cole Turner? Did Thomas make the trip last week?

Need some TEs to show up.
 
This type of stuff just lends credence to the theories that Mara gets whatever he wants both on and off the field. I’m not saying he is paying refs or fixing games. But there is no doubt that this crew gave the Giants favorable calls last year. One of which wasn’t even a judgement call, just an absolute screw up when he told Terry he was lined up correctly only to grab his flag the second after confirming. If there is accountability for officials, then they must be accountable to Mara for something like this to happen.
 
Honestly, assigning this same crew to the very next game these two teams play against each other is suspect judgment on the part of whoever controls these things.

At best, it is tone-deaf to the issues being raised weekly in the officiating, and at worst it looks nearly corrupt.
 
Does anyone know how crews are assigned from week to week? Doing a quick search but not finding anything official yet ...
 
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