2025 Washington Commanders- All Things Defense

Bulldog said:
We can’t go the season with Baptiste, Jacob Martin and calling up Jalyn Holmes from the PS.

These guys aren’t strong enough to set the edge and put us back to last year in being hurt on the ground.

We need to sign Clowney this week.

Clowney is a better overall player than Smith.
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I like JJB but the fundamental issue with him is his body is not built for football. The reason he ended up a 7th round pick and near UDFA despite being a 5 star recruit is his college career was injury, injury, injury. He is going to get hurt and miss games this season.
 
SkinsFTW said:
You aren't new. Clowney played for the Browns, Titans, Panthers, Ravens, and Seahawks after being drafted by the Texans.

He went to every one of those teams, in series, because they paid the most. So he is a mercenary.

Maybe AP is trying to avoid signing mercs. But if the defense starts looking like it did last year we are going to have questions.
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The guy has character issues. That has been documented and that is why he has moved around the league. You can’t have a locker room full of guys like this but if the “brotherhood” is what it is touted to be, you can add a guy like this
 
The obvious point though is this DE group went from questionable to a near bottom unit with the injuries.

We didn’t draft or trade for any younger DEs so where is the improvement going to come from?
 
Bulldog said:
The obvious point though is this DE group went from questionable to a near bottom unit with the injuries.

We didn’t draft or trade for any younger DEs so where is the improvement going to come from?
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Good news is Dorance has continued to get better and has 11 pressures through 2 games. He is no lead DE though.
 
Armstrong is a good pass rusher when used in a rotation with a guy with better size that can stop the run on early downs.

Again, I don’t understand what Quinn and Whitt are doing at DE.

We aren’t even using the players we have in the right situations matched to skills.
 
So we signed Preston Smith. Better than the alternatives of JJB and Holmes. He did clearly fall off last year though. I wish it were Clowney instead
 
Clowney much be trying to retire. It's crazy that nobody has signed him yet.
 
Bulldog said:
Armstrong is a good pass rusher when used in a rotation with a guy with better size that can stop the run on early downs.

Again, I don’t understand what Quinn and Whitt are doing at DE.

We aren’t even using the players we have in the right situations matched to skills.
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I could be off base here, but I think they have a fundamentally different philosophy than we fans may be used to. It seems more predicated on attacking (via 1 gapping and using stunts and such), vs holding ground and keeping our backers clean. In other words, gearing towards TFLs and stuffs vs trying to consistently limit ypc (probably a poor way to put it). My understanding is this is a higher risk/reward scheme (particularly against disciplined olines/offenses) aimed at forcing longer 2nd/3rd downs.

I think that’s why they saw guys like Wise and Kinlaw - better pass rushers than run stoppers - as still being positives in run D. Might also explain Armstrong not being a situational rusher… though that could be more about lacking ideal personnel.
 
Commander Wraith said:
I could be off base here, but I think they have a fundamentally different philosophy than we fans may be used to. It seems more predicated on attacking (via 1 gapping and using stunts and such), vs holding ground and keeping our backers clean. In other words, gearing towards TFLs and stuffs vs trying to consistently limit ypc (probably a poor way to put it). My understanding is this is a higher risk/reward scheme (particularly against disciplined olines/offenses) aimed at forcing longer 2nd/3rd downs.

I think that’s why they saw guys like Wise and Kinlaw - better pass rushers than run stoppers - as still being positives in run D. Might also explain Armstrong not being a situational rusher… though that could be more about lacking ideal personnel.
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It makes a lot of sense. In theory, giving up 2 or 3 spots where it's 3rd and manageable, then being able to have a TFL / Sack on the 4th sequence of a drive creating a 2nd and 14 may be the 'better' option to stopping more drives. Giving up a handful of extended plays but having a more realistic shot at a drive stopping play is the plan.
 


Interesting, as we all assumed it was AP with the Kinlaw hard-on due to scouting him in SF.

AP over time is being revealed as an extremely collaborative guy in FA and the draft. That’s a good thing in general, but I hope he has a strong sense of self when it comes to prospects that he really feels strongly about. He’s supposed to be a stud evaluator, every pick and signing can’t be a staff consensus pick or a guy an assistant coach or coordinator bangs the table for. Sometimes AP will have to call his shot. Would be so interested to know the breakdown on our draft picks so far
 
Conn said:


Interesting, as we all assumed it was AP with the Kinlaw hard-on due to scouting him in SF.

AP over time is being revealed as an extremely collaborative guy in FA and the draft. That’s a good thing in general, but I hope he has a strong sense of self when it comes to prospects that he really feels strongly about. He’s supposed to be a stud evaluator, every pick and signing can’t be a staff consensus pick or a guy an assistant coach or coordinator bangs the table for. Sometimes AP will have to call his shot. Would be so interested to know the breakdown on our draft picks so far
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I hope he get more collaborative in drafting... His FA work has been very good. His drafting on the other hand(other than JD) .. has been sub par. He really needs to step up his game.
 
SkinsLife said:
I hope he get more collaborative in drafting... His FA work has been very good. His drafting on the other hand(other than JD) .. has been sub par. He really needs to step up his game.
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I think he is collaborative in drafting already and again it may be to some detriment (or advantage, it's hard to tell right now on both sides - good/bad and who was responsible).

The obvious one is Connerly; he made a point of showing everyone why he picked Connerly. The paranoid skeptic in me thinks he did that in a joking way just to show that it wasn't really his favored pick, so maybe he didn't really think Connerly was the pick there, but he values getting coaches *their* players above picking his guys. I don't know - but he did make a big point of showing the Connerly pick was Kliff's. In FA, there are a lot of signs pointing in both directions - there are SF connections (although Kinlaw was one! So this Whitt post is intriguing for that reason) and there are also past connections (McManus was connected to our ST coach, and I may be wrong but maybe Gay is?).
 
Conerly has played 3 games... the story is not yet written either.
 
Here’s an interesting thought - given the weakness we have at the safety position, do you go sign CJ Gardner Johnson? He was released by the Texans for being toxic in the locker room.

I know most here would say no but why have great teams like the Lions and Eagles with strong cultures taken this guy on? Is ours not strong enough to handle a talented guy like this?
 
Why do we feel like there's a gaping weakness at safety?

Quan Martin - Starter
Percy Butler - has been solid - short term injury
Tyler Owens - Have heard nothing but good
Jeremy Reaves - Very solid contributor beyond ST. Having his best season of his career

Savage was likely brought in as depth and to be used situationally. I don't think they're as worried about the safety room as fans are.
 
Primus Porcus said:
Why do we feel like there's a gaping weakness at safety?

Quan Martin - Starter
Percy Butler - has been solid - short term injury
Tyler Owens - Have heard nothing but good
Jeremy Reaves - Very solid contributor beyond ST. Having his best season of his career

Savage was likely brought in as depth and to be used situationally. I don't think they're as worried about the safety room as fans are.
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Primus Porcus said:
Why do we feel like there's a gaping weakness at safety?

Quan Martin - Starter
Percy Butler - has been solid - short term injury
Tyler Owens - Have heard nothing but good
Jeremy Reaves - Very solid contributor beyond ST. Having his best season of his career

Savage was likely brought in as depth and to be used situationally. I don't think they're as worried about the safety room as fans are.
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Quan is not having a good season, Percy has never shown me he is even a solid defender, Owens is completely unproven as a defender and Reavo struggles in coverage.

CJGJ would very easily be the best safety on this squad if we signed him
 
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