BGO Blind Pig: 2023 Roster Edition

[Boone]

The guys do a quick recap of the Bengals game, debate the latest Ron Rivera foot-in-mouth gaffe, and fluidly analyze the 53 man and Practice Squad rosters as they currently exist.

 

[Boone]

Full disclosure: The Washington Commanders defense has mostly looked like garbage in the preseason

After the pod, I confessed to the other guys, I also have concerns about Del Rio defenses seeming to start slowly. How can any Washington fan not feel that way? But this is why I am less concerned than some.

Despite a perceived slow 2022 start (for the 2nd season in a row), here are our defense's 2022 rankings:

Overall Defense: 7th ranked
Passing Defense: 4th ranked
Rushing Defense: 11th ranked

In the first 9 games of the 2022 season Washington's offense scored an avg of 17.7 pts/game. During that same 9 game stretch, opposing offenses scored an avg of 21.3 pts/game.

If Washington had averaged 24 pts per game, we win 12 games outright in 2022, and force OT in 2 others.

It's hard to argue Defense was the problem. That doesn't mean they didn't start slow. Or that they couldn't have been better. But you aren't going to win many games averaging less than 3 TDs a game.

My opinion: Del Rio's priority is to start 2023 healthy. He had a top 10 defense last year and he is confident they will be ready. We'll see if they perform the way he likely believes they will.

 

[burgold]

Del Rio’s defenses have been weird in that when the dust settles the stats look good, but I rarely feel comfortable on any play or down and distance. I think we must be the only team where I think our chances are iffy when it’s 3 and 17. If it’s a good defense shouldn’t they control the game sometimes?

As for the top of the season, I do expect it to start slow. I think the holes exploited all preseason won’t magically close. I also think Del Rio believes in a simple scheme that demands perfect execution to work. His scheme puts more pressure on his defense than the opponent he’s playing against.

I think four man rushes struggle against mobile QBs because it’s so hard to pressure and contain simultaneously.

 

[Om]

Here's the Keim piece about the defense I referenced:

John Keim, ESPN Staff WriterAug 29, 2023, 02:53 PM ET

ASHBURN, Va. -- The mission statement was first uttered in the spring and it carried through into the summer. The Washington Commanders’ defensive players know what they must do, something they haven’t done the past two years. And it has cost them each season.

So this season boils down to two words for them: start fast.

“Starting fast, starting the season fast, and then starting every game fast,” Washington safety Kamren Curl said.

Just in case the point wasn’t made: “That's gonna be a rallying cry for us for this season,” Washington defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio said. “There's a level of focus that we have, [that] kind of kicked in after experiencing some things early and then growing. Now it's time to start fast.”

Washington’s defense started slow each of the past two seasons; subsequently, so did the team. This season? If they don’t start fast, it could lead to another year that ends poorly. And it could lead to numerous changes in the organization. No pressure.

The offense has a new coordinator in Eric Bieniemy, new starters at four line positions, and an inexperienced quarterback in Sam Howell. They know it will take time for the offense to mesh.

That means the defense can’t wait for a second-half surge like the past two seasons. After eight games in 2022, the Commanders ranked 13th in yards per game allowed and 15th in points per game. But, from Week 9 on, they were sixth in points and second in yards per game....

Commanders defense placing emphasis on starting fast in 2023

With nine returning starters, the Commanders' defense believes it can carry the young offense until it has its footing.

www.espn.com

 

[Om]

And because it happened quietly yesterday ...

The Washington Commanders didn’t have any successful waiver claims, but they were able to add a player from outside the organization to their practice squad. LB Jabril Cox chose to sign with Washington over going back to the Dallas Cowboys and signing to their practice squad. He was a 4th round pick out of LSU in the 2021 NFL draft. Cox tore his ACL during his rookie season, and mainly played special teams for Dallas last season. He played in 9 games, and played 36 snaps on defense. Cox was in on 185 special teams snaps, or 73% of the time...

Jabril Cox picks the Washington Commanders practice squad over going back to the Dallas Cowboys

Fresh start in Washington

www.hogshaven.com

 

[Boone]

One thing I meant to mention about Brissett… have you guys noticed his tendency to deliver balls to WRs with guys bearing down on them from their blind side? Maybe that’s not really something QBs can assess in the moment but he has gotten some of our guys heads taken off in preseason. I think part of it is waiting a little too long to make a decision and the defense has time to get a bead on where you are going with the ball. Anyway, I wish he would t do that so frequently.

 

[SkinsOrlando]

I want to see what this defense can do with "rest", not pre-season rest but "in game rest" when the offense doesn't go 3 and out or 7 and out over and over and put the defense back on the field. We need the offense not just to score but give the defense some breathing room.

I don't put much into pre-season games, again I barely watch them anymore.

I also encourage more utilization of the f word in the pod, goes well with my lack of decent vocabulary.

 

[Canadian Hog]

I am curious to know what role five expiring contracts along the defensive line this coming off-season had to do with retaining 11 defensive lineman? Part of me feels like the 53 man roster has a small element of also planning for future needs the odd time. This is not to discredit what a guy like Andre Jones did in the preseason, as it seemed as though he may have done enough to warrant consideration for the final roster. KJ Henry on the other hand to me was invisible. Was he really worth keeping, did his performance in camp/practice show better things?