BGO Monday Morning "Commanders Coffee"

[Canadian Hog]

Greetings all!

As we start gearing up for the start of the 2022/23 season and inch closer to Week 1, I will be posting a Monday Morning "Commanders Coffee" debate topic each week. If it generates decent conversation, it might be something I consider continuing as well throughout the season.

For our first Monday Morning "Commanders Coffee" topic, we will give you a poll...

Which returning Washington player needs to up his game the most for the Commanders to make a major leap in '22?

Make your pick, share your reasoning, and argue amongst yourselves!

Enjoy your week!

 

[MikefromOH]

Chase Young. I would have selected Sweat, too.

Young was very disappointing up untill his injury last year. He was doing the same rush and going too wide, and his eye for making big plays was missing.

 

[SkinsOrlando]

I voted Chase as well, his play regressed prior to his injury, as Mike stated he rushed himself out of plays, constantly going wide, hopefully he'll learn some inside technique otherwise the better tackles will just let him continue to let him olay himself out of the play. Jamin Davis was a very close 2nd, he showed some flashes towards the end of the season but we really need a huge jump in year two from him to sure up the outside LB position, I can't see him in the middle at this time.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

MikefromOH is correct in that it’s easily Young, followed closely by Sweat. Those guys bought into the hype last offseason and came out with lackluster performances.

But I’ll also mention Jamin Davis. If this guy takes a big leap this year, that will be huge for this defense. He showed some flashes late last year and linebacker is not an easy position to play. There is definitely a learning curve coming out of college. So if it clicks for him and we see the speed and instincts kick in together, this guy could be really good and the defense will take a huge step forward.

 

[Lovin Cousins]

Don't hate me, but I'm going to be unpopular and say it's Jamin Davis.
I think the defense as a whole, and maybe the whole team, suffers more if Davis disappoints, than the others.
He has a crucial role, and if he falters, there is noone else at all, to pick up the slack any.
A weak Davis leaves a gaping hole in this defense.
On the other hand, Young's position is not below average, whether he under-performs, or even if he is injured and replaced.

Nice to see the depth signing of Nate Gerry though

 

[Neophyte]

I think it has to be Sweat. He has no excuses right now.

I get the guys who say Young but honestly, the dude is coming off a major knee reconstruction and we know he won't be completely right until late in the year, at best. If he has a solid year, I'll be thrilled and then look for a superstar performance in 2023.

Sweat, however, is healthy. He is coming off a year where he talked a lot and then underperformed. Yeah, he had COVID and got his jaw broken (insert snippy comment about talking too much), but neither of those problems should carry over to this season. He needs to be a legit 1st round pass rusher this year and prove he can play with control, doing his part in the scheme, while making himself the guy the other team has to account for on every single snap.

 

[Lovin Cousins]

#2, I wouldn't put Young there either.
At #2 on the list, I think I'd put Gibson.
We need more consistency out of him, in both health and performance. And our running game is crucial. And if he goes down, we could have problems. Robinson is still an unknown. Patterson seems limited. McKissic isn't really a "runnning RB".
Maybe we could even make a case for Gibson being #1 on that list.

 

[Knightingale]

I voted Young.
I think Sweat and Young are the obvious choices, but I'd edge toward Young. We saw what a gamewrecker he can be in his rookie year, more so than Sweat. We need that playmaker back.
A case could be made for Davis too, who disappointed last year, but I feel like if we just got SOMETHING out of him this year then I think we'll be happy.
Gibson is an interesting choice, but I don't necessarily think the Commanders live or die on his performance, like they will on the Defence. I think Robinson could be dark horse to take his job, and McKissic will be McKissic.

 

[Canadian Hog]

For the record, I voted for Sweat as well. Neophyte gave excellent reasoning as to why he is critical towards elevating this team's success in 2022, and I don't need to repeat it.

That all said, for sake of throwing something different out there to consider, what about Curtis Samuel?

When you think about it, there still are a lot of questions surrounding our receiving group. You would hope Thomas and Bates are going to be able to make contributions at the TE position. Unfortunately, Thomas' return/effectiveness is still up in the air and Bates has been banged up a bit this camp too. The early reports on Jahan Dotson are really promising. The reality though is that the hype that has been generated has all been driven by what we have seen in practice/camp. Could things change once he faces live bullets, and might our excitement be tempered a bit at that point? As for Dyami Brown, you really want him to make a leap in Year 2 and here we are over the past several days where he has been out of practice. Can he truly be counted on?

The reality is that until we see otherwise, it is still largely Terry McLaurin and a bunch of questions out of this receiving group. We know what Curtis Samuel can do in this league. He was a threat every time he touched the ball in Carolina. If we can have a known commodity like him step into the lineup and pick up from where he left off in Carolina, it eases the pressure on all the above mentioned other players as they get up to speed.

You have to consistently be able to put up 25 or so points a week to be able to win now in the NFL. Without a significant upgrade in production from our receivers, sometimes I wonder if we can become that kind of team...

 

[Lovin Cousins]

I read an article about the most likely breakout player this year, from each team.
Sweat was the one on ours.

 

[Boone]

I’ll go contrarian. I agree with Neo that we have to expect Young to come back slowly post-injury. I think Sweat will be fine and I think our LB play will be better than expected this year despite the team not doing anything significant at that position in the off-season . I’m looking at William Jackson III as a crucial guy. He was brought in to anchor a secondary and to help bring along some youngsters and he wasn’t able to live up to those responsibilities last season. Has to take it up several notches this season. We always underestimate the impact of a tough competitive secondary on the overall success of the team.

 

[Bulldog]

Agreed on Jamin Davis for the simple reason we don't have a true impact player at this level of the defense as things move along before the preseason.

I think we have enough on the defensive line to be very productive even with Young coming back at some point during the season.

We have good depth and some younger players in the secondary who show flashes of real ability.

Right now, outside of Cole Holcomb I don't see much in the linebacker group to get excited about IF Davis is not a vastly improved presence.

Nothwithstanding the Gerry signing, the Commanders STILL need to sign a veteran linebacker - one with more extensive starting experience in the NFL.

Hopefully, we will see a well-known veteran released before opening day who we can pounce on and get signed for 2022.