Commanders' Coffee #17

[Canadian Hog]

It's familiar territory for Washington fans - on the outside looking in as the playoffs begin, and an eye towards NFL free agency which begins in March. Many suspect that the free agency window might not be a very active time for Washington, especially with the sale of the team looming. That all being said, who are your top three free agency pieces you hope the Commanders add in the offseason?

A list of names can be found at the following link:

Top NFL free agents of 2023: From 1-250, led by Lamar Jackson

Top NFL free agents of 2023: Baltimore Ravens' Lamar Jackson and Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

www.google.com

Interested to hear everyone's takes and approaches!

 

[Chris]

Give me a OG and C in free agency (I only picked 2) and a OT and OG in the draft.

Either OT or CB are the only positions I would consider at #16.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

I agree on the O-line. In fact, I would sign a big time lineman, sign a depth piece, and draft another one. Show you are invested in improving the line. They also may be able to find a LB easier in free agency than in the draft. If they signed another DB, they need to make sure he’s a good fit that plays in the system they run.

 

[SkinsOrlando]

Taylor Heinicke, the Joe Montana undiscovered, the Steve Young not unleashed, the Joe F'n Theismann for the gawt dang HOF...

 

[Bulldog]

The team should have used the 2021 first pick on a lineman rather than force the selection of a linebacker who only started one year in college.

 

[SilentThreat]

The team should have used the 2021 first pick on a lineman rather than force the selection of a linebacker who only started one year in college.

Revisionist history… we were all talking about our lack of talent at LB going into that draft.

 

[Neophyte]

I'd go back a year or two before that and say the team shouldn't have traded our 2nd rounder to move back into the first round to take Sweat.

Draft Sweat at 16 instead of Haskins (which we didn't really want anyway) and use that second on a lineman. That would also have given us a 2nd rounder the following year that we didn't have.

Of course, at that point, we still had Williams, Scherff, and Morgan. Most thought our line was a position of strength.

 

[SilentThreat]

I'd go back a year or two before that and say the team shouldn't have traded our 2nd rounder to move back into the first round to take Sweat.

Draft Sweat at 16 instead of Haskins (which we didn't really want anyway) and use that second on a lineman. That would also have given us a 2nd rounder the following year that we didn't have.

Of course, at that point, we still had Williams, Scherff, and Morgan. Most thought our line was a position of strength.

You're right, the butterfly effect of Haskins had a bigger impact...

Not a ton of offensive line help right around there in either draft but the ripple effect is real. Some of the skill players taken shortly after the pick we would have have are pretty serious

 

[Solitary Man]

Watching Giants vs Vikings. I noticed their head coaches actually move their mouths during the game. Interesting. Words come out of their mouths too.
And their arms are not stuck in the folded position all game. Huh.

 

[SilentThreat]

Revisionist history… we were all talking about our lack of talent at LB going into that draft.

Clearly i have Revisionist History myself....

Apologies for the call out Bulldog

Christian Darrisaw was on the board and ended up going 23 to Minnesota. That was my guy I was jumping up and down on the table for. Davis took some steps but this line looks dynamically different with Darrisaw at LT. We took Cosmi in the 2nd that year, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah went the pick after we took him. Davis + Cosmi, or Darrisaw + JOK?

 

[Bulldog]

To me it was just as much the selection of Jamin Davis at #19 as the position itself that got me.

We all know the history of taking guys high in the draft who only started one year in college. Devin Thomas had a 1,300 yard, 9 touchdown season in college and when he came here as a #2 pick he flat out couldn't play WR in the NFL.

He ended up as a kick and punt returner in NY.

Davis may turn out to be a much better player than Thomas although Year 1 was rough, but the point is at THAT SPOT in the first round I think you need more from the pick.

Davis to me was a player you take at #29 or #30 or with one of the first couple of picks in Round 2.

At #19 you should still be drafting a player whose bio projects him to be an immediate starter and player whose move to the NFL isn't too big of a jump for him.

Davis after starting at Kentucky (not exactly a powerhouse program) came in here and looked completely lost and ultimately was moved from MLB to a more instinctual outside position.

 

[Chris]

I agree specifically with his limited time on a questionable team. Davis though had a tougher than needed 1st year because the organization miscast him as a MLB.

 

[Neophyte]

And yet he did a very respectable job at MLB this year after Holcombe when down with the foot injury, even functioning as the defensive play caller and on-field general during some of our best performances on that side of the ball.

 

[Chris]

Was he played at MLB? I remember a lot of Bostic and then Mayo.

 

[Neophyte]

I honestly didn't pay much attention toward the end of the season but early on after Holcomb's injury, I remember him lining up between Payne and Allen.

 

[Bulldog]

Davis was playing outside and that was when he started to come on and show his athletic ability.

He was far too raw in terms of his football IQ and experience to throw in at middle linebacker and expect him to be the quarterback of the defense.

And Davis may turn out to be a good player over time.

My point is simply that while LB was a need for the organization going into the draft I think when you have the #19 overall selection that is a high enough pick that you are really looking to bring in a highly rated blue chipper who has a good chance to come in and start immediately for you and be ready to do so.

My thought process is Washington overpaid for Davis in the draft, Rivera could have moved down 8-10 picks and still gotten Davis IMO.

And as discussed we had some major holes elsewhere on this roster where forcing a pick at #19 for Davis was not necessary.

 

[Neophyte]

I agree with you, BD - at least about taking Davis in the low first round. If you are a team picking in the last 4 of the first round that likely means you played in a Conference Championship game the year before. That gives you time to take an exceptional athlete who needs to develop to be a top player. I disagree about taking him at the top of the 2nd though and for nearly the same reason. Teams pick there because they weren't good and they need talent that can play now. Early 2nd round picks should make your starting 22 better (and probably cheaper) immediately.

I also agree that we likely could have traded down and still gotten him.

My point to Chris was over the "miscast" comment. Yes, Davis, as a rookie with such limited experience, was a poor fit at MLB. After a year of experience though, he no longer seems overwhelmed by the position or by calling the plays. He lead the team in tackles (104) this year which is exactly what you want a first-round LB to do.

 

[Chris]

Isn’t playing someone that is a poor fit at a position, at that position, the very definition of miscast?

 

[Bulldog]

It just seems to me that Rivera and Co. were naive when it came to Davis vis a vis his bio.

He had off the charts physical numbers and is a great athlete. But starting for ONE year at a program at Kentucky that is not among college football's elite powers says to me that unless he is a wunderkind he is not going to be able to come in and play MLB in the NFL calling defensive signals, etc.

So, all's well that ends well I suppose. But we did waste a full season of Davis' rookie contract playing him out of position.

Now that he's on the outside, he plays and reacts on instinct without overthinking. And over time learns enough to develop some veteran moxy.

My feeling is other good defensive coordinators out there would have had Davis at OLB from Day 1.

Under Ron we always seem to be a step slow in getting things done.

Could we have started Sam Howell against the Browns? What would Kyle Shanahan have done with Wentz, Heinicke and Howell on board for a game that determined the playoffs?

Did we really have to wait for Week 18 and the final game to see what evidently coaches and players have been seeing in Sam since the minicamps in 2022?