Daily Slop – 2 Jul 24: Many questions persist about the Commanders 2024 roster

A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East and the NFL in general

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Articles

Commanders.com

Commanders 2024 training camp preview | Offensive line

• Will Nick Allegretti be the left guard? Left guard is less of a question than left tackle, although it is less certain than center and the other spots on the right side. For now, it looks like Allegretti is set up to be a full-time starter for the first time in his career. Allegretti, who spent the last five seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, has 13 regular season starts and filled in for Joe Thuney during the Super Bowl, performing well against an imposing San Francisco 49ers defensive front. Allegretti took most of the starting reps at left guard during OTAs with players like Paul, Brooks and Deiter also looking to compete for the spot themselves. It’s likely that Allegretti will end up being the starter; even if he doesn’t start, he would provide the position with an experienced veteran.
• How will Biadasz help Jayden Daniels? Daniels is not the starter yet, despite it looking like he was taking several steps to achieve that goal in OTAs. When that day comes, Daniels will need as much help as possible to direct the offense, regardless of how impressive he looked in OTAs. Biadasz was a three-year starter for the Dallas Cowboys, contributing to one of the better offensive lines over the past five years. The two have already begun developing chemistry, spending time together after practice to get snaps together. Biadasz should also help with protection calls, acting as an extra set of eyes for Daniels as he tries to read NFL defenses.

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Washington Post (paywall)

New details about ‘Project Breeze,’ D.C.’s bid to host the 2027 NFL draft

D.C.’s effort to host the 2027 NFL draft envisions staging a significant portion of the three-day event on the National Mall.

Representatives from Events DC — the convention and sports authority for the District — and the NPS, which administers the National Mall and monuments, have been in discussion with NFL executives for months about the possibility of holding the three-day event in the District, the emails show.

In an April message to NPS executives and Beverly Perry, a senior adviser to D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), NFL senior vice president of public policy and government affairs Brendon Plack confirmed D.C. “made a bid for a big NFL tentpole event in 2027” and “ideally” the NFL would like to hold the event on the National Mall.

In January, Jeffrey Reinbold, the superintendent of Mall and Memorial Parks for NPS, wrote to Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive vice president of club business, international and league events, in support of the bid.

“The National Park Service has provided a letter of support to Events DC (the organization in negotiation with the NFL) for the NFL draft ‘to the degree that portions identified to take place on the National Mall can be organized and managed within the special event, sponsor recognition, and turf management guidelines in place for this iconic cultural landscape,’” NPS chief of communications Mike Litterst said in a statement.

The league, according to the emails, proposed having the main stage for the draft on Fourth Street between Madison and Jefferson drives, near the National Gallery of Art and the National Air and Space Museum. A portion could also be held on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, where attendees could flow to the Mall.

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The 33rd Team

Ranking NFL’s 10 Worst Rosters Entering 2024 Season

6. Washington Commanders

Regardless of how the case is presented, the 2023 Washington Commanders undeniably were bad. Ranking 31st in team DVOA, 32nd in points and yards allowed, and 28th in scoring rate, their offense couldn’t function, and the defense stopped no one.

It’s easy to see why they finished the season with eight straight losses.

A new coaching regime should help, and a large batch of rookies added depth across a roster lacking impact starters and reliable role players. An offensive identity carved around rookie QB Jayden Daniels will help augment what was a woeful run game and maximize explosive receivers like Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson.

The Commanders’ offensive line still has a few question marks at the tackle spots, but Daniels will reduce the astounding sack rate Sam Howell produced in 2023.

The defense definitely lacks individual edge-rushing talent and playmaking, but the foundation up the middle is improved. Veterans Dorance Armstrong, Frankie Luvu, and Bobby Wagner bring consistency and respectability on a down-by-down basis, raising the floor from horrible to competent.

The passing defense still has ways to go, and young cornerbacks Benjamin St-Juste, Emmanuel Forbes Jr., and Mike Sainristil will ultimately determine whether the unit can produce enough turnovers to overcome its talent deficiency.

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The 33rd Team (from May 2024)

How Washington Commanders Can Build Offense Around Jayden Daniels

It’s hard to start anywhere other than Daniels’ rushing ability, which will be the focal point of the offense and make everything else go.

Daniels has the straight-line speed and change of direction to be a game-changer in the run game.

While head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, Kingsbury was most successful developing a run game around Kyler Murray’s mobility. That stretched into influencing the traditional ground game with the running backs, but Murray’s gravity and influence were the jumping-off point for the rushing attack. The Cardinals were fourth in EPA per rush during Kingsbury’s four-year tenure.

The Cardinals found several ways to get Murray into the open field. One of Kingsbury’s strengths as a play designer is creating open running lanes. Because of the spread formations Kingsbury has favored (though it should be noted some of his best work came in 12 personnel during his first season in Arizona), the Cardinals often faced light boxes.

No team had a higher rate of runs into boxes of six or fewer defenders than Arizona from 2019-2022 (40.2 percent, per TruMedia).

When Daniels gets out of the pocket, it’s often to run. However, allowing him more designed plays to get outside would allow more passing opportunities designed outside the pocket, where the quarterback has shown he can make plays with his arm.

Having legitimate options to force opponents to defend the run and the pass when the quarterback gets outside would create a nearly impossible conflict for defenders.

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Commanders Wire

Commanders RB Brian Robinson Jr. named a potential 2024 breakout player

Pro Football Network recently named one 2024 breakout player for every team. Robinson was Washington’s pick.

Dan Quinn is changing things in a big way for the Commanders, and with a ton of new pieces in place, the running game is going to be a rookie QB’s best friend. Following a season in which Robinson showed some exciting potential, 2024 could be the year he puts himself in the breakout category.

We totally agree here. Robinson will not be forgotten in Kingsbury’s offense. There has been talk that Washington will use more 12 personnel in 2024, which could be fun with a dual-threat quarterback like Daniels under center. Either way, don’t be shocked if Robinson has his best season yet.

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Podcasts & videos

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NFC East links

Philly Voice

10 reasons the Giants will be a dumpster fire this season

From the owner to the coach to the quarterback, the New York Football Giants are in a rough position heading into the 2024 season.

1) Daniel Jones is still the quarterback

After a 2022 season during which Jones dinked-and-dunked his way to an improbable playoff berth, the Giants were faced with three unappealing decisions on his future during the 2023 offseason:

1. Let him walk in free agency, thus starting over at quarterback after making the playoffs in 2022 for the first time since the 2016 season.
2. Franchise-tag him, paying him roughly $32.4 million for one year and punting on a decision on his long-term standing with the team until the following offseason.
3. Hitch their wagon to Jones, long-term.

They chose option No. 3, signing Jones to a four-year deal worth $160 million, tying him (at the time) for seventh among NFL quarterbacks at an average annual value of $40 million per season. (He has since been passed by five other quarterbacks.)

In my opinion, option No. 3 was the least appealing of the three, as the Giants gave big money to Jones after one serviceable season. Sure enough, in 2023, he went 1-5 in 6 games with 2 TDs vs. 6 INTs before a ACL tear ended his season. The Giants did not score an offensive touchdown while Jones was on the field in five of those six starts.

3) The offensive line still sucks

The Giants’ offensive line is awful every year, and in 2023 the team surrendered a staggering 85 (!) sacks on the season, by far the most in the NFL.

If you can’t protect the quarterback, you’re probably not going to be a very good team. #Analysis.

Those 85 sacks that the Giants allowed were good for the second-most in NFL history.

As you might imagine, improving the offensive line was a priority for the Giants this offseason, and they signed five of them in free agency.

• Jon Runyan: Runyan has been a starter for the Packers the last three years. He’s better in pass pro than he is as a run blocker. Three years, $30 million. He’ll likely start at RG.

• Jermaine Eluemunor: Eluemunor has some guard/tackle versatility. He started at RT for the Raiders last season. Two years, $14 million. He’s turn 30 during the regular season.

• Aaron Stinnie: Stinnie started at LG for the Buccaneers in 2023. He’s a below average starter, but he’s probably better than anything the Giants had at guard last season.

• Austin Schlottmann: Schlottmann has started 14 games in five seasons with the Vikings and Broncos, mostly at center, but also at both guard spots. I won’t pretend to know anything more about him than that.

• Matt Nelson: Nelson also has 14 career starts, all with the Lions, all at RT.

Thomas has developed into a good pro, and Runyan is solid enough. The rest is ugly.

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NFL league links

Articles

ESPN

Jon Gruden loses bid for reconsideration in NFL lawsuit

Jon Gruden lost a bid for the Nevada Supreme Court to reconsider whether a contract interference and conspiracy lawsuit he filed against the NFL after he resigned as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders should be heard in court or in private arbitration.

Gruden’s lawyers sought the rehearing after a three-justice panel split in a May 14 decision that said the league can force the civil case out of state court and into arbitration that might be overseen by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

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Front Office Sports

NFL’s Calendar Takeover Continues With Expanded ‘Hard Knocks’ Series

• ‘Hard Knocks: Offseason With the New York Giants’ debuts Tuesday night.
• This year, three versions of the show will follow six different teams.

NFL teams don’t report to training camps for several more weeks, but Hard Knocks will make its 2024 season debut Tuesday night. The long-running docuseries mostly associated with the preseason is getting started early this summer, as the HBO and NFL Films franchise looks to fight off viewer fatigue and some resistance from within league circles by kicking off its most ambitious year yet.

After adding a spinoff version of the show during the season in 2021, Hard Knocks is expanding yet again with an offseason edition that will run for the next five weeks before the traditional training camp show begins. Here’s what Hard Knocks will look like for the entire ’24 NFL season:

• Offseason: Giants, July 2–30 (five episodes)
• Training Camp: Bears, Aug. 6 to Sept. 3 (five episodes)
• In Season: AFC North, Dec. 3 into postseason (seven episodes minimum)

Not only will Hard Knocks air more episodes than it ever has in one season (at least 17), it will also feature the most teams (six). Last year, the Dolphins’ wild card playoff game against the Chiefs gave the series its first episode involving a playoff matchup. More postseason Hard Knocks is guaranteed this year with the AFC North winner, and potentially more teams should the division earn any playoff berths.

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