Washington is set to officially begin its new era against the Buccaneers. Commanders Senior Writer Zach Selby, SI's David Harrison and ABC News' Lake Lewis Jr. debate the biggest challenge for Washington's defense against Tampa Bay's offense, what Kliff Kingsbury can do to protect Jayden Daniels, and more!
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
If New Vergine new Quarterbacks in the building. A new
podcast is hitting the Washington Commanders podcast network. What's going on, y'all?
I am Zach Selby, senior writer for the Washington Commanders,
and this is the Beatdown where we do one thing
sports fans love to do, argue and like to pretend
which one of us is right with me?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Is?
Speaker 1 (00:26):
David Harrison and Lake Lewis Junior, they cover, They cover
the beat for us for the Commanders and guys like
y'all the first first guests on this podcast, how a
were feeling right now?
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Feel special?
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Man?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Big love? Yeah, Man, appreciate it. Should it should be
a lot of fun.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
I'm looking forward to uh to handing Lake and old
fashioned big ten style beat down.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Here.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Love it, okay, love love the trash shock.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
I love hearing it.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
It's like, just within like five seconds, y'all already had
each other.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I mean, you bought a ringer in man.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
David covered the bucks before, so he's a ringer.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
You know.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
It's almost like I play that out almost. Of course
you give too much credit, but I feel like maybe
that was in the cards. So I'll give you a
little bit of what I expect out of this podcasts,
I haven't given me too much. So we're gonna answer
three questions over the course of the next thirty minutes.
Y'all gonna each present your cases, and we're going to
(01:23):
provide some points sort of like around the horn, but
almost like who's on it anyway, where the point doesn't
necessarily matter how much Bay. It's my podcast. I can
decide who's right and who's wrong. Right, So, and obviously
we're gonna focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since it
is our Week one opponent. And guys, if you're ready,
we can go ahead and get started.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
We'll start.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
So there's a lot of new stuff that's going to
be happening with the Commanders this this this weekend, new defense,
new offense. But we're gonna talk specifically to starting with
the defense here, and the Tampa Bay offense led by
Baker may Field kind of came on there near at
the end of the year with canals there as the
off the cordior now obviously the head coach of the
(02:06):
Carolina Panthers, but there's going to be you know, a
playoff team on the other sideline there for the Commander's defense, Lake,
I'll start with you, what do you think is the
biggest challenge is commander defense, which really struggled last year
but seems to be a little bit on the up.
So based on what we've seen in training camp, what
is gonna be their biggest challenge heading against the Tampa
Bay offense. I'll give you two minutes to respond, starting
(02:31):
right now.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Listen, the biggest challenge for Washington obviously is going to
be a guy that I think is a Hall of
Fame player in Mike Evans. You know, if you look
at what Mike Evans has done against Washington and five
career games, you know, including a playoff game, he has
twenty six receptions for over six hundred yards. So he's
a guy that obviously is a focal point for the
(02:53):
Buccaneers offense. Baker Mayfield looked for him quite a bit
last year. So Washington's gonna have their hands you know,
you know full with him. You know, he's averaging one
hundred and twenty one yards a game against Washington. It
has four touchdowns, so again, you know, possession god. You know,
at the same time he moves to chains for the Bucks,
(03:14):
so you know who's going to cover him. Is it
going to be you know, Emmanuel Forbes, Is it going
to be you know, Benji Saint Juice. Well, whoever's going
to cover him is going to have to do a
good job and get some safety help on top of that.
And then I think the other thing is is that
Chris Godwin, you know, and I need not say where
he went to school, David Harrison, but Chris Godwin's a
(03:35):
guy that's going to be, you know, eating underneath, which
he always does. And it's going to be interesting to
see how Mikey Sanders, still you know, rookie from Michigan,
can fare against the Chris Godwin because I think he's
going to be on him quite a bit underneath. So
I think that those are going to be the focal
points of the game. I don't see Tampa running the
football too effectively against Washington. I think that's going to
(03:56):
be a strength of Washington is the run, their run defense,
and so I'm not sure for Sea White, you know,
has a big game in store for Tampa as far
as the run game. So I think if Washington can
take those two guys out on the on the edges
on the outside and god Winning Evans, they have a
great chance to win this football game.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
You know, you bring up Mike Evans, and that's an
excellent point because Mike Evans has been in the league
for ten years now, going into eleventh. How many one
thousand yard seasons he's had in his career? Ten Like
every single game hit up a thousand yards and last
year he had twelve hundred and fifty five, one of
the most productive of his career. Actually, not David your
(04:36):
response to that, because he did bring up the receiving
game for Tampa Bay, which is a pretty good point,
and that seemed like to be their bigges strength on
Tampa Bay offense.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
Yeah, I know that that's certainly a good place to start,
and I think Mike Evans obviously deserves all his flowers
and he's going to be a big part of this contest.
But I'm actually going to take something that Lake said
and kind of expand on it because I think Lake,
you were close to hitting the target. Unfortunately I got
a zero in just a little bit better. And it's
a Chris Godwin slot match up with Mike Sanders. Still
like Mike Sandersoll has done a lot since he's joined
(05:04):
the Washington Commanders, and gotten in to the NFL obviously
in a short period of time to really impress a
lot of people. Right, very mature, very skilled player, always
around the ball, never looks to be out of position.
But there are just some things in this game that
you can't scheme for and you can't you know, mentally,
just be in the.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Right place to do. And that's a size difference.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
And Chris Godwin is significantly taller than Mike Sanders. Still
now Mike sanderstill plays bigger, and certainly that's going to
be a part of this. But the question is going
to be how much can the Washington Commarors defense leave
Chris Godwin in the slot alone against Mike Sanders or
how much do they have to give him help because
of that size deficiency. It's not, you know, there's no
skilled deficiency. They're involved, but the more that this commander's
(05:42):
defense has to kind of shrink into the middle of
the field to cover that, And then also how that
opens up opportunities for Kate Otten, who's not a Rob Gronkowski,
right but certainly capable in his own right. And then
the trickle down economics of that is that could potentially
to your point, like create opportunities for a guy like
Rashad White or even Bucky Rein, the rookie quarter running
back out of Oregon in Sampa who's made a lot
(06:03):
of plays in the preseason. Like all of that kind
of how it trickles down to each other, it all
starts with Mike Sandersil.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
If Mike sanders So can hold his.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Own against Chris Godwin, which I think he certainly has
the capability of. It is just that veteran craftiness and
size according or compared to that rookie size and lack
of experience is going to weigh big.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
And if Mike wins that matchup, it really.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
Opens up the commander's defense to be more creative, more aggressive,
and have more opportunities, maybe go over there and put
more guys over Mike Evans to keep him from doing
all the damage on the perimeter.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
But the tighter they have to shrink.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
In to help out that inside competition again underneath of
the running backs. Over top of that on short routes
by Chris two guys like Kate Kate out and over
the middle, it's going to be problematic if they can't
win that matchup with their with their organic design.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Yeah, and you know, we'll with zero in on Mike
Sanmersol for a minute because this guy really seems like
already one of one of the one of the Commander's
best cornerbacks, just just based on what we've seen in
training him so far. Yeah, he's a little bit smaller,
but he already plays like a veteran. I mean, there's
so many times during the preseason where it seems like
(07:09):
he's he's really already already in such good, good positions.
I mean, I'm thinking of that play against the Jets
where there was like almost like end around a little
bit and then santam SiO was right there, uh to
help love and make the tackle. Now, now, Lake, I'll
give you a minute to respond to that, but I
think we'll focus in on the corners because you know,
and you mentioned the passing game, but like, do you know,
(07:30):
like what what this was committed passing defense? Whether it
was one of the worst and it was the worst
in the league, I as you know, you know, the
last in the league and yards allowed, So how does
Mike sammer still maybe like give you a little more
confidence in what they're gonna see based on you know what,
how he formed up the last month or so.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Well, I mean, I think David hit on it.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
I mean it's a it's a great point, you know,
as far as you know, and he showed my Penn
State got some love you know on Godwin. You know,
he's you know, we know he had an injury, you know,
two years ago, you know, so he should be even
better now coming back from that. You know, that second
year back from those type of injuries, you get better.
But I do I think that, you know, I agree
(08:09):
with David that samram Is still is going to be
a key proponent to what this defense can ultimately do,
not just you know, you know Sunday, but going forward.
You know, if he can lock down the middle of
the field, you still have guys behind him, you know,
and a Kawan Martin and a Jeremy Chen, guys that,
you know, versatile type players that can move closer to
(08:29):
the box, even if they have to go back sometimes
and play a cover too. They can do those things.
So I do think that that is important. But again,
you know, I still greave what I say as far
as just Mike Evans. He's torched Washington over the years,
He's torched a lot of teams, but specifically, the commanders
have struggled with him, you know, as far as just
(08:50):
you know, bottling him up. And I think that, you know,
Baker Mayfield is going to look for the guy. You know,
why wouldn't you look for a potential Hall of Famer.
You know, Uh, He's going to look for him. The
other thing I would say, guys, is a pass rush.
Washington has to get a pass rush. They have to
make Baker feel uncomfortable because one thing about Baker Mayfield,
he's the confidence quarterback. When he's feeling good, he actually
(09:13):
is good, you know. But but if he has some
heat on him, you know, sometimes he can put some
things up for grabs. And that's where you know, Washington's
corners and safeties might have some opportunities to jump on
some passes and you know, some routes and get some
interceptions out of that and turn the football over, something
Washington's defense has not done over the years. And that's
(09:33):
one of the reasons why Joe Whitt was brought in
by Dan Quinn, you know, because his defenses in Dallas,
you know, created lots of turnovers and that's what they're
gonna need. So again, I do think sanmrums still is
one of the top two or three components for Sunday's
game as far as him covering Chris Godwin in the slot.
But I also think again, whoever's going to be on
(09:55):
Mike Evans is going to have to have one of
those one of those coming out games to signal that
they can be a first first rate corner in the NFL.
And then obviously pass rush if they can get a
pass rush. You know, now we're talking and not just
straight here. But another thing that's going to be key
too is that this revamped linebacker room Frankie Louvu, you know,
(10:15):
Bobby Wagner of course, and then whoever else is out
there with them. You know, I think that they can
control the middle portion of a field as well, which
also could help Mikey Sanders still, you know, as far
as kind of like you know, putting you know, Chris
Godwin and in certain areas of the middle of the field.
You know, So if they can ship them and do
(10:35):
things like that, that'll be integral as far as their success.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
David real Quick responded to before we move on, because
you know, league where I brought with the pass rush,
and this team really just struggled in terms of generating sacks.
Once Chase young Monte's foot, we're out of here. I
think they had forty backs the bottom third of the league.
So and you know that, you know this, this Buccaneers
top of the line probably better than anyone on the beat.
So tell me, like, how do you think this is
really gonna fare against this Buccaneers off of the blind?
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Yeah, you know the Bucks offensive line is they've got
good amount of talent. I mean, they're left tackles, all
Pro caliber, Pro Bowl caliber, Tristan Wurz, Like, that's gonna
be kind of a spot where you just kind of
go into this game. I think, can you understand We're
not gonna win a lot here against this dude. So
it's more so how do we get around him?
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Like what games do we.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Play to occupy him so we can get somebody behind him,
or getting inside leverage against him so that he just
can't elevate against and then take advantage of that lesser
experienced interior offensive line where they've got a rookie center
getting ready to make his first NFL start. I think
that's where Deron Payne and John Allen are really going
to be able to make a difference. And for fans
of the Commanders, like they're a little bit concerned about
(11:42):
this path rush because in the preseason, you know that
Jami and Davis had the strip sack and that's great,
but like not a whole lot of generated pressure compared
to why I think fans have been expecting. But they
also haven't seen Bobby Wagner, John Allen, Deron Payne.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
On the field all the same time.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
But we've seen them in the joint practice, right and
against the New York Jets, against the Miami doll and
those joint practices, they were getting after it and they
were getting pressure. And so I think you're going to
see a little bit more of that than maybe fans
have seen in the preseason, and certainly that's going to
be huge because to Lake's point, like a guy like
Baker Mayfield actually asked Emmanuel Forbes about this on Wednesday, Like,
that's a dude who loves to take shots. He loves
(12:17):
to take risks, but he also loves to toy with corners.
He wants to give you a look to make you
think something's happened, almost like the quarterback running a double move,
like the receiver may just be running a straight up route,
but the quarterback almost is going to give you a
double move, especially if he knows you're watching him. Baker
Mayfield loves a toy with people's minds. I remember him
playing the flag you know, in Columbus, Ohio. He he
(12:38):
loves to play those games. So that's absolutely going to
be an impact here. But yeah, that commander's pass rush
against this. This Buccaneer's offensive line very highly untested in
its current alignment, and with Joey Junior and his creativity,
potentially could wreak some havoc. But I think something both
sides of this cause this contest have to their benefit
is they're both practicing against defense coordinators I don't know,
(13:01):
for being insanely creative and insanely aggressive. So they're actually
both kind of coming in against defenses that they've already
been training against all training team.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Yeah, and you're right. I mean, Baker Mayfield had the
best year of his career last year. We'll see if
it's actually going to be a blip and more of
a trend for what he's gonna have for the rest
of his career in the NFL. So we're gonna move
on to the next question, but I will give you
a little bit of a score update. It's really close
between you two, but it looks like David is head
by one point. Let's go like he got a little
chance to gain some ground here. The second question is
(13:32):
we've all seen what Jane Daniels has done over the
last month, right, He's looked more so, you know, like
he's a player beyond his year in terms of his poise,
his commandity, offense, his knowledge. But at the same time,
he's going to be a rookie going into its first
a real live NFL game against a Deemster Cordner who
loves to bring pressure, really experienced play caller. So question
(13:55):
we'll start We'll start with David this time is what
do you think that if Kingsbury can do to protect
Jayden Daniels and try to get the most out of
his skill set.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
I think you got to do something that I've been
asking offensive coordinators to do on this team since I
started covering this team.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Zech move the pocket. You drafted Jade Daniels.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
More so than anything like that, the biggest discriminator between
Jade and Daniels and the other quarterbacks available to this team.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Were was his athletic ability.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
And his decision making. Those are the two things that
separated himself. Like when you look at Drake May and
you look at Jayden Daniels, and I don't mean.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
To disparage Drake.
Speaker 4 (14:34):
I hope he has a great career, all that good stuff,
But when you look at the two, Jade and Daniels
clearly the superior athlete compared to Drake May. Both of
these guys put the ball everywhere on the field, everywhere
you need them too.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
And then the decision making.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
And this is where I say, I apologize any Drake
May fans out there, but there's a moment in his
tape and it's not the only moment, it's the biggest
moment in his tape where North Carolina's got a first
and goal.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Or they're in goal to go.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
I can't remember his first now, but they're in goal
to go situation. They're lined up heavy and they're miss
their right tackle and Drake May snaps the ball while
his right tackles trying to run onto the field behind him,
doesn't realize he's short alignment in a big set. That's
a problem we saw in the preseason game. How many
illegal formation penalties they had while Drake and May was in there.
That's something you need your quarterback to do. Jayden Daniels
(15:16):
better at that. He's also the better athlete. Use those
advantages to your advantage. Here at Stampa Bay Buccaneers, their
pass rush is really interesting right now because all the
dynamic ability they did have where they're making their Super
Bowl run and even trying to make their follow on
runs a couple of years ago, a lot of that
is kind of gone right now. Their best pass rusher
on the edge off the defensive line is yah YadA Yadi.
(15:38):
He's had a really good season last year, a lot
of potential, but he is not ready to be that
main pass rusher for an NFL defense. I don't believe.
Maybe Hope surprised me. But on the opposite side outside lineback,
you had Joe Tryon.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Schuenka, who a lot of people think is basically.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
On his way out of tamp after not proving himself
after being such a high round draft pick.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
So, if I'm Cliff Kingsbury, ya Yadadadi's.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Honestly the guy, and he's gonna be going up against
rookie left tackle Brandon Coleman if he can go this weekend,
or Cornelius Lucas the backup.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
So that's kind of if I have a biggest.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
Concern in the outside linebacker realm, that's gonna be the
guy roll the pocket.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
To the right. Just so happens.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
That's probably James Daniels the most comfortable side to roll
to anyway. And you put Joe Tryon Shunka in very
problematic situations where he's got to make a decision. I'm
either gonna run with the super athletic quarterback ort and
leave potentially a tight end or running back or a
crossing wide receiver open behind me, or I'm gonna try
to stay in my coverage assignment and the I'm gonna
watch Jadan Daniels skirt up the sideline.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
To me, that is an.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Opportunity rich advantage at this commander's team has, and this
offensive line that hasn't gotten any active reps against or
against a live opponent, and they're in they're organic starting five. Again,
if Brandon can go this weekend, that helps them because
you make that defense run, you make them get, you
tire them out, and again ya ya yabi, like the
more he runs, the less effective he's gonna be as
(16:52):
the game goes on. So I think that, to me,
is the biggest way you protect Jayme and Daniels.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
I'm so glad you brought up the pocket movement because
it's something that Washington didn't really do all that much
at all last year because when we knew that the
same show wasn't necessarily the scrambler that some of these
other quarterbacks. But he did have some mobility to him.
He seemed like he's doing his best whenever he was
kind of getting out of the pockets, scrambling away from
the pressure that seemed to always be coming at him
on the middle. But but Lake, I'll throw this to you, Like,
(17:19):
I mean, is it as simple as that is? Its
simple as letting Jaden get out there and run with us.
Some people are really hesitating about him him sliding and
getting out there and avoiding contact, But like, is it
really as simple as just getting him out of the
pocket and letting him do what he does best with
his legs or there's something more to it thin that.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Well?
Speaker 3 (17:34):
No, I mean I think then that's the that's the
irony to this, And I agree with David one hundred
percent that you know, the pocket didn't move at all
in the past. Well, I mean if it moved, it
was going backwards. So you know, now, I just think
that you have to let Jaden be himself, you know,
not overthink this, not you know, situations that he wouldn't
(17:55):
be comfortable with. If he spoke to you know, us
yesterday and he said, you know that he's he just
wants to play football, and that's the whole point. You know,
he's going to have some input with Cliff Kingsbury as
far as things that they can do it against this
Buccaneers defense. That's going to make him comfortable. And he
said that Cliff will will listen to guys. So I'm
(18:16):
if I'm Washington, I'm turning this guy loose. We all
know what he can do. He showed everything possible as
far as you know, all the tricks in his bag
in the preseason. You know, deep ball, you know, elusiveness,
running the football, command of the line of scrimmage, as
far as what he saw on the other side of
the ball, to audible out of a play. I mean,
(18:36):
these are the things that you want from your young quarterback.
So you know, I think for Washington as far as
moving him around, I think it would be a big,
big plus for their offense because let's face it, when
you look at Tampa's defense, you know, naturally upfront you
have that monster Bavay, who you know, a lot of commanders,
fans will remember him because they wanted him to get.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Drafted a couple of years back.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
You know, he's a stout guy that can hold up
the line. But I feel really good as far as
the interior portion of Washington's offensive line, you know, with
the additions of Beatas and then Nick Alagretti and you
know obviously Sam Kyles mean you just got the bag
yesterday on the contract extension, I think that that interior
portion of Washington's line is clearly going to be their strength,
(19:19):
and that helps them against a guy like vi to Bay.
But I think if you look at Tampa's defense, you know,
the two guys in the back to me a really
good George whitehead man, Antoine Winfield Junior. You know, those
guys are to me the glue to Tampa's defense. And
it's ironic because those are the guys that Jaden's going
to have to attack with the deep ball to keep
(19:39):
them back, you know, to open up the run game,
do different things like that. So again, should they move
the pocket, Absolutely, I think they will, think David hit
on that right on the head. They're going to utilize
Jaden's strengths. But let's not confuse ourselves, guys. He's not
a running quarterback first. He's a pocket passer who happens
to have dynamic wills and he does take off and
(20:01):
I think if they give him the green light to
take off when he needs to, you're you're going to
see this dynamic player that everyone's looking forward to watching.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Yeah, And I think that's one of the things we've
seen the most in training camp was, Yeah, we all
knew that he had his disability. We still haven't really
seen what Jane can do with his legs because he's
been so conservative with that. But who he is as
a passer has been just so impressive, and you saw
as training can't progress, they kind of let him uncork
these passes. It's a little bit more because he does
(20:30):
he didn't have the strongest wrong in the world, but
he does have a pretty decent arm to go to
to launch these passes down field. We saw a little
bit of that with theanmy Brown against the Jets. But
you know, david'll'll pose this to you. And I mean,
Cliff obviously wants to make sure that he has some
easy reads, right he doesn't. You don't want to throw
all these compcit looks at him immediately. But to to
Lake's point, at some point, you do have to let
(20:51):
him do what he does best. So how do you
think Cliff is going to balance the terms of Okay,
we need to give him some easier legs versus okay,
let's just go ahead and let's let's let's let him
try this contested pass downfield of Terry, Like, how do
you balance the conservative versus just letting the guy loose
and letting him play the way he wants to play.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Yeah, you know, I think, honestly, I think Jayden has
kind of proven himself to be a smart decision maker
to the point where he kind of has.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
That ability to make that decision for himself.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
And then you go back to that first preseason game
of the year, and granted, he wasn't supposed.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
To check out of that screen that he checked.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
Out of, but obviously he felt like he could get
away with it if he did it, and he did
check into the big shot, he took it. Deanmy Brown
was able to come up with the pass smile into
the to the zide line. Now, I'm sure you know,
there was a little bit of a conversation probably had,
you know, later on, like hey, this is why we
want you to do this stuff and all these things.
But I think that that just kind of shows you
how much Jaden has confidence in himself and his teammates,
but also how much he understands what he is allowed.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
He has left and right limits, so to speak, within
this offense.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
So I think even the Cliff is coming out there
and calling a conservative, you know game for Jaden initially,
you know, to get the rookie comfortable and all that
stuff that Jayden sees a shot or sees an opportunity
that he is comfortable. Again if the if the entire
mindset is, let's make sure our quarterback is comfortable. If
he if he looks down the line of scrimmage, and
you know, don't want to give away too much. We
we't see in training camp, but if you see seventeen
(22:10):
lined up across from Bucks twenty seven in single high,
in a single high look in pressman coverage, I mean,
I don't gotta tell you in lake what probably is
gonna happen, but it's gonna it's probably gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Uh. And my guys, I am a calm over there.
You know. I love that dude, but it's it's that's
not a good that's not a good situation for him
in that in that look.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
So you know, if my quarterback is comfortable checking into something, uh,
that that takes advantage of that look, then I would
be comfortable with him, you know what I'm saying, if
I trust him, and I think every sign we've seen
from this staff, again, he checked into another play against
the Miami Dolphants. So it's not like he checked into
the play against the Jets that he wasn't necessarily supposed
to check into and then got his hands flapped and
(22:46):
then didn't check it in anymore. So whatever conversations happened
behind the scenes, it didn't result in, Hey, dude, you're
not allowed to check out of these things because it's
part of the design. It's all built in there, and
it's I think it's I don't know, I can't quantify, right,
I don't. I can't tell you how many teams out
of thirty to do this, But I feel like it's
it's fairly rare for a rookie quarterback to have that
kind of decision making leeway, and I think it's really cool.
(23:08):
I think it's really cool, and it's it's indicative of
how much they trust Jane to make those calls when
when you need to, and the better they are, Adam,
I think the more Cliffill dial up himself.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yeah, you know, I really do like that event. Jayden
and this coaching staff is like they're very collaborative with
with him. They're not lessarily saying Okay, you have to
do this our way or it's not going to work.
They're very much less saying, Okay, if you see a look,
you know, don't be afraid to check into it. And
they trust him because he's he developed that trust with him,
like he's shown that he knows this system. And again,
(23:38):
on top of that, we haven't really even seen what
this system is going to look like completely. We've seen
a lot of the vanilla stuff, but at the same time,
we haven't really seen all that Cliff Kingsbury is going
to throw out throw the Buccaneers for obvious reasons, so
I'm really excited to see what they do what they
do with that. All right, guys, we have five minutes
left in this thing and the score is tied between
US ten ten, and we're going to keep this. This question,
(24:01):
this last question is really simple. Give me your base
best case for one player who must have a good
game for Washington to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. David,
we'll start with you first.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
I'm gonna I'm gonna stick in the big ten here,
and I'm gonna go with Kwon Martin. And I know
the quarterbacks, the low hanging through the O line as
a group.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Is obviously going to be important.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
But I look at this Buccaneers offense, and I've said
this on some other podcasts in my years of covering
or writing about or talking about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
this is the most dynamic offense I've ever seen in Tampa.
It's not the best quarterback ever, so the best tight
end ever. It is the best wide receiver group ever.
And the offensive line isn't, you know, even as good
(24:42):
as the old line they had when they made the
run of the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
But all the pieces together holistically.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
And with what Liam Cohen, their new offensive coordinator, has
done historically in his time with the Rams and even
the one you're spent in Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
This is the most dynamic offense.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
And the thing that you can't prepare for the most
in training can preseason defensively is tackling.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
And that's usually in the beginning of the season.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
If you see like this great defense falter against a
lesser opponent, it's usually because the tackling is not on
point yet because they can't practice him as much. Right, So,
I look at this commander's defense is Buccaneers offense, and
guys like Rashad White, who comes out of Arizona State,
who I consider the Penn State of the Big twelve.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
If he gets loose, if he's allowed to shake that first.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
Tackle attempt, Kwan Martin's gonna be a guy that's gonna
be back there to help clean that up. You look
at the pass game, Mike Evans on his deep shots.
A lot of people look at my get him just
a big, tall, long dude. He's got deceptive speed even
at his agent, even as his experience.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
We already talked about the slot. If Chris Godwin's able
to get free.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
There's got to be that last line of defense to
make sure that fifteen yard games don't turn into big touchdowns.
Eight yard games don't turn into fifteen yard games. The
Buccaneers are going to make some play. So this is
a playoff team, back to back to back division champion.
Yes it's the NFC South, but still hard to win
your division in the NFL. I don't care what division
you're in. They've got talent. We know that they're going
to do some things. We know that, but the Washington
(25:58):
commanders that they can force them to stend drives like
your goal needs to be no drives less than eight
plays minimum.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
That's minimum. You have to make Baker maybe go in there.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Because the thing about Baker too is even in his
career year last year, he'll throw some mistakes. He'll make
some mistakes. He'll give you opportunities, and Joey Junior is
going to lose his mind if they don't take advantage
of at least two or three of them.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
But those opportunities are gonna come. To get off the field,
they've got to do that.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
But it starts with making the Bucks stay on the
field in the first place. For those opportunities to come,
and I look at Kwan Martin as that last line
of defense back there. So I think if he has
a best game of his NFL career, you know, it's
relatively short, so I think we can go that far.
If he has the best game of his short NFL career,
this team has a chance to contain the Buccaneers offense,
which will help the Commanders offense and allow them to
(26:43):
be more comfortable with what they're trying to do.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
All right, Lake, give give me your best take. Who
you think is gonna have the best game to beat
the Buccaneers on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
You know, this is kind of a you know, an
obvious thing, and I agree with David. You know, I
do think Kwan Martin is huge. Actually, was gonna go
Jarem on the defensive side for the overall the overall thing.
For me, I think Washington has to be able to
run in the football. They have to, So I'm gonna
go with Brian Robinson and Austin Eckler. I think, you know,
(27:14):
as a dual threat, you'll finally get a chance to
see both these guys in action and how they can
compliment each other's games. Both can catch the ball out
the back field too. Surprisingly, Brian Robinson showed that last
year under Erik the Enemy that he could catch the
football at a high rate. So I think as long
as Washington can run the football, it kind of takes
some of the pressure off Jadan in his first ever start.
(27:37):
You know, I think it can open up things for
Jaden as well, because obviously, if you're running the football effectively,
you're kind of controlling the line of scrimmage. And let's
face it, you guys, if you're going to start a
left tackle, and Brandon Foeman his first ever NFL game,
if he does start at left tackle, which I think
David and myself in you'sac think he will, you know,
(27:57):
that's something that can help his game too, because face it,
if you're asking rookies and you know, these younger players
to go immediately in the pass pro, you know that
stuff kind of can mess them up early in the game.
But if you can get them lathered up and get
them a fill for the game by running the football effectively,
it can open up things for the past game. So
(28:18):
for me, if Brian Robinson can have one of these
games where he doesn't have to get a hundred yards,
but if he can get seventy yards on the ground,
you know, an additional twenty plus, you know, as far
as dump down or something like that in the past game.
I think obviously with Austin Eckler, Eckler can get you
twenty five yards running and maybe you know, on the
(28:39):
other end, gets you thirty yards in the past game.
I think this fares very well for Washington in a
game that I think we all think is going to
be a close, closely for football game. That running game
could be the catalyst that as Washington leave Tampa with
the w You.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Know, normally I would knock you for giving two answers
at once there, but I think the way the way
that they've the way they've pretty much propped up b
Rob and Eckler at the duo is so appropriate because
like they very much are a one a one beat
just because they offer something very different. You know, you
have Eckler with with the outside runs, but you have
Irob who can who can do that, but more of
(29:16):
a bruiser can can hit those of those holes down downfield.
And David, I love the point that you you you
brought up about Kwan and tackling I think it's gonna
be so key, especially what the Steven showed last year.
And I love the way Kawan Martin has developed this offseason.
But I gotta get I gotta go with Lake here
with this is it was it was so so it
was so excellent. Bit a point considering that this is
(29:38):
Jimmy Jaden's first start, you need to establish a solid
run game. So Lake, you are the first winner of
the beat Down Podcast. Do you have any any any
victory words that you'd like to to part on this here?
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Well, listen, man, David's my brother man and and and
you know, literally one of the best out out there
doing this thing. So you know, it's it's all love
as long as I know, uh, you know, he's gonna
wear some blue next week.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
We're good. I'm actually wearing blue today. Bro Okay.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
And you know what, for the record, I agree b
Rob and Austin Eckler. That's one a one like that
is that is like that's the running back position group.
But don't sleep on Jeremy McNichols. He was drafted by
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It's not it's not a revenge game.
Like the staff is gone, that drafted him, all that
kind of stuff. But you know, for a guy that
has ended up being a journeyman the way that Jeremy
mc nichols has been, you know that there's just there's
got to be just a human part of him that
(30:33):
wants to win. Whatever opportunities he gets to play, even
if it's on special teams, make a splash play out there,
just go out into Raymond James Stadium, in the stadium
that you started your career in, and then have a
good day and help your team win. So you know
that running back group as a whole certainly going to
be critical for this game.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
And it seems like they've been hot in Austin all summer,
just just waiting for this type of game where you know,
he's a veteran, he's been around, he knows obviously. Coach
Lynn is his coach here now his position coach. So
you just this game reeks of an Austin Eckler red
zone touchdown somehow.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Yeah, you bring up Jeremy mc nichols, I will point
out the day one I said, the Jeremy mc nichols froster.
Just just just go throw that out there for you,
all right, guys, you know, we're gonna see one unfolds
in week one. I feel they've been waiting this for years,
but finally we're gonna see Jade and Daniels inaction in
a real game where the bullets are gonna be flying.
It's gonna be fantastic no matter what happens. I think
it's gonna be very competitive either way. Uh but but guys,
(31:29):
I really appreciate you coming on.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Lake.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
You will have a chance to keep your title, David.
You will have a chance to get some revenge here
later on the season. We'll have a rotating cast of
all the beat requarters over the next you know, a
few months or so. But it's gonna be a great
season either way. But guys, I really appreciate you coming
out and this has been the beat down
If New Vergine new Quarterbacks in the building. A new
podcast is hitting the Washington Commanders podcast network. What's going on, y'all?
I am Zach Selby, senior writer for the Washington Commanders,
and this is the Beatdown where we do one thing
sports fans love to do, argue and like to pretend
which one of us is right with me?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Is?
Speaker 1 (00:26):
David Harrison and Lake Lewis Junior, they cover, They cover
the beat for us for the Commanders and guys like
y'all the first first guests on this podcast, how a
were feeling right now?
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Feel special?
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Man?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Big love? Yeah, Man, appreciate it. Should it should be
a lot of fun.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
I'm looking forward to uh to handing Lake and old
fashioned big ten style beat down.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Here.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Love it, okay, love love the trash shock.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
I love hearing it.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
It's like, just within like five seconds, y'all already had
each other.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I mean, you bought a ringer in man.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
David covered the bucks before, so he's a ringer.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
You know.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
It's almost like I play that out almost. Of course
you give too much credit, but I feel like maybe
that was in the cards. So I'll give you a
little bit of what I expect out of this podcasts,
I haven't given me too much. So we're gonna answer
three questions over the course of the next thirty minutes.
Y'all gonna each present your cases, and we're going to
(01:23):
provide some points sort of like around the horn, but
almost like who's on it anyway, where the point doesn't
necessarily matter how much Bay. It's my podcast. I can
decide who's right and who's wrong. Right, So, and obviously
we're gonna focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since it
is our Week one opponent. And guys, if you're ready,
we can go ahead and get started.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
We'll start.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
So there's a lot of new stuff that's going to
be happening with the Commanders this this this weekend, new defense,
new offense. But we're gonna talk specifically to starting with
the defense here, and the Tampa Bay offense led by
Baker may Field kind of came on there near at
the end of the year with canals there as the
off the cordior now obviously the head coach of the
(02:06):
Carolina Panthers, but there's going to be you know, a
playoff team on the other sideline there for the Commander's defense, Lake,
I'll start with you, what do you think is the
biggest challenge is commander defense, which really struggled last year
but seems to be a little bit on the up.
So based on what we've seen in training camp, what
is gonna be their biggest challenge heading against the Tampa
Bay offense. I'll give you two minutes to respond, starting
(02:31):
right now.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Listen, the biggest challenge for Washington obviously is going to
be a guy that I think is a Hall of
Fame player in Mike Evans. You know, if you look
at what Mike Evans has done against Washington and five
career games, you know, including a playoff game, he has
twenty six receptions for over six hundred yards. So he's
a guy that obviously is a focal point for the
(02:53):
Buccaneers offense. Baker Mayfield looked for him quite a bit
last year. So Washington's gonna have their hands you know,
you know full with him. You know, he's averaging one
hundred and twenty one yards a game against Washington. It
has four touchdowns, so again, you know, possession god. You know,
at the same time he moves to chains for the Bucks,
(03:14):
so you know who's going to cover him. Is it
going to be you know, Emmanuel Forbes, Is it going
to be you know, Benji Saint Juice. Well, whoever's going
to cover him is going to have to do a
good job and get some safety help on top of that.
And then I think the other thing is is that
Chris Godwin, you know, and I need not say where
he went to school, David Harrison, but Chris Godwin's a
(03:35):
guy that's going to be, you know, eating underneath, which
he always does. And it's going to be interesting to
see how Mikey Sanders, still you know, rookie from Michigan,
can fare against the Chris Godwin because I think he's
going to be on him quite a bit underneath. So
I think that those are going to be the focal
points of the game. I don't see Tampa running the
football too effectively against Washington. I think that's going to
(03:56):
be a strength of Washington is the run, their run defense,
and so I'm not sure for Sea White, you know,
has a big game in store for Tampa as far
as the run game. So I think if Washington can
take those two guys out on the on the edges
on the outside and god Winning Evans, they have a
great chance to win this football game.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
You know, you bring up Mike Evans, and that's an
excellent point because Mike Evans has been in the league
for ten years now, going into eleventh. How many one
thousand yard seasons he's had in his career? Ten Like
every single game hit up a thousand yards and last
year he had twelve hundred and fifty five, one of
the most productive of his career. Actually, not David your
(04:36):
response to that, because he did bring up the receiving
game for Tampa Bay, which is a pretty good point,
and that seemed like to be their bigges strength on
Tampa Bay offense.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
Yeah, I know that that's certainly a good place to start,
and I think Mike Evans obviously deserves all his flowers
and he's going to be a big part of this contest.
But I'm actually going to take something that Lake said
and kind of expand on it because I think Lake,
you were close to hitting the target. Unfortunately I got
a zero in just a little bit better. And it's
a Chris Godwin slot match up with Mike Sanders. Still
like Mike Sandersoll has done a lot since he's joined
(05:04):
the Washington Commanders, and gotten in to the NFL obviously
in a short period of time to really impress a
lot of people. Right, very mature, very skilled player, always
around the ball, never looks to be out of position.
But there are just some things in this game that
you can't scheme for and you can't you know, mentally,
just be in the.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Right place to do. And that's a size difference.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
And Chris Godwin is significantly taller than Mike Sanders. Still
now Mike sanderstill plays bigger, and certainly that's going to
be a part of this. But the question is going
to be how much can the Washington Commarors defense leave
Chris Godwin in the slot alone against Mike Sanders or
how much do they have to give him help because
of that size deficiency. It's not, you know, there's no
skilled deficiency. They're involved, but the more that this commander's
(05:42):
defense has to kind of shrink into the middle of
the field to cover that, And then also how that
opens up opportunities for Kate Otten, who's not a Rob Gronkowski,
right but certainly capable in his own right. And then
the trickle down economics of that is that could potentially
to your point, like create opportunities for a guy like
Rashad White or even Bucky Rein, the rookie quarter running
back out of Oregon in Sampa who's made a lot
(06:03):
of plays in the preseason. Like all of that kind
of how it trickles down to each other, it all
starts with Mike Sandersil.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
If Mike sanders So can hold his.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Own against Chris Godwin, which I think he certainly has
the capability of. It is just that veteran craftiness and
size according or compared to that rookie size and lack
of experience is going to weigh big.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
And if Mike wins that matchup, it really.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
Opens up the commander's defense to be more creative, more aggressive,
and have more opportunities, maybe go over there and put
more guys over Mike Evans to keep him from doing
all the damage on the perimeter.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
But the tighter they have to shrink.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
In to help out that inside competition again underneath of
the running backs. Over top of that on short routes
by Chris two guys like Kate Kate out and over
the middle, it's going to be problematic if they can't
win that matchup with their with their organic design.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Yeah, and you know, we'll with zero in on Mike
Sanmersol for a minute because this guy really seems like
already one of one of the one of the Commander's
best cornerbacks, just just based on what we've seen in
training him so far. Yeah, he's a little bit smaller,
but he already plays like a veteran. I mean, there's
so many times during the preseason where it seems like
(07:09):
he's he's really already already in such good, good positions.
I mean, I'm thinking of that play against the Jets
where there was like almost like end around a little
bit and then santam SiO was right there, uh to
help love and make the tackle. Now, now, Lake, I'll
give you a minute to respond to that, but I
think we'll focus in on the corners because you know,
and you mentioned the passing game, but like, do you know,
(07:30):
like what what this was committed passing defense? Whether it
was one of the worst and it was the worst
in the league, I as you know, you know, the
last in the league and yards allowed, So how does
Mike sammer still maybe like give you a little more
confidence in what they're gonna see based on you know what,
how he formed up the last month or so.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Well, I mean, I think David hit on it.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
I mean it's a it's a great point, you know,
as far as you know, and he showed my Penn
State got some love you know on Godwin. You know,
he's you know, we know he had an injury, you know,
two years ago, you know, so he should be even
better now coming back from that. You know, that second
year back from those type of injuries, you get better.
But I do I think that, you know, I agree
(08:09):
with David that samram Is still is going to be
a key proponent to what this defense can ultimately do,
not just you know, you know Sunday, but going forward.
You know, if he can lock down the middle of
the field, you still have guys behind him, you know,
and a Kawan Martin and a Jeremy Chen, guys that,
you know, versatile type players that can move closer to
(08:29):
the box, even if they have to go back sometimes
and play a cover too. They can do those things.
So I do think that that is important. But again,
you know, I still greave what I say as far
as just Mike Evans. He's torched Washington over the years,
He's torched a lot of teams, but specifically, the commanders
have struggled with him, you know, as far as just
(08:50):
you know, bottling him up. And I think that, you know,
Baker Mayfield is going to look for the guy. You know,
why wouldn't you look for a potential Hall of Famer.
You know, Uh, He's going to look for him. The
other thing I would say, guys, is a pass rush.
Washington has to get a pass rush. They have to
make Baker feel uncomfortable because one thing about Baker Mayfield,
he's the confidence quarterback. When he's feeling good, he actually
(09:13):
is good, you know. But but if he has some
heat on him, you know, sometimes he can put some
things up for grabs. And that's where you know, Washington's
corners and safeties might have some opportunities to jump on
some passes and you know, some routes and get some
interceptions out of that and turn the football over, something
Washington's defense has not done over the years. And that's
(09:33):
one of the reasons why Joe Whitt was brought in
by Dan Quinn, you know, because his defenses in Dallas,
you know, created lots of turnovers and that's what they're
gonna need. So again, I do think sanmrums still is
one of the top two or three components for Sunday's
game as far as him covering Chris Godwin in the slot.
But I also think again, whoever's going to be on
(09:55):
Mike Evans is going to have to have one of
those one of those coming out games to signal that
they can be a first first rate corner in the NFL.
And then obviously pass rush if they can get a
pass rush. You know, now we're talking and not just
straight here. But another thing that's going to be key
too is that this revamped linebacker room Frankie Louvu, you know,
(10:15):
Bobby Wagner of course, and then whoever else is out
there with them. You know, I think that they can
control the middle portion of a field as well, which
also could help Mikey Sanders still, you know, as far
as kind of like you know, putting you know, Chris
Godwin and in certain areas of the middle of the field.
You know, So if they can ship them and do
(10:35):
things like that, that'll be integral as far as their success.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
David real Quick responded to before we move on, because
you know, league where I brought with the pass rush,
and this team really just struggled in terms of generating sacks.
Once Chase young Monte's foot, we're out of here. I
think they had forty backs the bottom third of the league.
So and you know that, you know this, this Buccaneers
top of the line probably better than anyone on the beat.
So tell me, like, how do you think this is
really gonna fare against this Buccaneers off of the blind?
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Yeah, you know the Bucks offensive line is they've got
good amount of talent. I mean, they're left tackles, all
Pro caliber, Pro Bowl caliber, Tristan Wurz, Like, that's gonna
be kind of a spot where you just kind of
go into this game. I think, can you understand We're
not gonna win a lot here against this dude. So
it's more so how do we get around him?
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Like what games do we.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Play to occupy him so we can get somebody behind him,
or getting inside leverage against him so that he just
can't elevate against and then take advantage of that lesser
experienced interior offensive line where they've got a rookie center
getting ready to make his first NFL start. I think
that's where Deron Payne and John Allen are really going
to be able to make a difference. And for fans
of the Commanders, like they're a little bit concerned about
(11:42):
this path rush because in the preseason, you know that
Jami and Davis had the strip sack and that's great,
but like not a whole lot of generated pressure compared
to why I think fans have been expecting. But they
also haven't seen Bobby Wagner, John Allen, Deron Payne.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
On the field all the same time.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
But we've seen them in the joint practice, right and
against the New York Jets, against the Miami doll and
those joint practices, they were getting after it and they
were getting pressure. And so I think you're going to
see a little bit more of that than maybe fans
have seen in the preseason, and certainly that's going to
be huge because to Lake's point, like a guy like
Baker Mayfield actually asked Emmanuel Forbes about this on Wednesday, Like,
that's a dude who loves to take shots. He loves
(12:17):
to take risks, but he also loves to toy with corners.
He wants to give you a look to make you
think something's happened, almost like the quarterback running a double move,
like the receiver may just be running a straight up route,
but the quarterback almost is going to give you a
double move, especially if he knows you're watching him. Baker
Mayfield loves a toy with people's minds. I remember him
playing the flag you know, in Columbus, Ohio. He he
(12:38):
loves to play those games. So that's absolutely going to
be an impact here. But yeah, that commander's pass rush
against this. This Buccaneer's offensive line very highly untested in
its current alignment, and with Joey Junior and his creativity,
potentially could wreak some havoc. But I think something both
sides of this cause this contest have to their benefit
is they're both practicing against defense coordinators I don't know,
(13:01):
for being insanely creative and insanely aggressive. So they're actually
both kind of coming in against defenses that they've already
been training against all training team.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Yeah, and you're right. I mean, Baker Mayfield had the
best year of his career last year. We'll see if
it's actually going to be a blip and more of
a trend for what he's gonna have for the rest
of his career in the NFL. So we're gonna move
on to the next question, but I will give you
a little bit of a score update. It's really close
between you two, but it looks like David is head
by one point. Let's go like he got a little
chance to gain some ground here. The second question is
(13:32):
we've all seen what Jane Daniels has done over the
last month, right, He's looked more so, you know, like
he's a player beyond his year in terms of his poise,
his commandity, offense, his knowledge. But at the same time,
he's going to be a rookie going into its first
a real live NFL game against a Deemster Cordner who
loves to bring pressure, really experienced play caller. So question
(13:55):
we'll start We'll start with David this time is what
do you think that if Kingsbury can do to protect
Jayden Daniels and try to get the most out of
his skill set.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
I think you got to do something that I've been
asking offensive coordinators to do on this team since I
started covering this team.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Zech move the pocket. You drafted Jade Daniels.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
More so than anything like that, the biggest discriminator between
Jade and Daniels and the other quarterbacks available to this team.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Were was his athletic ability.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
And his decision making. Those are the two things that
separated himself. Like when you look at Drake May and
you look at Jayden Daniels, and I don't mean.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
To disparage Drake.
Speaker 4 (14:34):
I hope he has a great career, all that good stuff,
But when you look at the two, Jade and Daniels
clearly the superior athlete compared to Drake May. Both of
these guys put the ball everywhere on the field, everywhere
you need them too.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
And then the decision making.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
And this is where I say, I apologize any Drake
May fans out there, but there's a moment in his
tape and it's not the only moment, it's the biggest
moment in his tape where North Carolina's got a first
and goal.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Or they're in goal to go.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
I can't remember his first now, but they're in goal
to go situation. They're lined up heavy and they're miss
their right tackle and Drake May snaps the ball while
his right tackles trying to run onto the field behind him,
doesn't realize he's short alignment in a big set. That's
a problem we saw in the preseason game. How many
illegal formation penalties they had while Drake and May was in there.
That's something you need your quarterback to do. Jayden Daniels
(15:16):
better at that. He's also the better athlete. Use those
advantages to your advantage. Here at Stampa Bay Buccaneers, their
pass rush is really interesting right now because all the
dynamic ability they did have where they're making their Super
Bowl run and even trying to make their follow on
runs a couple of years ago, a lot of that
is kind of gone right now. Their best pass rusher
on the edge off the defensive line is yah YadA Yadi.
(15:38):
He's had a really good season last year, a lot
of potential, but he is not ready to be that
main pass rusher for an NFL defense. I don't believe.
Maybe Hope surprised me. But on the opposite side outside lineback,
you had Joe Tryon.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Schuenka, who a lot of people think is basically.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
On his way out of tamp after not proving himself
after being such a high round draft pick.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
So, if I'm Cliff Kingsbury, ya Yadadadi's.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Honestly the guy, and he's gonna be going up against
rookie left tackle Brandon Coleman if he can go this weekend,
or Cornelius Lucas the backup.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
So that's kind of if I have a biggest.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
Concern in the outside linebacker realm, that's gonna be the
guy roll the pocket.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
To the right. Just so happens.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
That's probably James Daniels the most comfortable side to roll
to anyway. And you put Joe Tryon Shunka in very
problematic situations where he's got to make a decision. I'm
either gonna run with the super athletic quarterback ort and
leave potentially a tight end or running back or a
crossing wide receiver open behind me, or I'm gonna try
to stay in my coverage assignment and the I'm gonna
watch Jadan Daniels skirt up the sideline.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
To me, that is an.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Opportunity rich advantage at this commander's team has, and this
offensive line that hasn't gotten any active reps against or
against a live opponent, and they're in they're organic starting five. Again,
if Brandon can go this weekend, that helps them because
you make that defense run, you make them get, you
tire them out, and again ya ya yabi, like the
more he runs, the less effective he's gonna be as
(16:52):
the game goes on. So I think that, to me,
is the biggest way you protect Jayme and Daniels.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
I'm so glad you brought up the pocket movement because
it's something that Washington didn't really do all that much
at all last year because when we knew that the
same show wasn't necessarily the scrambler that some of these
other quarterbacks. But he did have some mobility to him.
He seemed like he's doing his best whenever he was
kind of getting out of the pockets, scrambling away from
the pressure that seemed to always be coming at him
on the middle. But but Lake, I'll throw this to you, Like,
(17:19):
I mean, is it as simple as that is? Its
simple as letting Jaden get out there and run with us.
Some people are really hesitating about him him sliding and
getting out there and avoiding contact, But like, is it
really as simple as just getting him out of the
pocket and letting him do what he does best with
his legs or there's something more to it thin that.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Well?
Speaker 3 (17:34):
No, I mean I think then that's the that's the
irony to this, And I agree with David one hundred
percent that you know, the pocket didn't move at all
in the past. Well, I mean if it moved, it
was going backwards. So you know, now, I just think
that you have to let Jaden be himself, you know,
not overthink this, not you know, situations that he wouldn't
(17:55):
be comfortable with. If he spoke to you know, us
yesterday and he said, you know that he's he just
wants to play football, and that's the whole point. You know,
he's going to have some input with Cliff Kingsbury as
far as things that they can do it against this
Buccaneers defense. That's going to make him comfortable. And he
said that Cliff will will listen to guys. So I'm
(18:16):
if I'm Washington, I'm turning this guy loose. We all
know what he can do. He showed everything possible as
far as you know, all the tricks in his bag
in the preseason. You know, deep ball, you know, elusiveness,
running the football, command of the line of scrimmage, as
far as what he saw on the other side of
the ball, to audible out of a play. I mean,
(18:36):
these are the things that you want from your young quarterback.
So you know, I think for Washington as far as
moving him around, I think it would be a big,
big plus for their offense because let's face it, when
you look at Tampa's defense, you know, naturally upfront you
have that monster Bavay, who you know, a lot of commanders,
fans will remember him because they wanted him to get.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Drafted a couple of years back.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
You know, he's a stout guy that can hold up
the line. But I feel really good as far as
the interior portion of Washington's offensive line, you know, with
the additions of Beatas and then Nick Alagretti and you
know obviously Sam Kyles mean you just got the bag
yesterday on the contract extension, I think that that interior
portion of Washington's line is clearly going to be their strength,
(19:19):
and that helps them against a guy like vi to Bay.
But I think if you look at Tampa's defense, you know,
the two guys in the back to me a really
good George whitehead man, Antoine Winfield Junior. You know, those
guys are to me the glue to Tampa's defense. And
it's ironic because those are the guys that Jaden's going
to have to attack with the deep ball to keep
(19:39):
them back, you know, to open up the run game,
do different things like that. So again, should they move
the pocket, Absolutely, I think they will, think David hit
on that right on the head. They're going to utilize
Jaden's strengths. But let's not confuse ourselves, guys. He's not
a running quarterback first. He's a pocket passer who happens
to have dynamic wills and he does take off and
(20:01):
I think if they give him the green light to
take off when he needs to, you're you're going to
see this dynamic player that everyone's looking forward to watching.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Yeah, And I think that's one of the things we've
seen the most in training camp was, Yeah, we all
knew that he had his disability. We still haven't really
seen what Jane can do with his legs because he's
been so conservative with that. But who he is as
a passer has been just so impressive, and you saw
as training can't progress, they kind of let him uncork
these passes. It's a little bit more because he does
(20:30):
he didn't have the strongest wrong in the world, but
he does have a pretty decent arm to go to
to launch these passes down field. We saw a little
bit of that with theanmy Brown against the Jets. But
you know, david'll'll pose this to you. And I mean,
Cliff obviously wants to make sure that he has some
easy reads, right he doesn't. You don't want to throw
all these compcit looks at him immediately. But to to
Lake's point, at some point, you do have to let
(20:51):
him do what he does best. So how do you
think Cliff is going to balance the terms of Okay,
we need to give him some easier legs versus okay,
let's just go ahead and let's let's let's let him
try this contested pass downfield of Terry, Like, how do
you balance the conservative versus just letting the guy loose
and letting him play the way he wants to play.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Yeah, you know, I think, honestly, I think Jayden has
kind of proven himself to be a smart decision maker
to the point where he kind of has.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
That ability to make that decision for himself.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
And then you go back to that first preseason game
of the year, and granted, he wasn't supposed.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
To check out of that screen that he checked.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
Out of, but obviously he felt like he could get
away with it if he did it, and he did
check into the big shot, he took it. Deanmy Brown
was able to come up with the pass smile into
the to the zide line. Now, I'm sure you know,
there was a little bit of a conversation probably had,
you know, later on, like hey, this is why we
want you to do this stuff and all these things.
But I think that that just kind of shows you
how much Jaden has confidence in himself and his teammates,
but also how much he understands what he is allowed.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
He has left and right limits, so to speak, within
this offense.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
So I think even the Cliff is coming out there
and calling a conservative, you know game for Jaden initially,
you know, to get the rookie comfortable and all that
stuff that Jayden sees a shot or sees an opportunity
that he is comfortable. Again if the if the entire
mindset is, let's make sure our quarterback is comfortable. If
he if he looks down the line of scrimmage, and
you know, don't want to give away too much. We
we't see in training camp, but if you see seventeen
(22:10):
lined up across from Bucks twenty seven in single high,
in a single high look in pressman coverage, I mean,
I don't gotta tell you in lake what probably is
gonna happen, but it's gonna it's probably gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Uh. And my guys, I am a calm over there.
You know. I love that dude, but it's it's that's
not a good that's not a good situation for him
in that in that look.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
So you know, if my quarterback is comfortable checking into something, uh,
that that takes advantage of that look, then I would
be comfortable with him, you know what I'm saying, if
I trust him, and I think every sign we've seen
from this staff, again, he checked into another play against
the Miami Dolphants. So it's not like he checked into
the play against the Jets that he wasn't necessarily supposed
to check into and then got his hands flapped and
(22:46):
then didn't check it in anymore. So whatever conversations happened
behind the scenes, it didn't result in, Hey, dude, you're
not allowed to check out of these things because it's
part of the design. It's all built in there, and
it's I think it's I don't know, I can't quantify, right,
I don't. I can't tell you how many teams out
of thirty to do this, But I feel like it's
it's fairly rare for a rookie quarterback to have that
kind of decision making leeway, and I think it's really cool.
(23:08):
I think it's really cool, and it's it's indicative of
how much they trust Jane to make those calls when
when you need to, and the better they are, Adam,
I think the more Cliffill dial up himself.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yeah, you know, I really do like that event. Jayden
and this coaching staff is like they're very collaborative with
with him. They're not lessarily saying Okay, you have to
do this our way or it's not going to work.
They're very much less saying, Okay, if you see a look,
you know, don't be afraid to check into it. And
they trust him because he's he developed that trust with him,
like he's shown that he knows this system. And again,
(23:38):
on top of that, we haven't really even seen what
this system is going to look like completely. We've seen
a lot of the vanilla stuff, but at the same time,
we haven't really seen all that Cliff Kingsbury is going
to throw out throw the Buccaneers for obvious reasons, so
I'm really excited to see what they do what they
do with that. All right, guys, we have five minutes
left in this thing and the score is tied between
US ten ten, and we're going to keep this. This question,
(24:01):
this last question is really simple. Give me your base
best case for one player who must have a good
game for Washington to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. David,
we'll start with you first.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
I'm gonna I'm gonna stick in the big ten here,
and I'm gonna go with Kwon Martin. And I know
the quarterbacks, the low hanging through the O line as
a group.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Is obviously going to be important.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
But I look at this Buccaneers offense, and I've said
this on some other podcasts in my years of covering
or writing about or talking about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
this is the most dynamic offense I've ever seen in Tampa.
It's not the best quarterback ever, so the best tight
end ever. It is the best wide receiver group ever.
And the offensive line isn't, you know, even as good
(24:42):
as the old line they had when they made the
run of the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
But all the pieces together holistically.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
And with what Liam Cohen, their new offensive coordinator, has
done historically in his time with the Rams and even
the one you're spent in Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
This is the most dynamic offense.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
And the thing that you can't prepare for the most
in training can preseason defensively is tackling.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
And that's usually in the beginning of the season.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
If you see like this great defense falter against a
lesser opponent, it's usually because the tackling is not on
point yet because they can't practice him as much. Right, So,
I look at this commander's defense is Buccaneers offense, and
guys like Rashad White, who comes out of Arizona State,
who I consider the Penn State of the Big twelve.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
If he gets loose, if he's allowed to shake that first.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
Tackle attempt, Kwan Martin's gonna be a guy that's gonna
be back there to help clean that up. You look
at the pass game, Mike Evans on his deep shots.
A lot of people look at my get him just
a big, tall, long dude. He's got deceptive speed even
at his agent, even as his experience.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
We already talked about the slot. If Chris Godwin's able
to get free.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
There's got to be that last line of defense to
make sure that fifteen yard games don't turn into big touchdowns.
Eight yard games don't turn into fifteen yard games. The
Buccaneers are going to make some play. So this is
a playoff team, back to back to back division champion.
Yes it's the NFC South, but still hard to win
your division in the NFL. I don't care what division
you're in. They've got talent. We know that they're going
to do some things. We know that, but the Washington
(25:58):
commanders that they can force them to stend drives like
your goal needs to be no drives less than eight
plays minimum.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
That's minimum. You have to make Baker maybe go in there.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Because the thing about Baker too is even in his
career year last year, he'll throw some mistakes. He'll make
some mistakes. He'll give you opportunities, and Joey Junior is
going to lose his mind if they don't take advantage
of at least two or three of them.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
But those opportunities are gonna come. To get off the field,
they've got to do that.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
But it starts with making the Bucks stay on the
field in the first place. For those opportunities to come,
and I look at Kwan Martin as that last line
of defense back there. So I think if he has
a best game of his NFL career, you know, it's
relatively short, so I think we can go that far.
If he has the best game of his short NFL career,
this team has a chance to contain the Buccaneers offense,
which will help the Commanders offense and allow them to
(26:43):
be more comfortable with what they're trying to do.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
All right, Lake, give give me your best take. Who
you think is gonna have the best game to beat
the Buccaneers on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
You know, this is kind of a you know, an
obvious thing, and I agree with David. You know, I
do think Kwan Martin is huge. Actually, was gonna go
Jarem on the defensive side for the overall the overall thing.
For me, I think Washington has to be able to
run in the football. They have to, So I'm gonna
go with Brian Robinson and Austin Eckler. I think, you know,
(27:14):
as a dual threat, you'll finally get a chance to
see both these guys in action and how they can
compliment each other's games. Both can catch the ball out
the back field too. Surprisingly, Brian Robinson showed that last
year under Erik the Enemy that he could catch the
football at a high rate. So I think as long
as Washington can run the football, it kind of takes
some of the pressure off Jadan in his first ever start.
(27:37):
You know, I think it can open up things for
Jaden as well, because obviously, if you're running the football effectively,
you're kind of controlling the line of scrimmage. And let's
face it, you guys, if you're going to start a
left tackle, and Brandon Foeman his first ever NFL game,
if he does start at left tackle, which I think
David and myself in you'sac think he will, you know,
(27:57):
that's something that can help his game too, because face it,
if you're asking rookies and you know, these younger players
to go immediately in the pass pro, you know that
stuff kind of can mess them up early in the game.
But if you can get them lathered up and get
them a fill for the game by running the football effectively,
it can open up things for the past game. So
(28:18):
for me, if Brian Robinson can have one of these
games where he doesn't have to get a hundred yards,
but if he can get seventy yards on the ground,
you know, an additional twenty plus, you know, as far
as dump down or something like that in the past game.
I think obviously with Austin Eckler, Eckler can get you
twenty five yards running and maybe you know, on the
(28:39):
other end, gets you thirty yards in the past game.
I think this fares very well for Washington in a
game that I think we all think is going to
be a close, closely for football game. That running game
could be the catalyst that as Washington leave Tampa with
the w You.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Know, normally I would knock you for giving two answers
at once there, but I think the way the way
that they've the way they've pretty much propped up b
Rob and Eckler at the duo is so appropriate because
like they very much are a one a one beat
just because they offer something very different. You know, you
have Eckler with with the outside runs, but you have
Irob who can who can do that, but more of
(29:16):
a bruiser can can hit those of those holes down downfield.
And David, I love the point that you you you
brought up about Kwan and tackling I think it's gonna
be so key, especially what the Steven showed last year.
And I love the way Kawan Martin has developed this offseason.
But I gotta get I gotta go with Lake here
with this is it was it was so so it
was so excellent. Bit a point considering that this is
(29:38):
Jimmy Jaden's first start, you need to establish a solid
run game. So Lake, you are the first winner of
the beat Down Podcast. Do you have any any any
victory words that you'd like to to part on this here?
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Well, listen, man, David's my brother man and and and
you know, literally one of the best out out there
doing this thing. So you know, it's it's all love
as long as I know, uh, you know, he's gonna
wear some blue next week.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
We're good. I'm actually wearing blue today. Bro Okay.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
And you know what, for the record, I agree b
Rob and Austin Eckler. That's one a one like that
is that is like that's the running back position group.
But don't sleep on Jeremy McNichols. He was drafted by
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It's not it's not a revenge game.
Like the staff is gone, that drafted him, all that
kind of stuff. But you know, for a guy that
has ended up being a journeyman the way that Jeremy
mc nichols has been, you know that there's just there's
got to be just a human part of him that
(30:33):
wants to win. Whatever opportunities he gets to play, even
if it's on special teams, make a splash play out there,
just go out into Raymond James Stadium, in the stadium
that you started your career in, and then have a
good day and help your team win. So you know
that running back group as a whole certainly going to
be critical for this game.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
And it seems like they've been hot in Austin all summer,
just just waiting for this type of game where you know,
he's a veteran, he's been around, he knows obviously. Coach
Lynn is his coach here now his position coach. So
you just this game reeks of an Austin Eckler red
zone touchdown somehow.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Yeah, you bring up Jeremy mc nichols, I will point
out the day one I said, the Jeremy mc nichols froster.
Just just just go throw that out there for you,
all right, guys, you know, we're gonna see one unfolds
in week one. I feel they've been waiting this for years,
but finally we're gonna see Jade and Daniels inaction in
a real game where the bullets are gonna be flying.
It's gonna be fantastic no matter what happens. I think
it's gonna be very competitive either way. Uh but but guys,
(31:29):
I really appreciate you coming on.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Lake.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
You will have a chance to keep your title, David.
You will have a chance to get some revenge here
later on the season. We'll have a rotating cast of
all the beat requarters over the next you know, a
few months or so. But it's gonna be a great
season either way. But guys, I really appreciate you coming
out and this has been the beat down
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