Daily Slop – 14 Jul 24: RB Michael Wiley; careers winding down for Mariota & Ertz; designer of former team logo to be honored

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Front Office Sports

Parts of the Commanders’ Past Finding Their Way Into Harris Era

As training camp is quickly approaching with rookies due to report on July 18, the team has made two notable moves this week to honor its past.

• The family of Walter “Blackie” Wetzel—the late Blackfeet Nation member who helped design the logo used from 1972 to 2020—is expected to be in attendance at the team’s home opener on Sept. 15, when a plaque acknowledging Wetzel will be unveiled at Commanders Field, Ryan Wetzel, a grandson of the late Walter Wetzel, told Front Office Sports. A Commanders spokesperson said “conversations with the Wetzel family are progressing well, but we cannot confirm details at this time.”
• The team also has announced the return of its traditional, and widely popular, gold pants. While uniform changes are a regular occurrence for many teams, shifts like this for the Commanders carry extra weight. That’s particularly the case given the fans’ love of the franchise’s past, as well as the sensitivity around many elements of that history, including its former logo, the [Redskins] name, and the combative and controversial era of former owner Dan Snyder.

The Wetzels, meanwhile, have seized on the unpopularity of the Commanders name—a moniker that has the support of only 16% of the fan base, per a recent Washington Post survey—in hopes that a potential name change could incorporate the old logo. Beyond the visit and a plaque, the Wetzels and Montana Sen. Steve Daines (R., Mont.) have continued to lobby the Commanders to bring back the logo in some form.

“The Commanders are listening,” Ryan Wetzel said. “We’d like to see the logo come back in some form. As to what capacity, I don’t know. They’ve been a little coy about that in our conversations.”

Multiple NFL sources told FOS that the return of the old logo remains off the table and restoring the [Redskins] name is a complete nonstarter, however. The Commanders continue to have conversations with the Wetzels in hopes of finding a way to further recognize Walter Wetzel short of bringing back Native American imagery, a divisive issue that led to the name change in the first place.

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Pro Football Focus

10 NFL players nearing the end of notable careers

QB Marcus Mariota, Washington Commanders

The former Heisman winner and No. 2 overall pick generally didn’t live up to the billing in the pro ranks, but Mariota showcased spurts of excellence during the earlier stages of his career. He earned an overall grade of 76.2 or higher in 2017 and 2018, which proved his zenith as a full-time starter.

Things have taken a precipitous turn for Mariota since 2018. The former Duck was benched for Ryan Tannehill in Tennessee; signed with the Raiders, where he backed up Derek Carr for two years; posted just a 62.7 passing grade with the Falcons in 2022 before promptly leaving the team; and was Jalen Hurts’ insurance with the Eagles in 2023.

Now on a one-year deal with the Commanders, Mariota will almost assuredly serve as the team’s QB2 behind No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels. Even though he’s still only 30, Mariota seems to have been relegated to journeyman backup status.

TE Zach Ertz, Washington Commanders

During his peak, Ertz was one of the more unguardable tight ends in the league. He collected a PFF receiving grade of 75.6 or better in six of his first seven NFL seasons and proved an integral part of the Eagles’ Super Bowl-caliber offense in 2017.

Although the three-time Pro Bowl selection hasn’t matched his earlier production since being dealt to Arizona — amassing just 1,167 yards in 28 games played while battling several notable leg injuries — Ertz has generally been surehanded, dropping only nine of 191 targets while in the desert. Even on a more limited target share, Ertz can still be a solid deep threat, as evidenced by having a top-18 average depth of target among tight ends in 2022 and 2023.

Ertz elected this offseason to reunite with former Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury in Washington. With very limited depth at the tight end position on the Commanders’ roster, Ertz could earn the bulk of TE1 snaps early in the season. At the same time, with promising rookie Ben Sinnott behind him and considering Ertz’s inability to stay on the field, the 35-year-old could also witness his swan song in D.C.

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Commanders Wire

Joe Theismann: Jayden Daniels shouldn’t play in the preseason

On Thursday on “The Craig Hoffman Show,” Theismann said the team has so many new faces and “Jayden Daniels isn’t and shouldn’t play in the preseason.”

The former Redskins quarterback (1974-85) continued that he understands Daniels was the Heisman Trophy winner and had a great final season at LSU; however, the NFL is much more advanced than even the SEC.

“I’ve watched him work; I’ve been at practice. I’ve sat and visited with him. I like him a lot. But our business is a tough business to learn,” said Theismann.

Theismann knows Daniels will have his struggles when the regular season begins. He recalls his own struggles with inconsistency, which resulted in his losing the job to Billy Kilmer for two seasons before being named the starter in the 1978 season.

When Theismann said Daniels “isn’t” playing in the preseason, was he revealing that he knows something that coach Dan Quinn or GM Adam Peters may have told him?

This was probably nothing more than Theismann’s way of saying Daniels would see very little action. In fact, Theismann later stated he thinks Daniels might play only a couple of series in the first two preseason games.

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Last Word on Sports

Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury has his hands full this season but his potential new running back trio could be lethal.

The X-factor Michael Wiley

The final running back that could create a three-headed attack is rookie Michael Wiley out of Arizona. He has exceptional hands and a nose for contact. Four out of the five seasons he spent at Arizona, he has over 10 receptions.

Out of 336 attempts, Wiley ran for 1,712 yards, averaged 5.1 yards per carry, and scored 16 touchdowns. From the line of scrimmage, he has run for 2,862 yards and can run after contact.

Wiley’s engine will be an asset for the Commanders and his ability to catch in and out of the backfield will add to Kingsbury’s arsenal.

Washington will be able to incorporate the run game while giving Robinson Jr. a chance to breathe. Last season, Washington finished 27th in the league in rushing with 1,592 rushing yards. If Kingsbury can incorporate [Brian Robinson, Austin Ekeler and Wiley] and refine his air raid attack, this could be a lethal trio.

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Podcasts & videos

Washington Commanders Safety Quan Martin’s Role in Potential Three Safety Scheme Under Joe Whitt Jr.

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S1:E1 Surprise Roommates, Unhinged Media Day & The Super Bowl Hero You’ve Never Heard Of | Hail Tales

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Articles

Front Office Sports

The NFL Is Confident It Can Overturn the Sunday Ticket Verdict

Several of these legal experts believe the league has a decent chance to get the verdict overturned, a new trial ordered, or damages reduced by the presiding judge—even before the case arrives at the appellate court level. The judge scheduled a July 31 hearing to consider the NFL’s motion for him to change the verdict.

“It does sound like there was a fiasco that went on in this courtroom that the judge allowed. There are all sorts of mistakes and things that happened that don’t seem O.K.,” says Mark Levinstein, a sports antitrust attorney with Washington, D.C.–based firm Williams & Connolly, tells FOS. He cites the significant procedural errors the NFL alleges occurred during the trial as well as the league’s assertion that the jury’s damages award is based on a misunderstanding of the evidence. “The judge isn’t going to want this to go to the court of appeals with a jury verdict that clearly was nonsense.”

[T]he argument the NFL has about the damages calculations is what has really caught the attention of legal experts. Many predict the judge, whom during the trial criticized the plaintiffs’ handling of the case, may act after the July 31 hearing before the case gets to an appeals court.

The average list price for Sunday Ticket the jury had to work with was $294, and testimony during the trial pegged the actual average price paid was $102.74 (DirecTV was well known for heavily discounting Sunday Ticket and giving it away for free to lure subscribers). The NFL alleges that the jury took this $192 difference and multiplied it by the number of both residential- and commercial-class subscribers. “The results replicate the jury’s damages awards perfectly for the residential class, and within two cents for the commercial class,” the NFL said in its motion.

“The NFL, I think, quite compellingly explains that doesn’t really make sense, because it’s not an overcharge,” Deubert says of the jury purportedly using the $192 figure—the difference between the listed price and the far lower average real price consumers paid—to calculate damages. “There would have had to have been evidence that shows that the class members should have only been charged, you know, $50 or $65 and were actually paying $294. But that does not seem to be the evidence.”

Levinstein, however, says, “I don’t know what the judge thinks. But the judge also has to understand this is going to the court of appeals and might go to the Supreme Court. So he may not want to send them a pile of dung.”

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