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Daily Slop – 14 Jul 25 – Rookies report to Commanders training camp on Friday

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

Commanders links

Articles

Washington Times

LOVERRO: Forget the spies — Commanders should open more training camp practices to fans

A surprising 12-5 season left Washington fans salivating for more. The preliminaries begin next week when training camp opens for rookies on July 18, followed by the veterans reporting four days later.

For a team trying to win as much public support as it can for the $3.8 billion stadium, the more exposure to the savior, Daniels, the better. And despite all the good feelings surrounding the release of the Commanders’ “Super Bowl Era” alternate uniforms, this is still a team that finished 30th in attendance last year, worse than the previous 4-13 season, and in some ways is being treated like an expansion team by customers. Being selective about your exposure when you’re trying to sell not just a stadium, but also a product, seems foolish.

When I posed the question to Commanders officials about why there aren’t more open training camp dates, a spokesperson responded only, “We’re excited to host training camp at the OrthoVirginia Training Center in Ashburn again this summer as we prepare for the 2025 season. We’re pleased to once again offer our fans, including season ticket holders, the opportunity to see the team practice this summer along with hosting a day for our military. We also look forward to welcoming those attending training camp and our joint practice with New England this summer.”

Commanders coach Dan Quinn is also worried about spies – but in this case, unwitting spies, perhaps among their own supporters.

They don’t want your iPhone videos showing up in the offices of the Cowboys or another 2025 opponent.

I’ve been told that the technology of hand-held videos has become so good that NFL scouts often go through fan websites looking for video nuggets that would give their team a competitive advantage, and that the Commanders do this as well.

While the team loves the energy of open practices, it must balance them with the need to install systems and plays coaches will use for the coming season, and these generally are not done in a public setting, a team source said.

Riggo’s Rag

Adam Peters is rebuilding the wall in Washington (and fans should be hyped)

The centerpiece was trading for five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Then he used his first-round draft pick to select Josh Conerly Jr. It was the first time Washington had used its Round 1 pick on an offensive lineman since Brandon Scherff in 2015, the last OL to make the Pro Bowl in Washington.

Even with the loss of Cosmi, the Commanders appear to be well-positioned to improve their offensive line play in front of Jayden Daniels. When the stud right guard eventually returns, either this season or next, the line should be among the league’s best.

At this stage, only two of the positions are locked in place. Tunsil will be at left tackle, where he has excelled for six seasons. Biadasz locked down the center spot last year, providing Washington with stability it has not enjoyed since Chase Roullier’s early retirement.

After those two, Conerly appears on track to take over at right tackle. But if he needs more time, last year’s starter, Andrew Wylie, is still around.

Wylie is not a dominant player, but he is not a gaping hole either. His pattern has been to start slowly but get better as the season goes on. Conerly eventually should constitute an upgrade, but this is a pretty solid backup plan.

Riggo’s Rag

Commanders urged to monitor injury-plagued former top prospect facing camp cut

Good players will be cut around the league this summer.

Reports suggest that David Ojabo could be on the chopping block unless significant improvements arrive this summer. The Baltimore Ravens’ edge threat finally put a consistent run of games together last season, but he remains firmly on the fringes with the AFC championship hopeful until further notice.

Anthony Palacios from Last Word on Sports believes the Commanders would be a good landing spot for Ojabo if he’s made surplus to requirements by Baltimore. This would be nothing more than a versatile rotational piece, but it’s something to contemplate.

“The Washington Commanders have rebuilt a culture that looks like they’re a team with a winning record for the next decade. However, just because Jayden Daniels is on fire, it doesn’t mean they should ignore improving the defense. They haven’t done much, but sign Deatrich Wise Jr., and while they’re bringing Bobby Wagner back, they could use someone like Ojabo to share the snaps with Dominique Hampton. He won’t make an impact on every snap, but it keeps the Commanders in the right scenery to upgrade even though they’re not looking to improve the defensive line anymore this offseason at least.”

Anthony Palacios

Ojabo was tabbed as a first-round lock before a torn Achilles in 2022. Knee and ankle complications also came up, restricting the player to five games over his first two campaigns. Turning out 13 times last season was a positive, but some of the dynamism and explosiveness that saw the pass-rusher take college football by storm have deserted him.

Podcasts & videos

Bram Weinstein: The Terry McLaurin extension duration

NFC East links

Blogging the Boys

Cowboys look to restore home-field success in 2025

The Dallas Cowboys won 16 consecutive regular-season home games from 2022 to 2023. That streak ended quickly last season; the start of a brutal 2-7 performance in 2024 at AT&T Stadium. If Dallas is going to get back to the playoffs this year, getting back to handling their business at home would be a very positive step.

Of course, overall records are ultimately more important than home versus away. In fact, before 2022, the Cowboys tended to either finish with a fairly even split or do better on the road. In 2021, they won seven away games to only five at home. In 2014, Dallas went a perfect 8-0 in away games and only won four at home. It’s why, for several years prior to 2022, there were ample jokes and outright criticism of the Cowboys’ lack of home-field advantage.

Unfortunately, Dallas’ first home game in 2024 was that ugly 44-19 loss to the Saints. In fact, they lost their first five home games, with four of them being total blowouts. Only the lowly Giants coming to visit on Thanksgiving paused the bleeding, but that and a win over Tampa Bay were the only two victories at AT&T Stadium last season.

NFL league links

Articles

NFL.com

Chargers WR Tre Harris holding out as one of 30 unsigned second-round picks

Harris did not report on Saturday — the deadline for Bolts rookies — NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported.

The Chargers are the first team to open training camp, with veterans set for a Wednesday reporting date. However, L.A. is hardly the only team dealing with a second-round conundrum.

Thirty of 32 second-round picks have yet to sign their rookie contracts because of a disagreement over guaranteed money, Rapoport reported.

No. 33 overall pick Carson Schwesinger of the Cleveland Browns — the top pick of the second round — has signed and so too has No. 34 pick Jayden Higgins of the Houston Texans.

Both Schwesinger and Higgins signed fully guaranteed deals, which NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero noted on May 9 — when Schwesinger’s contract was announced by Cleveland — could have a ripple effect. More than two months later, no other second-round selection has agreed to terms, so it’s had a massive effect.

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