Daily Slop – 18 May 24: Mark Bullock breaks down film of rookie DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste

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

Commanders links

Articles

Bullock’s Film Room (subscription)

What DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste brings to the Washington Commanders

Breaking down what the Commanders are getting from their seventh round defensive end

On this play, Jean-Baptiste aligns outside the left tackle with the offense running to his side. On an outside zone play. Initially, Jean-Baptiste gets shoved outside by the left tackle when ideally you’d like him to be squeezing the edge to force the runner to cut back inside early. But after getting knocked outside, we can see the advantage of having that length. Jean-Baptiste recovers well by extending out his arm and using his length to hold off the tackle, stand him up and get his eyes into the backfield to locate the running back. The back looks to cut inside of the left tackle, so Jean-Baptiste simply sheds the block and works inside to make the stop.

Run defense was generally a strength of his game. He typically read run plays well and looked to squeeze gaps shut and peel off to make tackles when he could.

Despite only being 239 pounds, Notre Dame were confident enough in his run defense to shift him inside and let him work against guards quite often. You’ll often see edge rushers kick inside to try and use their quickness to beat guards, but if the offense runs the ball they can get overpowered. Jean-Baptiste, despite surrendering a significant weight advantage to most guards, held his own on the interior.

---

Commanders.com

Jer’Zhan Newton excited to learn from Jon Allen, Daron Payne

Newton, who the Washington Commanders took with the 36th overall pick and missed all the pre-draft process with a Jones fracture in his right foot, had successful surgery on his left foot for the same issue. There is no timetable on Newton’s recovery, but it is almost a guarantee that he will not suit up until at least the start of training camp in late July.

In the meantime, he intends to learn and be involved as much as possible, particularly from Pro Bowl defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne.

“You’re talking about guys I used to watch when they was in college, so transitioning to the NFL, of course, I still watched them,” Newton said after he was drafted. “Playing next to those guys, outstanding, an amazing feeling. [They’re] Older guys who have had success [in] college and in the NFL. So, I’m really happy.”

---

Riggo’s Rag

3 ways the NFL screwed Commanders with the 2024 schedule

The Commanders need to navigate the 2024 season successfully.

Commanders’ road challenges early

Dan Quinn and his players will need to be at the top of their game right out of the gate in 2024. The Washington Commanders will play three of their first four contests on the road. This represents a significant challenge and one that should tell us plenty about what this team might be able to accomplish as the campaign goes on.

The Commanders travel to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals, and the Cincinnati Bengals for a mouth-watering Monday Night Football clash over their opening month. There is one home game in Week 2 against the New York Giants, but Quinn’s men will be accumulating a lot of air miles to begin their new era.

Getting these out of the way early could have some positives. But with so many alterations across the Commanders throughout one of the busiest offseasons in franchise history, they might have benefited from more home comforts initially as everything comes together.

---

Commanders Wire

Commanders WR Terry McLaurin named Touchdown Club Player of the Year

Peyton Manning was in the Washington, D.C., area on Thursday as the featured speaker at Joe Gibbs’ Burgundy and Gold Banquet for his Youth For Tomorrow foundation.

It’s always a big deal when Manning is involved, and he was asked about the current state of the Washington Commanders. Manning really likes quarterback Jayden Daniels, who has attended his family’s Manning Passing Academy.

“I’m a big fan of your quarterback,” Manning said. He then joked that he was going to pick Daniels and wide receiver Terry McLaurin for his fantasy team.

McLaurin was on hand, too, as he was honored as the Touchdown Club’s Player of the Year. Daron Payne won the award last year.

---

Podcasts & videos

---

Locked on Commanders: Washington Commanders Luke McCaffrey Role | Win-Loss Projection | Kliff Kingsbury’s Defensive Impact

---

---

NFC East links

Bleeding Green Nation

Can Nick Sirianni regain his mojo?

Everything appears right for the Eagles to win the NFC East for the second time in three years and to make a deep playoff push.

The one dangling caveat is whether head coach Nick Sirianni can return to the coach he was when this team got off to a combined 18-1 start over the first eight games in 2022, and first 11 in 2023. He is 34-17 in his first three years, which is more victories than any previous Eagles coach in that time-frame. He has proven he can win in the NFL—with Shane Steichen and Jonathan Gannon as his coordinators.

But there were signs throughout the 2023 season that something was wrong, and nothing was being fixed. When adversity struck, panic seemed to arrive and spread. And nothing from the commander, Sirianni, appeared to quell the listing.

Even when the problems were blatant.

In Week 8, the glaring fissures on defense allowed Washington 7 of 12 third-down conversions, when the Commanders entered the game converting just 29.41% on third down, which was 31st in the NFL at the time (only the New York Jets were worse). The Eagles suffered two turnovers inside the Washington five, which put them at 13 (They did not turn the ball over 13 times until Week 15 in the Super Bowl 2022 year). The Commanders also amassed 472 yards of offense in an Eagles’ 38-31 victory.

No one seemed to care because the Eagles were 7-1.

They were 10-1 in Week 12, though trends continued, and no one had answers after the Eagles’ 37-34 overtime victory over Buffalo. Defensively, the Eagles gave up what had been at the time a season-high 505 yards of offense to the Bills and Josh Allen.

Alarm, it appears, may have set in after the Eagles’ 33-13 Week 14 debacle in Dallas. That is when the Eagles replaced defensive coordinator Sean Desai with assistant coach Matt Patricia to handle the defensive play calls, a move many believe was made by Jeff Lurie and Howie Roseman than by Sirianni.

Whoever made the decision to replace Desai with Patricia, it seemed to undermine Sirianni, whether he made the choice or not, and set off concerns in the locker room. Who was running the 2023 Eagles? Are the orders coming from Sirianni and the sideline, or from up top in the executive suite? It was interesting what Eagles’ running back Kenny Gainwell went public with on the Javien University podcast a few weeks ago on the Eagles’ 1-6 collapse:

“I think it was a connection piece. Teams like the (Kansas City) Chiefs are well-connected, upstairs and downstairs. Front office and the locker room. Everybody’s connected. When you have a connection, everything just clicks. But when you got guys that aren’t talking to each other, you never know what’s going on…”

What was fact, for everyone to see, was that the 2023 Eagles quit the last two months of the season.

---

Big Blue View

New York Giants ‘shocked’ NFL by passing on QB in 2024 NFL Draft

So, what do evaluators think of the 2025 quarterback class?

Are you still trying to process why the New York Giants ignored the quarterback position in the 2024 NFL Draft? Apparently, NFL talent evaluators are, as well.

Here is a note from a recent story by Jason LaCanfora of The Washington Post:

Every evaluator I spoke with was shocked the New York Giants sat out this draft’s quarterback derby. “They must really love their roster, but I don’t,” the GM said. “I don’t think they can win with that group and Daniel Jones.” The general belief is it was [Drake] Maye or nothing for the Giants at the most critical position, and after the Patriots stayed at No. 3 and took Maye, the Giants wound up with wide receiver Malik Nabers at No. 6.

---

NFL league links

Articles

Pro Football Talk

Dolphins are in a tough spot with Tua Tagovailoa

Tua is doing the only thing he can to exert leverage — he’s staying away from voluntary workouts.

It’s surprising that the news stayed under wraps for as long as it did. But no one had any real reason to think he wouldn’t attend.

Both Tagovailoa and coach Mike McDaniel have said that Tua will be at OTAs, which begin on Monday. If he doesn’t show up for those on-field practice sessions that lay the foundation for the training camp to come, it will be significant.

He’s making $23.1 million this year under they fifth-year option. That’s way too low, given that he led the league in passing last year. But the Dolphins surely think Tua’s expectations are way too high.

---

Deadspin

Vikings TE TJ Hockenson might not be ready for Week 1

Minnesota Vikings tight end TJ Hockenson provided an update on his surgically repaired right knee Friday, indicating he’s made good progress but has a long way to go.

Hockenson, the eighth overall pick by the Detroit Lions in 2019, suffered ACL and MCL damage in a Week 16 loss to Detroit and had surgery delayed until Jan. 29 because of swelling.

“They (the team) haven’t really put a timeline on it,” Hockenson said this week via NFL Media. “We’re just kinda taking it day by day, week by week. There’s just so many variables that you can go through in this process.

“I’m doing really good right now. We’re attacking each process. I’m attacking each one and it’s been awesome. The progression has been incredible.”

NFL.com speculated Hockenson might miss the season’s first few weeks but the two-time Pro Bowler might be ready to take the team flight to London for a Week 5 matchup with the New York Jets.

---

All a’Twitter