Daily Slop – 21 Jun 24 – A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders

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

Washington Post (paywall)

You can learn something from the way Dan Quinn wears his hat

Last season, there were rules about how Washington players could wear their hats. Dan Quinn has a different way of doing business.

Last season, Eric Bieniemy came to town to run the offense. And he brought with him a new title that gave him power — and some asinine rules that made no sense. Including a rule about hats. And how grown men should wear them.

“Last year, I was not allowed to wear my hat backwards [in the building]. So that’s a little fun fact there,” Cosmi said, revealing the shocking secret. “That was something that we as players, offensive side, we weren’t allowed to wear our hat backwards.”

“I respect people’s individuality and things that mean something to them,” Quinn said. “So whether it’s a hairstyle or no facial hair — like, all the rules that we’ve all heard throughout our life, I don’t necessarily see it that way. I like that people are unique and different. Part of what makes being in a locker room fun [is] different tastes, music or cars, or whatever they like. If it’s all the same, it’s not as fun. I embrace [that] people are unique and they have special ways that they do things. To me, that’s okay, as long as it’s in the team.”

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Commanders.com

Cornelius Lucas stepping out of his comfort zone to earn starting job

Free agency was the starting point to finding the answer, and [the Commanders] could have signed one of the top players on the market with their excess of available cap space or even traded for a player.

The Commanders re-signed Cornelius Lucas, and that was the extent of their intentions to address the position until they drafted Brandon Coleman in the third round.

General manager Adam Peters said at the Annual League Meetings that he would be comfortable with Lucas as the starting left tackle if it came to that. Okay, but just how confident? Apparently, quite a bit, as the Commanders did not make a splash move at left tackle and stuck to their promise to give him a chance to win the job outright.

Offensive line coach Bobby Johnson is also confident that Lucas is ready for the opportunity.

“It’d be real easy for him to just be stuck in his ways,” Johnson said of Lucas. “And he hasn’t been that way. I know he’s studying his rear end off at night.”

It’s been a decade since Johnson and Lucas got to work together, and one of the things Johnson is pleased to see with Lucas is that he’s still open to trying new things.

“It’s very common for guys who are that far into their careers to say, ‘Hey, I’ve done something a certain way.’ And…that’s how they do it. That’s not been the case with [Lucas]. He’s been real receptive to trying different things. And I think that sends a message to other guys in the room like, ‘Hey, this guy is trying something after doing it a certain way for 10 years, then I have no reason not to do it.’”

Johnson knows that each situation in the NFL is different. Perhaps Lucas was never asked to compete for a job at his other stops. Johnson doesn’t want to speculate, but does know that when Lucas was told what the new coaching staff was looking for at the position — someone who was willing to compete — Lucas was eager for the opportunity.

“He’s been real positive,” Johnson said. “He’s really tried to do some different things that I’ve asked him to do, and that’s only gonna help him.”

“He wants to compete for the starting job,” Johnson said. “And so he’s like, ‘Okay, I’m willing to get out of my comfort zone so I can try to win this thing.”

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Riggo’s Rag

Analytics guru pours cold water on Commanders 2024 offseason progress

The analyst wasn’t convinced by the team’s strategy.

Most reports were positive surrounding Peters’ offseason moves. Seth Walder of ESPN shared a different opinion, giving the Commanders a modest C+ grade for their efforts throughout a busy spring for all involved.

Commanders’ offensive line questions highlighted by analytics guru

When discussing the reasoning behind his decision, the analytics guru pointed to the offensive line. With a new franchise quarterback to keep clean and so much cash to spend, Walder thought the Commanders should have done more to solidify their protection in front of Jayden Daniels.

“The Commanders are headed in a new direction with a new coach and, most importantly, a new quarterback in [Jayden] Daniels. How they fare will largely hinge on the Daniels’ performance, though we’re primarily judging how they have elected to build the team around him. The Commanders have the second-most cap space in the league (and third-most in 2025) and should have used some of those resources on the offensive line. Of their five projected starters on the depth chart — Brandon Coleman, Allegretti, Biadasz, Sam Cosmi and Andrew Wylie — only Cosmi qualified and had an above-average pass block win rate at his position last season. That’s not ideal for a rookie quarterback. Kendall Fuller leaving in free agency could sting on defense, as it leaves a weakness at corner.”

– Seth Walder, ESPN

Walder is not alone on this hill. Other analysts hold a similar opinion about Washington’s offensive line strategy. Nick Allegretti and Tyler Biadasz should assist the interior, but the left tackle spot is an area of weakness unless rookie third-rounder Brandon Coleman progresses much quicker than most anticipate.

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Commanders Wire

Commanders DB Quan Martin looking to make a big leap in 2024

Head coach Dan Quinn sees big things for Martin.

“I thought he was just a really good tackler, and so at safety, there’s probably even more communication that takes place from last year,” Quinn said last week via Zach Selby of commanders.com. “He was featured a lot playing nickel. And so, for a guy that can do both of those, that’s a really big push.”

While versatility is an outstanding trait, Martin is expected to be one of Washington’s starting safeties in 2024 alongside Jeremy Chinn. The Commanders selected Mike Sainristil in the second round to be the slot cornerback.

Martin is ready for the next step in his development.

“Coaches have been on me more just about communicating, being more vocal,” Martin said. “So, [I’m] just trying to take on that role and be that guy.”

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Podcasts & videos

DB Field Pass, Film Breakdown with Dan Quinn & Talking Defense | Command Center | Commanders

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Should Washington Commanders Take Risk On Offensive Lineman Connor Williams Post-ACL Injury?

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NFC East links

Blogging the Boys

Dallas Cowboys in bottom 3 of ESPN’s offseason grades for all NFL teams

The Dallas Cowboys are one of the biggest losers of the offseason according to ESPN.

You can see that Walder notes they started with the Philadelphia Eagles and that is because they went in descending order. Philly received the highest grade of the offseason from ESPN with an A. What a surprise.

It takes a bit of scrolling to get down to the Cowboys, actually it takes just about all of the scrolling. Dallas is third from the bottom with a D+. Hey! A plus! The Las Vegas Raiders and New Orleans Saints both came in with a D if you were curious.

Dallas Cowboys: D+

Biggest move: Not signing its stars to new contracts

Move I liked: Spending two of their first three picks on the offensive line

Move I disliked: Not signing QB Dak Prescott to an extension

Owner Jerry Jones said the Cowboys were “all in” and then spent free agency doing … almost nothing.

In fact, their most notable offseason move was not signing wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, linebacker Micah Parsons or Prescott to new deals. The last is the most problematic: Prescott cannot be franchise-tagged after this season, which means if the Cowboys do not sign him to a new deal, he could enter next offseason as a true free agent. If Dallas is having second thoughts about Prescott based on how the 2023 season ended, it shouldn’t — Prescott finished second in QBR and was an MVP candidate up until the end. The Cowboys are fortunate to have a franchise QB and shouldn’t risk losing him.

Waiting to sign Lamb has probably cost them money, too. While impossible to know the nature of negotiations, the fact that they waited until 2024 and after Justin Jefferson signed his $35 million APY new contract probably raised Lamb’s price, too.

The Cowboys let offensive tackle Tyron Smith walk to the Jets for cheap (just $6.5 million fully guaranteed) and while they have other players who can play tackle — Terence Steele, Chuma Edoga, Tyler Smith and first-round pick Tyler Guyton — Smith is coming off a strong season and could have been an asset for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.

And with such a strong core, Dallas is a Super Bowl contender. Sitting pat in free agency — their biggest moves were for cornerback Jourdan Lewis, linebacker Eric Kendricks and running Ezekiel Elliott, each getting less than $3 million in fully guaranteed money — doesn’t feel ideal, but the team is going to have to eventually pay those stars, and that will take resources.

The “all in” thing has become a great annoyance to Dallas Cowboys fans everywhere. It is almost always included in telling the story of the team’s offseason, but it was and remains simply a thing that was said out loud. Jerry Jones said it and owns the responsibility for it and he obviously created a storm with it all, but the idea that the team as a whole declared some sort of challenge that they fell short of feels like an exaggeration.

Aside from that, this is a really objective look at what the team has and has not done. You may disagree with Walder’s disapproval or not getting a Dak Prescott extension done, but he does back up his belief in the quarterback with objective data points so his stance is at least founded in something fair. But we can certainly disagree there.

This all ultimately highlights how Dallas didn’t really do anything passionately this offseason. They did not add notable pieces to an already-strong roster (aka go “all in”) and they similarly did not strip things down and sell the parts away. Ultimately the Cowboys were content to tread water. They lived. They existed. They aged. Paint drying on a wall.

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NFL league links

Articles

Pro Football Rumors

NFL Issues New Rules For IR Activations

There are two main changes with the rule: one pertaining to the start of the season and one pertaining to the postseason.

Before the new rule, any player placed on IR before the start of the regular season would not be eligible to return later in the season. In order to be eligible for return, a player injured before the season began would need to spend one day after final roster cuts on the 53-man roster before then being placed on IR. The new rule stipulates that, on the final day of roster cuts, teams can now designate two players on its preseason IR list for return. Those two players will count against the team’s allotted eight for the regular season, but teams will now have two extra spots on the 53-man roster to hold on to fringe players who otherwise would become free agents before potentially signing to the practice squad.

The postseason rule change sees each team granted two additional designations in the postseason. If a team has utilized all eight of their designations from the regular season, they will be granted two more in the postseason; if a team has utilized zero designations throughout the regular season, they will now have 10 usable designations in the postseason. This allows teams to be a bit more judicious in how they will utilize their remaining designations late in the season if they are on track to make the playoffs.

While the postseason rule change is grabbing more headlines, the preseason designation allowance is, perhaps, far more impactful. In the end, only 14 playoff teams will be able to utilize the postseason rule, allowing for 28 additional players to return in the final month of the season, assuming every team utilizes all of its remaining designations and the recovery of key athletes just happens to align with that timeline.

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Sportico

Time for Policy Makers to Think About Sports Differently

Sports have long played an outsized role in American culture. Nonetheless, the extent to which the industry has come to dominate much of our daily lives in recent years reflects a change not just in degree but in kind. Yet the sector continues to be governed by a collection of often archaic precedents, practices and institutions established in a very different environment. Sports, meanwhile, have become one of the last broadly-shared social experiences nationally, and policy makers should ensure continued access to this crucial piece of social fabric.

Policy maker have largely ignored this urgent reality. So when Disney (the owner of 80% of ESPN), Fox and Warner Brothers Discovery announced their intention earlier this year to launch a streaming service that combined their respective sports assets, rather than applauding the potential for an improved consumer experience and a counterweight to the trends in escalating sports rights costs, the Justice Department quickly leaked that it was scrutinizing the joint venture for possible violations of antitrust law.

At one level, this is not surprising. Antitrust law prohibits collusion among buyers just as among sellers. But there is one important difference between “monopsony,” (a single buyer) and monopoly (a single seller). When sellers collude, they do so to raise prices and artificially constrain production. When buyers collude, they are looking for a deal from suppliers, which can often reduce prices and increase product availability. This doesn’t mean that we should allow hospitals in a region – the monopsony buyers of nursing services – to conspire to rob these essential workers of a living wage. But it does suggest the wisdom of balancing competing considerations in coming to the right public policy approach depending on the market and the circumstances.t Office Sports

One idea would be to affirmatively allow bidders for sports rights to collude in order to help keep rights costs in check. This is analogous to the recently proposed Journalism Competition and Preservation Act that would allow publishers and broadcasters to negotiate collectively with the big tech platforms. It could also be viewed as a logical expansion of the “universal service” policy imperative already enforced by the FCC. Another straightforward approach to dealing with proliferating paywalls is to, as many other countries do, simply prohibit the most important sports events from ever going behind a paywall in the first place.

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All a’Twitter