Daily Slop – 23 Jun 24: Emmanuel Forbes, Josh Harris, and Dan Quinn breaks down some DB film

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

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Articles

Sports Illustrated

How Washington Commanders Scheme Change Should Benefit CB Emmanuel Forbes

The Washington Commanders second-year cornerback should benefit from a scheme that fits his talents better.

At times he looked utterly lost on the field and his size deficiency that he and those who drafted him tried so hard to dismiss showed up in big ways.

The size thing is never going to go away and even if Forbes dedicates the entirety of his professional career to bulking as much as he can he’ll never be a big, or even average sized, corner.

But how he uses the skills he has can be improved. By him, and by the coaching staff responsible for putting him in position to weaponize the skills he does have.

Because when you look back there’s no doubt Forbes has great instincts, a knack for finding the ball, and hands better than most not playing receiver.

A lot of those things can falter when confidence is shaken and comfort is disregarded for a coache’s desire to be right.

Not unlike Jackson before him, and perhaps not unlike linebacker Jamin Davis, there’s a case to be made that Forbes has been misused, miscast, and improperly deployed by the staff that drafted him.

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Commanders Wire

Claims that Commanders owner Josh Harris is ‘super-duper cheap’ appear inaccurate

Fifteen months ago, Josh Harris was positioning himself to become the next majority owner of the Washington Commanders.

At that time, Jason Bishop of “The Sports Junkies” on 106.7 The Fan claimed he had a source who did not think so highly of how Harris was running the Philadelphia 76ers. Bishop continued, “I’ve got a well-placed source — and I won’t say who — that said, ‘Josh Harris, if he is the one who gets the team, is super-duper cheap.’”

Also, on March 22, 2023, we wrote about how Kevin Sheehan had a guest, Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico, state on his program that “Josh Harris is a notorious value investor. He has been a runner-up in some of the biggest sports team sales in history because he is not someone who raises his price to get an asset.”

Now that 15 months have passed, what have we learned?

When Harris took the reins, the Ashburn facility was absurdly behind most other NFL franchises’ facilities. When the NFLPA grades for the Commanders’ facilities, locker room, training room and stadium came back as abysmal, Harris boldly responded, “I am not an F-minus guy.”

The Commanders announced plans to spend upward of $75 million to upgrade their playing stadium and Ashburn team facilities.

Even the unused turf practice field in Ashburn, which had sat idle for years, was removed in recent weeks.

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Riggo’s Rag

Commanders veteran lavishes praise on Jayden Daniels’ smooth transition

This was a glowing reference.

This is something not going unnoticed by the player’s teammates. Veteran wide receiver Terry McLaurin was gushing in his praise of Daniels, highlighting the signal-caller’s ability to process information and command of the huddle as two primary positives from his early integration based on comments via Fan Nation.

“I think the first thing that stood out to me about Jayden Daniels is the poise. By the time the rookies got there, we pretty much had four or five installs in and I think coach (Kliff) Kingsbury did a great job of trying to integrate everybody at the same time. So when the rookies got there, we started from ground one, but it seemed like he knew the entire offense when we got there. He’s in there calling the huddles through the walkthroughs. He’s in there calling the plays and he’s extremely confident and it is a testament to his preparation and his studying that he did on his own. But also I just think the kid loves ball and he has a good feel for the game. So I think he really came in with the right mindset and energy and guys are already gravitating to him.”

– Terry McLaurin via Fan Nation

Daniels’ arrival is music to McLaurin’s ears. The Pro Bowler’s performed remarkably well considering he’s had no consistent presence under center since joining the Commanders as a third-round selection in 2017. If the Heisman Trophy winner out of LSU meets expectations, the wideout can reap significant rewards along the way.

McLaurin is a locker room alpha. For him to make such bold statements about Daniels speaks volumes about how he’s adapted. But in all honesty, the Commanders expected nothing less from someone who rose to prominence gradually at the collegiate level.

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Podcasts & videos

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

Note: In the DQ film breakdown that is part of this video, Logan Paulsen uses the term “click and close” a few times. Here’s an explanation from Big Blue View:

Click-and-close is when a defensive player — typically in coverage — reads the flow of action and attacks downhill aggressively to disrupt the offense’s play. Executing the click- and-close well combines quick processing speed, timing, a change of direction, and the ability to accelerate from a stagnant position. I’ve referred to this in the past as read, react, attack.

Being able to click-and-close efficiently can create turnovers, incompletions and limit yards after catch.

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NFL league links

Articles

NFL.com

2024 NFL season: One player to root for from each NFC team

Washington Commanders

McLaurin has long deserved better than the chaos that has often surrounded him in Washington, but it’s never stopped the former third-round pick from providing steady leadership and primo production. He accounts for 28.2 percent of the Commanders’ receiving yards since entering the league in 2019, which is the highest share of any team’s combined receiving yards during that span. And he’s done so with no consistency at quarterback. McLaurin can become the first player to post five straight seasons of 1,000-plus receiving yards with each coming from a different primary starting QB. It seems likely he’ll accomplish the feat in 2024 with throws coming from immensely talented second overall pick Jayden Daniels, who has a chance to provide the stability McLaurin has never experienced in the NFL.

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