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Daily Slop – 25 Jun 25 – Jayden Daniels, Javon Kinlaw, Josh Conerly Jr, Terry McLaurin, and the RFK Stadium site

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Chicago Bears v Washington Commanders
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

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

NFL.com

Commanders RB Austin Ekeler: Jayden Daniels ‘exceeded expectations’ in 2024, but will show ‘more growth this year’

Ekeler believes Daniels will be an improved version during his sophomore NFL campaign.

“He definitely exceeded expectations,” Ekeler said in a recent Sirius XM NFL Radio interview. “I think that’s a good thing, not that I have low expectations for him, but you really don’t know.

“So, I think with quarterbacks that come in, and I’ve been around long enough to know how much they have on their plate, there’s a lot that they have to acclimate to. There’s a lot, especially learning a new playbook and getting into a new organization and you were the second-overall pick and a lot of high expectations. It was like, ‘Yeah, I’m expecting you to play well.’ Now, go out and kind of have an MVP-caliber type season and where you are competing in those conversations, typically you don’t get that from players.”

Washington got that from Daniels, though, as he sparkled to the tune of 3,568 passing yards and 891 rushing yards, becoming the first rookie to ever cross the 3,500 passing and 800 rushing thresholds. His rushing total was a rookie QB record, as was his 69.0 completion percentage. Daniels had 31 touchdowns (25 passing, six rushing) in the regular season, one in which he quarterbacked Washington to a 12-5 record for its first winning season since 2015. That all preceded Daniels piloting Washington to the franchise’s first NFC Championship Game appearance since 1991.

“I think there’s even going to be more growth this year, which is awesome because of where we are at with our team and have a lot of players back,” Ekeler said.

Commanders.com

Javon Kinlaw thrilled to reunite with Darryl Tapp

He was brought to the DMV by Adam Peters, who was part of the San Francisco 49ers front office that drafted him, and reunited with defensive line coach Darryl Tapp — a former member of the 49ers’ coaching staff that has deep knowledge of his skill set and how to get the most out of him.

The Commanders and Kinlaw believe that relationship will help elevate both his game and the entire defense.

“Coming from a guy who actually knows me pretty well, even outside of the game of football, it’s always a beautiful thing,” Kinlaw said. “He knows what he’s getting when it comes to me. I’m excited, for sure, because he brings a lot of energy.”

Tapp, who was hired by the 49ers as an assistant defensive line coach in 2021, finally got to work with a fully healthy version of Kinlaw ahead of the 2023 season. Although the 49ers chose not to re-sign Kinlaw, he did have his best performance with the team, recording 25 tackles and six quarterback hits. He got his first sack in nearly three years and ended up with a then career-high of 3.5 sacks.

Tapp said Kinlaw was “a puppy” when they first started working together. Now, while Kinlaw still has room to grow, he’s a more confident player who can both stop the run and pressure quarterbacks as an interior defender.

“He’s doing a lot of big things and really come into his own as far as his play style,” Tapp said.

ESPN

2025 NFL rookie updates: Tracking all first-round draft picks

29. Commanders: Josh Conerly Jr., OT

The Commanders are excited about Conerly. The belief is that he could move to left tackle down the road. For now, though, Conerly will play right tackle. They have not handed him the starting job. He worked mostly with the second group in the spring. But his footwork and ability to play in space and move on pulling action make the team confident. It’s hard to accurately gauge an offensive lineman until the pads come on in practice, but his movement skills impressed.

“He’s going to be a dog,” Laremy Tunsil said. “Just the way he moves, the way he bends, athletic, smart, very intelligent. He has all the tools to be a damn good player in this league.” — John Keim

Heavy.com

Cost of Loyalty: Why Washington Must Lock in Terry McLaurin

Financially, Washington is well-positioned to get a deal done. The team is not strapped by massive veteran contracts and has managed its salary cap efficiently heading into 2025. With the NFL cap rising again this offseason, the window is wide open to offer McLaurin a top-of-market deal.

The question is: how much?

Letting McLaurin reach free agency would be a dangerous gamble. He would instantly become one of the top players on the market, with no shortage of suitors. Beyond the risk of losing his on-field production, parting ways with McLaurin would jeopardize the culture Quinn is building, one centered around accountability, consistency, and professionalism. McLaurin embodies all three.

McLaurin has played through chaos, kept his head down, and performed like a star. He has earned his place as a leader, a fan favorite, and one of the most respected players in the league. While other players have come and gone, McLaurin has been the face of the Commanders’ resilience.

With the franchise now turning a corner, a potential Super Bowl team with national attention, including a marquee game in Madrid and multiple primetime appearances, keeping McLaurin in the fold is a no-brainer.

Paying McLaurin isn’t just about statistics. It’s about rewarding the kind of player every team hopes to build around. For a team that’s finally building something real, there’s no better time, and no better message, than locking in No. 17 for the long haul.

Commanders Wire

Will DC Council get the job done for the new Commanders stadium?

In recent weeks, we have heard how the city council may not actually approve the Commanders’ new stadium being built at the old RFK Stadium site.

The city council must vote for this by July 15 to get it going, which means DC Mayor Murial Bowser and the city council have only three weeks.

If this is going to get done, it’s going to have to be because Commanders’ owner Josh Harris and his ownership group step in and provide something else, promising more. Harris and his people are more promising to get it done, not only because Harris and his group are miles and miles beyond what Dan Snyder and his group were, but also because the Harris ownership group actually wants to have the Commanders in the new stadium playing NFL games by the 2030 season.

If the city council drags its feet again on this, the chances of hosting the Women’s World Cup in 2031 would be seriously jeopardized. Harris would also like to host a Super Bowl in Washington….

Podcasts & videos

NFC East links

Blogging the Boys

Osa Odighizuwa should dominate for Cowboys in new defensive scheme

To sum up Owning’s point, Zimmer’s scheme did not ask Odighizuwa to be a straight up disruptor as often. Due to the complexity of Zimmer’s schemes, Odighizuwa was often tasked with a variety of other responsibilities in addition to “see ball, get ball.”

Odighizuwa wasn’t even a bad fit for Zimmer, either. He recorded seven sacks, 60 pressures, and 30 run stops according to Pro Football Focus, all of which are career bests for him. Despite not operating solely as a gap penetrator, Odighizuwa blew his previous pass rushing high marks – four sacks and 43 pressures – out of the water.

Still, attacking his gap and exploding into the backfield is the thing Odighizuwa does best, and he’ll be doing an awful lot of it with Eberflus in town. His pass rush win rate of 15.1% in 2024 ranked third-best in the league among interior defenders, behind only John Franklin-Myers and Chris Jones.

Imagine how much more effective Odighizuwa can be in a role that frees him up to exclusively hunt the quarterback.

Big Blue View

Have the Giants solved their swing-tackle problem?

In 2023, they kept 2023 third-round pick Matt Peart as the designated swing tackle, but when they needed a replacement for Thomas refused to use him. Instead, they plugged in Josh Ezeudu, a guard who had failed to win a starting job.

That was a disaster. Ezeudu wasn’t up to the task, and that contributed to the Giants’ offensive line falling apart. Quarterback Daniel Jones suffered a neck injury, then a season-ending knee injury while getting pounded game after game. Giants’ quarterbacks ended up getting sacked a ridiculous league-leading 85 times.

The Giants didn’t end up with a better plan in 2024. When it became clear Neal wouldn’t be ready for the season, they moved Eluemunor to right tackle. They did not, though, pivot and find another swing tackle. That job fell to Ezeudu again.

Thomas, of course, suffered his Week 6 injury and Ezeudu was forced back into the lineup. The Ezeudu at left tackle plan again proved inadequate.

This offseason, [the Giants] signed a pair of veteran swing tackles in James Hudson and Stone Forsythe.

It was clear during spring practices that the Giants are counting on Hudson to step in if injuries once again befall Thomas. Hudson took almost all of the first-team left tackle reps in the spring as Thomas continued his off the field rehab program.

When I asked Jared Mueller of SB Nation’s Dawgs By Nature, which covers the Browns, about Hudson he used the word “inconsistent.” Which is probably why Hudson has never been a full-time starter.

Fingers crossed that Thomas stays healthy and the Giants don’t need Hudson to play for an extended length of time. If he does have to play, though, we will see if the Giants have made the right bet that he can handle a critical job.

NFL league links

Articles

NFL.com

Ranking each division by quarterback heading into the 2025 NFL season

With each week of the NFL season, it is my job to analyze every snap of every game with a focus on the signal-callers. And after each week’s games are complete, I rank every quarterback.

But I typically only handle quarterbacks through an individual lens. What if we were to group them by division, in an effort to determine which four-team collective packs the greatest passing punch?

That’s exactly what I’ve done here — and I’ve added a fun wrinkle that taps into the final QB Index from the 2024 season, in which I ranked every QB to start a game last year, to add a bit more order to a process that might otherwise be reputation-dependent. The divisions are listed below according to how each team’s expected starting quarterback ranked as of the end of the 2024 playoffs, presented in countdown fashion.

3) NFC EAST

Average QBI ranking: 14

For a division that commands big-market attention annually, this feels right. There is a new hierarchy of main actors, however. In many previous years, Prescott would be the unquestioned top quarterback among the four. Instead, after missing nine games in 2024, he’s third among this group, according to the year-end QBI rankings, and is going to need a strong bounceback season to usurp the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year (Daniels) and Super Bowl LIX MVP (Hurts). That’s how high the bar is in the NFC East, where Wilson’s Big Apple arrival will almost certainly be overshadowed, especially compared to the amount of attention his move to Denver in 2022 drew. More eyes will be focused on Daniels’ sophomore season and Hurts’ title defense. We’ll see if the latter QB bumps his ranking up, which would appease the many Eagles fans who likely spend their free time throwing darts at my headshot.

1) AFC WEST

Average QBI rank: 12.5

Surprised? I was, at least a little bit. We knew Mahomes and Herbert would lift this division’s overall ranking to a certain level, but the true linchpin of the group is the new student in the class; not only did Smith’s acquisition by the Raiders give Las Vegas a legitimate starter, it also filled out the league’s strongest quarterbacking division entering 2025. I haven’t forgotten about Nix, who flirted with end-of-year awards consideration in 2024, even as a bit of a tumultuous late-season stretch reminded us of the challenges that face every rookie. Nix married quite well with coach Sean Payton, helped the Broncos return to the postseason for the first time in nearly a decade and positioned Denver for a very optimistic 2025. If he keeps it up, he’ll climb the ranking and confirm the supremacy of a division otherwise populated by proven veterans.

Discussion topics

Pro Football Focus

Ranking top 10 returning NFL head coaches entering 2025

  1. Andy Reid
  2. Sean Payton
  3. Sean McVay
  4. John Harbaugh
  5. Mike Tomlin
  6. Jim Harbaugh
  7. Kyle Shanahan
  8. Nick Siriani
  9. Dan Campbell
  10. Kevin Stefanski

(BiB: With 7 newly hired head coaches, this ranking is 10 out of 25, or the top 40%. Dan Quinn was ranked 13th)

Big Blue View

Is Brian Daboll of the Giants really the NFL’s worst returning head coach?

[H]ere is what PFSN said about Daboll:

Brian Daboll’s head coaching tenure with the New York Giants has been a tale of diminishing returns. Following an impressive 9-7-1 debut in 2022, which included a playoff win, expectations skyrocketed. But since then, Daboll has gone just 9-25 over the past two seasons.

New York’s offense has ranked in the bottom three in scoring in each of the last two seasons, and the defense ranked 31st in PFSN’s Defense+ metric in 2024. Though Daboll’s tenure with the Giants hasn’t been long, it’s beginning to seem like his brief early success was more of an outlier than the foundation for something special.

Considering how the Giants have regressed across the board, it’s a bit surprising that Daboll made it through another offseason unscathed. We’ve seen other coaches get canned for less. However, the front office appears to be holding onto hopes that he can find the magic again. It’s fair to question whether or not Daboll should return to a coordinator role, where he thrived in Buffalo.

Daboll’s future comes down to this — let’s see what he does now that he and the Giants have drafted him a quarterback he had a heavy hand in selecting, and can mold from scratch in the NFL.

Quarterback coach Jordan Palmer, who coaches Josh Allen and thus knows Daboll well, has been waiting for the Giants to get Daboll “his guy.”

“What I really like about this marriage is that I’ve seen in my work with Josh Allen Brian Daboll’s ability to teach,” Palmer said. “Now, Giants fans have their opinion on Brian, whatever it is, and it’s largely tied to win-loss record.

“What doesn’t get seen is his ability to teach. I’m a quarterback coach, but at the end of the day I’m a teacher. I’ve seen Brian Daboll be one of, honestly if not the best at teaching the game.

“I just kind of have felt for a couple years that I can’t wait until Brian can get his guy that he picked, that he brought in. I can’t wait until he can come in and start from scratch with somebody and just teach, because I think he’s one of the best teachers in the game.”

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