Daily Slop – 26 Mar 25 – The Giants have their quarterback (and maybe another on the way)

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

Bullock’s Film Room (subscription)

NFL Draft Profile: DE Nic Scourton

Scourton measured in at 6-foot-3, 257 pounds with 33-inch arms. It was interesting to see his weight because in college, Texas A&M listed him at 285 pounds, which seems very heavy. I guess the reality is he probably played at somewhere in the 265-270 pound range, but slimmed down in the offseason for the combine.

The weight discussion is an interesting one that I’ll come back to later on in this post, but for now let’s dive into the traits he displays on film. The first thing that stands out with Scourton is his hands. He’s very good with his hands and understands not only good hand placement, but how to make use of the leverage he gains with that hand placement.

This play is a nice example of Scourton’s hand usage. He lines up outside the left tackle but has a blitzer coming off the slot stunting inside, so he has to work up the field and outside to occupy the left tackle and free the lane inside. Off the snap, Scourton steps up the field and uses a slight stutter with his hands to bait the tackle into reaching out for him. The tackle takes the bait and reaches out to try and engage in the block, but that’s exactly what Scourton wants. As that outside hand approaches him, Scourton uses his own outside hand to swat it away. That clears a path to the edge for Scourton, who then rips through with his other arm to clear the tackle and get around him.

The rush from Scourton also kept the tackle’s attention outside, leaving the slot blitzer to rush inside freely and force the quarterback to get rid of the ball in a hurry. So it was not only a good rush from Scourton that showed off his hand usage, but also one that worked well within the scheme of the defense.

---

Commanders.com

Five things to know about G Nate Herbig

He comes from a football family.

Herbig comes from a family with a history in the sport. His father, Bruce, played football and basketball at Lewis and Clark College, while his grandfather played at Wheaton College in Illinois.

Herbig and his brother, Nick, followed in their footsteps and pursued a career in the sport. Five years after Nate committed to Stanford, Nick joined the University of Wisconsin and played linebacker for the Badgers. He played three seasons and recorded 137 tackles with 21 sacks, leading the Big Ten with 11 in 2022. Nick was named to multiple All-American teams and was later drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth round.

Nate dealt with an injury that kept him out of the 2024 season, but he signed with the Steelers in 2023, giving him a chance to play alongside his brother, albeit on opposite sides of the ball. It was a cool moment, Herbig said during his press conference, for him and his brother to be on the same team, but he’s looking forward to the competition that he knows Nick will bring whenever they’re on the field together again (the Commanders and Steelers aren’t scheduled to play each other again until 2028).

“I think I’d have more fun playing him,” Herbig said with a smile.

---

Washington Post (paywall)

When he’s not defending passes, Mike Sainristil is a serious videographer

The Commanders defensive back spent a night as a credentialed videographer at a Wizards game.

On Monday, Sainristil showed up at a D.C. sporting event with a new role: photographer and videographer. He swapped Northwest Stadium for Capital One Arena and headed to the media cubicles rather than the locker room. Sainristil eschewed cleats for black-and-red Jordans and his burgundy No. 0 jersey for a gray sweatsuit. A blue vest had his new number — 060 — on the front and back and the Washington Wizards’ logo with “PHOTO” written underneath.

As the Wizards lost to the Toronto Raptors, Sainristil continued his exploration of a blossoming hobby. He arrived early, lurking from the sideline to capture pregame warmups, before rotating through multiple spots during the game.

His interest in videography is dead serious. Consider his equipment, which didn’t come cheap. Even though he started just three years ago, Sainristil estimated that he has easily spent at least $20,000 on his endeavor.

All of the equipment he used Monday was his own. Before the game, he hooked up his Sony FX3 camera to a DJI RS 4 Pro, a stabilizer that kept the camera level as Sainristil tracked player movement through a 24-70mm lens. He switched to a 70-200mm lens during the game.

---

Podcasts & videos

Commanders FULL Free Agency + Trade Analysis | Jay Gruden

---

---

NFC East links

The Athletic (paywall)

Russell Wilson to join Giants on 1-year, $21 million deal: Will NY still draft a QB?

The New York Giants and quarterback Russell Wilson agreed to terms on a one-year deal worth $21 million, according to a league source.

The contract includes $10.5 million in guaranteed money.

Wilson continues his role as a journeyman quarterback, signing with his third team in the past three seasons.

Wilson, who turns 37 in November, is the No. 4 quarterback and No. 43 overall player in The Athletic’s updated NFL free agency top 150. Wilson signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers on a one-year, $1.21 million deal during the 2024 offseason following his release from the Denver Broncos. He missed the first five games of the season with a calf injury, did not play in Week 6, then replaced Justin Fields as the starter in Week 7. Wilson led Pittsburgh to a 6-5 record over the final 11 games.

The Giants now have both a starting quarterback in Wilson and a quality backup in Jameis Winston, whom the team signed last week to a two-year, $8 million deal.

Wilson might not be the future of this team, but he’ll assist in the Giants urgency to win. GM Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll enter this season on the hot seat after the past two seasons ended in a combined record of 9-25. Wilson’s 0-5 finish in Pittsburgh might prompt pause, but he is still a proven winner — something the Giants haven’t had in the position room in a while.

there’s no bigger winner out of this signing than last year’s No. 6 pick, Malik Nabers, who already was breaking records as a rookie with a poor cast of quarterbacks throwing to him. Now, he’s got a quality veteran at the helm. The biggest question remaining is how the additions of Wilson and Winston impact the Giants’ draft strategy. Given Wilson’s age and inconsistencies over the past few seasons, there’s no doubt it makes sense to select a quarterback in this upcoming draft. But when should they pull the trigger? Will they do it at No. 3? Or will they wait — or be forced to wait given the two QB-needy teams picking in front of them — until Day 2?

---

---

NFL league links

Articles

The Athletic (paywall)

NFL projection model: Raiders, Commanders winning the offseason; 49ers, Eagles, Cowboys slipping

How did those moves, and all of the others made so far this offseason, affect their teams’ outlooks for the 2025 season? It’s a bit like asking: Who have been the biggest winners and losers of the offseason so far? We’re going to attempt to answer that analytically using our NFL Projection Model.

Before we get there, it bears repeating: A lot can change. Teams have plenty of time to alter their standing in these rankings. But we wanted to examine where things are right now. How much value have some teams added? How much have some teams lost?

To measure that, my model uses a handful of advanced metrics and assigns a value to every player in the NFL. Think of that value as how much a single player affects the point spread of the expected winning percentage of a single game.

After that, I went through every transaction made this offseason and calculated the value added or lost (up through March 25). Since I’m only looking at how these moves affect each team for the 2025 season, my model does not factor in the length of the contract or money spent on contracts. It’s also important to note that this process only assesses players changing teams. Players who re-signed with their teams aren’t included because those players’ values were already included in their teams’ projections.

With that explanation out of the way, here’s a look at how many expected points each NFL team had added or lost this offseason.

Five Biggest Winners

Washington Commanders

The Commanders made their splashes on the trade market rather than in free agency, and my model liked what they did. Laremy Tunsil remains one of the better left tackles in the league, and that was a position where Washington needed an upgrade. Meanwhile, wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. should fit into this Washington offense with his versatility, pairing well with the skill set of QB Jayden Daniels. Adding cornerback Jonathan Jones was another interesting move and one that my model liked. He’s up there in age (31) and didn’t have the greatest 2024 season, but if he bounces back in any way, watch out for the Commanders (again) this season.

New York Giants

The Giants were wise not to stop addressing the QB position after signing Jameis Winston last week. He now becomes their backup with the newly signed Russell Wilson leading the charge into 2025. Now we’ll see if they want to add a rookie to the mix in April. Beyond their solid start at QB, the Giants made some nice moves on defense by adding safety Jevon Holland and cornerback Paulson Adebo while improving the depth of their front seven. The Giants weren’t a QB away from anything significant, but they’ve quietly done a good job fortifying the roster at a position they still need to find a long-term answer for.

Five Biggest Losers

Philadelphia Eagles

One of the byproducts of winning the Super Bowl, or just being consistently competitive in the NFL, is that players on your team earn significant raises. That’s just the way it goes. Last year, the Eagles and Chiefs were near the bottom of this list after the early part of free agency, and both reached the Super Bowl, so all hope isn’t lost in Philadelphia, especially with so much talent still on the roster. But no matter how you shake it, Philadelphia will be looking to replace a lot of snaps from this year’s championship-winning squad as Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Brandon Graham, Darius Slay Jr., C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Isaiah Rodgers are all gone.

Dallas Cowboys

Staying in the NFC East here, the Cowboys will again be looking to primarily bolster their roster through the draft, which they’re pretty decent at, rather than free agency. The losses of DeMarcus Lawrence, Jourdan Lewis, and Chauncey Golston are daunting (though letting Lewis walk after one of his best seasons isn’t the worst decision), and the loss of Zack Martin to retirement will sting. He was certainly past his peak, but he was still a quality offensive lineman, and those are always hard to find.

---

All aTwitter

---