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Daily Slop – 3 Feb 25: Upcoming free agent Dante Fowler’s production fell off after Week 10

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NFC Divisional Playoffs: Washington Commanders v Detroit Lions
Photo by Brooke Sutton/Getty Images

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Riggo’s Rag

Grading Kliff Kingsbury’s performance in year one as Commanders’ OC

When problems arose, Kingsbury resolved them.

In the second game against the New York Giants, despite moving the ball at will, Washington’s red zone offense was dismal. They had to rely on seven field goals to win. A week later, they scored five touchdowns.

When Daniels suffered a rib injury in the middle of the season, his coaches taught him how to slide and when to get out of bounds. By the time the injury healed, the former LSU star was making much better decisions about running the ball.

Kingsbury made sure to get the most out of the best player he had outside of his quarterback. Terry McLaurin saw a slight drop in targets in 2024, but that is only because Washington was much better balanced than in 2023. They threw the ball 100 times more under Eric Bieniemy.

McLaurin’s target share, receptions, and receiving yardage all went up. His touchdowns skyrocketed. His longest catch went for just 48 yards in 2023. The second-team All-Pro had six catches of better than 50 yards under Kingsbury’s guidance.

Brian Robinson Jr. and Jeremy McNichols posted career-high rushing totals. Zach Ertz had his best season since 2021. Olamide Zaccheaus equaled his best season. Dyami Brown turned into a bona fide playmaker.

Kingsbury’s success in designing his offense and calling plays resulted in top 10 finishes in yards, points, yards-per-play, first downs, rushing yards, passing and rushing touchdowns. They were second to the Detroit Lions in the percentage of drives that resulted in scores.

The Commanders were sixth in third down conversions, and overwhelmingly first on fourth downs, converting an astonishing 87 percent on the year. For context, the Buffalo Bills, with Josh Allen under center, was second at 74%.

Sports Illustrated

Raiders coach Pete Carroll hiring Commanders assistant coach to new staff

[S]pecial teams coach John Glenn…was Carroll’s linebackers coach for six years with the Seattle Seahawks. He is the first coach leaving the Commanders, headed to be the Raiders’ linebackers coach, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

A to Z Sports

Commanders are making the right call with Marshon Lattimore but he should be on thin ice moving forward

Commanders general manager Adam Peters made it clear that Lattimore will be back in 2025 when he spoke with reporters on Monday.

“It was a tough situation for him to come in, but what was cool was, we saw him get better and we saw him get more acclimated, not only to the defense, but to his teammates,” Peters said during the end-of-year press conference. ”So, [we’re] really excited for him to have an offseason with us and and really learn the defense from the ground-up and really have that full runway of training camp leading into the season, and [we’re] looking forward to that.”

This is already one of the Commanders’ big [questions] of 2025: Can Lattimore work his way up to the point where he’s playing the way the defense needs him to and well enough to warrant the price Peters paid to get him to Washington?

The short answer is “yes”, but it’s far from guaranteed. Lattimore won’t turn 30 until 2026, so time is working in his favor, but his on-field play was very concerning. His 33.1 overall postseason coverage grade was dead-last on the team, which is obviously not what he nor the defense needs, at all. The unit needs him to be a lockdown corner in order for it to take the next step in 2025.

A to Z Sports

Fowler’s falloff in the second half of the season

The first 10 games saw Fowler Jr. on pace for a Pro Bowl nod. He had 8.5 of his 10 sacks at that point and he had a very solid pressure rate of 23.5% against true pass sets that was better than guys named Kyle Van Noy, Danielle Hunter, and Jared Verse, per Pro Football Focus.

However, things really fell off after Week 10 and there were even metrics that gave credence to the idea that a decline was on the way.

His 14.0% win rate against true pass sets from Week 1-10 is the first red flag. It ranked 43rd out of 62 qualifying EDGE rushers with at least 175 pass rush snaps during that time span. That, combined with a fourth-best 16.1% pass rush productivity rate, signals Fowler Jr. is benefitting from scheme, opportunity, or the most likely situation – both.

From Week 11-18, or over the final seven games of the year, Fowler recorded just 2.0 sacks and his pressure rate against true pass sets plummeted to 9.2%. His win rate barely improved to 14.3%, but once the splash plays went away his PRP plummeted to a second-worst 6.5% among qualifying EDGE rushers with at least 166 pass rush snaps over those weeks. Things didn’t get any better during the playoffs, either, as he finished with just six pressures and zero sacks over the course of 46 pass rush snaps.

The inconsistency has been consistent throughout his career and it’s the first factor the Commanders have to consider when how much, and for how long, they want to pay him.

Winning the Offseason + Jayden Daniels Historic Rookie Season | Command Center

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Big Blue View

New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka might be a bridesmaid again

Reports are that Eagles’ OC Kellen Moore is top candidate for New Orleans Saints head-coaching vacancy

NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported on Friday that the Saints plan to meet with Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore for a second time after the Feb. 9 Super Bowl, which Pelissero says is “a strong sign he’s the top candidate.”

Pelissero also reported that other candidates have been informed that the Saints are intending to continue discussions with Moore, though they have not made a final decision.

Kafka interviewed twice for the New Orleans job, including an in-person interview that he told media at the Senior Bowl last nine hours.

Kafka has drawn significant head-coaching interest during each of the last three offseasons. With the Saints having the last head-coaching vacancy in this cycle, it appears Kafka will again be shut out.

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NFL.com

Three additional massage therapists accuse Ravens K Justin Tucker of inappropriate behavior

Three additional massage therapists have accused Ravens kicker Justin Tucker of inappropriate behavior during massage sessions, in a new article published by the Baltimore Banner on Saturday.

The new allegations against Tucker are similar to those made by six massage therapists in an article published by the Banner on Thursday. Per the Banner, the incidents allegedly took place between 2012 and 2016 in the Baltimore area and led to two spas banning Tucker from returning.

Following the initial allegations on Thursday, Tucker released a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, in which he categorized them as “unequivocally false.” The NFL said on Thursday that it is looking into the matter and said on Saturday it did not have further comment.

In response to the new allegations, Tucker’s attorneys on Saturday referred NFL.com to Tucker’s statement on Thursday.

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Washington Post (paywall)

Some NFL owners hope for an 18-game season in next two to three years

Should the league and the NFLPA come to a formal agreement on an 18-game season, the Super Bowl could be played annually on Presidents’ Day weekend.

There is a growing conviction among the NFL’s team owners that an 18-game regular season will be implemented through an agreement between the league and the NFL Players Association before the expiration of their current labor deal. And there are hopes among some owners that it could occur within the next three years.

“That’s something that I think has a chance of happening, no question,” one person familiar with the owners’ views said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the deliberations. “It just depends. Maybe in the next two to three years.”

Another person with knowledge of the views of the league and the owners said at the December owners’ meeting that the deliberations over an 18-game season had been occurring behind closed doors and that a resolution was not imminent. A high-ranking official from one NFL team said at that meeting: “I do think it will happen. But there’s a lot of negotiating to be done on it.”

The collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the NFLPA expires after the 2030 season and specifically prohibits the league and owners from unilaterally extending the regular season to 18 games. So there must be an agreement with the union.

It presumably would be accompanied by a reduction of the preseason from three games per team to two, keeping the annual total at 20 per team.

Teams could get a second bye week during the regular season. The Super Bowl could be played annually on Presidents’ Day weekend, with a holiday on the Monday after the game. This year, Presidents’ Day is eight days after Super Bowl LIX, [which will be] played next Sunday in New Orleans.

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