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
Commanders WR Jahan Dotson to ‘Feast’ His Way to Pro Bowl?
Washington Commanders second-year receiver Jahan Dotson showed flashes last season, but entering this year, big things are expected of the former Penn State star.
After a rookie season that saw Dotson amass 523 yards and seven touchdowns from 35 receptions, the “second-year leap” that the former Penn State star is expected to take is going to be a big one.
NFL.com selected a player from each team who could earn their first Pro Bowl selection, and for the Commanders, Dotson gets the nod.
“Commanders WR Terry McLaurin had to wait far too long to earn his first Pro Bowl nod. Dotson might not suffer the same fate,” NFL.com wrote. “After a wobbly, injury-infested start to his rookie season, Dotson came on strong down the stretch, making 16 catches for 290 yards and two TDs in the season’s final four games. With vice-grip hands, Dotson could grow into a scoring machine after leading Washington with seven receiving TDs in just 12 games played last season. Dotson owns the natural ability to stack numbers, and with defenses focused on McLaurin, the second-year WR could feast.”
Riggo’s Rag
4 eye-catching Commanders futures bets to strongly consider in 2023
What prop bets associated with the Washington Commanders deserve strong consideration during what promises to be a franchise-altering 2023 season?
Jahan Dotson – Commanders WR
- Over 4.5 touchdowns at +100
Barring injury, this feels like free money. Last year’s first-round selection out of Penn State was on pace to be in the running for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year before an injury kept him out for five games.
Still, Jahan Dotson closed out 2022 with 35 receptions for 655 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. That was during his rookie season, in a vanilla offense led by Scott Turner with sub-par to average quarterback play at best.
There are a few reasons I believe this is an absolute lock for 2023 – and it wouldn’t surprise me if Dotson scored 10-15 touchdowns.
Commanders Wire
Washington Commanders best, worst, and most likely scenarios for 2023
Washington appears to be one of the most volatile teams this year in terms of win-loss projections and media expectations, with some thinking they could bottom out early and others pegging them as a dark horse playoff team in the weaker NFC. The reason for this wide range of outcomes has to do with all of the uncertainty surrounding the team, from quarterback to play-caller. While Washington fans are certainly hoping for a Cinderella season, the recent change in ownership should provide enough joy and optimism to last through the 2023 campaign, regardless of the win-loss record this year.
The Commanders finished 8-8-1 last year, following back-to-back 7-win seasons. The team showed flashes in 2022, taking down Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in Week 7 and knocking off the undefeated Eagles in Philly in Week 10. The turning point last season came in the Week 13 matchup against the Giants. Washington was riding high on a 3-game winning streak but left MetLife with a tie. This marked the onset of a 3-game losing streak and ended all hopes of a Wild Card birth. The Commanders finished the 2022 season last in the NFC East.
Can the Commanders shock the NFC this year and be the latest team to go from worst to first in their division? Will Sam Howell lose his preseason buzz and turn back into a pumpkin once the games actually matter? Or will the team end up where they always do, stuck in mediocrity? Let’s break it all down.
Front Office Sports
Virginia’s Bid For the Commanders’ New Stadium Takes Shape Post-Snyder Era
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and lawmakers worked toward adjustments to the budget — one that could include a $250,00 study on the feasibility of building the next Commanders stadium in the state.
Legislators were presented with details of the amendment, a source told FOS on Saturday. One of the amendments had sought as much as $500,000 for the study.
Two of the three sites proposed initially were in Prince William, with the other in Loudoun County, where the team’s headquarters has been for decades.
Loudoun has the highest median income of any county in the nation, although economic development has consisted mainly of data centers like those surrounding the Commanders’ headquarters. The proposed site is an old rock quarry in Sterling.
“If you look at it from a transportation perspective, the site would be the best option [of the three originally studied],” Reid said. “It’s located where the Dulles Greenway, Tollway, and Route 28 come together. It’s near Dulles Airport. The Metro station is a mile away.”
Podcasts & videos
Rico Report: Lots of RPOs in 2023? FedEx Field WORST Stadium in NFL? Montez Sweat Most Underrated DE – #HTTC MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE A LIKE & SUBSCRIBE! #HTTC #Commanders – https://t.co/iYULqMgBj9
— StreetScoresRico (@StreetScoresATL) September 2, 2023
Locked on Commanders: Washington Commanders Daron Payne and Jahan Dotson Lead Non-Sam Howell List of Important Players
NFC East links
Bleeding Green Nation
3 thoughts on the Eagles’ 53-man roster
Six 54th men?
The Eagles will almost certainly not do this, but by putting Arryn Siposs on the practice squad, they have set themselves up to take advantage of NFL’s roster rules. Players can be called up for the practice squad three times. If we assume that punters the Eagles can sign off the street are no worse than Siposs, they could simply go the entire season churning through punters on the practice squad without any drop in performance expectation. It will take six punters to do this over the regular season (five getting three games, the sixth getting two games), but the limit does not apply in the postseason so they could bring any of them back.
The advantage here is that rather than use a 53 man roster spot on a punter, the team can carry an additional non-special teams player.
The disadvantage is… what exactly? The Eagles have a high powered offense and a coach who goes for it on 4th down. In both 2021 and 2022 the Eagles punted 55 times, a 3.2 per game average. Siposs and Brett Kern punted more than four times just four times last year including the playoffs, three of which were blowout wins. Only 41% of Siposs’s playing time has been actually punting, the majority of the time he’s on the field is to hold the snap, which any punter can do.
Why use a 53 man roster spot for a replacement level player who is going to see the field 2-4 times a game when the rules let you cycle through them for nothing? Do it and be legends.
NFL league links
Articles
Over the Cap
2023 NFL Salary Cap Update
Today you may have noticed a big change on OTC with every teams salary cap number’s with most teams cap room falling by a pretty sizeable amount. The reason for the change is that we have now made the change to regular season accounting for each team which means rosters count in full, including players on reserve lists, practice squads, etc…and those numbers add up quickly.
Currently we estimate eight teams to be over the salary cap. These teams are the Chiefs, Raiders, Buccaneers, Giants, Bills, Ravens, 49ers and Broncos. The Titans are just slightly under the salary cap. All teams in the NFL have until Thursday to be compliant with the salary cap which is the day that the NFL moves off the top 51 rule. So for these teams they will need to restructure contracts, extend players for cap relief, make some injury settlements, or move players off the roster to comply with the salary cap.
SB Nation
Jonathan Gannon’s Cardinals hype video is lamest an NFL head coach has ever sounded
The new Arizona Cardinals head coach needs to improve his motivation tactics ASAP.
In the latest episode of the Cardinals show ‘Cards Flight Plan’, Gannon is hyping up the team in a meeting with some motivational words. The problem is … I don’t know if Gannon has ever motivated anyone in his entire life.
Cardinals’ HC Jonathan Gannon tries to set the tone for the season in the latest episode of #CardsFlightPlan, “Coach and the Coordinators”.
Now available on Cardinals YouTube channel: https://t.co/c6IWkLjvlw pic.twitter.com/sXbislaAFv
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 1, 2023
I mean, yeesh. I felt uncomfortable watching and I wasn’t even in the room. It’s not like Gannon isn’t trying, I really think he is. However, he just has the vocal tone of an NPC from Dark Souls who is offering you a side quest.
Not to mention, some of the questions here need to be asked with some oomph behind them. “You got a fire in your gut?” has to be asked with a level of passion that would bring the team along with you, not like a doctor asking a patient about his bowel movements.
I kind of feel bad for Gannon, but don’t feel bad at all for the Cardinals. It’s evident that Gannon might be in over his head right now, but the Cardinals took a bad swing on a coach that just had his defense fold in the Super Bowl, and might not be the same for it.
The Defector
Jonathan Gannon’s Gut Might Need A Little More Fire
Arizona is expected to be so bad, people are upset the team cut Colt McCoy; the tanking accusations have already begun.
But maybe new head coach Jonathan Gannon can turn it around. The former Eagles defensive coordinator, who occasionally dresses like Pee-wee Herman, saw his defense absolutely trounced in the Super Bowl. But, hey! He has a new team, with a shittier roster, and now he’s in charge of all of it. That’s a recipe for success.
As such, the Cardinals must’ve made their fans (?) excited (??) last night when the team dropped a video titled “Cardinals Flight Plan: Coach & The Coordinators.” It’s always exciting as a fan when your team goes into a new season with all the focus on the new coach and coordinators, and whether you’ll be bad enough to draft a good quarterback next year.
This is a video the team put together and shared publicly. Jonathan Gannon asks his players who drove to the practice facility, and who “took the bus.” Then he continues: “Do you have fire in your gut?” He’s asking them questions you might ask a toddler on the first day of Sunday school. He’s also about as laid-back as possible, which is great when you’re asking about gut-fire.
The cutaway shots to players are hilarious. No one has any reaction to Gannon’s attempt at a motivational speech. They do not seem to react at all. The video seems like it’s making fun of the Cardinals and Jonathan Gannon.