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
Commanders links
Articles
Washington Post (paywall)
Commanders sign offensive lineman Sam Cosmi to four-year extension
The former second-round pick is the only player drafted by the previous regime to get a new deal.
The extension is worth $74 million and includes more than $45 million in guarantees, a person with knowledge of the terms said. His $18.5 million average annual value over those four years ranks as the fifth-highest among NFL guards.
Cosmi’s extension is the first awarded to a player drafted by the previous management regime (2020-23) and ensures he stays in Washington without hitting the open market; he was set to become a free agent in March after his rookie deal expired. He is also the only veteran to receive a deal longer than three years from new general manager Adam Peters, who overhauled much of the roster this offseason with veterans on shorter-term deals.
The Athletic (paywall)
Commanders, OL Sam Cosmi agree to 4-year extension: Why it’s significant for Washington
Washington’s recent draft history is ripe with misfires, making the Cosmi extension more notable. The Commanders declined the fifth-year rookie contract options for first-round picks Chase Young (2020) and Jamin Davis (2021). Davis remains with the team, but Washington traded Young last season — the entire 2020 class is gone — and Jahan Dotson (2022) last month
Quinn served as the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator for Cosmi’s first three seasons, two of which were spent at tackle.
“(The previous staff) did a good job of moving him inside. Having that ability inside to (protect) the pocket is a big deal,” Quinn said. “This is an athlete that can pull and move, and that’s a big deal for our offense.”
Bullock’s Film Room (subscription)
Why the Washington Commanders signed RG Sam Cosmi to a 4-year extension
Breaking down the strengths of Cosmi’s game and why he’s an anchor to build the offensive line around
The Washington Commanders announced on Wednesday that the team had reached an agreement with right guard Sam Cosmi on a four-year extension. Cosmi was entering the final year of his rookie contract and was set to become an unrestricted free agent next offseason, but the Commanders have now locked him up to a reported $74 million contract with over $45 million in guaranteed money, making him the sixth highest paid guard in the NFL. So why did the Commanders look to get Cosmi tied down for the long term as an anchor of the offensive line? Let’s take a closer look.
One of the best traits in Cosmi’s game is his awareness in pass protection. Awareness might not sound all that special, but as an offensive lineman, Cosmi clearly has a strong grasp of the bigger picture rather than just his role within the protection scheme, which allows him to pick up blocks that other lineman just don’t think about.
This is one of the best blocks I’ve seen from an offensive lineman in Washington purely because of the awareness from Cosmi. Back in the opening game of last season, the Cardinals look to bring a simulated pressure, rushing three interior lineman and bringing the inside linebacker up the middle, while the two edge rushers sink back into coverage. At right guard, Cosmi starts this play anticipating having to block the defensive tackle on his outside shoulder. However, as the ball is snapped, that defender widens to attack the edge. Cosmi gets a hand on him to help secure the defender but then leaves him to Andrew Wylie at right tackle.
In the meantime, Cosmi keeps his head on a swivel and scans across the field. He understands instantly that if his defender is widening outside, it’s likely he’s creating space for another rusher to join inside. He spots the center and left guard occupied by the other interior defensive lineman but sees a linebacker joining the rush. He quickly realizes that the linebacker is unaccounted for in the protection scheme, so even though it’s not at all his responsibility to get back across to the left side of the line here, Cosmi slides across and gets there just in time to block the linebacker and allow the quarterback to step up in the pocket away from the pressure.
But it’s not just one play that Cosmi showed great awareness. He’s consistently scanning the defense and looking for potential threats in pass protection, even when he’s already engaged in a block. There were multiple occasions last year where he blocked two defenders on a single play.
Commanders.com
Practice notes | Sam Cosmi more determined to prove he’s among NFL’s best guards
Cosmi’s rise over the past season — Pro Football Focus graded him fourth at his position in 2023 — is even more impressive when considering how little he has played at the spot in his career. Prior to switching to the position full-time last year, Cosmi played just 34 snaps at right guard in 2022 against the New York Giants. He played well but sustained an injury that kept him sidelined for the next two weeks.
After the season, Cosmi saw then-head coach Ron Rivera in his office and asked him bluntly what role he saw him in for 2023. Rivera said right guard, and Cosmi committed himself to mastering the new position.
As someone who didn’t play guard in high school or college, the practices were “huge,” Cosmi said. Everything from his stance to the angles he took on run- and pass-blocking was different, so he worked hard every day to learn the concepts and techniques. He described himself as his biggest critic, and that mindset helped him improve each week.
The results showed up in games. Cosmi routinely graded as the team’s best offensive lineman on a weekly basis, starting with a 71.1 in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals. His best stretch was in Weeks 15-17, when he received a grade of at least 80 in that three-game stretch. He was the only starter who allowed just one sack last season.
“I just feel like my trajectory is going like this,” Cosmi said while raising his hand in an incline. “I feel way more comfortable this year. You could see the tape from last year. As each game progressed, I felt like I was more and more fitting that role.”
ESPN
Commanders see value in Zach Ertz, Austin Ekeler
Ertz called it his best summer in a while.
“I do have a chip on my shoulder,” Ertz said.
Ekeler became a trusted target on underneath routes — with occasional wheel routes down the sideline. Ekeler said he wants to remind everyone he can still play “at a high level.”
If both Ertz and Ekeler return to pre-2023 production, then they’ll provide considerable help to Daniels. Both will play integral roles on offense; Ertz as the No. 1 tight end and over-the-middle target and Ekeler as a third-down back.
Both players did not have the kind of 2023 season they wanted, thanks in part to injuries.
Ertz’s season ended on injured reserve for the second season in a row — but, he said, he didn’t think he was hurt enough to go on the list in 2023.
But it’s not just Ertz. Ekeler looked spry this summer and was able to turn in-rhythm checkdowns into extra yards during full-team work. The Commanders like that they can line him up all over — in the backfield, split wide or even with another back on the field.
The plan is for Ekeler to serve as the third-down back with Brian Robinson Jr. as the primary runner.
In 2023, Ekeler finished with 1,064 total yards from scrimmage — his lowest output since 2018 when he has appeared in at least 14 games. It was a 573-yard decrease from the previous season, though part of that stemmed from missing three games because of a right high ankle sprain in Week 1.
From 2019-22, Ekeler ranked eighth in the NFL in yards from scrimmage per game with 96.2. His 8.6 yards per catch was fourth among running backs, .2 yards behind Christian McCaffrey.
Now, he said, “I’m healthy.”
Washington Post (paywall)
Experience has shaped Dan Quinn. He’s ready for this second chance.
The Commanders’ new coach embraces evolution — for his defenses and himself. He has become a collaborative leader through self-reflection.
At 53, Quinn has the energy and fervor of a first-time coach — perhaps because he views this opportunity from the lens of his first time coaching. If he ever got another chance, he told himself, he would do some things differently. Such as not spreading himself too thin to where he can’t give every phase of the team the necessary attention. Such as challenging himself with new ideas from assistants with varied expertise. Such as continuing to evolve a defense he ran for nearly eight years to ensure it gets the most out of his personnel in Washington.
“I knew going back into wherever I was going to go next, I wasn’t just going to rinse and repeat, like, ‘Here’s the system; this is how we do it,’” he said. “I had to say, ‘This can be better.’”
One of the most significant stretches of Dan Quinn’s 21-year coaching career was his three-month unemployment. He was fired as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons in October 2020 after an 0-5 start and was out of the league until the Dallas Cowboys named him their defensive coordinator in January 2021.
Quinn never actually put down football in those months. Rather, he delved deeper into it, compiling video clips of his defenses in Atlanta from 2015 to 2020 and from the Seattle Seahawks, for whom he served as defensive coordinator in 2013 and 2014.
“What had once been good was no longer good enough,” he said. “… So, coming back for that second lap [in Dallas], I knew I wasn’t going to rinse and repeat. What were some things around the league and through college ball that could be different? The system that we put together will be similar to the one here, say, let’s collectively put together the Commanders’ offense and defense.”
Hired by the Commanders in the midst of a franchise-wide overhaul, Quinn has used the past few months to evaluate and experiment. He hired a staff with varied backgrounds and, with General Manager Adam Peters, has turned over the roster to implement his vision in Washington — his attacking-style defense, tailored to fit his personnel.
ESPN
Commanders suspend VP for comments on players, Jones, Goodell
The team said it has suspended its vice president of content, Rael Enteen, who has been with the organization for four years, for comments he made to an undercover reporter for the O’Keefe Media Group.
According to a social media video from the media group, Enteen had met the reporter on the dating app Hinge and met with her twice at local restaurants. According to James Keefe, the CEO of the O’Keefe Media Group, the interviews took place at a restaurant in Washington, D.C., in June.
Front Office Sports
Commanders Suspend Executive Over Secret Recordings From Far-Right Activist
The Washington Commanders suspended an executive Wednesday after the man was recorded letting his guard down on what he thought were dates and apparently disparaging NFL players, fans, and executives.
The executive, Rael Enteen, was recorded by a woman working for long-time far-right prankster James O’Keefe.
The videos show Enteen, the team’s vice president of content, insulting “mouth-breathing” fans and “homophobic” players.
Though O’Keefe has an extensive history of selectively editing videos or outright doctoring them, the Commanders distanced themselves from Enteen in a statement Wednesday.
“The language used in the video runs counter to our values at the Commanders organization,” the team said in a statement to Front Office Sports. “We have suspended the employee pending an internal investigation and will reserve further comment at this time.”
In the videos, published on social media by O’Keefe on Wednesday, Enteen answers a series of increasingly direct questions about his workplace while being recorded.
A woman off-camera repeatedly asks Enteen about his job duties, history, and workplace. She is only identified in the video as an operative for O’Keefe’s company.
Perhaps the most interesting moment in the videos comes when Enteen appears to admit being pressured into lying through the team’s official social media accounts. He recalled an infamous incident in 2021 when sewage rained on Washington fans and he had to tweet that it was actually water, spin that he referred to as “state-run media.”
For years, O’Keefe produced similar videos of liberals and Democratic operatives for Project Veritas, but he was fired in 2023 after the organization’s board said he spent an “an excessive amount of donor funds in the last three years on personal luxuries.”
Last year, the Westchester, New York district attorney said it was criminally investigating O’Keefe.
Podcasts & videos
‘Yes the Commanders Have a Path in the NFC East ‘ by The Bram Weinstein Show https://t.co/NSvdmQ54TT
— Bram Weinstein (@RealBramW) September 5, 2024
Episode 902 – Guest: @MarkBullockNFL. Film-breakdown-style #Commanders season preview.
– Jayden Daniels’ impressive efficiency
– the truth about two common criticisms of Kliff Kingsbury
– why & how Noah Brown can help
– what we’ve learned about the defensehttps://t.co/vgRmFqSjw5— Al Galdi (@AlGaldi) September 4, 2024
Let’s talk Week 1! Joined by Bucs insider @gregauman:
* Where Jayden Daniels causes problems for Tampa
* Mike Evans vs. Commanders’ corners
* BRob/OL vs. Vita Vea
I also ranked Washington’s 10 most indispensable players.
Subscribe, y’all – https://t.co/1jQTppLOcN
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) September 4, 2024
Week 1 Preview: Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Command Center Podcast | Washington Commanders | NFL
Why Commanders WR Olamide Zacchaeus’ skillset is being undervalued | Film Session
Photos
Commanders.com
PHOTOS | The work begins for Tampa Bay
The Washington Commanders were on the field for their first practice of Week 1. Check out all the top photos from the day.
Offensive players in red practice jerseys. Defense in white. Has always been the other way around. Now you know.
— John Keim (@john_keim) September 4, 2024
NFC East links
Big Blue View
Did Hard Knocks catch Joe Schoen scouting quarterbacks?
Schoen says it must “be nice” to not have to worry about the quarterback position
HBO’s “Hard Knocks” cameras caught Bears GM Ryan Poles chatting with Giants GM Joe Schoen before kickoff of the game between the University of Georgia and Clemson. Their chat gave us this exchange,
Schoen: “Gotta be nice. Not to be looking at the, uh …”
Poles: “Quarterbacks?”
Poles: “Hopefully it stays that way for a long time.”
“Gotta be nice not to be looking at the (Quarterbacks)” – #Giants100 GM Joe Schoen to #DaBears Ryan Poles on Hard Knocks pic.twitter.com/qLdmLbIDEu
— Monte (@MONTECRI5TO) September 4, 2024
While the the Giants expressed a willingness to trade up for Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels, their plan for 2024 is to give quarterback Daniel Jones one last chance to prove beyond a doubt that he’s their franchise quarterback.
But, in the inimitable words of Mike Tyson “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
The Giants don’t know if that punch is going to come, or what form it’ll take if (or when) it does. But they also can’t assume that everything will just work out. And to that end, Schoen has already personally attended three games in the first week of the 2024 College Football Season.
Pro Football Focus
Updated 2024 NFL offensive line rankings
2. Philadelphia Eagles
While the Eagles fielded the NFL’s best offensive line over the past couple of years, there are questions about the unit’s cohesiveness following center Jason Kelce‘s retirement.
Cam Jurgens, Kelce’s replacement, has played only 45 NFL snaps at center so far. Jurgens is being replaced at right guard by Tyler Steen, who played just 71 snaps on offense as a rookie and was not overly impressive.
10. Dallas Cowboys
Although the Cowboys’ offensive line had been among the five best units in the league for years, that position is in jeopardy going forward. The Cowboys let left tackle Tyron Smith and center Tyler Biadasz walk in free agency, and now rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton is set to replace Smith while Brock Hoffman is expected to play center.
It did not help Dallas that right tackle Terence Steele had a disappointing 2023 season coming back from injury. The team still has one of the better guard duos in Tyler Smith and Zack Martin, but it is unknown how much quality is around them.
27. Washington Commanders
The Commanders almost completely overhauled their offensive line, slotting in three new starters for 2024. Cornelius Lucas, a backup in recent years, is taking on the starting left tackle job, former Chiefs backup offensive lineman Nick Allegretti is expected to play at left guard and Tyler Biadasz, acquired in free agency, will start at center.
Sam Cosmi, who ranked fourth among guards in PFF grade in 2023, and Andrew Wylie represent the continuity on the right side of the line.
28. New York Giants
In 2023, the Giants’ offensive line struggled significantly, partly due to injuries.
While their free agency additions weren’t high-profile, they should contribute to improving this unit. Right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor and right guard Greg Van Roten both joined from the Raiders, where they performed at a high level last season. Additionally, Jon Runyan was signed from Green Bay, providing another starting-caliber lineman—a resource the Giants were short on last season.
If left tackle Andrew Thomas stays healthy and second-year center John Michael Schmitz Jr. makes strides, this unit could approach league-average performance by season’s end.
PFF Guard Rankings: Top 32 ahead of the 2024 NFL season
3. Sam Cosmi, Washington Commanders
Cosmi was quietly one of the best guards in the NFL in 2023. His 80.6 PFF overall grade ranked fifth at the position, and he had seven games with an overall grade of 80.0 or higher. Despite that, Cosmi didn’t garner the attention he deserved in his first full season as a starter.
He spent most of his first two NFL seasons at right tackle for the Commanders before making the switch inside to guard in 2023. His 4.3% pressure rate allowed last year was the 19th lowest at the position.
NFL league links
Articles
The Athletic (paywall)
NFL decision-makers’ predictions for 2024: Caleb Williams delivers, Cowboys struggle, more
For the third consecutive summer, The Athletic polled some of the NFL’s most prominent decision-makers to get a feel for their expectations this season.
Twenty-seven coaches and executives were asked the same seven questions throughout training camp and the preseason. They voted on the condition of anonymity, and some abstained from certain questions.
Name three teams that will surprise in a bad way. (21 votes)
The Dallas Cowboys, who have three consecutive 12-win seasons, have more than enough talent to continue to keep pace in the NFC. But on the heels of another shocking playoff dud and with head coach Mike McCarthy on the hot seat, Dak Prescott’s contract situation and the loss of defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, it’s easy to identify why the Cowboys could be vulnerable to distractions.
“Losing the defensive coordinator is going to be a huge deal, and I think it’s a big difference in scheme from what they did before,” an executive said. “They’re plenty talented. It’s just a hard place to win.”
Over the Cap
2024 NFL Roster Turnover
With NFL rosters pretty much finalized and week 1 just a few days away, I thought it would be a good time to look at just how much turnover there has been in the NFL in 2024.
Only four teams will have 70% or more of their roster returning. The Colts lead the way with a crazy 81.7%. They are banking on some of the younger player improving as most teams who were at 9 wins and outside of the playoffs will tinker with their roster more than this.
The Cowboys were also a playoff team and have 78% of the team returning if we consider 2023 practice squad players as part of the roster and 73% returning if we do not. Dallas rarely touches free agents these days and almost exclusively builds via the draft. Due to this they will likely rank low in turnover and higher in returns most years. If Dallas fails to advance deep into the playoffs this approach will come under even more scrutiny.
On the bottom end we have a few standouts. The Commanders are just gutting their team with only 39% of the 2024 roster having been in Washington in 2023. This is long overdue for a team that was headed nowhere for years. The question for them will be how patient can they be with this process.
The Panthers are right around 50% returning. Carolina is an example of a team that hasn’t been patient enough with their rebuilds and it leads to groundhog day scenarios with various GM’s. It feels like for the last decade the team has a cycle where it runs into cap issues, guts the roster like this to deal with the cap problems and poor results on the field, gets over anxious and screws up the cap with extensions and free agent signings, fires the GM, and then watches the cycle restart.
Rankings, hip-drop tackles, third-QB rule, the game in Brazil, player fine deliberations and more in our new NFL midweek package…. https://t.co/XZhatFlmBr
— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) September 4, 2024
The Trent Williams holdout resulted in $5.34 million in non-waivable fines. https://t.co/bARfVLuMS6
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 4, 2024
Discussion topics
Grass vs Turf: Part II
Turf Wars: Each NFL Team Has Its Own Multimillion-Dollar Calculus https://t.co/TPVHzDIKgH via @sportico @novy_williams @kbadenhausen
— Scott Soshnick (@soshnick) September 4, 2024