- 2 months ago
Mitch Tischler joins the show to discuss how much improvement he's seen from the Commanders offensive and defensive lines so far in practices at training camp.
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00:00And today was the first day with the pads on.
00:02That means we got to see the big men do some hitting and talk through it.
00:06We got the big man, Mr. Mitch Dittler from Monumental Sports Network, Beltway Football.
00:10Hello, Mitchell. How do you do?
00:12I'm doing great. How are you boys doing?
00:13We're good, man.
00:14What stood out to you?
00:15That's what we've been asking on the phone lines.
00:17You got to see some hitting.
00:18I know you were locked in on the one-on-ones.
00:20Yeah, I mean, nothing gets the juices flowing like the first day in pads,
00:23particularly the O-line, D-line, one-on-ones.
00:25To me, that's really the first time you get a chance to see what some of the O-line men
00:29have.
00:30And I thought the O-line looked really good today.
00:33On Beltway Football, we've talked about it a bunch.
00:35I thought Julian Good-Jones has struggled a bit.
00:37But today, he had a really, really good day, particularly in the one-on-ones.
00:42He stood up Tim Settle the first time around.
00:45The second time around, he totally stoned Charles and Menahue.
00:51That's a different kind of totally stoned that Stallion usually does.
00:54That's true.
00:54And college-age JP, too.
00:59Accurate.
01:00I really liked what I saw.
01:02The low belt.
01:02What's that?
01:03No, go ahead.
01:04Yeah, it's always a little below the belt, but what do you want from me?
01:07I also thought Sam Cosby looked really good.
01:09His first rep, he knocked down Javon Kinlaw right off the ball.
01:13Just worked him, dude.
01:14It was a pretty strong.
01:15I think Kinlaw was pretty pissed for the next rep.
01:18You saw the strength that Cosby has.
01:20I think we've seen it in camp, him being more like the Sam Cosby that we saw pre-injury two
01:27years ago.
01:28He seems to be getting back pretty quickly.
01:30You're seeing the strength and the speed from him.
01:32The other one that stood out to me was Chris Paul looked good as well.
01:37I mean, Brandon Coleman as well.
01:39I thought both of the guards looked good.
01:42The D-line didn't get a ton of pressure on what would have been the quarterback over there.
01:48But you saw Laramie Tunsell, you saw Kalevon Chason kind of get under him as he went around the edge.
01:55But you just see the athleticism from Tunsell as he gets a hand on him and rides him out kind
02:00of behind the quarterback.
02:02It was a good day for the O-line today, both in the one-on-ones and the 11-on
02:05-11s.
02:05You talked about Chris Paul, and I watched him a few times a day, and I was thoroughly impressed with
02:10him.
02:10What do you see different in him this year from last year?
02:14I think a little bit more comfortable.
02:15You know, last year at this time in camp, it was Brandon Coleman's job, and Chris Paul was part of
02:21the competition,
02:21but it was more incumbent on Chris to win the job than it was to keep the job.
02:26Right now, he's got to keep the job.
02:29And I really liked what I've seen from him, particularly kind of in the phone booth,
02:32kind of as he's on the line of scrimmage and working, you know, the hands and the speed
02:37to get out of his stance quickly enough to catch some of those blitzing linebackers.
02:42I think this defense is giving this O-line a really good look in camp.
02:47You're seeing guys coming from a million different places.
02:50You're seeing them line up four-down linemen, drop out.
02:53You know, you're seeing safeties come off the edge.
02:56You're seeing linebackers come double A-block blitzes.
03:00It's really good work for the O-line.
03:03And prior to the Allegretti injury, you know, and for Good Jones and for Goldman,
03:10it's really good work for those guys to be working on calling out what the line protection is going to
03:15be
03:15without, you know, kind of knowing what's going to come at you.
03:18It's a lot more dynamic of a front seven than we saw last year.
03:22The tight end situation is pretty interesting, especially with Bates on the shelf for some time.
03:27I thought today was Chig's best day.
03:29I thought he looked really good, and I think there's, like, a real battle may be the wrong word,
03:35but there's real depth at that position that I think is encouraging.
03:38What have you thought about the tight end situation so far?
03:41Yeah, I mean, Chig, two days, two practices in a row, two out of the last three days,
03:46took kind of uncomfortable hits, I would say.
03:49On Saturday, he went to catch a ball up high and looked like he kind of, you know,
03:55tweaked the back or just was a little bit slow getting up.
03:57So today he caught a ball down low.
03:59Who was that that landed on him?
04:01I'm not sure who it was.
04:02I thought it was a D lineman.
04:03I want to say it was a menohu.
04:05It might have been.
04:06I thought it was a –
04:07Or Chason, maybe?
04:07I thought it was – yeah, maybe Chason had a really, really good day today as well.
04:12But somebody came over the top of him and kind of got bent up a little bit.
04:16But what I really like about Chig is you're seeing him line up in a lot of different positions,
04:20and you see him get to the edge of the defense really quickly,
04:23and he catches the ball and turns upfield really well.
04:26I think that's where the big upgrade is going to be from Zach Ertz to Chig is the yards after
04:32catch.
04:33You know, Zach did such a good job of using his big body to wall off defenders,
04:37but there wasn't a whole lot of after-the-catch stuff.
04:39I think with Chig, you're seeing more of that.
04:42With Ben Sennett, I think that he's looked pretty good.
04:44His hands have looked pretty strong, and you know how I feel about men with steel hands.
04:49Well, and he's a yak guy too.
04:51Right.
04:51I think Yankov is too, man.
04:53Yankov has had two really back-to-back practices.
04:56He's had two really nice touchdown catches in kind of tough situations.
05:00With Sennett, I think you're seeing him line up in a lot of different places.
05:03I love the motion of the tight ends.
05:05We saw a little H-back work today, which was something that, you know,
05:08wasn't really in the Cliff Kingsbury offense.
05:11You know, both with Sennett blocking and then also kind of leaking out
05:15and finding his way to the second level as a last resort.
05:20I think that, you know, this offense is, as much as the defense is more dynamic,
05:24I think the offense is equally as more dynamic.
05:27And with all of the tight end movement and motion and spots that are lining up,
05:31I think they're going to give some defenses a tough time.
05:33Which of the tight ends you feel will fit better to that blocking role
05:37if Bates is out in an extended period of time?
05:42I think Sennett is your next blocking tight end.
05:45And I think that was the one thing that he didn't put up big numbers last year.
05:49You didn't see a ton of catches, a ton of yards.
05:51But I thought you saw a real commitment to being a good run blocker
05:56and pass blocker too.
05:58But I think that he's the guy that kind of steps up there.
06:00To me, Colson Yankoff is much closer to Chig in terms of, you know,
06:05being a pass-catching tight end and not as much of a blocker.
06:08So I think that any sort of John Bates injury or time off,
06:12I think it's going to come down to Sennett stepping up
06:15and playing that role a little bit more diligently.
06:18They added a center.
06:19The center's been a big topic of conversation.
06:21Obviously, you released Biotish in the offseason.
06:24They added the young man Trey Hill, played his college ball at Georgia,
06:27started a couple games for the Bengals back in 23.
06:32It's obviously a real center.
06:34I think at times the center position has upended the flow of practice.
06:39Like, I think you add Hill just to keep everything functional during practice.
06:45Where are you on the center situation?
06:47I did see Alec Reddy today.
06:49I hadn't seen him in a few days.
06:50I wonder if he could be back.
06:52I think...
06:53Didn't see any raps or anything.
06:54Yeah, that's what I was going to say.
06:56That was a really encouraging sign.
06:58I think it's a week from today, they have three straight practices,
07:03the third of which is a joint against the Dolphins.
07:05I think you've got to have Alec Reddy by next Monday
07:08just to let the offense get good work going into that Dolphins stretch.
07:15Do you have a date or is there a timeline you want to see that?
07:19Because that would also...
07:20I'm not inventing that.
07:21But that would correlate with what DQ said.
07:24DQ said last Thursday would probably be a week.
07:28I'm giving them an extra three days, which they generally take this time of year.
07:32Yeah.
07:32To me, I don't really necessarily have a date for it.
07:35But I do want to see him one padded practice with just commanders before that Dolphins.
07:41I don't want that first padded practice to be the joint practice with the Dolphins.
07:46But I think it was good seeing him out there today.
07:50My center angst still rates pretty high.
07:53I feel not that great about the depth and position.
07:55Especially with the starter not practicing.
07:57I think it's warranted.
07:59It's, you know, I'm a glass half full kind of guy.
08:01And to me, the glass half full of it is, okay, you realize that the depth that you hoped that
08:06you had with Good Jones and Colbin...
08:08Pays out.
08:09Well, you probably need more depth there.
08:12You need more veteran depth.
08:13They told us, like, you know, actions, not words, right?
08:17Bringing in Hill, who is a center, tells you that they agreed that we need more depth here, even just
08:23to get through August.
08:24Right.
08:25And with Hill, I think you see, it's funny, you know, you came from Cincinnati, got to snap with Joe
08:30Burrow, one LSU superstar, comes to Washington, gets another LSU superstar.
08:35Kind of a funny little correlation for him.
08:37But for him, it's going to take him a little bit of time to get a feel for this offense
08:42and to learn what the line calls are going to be.
08:45So, you know, to me, I don't feel like he's going to be fully integrated until right around the time
08:51that we expect Alec Reddy to come back.
08:54So I think it'll be interesting when that happens to see kind of how they split up those reps with
08:59Good Jones, Colbin, and ultimately the new guy.
09:03I will say, you know, I said it when we talked about the one-on-ones.
09:05Good Jones had his best day of practice today in pads.
09:09He looked good in the one-on-ones.
09:11In the 11-on-11s, he seemed to diagnose some of the stuff the defense was trying to do really
09:16well.
09:17You talked about how, you know, the offense seemed to struggle a little bit prior to today, post-Alegretti injury
09:24prior to today, kind of getting through the motions.
09:27And you saw at Saturday's practice a bunch of free rushers coming from the outside in situations that the defense
09:34wasn't necessarily overloading the O-line.
09:39And to me, that was a pretty good sign that they're still working through, you know, their comfort levels with
09:44getting the line calls correct and getting things moving in the right direction.
09:49Talking with our buddy Mitch Tischler here.
09:51I know you might have to run, so you have to run.
09:52Just tell us.
09:53You can give Mitch a follow at Mitch underscore Tischler, T-I-S-C-H-L-E-R.
09:58Check him out on the Beltway football podcast that we do together for Monumental Sports Network.
10:05Dan Quinn mentioned this this morning.
10:07Asked, you know, what players have stood out to you so far.
10:10And he said, you know, I've been really encouraged.
10:12I don't think we've had many sloppy moments.
10:14You know what I mean?
10:15And when you're installing two new systems, I think that's a big piece of it.
10:19But he said, like, the one single player I would single out is Jaden Daniels.
10:23Just for how fast he seems to be acclimated to everything.
10:28I think Jaden's look great.
10:30And I think as much as they have tried to build more of a team that is not Jaden being
10:37Superman reliant, the path to something that really matters remains Jaden being Superman.
10:43Like, he's the best player.
10:44Does it?
10:45Is it something that really matters to playoff wins?
10:48I think there's a path with this defense where you can see that it could potentially be a dominant defense.
10:52Now, it's nice to see this in training camp in shorts and T-shirts.
10:57We've got to see it, you know, preseason with the Dolphins joint practices, Ravens joint practices, and into the season.
11:03But I've been super impressed with the two new edge guys.
11:06Both Caleb on chase on and Adave Owe have been disruptive in camp.
11:10And chase on today, I thought, looked extremely good.
11:14There were a couple of the run sets early on in practice where he kind of dipped inside.
11:20And it wasn't quite a twist, but followed up a de-tackle into B-C gap and blew up run
11:26plays early on.
11:27And I really like seeing him be able to get underneath Laramie Tunsil when they're in the one-on-one
11:32drills.
11:33Got to be able to finish that.
11:34But not every tackle you go up against is going to be as good as Tunsil or as athletic as
11:40he is.
11:40I think, like I mentioned, with the defense being better, Jaden the Superman will come in situations where he has
11:49to be.
11:49And I believe that if you get to the playoffs and things like that, I don't want him to play
11:53super conservative.
11:55I mean, if it's like an NFC championship game or a game to get to the end, play ball.
12:00But I think the defense is going to allow him to be able to do that.
12:03Last year, you had no defense.
12:05Right, right.
12:05And then you get to the offense, you wanted him to make something happen.
12:08And I think he felt that pressure.
12:10Yeah, when you are a guy that holds that level of ability, as soon as you look and you know
12:16how bad your team is,
12:17and he had to have known, you automatically go into Superman mode.
12:21Am I right?
12:22I think they scored first twice last season.
12:24So pretty much every time Jaden took the field, he was playing from behind.
12:30We had Warren Sharpe on last week, and it might have been while you were gone, B.
12:33And he had these stats about the commander's defense on opening drives.
12:37So there's only 17 opening drives a year, right?
12:41Hopefully 21.
12:42Sure.
12:43Or 20.
12:44Regular season anyway.
12:45They forced three punts on 17 opening drives.
12:49They gave up, on average, about 50 yards in opening drive.
12:52And considering where field position is in the NFL, roughly the 35, if you give up 50, you're giving up
12:58at least three.
12:59Yep, totally.
13:00You know what I mean?
13:00Like, those types of things where you're immediately playing out of a hole add more pressure to the quarterback
13:07who's coming in and out of the lineup with his own injuries.
13:10See, that's why every question you ask me about, what's going to be best for Jaden, I keep going defense.
13:16Yeah, I mean.
13:17Because you've got to, if you hold, like, we gave up, what, four weeks in a row, 30 points?
13:21Yeah.
13:22They lost by more than three touchdowns four weeks in a row.
13:24Your offense cannot do what your offense wants to do in those situations.
13:28Sure.
13:28They become one-dimensional.
13:29And I think offensively now, they're going to want to be more balanced.
13:34And not like raw numbers balance where quarterback rushes help your bottom line numbers look more even,
13:41but like a more traditional balanced run game.
13:44And also, the closer that the games are, the less that the offense feels like it has to throw on
13:50every down.
13:50Yeah.
13:50Those are quick, quick, quick drives when you go three and out and throw the ball three times.
13:55Defense is back on the field.
13:57I think the totality of all of it, having a, even a middle-of-the-pack defense,
14:03will help Jaden, will help alleviate that Jaden has to be Superman every game.
14:07Got Mitch Tischler here.
14:08I'm going to get you out on this one because I want to open the phones on this.
14:10800-636-1067.
14:13800-636-1067.
14:16We are now, we're at least in our second calendar week of training camp, right?
14:20There are four practices in, but they're probably six in because they do the walkthroughs.
14:24And I think with two new installs, those walkthroughs are not the most walkie of walkthroughs.
14:30Antonio Williams, I think, has impressed us all.
14:33Trey Burks had the one day of concern where he had the foot soreness, but Burks has looked fast.
14:37They've got him in motion a lot.
14:38I think Diami's looked pretty good.
14:41So much talk about Brandon Ayuk for months.
14:43That seems to have subsided as his craziness has increased.
14:46I think there's a direct corollary there.
14:47Great, great.
14:49But Steph Diggs remains a free agent, remains a viable option.
14:54Do you feel, now into the second week of camp, more of a need to add Diggs or add a
15:01veteran receiver,
15:01or do you feel more comfortable with the group that's assembled?
15:04I feel more comfortable with the group assembled.
15:08I think Steph Diggs can help this team.
15:11I think the question that they probably have to ask themselves inside the building is,
15:15if you bring in a guy like Steph Diggs, does that hamper Antonio Williams' growth at all?
15:21Because to me, I can see them playing similar type roles in this offense.
15:26And do you want those reps?
15:28Is Antonio Williams good enough that the difference in, you know, experience makes a difference?
15:34I'm not entirely sure that that's the case.
15:37And certainly, Antonio Williams coming out here and showing some of the quickness and ability to get open
15:43and obviously make the catches as well helps a lot.
15:47I also think Deami Brown has looked as good as any receiver on this team.
15:51I'm very, very high on what Deami can bring.
15:54So, to me, the point about Diggs arrives, does that mean less snaps for Williams, less development for Williams?
16:02I think you can almost apply that.
16:04But Williams looks like a traditional slot receiver.
16:06But this offense is so varied that it's not always, like, he's not always going to line up in the
16:14slot.
16:14And I think if you bring Diggs in, yes, it impacts Williams, but I think it impacts Deami.
16:20I think it impacts Luke's work.
16:21I think it would make an impact on all of the guys you have here.
16:25And maybe it's still the right move.
16:27I'm not saying it.
16:28I think if you add Diggs, he helps your team be better.
16:31But I just wonder if you want to wait longer to get these guys more work before you get closer
16:36to week one
16:37and then you kind of check more stuff out.
16:41I'm not saying my they should sign Diggs meter hasn't changed.
16:44He's a good player.
16:45He'll help you on the field.
16:46He will.
16:46But my do I feel an impetus to get it done has slightly changed.
16:52I think Diggs on your team helps you.
16:55It may hamper, but it's depending on that other receiver.
16:59Does that receiver learn from him?
17:00Does that receiver grow from experiencing stuff with him?
17:03You know what I mean?
17:04Yeah.
17:04So it may not be as much as a hamper.
17:07It can help.
17:08You know, Terry is a veteran.
17:11He leads.
17:12He gives to those young guys.
17:13But he's an outside guy.
17:15Yeah.
17:15Antonio sitting next to Diggs, who will cook you inside, who was once an outside guy.
17:20Right.
17:20Now he's an inside guy.
17:22He may grow quicker with that.
17:23And I think it's worth mentioning.
17:25I mean, we all know folks that cover the Patriots up in New England.
17:29And to them, despite all the noise on the outside with Diggs, whatever stuff is happening with Cardi B or
17:35publicly,
17:37he said inside that room, he was a leader to that receiver group.
17:41That's all that matters.
17:42And you also look at the growth that that quarterback had, you know, with no real receivers outside of Steph
17:47Diggs.
17:47If he was a malcontent or a problem inside the locker room, I don't think things would have gone as
17:54well in New England as they did last year.
17:56So, certainly, that veteran experience can help these guys a whole lot.
18:01I just think that if they felt necessary to make that move, I think we'd be seeing him on the
18:07field right now.
18:08And the fact that he's not means that there's a little bit of them that, you know, wants to let
18:13things play out on the field,
18:15see how it goes, and then kind of make a decision.
18:17Could be a plan, too.
18:19Yeah.
18:20Steph might not want to be in camp yet.
18:21But the longer that the commanders hold on on signing him, the more opportunity you give for somebody else to
18:27have an injury,
18:28you know, that maybe might be a better situation.
18:31Xavier Worthy got hurt in Kansas City.
18:34The Chiefs were already super thin.
18:35Right?
18:35So, like, you know, Steph Diggs, you know, up and coming Washington with a lot of question marks.
18:40Remember, he hadn't signed with him yet, neither.
18:41Yeah.
18:42So, listen, a lot of questions to be had, but I do think Steph can help you.
18:45I just don't feel pressure to bring him in right now.
18:48Mitch, the over hit, the over always cashes.
18:51It always does.
18:52It's the most fun bet in sports.
18:54Thank you for the time, dude.
18:55All right, that's our guy Mitch Tischler.
18:56Give him a follow at Mitch underscore Tischler, T-I-S-C-H-L-E-R.