OTAs on the Way

Washington Commanders begin OTAs May 28.

They continue into June. 

I am thinking many mysteries which intrigue fans will get additional clarification after June 1st. Apparently, that's when contracts get less expensive or something. I'm not an accountant. But June One seems the date everybody's situation gets magically cleared up.

And maybe that's when the world will know what is going to happen with Trey Hendrickson.

My bet is, as Gene Hackman said in Hoosiers, THIS IS YOUR TEAM.

Your best bet on OTA info is John Keim. Next check in with Rick Snider.

Get your Fan Speculation at Rico's, Pedro's, Ed's, and Rio's.

I may be here a few times but I don't speculate much. The Commanders don't play real football until September. You may not hear from me til then.

I know. You're crushed.

Comps Going into Summer Vacay: 71 Skins 95 Panthers

How are the Washington Commanders going to do this year? 

I have no earthly idea. All I have is fleeting football memories in the archive of my aging mind. 

I remember for instance the 1971 Skins, George Allen's first Washington Squad. Allen stocked that team with veteran players who knew what he wanted in a football player. Those veteran winners, the Ramskins, helped bring a winning mindset to a perpetual .500 football team and they went 9-4-1 and went to the playoffs Allen's first year.

The Carolina Panthers acquired veteran leadership in the expansion draft their first year of existence. They won 7 games. They brought brisk competition. The next year they got Kevin Greene. They went 12-4.

Both these teams were in the Conference Championship games the very next year. The Panthers lost to Green Bay. The Skins beat the Cowboys and lost to the Phins in the Super Bowl.

The Free Agent Class Adam Peters signed this year reminds me of those Panthers and Skins signings. Really solid. Bringing in guys who play the way the team wants to play. Veteran leadership has been significantly upgraded. Judging from a history buff perspective, that tends to produce rapid change in win totals.

I hadn't expected Peters to do what he did in Free Agency. I thought he was a Draft guy. I am happy to see he is a "by any means necessary" type guy. Drafts, trades, free agency. Grocery bagging.  

Quinn was 8-8 his first year in Atlanta.

So somewhere between 7 and 9 wins. 

If they get solid offensive line play and the defense goes ape over turnovers it will be more than that.

As with a George Allen type team, the vets on defense might be the difference between being a good first year team and a good first year playoff team.

Rehearsing Success

Here's a documentary on George Allen that lives at HTTR's YouTube Channel:

Three Cheers for the Redskins

You may have noticed Allen feels a little like Eric Bieniemy. Specifically, getting on guys for not breaking the huddle with energy. We saw this last week EB doing pretty much the same thing.

I mean, there are hundreds of coaches who do that. I don't think it is as common anymore. But this ambience of rah rah, this penchant for enthusiasm mixed ironically with perfectionism, has a tendency to elevate play on the field. 

We are lucky in Washington to have witnessed this fact three times now. The first time was with Vince Lombardi. The second was Allen. The third now is Eric Bieniemy. 

It isn't just enthusiasm these men have in common. It struck me recently that the word "execution" seems to have been a stranger around here for years. Get it right. Do it again. Give me the twos. 

Execution was a word Allen liked to use. Lombardi was the patron saint of execution.

My take away from OTAs and Mini-Camp is EB does not like rehearsing failure. 

It stands to reason rehearsing success will lead to success on the field.

And it leads one to wonder why we weren't rehearsing success before?

This Week in Commander Football

This week, there is talk about Commander QB1 Sam Howell slipping a bit performance wise. There are a few things to factor in. 

Remember Bieniemy's philosophy. Get out of your comfort zone. No pain no gain. Discomfort is the mother of invention. It is better by a long shot to get uncomfortable in practice. The old saying is practice should be difficult so the games are easier.

So they probably want to make Sam experience his discomfort in practice.

Now the flip side to that is it is hard, subconsciously, to practice NOT fumbling or throwing picks because you are rehearsing by negative reinforcement exactly what you are trying to avoid: fumbling and throwing picks. In situations like that hard coaching can, CAN, backfire. You have to be able to judge whether you are busting up crusted over habits or pouring fresh concrete on them.

Rick Snider had a blurb about a George Allen book this week. I miss George Allen. He had a passion for the game unmatched in team history except maybe now with EB. His enthusiasm raised your game. It was almost a football spirituality. An x-factor. Yes you got the jet. Do you have the jet fuel?

Bieniemy has the jet fuel to balance the hard coaching. So you use EB to recover from EB.  

The only place I have any apprehension about is the offensive line. I think former Giant Center Nick Gates is an upgrade. Can he last into the playoffs? Can Center Draftee Ricky Stromberg get up to snuff fast enough? One reason you run first is weak pass blocking. Most pro ball players can run block. That is a disguise. You like to be able to pass. We've got excellent backs. We should still be able to run. But we have ostensibly better receivers. Are we better pass blockers?

Sadly, I don't think mini-camp will be definitive about the O-Line. Need some pseudo-games for that. 

Edge Man Chase Young was back at mini-camp amid trade rumors and questions about motivation. The Bears Fans seem to think the Bears are interested. I don't know what the Bears have to offer that wouldn't injure their chances this year. 

Given the fact that Chase is in a contract year and players in general tend to excel in that year the Commanders' asking price should be very stiff. 

That's part of the argument that Chase should, for the good of his future, stay in Washington this particular year because the Commander defense should be well positioned for a bountiful harvest in sacks. The Commanders are getting some respect around the league BECAUSE they got Emmanuel Forbes and Quan Martin in the Draft. Those guys were wanted men around the League. We lost some guys we wanted but we got some guys the rest of the League wanted.

 

These additions to the secondary look like they will slow the decisionmaking of the opposing QB. That should help Chase and his fellow terror Montez Sweat "finish".

Washington is a candidate for Hard Knocks. I think it's too much of a pain. This team needs to build chemistry. It doesn't need foreign agents corrupting the mixture. Impurities make explosions happen. Then you have to ask the Board for money for a new chemlab.

What exactly is the benefit of outrageous distraction to the football team? How many Hard Knocks Teams have made the playoffs? Is it like whoever is on the cover of Madden is out for the season?

That the NFL intends to force teams to partake is an assault on the competitive quality of the League. There is too much media intrusion already without a mandatory circus sideshow. 

Could there be anything more outrageous than Hard Knocks? Yes! One of the pundits in the media was wondering who fans would rather have than Ron Rivera coaching this year.

My answer would be no one. For this year, Ron Rivera is perfect. 

Ravens Week is HUGE

OTAs serve as a kind of energy medicine exercise in team building. Meet and greet. Drills. Playbook memorization. Skills presentation. Is energy high and the mood optimistic? 

The energy is really good in Washington right now. But it is really good in 31 other NFL cities as well.

OTAs just don't define much as far as the team's ultimate performance during the season goes. However, preseason games and scrimmages are another thing. 

This year, the Washington Commanders are scrimmaging the perennial championship contending Baltimore Ravens a handful of days before they square off in an August 21st preseason game.

What a metric that will be on this young Commander squad. In fact, that is going to factor in a lot heavier for me than OTAs and even mini-camps. I'm saying reserve judgment until that period in mid to late August in your deliberations on how the Commanders will do.

We should hear of any problems the Commanders encounter in the scrimmages. We should be able to tell from the preseason game if the problems are effectively addressed. This is going to be especially revealing about the offense. 

My eyes are going to be on the offensive line. Have they done enough? 

Most people are going to be looking at QB. Sam is getting no respect from anybody. Hopefully, he'll surprise people. But he could surprise and the offensive line could still be a question mark. That could co-occur. I hope not. But it's possible.

Ravens Week is HUGE. Worth interrupting your vacation for a look-see.

Commanders OTAs

The Commanders are in OTAs. So are a lot of NFL Teams. All of them seem excited about 2023. I congratulate fans and commentators alike on winning the Offseason Super Bowl something every team in the league does every year.

I thought Mike Martz's comments on Sam Howell were interesting. Rico at Street Scores has that posted. I think I said the 1999 Rams, a team Martz was offensive coordinator for, were in a similar situation the Commanders are now in. Does that mean the Commanders make the Super Bowl and set offensive records? Not necessarily. 

But it does mean some people may not see the Commanders coming. Even if they go 9-8 that would shock most of today's commentators.

Chase Young was not in attendance at Commanders OTAs. That is not unusual for him. I don't think he understands what is expected of an NFL player. I think the injury is an issue and I would understand reducing the opportunity for bad luck to manifest. But I'm not sure he has command enough of the defense to excuse himself. Montez Sweat does seem to have a decent command of the defense. So yes, Sweat missing OTAs has less impact.

But then the defense functioned well last year WITHOUT Chase. There are people who can take his place on the team. Perhaps do less freelancing. They don't have to deconstruct their egos and rebuild them. Ego can kill NFL careers. Will it kill Chase's? I don't know. 

It can be a big block if you think your game can't be improved.

I remember John Riggins missing some practices. I remember Riggo spending game week in traction. But Riggo was Super Bowl MVP. A master of the game. Chase is not yet a master of the game. Ray Lewis was a master of the game. Jack Del Rio got him to attend team functions.

Fans in Washington have nightmares about situations like this. Albert Haynesworth was a potential league MVP. He just did not have the desire. Chase Young plus desire equals 20 sacks. Chase Young minus desire may equal Haynesworth. That's what bugs us fans.

Some people just don't like the game. It happens.

But forgive me if I wait to see Chase play this year before relegating him to another ego bust situation.