Daily Slop – 14 Apr 24: Nick Allegretti is a tough SOB

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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Allegretti learned more about his perseverance playing with torn UCL in Super Bowl

The injury itself occurred late in the second quarter. Nick Bosa made a tackle through Allegretti’s arm, causing it to bend awkwardly. Allegretti heard, and felt, a pop in his elbow, causing pain to shoot through his arm.

The decision of whether to play the rest of the game or sit out for the sake of his health was a difficult one for Allegretti. He had been to, and won, Super Bowls with the Chiefs in the past, but he had never started in one. While the Chiefs have made a habit of at least competing for championships, Allegretti knew there was no guarantee he would make it back to one in his career, never mind playing a critical role.

“There was a lot of anger when it happened,” Allegretti said. “Because it was like, ‘Man, am I gonna have to pull myself out of the Super Bowl?’”

Fortunately, as bad as the pain was, it didn’t limit his ability to play. The injury was also in his left arm, which meant he could still use his dominant hand.

He also came to a realization in the locker room once he found out that his UCL was completely torn: it wasn’t going to tear any more than it already had.

“As long as I can handle the pain and compete and not hurt the team, there was no reason for me to come out,” Allegretti said.

Allegretti got himself a brace, which helped mitigate some of the pain in his elbow, and returned to the starting lineup in the second half. He was expecting just a couple more hours of pain, but as it became apparent the game was heading to overtime, he knew he would need to endure for a little longer.

Burgundy & Gold Report

The Best is Yet to Come from Tyler Guyton | NFL Draft

Tyler Guyton

6’8” 322 lbs | OT | OKL

Draft Proj 1st Round

In all Guton played in 400 snaps during the ‘22 for the Sooners, allowing 2 sacks, no QB hits on 191 pass-blocking plays per Pro Football Focus. Guyton started the season at left tackle, but due to injuries along the line, he shifted to right tackle during the season.

In 2023 Guyton started 10 games (662 snaps) allowing 9 QB hurries and surrendered no sacks while lining up at right tackle. Guyton was an Honorable Mention All-Big Conference.

Outlook

Guyton is a high upside tackle prospect with the ability to line up at right tackle or left tackle. Limited career reps are worth noting, but the Sooner’s coaching staff has done an excellent job developing offensive line prospects.

Although Guyton is still a work in progress as a run blocker, there’s no reason to believe he won’t improve in this area.

His ability in pass protection is fun to watch and what will likely get him selected in the top 30. His length & athleticism will aid him as he adjusts to the pace of the NFL with the ability to anchor an NFL line as a LT or RT for the next decade plus.

Commanders.com

2024 round-by-round breakdown | 10 players would be available in the fifth round

[I]n preparation for the draft, Commanders.com will be breaking down players who could be available in each round the Commanders have a pick. After starting with the seventh round, we’re moving on to the fifth round, where the Commanders hold the No. 139 and 152 picks.

Isaiah Williams, WR, Illinois: Williams was the embodiment of leadership for the Illini, serving as a team captain and being a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Man of the Year award. He was also an all-around weapon in his five years with the program, accounting for 3,258 yards, including 445 as a quarterback, and 22 touchdowns.

Tommy Eichenberg, LB, Ohio State: The 2024 draft features a thinner linebacker class, but Eichenberg is considered one of the most talented in the bunch. Eichenberg is an old-school linebacker, meaning that he is dominant in the run game and struggles in coverage, but his 258 career tackles hints that he could be an enforcer in the middle.

Jarvis Brownlee Jr., CB, Louisville: A three-year starter with Florida State ad Louisville, Brownlee is a physical corner in man coverage, recording 22 pass breakups in his career. He’ll need to improve his consistency as routes develop, but teams should like his competitiveness.

Eric All, TE, Iowa: All suffered back-to-back season-ending injuries, so whoever drafts him will need to be sure that he’s healthy. In 2021, the last season he was completely healthy, he caught 38 passes for a career-high 437 yards. The Commanders aren’t in dire need of another tight end, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a long-term project behind Ertz, John Bates and Cole Turner.

Cedric Johnson, EDGE, Ole Miss: Some team is going to fall in love with Johnson’s potential. He has the build of a typical NFL edge player at 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds, and he had a solid combine with a 4.63 40-yard dash and 38-inch vertical. He had 19 sacks in college, and while he might never be a full-time starter, he could at least add some talent to a pass-rush arsenal.

Christian Jones, T, Texas: Jones doesn’t have the pedigree as some of the top tackles in the draft, but he does flash talent that suggests he could be as good as them in time. He had strong technique in pass protection, keeping his head out of bull rushes and maintaining active feet. He’s also one of the most experienced tackles in the draft with 48 starts.

Beau Brade, S, Maryland: Brade was the Terps’ enforcer during his junior and senior years, leading the Terps in both seasons with 160 combined stops. He shows good instincts in pass coverage by knowing how to track the ball in the air, recording three interceptions and 11 pass breakups in his career.

Eric Watts, DT, UConn: Watts had his best season in 2022, recording seven sacks, two forced fumbles and 49 tackles. He wasn’t as dominant a pass-rusher in 2023, but he’s always been disruptive in the run game, getting 23 tackles for loss. It might take time for him to find his footing in the NFL, but the right coach could maximize his talent.

Jared Wiley, TE, TCU: There’s a chance Wiley could go higher than the fifth round because of what he can do as a receiver. He scored eight touchdowns in 2023, which tied for the most among all tight ends. He has some work to do as a blocker, though, which could mean that he’ll need some time before being a TE1.

Cedric Gray, LB, UNC: Gray can be a missile against the run game. He shoots gaps with ferocity and has enough speed to chase down running backs on the edge. The problem is that shooting gaps doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll make the tackle, so he’ll need to work on that at the next level. Wherever he goes will need to let him serve as a backup and learn before giving him more starting snaps.

Podcasts & videos

Top-30 visits and RG3 on QBs: two weeks from the draft and the rumor mills are buzzing

Photos

PHOTOS | Nick Allegretti provides depth on offensive line

Take a look at Nick Allegretti’s time in Kansas City before coming to Washington. (Photos via The Associated Press)

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Big Blue View

How successful are quarterbacks drafted on Day 2?

Not as successful as those drafted in Round 1

There have been 32 quarterbacks selected on Day 2 of the draft since 2010. To categorize them, I used the same Hall of Famers/Franchise QBs/Solid starters tiers used in the Round 1 quarterbacks post. I added a ‘Solid backups/occasional starters’ category, but hat we are really looking for are quarterbacks who fit neatly into ‘solid starter’ or above.

Here is how it breaks down.

• Future Hall of Famers: 1 (Wilson)
• Franchise QBs: 1 (Hurts)
• Solid starters: 3 (Dalton, Kaepernick, Carr)
• Solid backups/occasional starters: (Foles, Smith, Glennon, Garappolo, Brissett, Rudolph, Lock, Mills, Ridder)

*Levis is To Be Determined

Wilson and Hurts show that it is possible to find a top-tier quarterback on Day 2, though not likely. If you want to argue about whether or not Wilson is a Hall of Fame quarterback, fine. That’s not the point, though. For our purposes, all we are trying to identify is how many of these quarterbacks land in the ‘solid starter’ or above categories.

I have just five of the 32 quarterbacks drafted on Day 2 as ‘solid starters’ or more. That’s just 15.6%. In our look at quarterbacks drafted in Round 1, we found that 37.2% of the quarterbacks drafted in Round 1 landed in the ‘solid starter’ or above category.

That is quite a drop from Day 1. So, even if the NFL isn’t good at identifying and developing Round 1 quarterbacks, it is still far more likely that you will get a quality starter if you take one in the first round rather than trying to find one on Day 2.

Blogging the Boys

One argument against drafting a quarterback is the timeline of the Dallas Cowboys salary cap

The timeline of the money involved does not necessarily work out for the Cowboys to draft a quarterback in 2024.

Spending a top 100 pick feels like a poor decision mostly because of the massive needs across the rest of the roster that require the help more immediately. An investment at the quarterback position with a draft pick would be an investment more tilted towards the future than the present.

But beyond that, investing a premium resource in a quarterback now would also be failing to set up a situation that allows a proper capitalization of the new signal-caller. If we presume that we are talking about a second- or third-round pick, then we are talking about a quarterback with a four-year contract. The timeline of everything involved really matters here.

As things stand Prescott’s cap charges for 2024 and 2025 are (rounding down here) $55M and $40M, respectively. One of the primary, if not the primary, benefits of having a quarterback on a rookie contract is the financial flexibility that it affords you to build around him, something the Cowboys failed to do properly when Prescott himself was on the books for fourth-round money.

If the Cowboys were to draft a would-be future starter outside of the first round this year they would be financially handicapping themselves for 50% of the window that the new player would provide. You obviously cannot pass on a quarterback if you truly believe he is the guy, but you have to constantly be aware of situations in the present and future simultaneously.

Ultimately it seems a bit unlikely that Dallas will draft a quarterback early on, but until the draft comes and goes the speculation will continue to be there. Choosing to take one on the first two days would say a lot of things, including a defiance of all timelines involved.