Daily Slop – 31 Mar 24: The Easter Sunday edition

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

UK HTTC

Best Free Agents so far?

Best FA signing: Frankie Luvu (LB)

Frankie Luvu was one of my main targets when free agency began. A dynamic, sideline to sideline linebacker with a mean streak, Luvu could be the perfect attack dog for the Quinn/Whitt defense.

The new Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator combo made it clear right from their introductory pressers that they wanted to be an aggressive, physical defense who play fast and with a healthy degree of old school snarl and nastiness.

Frankie fits that bill perfectly.

Best re-signing: Jeremy Reaves

The new front office has made it pretty clear what they think of this year’s Commanders free agents.

They’ve largely been allowed to leave as a roster overhaul has begun in earnest. I nearly chose Cornelius Lucas in this spot because despite not being a regular starter, he has played solid football when given an opportunity and should slot in as a useful swing tackle.

However, I decided to go with Jeremy Reaves for a few reasons but mainly because he’s the kind of guy I’d want on my team. His story is inspirational having survived 3 coaching regimes and is now returning from the ACL that he suffered early in the 2023 season.

Riggo’s Rag

4 Commanders who won’t make the 53-man roster in 2024

Christian Holmes – Commanders CB

Changes have also occurred in the cornerback room. The Washington Commanders opted not to bring back veteran Kendall Fuller, who signed for the Miami Dolphins. Michael Davis, James Pierre, and Noah Igbinoghene were sought out in free agency, but how much they’ll be able to assist is another matter.

Again, this is a position group the Comanders should strengthen at some stage during the 2024 NFL Draft. There are some decent prospects available, although expecting Washington to prioritize this area of the field early in the process after spending their first two picks last year on defensive backs is unrealistic.

If more competition arrives, which does appear likely, then Christian Holmes has a significant challenge ahead of him when preparations for the 2024 campaign ramp up. The former seventh-round selection out of Oklahoma State barely featured on the defensive rotation last season, but he was a factor on special teams if nothing else.

Considering how the Commanders have signed some supreme special team threats and Jeremy Reaves is also returning on a two-year deal, a few who contributed in 2023 could be deemed surplus to requirements. Unless there is a dramatic surge forward from Holmes over the coming months, he might be on the outside looking in.

Commanders Wire

LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels says his elbow is ‘perfectly fine’

So, what is going on with Daniels’ elbow? The image shows some type of growth on his elbow.

A doctor responded to the viral photo and said it appeared that Daniels was dealing with olecranon bursitis in his elbow. He said it is very common and more annoying than concerning.

Here’s the full tweet from the doctor:

Jayden Daniels appears to be dealing with olecranon bursitis of his right throwing elbow. This is an inflammation of the bursa, which is a sac that is usually empty and is there to protect the bone underneath. We have them in several joints including the elbow and the knee. ‘Banging’ your elbow against a hard surface often results in inflammation of the bursa, causing the body to fill it with fluid. This is a protective mechanism to prevent fracturing the bone underneath. These are VERY common, and more annoying than concerning. As long as they are not infected. These can be drained (aspirated) with a needle, but often these will fill back up. I’ve had good success with injecting PRP (plasma from the blood) to make these go away permanently. For some people they are very stubborn. These are quite an eye sore and look really funny as you can see with Jayden Daniels. These usually do not have a negative impacts on the player/person. This should not impact his ability to throw or cause any pain. Literally just a visual oddity.

Daniels, who is set to be a top-five pick in the 2024 NFL draft, perhaps as high as No. 2 to the Washington Commanders, apparently had enough of the photo and responded that it was essentially much ado about nothing.

There we have it. The man has spoken, and his elbow is fine. NFL teams have not shown any concerns regarding Daniels’ health.

Sports Illustrated

Should Washington Commanders Trade Back for QB in NFL Draft?

The Washington Commanders are expected to take a quarterback in the NFL Draft, but where is the line drawn on who they’ll take?

Where is the line drawn in the quarterback prospect pool? And the answer appears to be Michigan Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

While the debates continue in individual circles about which order the quarterbacks that follow USC’s Caleb Williams should fall most agree he is the top guy while Daniels, Maye, and McCarthy are two-through-four in some order or another.

After those three comes the third teir of quarterback prospects that are headlined by Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr.

Those two specifically, but also everyone else below them, seem to be beyond the cut line after a source confirmed to Commander Country that the team sent only an area scout to Penix’s Pro Day and we have no indication anyone higher up was sent to see Nix during Oregon’s.

Couple that information with the fact that many expect the first four quarterbacks to come off the board within the first six picks and it’s not likely the Commanders would move back beyond that pick which currently belongs to the New York Giants.

Trading back with an NFC East Division rival so they can then draft a quarterback higher than yours seems like public relations suicide, so we can draw a second line at pick No. 5. That pick currently belongs to the Los Angeles Chargers – though they seem unlikely to move up after coach Jim Harbaugh referred to his pick as potentially being another No. 1 selection if four quarterbacks go ahead of him leaving his team with their pick of every other position player available.

Where there’s a line Washington may not cross when drafting quarterbacks, it appears there’s then another one that involves any potential trade back.

Both of those seem to intersect at a spot where the Commanders don’t trade back, and for better or worse stake their opinion on who the second-best quarterback in this year’s class really is.

Podcasts & videos

Locked on Commanders: Washington Commanders Coach Dan Quinn on Roster Improvements, Emmanuel Forbes, and Jamin Davis

Beltway Football – RFK stadium site, weird elbow pics, and DQ; discussing all the latest Commanders news

NFC East links

Blogging the Boys

Cowboys, Ezekiel Elliott have mutual interest in a reunion

The Dallas Cowboys could be bringing the former first-round pick back.

[A]ccording to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Cowboys could bring a veteran in at the position, and it’s a very familiar face.

Fowler reported on Saturday that Dallas and former first-round pick Ezekiel Elliott have mutual interest in a reunion between both parties.

The Cowboys wanted Elliott back last season but at a lower price tag, but the two sides couldn’t reach a compromise. Elliott ran for 642 yards on 184 carries for the New England Patriots last season, which were both career lows.

Big Blue View

2024 NFL Draft prospect profile: Adisa Isaac, edge, Penn State

Projection

Isaac projects as a rotational edge defender with the versatility to play in a variety of offenses at the NFL level.

Isaac’s size and play strength should allow him to play as a traditional defensive end in a 4-man front. He also appears comfortable rushing from a two-point stance in a 3-man or “multiple” front. He’s able to win with power or explosiveness, while also having the technique to fight through blockers and win through effort.

That said, Isaac doesn’t quite have the burst and flexibility to threaten consistently as a speed rusher off the edge. He should be a player teams are comfortable bringing on in relief of a starter, but might give defenses enough to be on the field the majority of snaps.

Final Word: A Day two value

NFL league links

Articles

MMBQ

Using a Chip in the Ball to Measure First Downs Won’t Solve the NFL’s Problems

a first down is not always simply about where the ball reaches. It’s often about where the ball is when forward progress is stopped or a knee is down. Think about a QB sneak, or any running play up the middle that results in a pile of bodies obscuring the refs’ (and cameras’) views of … everything. Sure, it sounds swell to envision a computer telling us exactly where the ball is. But it’s going to be very hard to determine when somebody’s knee (or forearm or shin) was down, and how that corresponds to the end of the play.

And while I love accuracy, I fear that once the world knows what level of precision is possible, there will be pressure to use it on every single play.

Our old pal Alex Prewitt wrote an interesting story in November 2020 about the people who work the chain gang, with all sorts of details about the job. One thing he noted was, “With officials now seemingly defaulting to exact yard lines when spotting the ball on first down, the yard-to-gain is easier to eyeball.”

Won’t it be hard to continue that practice once a chip can tell us more about the ball’s precise coordinates? Won’t there be a temptation after a team picks up a third-down conversion to place the ball at the 36-yard, 1-foot, 3.478256-inch line and force them to go exactly 10 yards from there? And then won’t there be pressure on the ref to put it at that exact spot the chip says, to the inch, after every play is dead? How exactly will they do it? And how long will it take?

It seems like any time a sport introduces new ways to use replay review, it only creates more questions. It’s no accident the “What is a catch?” debate became an Abbott and Costello routine after we started slowing things down frame by frame. The thought of introducing first-down lasers reminds me a bit of the unintended consequences….

But there will be complaints, and controversy, and delays, and potentially old cranks yelling that life used to be better. Possibly enough that you’ll long for the days when a ref watched a play in real time [and] spotted the ball where they thought it belonged….