The Kevin Sheehan Show - Commanders QB & Draft Chat w/Logan Paulsen

Episode Date: April 10, 2023

Kevin opened with the latest Washington Commanders' sale report from Front Office Sports. Kevin also talked Masters and Wizards to start. Then it was two segments with Logan Paulsen where the guys discussed the current Sam Howell vs Jacoby Brissett "competition", the upcoming draft, and the Chase Young dilemma.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheehan Show. Here's Kevin. The show today presented by MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.orgie. Use my promo code, Kevin, D.C.

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Again, use my promo code, Kevin D.C. If there's something already written in the promo code area, erase it, please. And then write Kevin D.C. On the show today, Logan Paulson will be on. He's done a lot of work on the draft. We're going to talk a lot about the draft, but we'll talk a lot about the quarterback situation in Washington as it exists right now, which is Sam Howell versus or maybe not versus Jacoby Brissette.

Don't forget to rate us and review us, especially on Apple and Spotify. Also, follow us. That's really important as well. There's a big follow button. It's a plus sign. It says follow. If you haven't clicked it, if you could click it in the upper right hand corner of your iPhone, if you're listening to us on Apple, if you're listening to us on Spotify, it's about midway down the left hand side of your screen. But following us is important as well. Lots of reviews coming in and lots of five-star ratings. Thank you from Hank. I hate the show. I listen every day. Thank you, Hank. He writes after giving us five stars. The G in strength, or strength is not silent.

Try Google pronunciation. No, I'm not going to try it, actually. I say strength. I don't hear a hard G on that. I don't hear anything but a silent G when I say strength. That's the way I say it. I can't imagine saying it. any other way. So I'm not going to look for the Google pronunciation. But thank you, Hank,

for the five stars. From Irish Sweeney, love listening to Kevin even more so when the great coolie is on. I'm from Dublin, Ireland, lifelong Washington team fan. So it's so good having the podcast to keep me up to date on all the Redskins news. And as far as time goes, the completely useless conversation for the first 20 minutes or so when they are together is probably my favorite bit. I'll meet you at that Shelley's bar if I ever visit DC. Thank you. Also, lots of very nice tweets, emails, reviews on the conversation with Mike Greenberg from last week. He's got that book out. Yeah, Greenie was great. He always. has been as a guest. I've had them on the radio show. Many years ago when we were an ESPN affiliate,

Greenberg and Golick would come down to DC once a year and they would usually do our show, whether it was the show that I was doing initially with Riggins, actually, when we were ESPN, when we were an ESPN affiliate with Triple X radio. That was a long time ago. And then doing the show at Tommy. They would come down once a year and he's always been generous with his time and he's a really good guest and I'm glad you guys enjoyed it. I did too. To be honest with you, the book interests me, the whole, you know, owning a number, most of it being Jersey number related, but you know, like Wilts 100 points, he owns the number 100. Anyway, thank you for those compliments. I thought he was good too. And many of you really thought the conversation

with Teddy Schifler on Friday from Puck News about Bezos was interesting, as did I. I think he actually broke some news when he said and reported that Snyder and Jeff Bezos actually met late last year, like in December of last year. I don't think anybody else had reported that. And if true, and if they were talking about the team, then maybe some of the reporting about Bezos being excluded was inaccurate. But who knows? There is some news today with respect to ownership, and I want to read this to you. It comes from front office sports, A.J. Perez. We've seen a lot of the A.J. Perez and front office sports reporting on the sale of the team, and even before that,

on all of the investigations on the team. But A.J. Perez, front office sports, reporting this morning that commander's owner Dan Snyder is holding out for more. Snyder appears ready to wait and see if another bidder emerges to push the price beyond $6 billion. I'll read from the story. The Washington commanders headquartered and, you know, okay, gets into some sort of analogy of a house sale. Anyway, front office sports reported nearly two weeks ago that the Harris Group, which includes billionaire industrial firm founder Mitchell Rails, an NBA legend and entrepreneur Magic Johnson, entered a bid between $5.5.5 and $6 billion. Meanwhile, Snyder is hoping there's enough curb appeal for another bidder to enter the

picture, and he may need Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to make that a reality. Bezos hired a banking firm but has not yet entered the bidding process. And then he mentions, by the way, the Tillman for Tita Bid. And then he says this, by the way, about Steve Apostolopolis. He said that three sources have told front office sports that Apostolopolis hasn't been able to assemble enough partners and financing to satisfy Bank of America. They're obviously handling the sale. Apostolopolis has made multiple trips to the D.C. area in recent weeks beyond just visiting the commander's facilities since he's emerged as a candidate in the last month. But one source said Apostolopoulos has been dialing for dollars in an attempt to make a bid

that would stick. So as of now, what we know is that the Harris bid is the only bid. I don't believe it's $6 billion. I think it's short of $6 billion. And I think what we also know to a certain extent is that, and I don't believe, I When I say we know, this is what I believe I know. And that is when I started telling you two weeks ago that this was imminent, that it would happen sooner rather than later,

I believe that the Harris bid thought that that was true and was given indication that that was true. And now they have put on, you know, the slow roll here. and the attempt to kind of leverage the one bid he has, Snyder has, into something better, which is why we've heard a lot about Jeff Bezos. But if Apostolopoulos doesn't have the funds, even though he may be interested in making a $6 billion bid, and Tillman Fertita is out, then the only bid really is the Josh Harris bid. And the reporting from Adam Schaefter during the league meetings now two weeks ago was probably a little bit premature in the $6 billion fully funded, fully financed bids that were in. I don't know that that's true.

And I think a lot of the reporting since would indicate that it isn't true. And I think the Harris bids the only firm bid and that they're trying to get Bezos to come in and, you know, bid more and then, or to try to push Harris to bid more. But as of the recording of this podcast, nothing has been accepted. There's been no announcement. And I'm starting to get less confident that it's right around the corner because I think I mentioned this to you guys a week ago. I just received a text from somebody who is in the know that just says Snyder's pulling a

Snyder. And I think what the front office sports reporting indicates is that while maybe he's given indication to the Harris group that he's about ready to move forward, he's not. And he's using their bid to try to get Bezos or somebody else to come in at a higher number. So there we are on that. By the way, there was other news real quickly related to the team's lawsuit with the District of Columbia. Remember Carl Racine? Part of that lawsuit was the money owed to season ticket holders for deposits that had not been returned. Well, today, Brian Schwab, who was the replacement for Racine and is now the current D.C. Attorney General settled a lawsuit with the commanders, and the commanders are paying $625,000 for failing to return ticket.

deposits to fans. Now, the team has not admitted wrongdoing in this case. And it's important to note that this particular settlement is separate from another consumer protection lawsuit also filed by Carl Racine last year, last November, alleging the team and the NFL had repeatedly lied and deceived DC consumers about an internal investigation into sexual harassment of team workers. Remember, that part apparently is not associated with this part and is still out there. I don't know if Brian Schwab will pursue that. But remember, essentially what Carl Racine was claiming is that it was Washington's responsibility to tell prospective season ticket buyers that, hey, we didn't.

treat our female employees well, and we had a toxic workplace. If that were true and that were required, then there'd be a lot of NFL franchises that could be under lawsuit, you know, under suit right now. And, you know, as we discussed back then, you know, the league would almost have to prohibit DC consumers if somehow they won this case from ever being able to purchase. purchase an NFL ticket because there's just too many things going on to disclose everything about your organization before somebody buys a ticket. I doubt much of that would have been sort of something that would have stopped a potential ticket buyer in his or her tracks. I'm not saying that it wouldn't stop some. But anyway, it's important to note that that is not, it's

important to note that the two are separate from one another. The other part of that still has the possibility of continuing. So, the Masters was, it was a marathon yesterday. We're not going to do a full-fledged segment on the Masters because I know many of you don't watch golf. But for those of you that do, to me, the story of the weekend wasn't John Rom. It was Phil Mickelson. Phil Mickelson finishing tied for second with Brooks Kepka after firing a final round 65, a back nine, five under, is really the shocker of the weekend. I think the other shocker for me is Rory McElroy, not making the cut, shooting 7277. There's a whole other conversation about Rory right now and the majors, specifically the masters. There's been a lot of people talking about Rory McElroy being overrated.

That's not a crazy conversation. He's a great player. He wins a hell of a lot. He won the Tour Championship last year, but he hasn't won a major since 2014. And he's kind of choked in the way he's played in some of these majors, especially early in the majors, especially early in Augusta. And when he shot that first round 72, he was seven shots behind three players who shot 65 in the opening round, if you recall. I mean, you had Brooks Kepka at 65 in round one.

You had John Rom at 65, and you had Victor Hovlin at 65. Phil Mickelson, though, I mean, he was one of the few players literally that you got plus money on if he made the cut. He has been so downtrodden, so persona non-grata, so, you know, distant. from everybody else because it's been a rough couple of years for Phil Nicholson on and off the course. You know, since winning that PGA championship at Kiowa. Phil was supposed to be two rounds and gone. Phil went 71-69, and if he hadn't blown up with a 75 in round three, would have contended. He contended he was in the clubhouse with the lead.

And at one point, just two shots off the lead. But John Rom was big yesterday. You know, going three under. Remember, for those of you that watched, he started the day, four behind Kepka as they finished up the third round, and he ended up four in front of Kepka. And Mekyllsen, both Kepka and Mickleson, both Livtor members, finished tied for second. Patrick Reed, another Livetor member, finished tied for four. So the Live Tour players did pretty well. But John Rom's been a machine. He wins for the fourth time on tour this year.

He was awesome. He was awesome to watch. I am surprised because when Kepka took his two-shot lead into the final round, I still liked Kepka. I didn't bet him, but I picked him. I really thought that Kepka looked like he had that killer in him, which he's had many times as he's had that lead in. majors. I didn't think he would give it up. He did. He shot 75. Ram shot 69 ballgame.

What else, sports-wise? How about this Dwayne Haskins situation? I'm not sure how many of you have read about this, but I saw it last night when Ryan Clark tweeted out that there's going to be a civil case in the death of Dwayne Haskins. And then Ian Rappaport had the actual letter from the law firm representing the family of Dwayne Haskins. And there are a couple of things in here that are really interesting. From the law firm of Rick Ellsley, they are filing a civil suit for essentially wrongful death. There are a couple of things in here that are really interesting. First of all, the dump truck that hit Dwayne when Dwayne was inebriated out of his vehicle,

vehicle and trying to cross I-595 in Fort Lauderdale in Broward County, Florida, one year ago yesterday. I can't believe it's been a year. This is what the law firm of Ellsley Law and Rick Ellsley in particular wrote about the dump truck that ran Dwayne over. The Florida Highway Patrol traffic homicide report shows that Dwayne was only feet away from making it safely across the roadway when he was struck and killed by an old dump truck. The truck was going faster than the speed limit, carrying excessive cargo, had brake system problems,

and was traveling on low tread tires with separated sidewalls. The truck driver hit Dwayne with the front left side of the truck. This is directly in front of where the driver was sitting behind the steering wheel. The driver told police that before he hit Dwayne, he saw Dwayne ahead of his vehicle in the center. lane. The report also confirms that before Dwayne was killed, there were multiple other drivers who were driving in front of and behind the dump truck and saw Dway and avoided

hitting him. A few drivers even had the time to call 911 and were present in the area before Dwayne was hit. There were taillights, brake lights, and hazard flashers from these cars as well as a bright traffic construction signal board, all of which illuminates, Dwayne as the dump truck driver was approaching the area where Dwayne was crossing. Many questions remain as to why the truck driver did not avoid hitting Dwayne given the highly visible activity in the area before the impact and the fact that the other drivers did not hit Dwayne. The truck driver's cell phone records have not yet been disclosed. The report also

notes that the driver refused to provide a blood sample to the police at the scene and still is not provided the alcohol test results. So that's one angle from this law firm on pursuing a civil case. Number two is he writes as to what occurred in the hours before Dwayne was killed, and this is really interesting. Many questions remain unanswered. It is believed that Dwayne was targeted and drugged as a part of blackmail, a blackmail and robbery conspiracy. In fact, his highly expensive watch was stolen from him shortly before his death.

The filing of this lawsuit is an important step in the process of uncovering the complete truth about this tragedy. The civil justice system allows for subpoenas to be issued for critical documents and for sworn testimony to be taken of people who have knowledge about the events leading up to Dwayne's death. This is wild. I mean, there are two accusations here. The dump truck driver, for all intents and purposes, they sort of imply, may have been impacted by something because he is not yet given alcohol or blood test results,

that this driver had a chance to avoid Dwayne because many other vehicles had. And then just the suggestion that Dwayne would, was targeted, you know, was drugged and targeted as part of a blackmail and robbery conspiracy. I do remember them, when I say them, in Pittsburgh, a lot of discussion about how Dwayne had really gotten his act together. And he'd been down in Florida working out with receivers, Steeler receivers and I think other receivers as well in the NFL. tragedy really interesting twist to the Dwayne Haskins' story

one more thing to get to before we get to Logan Paulson because I did want to mention just the Wizards final regular season weekend of the season they went and beat the Miami Heat on Friday night I know the heat were sitting a bunch of players too and then they had a 12-point lead yesterday at halftime against Houston

and fortunately they lost that game. They end up tied for seventh in terms of the worst record, the seventh worst record in the NBA. And they'll have a 7.5% chance of winning the lottery. And being in the lottery means that their first round pick is protected. You know, that was the trade with the rockets that sent Wall to Houston, Westbrook to D.C. That's a protected lottery pick for this upcoming draft.

So they're in the lottery, tied for seven. and we'll see where those chips fall. They've got a 32% chance, I think I read of a top four selection. But man, I mean, if they had won that game yesterday, they would have dropped to eighth place and potentially, you know, tied for ninth, depending on the results that were behind them. I mean, they're sitting there winning that game, and I'm just following the score.

On my phone yesterday, I did not watch the season finale between the Wizards and the Rockets. And I'm like, you've got to be kidding me. They're up by 12 at halftime. What are they doing? And Houston really had nothing to play for at all in that game. But they, you know, with just eight players who played yesterday, they lost. By the way, you know, Johnny Davis shot the ball a lot. I was looking at the box score.

I didn't watch any of the game again. He was four for 20 from the floor, three for 15 from behind the arc. But I want to give him props for not being bashful in these final few games of the season. I mean, getting up 15-3-point attempts, good for him. What the hell? But he only made three of them. That's not very good.

He had a couple of good games down the stretch. If you look at the minutes, you know, when he started playing significant minutes, kind of mid-last month is my guess somewhere around there. Had a couple of really good games, a couple of 20-point outings where he shot the ball well and rebounded the ball well and played well defensively. A decent two-way player had some blocks, had some steals in there.

But yeah, in his final game of his rookie season, four for 20 from the floor, but hoisted up 15 three-point attempts, only made three of them. All right. Let's get to Logan Paulson. We will do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Joining me right now, Logan Paulson. Of course, Logan played here from 2010 through 2015 for both Mike Shanahan and Jay Gruden.

Played for the Bears, the Niners, the Falcons, the Texans, has been working in media for a few years now. He's been on this podcast many times, been on the radio show as well. He's got his own podcast with Craig Hoffman called Take command. You can get that anywhere you get a podcast. You can follow him on Instagram at Logan underscore Paulson 82, and I'll let you at the end here plug anything else that I'm missing. You do work for the team on the team's website, NBC Sports Washington. I want to start with this, because we're going to get into some draft talk because Logan's been looking very closely at the

upcoming draft, doing profiles of players, and we'll get to some of that. But let's talk about this situation here as it exists now quarterback-wise. Sam Hal, you know, Ron's kind of bounced around all over the place, but for now he's got that, you know, off-season QB1 label on him, but Ron says, you know, it's going to be a competition or might be a competition who knows with Jacoby Berset, who they added via free agency. First question, Logan, is just handicap this quarterback competition. If you even want to call it a quarterback competition, but give me your hunch right now on how the next few months play out. Handicap, you know, Hal versus Bressett. Yeah, I mean, I think if I was going to put kind of a characterization of it, I would say that,

you know, Ron probably did the right thing, saying that he was going to get the first shot to be quarterback one, Sam Howell. I know how high they are on him in that building. I know how they respect, you know, him is his process, but not only his process for, process for a mental standpoint, but also the tools, the anticipation, the touch, the armed talent, the mobility that he brings, and kind of looking around the NFL that quarterback that have been recently successful, it seems like they have a skill set that kind of mirrors a shade of what Sam Howell has. So I think, you know, getting a rookie quarterback, you know, kind of to be your long-term starter, allows you to do a lot of different things. So I understand

Ron's affinity and philosophy there by saying, you know, we want to give Sam Howell the first crack. I also believe that it's excellent that they brought in Jacoby Perci, a guy that kind of understand what it means to be a true backup in the NFL, but also, you know, played starting caliber football last year. I noticed I wasn't saying, you know, he's not a high-end backup low-and-starter type of thing. He was a starting caliber football player last year. So bringing in a guy, by all accounts, an excellent teammate, a guy that will get himself ready, a guy that if something were to go sideways with Sam Howell, even in the 12th hour,

can come in winning a bunch of football games. it's a pretty outstanding process by Ron and the staff here. So I think, you know, as much as limited as it is to kind of go into the off-season and going to the 2024 season saying Sam Powell will be our starter, but we'll have the first shot at it. I think there's a lot of benefits there, but I also think they insulated themselves at a high level by bringing in Jacoby Bursad, who to me is the best at what he does in the NFL.

All right. I do want to go back to the final week of the season leading up to, you know, the week of preparation for Dallas and kind of the conversation about quarterback. But right now, because you brought up Bresset and you talked about how high they are on Sam Howe, what's your hunch as to how this plays out over the next, you know, four plus months? Yeah, I mean, I don't have any insight on this. I haven't talked to me on staff about it. I just would guess having been in comparable situations that Sam's going to get the majority of the starter reps

and they're going to kind of expect Jacoby to learn the offense and be productive with the offense, getting limited one reps, probably majority two reps, and trusting that he's been around the NFL long enough to kind of understand NFL offenses, this offense, and get himself ready to go. So that's kind of what I think. I think Sam's going to get every opportunity to win the job.

And like I said, you know, you got off-season to see how he's picking up the offense. you got OTAs, mini-camp, you got training camp to see how he's picking up the offense. And if for whatever reason it's not where you want it to be, you got Jacoby Verset in the wings, who I think can kind of step in, beat a starter for a little bit, and then step out if they feel the same gets ready at some point this year. So I think given the parameters they set for themselves this off season, I think this is about as good as you could expect of a situation for them to be in. So what is your hunch, Logan, as to what they'll see? Do you think they'll see enough that the advantage that they've sort of given him with, you know, as you described, he'll get many of the first team reps. Do you think it'll hold up and he'll be the starter opening day and he'll be the starter for much of, if not all, of 2023?

Or do you think Brissette ultimately will, you know, emerge as the guy that gives him the best chance to win? Yeah, it's hard for me right now to think of Sam giving them a better opportunity. than Jacobi percent, given what I saw from Jacobi last year. I mean, he just did a really excellent job in that Cleveland offense, understanding kind of his role. You know, it's an excellent job on third down. Obviously, that's a run first system there in Cleveland, but did a great job with the play action pass, did a great job with the keeper stuff, elevated third down stuff for them when he had to, not always great in that area, but did a good job, you know, much better job than the quarterback that Washington had here last year. No offense to Taylor Hineke and Carson

Went, but he did an excellent job last year. So it's hard for me to do a good in that area. envision that happening. But I do think, excuse me, that there is a lot of talent in Sam Howell and a lot of potential. And, you know, one of the things about my off-season, I've gone to the senior bowl, I've gone to the combine, had an opportunity to talk to a lot of different talent evaluators. And when you talk to them, in retrospect, at least, like, they had a very, very high opinion of Sam Howell, lots of, lots of evaluators from, you know, different organizations, different teams, different levels of the organization. So I was actually kind of surprised by the positive feedback of the football community towards Sam Howell.

Not that I wasn't impressed with what I saw last year, but it was just kind of overwhelming for a guy that is flipped to the fifth round. So a little surprised by that, but obviously there are a lot of people around the NFL who thought he was very talented. And I think Washington fans last year got to see some of that talent on display. So I do think Sam, because of his physical tools, might come in and kind of elevate the offense in a way that Jacoby can't. And I think he's going to get a big opportunity to do that.

I think his running ability is something that can't be overstated because I think it does add value to offense. I mean, look at Daniel Jones up in New York and what he was able to do in terms of stealing third downs, you know, the keeper game, some of the RPO zone read stuff. So I think, you know, if he's going to win the job, it's because of how he elevates the offense with his physical skill set, not necessarily because of a pure quarterback play that I think you get from Jacoby Percette. What do you think? So let's just say, because I think what I'm hearing from you is early on, Jacoby Brissette probably gives them the best chance to play quarterback at a level that gives them the best chance to win. But Sam Howell's upside is there, and they may chase that upside for a while.

Is that kind of what you're describing? Like, even if Jacoby Brissette perhaps gives them a better chance to win in weeks one through six, they'll believe too much in Sam Howell's long-term talent. so they'll start Sam? That's kind of what I am saying, yeah. Because, I mean, it's not an indictment of Sam, but think, Jacoby Versette's an eight-year veteran. He's learned offenses. He's studied under Tom Brady.

He's been around Andrew Luck. He's been on some of the best quarterbacks to ever do it. And some of the most innovative offensive schemes, he knows how to learn different systems. He knows process. He knows how to study. He knows how to prepare. And in my experience, just irrespective of a position, that guy who's got that foundation usually wins the job just because they know how to digest and process and learn offenses at a high level.

So I think because of that, obviously, I think Chocobi's going to give them a better chance earlier, but I do think you can't overlook, like you're saying, Sam's ability to elevate this offense long term. I think his armed talent is exceptional, his release is exceptional, his anticipation, his ability to layer throws is exceptional, be a running ability, it's something again that I keep harging back to, because when you hear people talking about quarterbacks in this year's class, quarterbacks that were successful last year, Jalen Hertz being one of them,

if you can build a certain element of a quarterback run game around the quarterback and get five to 600 yards rushing from the quarterback, that brings the floor of the offense up tremendously. And he did show in his limited time playing in the preseason in the last game against Dallas an ability to do that. So I do agree. I think they are going to try and chase some of that upside

because I do think it brings the floor of the offense up a little bit, potentially, if he's mentally ready to handle kind of NFL offense, you know, at the highest level. All right. Well, maybe you just answered my next question, which is if I told you that Berset was the starter on opening day, the talent didn't change. So what was it that cost Sam Howell a chance to start the season? Yeah. Yeah, to me, it's all going to be on the first. intellectual side of it. I think when you look at his physical skill set, it's there, right? And when you, again, when you talk to people at the combine, one of the things they said is that last

year, they were a little bit worried about his chalkboard stuff, right? And that's not an indictment of Sam. I think Sam's a very smart guy. And they even said they thought Sam was very smart. But he's just football IQ at that time because of the offense he was running in South Carolina was not overly advanced. North Carolina. So North Carolina, sorry, thank you. So has he developed in that area? It seems that he, he's, he's has. Like when you watch practice film from last year, it seems he's got a pretty good grasp what's going on. Everyone raves about his process kind of individually over the course of last season in terms of getting better. So I'm assuming that he's much wiser in terms of

his football IQ in terms of the diversity of what he knows. But he's going to be learning a new offense. So that can be really, really challenging. And again, not even a same. Like, it's very hard. And I've seen really smart players come to new systems and struggle. Like Carson Wentz is supposedly very, very smart. Got almost the photographic memory and learn offices very quick, but learning the details and the nuance of the offense served to be a pretty big challenge for him last year. I think everybody kind of got to see that on full display. So that to me is the thing that I want to kind of see unfold over the course of this off season is how does Sam learn this stuff? How does he pick

it up? And if he's picking up at a high level, I think there's no, there's no doubt my mind will be the week one starter. It's just a big question as to whether he can get that done. So let's just go back briefly. I don't want to spend a lot of time on, you know, the one start that he had. But that week was an interesting week. First of all, you know, you discussed, and it wasn't necessarily your opinion, but you thought there was a chance that he wouldn't play or he'd play limited minutes because perhaps they didn't think he was ready. In the meantime, Ron Rivera pretty much backed that up by saying initially, Taylor's going to start the final against Dallas and, you know, Sam will play. And then he did a 180.

when Taylor talked him out of it and said, no, give Sam, which by the way was kind of a shrewd move by Taylor, why risk his neck? You know, it wasn't like all of a sudden he was going to prove anything more than what he had already proved. So what do you, in hindsight, make about that, you know, strange 24 hours? I mean, we essentially went from a Monday in which the head coach wasn't sure that Sam Hal should start a meaningless preseason style game to eight days later he's got QB1 slapped on him. Yeah, I mean, obviously that was a pretty interesting couple of days, you know, and I think, you know, and I think I understand kind of where Ron was coming from early. Like that Dallas defense was pretty incredible last year in terms of their ability to rush the passer

and create turnovers on the back end. And I don't think you want your, you know, your potential quarterback of the future if you think that way, him to be kind of shell-shocked in his first outing by a really good defense. And if you can, like I said, I said this at the time, is you can manage his exposure and say, oh, you know, first half Taylor-Hineke, second half with the game, you know, out of reach or whatever, and the game's kind of settled. We know what Dallas is trying to do. We kind of know what's working.

We can get, I mean, you know, I don't have a problem with that. And then, you know, like you said, he kind of ended up saying, well, Sam, you get to start. And I think, looking back at that start, you know, I think the whole, you know, I think the whole time. The whole season, Ron and the staff was excited about Sam. You know, they just, it's hard to know how, how far along he is in terms of development. Because he hasn't gotten any kind of real reps or anything resembling real reps since the preseason. So, you know, I don't really fault Ron or the staff for kind of, you know, doing the hokey pokey there for a little bit and trying to figure out exactly what the right

solution was. But I ultimately, I'm glad that Sam did get to start because I wanted to see what could do. And, you know, I know Scott Turner's gone, but I thought Scott Turner called an excellent game and put Sam in excellent situations to make kind of the best account of himself. So ultimately, like, we got to see Sam and what he can do some of the positive things we've already discussed. So, you know, it's funny, though. It's a funny process for Ron to kind of be jumping back and forth, but ultimately, I think he settled on the right decision. Do you think if he hadn't played, like if they had just said Taylor's going to go out there, you know, part of me thinks Ron kind of wanted to finish with a non-losing record and have the

best chance at that, which they ultimately won the game and finished 8, 8 and 1, which was a 500 record? Do you think if we had not seen Sam Howe in the season finale that we'd be talking about him as a guy having a QB1 label, or they would have passed on being public about that? And hence, we wouldn't have thought of them that way, maybe. Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think that's a really good question. It's something that I've kicked around quite a bit. Like, if Sam had come out and, you know, looked really average or if Sam hadn't played at all, like, you know, where are we with regards to the Sam

Halasaga and the soft season for the commanders? Like, are we talking quarterback at 16, are we talking them trading up? and ultimately it's an unknowable question because, you know, only the people in the building know really where they're at in terms of their evaluation with Sam. And even I, you know, who has pretty good access to the team and stuff. Like, it's hard for me. It was hard for me last year to kind of get a true evaluation off of what Sam was doing in practice. Not because Sam wasn't doing well, but it's just like, you know,

what are they telling him, how much of the offenses you have, you know, all of those kind of factors that are unknowable to anybody that's not in the building. So I do think that's an interesting kind of fun. lot of experiment. Part of me says no, but, you know, like I said, they might have had a really high expectation for Sam. And, you know, kind of to your point, I don't think they would have come out and said anything in the media demonstrably saying Sam is our starter about Dallas game, but they might have kind of felt that way internally. Yeah, and maybe that would have taken some pressure off him. I just think that there would have been no reason. I think part of it,

Logan, is this is my sort of theory, is when that season, especially after the Cleveland game, which was, you know, not only a disaster as far as the quarterback decision went, but, you know, the head coach didn't even know his team could be eliminated at the end of that day. And it was just kind of an embarrassing situation all together. By the way, I didn't, you know, just, I didn't have a problem with them making the switch back to Carson. I thought we had seen enough at Taylor Heineke. I know, and I know you know this, that if Taylor hadn't created the magic in the Meadowlands on that final drive of regulation,

we probably would have gotten Carson Wentz against the Giants in this Sunday night game with the bi-week in between. That's really what they wanted to do. But after Heineke pulled off that magic act, they had to give them a chance. And I think also Carson got sick that week. If I recall, Sam was the backup that Sunday night. But anyway, I'm getting off track here.

I think one of the other things that's interesting about this is that, If they really were super optimistic about him, and Ron pointed out last week that once Carson went down and they could see him in his backup role and they got to see him more, do you think that it even occurred to them at any point when they had kind of seen enough of Taylor Heineke and they were ready to make a move with the offense being so stagnant?

Do you think it ever occurred to them? Or why didn't it occur to them that maybe we should give Sam a shot against the Giants on Sunday night football or against the Browns. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I think that's, that's, like, all of these things you brought up, I think, I think Len leads to kind of a direction of behavior that doesn't always make sense. And I think that's one of the reasons, like, when I talk to, you know, guys to beat, when I talk to fans, like that's something that they always find very frustrating.

It's like, you know, if they felt this way, if, you know, if this is how they truly felt like, wouldn't they have done XYZ? And, you know, I've been around a lot of football, you know, I played 10 years in the NFL. And one of the things I noticed when you're kind of in the teeth of it, and you probably notice this too covering the team is sometimes the team is not overly aware of these kind of developmental factors with players who are not contributing right now. And so, you know, I think they were put in a position where they kind of had to make an assessment, kind of had to make a decision. And it kind of brought everything in the stark focus. So, you know, as much as, you know, you say, oh, look at this. look at this time where he was the backup or whatever it was,

I think that, you know, they probably kind of had him slotted in a specific way in their mind Sam Howell I'm talking about. And then when they kind of had to make the decision, they were able to go back and kind of have a dialogue about it and say, you know, maybe this is the right thing for him and for the organization moving forward and, you know, kind of go back and watch film, go back and watch practice, go back and talk to the scouts. And I think that's what the last week of the season did. So, you know, to your point, like maybe early in the season they hadn't even given them much stop,

but when they had to give it thought, I think they made a decision. I think they made the best decision ultimately, and it worked out for Sam, and it worked out for the team. And I think they're in a pretty cool spot with a guy that they drafted in the fifth round who could potentially be something pretty special, obviously. You know, that's a big if, but I do think that's in the cards potentially for Sam. What do you want to see them do to give him the best chance to succeed? You've already addressed sort of the dual threat nature. You said actually five to 600 yards rushing.

You're now into the category of approaching Daniel Jones numbers and Jalen Hertz numbers, et cetera. So what do you think Eric Bianney and company need to do to give him the best chance? Yeah, so first of all, I think they need to really kind of figure out who they want to be offensively and have a really strong identity. Like I think back to when Alex Smith was the quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs and how run first they were and how they used kind of different personnel groupings, 13 personnel, 22 personnel groupings, stuff that isn't quite as popular in the NFL anymore

to kind of make stuff simpler for Alex, allow them to be more of a game manager. I think all that kind of stuff should be on the table. I think the addition of another kind of big run-blocking offensive lineman, whether it's a guard or tackle, and if it's tackled, do you move wildly to guard? in the draft, I think is something that I would definitely consider. And then how you're coaching the information, I think, is also something that I think should be really, really at the forefront of the staff's mind. One of the things about Daniel Jones, you could tell they made an emphasis for him,

like if the reeds not there, be ready to run, but not be overly aggressive with the running. They kind of found a nice balance for him where he doesn't feel like he needs to win every single play with his legs. But when he does win the play with his legs, it's impactful. And it really positively affects the defense. I remember when we were getting ready to play, the Giants did a big evaluation. And it was like the majority of Daniel Jones' rushing yards

don't come off of design quarterback runs. They come up to scrambles. But the design quarterback run feature of the offense did a good job insulating the runs, elevating the offensive line, and elevating Sequel and Barclan. In addition to the RPO, in addition to the keepers and the play action past up,

where he's able to get out of the perimeter and move the pocket. And again, elevate an offensive line that was really, really struggling last year. So to me, that's not necessarily the quarterback elevating. That's just the staff there in New York saying this is what he does. Well, how do we maximize this skill set to elevate everybody else? So it's really kind of, I think, the most important element is the coaching and the things they emphasize from a play-calling standpoint and kind of making sure that he doesn't have too much on his plate at any one time.

and I think that's going to be a very fine line, the very challenging thing to do this season. But I do think that that's why you bring Eric Bain and me in to get that kind of elevation from a young quarterback. I mean, you started your answer with 13 and 22 personnel, you know, and it seems like in listening to Ron, they feel like they have the tight ends they need on this roster. Do you agree with that or not?

Yeah, I know I probably felt like I'm taking crazy pills here, but like, you know, again, I played a long time, did a lot of evaluations, talked to a lot of really smart people over the course of my time in the NFL. And one of the things that drives tight-in production in the NFL is traits. And what I mean by that is like how fast, how high they can jump. And you, for whatever reason, the scouting department here has done an excellent job of finding football players with tremendous traits.

I mean, Armani Rogers is probably the most traits-driven player on the roster. He's 6-5-6. He runs a 4-5-40. He could have played receiver in a version. of this offense and the reversion of last year's offense. Nice physicality at the block point, obviously not overly refined, but in terms of athletic traits, it's all there. Cole Turner pitched the football better than probably anybody, any tight end that I've ever

looked at in terms of catch radius. Really? And Curtis Hodges is the converter. Yeah, he does an outstanding job catching the football in terms of body control and kind of adjusting to that high point football and just attacking the football with strong hands. I mean, it's kind of, it's unprecedented in a way, like just thinking back to the guys that I played with

and even, you know, thinking about Chris Cooley, a guy who caught the football great. Like, there's a snap and a sharpness the way that Cole catches the ball that's very unique to him. And then Curtis Hodges is a converter-wide receiver who's 6-8 and has been basically in a redshirt year, and he's like 255 now.

And again, has some of that basketball, adjust the football, the air ability. And when I look at what they did in Cincinnati with their backup side in there, who's Dave escapes me number 88. He's a converted wide-out basketball player who they were able to find nice one-on-one kind of opposite Travis Kelsey and get easy touches and easy reach for the quarterback. And so I know they're young.

I know they're inexperienced at the position. I know there's a lot of development there. But I think that's one of the reasons why you go hire a guy like Juan Castillo and a guy that is notorious for kind of bringing along younger football players at the position. So I think, you know, if you're looking at this year's draft class for tight-ed, ends, you say, you know, in terms of athletic profile, you're going to be hard-pressed to find guys who are more athletically developed in this group. Now, are you going to find guys who are better at playing tight-end? Possibly. But I like the athletic upside of this group a lot, and I like the

experience of Logan Thomas. I like the physicality of John Bates. They have a nice, solid group here. It just depends on can these guys develop? Much in the same way, you know, you're asking the question, can Sam develop? It's kind of the same thing for this tight-end room. I think you were thinking of Blake Bell. And I was interested to see because he was a free agent, if Eric B. Enemy would reach out. But I think Kansas City re-signed him. Anyway, a couple more.

And then I just want to ask you some draft questions because I knew you've been looking at it. Do you think Jacoby Berset is better than anything they've had at quarterback since Kirk Cousins here? And I don't want to discount Alex Smith's 2018 start, but that was not a dynamic. offense in 2018. You know, it really wasn't before his injury.

Had they had anybody with his ability, I'm not putting him into the top half of the league here, but I thought he played well last year too, and I don't want to discount the whole Gino-Smith scenario either with maybe a Jacoby Brissette. But, you know, you've talked a little bit about him. Describe him a little bit more compared to what we've had around here. Yeah, I mean, I just think there's like a certain, obviously, completely my kind of intellectual load that the position requires. And everyone that's been here is kind of, you know, maybe to go fault of their own,

they're in different offices, different coordinators. That's kind of struggle with that. And last year when you watched Jacobi's film, obviously there are games where he does struggle with that. But I think you see a guy who's playing kind of a more advanced version of the position. And what I mean by that is obviously you get your top three or four guys in the NFL who are playing the position the way. God intended them to play the position.

Go anticipating throws, off-schedule plays. They're checking stuff with the line of scrimmage, and it's just this super elite product. Then you get into the next five guys, and you say it's a version of that, but they lack of the explosive ability. Next five guys, they're kind of struggling, and that's where you get into kind of your

her cousins guys that can do it, but it's not quite as sharp as those top five guys. But I do think that Jacoby brought elements of all of that stuff to his play last year in Cleveland. And obviously he has some physical limitations, you know, in terms of the speed of his release. And I think there's times where he's trying to win the down, like he's holding football too long or whatever, and he's trying to force the football. But I think you see a guy who has a mastery at the line of scrimmage.

He's got good leadership qualities. He throws with good anticipation. He understands conceptually what defenses are trying to do to stop him. And to me, those things are very, very valuable. And like when you're watching Carson Wentz, for example, last year, there was a deliberate deliberateness to his process that made me nervous about his effectiveness in this offense here. And with Jacoby, there's not that same kind of deliberate approach where I have to see something come open to make the throw. I can anticipate throws. I can get us in the right place in the line

of scrimmage. I can win some off-schedule stuff. So I do think that, you know, I agree with you. I don't think he's like a top 15, top 17 guy in the NFL, but I do think he brings something that this team has not had in a couple of years in terms of a guy who's just seeing the game the way the position is required to see it. And again, let's not that those guys fault. A lot of those guys were young or inexperienced journeyman types, but I think he brings some of that

professionalism to the position that this organization hasn't seen since Kirk. Yeah, I mean, one of the things I'm thinking is, you know, there is some pressure on, I don't know if there's pressure on Ron Rivera or not, because I don't know if he cares necessarily, because I think he views this as sort of the twilight of his career, but there is some pressure on Eric B. Enemy to perform.

And they won eight games last year with Taylor Heineke, primarily a quarterback, because they have a decent roster, you know, and they had it, you know, if they've upgraded their offensive line and you upgrade the quarterback, could they be a nine or ten win team, not a Super Bowl contender by any stretch? But I wonder if they would go for that if they felt like they had the opportunity. opportunity. So Eric Bianamy, do you think he'll make the call on all of this, you know,

all of the big decisions on offense, including the quarterback? Does he have that level of autonomy? I think that's a really good question. I think, you know, with the quarterback, I'm sure one of the things they asked him in his interview, like, what did you think of Sam Howell and do you think you get them to go. And I think, you know, if I was, if I was up for the interview, I'd say, yes, I love Sam Hell, and yes, I think I could get them to go. And so I think there's probably a little bit of, like, kind of understood, um, undertone here between Ron and Eric and the front office that they're going to try and see if Sam Al has the ability to kind of be the starter of the future for them. And so I think everyone's kind of operating under that, um, under that pretense that at the moment, right? But obviously

I do think that Eric B. The enemy is no shrinking violent. He's going to tell you exactly how he feels. And if he thinks that Sam Howe isn't handling the process the right way or developing the way that this offense needs in order for this offense to be successful, I'm sure he's kind of voiced his opinion because, like you said, his career and the perception of his career relies on this being an effective office in 2024. Because he, you know, like I know Eric a little bit, you know, he coached me at UCLA.

We've stayed in touch over the years. he wants to be a head coach. And so for him to be a head coach, he needs to show that he is not totally reliant on Andy Reed or any Reid and Patrick Mahomes. And this is his first opportunity to do that. He wants this to go as well as it could possibly go. So I do think that while, you know, there is this kind of this notion that Sam's would be the starter, I do think that Eric, if it's not going the way he wants to go, we'll definitely make his opinion known. Love this conversation so far with Logan Paulson. We're going to take a break when we come back. We will talk draft primarily. We'll also get to Chase Young in the fifth year option,

but Logan's been doing a lot of work on the draft. That's next right after these words from a few of our sponsors. I know you've been looking at the draft, and we're going to be here in two and a half weeks before we know it. The first question real quickly is if I told you that they didn't add an offensive lineman in rounds one, two, or three, All right, the first two nights of the draft, they did not take an offensive lineman. You know, they decided to go corner, tight end, best player available, wasn't an offensive lineman. Is their offensive line good enough right now with what they did here in the offseason with adding Wiley, adding Gates, etc? Or is it going to be a problem again?

Yeah, I mean, I think it depends on who you talk to. I think, you know, like when you watch Kansas City film, when you watch what Wiley did in Kansas City, like Eric understands Wiley, understands what he's good at, the end of the limitations and calls and helps that position nicely. And so I think, you know, I think the enemy understands kind of what he has and Wiley. I think Cosby, at least to my eye, has the potential to be a very, very good guard. Obviously, you need some type of development from him. I think at Center, you know, Ted Larson did an excellent job.

Tyler Larson, excuse me, did an excellent job in terms of when he had to start. obviously there was an injury concern there, but I think he'd feel pretty good about that. Nick Gates is a swing guard tackle. His film is very solid when he was in New York. Left guards, obviously, a little bit of a red flag, in my opinion, because you don't have a designated starter there. You've got some young guys who could potentially step in and do some stuff there for you, but you're counting on a lot of development there, much like you are with the tight-ins and the quarterback. And I think, you know, Leno gets a lot of heat, but I think when you look at his down-to-down production last year,

he was a serviceable left tackle in the NFL, top-17, top-15 type guy. that's fine. So as long as the play calling can protect that group, I think you feel pretty good. I just would say that you want just a little bit more depth, a little bit more use, I think a little bit more flexibility at tackle. So drafting a tackle or a player like Matthew Bergeron out of Syracuse who can play guard and tackle or darned out right who can play guard and tackle to add some flexibility to this group. Maybe they play left guard for a year, excuse me, then move to right tackle or left tackle when Leno or Wiley makes a position switch or whatever it may be.

I think that's something that I would kind of point to, but I think if you had to go into the season with this group, you probably feel okay. You know, I wouldn't feel great. I think the staff probably feels better about the group than I do, but I don't think I would necessarily be too shocked. I'd be shocked maybe because of, I think, offensive line, especially to tackle,

especially in the first two rounds, is probably a strength of this draft. So if it's there for you, why not? but I think the group is solid, but there are some areas that you're still banking on development at. Are you discounting Chase Ruey and Norwell? Yeah, so I actually didn't, you know, Norwell specifically, I think did a fine job last year. You know, he's a top 40 guard in the NFL, and each team's got two, so that's not ideal, but that's not necessarily bad either.

And then Rueh, you know, I just, speaking from personal experience, having had a lot of, injuries having been around guys with multiple big injuries and back-to-back seasons. Psychologically, it's tough. It's tough coming back from something like that. So, you know, if he wants to come back, like, I think that's fantastic, and I fully support that, but I also empathize with how challenging that can be. So as of right now, I'm not banking on Chase, you know, because I think that he's got a lot of, you know, personal things to work out with regards to his health and his career and

what he wants to do and where he thinks his body's at. But if you were to come back, that'd be fantastic. I think that'd be great for the team. But again, until I hear something about that, I'm not, I'm kind of slow playing the chase really, I think. All right. So let's talk quarterback in the draft. And let's just assume, which is safe, that Price Young and C.J. Stroud are long gone. And the only possibilities of anybody at 16 are if Will Levis drops, if Anthony Richardson drops.

and then there's been a lot of buzz over Henden Hooker here in the last couple of weeks. So let's focus on those three. First of all, do you think they'll consider quarterback at 16? Secondly, would you consider quarterback at 16, if any one of those three, especially the first two Richardson and or Levis dropped? Yeah, so I think, you know, with regards to do you consider quarterback, I think you're foolish if you don't. I think what you've done in free agencies, you've built.

your roster out so that you don't have to pick any specific player. I don't have to pick it online. I don't have to pick a DB. I can pick the best person available. And if that happens to be a quarterback, especially if it's someone like Anthony Richardson, who slips for whatever reason to 16, which seems very unlikely.

Let's say hypothetically they do, then I think you definitely engage with that thought process and that thought experiment. And it ultimately settled and you say that's not the right decision for us in the franchise. That's one thing. But I definitely think you consider it there. Now, of those guys you just mentioned, I think the one guy that I would consider at 16 is Anthony Richardson.

And that's not because I think he's, you know, the second time of John Allen, but I do, or Josh Allen, excuse me, but I do think that he has tremendous upside and could be something very, very special down the road. And in terms of lottery tickets, I think that's something that I would be very reluctant to pass up. Now, I do think that you're probably a year away from, you know, him actually being a significant contributor to any offense in the NFL. And I think, you know, when you're looking at draft and national, analysis, the teams that are considering him are teams like the Seattle Seahawks and teams like

the Detroit Lions, teams with starters for the next year or two, which would allow Richardson to develop in the offense and kind of refine some of the rawness he has as a passer. So that's kind of my thought on it. Do I think it's the right fit for Washington? Not necessarily, but if I'm considering anybody, it's probably Anthony Richardson. What do you make of the Hendon Hooker conversation recently about him sneaking into maybe the later portion of the first round? it's funny like I hadn't watched the son of head and Tucker and then all of a sudden it becomes you know part of the story part of the narrative in the area of the DMV and I do think he has some tremendous skills right he's he's playing on rhythm he's got a nice kind of anticipation to his game he's got a nice athleticism he feels the pocket in a nice way I will say the one thing about evaluating him is that you know unfortunately that tennis the offense there's there's nothing there's very little that's transferable because he will say the one thing about evaluating him is that you know unfortunately that tendency to offensive there's there's nothing there's very little that's transferable because

the NFL game in terms of route concepts, what they're asking to do, the types of readies, he's being asked to make. It's hurry up. It's like a one look throw. And, you know, it's designed to get the player and the receiver open by concept because you've simplified the defense with up-tempo, so you can kind of dictate the concept you want to run. So it's really hard from that standpoint, but in terms of ball velocity, release, all those kind of physical traits, I think you feel pretty good about it.

It's just I don't know mentally where he's at in relation to playing quarterback at the NFL level. I think that's one of things that's so challenging about his evaluation specifically. It's like where does he fit and how far along is he? But I do think he has some ability. I think it's also important to note for fans who are interested in the team going this way. He's going to be 26 years old. He's coming off an ACL. So, you know, I think that's also a factor, a huge factor in terms of how comfortable I would be taking him.

the hooker and the draft. I was going to ask you, put the ACL to the side for a moment. Does him being 25 and turning 26 before the end of next season at that position, does that bother you? Not really. I mean, I know there's a lot of people that it does bother. You know, scouts and people that I've talked to, but I think, you know, with the way the position is going, the longer the career for the quarterback, the way they're protecting the quarterback, it's reasonable that at 30 he gets another contract, you know, and I think that's totally reasonable, totally plausible, especially if he develops the way you think he's going to develop.

So it doesn't really bother me. I guess he's an older prospect, and I think sometimes those younger guys, you know, it doesn't bother me. Long story short, doesn't bother me. Yeah, I mean, I think you could make the case that in today's game, and you just mentioned some of the reasons why, the way they protect the quarterback in particular,

that quarterbacks now may not be in their prime or the beginning portion of their prime until they're 29, 30 years old. I mean, and then you've got, you know, a run of maybe five, six, seven years of them in their prime, you know, before they start to perhaps deteriorate physically, depending on the kind of quarterback they are. I mean, if the guy could play and he was really good at that position in that league, that wouldn't bother me.

at all. I understand the NBA concern. You know, well, if they're 24 or going on 25, I mean, if you don't know that this guy, I mean, he's already physically mature. That's one thing. I mean, this is a mentally mature position, and it takes time. Yeah, and I think, you know, the fact that he interviewed well at the senior bowl, he interviewed well at the combine. Everyone's talking about his character. I think those things kind of quiet some of those concerns, you know, if you're Stenson Bennett and you're getting arrested because you chose not to go to the senior bowl. That's a totally different type of story, right? You wonder about maturity, you wonder about all those kind of things.

And I don't think those same personality concerns are there for Hendon Hooker. Other than your intrigue with Anthony Richardson and I agree with that, is there a quarterback, you know, on Friday night or Saturday, day two or day three, that you'd love to see them, you know, take a flyer on? I was going to say Hennon Hooker, day two wouldn't be a bad deal. But, you know, because I think he's a pretty good football player.

The other guy is Tanner Rakee from Stanford. I think he's a guy who's a little bit traditional. In terms of how he plays the position, he's six and a half, so six seven basically big arm, kind of statuesque back there. But, you know, again, talking about a tough offense in a different way, Stanford's offense was so bad in terms of creativity and nuance and any kind of thing like that.

And he did a great job with tight window throws anticipating throws, throwing players open, and to a bunch of receivers who were not overly talented in terms of creating separation. So that always kind of gets me excited when I see a quarterback elevating skill sets. And so Tannerickey, Head and Hooker are kind of, I know that's probably boring, but those are the two guys that I really, really like. And I know there's some other guys who like the guys from Fresno and all those places.

And I just don't see the same type of upside physically as I do with Head and Hooker and Tanner All right. Tell me what you've been looking at, who you've been looking at, and I'm sure it sort of ties in with, you know, who may be there at 16. Yeah, I mean, I've watched, how many, I've watched like 150 prospects and then a little light up with all of them just to. Really? Are you working? You should be, this should be a more significant revenue generating activity for you than just media. Yeah, it should be probably. But, you know, that's where you come in, Kevin, and give me some mentorship advice. Yeah, but I've watched over to the guys, and in terms of 16, you know, if you want to go a corner, I'm assuming that those top two guys with a swimming in McDonald's will probably be off the board.

Those are my tier one corners. I give, you know, with a smooth, an absolute dog. I have Deonté Banks above Joy Porter Jr. I just think he's a better athlete, more physical tackler, just a more competitive guy. And so if he's developed a 16 and I needed to go corner, that's where I'd be. probably go, but I think it's important for fans to understand that this is a very deep cornerback class. So ideally I'd want to trade out of 16, but if you have to make a pick, that's one. Anton Harrison from Oklahoma is probably my third best offensive lineman, the head of Roger Jones,

and I've seen people not talking about him, and from a past protection standpoint, specifically on the left side, I think he's probably one of the best in the draft. It just does he have the position flex to play right tackle would be my question. A guy that plays right tackle that's a really good football player is Darnel Wright from Tennessee, the big physical mauler with a run-first scheme. You know, but if you can trade back, I do think there's value at tackle later. You know, like I've seen drafts where Duane Jones, a tackle from Ohio State, who I like a lot, is available close to 48.

You know, Matthew Bergeron, again, available close to 48. Cody Mock, if you're looking for a guard, is probably one of my favorite guards in the class, even over Osiris Torrance. big guard from Florida. Center. There's outstanding centers. There's Whippler from Ohio State. There's Titman from Wisconsin. And there's the kid from Minnesota who's

been awesome John Michael Smith. So there's plenty of guys if you can trade back that I think are probably more value. It's just about is there a dance partner to trade at the 16 and get something. And so that's when you ask the quarterback question. I was like, man, it'd be awesome.

If one of those quarterbacks slid in a team like Tampa or a team like Minnesota to trade it up. And Washington was able to kind of get back with that 19 to 24 area, get a D.B. Add a pick, give themselves some flexibility in terms of adding just good football players in this draft. What about tight end? Do you think, we've already talked about tight end, and it certainly sounds like tight ends not going to be an option for them at 16, because as you described, they've got, you know, the guys that kind of fit what they're looking for in Rogers and in Cole Turner and, you know, et cetera.

But if a certain tight end is there at 16, is it possible that that player is the best player on their board? And if so, who is it? I do think so. And for me, that would probably be Dalton Kincaid out of Utah. And I think, you know, he's just the most natural past catcher in this class. And I think one of the reasons you see him kind of moving up boards, Daniel Jeremiah's board, Mel Khyper's board,

is probably because the receivers in this class are not overly dexterity. dynamic. So I think at 16, if you were to take Dalton KID, I think you'd get a lot of positive feedback from the national pundits. I don't personally love the idea of a first round tight end, just because of value, right? You know, the leading tight-end contract in the NFL is like $15 million. You're going to sign this guy at 16 for about five a year, four and a half a year. That's not a ton of revenue save as opposed to if you sign a tackle, and the top paid tagl is making $30, and you're keeping a guy for five. So from a roster building standpoint, from a from a cap standpoint.

I don't love the pick, but if he's the best player on your board and you love him, I think you go for it. I think it's also important to acknowledge that this is a very deep tight end class. I have like starting grades, starting its caliber grades on like nine to ten guys. I know there's nine guys in PFF's top 150. So, you know,

like don't get enamored with a tight end at 16, you know, and don't get upset if they don't take one at 16 because there's guys like Sam LaPortea out of Iowa who is absolutely phenomenal. Musgrave's probably got a similar athletic profile, so Kincaid, he'll be around at 48. You know, you've got guys like Coons from Old Dominion, who's 6-7, he ran a 4-5,

he's got this freaky athletic profile. So, you know, don't get all cut up in that kind of stuff. There's plenty of tight ends in this class, and they're all going to be pretty good football players, I think. I was going to ask you about Laporta because he essentially was in the worst division-one offense in America, but obviously he can play.

I mean, they could not, you know, they didn't have any quarterback play. I could not score to save their life. All right. Is there a player that you've become sort of enamored with and looking at the 150 profiles? And I'm not talking about it to super high, you know, areas of the draft. But is there a guy that you are like, nobody's talking about this guy as much as I am. This guy is going to be a stud in the NFL. Oh, my gosh, that's a good question.

Let me think. Yeah, I'm sure there's somebody. The guy that comes to mind right now is Kenyon White from Georgia Tech. Big edge rusher, he's 65, 200. I think he's like 87 pounds. Big old son of a gun. And I just like how violently he plays the game. You know, he just is a big, stiff, strong dude.

But I think would be a nice rotational piece here, especially I've seen some box with him in the third round. So, you know, the idea. that you're getting a first round body and measurements in the third round and a guy who plays hard and works hard and wants to get better, at least from stuff that I've heard about him, is something that I think is very, very exciting, and something that I'd like to see. Perfect segue into my final question, and that is, what do you think they'll do, and what would you do with the deadline to pick up Chase Young's fifth-year option?

Yeah, that's a really That's a really good question I mean, because when I evaluated Chase in the draft, what was that, three years ago now? Yeah. You know, I was blown away by what I saw coming out of Ohio State. I saw a rusher who was, you know, outstanding. He understood he had a really good feel physically.

He was one of the best rushers in the last probably 10 years, like Miles Garrett kind of physicality and, you know, there was just something special about him. And I was like, man, this dude's going to be in the Hall of Fame. if he just kind of comes in and approaches the game the same way in college. But obviously, that hasn't happened. You know, that hasn't happened. And there seems to be some questions about his work ethic,

which always make me extremely nervous. And especially when you're going to pay a guy a lot of money, you've just paid Duran a lot of money. You're going to have to make a decision between him and Montez. And quite frankly, when you look at Montez and how he plays the game, he's been way more impactful. He plays harder. He's more physical.

He plays within the scheme. a little bit better. So I don't know what they're going to do. And I'm not going to say what I would do because I don't want to be inflammatory. But I do think, like, I do have some red flags about him at this moment. And, like, I want nothing but the best for him. And I want him to reach his potential.

And, you know, I told you, like, he was one of the easiest evaluations I ever had. So you're kind of hoping that he gets to that point. It's just about, you know, will he do that? And can he get motivated? And is this kind of threat of not renewing? it's fifth-year option going to motivate them. And if it does, great, because NFL watch out, you're going to get one of the best edge rushers in the NFL.

But if it doesn't, then, you know, I think you kind of answered the question for you. Yeah, and I think you kind of answered the question without being inflammatory. I think we know where you stand. And I did a call segment this morning on the radio show where I just said, look, if you had to make the call right now, you know, picking up Chase's fifth year or extending Montez's you know, essentially you have to pick one or the other because more likely than not, there's not going to be enough salary cap room for all four of them.

And you've already picked two of the four. Who would you pick? And, you know, right now, because I did a poll on this too, let me see where the poll results are. Right now it's 59% or 58% Montez, 42% Chase Young. And I think, I mean, I feel the same way you, like I was convinced. Like, I didn't even care about the quarterback. I mean, I was concerned about two his injury, and I was not a huge fan of Herbert, dead wrong, obviously, in hindsight.

And I thought I was watching the next, you know, Von Miller or maybe Lawrence Taylor as a pass rusher. And obviously there are a lot of red flags that are beyond the injury, beyond, you know, what Ron was coming up with excuses on out in Phoenix about having to wait on ownership. I think all that's bullshit. I think they have real concerns about committing to this. this guy and, you know, he's going to have a year here to prove it. And then if he really does, they've got the tag they can use or maybe they can talk extension. But you know what? Here's what's getting lost in this conversation, Logan. I think Montez-Swatt, when he came out of Mississippi State and you watched him, I watched him number nine on your, go watch number nine

from Mississippi State from his college years. He was my guy in the first round. And remember he had these heart concerns and that dropped him and Dan picked Dwayne Haskins and they traded back in to give Kyle Smith and the football people a chance at the guy that they wanted, which was sweat. I think he's still got a ridiculously high ceiling, not Chase Young's ceiling like we saw, but Montez Sweat still has a chance, I think, to take it to a much higher level than what we've seen. Yeah, and I also think it's just, yeah, I totally agree. I think he's, and I think he's progressed nicely. And I think one of the things for fans

to understand is that playing defensive end in this scheme is very hard because of all the restrictions that they put on them as rushers, right? They have like kind of these conservative rushes that, you know, you need to be more power rusher. And Montez-Swet, you know, to his credit, has kind of done that. You know, they have to

rush off the three technique. If there's a three technique to their side, he's done those things. He's elevated the production of guys like Allen, and he, and kind of at the detriment of his production. I do think, like, just from a scheme fit, he's the guy that is kind of totally bought in. And I think that that's something that is pretty exciting, you know, for Montez. You know, so he might not have these guys stack numbers, but he plays within the defense at a high level.

And I think there's value there. And I think it's, I think the fan poll kind of indicates maybe how the staff feels about it as well, too, you know. Yeah, I think so, too. This was awesome. Thanks, as always, for doing it. you're well. Instagram, right, at Logan underscore Paulson 82 on Instagram. What else do you want me to talk about all the stuff you're doing for NBC Sports

Washington for the team that you can find? He's on with Craig on our station, the Team 980, does a bunch of work for 1067. The fan. What else am I missing? Yeah, the Take Command podcast with Craig, so you know, you get that wherever you get your podcast. And then obviously the YouTube page for the Washington. Washington Commanders is a big one for us, too.

So more football content like that on the YouTube page. All right. Hopefully we can do this either before or right after the draft. I always appreciate it. Hope you're well. Awesome. Thanks, Kevin. Appreciate you.

Have me on, then. Logan Paulson, everybody. He's outstanding. Enjoyed that conversation I always do. That's it for the show today, back tomorrow with Tommy.