The Kevin Sheehan Show - Diggs!

Episode Date: August 6, 2026

Today's show was dominated by the news that Stefon Diggs signed a reported 1-year/$12 million deal with the Commanders. Kevin opened with his thoughts and reaction before bringing on ESPN's John Keim followed by Warren Sharp (Sharp Football Analysis).   For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match   Chime is not just smarter banking, it is the most rewarding way to bank. Head to www.Chime.com/SHEEHAN. It only takes a few minutes to sign up.   New Cash App customers can earn $10 if they use code FAMILY10 in their profile at signup and send $5 to a friend within 14 days. Terms apply. 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 Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Keenum's going to try to work the ball in his hour. Unbelievable. Vikings win it.

One of the craziest endings to an NFL playoff game ever. That was the Minneapolis miracle. Back in January of 2018, Case Keenum, 61 yards to Stefan Diggs, as the clock expired to beat. New Orleans in a divisional playoff game, 29 to 24. Diggs eventually moved on from Minnesota to Buffalo, from Buffalo to Houston, Houston last year to New England, and as of this afternoon, New England, to Washington. It's done. Diggs to D.C. This show's presenting sponsor is always

Window Nation, 86690 Nation, Windonation.com. If you need New windows. All digs pretty much on today's show. My thoughts and reaction here in the opening segment. John Kime next segment. And then Warren Sharp from Sharp Football Analysis, one of my favorite guests to have on this show. He'll join me in the final segment of today's show. He'll weigh in on digs and maybe a little bit more. Real quickly on that Minneapolis Miracle play, which will go down as one of the all-time craziest endings to an NFL playoff game. It was the first ever NFL playoff game to end with a walk-off touchdown in regulation. It's happened several times in overtime, but that was the first ever walk-off

touchdown at the end of regulation with zeros on the clock. Secondly, do you remember what came out of what happened after the touchdown? So after the touchdown, the Vikings were celebrating, the Saints went to the locker room. Games over 29-24. Except for at the time, the NFL rule required the team that scored to attempt the PAT for the game to be official. So after many minutes, a few Saints came out of the locker room, lined up on defense, as Case Keenham took a knee on what was officially a two-point conversion attempt that failed. Final score 29-24. There was a lot made out of it for two reasons. One, it was many

minutes later. It was anticlimactic. Why would Minnesota have to attempt an extra point? There was no result of that play that could have changed the outcome of the game. And the rule would change after that particular game. I'll tell you how in a moment. The other thing that came out of it was the Vikings were five and a half point favorites in that game. The touchdown put them up five. They, after all of the chaos and many minutes after the score, they just took a knee on a two-point conversion. If they had just run their PAT team out there after the score,

maybe they would have kicked it and won by six. They ended up winning by five. So if you had New Orleans plus the points, you covered. the NFL rule changed after that to the following. No reason anymore to attempt a PAT if the team that scored is up by more than two points. Because the only way the game's outcome could be changed is if the special teams unit on defense either blocked a kick and returned it for two or intercepted a pass and returned it for two or picked up a fumble and returned it for two. That was the only way that the game's

outcome could be changed. So as long as the team that scored was up by more than two, we've no longer seen that PAT. The game is over. And at the same token, by the way, if the team that scores is down by more than two, and with a PAT, a two-point conversion, can't tie it, or a kick can't tie it, that too would end the game. So if a team scores on the final play of the game down 21-3 to make it 21-9, you don't kick the extra point anymore. All right, that was a great, great finish to a game. And remember, the following week, Case Keenham and the Vikings got blown out against the Eagles.

The Eagles went on to win the Super Bowl against the Patriots, their first ever. And Case Keenum, the following year, was really. replaced by Kirk Cousins in Minnesota, and Keenham was the starter in Washington on opening day 2018, where he had a big day, if you recall, against the Eagles, although he did miss in Terry McCorn's first game, a deep one to a wide open Terry in the third quarter. All right, let's get to the big news of today. And by the way, this is real news. you know, no offense to those that tweet out play-by-play from training camp or video from training camp, as I've said before, what do we learn this time of year?

Well, injuries are something we learn about. And player acquisitions via, you know, signings like this one or trades, those are real talking points. Those are real opportunities to have a real football conversation. talking about, you know, Sam Hartman's big throw to Van Jefferson over some third, you know, rate DB that's not going to make the team, is really not going to teach us much. This, this is good substance for this time of year. So the report broke earlier today, I think it was Rappaport and Schaefter maybe, that Stefan Diggs was signing with Washington. I think Schefter was the first to report that Diggs will get $12 million for just one year. Stefan Diggs is 32 years old.

He was drafted in the fifth round out of Maryland back in 2015. He would have gone higher, but there were some concerns. Some of them were injury related. Some of them were probably beyond injury related. But at Maryland, he was a dynamic and explosive college receipts. receiver. He was a lethal returner, especially kickoff returner. He was really something else at Maryland during those years. He played in high school for the legendary Bob Malloy at Good Counsel. Many longtime high school football observers in this area, they'll say that Steph Diggs is the

greatest high school football player ever to come out of the DMV. He's played 11 years in the NFL, five in Minnesota, four in Buffalo, one in Houston, last year in New England. He's got 942 career catches. That's 24th on the all-time list. He should be able to bust easily into the top 20 in all-time receptions with just one more decent season. And the top 10 isn't that far away for Stefan Diggs if he were to play another two to three years and have decent season. seasons. He's 32. Can he play to 35, or can he play his 32, 33, and 34 season with, you know, 80 catches, somewhere 70s, 80s, 90s? If he does, he starts to approach the top 10 all time in receptions. Over his 11-year career, he's got seven 1,000-yard plus seasons. He's got five 100-plus catch seasons. He's been to four Pro Bowls, and he was an AP All-Pro first team selection in 2020,

a second team selection in 2022. Now, he's gone from being one of the best all-around receivers in the game to a receiver last year who produced solid numbers. I mean, 85 catches in New England last year for 1,013 yards, led the team in receptions, led the team in receiving yards. but he was less of a deep threat than he had been during the early to mid portions of his career for sure. His route running has always been and was again last year, high level. He catches everything.

He's excellent with his feel for space and where to be and where to get to against zone coverage. And he can still, with his experience, his quick feet, his route running, he can still be. man-to-man coverage. He's a true right now high-level number two receiver in the game. And on a lot of teams, he would be, again, the number one, as he was last year in New England. Perhaps his single best attribute, and I've talked about this every single time we've talked about digs.

He's an absolute badass on game days. He is tough. He is competitive. He's fearless over the middle. He helps teams win, period. You know, his personality over the course of his 11 years in the NFL, it's been described as diva. It's been described as difficult.

You know, he's been described as a person that's great in short doses. And that may be a reason that he's moved on from place to place, even after high-level productive seasons. But this guy can still play. He's done it recently, and he said it a few weeks ago. He said, I'm the best number two receiver in the NFL. It's my understanding, and we'll get time to give us his information. But I do believe that Brandon Ayuk was a plan for this team.

I think he was a legit possibility until Iyuk, you know, went off the reservation, you know, with his social media campaign. and, you know, he did nothing to help himself action-wise. We've talked a lot about that. I mean, we've just witnessed over the last month and a half, two months, some of the wildest self-sabotaging of a career that we've seen in a long time. I still think he'll get an opportunity at some point, probably in 2027, not in 26.

But he essentially sabotaged himself to the point where Washington couldn't do it and they weren't going to do it. This was not a serious person. This was a person that took no action to affect his own outcome. And he was incredibly self-destructive. And it's not going to happen. I said, you know, a couple months ago, I'm out on him and probably a month ago, zero percent chance. This, by the way, shuts the door on Ayuk, certainly to this team in 2026. Check back this time next year, and we'll see if he's repaired his overall reputation and image. And look, this time next year, Washington may be even in more desperate need of receiver help. But I truly believe and set it up until around, I don't know, late June, that Iyuk was a strong possibility to be added

to the team once he became available. But once that ship's sail, Diggs became a much stronger possibility, in part because of Ayuk, also in part because, remember, you know, in May Diggs was found not guilty of a felony count of strangulation and a misdemeanor count of assault and battery in a court of law found not guilty. So that was hanging over him. And then remember, and by the way, Diggs has had baggage, you know, during his career. This was the biggest bag that he's sort of lugged around and he was cleared of all charges. But even after he was cleared, remember, teams had to make sure that the league wasn't going to take any action against Diggs for conduct detrimental. And the league did announce not that long ago that he would not be punished in any way for anything associated with the charges against him,

obviously in part because he was found not guilty. So a quick list of thoughts about Diggs as a skin, as a commander. Number one, he wants to be here. It's home for him. It's his first opportunity to play in his hometown. The team has a chance to be good, which is what I think he was looking for. And there's an absolute need for him. So he wanted to be here because it's home, but also because Jane Daniels is the quarterback,

and there's a need for a second receiver. Secondly, the one-year deal for 12 million is perfect. You know, the spot track number I think was 13.7 million or somewhere around 27 million for two years. I'm sure he wanted another year and maybe more money, but the risk to the team, if for whatever reason it doesn't work out, which I think it will, but it's next to nothing, a one-year deal for $12 million. $1. Thirdly, God, the team needed something like this. They said they liked their wide receiver room, but they clearly didn't love it. They tried to add Alec Pierce and Romeo Dobbs and Free Agency. Ayuk was a decent bet until two months ago, seven weeks ago, something like that.

And it wouldn't surprise me if they've been poking around in other places, too. an ESPN story this morning from Seth Walder, five trades that makes sense to him. One of those was Kayshan Booty in New England to Washington for a fifth round pick. Kishon Booty's probably more of what they were looking for in terms of a pure speed, pure vertical threat. And he could become available because New England's added A.J. Brown. They've added Dobbs. He's got the speed and would have been a nice fit.

Diggs may not be exactly the type of receiver Washington would have preferred, but he's a true starter, and he is a recent leading producer on an AFC championship team. He's experienced. He's a true number two, if not, let's be fair, if not a 1A to Terry. Terry has never had a number two like him, never. By the way, Diggs has never been anything but a number one. with the one exception, the year in Houston, Nico Collins, you know,

he was still a young player two years ago. Diggs only played in eight games that year, but he was more a number two in that situation to Nico Collins being the number one. Diggs in every other situation has been the number one, including last year, you know, off an injury year in New England. Diggs gives this offense in Jaden Daniels

a reliable route running sticks moving receiver who has done it. He's done it on the biggest stages. No offense to Burks or a guy like Van Jefferson, although Van Jefferson's got a Super Bowl. What am I talking about? But no offense to Brooks or even a guy like Chigacanquo, you know, who is going to be targeted a lot. Neither one of those two players have had the number of 100 plus catch seasons that Diggs has had. None of those players have played in games like Diggs has played in. You know, it's probably a big exhale for Adam Peters, Dan Quinn, David Blow, Jaden Daniels, to know that you're going to go into Philadelphia week one and Dallas in week two

with not just Terry McClure as the only player that's played in that kind of situation. You've now got two receivers who will be up to that moment. those moments. Fourthly, I think Diggs is much more of a guy that Blow will end up moving around than Terry. I think Terry can be moved around. I mean, Scott Turner moved Terry around. Blow's going to be moving a lot of guys around. Diggs, to me, is much more of a guy, along with Antonio Williams, that we'll see in the slot.

You can move Terry to the true X spot now that Diggs is on board. I mean, I'm not saying you're not going to see Terry lined up in the slot or in motion trying to get matchups against, you know, safeties, et cetera. But Diggs can really be versatile in this offense. I think Terry kind of moves, you know, more, he's more permanently, or he's more entrenched, more often than maybe he would have been without Diggs as the true X receiver. Number five, Diggs might be poised for more targets. more snaps and maybe more productivity this year in this offense than he was last year. Not because Jaden Daniels and David Blow are so much better than Drake May and Josh McDaniels. No, but it's because he's much further away from the ACL injury that he suffered in late October of 2024.

You know, he had a 50% snap rate last year, in part because he probably wasn't totally back to normal until midway through last year. Now he's going to be almost two years removed from the injury. They may get a better digs in Washington the skins might than the Patriots got last year. By the way, the dig's acquisition means three former Terps added during this off season. Love that. Chigacanquo, Nick Cross, and now Stefan Diggs. All right.

the list number six. Who's going to be in trouble because Diggs has been added to the team? That's a really good question. I'm going to ask Kime that. He's probably going to have a much better feel for it. You know, I think some will say, well, Van Jefferson's in trouble. Let's just say they keep seven. Okay. If they were to keep seven, you know now that Terry and Diggs, you also know the rookie Antonio Williams is going to make the team. You know that Jalen Lane, because he's not only their punt returner, but he's a really good punt returner. He's going to be on the roster. That's four.

You know, you can say that Luke McCaffrey's definitely going to be on the roster because he's a good kickoff returner. But I've got an idea that I'm going to share with you in a moment on Luke McCaffrey. But let's just say he's five. All right. Then you've got Burke's, Diami Brown, and Van Jefferson for either one. one or two spots. I know that they like Van Jefferson. Van Jefferson is a player that when they sign him, I'm like, God, I always liked him. He plays bigger than he really is. He catches everything. He's a real pro. He's a real solid route runner. He's a Super Bowl champion. I still think Van

Jefferson's going to somehow make this football team. I do. Could Diami Brown be in trouble? Could Berks be in trouble? It's going to be really interesting. Now let me give you my idea as to who might be expendable now with Diggs here. How about Luke McCaffrey to San Francisco for a day three pick? He was picked on night two, end of night two. What could you get back for a team that's so desperate for wide receiver help and who also happens to be the younger brother of one of your star players, Christian McCaffrey, in offense?

Could Luke McCaffrey be somebody that they think about dealing? I mean, you look at everything that you might not need when you get down to final cuts. Who's really got any sort of value? I don't even know that Luke McCaffrey's got that much value. Trust me. But, you know, Brian Robinson, Jr., I didn't think had a whole hell of a lot of value either. Maybe it's, you know, the 49er trade train. They've made some with the 49ers in recent years.

And as far as kickoff returns, you know, You got several options. Jeremy McNichols can do it if he makes the team. Kroski Merritt can do it if he, well, he's going to be on the team. It's more of a running back position than it is a burner receiver than it's ever been because of the new rules. Jalen Lane could probably do it. I'm not so sure that Antonio Williams wouldn't be able to do it. So they would have options. I wouldn't be worried about that, even though McCaffrey was a very good kickoff.

off returner last year. All right. Number seven on my list, if you're keeping track of my numbered sort of reaction points. He's just such an alpha man, digs. You know, if he didn't have that competitive, badass part of his personality, I wouldn't be nearly as interested in this. but then again he probably wouldn't have had the career results that he's had. He's going to give us several big moments, several this year. At the same time, he's going to give us a couple of moments where we scratch our heads and say, why did you do that? Why did you just cost us 15 yards?

Why did you just blow up on the sideline? Because Jaden didn't throw you the ball and he threw it to somebody else. A couple of other points, not needing to be numbered. This guy becomes automatically the most anticipated debut of all of the new players. Sunny Stiles is a close, you know, number two. But Jaden Daniels, that offense, all we've talked about is the receiver room. All we've talked about is who's the number two? Well, they just added the number two.

Adam Peters. I'll finish up with this. Adam Peters offseason was already, from a defensive standpoint, pretty solid because of all of the new additions defensively. I mean, they're going to have nine to ten players they're expecting to contribute that are new players on defense. That's unheard of, not to mention a new defensive coordinator. Offensively, you know, they had added one of the better tight ends in free agency. They had added a couple of receivers that were definitely lower tier free agent ads. They added a back in Rashad White, who wasn't a top flight free agent back, but I actually think is a good fit. But what was missing in all of the descriptions of Washington's offseason from anybody that graded out Adam Peters was they didn't do anything at wide receiver.

They tried with Pierce, Dobbs. They may have selected Carnell Tate had he fallen to seven. Ayuk may have been part of the plan until he went off the reservation, but they didn't give Jaden Daniels enough weaponry. All of the other 24 24 quarterbacks drafted in the first round, they've got all of these receivers. Washington's got none. Well, now they have Stefan Diggs to be paired with Terry McCorn, a new tight end who's more of a receiver in Chigacon Quo.

So Adam Peters offseason, if I think I had it as kind of a B because, you know, they lacked the, you know, additional playmakers offensively, but he did a great job defensively. I think we're now into the solid A territory, B plus A territory for sure. 10 new players expected to potentially contribute on defense. And in offense with a number two receiver, a number one tight end, and a few additional role. players in the backfield and that receiver. So not bad. Given what they had last year, one of the worst defenses, I think the worst I've ever seen in franchise history, and still a need for some support around Jaden Daniels.

Adam Peters did okay in this offseason. Now, it's got to get coached up, it's got to get developed, it's got to be the right chemistry, everybody's got to stay healthy, but love this edition. Can't wait to see Stefan Diggs in Philadelphia in that opener. It kind of feels a little bit like the Deshawn Jackson, you know, signing back in 2015. It feels a little bit like that. Diggs Jackson, and remember, there was a lot of pushback to Jackson at that moment,

but it's different in terms of their ability right now. Jackson was still an absolute home run threat. It's not what Diggs is anymore, but he's going to have some tough Third and five catches, third and six catches, over the middle, taking some big shots, breaking a tackle, lunging for the sticks. John Kime next after these words from a few of our sponsors. Summer can really add up when it comes to how much money you spend, and it adds up pretty quickly. You know, a trip here, a dinner there, a couple of outdoor concerts later, and it should have you wondering if you're getting the most out of your money. Well, that's where Chime comes in.

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That's chime.com slash sheen. Sign up now. It only takes a few minutes. Chime is a fintech, not a bank. Banking services and Chime card provided by Chim's bank partners. Qualifying direct deposits are required. Terms and limits apply. Go to chime.com slash disclosures for details. All right. Joining me right now, my good friend John Kime from the SPN at John underscore Kime on X. John's got a podcast, the John Kime report. And of course, you can read him and his coverage of this team. So we can do a more in-depth conversation as we approach the end of camp or the beginning of the regular season. But let's focus on digs here. How did it happen? How did it come together? So they've been talking to him for a while.

And, you know, I'd always use words like monitoring, but it's the same thing, right? Like, you know what's going on. So they've definitely had interest for a while. For a long time, it certainly seemed like, you know, know, Diggs may be a little bit more costly than what they want to spend, but there was another guy that they thought might be here. This is a few months ago, right? With Brandon Iuke.

But they stayed in touch with Diggs. They knew he wanted to be here. And, you know, I know certainly over the last month, you would think that this got a little bit more, a lot more realistic. And I knew earlier this week that there was definite optimism that this would occur. So, you know, I think it's a combination of things. I don't think they were looking at anybody else. Certainly nobody else that was free

because nobody else really made sense for them. And so it's a natural fit, man. He wanted to be here. They needed another guy, and they finally got it done. And so here we are. Let's just, we did this the last time we talked, which I think was on radio. But we both understood that eight weeks ago,

we'll go back to pre-the-video series on social media with Brandon IU, that that was a definite possibility until he started the video series. But I just want to make sure that we had ruled it out a week ago when we talked. I mean, now it's absolutely ruled out, correct? Yeah, and I was like, I mean, listen, everything I always hear is where you can never say never. Of course. And I think in this so.

But 27 maybe, not. 26. Right, right, right, right, right. It wouldn't make sense. Like, there's, yeah, it just, honestly, man, like, I'd want a lot of distance between last month and anything

beyond that. So, if I were them, you know, I just, I just, I don't know, you don't need to invite that into anything right now. I just, I think there in a good spot. I think they're in a really good spot. And I think that would

be the thing. But yeah, the phrase I would always hears. Never say never. But, you know, it would, it would, it would represent a dramatic change. Yeah. Is it fair to say with this signing that while they've been telling us that they're completely pleased with what they have and, you know, essentially implying they're willing to go into the season with what they have, that they weren't? Well, I think, so there's two things here. They liked the room. I don't think that was, I don't think that at all was insincere. The room is better than it was, in terms of the depth,

is better than last year. So you can like that part, like you have. Clearly, they wanted something a little bit more because they've looked for it all offseason, right? You know, Alex Pierce, they were able to sign him. You know, jobs, they ran him. I mean, possibly Cardinal Tate if he had fallen to seven. So my point is, like, while you can say, like, and I don't, you know, again, you can like that room and realize,

but there's a little bit more that you need. And I think that's where they were always at, because, again, they monitored him. I think sometimes, too, like, you know, get in here and see what you have. Like, what if you remember, like, when Terry McCorn was a rookie, you knew he was going to be really good. You just, he saw it in practice. Like, I don't, I don't remember too many rookies,

certainly after the first round when you come in and say, like, wow, that kid's going to be good. But you saw it. So maybe you see something like that, something like a Williams or something like that. And you're like, okay, maybe you don't need to go on do something. But I know like this is always an option. They had always been looking for something more.

And so I think, like I said, while you can like it, you like it. I mean, the depth is better. Like, look at what they have now compared to what they had last year. The guys that they're bringing in off from the practice spot last year compared to now. It's just ridiculous. So you like that, but you knew you needed more. The deal ends up being reportedly from Adam Schefter, right? A one-year $13 million deal.

Are you hearing that Diggs, that the hold-up on money may have just been years he wanted another year? I'm not positive on that. So I don't know. You listen, man, what would make sense, right? If you, it's almost always that. And he hasn't been a one-year guy, so that would make sense, right? But I don't know that for certain. All right.

What version of Stefan Diggs do you think the team is getting at this point in his career? Good question. I don't, listen, man, like, is he going to be the guy who was a pro bowl or a few years? That'd be, he's going to be 33. Like, there's a natural de-evolution of a player's game, right? Like, we always see that. I think what you need to get from him is be a solid target for Jaden. You know what I mean?

give someone else good opposite Terry McCorn. The difference for Dig here is he doesn't have to be the guy. Let's Terry. You know, I think for him, can you come here and be, like, if he came here and caught 60 to 65 passes, that's pretty good. That'd be really good for them. You know what I mean? Like, so be that guy and be a guy that you can rely. You know, be more than just a possession, you know, like you just say, okay, you're just a guy who's cut.

No, you can do a little bit more. and he's coming off a year where he averaged, I think it was like 4.1 after the catch, which is like his best since 2019. He had like 20.7% of his catches were for 20 plus. That was one of his better numbers in recent years.

So there's still some things you can do, but you get into the situations. Red zone, seven touchdown catches the last two years out of 14 catches overall. Like help them in those areas. Be a solid guy opposite McCorn and if something happens in McCorn, can you be that guy for a few games?

And the other thing, like, when you look at his numbers last year, he had like five, 100-yard games, but he had a lot of games, like, I think everything else was under 70. So it's not like there was this, you know, it was like, hey, you're capable of some really good games, but maybe in other games, you're going to be a solid guy here, here, and here.

You know what I mean? And that's, they would take that. I mean, that'd be a good thing for them. This is the best guy that Terry has played alongside. Oh, no doubt. Yeah, I pointed out, too, for Diggs. What's really interesting is other than the eight games he played in Houston with Nico Collins, he's never been anything but the number one.

And this will be a new spot for him to be in. And he did say a few weeks ago, I'd be the best number two in the league. I do think it'll be interesting. I think most people will view it. It doesn't need to be viewed in this context. really anymore. I mean, the NFL seems to be moving towards positionless football like basketball has.

But, you know, Terry's the number one and Diggs is the number two in this offense. Yeah. Yeah. Right. They didn't solve a challenge that I think they wanted to solve

in this offseason, and I think you obviously have talked about this a lot as well. And that is a true vertical speed threat. You know, Pierce could have been that. IU could have been that. My question is, because they haven't solved that true vertical stretch the defense speed threat, are they done at wide receiver?

I don't know that you're ever done, are you? Like, what if somebody else good becomes available? He's like, hey, this guy would help. Like, you can't be done. You know what I mean? So I think sort of something else popping up that was unexpected, you know, but who knows what happens in final cuts, et cetera, who might come free that like, oh, this guy could help just because of his speed.

That will see. Like, maybe there's a guy at the mid-seat. I don't know. But I don't think they're, listen, man, you're 5 and 12. You should never be done, right? So I don't think they're done, but I don't know that. I don't think you can. There's nobody on the open market right now that would be,

that's going to be coming in here. No, the suggestion that a guy like Kishon, booty could be available in New England because of Dobbs, because of A.J. Brown, because of the depth they all of a sudden have. But that's been true since for how long? I know. But New England, there's no urgency post-draft to do it. We'll see what happens in camp if they got to the point where they were interested in it. Yeah. And I don't know that New England will be doing that. And I don't know what his value would be. But, you know, You know, I don't know.

I think, I just, I don't, I think they feel pretty good. I think they feel pretty good right now. But, yeah, like, you could you, like, Booty is a guy that you can get down, can get down the field, right? Yeah. But, you know, what's the cost? What's the cost? And, you know, then, I know, there's a lot of things with that one.

I would, I don't know that right now. I see that, but it's definitely not something I've heard. I do know that from the time that they signed those guys that his name kept popping up and nothing has ever happened. The other thing, too, is to see, okay, now that you have this guy, and that's a, yes, you definitely still could you, you definitely still like something else that's more explosive.

How does this offense help you get there as well with what you have? Because Terry can still be that guy. Oconquo, a tight end, can be a guy at that position that gives you some of that. Can you get more of that? That's the thing we'll have to see. And if you don't, and maybe booty's available down the road,

then maybe something like that would make sense. But, yeah. Whose chances did he hurt the most of making the team? I say right now, probably Van Jefferson. But that's just because I look at it, like, obviously you got Terry Diggs and then Antonio Williams, is a really good punt returner. Diommy, they like Diombe, and Trey Berks has had a good start to camp.

And Luke McCaffrey has made some plays in camp, like he, you know. Plus is a kickoff returner. Kickoff returner in the special teams. But there's a lot that they like of whether or not people think, like, he should do more having been a third-round pick. They do like what he gives them now. I mean, you'd want, listen, we all know, like, if you've been getting more out of others at the position,

you don't have to make these moves, but you're not. But he still has value for them. And so, like, when you're, I mean, how many receivers you're going to keep? If you want to keep van, that's number eight. But he's also a guy that he does have to speak. I know. So we're talking about that. And he's up, I've been telling people they like him because he's a pro's pro.

This guy does everything well. Right. And so, like, I say that. And then I think, well, maybe not. Yeah. Because of those, like, he does, he does offer something that you don't have. And so you always work for those kind of guys, too. But, like, are you really going to keep eight?

You know, maybe, maybe there's a trade in there at some point. I don't know, you know. Can I tell you what I threw out in the open? Sure. Yeah. San Francisco needs receivers desperately. Luke McCaffrey to San Francisco for a pick. and who's going to return kickoffs.

You've got options. You've got Jeremy McNichols. You've got... Well, you've got... Rashad White. Rashad White, you got Bill. Bill could do it. You got Bill.

You can have Antonio Williams can do it. Right. So, I don't think you did in college. You did punch. Yeah. But, you know, he'll, they're going to work him in there. Like, they're going to see, listen, Root can do that.

We're not talking about Brian Mitchell. No. No. But he was pretty good last year. It's a different kickoff return, obviously, than we've ever. I'm not taking a thing away. My point is, like, we're not, you know, perspective. And so, like, if he makes the team, this is what it is.

But could you see value somewhere like that? Like, I mean, I think you're going to, because I could see that because I think each one of these guys can make a case for belonging on the roster. You're the best. I know you're busy. I appreciate you doing this. We'll talk in a few weeks before, you know, they wrap up camp. Thanks.

All right, Kevin. Look forward to it. Thanks. John Kime, everybody. If you haven't rated or reviewed this podcast and you don't mind doing it, it's a huge help for us. Give us five stars if you think the show deserves it. It's really easy to just click on the star count on Apple and Spotify. Also, following the podcast is a big deal for us as well.

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We've had Warren on the show many times in the past at Sharp football. flat out. He's one of the best NFL analysts out there. His 2026 football preview is available. You can go to At Sharp Football and get access to it. He has tweeted a lot this afternoon about the Stefan Diggs signing. That's where we'll start. I will talk to Warren about a couple of other things. But you liked it. So tell everybody why. Yeah, I did like it, and thanks for having me. Obviously, love doing this annually, and it took a little bit extra time to get on this year for a variety of reasons. No, that's fine. We're here now, and it's a great time to be talking because of Stefan Diggs. I just want to throw out there, if people are interested in that book, use code commanders. You can get 50% off over on my website and is also up on Amazon.

But the fun part about the Washington Commanders signing Diggs is because of how badly they needed him. This team could not get by their number two most expensive wide receiver after Terry McLaren was Traylon Burks at $1.9 million, who obviously is flopped in a couple of different stops. And hopefully he does better in D.C. You obviously draft a new receiver as well. But what is the confidence level of that receiving core after Terry McClorin? And what I found to be the kind of the point that really was bothering me a little bit was you look at, what a team like the New England Patriots had done for their quarterback, Drake May, who's drafted

just a couple spots away from Jaden Daniels in the same year, they changed their off-square to upgrade them, bring in two new number one, number two receivers this past off season and really helped and spend a lot of money at that receiving position. And then you look in D.C. and we weren't seeing the same type of support system built out for Jaden Daniels. Jayden Daniels has been injured. Jaden Daniels needs to stay healthy. And if you put too much on Jaden Daniel's shoulders, he is not going to be able to stay healthy. The guy is such a competitor.

He wants to win for D.C. so badly. But if his number one receiver is Terry McClure, and they don't have anybody else out there, I was anticipating the fear of Jaden Daniels holding on the ball a little bit longer to force things and maybe getting hit in the pocket, Jadenham is taking off the run a little bit too often. rather than trusting the receivers, trusting the new offense from the new offense coordinator, and playing in the pocket, distributing the football, and staying healthy all year. I think the acquisition of Stefan Diggs is going to help the health of Jaden Daniels, which could be one of the most important aspects that people won't talk about as it relates to this acquisition.

But what I will say is there are some a variety of statistics here that I think most people probably don't know about the commanders last year. they had the number five highest rate of incompletions due to wide receiver error of any team in the NFL. When targeting the slots specifically, 10% of their incompletions were due to wide receiver error, the fourth highest in the NFL. Steph Diggs had a 46% slot target rate in New England last year, the fifth highest in the NFL. He operates out of there a ton, and Steph Diggs had overall last year, the number one best catch rate. of all receivers with 100 plus target. The number one most accurate target catch rate. If a target was accurate, this guy was catching it nine out of every 10 times.

He had only two drops all season long. He had the number one lowest rate of wide receiver error. He was able to be a consistent possession type receiver, a security blanket for Drake May last year. And I think the same thing could happen here in D.C. And they just needed him so badly. One of their statistics about where Step Diggs, lines up and where the commanders were throwing the ball last year. It's a different offense this

year, obviously, but the commanders threw between the numbers last year at the number five highest rate of any team. And between the numbers, 37% of their incompletions were due to wide receiver error. That was the number two highest in the NFL of every team. Diggs had the number eight most total targets on passes thrown between the numbers. And on those targets, he ranked number one in PPA per play and number four, an accurate target catch rate of all qualifying players. So Diggs is just going to be somebody that hopefully the commanders and Jaden Daniel specifically will be able to count on. And I think that will go a long way to both the upside of the passing attack, the well-roundedness

of the offense, and the help of Jaden Daniel. So I want to ask you about the wide receiver error number because I read this and talked about it on the air a few weeks ago. But I almost reached out to you to get more clarification. But I want you to just go through that again. It's going backwards a bit, but there were so many issues last year at Wide Receiver. And I tried to emphasize the fact that, you know, with not only their quarterback barely playing, he played in four complete games last year, start to finish out of the 17, Jaden

Daniels did. But Terry McCorn missed seven games and Noah Brown was out. It was a disaster, injury-wise, for them last year. And it wasn't just injuries, as you know, to a large number of players. It was their best players that were getting injured and missing the majority of games last year. But specific to incompletions due to wide receiver error, will you lay out what defines wide receiver error for me? Yeah, so specifically, it's a drop. It's a play where in the judge-refer error,

of the charter, the receiver near the sidelines could have and potentially should have gotten two feet down and was unable to do that. That's a little bit more of a gray area. It's a play where they bobbled the football and then saw the not complete the path. So it wasn't a true drop, but it was a case where they couldn't quite secure it before they reached the ground. Very different than an actual drop, but it's in the same realm. Those are kind of like the three largest buckets as it relates to wide receiver error. There are a couple of others that don't occur quite as frequently, but other types of incompletions from a charting perspective are ruled non-receiver error. And some of those are just complete inaccuracy from the

quarterback. That's not captured in receiver error. Miscommunication. So the charter doesn't know whether the receiver broke off his route or the quarterback through something. But they're just going to chart it as a miscommunication. So, you know, I know a lot of people are critical of the way that people are charting things. And justifiably so. This is like their best judgment and they are experienced in doing this. But they are not going to chart something that could be in receiver error as receiver error. If it was a miscommunication, they'll put it in that bucket.

Pressure. If the quarterback is pressured and he simply throws an inaccurate pass because he's being pressured, that would go into that bucket. Tight coverage, that is a totally separate bucket. If the pass is not caught because the defense is specifically a batted pass, that's another one that could be considered charting and that's a batted pass. A throwaway is likewise not charted. Hit the helmet. Like if the quarterback is thrown, we saw Patrick Mahomes highlight where he was in Kemp. a couple of days ago and just threw it at the back of his center's head.

That was a hilarious highlight, but that's another type of situation. So these are the types of buckets that different types of incomplete passes would fall into for a variety of reasons, and a few of them fall into receiver error. Yeah. So when I was going through that number that you put out a few weeks ago, I figured it's very hard to know whether or not the miscommunication was receiver error or quarterback error. but I will tell you based on what was told to me during the season last year, with either Jaden in the few games that he played in or even Marcus Mariotta at times,

because of all the receivers that they were basically taking off the street, Robbie Chosen and Traylon Burks and Chris Moore. I mean, there was just Tay Martin. I mean, guys that were out there that were not supposed to be a part of the team in 2025, I was told over and over again, they're running the wrong routes, they're running to the wrong depths. Jaden can't trust that they're going to be where they are or Marcus can't. And that's why the whole thing was a shit show at times offensively. So I would bet that that incompletion due to wide receiver error or even

a quick quarterback run was due to wide receiver error as well based on, you know, those kinds of things. Just I, it's the first time I've had you on since reading that number. when you brought it up, it just jogged my memory on that. So you did a really good job of explaining what Stefan Diggs was last year in New England and what Washington wasn't in 2025. Let's focus on Diggs here. What kind of receiver is he now compared to the receiver that he was? Yeah, he's not the type of guy who's winning downfield contested cast situation.

He's not the type of guy who's out jumping somebody. He's not the type of guy who has the same speed to burn you on and run away from you as a DB. But he is the type of guy who can still be sudden in his route running, who can be on time, who understands leverage, who knows where to plan his foot and how to convince the defender that he's going a certain direction and then be where the quarterback needs him to be. he still has the hands, obviously, from the drop perspective and, you know, his cat. So there are so many things that as, it's like, I mean, Matthew Stafford is a bit of a unicorn because he can still, he still has the arm strength. But, you know, as quarterbacks get older, they might lose some arm strength, but their mental acuity perks up.

They understand the defense is better, so they're better suited. Same thing happens at the receiver position just in a different way. You lose some of the physicality and the ability to do those extra. things, whether it's like height or speed or quickness, but the savviness that you bring to the table and the hands are still there. And this is not the type of scenario where, unfortunately, you know, a lot of people know, like some tight ends, like your Zach or your in D.C. as well, like, was it Chris Cooley? Like, as they get older, they just get very slow, very quickly, and it just, you could tell it's over for them to a degree. Like, that's not the situation at all

that we're talking with Step Diggs. It's not quite that far of a step down quickly, but he's not the same as he once was. But in this offense, I don't think he needs to be. And Jaden Daniels doesn't need him to be. And certain, you know, he doesn't need to be the number one. You've got Terry McLauran. But I think the pairing, Terry has never had a guy like Diggs on the other side there. And the stress that this is going to put, this relationship and this duo will put on defense, This is not a Cincinnati Bengals with Jamar Chase and Teetigan. This is not a Dallas Cowboys with C.D. Lamb and George Pickens. But the stress that this duo can still put on defenses is really going to help from a play

calling perspective, for sure. I mean, you know, I went through this in the open. You know, Steph Diggs, other than the year he played in Houston just eight games in 24 with Nico Collins. And even you could debate it because Collins was in his second or third season. at that point. He's never not been a number one with the exception of that year. The other thing, too, is he really hasn't even run with a true number two since Thielen, except for the Collins situation. And again, he only played eight games. And you pointed

it out as well. Terry hasn't had a legitimate number two at any point. But how would you view, you know, this is overly simplistic because they're going to be on the field, they're going to be moved around in the David Blow offense, and there will be more than two receivers that end up being contributors. But simplistic, you know, sort of description, how would you view who's number one and who's number two? Yeah, I think Terry McClureen is still number one, but I don't know that it's number two as in, you know, I'm going to number one anytime he's singled up and I'm not going to look number two unless I need to. It's not that type of thing at all. We also have to remember, you know, Steph Diggs last year was coming off of an ACL injury. Exactly.

So, you know, who knows how far, how much further he could be, but it's definitely better to be further removed from an ACL return than it is to be closer to that. So yeah, I think that there are a number of issues that Steph Diggs had when he was in Buffalo, for example, and what he was looking for out of that offense and his relationship with the quarterback and some things, you know, just over time, over the years spent together, get a little bit more complicated. And certainly Steph Biggs is more of a unique player, but what, like, WR1s that have made a good amount of money aren't in the NFL, like there's a lot of guys that fall into that category. But certainly I think just being inserted for a one-year prove-it-type deal in D.C.

after successful season that got all the way to the Super Bowl. And I didn't mention this stuff, but he was the number one EPA per target in the NFL among all wide receivers, plus.6.8, EPA per target. He averaged 9.9 yards per target. That was number six in the NFL. His success rate went targeted with 66%. That was number two in the NFL. Like he was a massive contributor to an offense that helped elevate a year two quarterback

and got them to the Super Bowl. So I definitely think that commanders fans have every right to be extremely excited about this development, especially given what the alternatives were, which were either do nothing or go after Brandon Iuk, which, you know, that had disaster written all over it. If we want to talk about wide receivers who have gotten paid some money and then just kind of become a little bit of a head case, that's, you know, written all over, Brandon IU. Yeah, I think if we turn the clock back, you know, eight weeks before the video series that he put out on social media, I think Brandon Ayuk was a legitimate possibility here. But I think there was too much self-sabotage there over the last eight weeks.

And look, Ayuk at the end of 23, you would agree with me, right? At the end of 23, if you got that player and you got a good locker room presence, that would have been best. better than Diggs right now in terms of the upside? I wouldn't disagree. I mean, the explosiveness that he had before his injury, you just don't know what he's got right now. And that's the biggest concern, plus the mentality there as well.

But that injury really costs you, his potential career, unfortunately to say. But prior to that, there's no doubt about it. What he was bringing to you from a downfield perspective, stretching the defense, putting stress on the entire football field. He was a menace. Now, let's keep in mind, this team did have a great running back, a great fullback, a great tight-ending kiddle.

Of course. And Kyle Shanahan. And Kyle Shanahan scheming it up. Yeah, right. Yeah, exactly. And so they were able to do so many things that would make the defense have to respect this pre-step motion with Eustech moving out here or George Kittle doing X. And so there's a lot of things that you're worried about besides just Brandon Ayyuk.

But what he was able to do down the field was really special and contributed massively. This version of digs is going to be light years different than what Iyuk was doing in 2020. But I think it's going to be very valuable to the commanders in 2020. You know, I looked back at the Patriot season last year before the Super Bowl. And the thing that was noticeable to me, and I'm wondering you like doing these sorts of things. And I don't know if you've done this. But the slew of defensive teams they faced in the postseason, the Chargers, the Texans, the Broncos, and then Seattle didn't look anything like what they faced during the regular season. I mean, Cleveland they faced during the regular season.

That was clearly a very top-notch defense. And by the way, I went back and looked at this. The score was like seven to six at halftime. It's just that Cleveland couldn't do anything offensively. and eventually, you know, New England ended up getting, you know, running away with it. But I'm wondering last year about New England's offense. I thought Drake may look the part. Don't get me wrong.

Until the postseason when they faced four very difficult defenses in a row. Did you observe that? And I'm just curious as to what your take is when they went up against great defenses, they were horrendous on offense in the postseason. Yeah, they were. They played nine. Let me see. Entering the Super Bowl, the Patriots played just four games out of 20 against passing tax at rates above average. They played a variety of terrible past defenses as well. I had them playing the number three easiest schedule of opposing past defenses space. Yeah. So they were not tested whatsoever. I completely concur. And this is what I. one of the issues with like Patriots fans, they are very sensitive. Anytime you bring this up, they're just so excited for this season to kick off because

you talk about strength of schedule. It was the knock on this team, the entire two weeks leading up until the Super Bowl. It was who have they played in terms of defenses? They are now going to be facing a much more difficult defense in terms of the Seattle Seahawks and Mike McDonald and what is going to happen to this passing attack. I mean, Drake May, if you look at back at that, I was tweeting something about this the other day. I believe in the AFT championship, he had 86 passing yards. The entire game.

Yeah. They just, I mean, they won like what, like 10 to 7 because Bo Nix wasn't out there and they're playing Jared Sidham. And I think his first pass from scrimmage game, you know, he saw a yard. Not to mention the surprise snowstorm that hit the hit in the second half. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. So he wasn't required to do very much during that postseason run.

because their defense is playing very well against some quarterbacks that really were compromised themselves. So, you know, it is what it is. You play who is on your schedule, but you have to account for that when you think year to year. Why is the team, this is what I do when I'm writing the book all the time, is like, why did the team perform like it did last year and what is going to change this upcoming year? And certainly for the New England Patriots, that was the key, is they were able to go up against a very easy overall schedule, against very easy opposing offenses, as well as opposing defenses. I mean, their defense played the number one easy schedule of opposing offenses as well.

So life was really good for the Patriots last season on either side of the ball. Yeah, you know, of course we get into this around here because they were drafted back to back, Jaden at two, and Drake May at three in the 24 draft. And there's been a lot of what I would just call recency bias conversations about that quarterback class. Jaden Daniels didn't play in 25. You know, he played four start to finish football games and didn't have much around him because of all of the injuries in the games that he played. By the way, he didn't play that badly in the four games that he actually played in. Two of them, he really looked like he did in 24. But if you go back to 24, people will say Washington hit the inside straight of all

inside straits as well. And there is some truth to that in terms of the offensive teams they faced and the quarterbacks that they faced late. But defensively, and he carried them, you know, to that championship game, they played Philly basically three times from mid-November on. And in two of them, you know, moved the football and scored 36 points in one of those games against that dominant defense that basically didn't allow the Chiefs to cross midfield in the Super Bowl until late in the third quarter. They had to face a New Orleans defense that was good, a Tennessee defense that was actually not that bad. Cleveland at one point during the year.

But anyway, I digress. I want to jump in and tell you. I completely concur. When I went back and was writing the commander's chapter for the book, after getting through it and then trying to figure out what I was going to write, I basically discounted Jaden Daniel's 2025 season. I am not going to look negatively on what he did. whatsoever. McClureen and Daniels played just two full games together, and that was five days

work because they played week one on a Sunday and on Thursday. Two on a Thursday. They were healthy for a span of five days the entire season, which is absolutely insane. Jade and Daniels himself was healthy for only one game last year, week one. After that, he was on the injury report, and I put it in the chapter every single week of the entire season. Obviously, he missed some games, but the other games, he was on the injury report. The commanders also played the number seven toughest schedule of past defenses, the number two toughest schedule of past rushes. And as you mentioned, their receiving core ranked 30th in player health.

Their running back core ranked 30th in player health, and their tight-in core ranked 21st in player health. So beyond Jaden Daniels' own injuries and beyond Terry McCorn's injuries, this roster was a massive problem, top to bottom, for the positions that would support Jaden Daniels. I personally was, I don't want to say appalled is a bit too strong of a word. I was disgusted is also too strong of word, but I'm trying to think of the appropriate word to convey my reaction to watching

the way that Jaden Daniels' injury was managed by Dan Quinn and how he was putting him into games when he clearly wasn't quite 100%. I think that was a total disaster. But I am not going to look on Jaden Daniels in 2025 and say, off path, he needs to be. recorrect all these different things because he didn't play well last year.

I just give him a complete pass on 2025. And I'm looking forward to this year. It's been my number one offseason, you know, thing that's really bothered me is when I read or I hear people who should know better say, oh my God, you know, he was late, he's footworked regressed, he was this. What are you talking about? He didn't play. He played, you said in two games, three games out of 17, he's,

played start to finish healthy. The New York game, the Charger game, and the Chicago game. And yes, he may have been on the injury report going into the Charger game, but he was cleared in 100%. Every other, he played in seven games total, but the other four he was injured in, three of which he left early. As far as what you said about Quinn, look, I like Dan a lot. He is a very likable guy.

I think he's a good coach. I think he's a phenomenal leader. but he made one of the biggest mistakes of the season, in my opinion, and that was leaving Jaden in the Seattle game, and then having him run an RPO on a condensed field when they're down by 31 with 10 minutes to go, that he should have been out of the game or he should have been handing the ball off on every play and punting

if he wanted to keep him in the game, and that obviously cost him pretty much the rest of the season. But the way you described it is the way I've described it, and I've had such frustration listening to anybody try to evaluate Jaden Daniels season in 25. It's impossible to do it. I actually asked Quinn, he was on three, two months ago with me, and I said, how do you possibly evaluate a season like last year?

And Warren, he goes, it's really hard, but, and then he goes into this thing about why did the injuries happen? Was it the way we practiced? Was it the way we handled it from a training? It wasn't about any footwork problem with the quarterback or anything else. By the way, you mentioned the two games he played with Terry. Remember, that's off of Terry holding out the whole summer. And those were the first two games of the season.

And then I'll add to it, this was the worst defensive team in the league over the final 10 weeks once they lost Lawrence Armstrong. They were, it's a worst defensive team I've ever watched in franchise history. And I've been watching since the 70s. All right. Do you want me to add any context? Of course, of course. Because the data backs up what you just said. And I don't think people should underestimate how bad this defense was last year.

So the positive is it can't be worse this year. Right. But the negative is, like, let's go back for a second. And here's the issue. I'm going to zoom out because I like doing this and I'm going to dig back in. the zoom out is Dan Quinn is a defensive-minded head coach. And when you have a defensive-minded head coach,

your offensive blueprint is going to change fairly frequently, and it's almost impossible for it not to. If the offense looks really good, that coordinator is going to be poached and given a head job. If the offense looks bad, that defensive coach is going to worry about his job, and he's going to fire that offensive coach. And that's my fear with Dan Quinn for as long as he's,

in BC is I don't know that we're going to have continuity at the coaching position side of things here. And that's going to cause problems or growing pains or adjustments for Jaden Daniels, like we've seen with Jalen Hearst and some other quarterbacks. And some of these guys can overcome it, you know, still play well, Baker Mayfield or J.D. Daniel or Jalen Hurst. But it can't help in a positive manner as opposed to having a brilliant offensive-minded head coach. Like a Ben Johnson, if he's not going to be working with Caleb Williams for the foreseeable future like Andy Reid while he was working with Patrick Mahomes.

The list goes on and on. There's far more success stories on that side of it than there are success stories with the defensive-minded coach whose quarterback is working with all these guys rolling through. Zooming back into the numbers, though, in terms of last year, the only way, in my opinion, that it can work to have long-term success with the defensive-minded head coach is if his defense is brilliant.

if he is a great defensive coach, and I'm talking about the Mike McDonald's style of defense. I'm not talking about the Todd Bulls style of defense, where Todd Bulls defense has been falling off in recent years, and now that's a liability, and the office is great, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a little bit rudderless now, and I think Todd Bulls is firmly on the hot seat. Dan Quinn's defense, I'll just throw out some of these numbers, which were shocking to me, and I've researched in the book. You can look at it and just say overall statistically, On a per play basis, they were terrible.

Number two in downset conversion rate, number 31, and EPA per play, number 31 in early down success. On and on, their bottom 10 in a lot of different statistics. I want to throw out some of these others. This team allowed 37% of opponent drives to reach the red zone. That ranked fifth worst in the NFL. When those teams reached the red zone, which they were doing at the fifth highest rate, they allowed 68% of those drives to score touchdowns,

which was 31st in the NFL. NFL. It is a terrible combination to allow top five rates of teams to get into your red zone and then second highest rate for those teams to then score touchdowns. You are going to be giving up tons of points in that regard. They were the only defense to allow over 35% of drives to reach the red zone and over 67% to score touchdowns since 2000. Sorry, since 2020. Wait, wait, give me that one again. I want to write that one down. Sorry. Okay. They were the only defense to allow over 35% of drives to reach the red zone and over 67% to score touch. Got it, got it, got it. Any defense in the NFL over the last five years. It gets worse, though.

I then thought, okay, you know what, this offense is off the rails, the quarterback's been injured. Maybe the defense is just getting tired. Late in games, it's natural. Like the bad field position, maybe it's just late in games. So I looked at what did the commander sue on opposing opening drives of the game, the very first drive of the game. The commander's defense allowed opponents to average 49 yards on opening drives. That was the number one worst in the NFL last year. It was the number worse for any Washington defense this century, which is as far back as my data goes, and was number 13 worst among any NFL defense this century that's 26 years worth. in those opening drives, not only do they allow 49 yards, they forced just three punts in 17 opening drives.

That punt rate of 17.6% was the number one worst for any defense in the NFL this century. We are talking a terrible defense to start the game. They were terrible all the way through. This was an embarrassment overall for Dan Quinn, and it has to get better. this year. I love some of the picks they made. Obviously, the needle is pointing higher for them this upcoming season. And they had injuries to boot

last year, fourth most injured defensive line. You mentioned a critical injury. They had the eight highest injury rate on the defensive back. So this team was suffering injuries left to right. They were the third most injured roster overall in football last year. But these are some horrific,

horrific numbers. I want to add an anecdote to your context because I talked about this two shows ago, I think it was, in talking about just, you know, the fact that they, you know, they added the most new players of any team in the league. And they added nine defensive players, nine actually with Roussel Douglas and now, oh my God, why am I blanking on who they just added the other day, another corner. Oh, Fabian Moreau. So now they have, they've added 10 players new to the team, it includes Sunny Stiles, and I'm like, look, even if they hit, even if they

whiff on half of them, they're going to have a different personnel group, different defensive coordinator, etc. But in the process of talking about that, this is, I doubt this is all time bad. But the Detroit game last year, Warren, here were the drives for the Lions. 10 play 78 yards touchdown. Nine plays 65 yards touchdown. Nine plays 87 yards touchdown. 13 plays 64 yards at the very end of the first half field goal. Third quarter, five plays 72 yards touchdown. Then it was nine plays 74 yards field goal. Then six plays 84 yards touchdown. Six plays 15 yards field goal. Four plays 14 yards ran out the clock with knees. Nine drives, eight scores, eight for eight and they ran out the clock on the ninth. It's actually worse than that, if you can believe it. On certain downs where there was

condensed field, red zone, I remember one play in particular, Jameson Williams catches a ball on third and three at like five yards. And you know on a condensed field, you're expecting to get hit right on a condensed field. No one was around me, turned around and ran for another seven or eight. I thought that that was one of the most embarrassing defensive displays and maybe borderline unprecedented that a team went eight for eight and then on the ninth ran out the clock. Tear, by the way, there were no punts. By the way, they were second to last in turnovers and takeaways with 10. The Jets had four.

And in 2024, they were 26th in the league in takeaways. That would help. But that Detroit game, does that feel like one of the worst ever in terms of drive, lack of success defensively? Yeah, it certainly sounds like it as you're reading those off. And this was kind of emblematic of the issues that the commanders had, letting the teams into the Red Zone, giving up points down there, not being able to force those puns. But I wanted to just reiterate one statistic that you just shared there about the takeaways

because that is key, and I wrote about this in my chapter. When Dan Quinn, Dan Quinn got this job because of what he did in Dallas with that defense. That Dallas defense, in Quinn's three years there, they had 93 takeaways across three years. That was the number one most in the NFL. They also led the NFL in overall turnover margin, in points off of turnovers, and in turnover EPA. The commander's defense really struggled those prior three years. So this was viewed as a massive upgrade to really jumpstart the defense to help put short fields to take away the football to really allow your offense to not have to do as much heavy lifting. We have not seen that here in D.C.

So naturally, we would love to see the takeaways, but you have to start somewhere. You have to figure out ways to force more punts, to not let teams get into the red zone, to prevent them from scoring touchdowns. The way you can do all of that is to be a bit more. to read your keys, to know where to be, to be coached well, to execute well so that you can get after the quarterback, force them into pressure throws. If you stop the run, they're going to have to throw more. When he's thrown under pressure, he's going to throw the ball worse. And that's where you could get some of your tips and picks and overthrows and all the other great things that can happen defensively or the sack fumbles. But if you're not in a good game state that

hurts and your offense needs to help there, but certainly this defense needs to, you need to figure out ways to generate more takeaways and just improve overall defensively. And that's solely on, you know, Dan Quinn, his scheming. The personnel is definitely going to help. You know, Adam Peters is helping out here. Now Dan Quinn has to really coach these guys up in 2026. If the team wants to, you know, get back on track and, you know, try to get back into the postseason and make another run like they did in 2024. Pass Russian takeaways is exactly why he hired Durante Jones. I think he would have loved to have hired Brian Flores, but Brian Flores ended up staying in Minnesota, so he hired a guy that we all think will employ a Brian Flores-style defense.

And with basically, you know, six new starters defensively, because that's essentially what it's going to be in probably 9 to 10 legitimate contributors that are brand new to the defense. It'll be a complete, I don't know if it'll work, but I've been saying what you said about three minutes ago over and over again. It would be nearly impossible for it to be worse than it was last year and not at least marginally improved. So fingers crossed on that. All right, let's take a quick break more with Warren Sharp after these words from a few of our

sponsors. This segment of the show brought you by MyBooky. If you want to bet on football, MyBooky is the place to do it. Go to mybooky.com or mybooky.orgy.orgie. and use my promo code, Kevin D.C. to get a cash bonus. Tomorrow night, first preseason game of the year already, if you can believe it. And we've got the Arizona Cardinals and the Carolina Panthers. Not exactly the most exciting matchup, but it's the preseason.

So who cares? But at my bookie right now, the Carolina Panthers are a one and a half point favorite in this game with the total at 35 and a half. All of the futures opportunities are up and available at MyBooky for the upcoming NFL season. All of the college week zero and week one point spreads are up as are the week one NFL spreads. MyBooky.com, mybooky.com, mybooky.orgy.orgy.com. Mybooky.orgy. promo code Kevin, D.C. All right. I've kept you for so long, and I always love having you on because it's always a smart football conversation. But I do want to finish with what you and I were talking about briefly before we started to record. And that is just the unpredictable

nature of the NFL, you know, year and year out. And you apparently, I guess, made some sort of statement recently that the Seahawks could end up being, you know, a borderline or maybe not a playoff team, which set everybody in Seattle off. meantime they had a seven and a half win total last year and went to the Super Bowl against another team that had a seven and a half over under number before the season started but you added some further sort of ammo to the while this year could even be more unpredictable and you went into sort of the coaches the coordinators the whole thing so I'll give you the podium here just to finish it up on what we were talking about on just just how hard it is year and year out to predict the NFL? Yeah, look, if you are trying to bet on these games, you will find out very quickly. We talked about this before. You'll find out very quickly that if you just agree with all the punish and just think

of everything's going to happen the same way as it did last year and all the good teams last year are going to be good this year, bad teams are going to be bad. Each week, the heavy favorites are going to win. If that's the way that you operate, you're going to find yourself re-evaluating that pretty quickly as you are losing money because that is not the way to actually find success trying to forecast the future as it relates to a sport like the NFL. You have to think a bit more counterintuitively. You have to cut against the grain a little bit more.

I am not betting that the Seahawks are going to miss the postseason, but right now in the prediction markets and the futures, they only have a 65% chance of making the playoffs, which means 35% of the time according to the markets. They are not going to make the playoffs. this is a team that won the Super Bowl last year. I'm outlining the reasons why they might not make the playoffs. I'm not suggesting that you should bet that. That's not a bet that I've made.

But I'm just stating the fact, and people in Seattle couldn't fathom the fact that Seattle could possibly miss the playoffs. This year around the league, it's crazy. Due to the pressure that owners are putting on the front offices, that GMs find themselves in with the coaching staff, We are seeing unprecedented turnover with coaches. And it's been bad of late, but it's at an all-time high this year. We have 10 new head coaches.

That's almost a third of the NFL. We have 21 new offensive coordinators. That is two-thirds of the NFL. We have 16 new defensive coordinators that is half of the NFL. We have 47 new coaches of those three positions overall. This is unprecedented turnover, which means that coaching matters. I am a big fan of, yes, jimmies and Joe's players on the field, but in a game like the NFL where you have a week to game playing and strategize what you're going to try to implement

and then you have to make quick adjustments, coaching matters a ton in the NFL. And I think these coaches, this high volume of turnover, it's really going to make this year fun and extremely unpredictable. Last year, to your point that you made about the Seahawks win total, we saw that. the Seahawks who were 60 to 1 to win the Super Bowl before the season started, play and beat the Patriots who were 80 to 1 to win the Super Bowl before the season started. Prior to that, like in 2023, 2024, we are seeing teams that have 10 to 1 odds or less win the Super Bowl. We were seeing the Chiefs always get there. The 49ers be in the mix.

The Eagles be in the mix. The Rams, these are teams that were favored to get deep and they went deep. last year that changed completely and I think this year could be very fun and just the reason why I'm just fmenting the fact that it could be fun is last year at this time there were only five teams where the odds makers had odds to win the Super Bowl of 18 to one or less these were those five teams that were like kind of the heavier favorites to win everything the chiefs the eagles the bills the ravens and the lions those five teams. This year, do you know how many teams we have? Not five, not ten. We have 13 teams that have odds of 18 to one or better to win the Super Bowl. We're talking the Rams,

the Bills, the Seahawks, the Chiefs, the Ravens, the Eagles, the Lions, the Niners, the Chargers, the Patriots, the Broncos, the Packers, and the Texans. The books don't have any idea who is going to actually get it done. There are so many teams that are close to being possible to get it done. And this doesn't even include like the long shot teams that both got there in the AFC and the NSC last year with the Seahawks and the Patriots. I think this season is going to be

a ton of fun because it's so up in the air from the odds perspective right now and also from all the coaches that are new and different. To me it's an opportunity if you are betting on these games because it says the books don't know what's happening. And so if you can dial in better,

you are going to have some success. If you can dial things in quicker than the sports books do, you'll have a lot of success betting the NFL this year, in my opinion. I'll take it back. Think of it the opposite way. If no coaches ever changed, if nobody ever got injured, and it was the same quarterback starting for the same teams and the roster, just kept playing every single year.

In those situations, the power rankings from the sports books would be so dialed in. They would not have to make hardly any adjustment. Their numbers would be pristine. It would be hard for us as better. but with so much change this offseason with all these different coaches and players, et cetera, we are going to have books that don't know what to do, and it's going to be very fun to watch these games just as if you're a casual viewer, as well as betting on them, in my opinion.

You know, I love, this is why I love having you on, but I did this last week or the week before, of the five teams that were the top five favorites to win the Super Bowl, three of them didn't even make the postseason. Baltimore, Kansas City, and Detroit. And that's what happens. And by the way, of all of the new coordinators, the other thing that is at an all-time high is first-time coordinators.

You know, you've got the Mike McDaniels and the Matt Nagy's who are OCs, but there are so many brand-new guys that haven't done it. Washington's got two of them. David Blowell's never been a coordinator. Durante Jones has never been a coordinator. So, yeah, there's, I mean, this, This promises to be a crazy season. All right, I lied.

To your point, I'll answer your next question, too. I want to just mention this because it's back on something you just said. Five of the nine most winning teams over the prior five years had losing records last year. Eight of the nine didn't win a single playoff game. And so many of these teams, I'll just go down like the top five here of teams that had the best record since 2020. The Chiefs, the Bills, the Packers, the Ravens, and the Eagles. the chiefs replaced their office coordinator. The bills fired their head coach.

The Packers hired a new defense coordinator. The Ravens fired their head coach. The Eagles fired their offense coordinator. So we're just seeing changes among the best, most winningest teams. They are changing things at the top. And so certainly we're just going to be in for a lot of questions during this season. All right. That's going to do it for Warren Sharp on today's show.

But he and I went on for another 10 to 15 minutes where he forecasted Washington's upcoming season and gave me a team that he thinks could be a surprise Super Bowl team in 26. I'll play that for you on tomorrow's show because Tommy will not be here tomorrow. He had something come up and he's not going to be able to do tomorrow's show. So the rest of my conversation with Warren Sharp on tomorrow's show. All right. Thanks to Warren. Thanks to John Kime. Busy day. That'll do it for today. Back tomorrow.