The Kevin Sheehan Show - Gold Pants & Aiyuk Again

Episode Date: July 10, 2024

Kevin back and solo today talking about the Commanders announcement that they team will include blast from the past gold pants as part of their uniform mix in 2024. Kevin also on the Brandon Aiyuk Tik Tok video of Washington's off-season practice. Kevin talked Nats and ESPN's "Defensive Tackle Top 10 List" as a way of talking Daron Payne and Jon Allen in 2024.  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 is Kevin. It's Tuesday, July 9th, and it is a scorcher in the DMV. My God, is it hot out there. But I just came from hot, and I will tell you about that here momentarily. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, is Wind Donation. Give them a call at 86690 Nation or head to Windonation.com. If you want to lower your air conditioning bills during these very hot days of a D.C. summer and you've got older windows, you should call Windonation. 86690 Nation, Windonation.com. Mention my name and they'll give you a free, no-risk estimate. Today's show is going to be a quicker show. No guest, just me solo. I just got back into town. I was out west. I was in L.A. for a few days. My older son lives. there, works there, we spent the fourth in Los Angeles. And then the last two days, I was in Las Vegas, and I was there on Sunday for what became the hottest recorded temperature day in Las Vegas history.

The thermometer hit 120 degrees. 120. It broke the previous record of 170.7. It broke the previous record of a hundred and 17. So did I walk outside to experience it? Of course I did. And that's a hard thing to do when you're in Vegas and you're at the tables. I mean, you kind of lose track of time and it's nice and cool and oxygen filled in those casinos. But I knew it was a potential record setting day. I didn't know it was going to be 120. And when I walked outside, I didn't know it was 120. In fact, I think when I walked out, it was like a buck 17 or something. something like that. But yeah, it's hot. Of course it is. It's really, really hot. But I have to say that today, when I landed and I walked out of the airport and I was walking into a taxi, it felt worse here today than it did in Vegas on Sunday. It felt much worse at 97, I think, is what it got to today. may still be climbing. It was more uncomfortable here today than it was in Vegas at 120 on Sunday. Now, everybody knows the dry heat versus the humidity-fueled heat,

and that's what we have. I mean, it gets measured in this heat index, which the Capitol Weather Gang tweeted out earlier that I think it hit 110 at some point mid-afternoon. the humidity makes it much worse in terms of the oppressive feeling that you have. 120 is hot no matter dry or damp. I mean, it was hot, but not as hot as it felt today, not as uncomfortable as it felt today. Today, D.C. is brutal today. The NATO summit visitors must be thrilled to be here this week.

Anyway, 120. I got to experience almost Death Valley kind of heat, although I think it hit 135 in Death Valley over the weekend. Enough about the weather. Did you know, did you know that we are exactly eight weeks away from the Tuesday following Labor Day? That is the true kickoff of not fall, but the fall calendar and really of football season. You know, once you get beyond Labor Day, now everybody's back into a routine. Kids are back at school. People are back at work. And they love that routine. They love the fall winter routine.

Kids go to school. Parents go to work. We come home. We have dinner. And on the weekends, we watch football. because eight weeks from today will be that Tuesday following Labor Day, which really is in the business that I'm in, it is day one of the high season. When you do sports talk, you know, content in places like D.C. where football matters more than anything else in terms of what

your audience wants you to talk about and what they want to participate in, that is the beginning of high season. And it goes from the day after Labor Day until the Super Bowl. The rest of the year, you know, there are moments, obviously, because the NFL is a full season sport with, you know, free agency and the draft and even what they've been able to make out of the reveal of the schedule. But eight weeks from today, I was thinking about that as I was driving in here today. It's like, It's Tuesday. How many more weeks do we have until we're talking real football? Well, exactly two months. Eight weeks from today.

We will be in NFL week one mode. The season opener, remember, is in Kansas City at Arrowhead, featuring the Chiefs and the Ravens. That's the kickoff game. That's a hell of a kickoff game. So that's basically eight weeks and two days away. But eight weeks from today, on the Tuesday following Labor Day, we will be getting ourselves ready as fans for the opener, Sunday, September 8th in Tampa, an opener that should include the beginning of the Jaden Daniels era.

Can't wait for it. I know we've got camp and preseason games along with, you know, a few of the joint practices that are scheduled with the Jets and the Dolphins. But, you know, we're not going to know anything until they start to play real games. and we're two months away from gearing up for the first of the 17 real games. It'll be here before we know it. And you know what? It's the beginning, too, of the end of the heat.

And there's nothing better than that kind of mid to late September through October timeframe when it comes to weather in this town. My favorite time of the year. Two big Washington football topics on the show today. One I'm going to do in this opening segment and then the other I will do in the second segment. And then we've got a couple of other things from yesterday and over the weekend to get to in the final segment of the show. But we're going to start with Brandon Ayyuk. Yes, he was at it again this weekend. And it's starting to be a bit too much. I think he's crossed a line, which I will explain here in a moment.

moment. But Brandon Ayyuk, for those that missed it, posted a practice clip of Jaden Daniels on TikTok over the weekend. Jaden Daniels and the commander's offense on TikTok. It was Daniels and the offense during OTAs or minicamp. I'm not sure specifically what practice it was from, but Brandon Ayuk, who does not play for the commanders, post, hosted a practice clip of the commanders and Jaden Daniels on TikTok over the weekend. It came from the All-22 film. It was the back of the end zone shot. You don't see much.

He is in Jaden Daniels, is in shotgun. He's got two backs in the backfield, one lined up to his right, one lined up to his left. One of them appears to be Chris Rodriguez. A lot of you said, they shouldn't be sending pictures. out of Echler and Brian Robinson together in the backfield. Well, I don't think either one of them was Echler or Brian Robinson, Jr. I think it was Rodriguez and then another, I think, undrafted rookie back who was wearing number six. Anyway, by the way, I know a lot of you thought, like, the formation was different looking

and that some sort of major secret had been revealed by Ayyuk. I don't think much was revealed. I wouldn't spend much time worrying about the game plan for the buccaneers being leaked. But it would appear that Brandon Ayuk had access to the practice film, not of his own team, but of Washington, probably through his very good friend, longtime friend, Jaden Daniels. You know, it's very possible that Jaden in his effort to get ready for his rookie season, is leaning on friends like Ayyuk to help him with things.

And maybe Brandon was just helping Jaden with some of the things that he's seeing on the All-22. Nothing wrong with that at all. But here's the thing. His frustration, Ayuk's frustration over his contract situation, is his situation. His effort to put pressure on the Niners or to create leverage with the Niners. in his contract negotiation. All of that is his situation.

Not Jaden Daniels or Washington's situation. And he doesn't seem to be able to keep Daniels and Washington out of his public sentiments as it relates to his contract situation. From the first, you know, TikTok video of the call with Jaden Danes, Daniels to bringing Jaden Daniels to the Ryan Clark podcast interview where he implied that he'd like to be traded to Washington. His desire to let everybody know how good friends he is with Jaden and how much he'd like to reunite with him and D.C. has gone past the point of it being interesting anymore. He's making his good friend too much of this story. It's his story. It's his

story, Brandon Ayuk's story. It's not their story, as in Jaden Daniels or the commander's story. Jaden Daniels is a rookie quarterback with enough on his own plate. You know, he doesn't need to be brought into this seemingly never-ending, ongoing soap opera drama involving, you know, his good friend Brandon Ayyuk. A good friend would know that and stop bringing him into it. Now let me make one thing clear. Jaden Daniels isn't doing anything wrong. If he's asking his good friend for help in looking at some tape, I love that. You just wish that the friend would realize that his help doesn't need to be public. Brandon Ayyuk shouldn't be posting for everyone to see his best friends know. He's new teams practice pictures or videos. It seems to me to be a little bit of a trust violation.

I could be wrong. Maybe Jaden told him it was okay to do it. But Jaden's the rookie. Brandon's the veteran player. He should know better. Brandon Ayuk can handle his contract negotiation or even, you know, a trade demand any way he wants to. But from this point forward, I don't think Jaden Daniels should be a part of his presentation or presentations. I mean, Jaden's got enough on his plate. There's no room for him to be, you know, party to another player's very public contract situation in a completely different organization. I like Brandon Ayuk, man.

As a player, I really have liked him for years. You guys know this. If he was legitimately on the market, I would want. want Washington to be interested. But his handling of this situation has become, I think, a bit of a red flag. You know, it's probably frustration. Maybe it's a real desire to leave, who knows? I mean, I'm not saying it's a major red flag. And I certainly understand after, you know, being a fan and living through all of these dramas in the offseason that all is forgotten when the situation finally gets resolved, which I still think it gets resolved and it gets resolved with him signing a

long-term deal to stay a 49er. That's how I think it'll end because that's really the 49ers' best interest in this situation is to bring Brandon Ayup back and try to go win the Super Bowl this year. But for those of you who think that this is, you know, in today's game, this is the way they've got to handle their situations. No, it isn't. He doesn't have to handle it this way. Terry McClure didn't handle it this way two summers ago, two springs ago. Terry may have missed some days in the offseason during his contract negotiation, but he kept his business with the team during that negotiation out of the public eye. Justin Jefferson pretty much handled his the same way a few months back. We're not getting tick-tocked by C.D. Lamb, or Jamar Chase, we didn't get TikToked by Amon Rae St. Brown, or even Jalen Waddle. We didn't even know he was getting a new deal. Brandon Ayuk has chosen to make his personal contract situation very public, not private.

He's bounced around from one interview to the next, from one Instagram post to the next, from one TikTok video to the next, with either direct or not so direct updates on his personal situation with his employer and is not so subtle desire to be in a new place like Washington to play here. I mean, it's his prerogative to handle this any way he wants, but I think it's time for him to stop highlighting and maybe even more so stop using his friendship with Jaden Daniels as part of his attempt to get what he wants professionally. By the way, one more thing on this. So I just read this right before I started to record this show.

Cody Benjamin, CBSSports.com. Brandon Ayuk trade rumors. Three proposed deals as 49ers wide receiver teases interest in commanders, which as we know he's been doing for a while now. You know, we talk a lot about trade compensation. and I think it's the thing we get wrong more than anything else as sports fans. We get a lot wrong. We get the draft wrong all the time.

But we're always way off on what our guesses are on what the trade compensation will be in a trade. Anyway, I don't think this trade will happen. But, you know, the reports from, was it Field Yates or Jeremy Fowler, maybe was Fowler, from a couple of weeks ago said that the 49ers in Washington had talked. and that Washington decided not to do the deal. Anyway, here's what Cody Benjamin, after reaching out to various people around the league, said are three potential deals for Brandon Ayuk. Number one would be Brandon Ayuk to Washington,

and the 49ers get Washington's first round pick in 2025. I personally don't think that you'd have to give up. up a first round pick for a guy that you're then going to have to pay top five wide receiver money to. You know, the Eagles, remember, did send a first and a third rounder to Tennessee for A.J. Brown. You know, and that was a lot. But that Brown deal also occurred during the draft, so Tennessee could take advantage of the picks right then and there.

I just don't see it being a day one pick for Brandon Ayyuk. I've been saying all along when we've had these conversations, to me it feels like a second and maybe a conditional fourth, fifth kind of a thing. Here was proposal number two that Cody Benjamin at CBSSports.com laid out as a potential trade for Brandon Ayyuk. Washington gets IUC and the 49ers get Diami Brown, a 2025 second round pick and a 2025 fourth round pick. So you can see Cody Benjamin thinks that IUC is worth more than just a second and a mid, you know, because he threw Diami Brown into the deal. He's got one more and he got creative on this one. This was a three-teen deal that sent James.

Jameson Crowder, Washington's Jameson Crowder, and Washington's 2025 third rounder to Denver, Washington gets IUC, and the 49ers get Cortland Sutton and Washington's 2025 second round pick. So basically, Washington would be giving up a second, a third, and Crowder. That's too much. It's just too much. I think ultimately if he does get dealt, and again, I would bet against it. And at this point, you know, it's not a given that Washington would be the frontrunner. I mean, Pittsburgh would be potentially very interested as well.

But given the contract situation, you've got to tear it up and give them a massive contract extension, I think it's a second. I really do. And I think right now, if you are still in the boat of wanting Brandon Ayuk to team up with Terry McClearn and John Dotson here in Washington for, you know, the young quarterback that they drafted number two overall, you're not losing leverage by waiting. You know, if the 49ers can't get him signed and it gets tense and it gets confrontational and it gets ugly, you know, they're not going to have much leverage. So, yeah, I still don't think he's going to get traded.

I really don't. But it's been off-putting his handling of this. And again, I know that some people believe, well, this is, you know, in this day and age, man, you know, they got to get their money and whatever they got to do publicly to get it and to get a deal done. But most of the players don't do it this way. And more importantly, from our standpoint, and this is my big thing as it relates to Ayyuk. just stop using Jaden Daniels as part of your effort to, you know, either get traded or create some kind of leverage that you don't have or to get the 49. Whatever it is, whatever your plan is, Brandon Ayyuk, it's time to take Jaden Daniels out of your mouth because he's got enough on his plate. And he doesn't need this. And yeah, it'll all be forgotten when a deal gets done. but, you know, he's a rookie quarterback.

No controversy, please. Nothing involving Daniels until we see him on the field. All right, there's another story that is a Washington football franchise related. And this one deals with the branding. We'll get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Football season will be here before we know it, guys, but that doesn't mean we're not watching other sports, baseball, golf, tennis, soccer, the WNBA. If you want to have some fun watching those games, I would recommend, in terms of Daily Fantasy Sports, the prize picks app.

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harries.com slash sheen. That's harries.com slash S-H-E-E-H-A-N for a $3 trial set. This segment of the show is brought to you by MyBooky. Go to mybooky.orgie. Go to mybooky.orgie. use my promo code, Kevin D.C, and they'll take good care of you when you sign up. You'll be playing with house money when you use my promo code on your initial signup. That promo code is Kevin D.C. Football season is still eight weeks away on the NFL side, six weeks away on the college football side. But if you're interested in betting on baseball or the Olympics or the WNBA, more people have done that this year than ever before, the soccer which is going on right now,

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It is uniform related. But before I do, let me just express and reiterate my year-long stance on new ownership. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. I mean, we haven't been able to do that for 20-some years. years and I'm going to, you know, give them the benefit of the doubt on almost everything and sit back in two or three years and just assess what we have. We know it won't be worse and already it looks like it's going to be much better. It'd be hard not to be much better than Dan Snyder. I'm so happy, like all of you are, that he's gone. Think about we are in 2024, two months away

from an NFL season, and we've got a general manager, a new head coach, no Dan Snyder. I mean, it seems like an impossibility just two years ago. It's still amazing that we got here. We've almost kind of glossed over the fact that he's actually gone. I know we did a lot of this last summer, but it's still kind of amazing because the odds were stacked heavily against him either selling the team or being forced out. But him being gone in a new ownership group in place, benefit of the doubt, man. Doesn't mean that we won't have, you know, critical thinking on some of the things that we watch. I mean, if Dan Quinn, you know, is down, you know, eight with 42 seconds to go and

scores a touchdown and kicks the extra point, we're going to be criticized, you know, we're going to criticize that 100%. But anyway, I say that because, look, there were some tricky situations when Josh Harris purchased this team. And they knew it when they purchased this team. This was not like purchasing an expansion team or team that didn't have some of the big issues that this franchise had. This was a tear-down.

This was, yeah, we liked the lot that the house is on, but we got to tear the house down and rebuild the whole thing. And there were two big issues in particular that were very tricky that did not have and don't have obvious solutions. The stadium is one of them. The name is the other. They knew they were going to have issues dealing with these two big ticket items. But they also knew that they had to deal with them. And the way they were dealt with would result in how much of the fan base got re-energized.

You know, they're trying to re-energize a fan base. They're also trying to attract new fans, but it's a very tricky thing trying to do it with the stadium and the name in particular. The name is much more of an emotional topic for people than the stadium is. And they understand this. Look, the number one thing, I feel like I have to say this all the time for those of you that say stop talking about things that don't matter, the only thing that matters is winning. Of course, building a competent organization

and a winning product on the field is number one. But the other things are very important as well. They're very important in re-energizing the over 45 crowd in this fan base. Everybody isn't coming back. You know, in this idea that if they just win, everybody comes running back is theory. Okay, it hasn't been practiced yet.

There's no comp for this one. You know, you might be right. You know, you might be wrong. My hunch is that the decades-long, emotional connection to this team was fraying in so many different spots because of the way Snyder ran the team and the losing on the field, et cetera. But the loss of the name and the rollout of the new name in February of 2022 was a headshot. it was decapitation for some. And whether or not you can sew that head back onto people's shoulders with a new name,

I don't know, man, I don't know, because the only easy solution is not an option. Redskins is not coming back. So whatever it eventually does change to, and I do think there will be a change eventually, it might not work in terms of re-energizing the whole fan base either. It's very, very tricky. Very tricky. People feel very wounded by the loss of the name and the associated branding. We've talked about this for a while now.

You know, this is why I just, for all of those years, would say to those that would say, you don't get it, man, a new name would be a financial windfall. No, not this franchise. There's an emotional attachment that. that if that is severed, it's going to be really, really bad. And it has been. We can see that. We know that.

Now, the good news is that Snyder's gone, so that was a big part of re-energizing the fan base. But they know they have some tricky situations to deal with, and they're trying to deal with them. And on the name front, look, the bottom line is, and I've told you this for three, four, five months now, I don't think we're going to get an update or we're going to get any feel for where they are on this thing until this stadium issue is resolved. They don't want to muck up the stadium situation with more controversy over changing the name. I do think they will eventually move on from commanders. I do. I'm not convinced.

I'm not at 80%. I'm not at 75%. but I think it's, I think they're, put it this way. I had them as kind of a sizable favorite to change the name back in August. I still have them as a favorite, maybe not as sizable, maybe not as sizable, because I think it's very, very expensive. But anyway, I digress on that. I just wanted to kind of, you know, lay the foundation for what I'm going to say next. And what I'm going to say next is a reaction to the announcement that the team made today.

The team announced that the gold pants are back in the uniform rotation. Now, we have referred to them all of our lives as the gold pants, but really they're mustard yellow, as we know. They're not a part of the championship years. The championship uniforms did not include gold pants. The gold pants were part of the George Allen, you know, 70s teams. That was the last group that wore them before Bruce Allen brought them back when he became the general manager and eventually the team president in 2010. But the three Lombardi winners, the 82 team, the 87 team, and the 91 team never wore gold pants, not once. It was burgundy pants, white jerseys at home, and then they had obviously a burgundy top white pant bottom when it was required on the road.

Those were the championship uniforms. There was no gold in them. I loved it when the gold pants came back with Bruce Allen in 2010 because as a child of the 70s, those are my first memories of the Redskins, you know, wearing the burgundy and gold at home. And even the gold pants with the white road jerseys looked awesome. And they did a few years ago when they were wearing them during the Bruce Allen years in D.C. But anyway, the team made the announcement that the gold pants are officially back in our rotation. And man, there were a lot of tweets about this. One of them reads, you asked, you received.

And then they've got all these quotes from people asking for the gold uniforms. for the gold pants. I'll be honest with you. I don't and have not heard this yearning for the gold pants specifically to be back. But that gets me to this. So while I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt, while I understand that the name issue is a tricky issue right now, and they probably can't do anything or tell us anything right now

until the stadium situation clears. what they did today was a diversion from the big topic. They're trying to, you know, give you something, give the people like me and most of you who, you know, feel this is a very big issue and want the, you know, at the very least, the old uniforms back, the old logo would be great. I don't think we'll get that either.

They're trying to give you something here. and they're trying to divert your attention clearly to the much bigger topic, the much bigger topic that they understand to be a much bigger topic. Okay, trust me, they didn't just say, oh, we got the answer. It's gold pants. No, they want to give you something between now and the time the season starts, but, I mean, you're not falling for it. nobody that's been a long-time fan of this team and understands what this issue really is about

is falling for the gold pant diversion. I don't have a problem with them doing this again. They're doing their best right now to keep the interest in the team, to market to new people, to market to the people that are gone. They have to sell tickets. They've got to sell corporate sponsorships. They have a team to market. You know, they don't have a new name or new uniforms for the upcoming season.

You know, they're not going to just say, we're bailing until we can do something with the name and we're not going to market the team or we're not going to talk about how great, you know, we look in these gold pants with the 2022 uniforms. But it's funny because when they tweeted out, you asked, you received. You know, it's just, again, it's marketing. But it's also a bit disingenuous, and I think most of us can see right through this, right? This was not the big ask. The gold pants are not the big ask that everybody just received.

If all we need to do is ask, well then let's officially ask for a total rebrand. That's the big ask, not gold pants. They know what they're doing here, and they'll... address the actual real issue when it makes sense for them. You know, when the stadium path is cleared, I think we'll get more. But we'll have gold pants with the burgundy jerseys. You know, the gold pants would not look good with the scarlet white in white jerseys or whatever that color is.

It might not be scarlet. That may be an exaggeration. I understand that. But it's certainly not the old burgundy either. So, yeah, they want to give you something here. I wasn't clamoring for the gold pants. I'm clamoring for the championship uniforms and having the real uniforms at the very least back within two years, three years.

Give me that, and that's something that I think they can do. I clearly want the name changed as well. That could be more problematic for them. but I would guess that the one thing that will eventually get done is the uniforms will look more like the old uniforms. That would be my guess, even if ultimately the team name doesn't change from commanders. But I think it will. But I'm just saying I think the better possibility is uniforms changing. And then the next best possibility would be the name changing as well.

I think three years from now we'll have a new name and new uniforms. but I think we'll definitely have new uniforms in three years, maybe sooner. I feel more confident about that than I do in the name. All right, I've rambled too much on this. Bless their hearts, they tried. Gold pants, you asked and you received. Well, great. For those of you that asked, you received.

Hopefully we can get the stadium situation cleared up in the next four to six months, and then we can get an update on what they're going to do with the name. All right, a few more things to finish up with right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey, guys, most of us are interested in our mental and physical well-being to a certain degree. And with that in mind, I'd like to welcome and introduce a new sponsor to the podcast. The new sponsor is Unified Healing, Unified, Spelled, U-N-I-F-Y-D healing. It doesn't matter if you're a big-time world-class athlete or just a somewhat athletic podcaster like me. We all understand the importance of mental and physical well-being and proper recovery for top-notch performance.

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They dropped three of the four against the Cardinals over the weekend. They've now lost 10 of their last 14. You know, they were in that series in Colorado with a couple of opportunities, including, I think, a game in San Diego following the Colorado series to get to 500. I mean, it was just two weeks ago, basically, this team was holding down the second wild card spot as we approach the halfway mark. Now they're five and a half games out in the National League from the third wild card spot. And they have slipped to seven games below 500. They just seem to be wearing down a little bit.

They can't seem to get good starting pitching when they get. hitting. They don't get hitting when they get good starting pitching. Jake Irvin was incredible last week in the one-nothing win against the Mets. One of the better starts by a Nats pitcher in a long, long time, certainly one of the best since Scherzer was here or Strasbourg was healthy. But they appear to be, you know, sort of falling back to what most people expected them to be. They're still, you know, in the hunt, and they've got six games left before the All-Star break, and they can take a deep breath, can get rested during that All-Star break. But yeah, it's been a rough go of it for them.

And as far as, you know, James Wood and his, you know, first, what is it, eight games now of his career, eight hits in eight games. He's got six RBIs, had the five RBIs in the game against St. Louis. He's hit a home run. He's hitting 276 on-based percentage of 400. I mean, he's given them everything you could have expected in his first four games. All right, I wanted to finish up with this. We are in that down period on the NFL calendar.

You know, there's nothing ongoing right now from basically mid-June until mid-July. It's the one month in which there isn't ongoing NFL activity. You know, games, drafts, free agency, OTAs, mini-camps, etc., schedule reveal. And it's the time if you. years we've talked about previously where all of these lists and rankings come out. You know, here's a ranking of the most likely to least likely worst teams. You know, here's a ranking of the divisions heading into 2024. Here's the top 10 clutch quarterbacks list.

Here's the best pass-catching running back list, whatever it is. But there's something that I've looked forward to the last couple of summers that came out today. And what I've looked forward to is a ranking of the defensive tackles in recent years because Duran Payne and John Allen are good defensive tackles. And there have been moments over the last few years where we thought, you know, these are two of the five or six or seven best in the NFL. They are certainly top ten defensive tackles. Well, ESPN.com has been doing this for a while.

this time of year. They put out a top 10 players at each position list, as voted on by league execs, coaches, and scouts. Nearly 80 league executives, coaches, and scouts, basically help ESPN.com put together a top 10 at each position, and then they roll it out over like an 11-day period. They started yesterday with running backs. No Washington running back was listed, obviously. Austin Echler actually was others receiving votes. I actually think Brian Robinson, Jr. could have garnered others receiving votes on the running back list, but they're largely ignored here in Washington,

especially players on offense in recent years. But anyway, yesterday was running backs, and today was defensive tackles. And I didn't expect Duran or John to be on this list. I didn't. and they weren't. They both made honorable mention. If you basically go top 10 and then you see the six players that they listed as honorable mentioned,

they're not listed alphabetically, which tells me they're listed based on vote count. John would have come in as the 12th best defensive tackle in the game, and Duran would have come in as the 14th best defensive tackle in the game. There are some really good defensive tackles. talk about wide receiver all the time. There are some really good defensive tackles. Chris Jones is number one on this list, certainly a playoff time. And then the next three on the list are players that are excellent players. But one of the reasons you would have guessed, as I did, that Duran and John wouldn't be on anybody's top 10 defensive tackle

list is because the team they played on was so horrible last year. The defense was so horrible. But number two on this list is Quinn and Williams. Now, the jet defense was good. Dexter Lawrence played for the Giants. He came in at three. Jeffrey Simmons came in at four. I think he is outstanding, but Tennessee wasn't very good. Matabuque and Baltimore came in five. Christian Wilkins came in at six. Derek Brown played for Carolina last year. They were horrendous. He came in on this list at seven. Forrest Buckner and Indy came in at 8. Green Bay's Kenny Clark.

Man, it seems like Clark had kind of fallen off in recent years. And in fact, he was not in the top 10 last year. He came in at 9. And then Javon Hargrave, who played last year in San Francisco after being traded from Philadelphia, came in at 10. And then it was Vea, John Allen, Jalen Carter, Dron Payne, Cameron Hayward, and Christian Barmore, who were the others receiving votes. So it's not a surprise to me that Duran and John aren't in the top 10. But what I wanted to say about this is I still think they're both excellent defensive tackles. And I know some of you will say it was so predictable with Duran, you know, once he got paid.

You know, I don't think Duran's that guy. You look at it statistically, you wouldn't be wrong, 11 and a half sacks in his contract year just four last year. Duran is still an outstanding at times run stopper. I think Duran's biggest issue, of course, has been consistency. He's still the higher upside of the two, in my opinion. John's more the technician. John's more consistent. But they're both still talented defensive tackles.

They are. And last year on defense, I think some of the individual performances, and maybe even the team performance, I think we got to toss it. I mean, that was horrific from all angles. The coaching angle, the head coaching angle, the defensive staff angle, the players and their attitudes because it really felt like, I think, for most of them, a lame duck season. But Duran is 27.

John Allen is 29. they are in the primes of their careers. I would not be surprised at all if with Dan Quinn and this Joe Witt Jr. And this new coaching staff, defensive-minded head coaching staff, and a very good defensive staff, if Allen and Payne prove once again

that they are top 10 defensive tackles. Last year, Payne was eight on the ESPN list and Allen was 10. And I remember saying I didn't think it was high enough for either one of them. Look, it's a very deep position. It's an excellent position in the league. I mean, when you start ripping through these names, I mean, Chris Jones is over 30 years old, but Quinn and Williams, I mean, star.

Jeffrey Simmons, monster. Derek Brown, I mean, the dude is such a great player, but he's on such a bad team. Yeah. I mean, I think Jalen Carter's got a chance to be that in Philadelphia, but he's got to bring it every down as well. But I've always looked forward to this list, and the wide receiver list to see where Terry ranks, and that'll be coming up here in a few days.

Let's see when receivers come out, because they have this schedule in here. So it looks like wide receivers July 17th, so eight days. We get edge rushers tomorrow, then safeties, then tight ends, then linemen, offensive tackles. We get interior offensive linemen. Sam Cosamy will be in the top 10 on that list, no doubt. Quarterbacks, offball linebackers.

We might get some, nah, not in the top 10. I mean, a middle linebacker, could we get Bobby Wagner to be considered? I don't know. I would bet you that Bobby Wagner on a linebacker list, you know, interior linebacker list is top 10 still. After the season he had last year, I mean, he was great last year. I mean, he led the league last year in tackles with 183. Do people know that?

Like, have we talked enough about Bobby Wagner leading the league in tackles last year at 33, 34 years old? Anyway, Alan in pain, I'm looking for a big bounce back defensive season. And for those two in particular. All right, done for the day. I'll be back tomorrow with Tommy. To start the third quarter, defense fired up number 94, single-handedly killing the Broncos office. Wilson on third and 21, and that's been the down.

Boy, Duran Payne putting a team on his back. Sack, tackle for a loss, and a pass batted down at the light of scrimmage.