The Kevin Sheehan Show - Quinn: New Defense Is "Front Edge"

Episode Date: August 3, 2026

Kevin opened with the Nats trading Luis Garcia Jr. to the Yankees. He reacted to Dan Quinn admitting that the Commanders' new defense under Daronte Jones will be more "front edge" or more current than the defenses of 2024 and 2025. Kevin described the area of the team that he's got the most confidence in other than the starting quarterback. Commanders' Pregame and Postgame host Denton Day jumped on to discuss the Commanders and some college football as well.   For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match   Refresh your everyday with luxury you'll actually use. Head to www.quince.com/SHEEHAN for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too.   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 Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. I've got one guest on today's show. My old radio producer and good friend Denton Day will join me next segment. Denton's been out at training camps since the veterans reported last Wednesday.

The show's presenting sponsor, as always, Windonation, 86690 Nation, Windonation.com if you need new windows. So I'm recording the show today early afternoon. Trade deadline is 6 p.m. So it is possible that the Nats will do something else that I'll have to cover on tomorrow's show. In fact, most of the Nats trade deadline stuff I'll save for tomorrow, although I do have a few thoughts on what they did yesterday. The Nats lost again yesterday in Atlanta, four straight, swept in Atlanta, a five-game losing skid at the wrong time. The absolute wrong time for a losing skid.

We talked a lot about that early last week, that they needed to play well in Atlanta, you know, come away with a split so that they were within reasonable, you know, distance of those last few wildcard spots, reasonable, you know, reasonable. you know, record 500, maybe a game or two above. But after losing to Toronto and then going to Atlanta and losing four in a row, the Nats right now four and a half out of the wild card spot with a lot of teams in between. And currently now the Nats have fallen to three games under 550 and 58. And whether or not this recent losing skid, you know, propelled the Nats to think differently as this trade deadline approached. Who knows for sure?

We'll see with Foster Griffin. If Griffin gets dealt, I have a feeling this was absolutely about the way they've played, heading into the trade deadline. But the Nats made a massive trade yesterday, sending Luis Garcia Jr. to the Yankees for four pitchers, all right-handers, by the way.

Yovani Cruz, Jake Bird, Ben Grable, and Jack Seabird. Now, those who haven't been following the Nats closely, just to give you an idea of what Luis Garcia Jr.'s been doing this season, he's having a career year. Join the Nats. He's never played for anybody but the Nationals being called up back in 2020 for the first time as a regular. But since June 5th, 18 home runs. tied for first in the big leagues.

45 RBIs tied for second in the bigs. His slugging percentage is first overall in baseball and his OPS is third overall since June 5th. He's been a big part of why the

Nats have been so good offensively and he's gone. Now this was a possibility even if the Nats stayed close record-wise versus what happened this past week. There was a lot of discussion about Louis Garcia, Jr.

having this career year and taking advantage of it and trading him to a contender for a hall. Now, the hall's been described as a, you know, anywhere from a B-minus to a C-minus hall in terms of the trade grades. I had Jesse Doherty, who used to cover the Nats for the Post on the radio show. He essentially said the Nats did okay.

they got four pitchers, but none of them were super high up in the Yankees farm system. But the Nats have a lot of confidence right now in their ability to develop pitchers. So getting four pitchers back for Luis Garcia Jr., a player who, you know, some view is more of a platoon player, not so much this year in terms of his hitting and his offense, but that's kind of what he'll be with probably Paul Goldschmidt in New York. the Yankees were actually, interestingly enough, much more interested in a right-handed bat than a left-handed bat. But Garcia Jr. now gone. Curtis Meade gone. It's going to be hard to replace that level of offensive productivity. Without Mead, it was such a good return with the pitcher, Connolly early.

No problem there. Without Luis Garcia, Jr., you wonder whether or not the Nats can legitimately be what they've been offensively. I don't know the answer to whether or not he would have been dealt had they taken two of four from Atlanta over the weekend and been sitting there a game above 500 and two and a half out in the wild card race. But he was always one that people were focused in on. Now, going back to the beginning of the year, if you recall, C.J. Abrams was the guy that everybody thought the Nats would be getting a haul for at the trade deadline. He has not been dealt in Spencer Nussbaum, who covers the Nats for the athletic, did tweet out that the Nats have not taken seriously any of the overtures about C.J. Abrams. Yeah, you can't trade C.J. Abrams with the year he's having. He may not be a very good defensive shortstop, that's for sure. But he is elite as an offensive shortstop. Just having an absolute kill. year. In fact, he was named National League player of the month for the month of July. C.J. Abrams was. So there you go. As far as the trade goes, look, we'll talk more about it. The grades, as mentioned, you know, somewhere in the C minus to B minus range for the most part. Yeah, I mean,

look, it would have been hard to sell this had they been two games about. of 500 and a game out in the wildcard race. But now it's just much different with them sitting four and a half out in the wildcard race with, by the way, four teams in front of them before you get to the wild card third spot, which is being held by Philly. Actually, they're tied with Arizona for the second and third spot. Still some time for them to turn around their season, but they'll start a four-game set in Philadelphia. Tonight, the Phillies won two straight against Baltimore to sort of break up their

losing skid. The Phillies at home, and they've made a couple of trades here today as well. Big trade, Terrick Scooball, to the Dodgers yesterday, massive. I mean, the Dodgers are such a heavy favorite right now to win the World Series, but it is baseball, and you get random results in the postseason. But they are a two-time back-to-back World Series. champion, obviously now the favorite to make it three in a row, hearkening back to those Yankees of the late 90s teams led by Derek Jeter and company for sure. All right. So disappointing series with Atlanta, a real, you know, buzzkill to the end of the weekend going into this trade deadline. I was kind of hopeful, and I know some of you were, and some of you think this

is the right way to operate. And I'm not discounting that you. guys are right, long-term thinking, building up a roster, trying to make a run over a significant period of time rather than just taking an opportunity in one season. And I was not an advocate of them being super aggressive necessarily, but I would have loved to have seen them have the offensive firepower that they've had all season going down the stretch. And if they trade Foster Griffin, you're starting pitching now is not great. Pitched well yesterday, but that would be pretty much all they have, unless early is back with them later on this month. All right.

I wanted to read this from JR. J.R. writes, Kevin, I'm ranking your regulars over the years. Cooley won and then tied for second, Souter and Logan. Logan might be the best for this time of the season, but he's always great. I had Logan Paulson. That's the Logan he's referring to on the show on Friday. Logan's always great. Some of you have always referred to Logan as Cooley Light. They're just different. They're both incredibly insightful and really smart. They're just different personality-wise. I think I can say that. And I'm not saying it in a negative way towards either one of them. Cooley is a bit of a wild. card, obviously. Logan is steady eddy, but they both are incredibly smart and

incredibly insightful. And look, Logan's got the advantage like Chris did for all of those years in that he's out there every day. Like he is producing a lot of content for the team on the team's YouTube channel and website.

And so he's around a lot of it. Plus, you know, Logan's coaching still. Logan is coaching high school football as an offensive coordinator, working with Kedric Goldston, and he's just, you know, he's just really good. I love having him on. I try not to ask him too much. He's always willing to do it, but you know how that goes. It's like, Logan's got his own thing going on. And if I can get them, you know, once a month, once every two months, something like that, I feel fortunate. He was

excellent the other day. And he was, he went on about, I asked him a question that I'm going to actually answer because I didn't answer this on Friday show. And I did this with callers on radio today. I asked him about the area of the team that he felt most confident about, you know, excluding Jaden Daniels in the quarterback room. What's the area of the team that you feel most confident about? And he gave me the offensive line and then also edge rushers.

He feels really good about Adafio way. You can tell that Adafio way is a guy that just looks the part. And I thought he looked the part as a pass rusher with the Chargers at the end of last year into that playoff game against New England. You know, he's tall, he's long, he's really explosive. We could have gotten a guy that's, coming into a very exciting prime part of his career. I liked the signing when they made it,

and I have high expectations for O-A as well. But I think those that have been out there at camp, it's striking to them just O-Way's physical ability and athleticism. So he liked O-WA a lot, and he really is confident about the O-Line. and he did something that Souter's done with me before. Steve Suter's done before as well, which is, you know, borderline minimize the center position. So I'm going to get to my answer to the question that I asked Logan on Friday

about the area of the team that I'm most confident in other than a quarterback with Jaden Daniels. And I would say the quarterback room with Jaden and Marcus Mariotta in combination. But before I get to that, I just wanted to quickly, comment on something that I heard Dan Quinn say on Saturday. He held his press conference during the first open to the public practice day on Saturday. And he was asked about the new defensive scheme under Durante Jones. And if this new scheme has changed his, Dan Quinn's, perspective on defensive coaching. It was an interesting back and forth. He said, quote, I wouldn't say it's changed my perspective, but I like that he, Durante Jones, is on the front edge of some things.

So, so often at the line of scrimmage, offenses can have the pen last and get to this check and get to this change, and then defensively we have to adjust. That happened, we adjust. This happened, we adjust. What I like in this system that we have now is we are also. into some of the checking to make the offense have to adjust to us. So I think in the years ahead, defenses are trying to get into that space more, and it's nice to see us go into that space now. That answer is an answer that says they're in a more forward-thinking defense than the defense they were in last year.

or the year before. I mean, when he says at the very end, it's nice to see us go into that space now. It means they weren't in it last year. Let me just say this. I think if you injected Dan Quinn with Truth Serum on this, he'd tell you his system can still work. But you've got to have the right guy teaching it,

the right guy calling it, the right guy adjusting to it in game, and you've got to have good personnel. You know, they haven't had to have. had great personnel, and I'm not sure Joe Witt, Jr. was necessarily the guy to manage that defense. But I thought that was an interesting quote. And then there was a follow-up on what led him to believe they needed a new defensive system. And he said, quote, I think just going through offenses and defenses over the last five years, six years, to say, when would you want to check, you know, meaning defensive check? A lot of times a defense might have an all-out blitz. And

and offense checks, and you want to get out of that blitz because a screen or something that could hurt you is coming, and could you take that further? And so defense is often trying to disguise man and zone, and that's been popular for a while. So now having the ability to get in and out of calls, it has to be easy to learn, and it's got to be relatable and something you can execute quickly. And having a system that you're able to do that in, that's a big deal. So that was a follow-up. Again, you know, somewhat of a shot at what they did the last two years. And then there was one more question on this.

The question was on if it was hard to get to the point of understanding this new defensive system. And he said, quote, it wasn't. I enjoy learning the new parts of it. It wasn't difficult to learn. In fact, I thought it would be more complex. And so the best systems don't overtax someone. like you've got to get to their ability to go and play freely with discipline. And if you're just hesitating over thinking,

I've tried that where it's like you want the perfect call and a good call. Executed violently is going to work better. And so this allows us to get in and out of calls, not every play, but on a more regular basis, close quote. Look, I think when he took over the defense, you know, after that stretch of good offensive teams that they faced, and he moved on from Joe Witt Jr. I think he said at the time, you know,

you've got to stop trying to get to the perfect call and get to a good call and be more free and play more freely. And he says here, execute violently. That works better. So anyway, I thought those were interesting quotes from the head coach over the weekend. So what part of the team am I most confident in after the quarterback? room. I'll get to my answer 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

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Join the millions who are already banking fee-free with America's number one choice for banking. Head to chime.com slash sheen. 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 Chime's bank partners. Qualifying direct deposits are required. Terms and limits apply. Go to chime.com slash disclosures for details. This from Gary in Kensington. Gary writes, Kevin, I know you're not a big fan of training camp,

but serious question, other than Jaden, is there any part of the team that you feel good about? Thank you for that, Gary in Kensington. Logan was on with me on Friday, as I mentioned, and I would definitely urge those of you that haven't listened to it to go back and listen to it. He was excellent, and he was on with me for 40 minutes, something like that. And I think that was the first question that I asked him. And he feels really good about the offensive line.

He feels really good about the edge rushers. He's a big fan of Adafi Oway so far. So I wanted to answer that question as well. I'm going to exclude, per Gary's request, Jaden and really the quarterback room because the area that I feel best about is Jaden Daniels. Now, there are some concerns, obviously, about him remaining healthy for 17 games, and that is the number one determinant of the upcoming season, for sure. Is Jaden Daniels going to be healthy enough to start the mass majority of games?

Yes or no? If we know that the answer is yes, we got a shot this year. If the answer is no, we don't have much of a chance this year. But taking Jaden and the quarterback room, which includes Marcus Marietta, out of the equation, I would have said the following, even before I heard Logan answer the question. And I would have said it in a slightly different way, but I would have ended up on sort of the pass rushing front. first of all, it would be really hard for the defense to be anywhere near as bad as it was a year ago. So overall, I feel like the defense is going to be improved. I have a high level of confidence that the defense is going to be improved from where it was last year.

That's not a big leap, obviously. But they understood the problem. They tried to address the problem. they have nine players that are brand new that they have expectations for. I'll go through the list, nine new players that they have legitimate expectations for. Tim Settle, Charles Amanahue, those are the two players up front. Adafi Owe, Leo Chenal, Sonny Stiles, Caleb-on-Cheson, Nick Cross, Amique Robertson, and now, Rassoules. nine players that they legitimately believe will be contributors,

if not absolute main stalwarts of this defense. Like, just do the math and say that they miss on a third of them or miss on half of them. If they missed on half of them and signed the wrong guys or those guys got injured, four and a half new contributors that can play and meet expectations, The defense, of course, will be better than it was a year ago. And by the way, Dorrance Armstrong's coming back. Dietrich Wise is coming back. Duran Payne's in a contract year.

Kinlau's in year two played pretty well, actually. I mean, we know how much Steve Souter's in love with Jeremy Reeves and others really like Juan Martin and Will Harris is back, Sanry Still's back. Trey Amos, obviously, you know, needs to be back and healthy as one of the, you know, bigger corners that they have now with Russ Russell Douglas, but I feel really confident that they're going to be better defensively. I went through this on radio just as a reminder to everybody this morning.

They were so bad on defense. When they lost Dorrance Armstrong in week seven against the Cowboys, the rest of the year, they were the worst defensive team in the NFL per almost every advanced metric. I mean, the expected points added against Washington's defense proved after week seven the loss of Dorrance Armstrong. They were the worst. Cincinnati was bad, Dallas was bad, Washington was the worst. Remember some of those games. I went through the Detroit game. That was truly one of the most embarrassing defensive performances in recent NFL history. They lost to the Lions 44 to 22. You know, they lost two games last year by that identical score 44 to 22. The Cowboys and then to the Lions in week. 10. The week 10 lost to Detroit at home, which was a highly anticipated game, remember when the schedule came out? You know, that's one of those where, you know, if you're a Lions fan, you're like, oh, I can't wait for that revenge game.

We'll be one of the biggest games in the NFC all year. It's not about who you play. It's about when you play them. They got Washington devastated with injuries. And they had nine possessions in the game, and they scored on eight of them. and ran out the clock on the ninth. 10 plays 78 yards touchdown to open the game. Nine plays 65 yards touchdown, drive number two. Still in the first half. Nine plays 87 yards touchdown. 13 plays 64 yards right before the end of the half.

Field goal. They had 25 points at halftime up 25 to 10 because they went for two on one of their touchdowns and converted. Second half, five plays 72 yards touchdown. nine plays 72 yards touchdown, six plays 84 yards touchdown, and then six plays 15 yards, field goal,

and then they got the ball back, four plays, 14 yards, clock expires. Eight scoring drives to open the game and a ninth drive to run the clock out in a 44 to 22 win. Oh my God,

it was a bad defense. Wow, was it. bad. It's going to be improved. Has to be. Now, is it possible that Durante Jones in this new scheme that Quinn's high on because it's sort of front edge of what's going on

in defensive football that he's not the right guy? Sure. Could they have the same kind of mass communication issues that they had last year going on? Sure, it could be. Nothing's impossible. I thought last year's defense couldn't be as bad as the defense in 2024.

But I think I feel most confident about the defense making a jump to being significantly improved. And I think specific to that is where I agree with Logan. I think they should have a decent pass rush. I was an O-Way fan. I think Chason can be a really good pass rusher. I think Frankie Louvue and Leo Channal can be good pass rushers. And Dorrance Armstrong is a good pass rusher, assuming he comes back and

can play at the level that he played at last year before he got hurt. I love the aggressive scheme. Pain and Kinlaw with other pass rushers might be able to thrive if they're in there. I'm going to tell you right now, I think the thing that I'm most excited about this season and week one is to find out what they're doing defensively. It doesn't look like Brian Flores' scheme. Where are the players lined up? Are there 10 players on the line of scrimmage and then they fall back? Are they blitzing from everywhere? Who's the person? Who's on the field?

What's the personnel look like? Who are the two starting edge pass rushers on the first third and clear-cut passing situation for the Eagles in the opener? Is it Oway? Has to be, right? Who's on the other side? Who's the other edge? Is it Armstrong?

Is it Chasan? Is it Louvoo? They got a lot of options. I think they do. It seems like they do. I will say this. you, it's really hard to be an excellent pass rushing team if you're not a good run-stopping team. They don't always go hand in hand, but it's a lot easier to rush the passer and get good results

on third and seven or longer than it is on third and ones, third and twos, and third and threes. And you're not sure what the other team's going to do. has to first and foremost become a better run-stopping team. I don't know if that's in the cards necessarily. I feel like Logan does. The pass rushers are better, and the scheme will likely, we think, err on the side of being aggressive. But for it to be truly effective, you've got to get the teams into second and nine's, second and ten, second and elevens, third and sevens, third and nines, third and 13s, that's when teams can really get after the quarterback. And to stop the run, you're going to need, you know, in a base three, four,

or a five-man front, whatever that looks like, you're going to need some good run stoppers. I think Ken Law and pain are capable, you know, up front. I think Dietrich Wise showed in the first couple of games he was capable. You know, a guy like Sonny Stiles, I think everybody's convinced that, you know, he's long, he's tall, he's athletic, can he cover sideline to sideline? Yeah, all those things. But when you're that tall, are they going to come after him in the run game as a rookie? How's he going to hold up in the run game? I'm interested to see that with Sunny Stiles. No doubt he's going to be able to cover. He's going to get his mitts on some balls because he's tall and he's long and he'll deflect some passes. You know, I think Oway will

be good at that too. But will they, be good at stopping the run. I think the area that I feel most confident in after Jaden is I think their defense will be improved and I think their pass rush will definitely be improved. Can't wait to see it, week one. All right, my guy Denton Day after these words from a few of our sponsors. Have you ever fallen for a scam or know someone who has? Not all deals are what they appear.

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whether it's windows or doors, just give Windonation a chance to come out and give you a free in-home estimate. Call them at 86690 Nation or head to Window Nation.com. All right. Joining me right now is my old producer from my show. on 980 and a really good friend, Denton Day. Denton was with me for three or four years, something like that. One of my all-time favorite producers, and he was much more than a producer. He was a great on-air person as well, which is why he's no longer with me, because he's gone on

to do bigger and better things. He's a co-host on a radio show overnight on Westwood One with our friend Linnell. He continues to do work for serious exes. when it comes to college football, and he will once again this year host the Washington Commanders' pre-and-post game shows on the Team 980 and on 1067 the fan. By the way, you're not that far away from your first pre-and-post game shows because a week from this Friday night, they kick off the pre-season at home against Miami. You are going to be doing pre-and-posts for pre-season games, right? That's a great question.

I don't know if we're doing, I don't know how much we do pregame and post game for preseason games. Oh. It's kind of like a watch-along, if anything. But if they need somebody, like I, you know, I'm around. I've been having a good time out there. I saw a lot of our friends out there. A lot of listeners came up to me on Saturday, so it was cool to see.

You know, I, uh, yeah, Saturday was the first open to public, um, training camp day. Can I just tell you that hosting the pre-and-posts game show, the pre-game show for 13 years on the teams. actual radio network. There was nothing worse than the post-game show following pre-season games. It wasn't hard to do the pre-game show because you had a lot of live interviews, etc. The post-game show was dreadful after some of those pre-season games. But if you don't have to do the pre-season games, just consider yourself lucky, and you'll be at it on September 13th during that one o'clock window leading up to the 425.

kickoff at Philadelphia. Denton has been out at camp every day doing work for the team 980 and as part of his pre and post game host responsibility. So I'll open with this. It's something that I talked about in the open to the show and I answered on my own. Take the quarterback out of the possible answers to this question. Take Jaden Daniels out of the equation. Give me the area of the team after him and even the quarterback room that you feel best about, that you feel the most confident about? I'll give you one on both sides of the ball. I think the running back room on offense, I feel very, very good about.

I think they have a bunch of dudes that can do a bunch of different things. Bill is going to be primary, I think, running back one, but I don't know that he's like a 250 touches, a season kind of a guy. I think they have a very nice dynamic with him, with Rashad White. which what I believe is going to be Catron Allen, though I have to admit, Jeremy McNichols has looked pretty good to the first couple of days of camp. We didn't get to see a ton from the running backs with pads today. I was a little bummed about that, but I feel overall on offense pretty good about that particular room,

and then on the other side, the linebackers, and that's basically because of one specific player in sunny styles, but man, dude, the first four days of camp, and especially with pads today, he looks every bit apart. He's living up to every bit of the hype. I just can't wait to see it in actual games when it matters. Now when he's kind of going still 75% in camp. You're the first person that's come on the show, radio or podcast talking running backs.

It has not mentioned Rashad White. Why? Why? So first of all, I think Rashad White's been looking really, really good. Bill is getting a lot more of the reps at the ones. at the moment, or at least when they're calling designed run plays, he's getting a lot more of those. I think Rashad White looked very good, but just the first couple of days of camp, Bill has been the guy that I've, he stood out to me a little bit more. Yeah, I'm going to be

surprised personally when the real games get here if Rashad White isn't equal or higher on snap counts early in the season more than Bill. I like Bill's talent. Don't get me wrong. And I think he's going to be a significant part of what they do in the running game itself. But going to Philly, going to Dallas, they're going to want a veteran presence there as a pass blocker, as a runner, and as a pass catcher. And I just have this sense that when they get to the real opponents, Rashad White's going to be a big part of the attack. It sounds to me like you would disagree with that and say you think Bill will end up getting the majority of snows. No, no, no, no, no, no. I think you're right with the split. I think it'll be

primary, probably 40, and then maybe 10%, and like 8% goes to either Ketron Allen, or Ford or McBickles, whoever is the third running back. I think it'll be a nice split. It's just the first couple of days. I've seen a little bit more from Bill than I have from Rashad White, but once they get

the pads on consistently, I think you'll see more from him in past game stuff. Well, he's going to, he's going to score on one of these early weeks on a wheel route. I know they're setting up. He's going to like, they're going to bring him out of the backfield. It's going to be him on a linebacker, and that linebacker's not going to stay at a chance. You know, you essentially mentioned four running backs that'll be on the final roster,

because McNichols obviously is their best special teamer, and you like Ketron Allen, and I know they do as well, you think they're going to keep four backs? I do think that they'll keep four. What I don't know is where that's going to take another spot from, because the wide receivers are another really interesting battle, or a couple of interesting. battle going on, especially if they sign a particular Maryland alumni, hopefully you're coming up here soon. So I don't know who's going to be the odd man out. Another guy that's looked halfway decent and played special teams is Jerome Ford. Now, I wouldn't expect him to be on

the roster. He's kind of like done this three years in a row now. It feels like where he's kind of look good at camp and they just go another direction. But that running back position is going to be interesting. Maybe you can sneak Kajron Allen onto the practice squad. He's not running a ton of teams, and like you mentioned, Jeremy McNichols can do a bunch of different things, but that's blocking or turning, whatever. Yeah. All right. So you mentioned a couple of players defensively. I'm going to ask you what I asked Logan on Friday's show. Who's going to lead this team in Sacks? That's a, if I'm here, let me give you odds on that. I think the, you know, the FAA

is going to be like the big-time favorite. And he's gotten some reps, not a lot of reps, but he's some reps against Laramie Tunsell, and he's not losing. There's a couple times where he's got on the better of Laramie Tonsle in a way where I was, you know, hopeful, I was like, hey, hopefully he's going to be a game record, but I didn't know that I had him beating Tonsal the way that he had a couple of times, so definitely always looked really good. Caleb on Chase-on is, if you're looking for, like, sneaky value, on who's going to leave the team at Sacks with him, I think he's looked really good,

and he's getting reps against Connerly and Laramie Tonsol, they're doing some flip-in. he also drops into coverage a little bit, which is not like my favorite thing in the world, but I think he's really versatile. So I think with a lot of attention paid to Def A-O-A-O-A, I think Caleb-Chae could be the guy that ends up leading the team in Sacks. In a perfect world, both of those guys go for double digits, but we'll just stick with Chase Sons, and I think he could be something this year. I love the way you just kind of threw out in a perfect world.

They both go for double-digit sacks. I have no idea when this team last had two players with double-digits. sacks, but I bet it's been a while. I mean, 2022, no. I don't think we had two players with double-digit sacks. I'll look it up and give it to all of you listening at the end of this show. But your overarching point is a good one, which is they're just going to be better there. I mentioned in the open Denton, they added nine new players on defense, all of whom have

legitimate expectations. Like, even if they don't get half of them right. you know, still four and a half new significant contributors is going to lift this defense. I just think it would be hard to, and by the way, Dornst Armstrong will be coming back. Let's not forget about him, but it would be hard to believe, hard to imagine this defense not being improved this coming season compared to what it was last year. No, they can. I mean, we learned last year on defense that there is a such thing, having nobody that can get after the passer, just from that standpoint,

they're so much better. Because you're right, like we've seen Dorrance. He's been out there, but obviously he's not practicing. So we still looks to be in good shape, obviously football shape versus just looking at him are very different things.

So once he gets back, once Dieter WISE gets back, I mean, they got a lot of depth at the defensive line because another guy that's looked pretty good is the rookie from Tennessee, Joshua Joseph. He's gotten some really good reps,

and he has a lot of things. like just the God-given stuff that I think makes a defensive coordinator and a defensive line coach really, really excited. As long as they develop him throughout the course of the year, he could be a guy that comes down on some of those primary passing down, like a third down long. Pay your ears back and go, and I think he could be a guy that makes a couple of big plays down the stretch of the season. Yeah, Logan mentioned Joseph's as well as a player that he thinks could end up making

a bigger contribution this year than many fans think. So right now, on the back end, no Trey Amos yet, do you think they signed Russell Douglas because they were concerned about Amos? Or do you think they signed Russell Douglas because they feel like he's actually a player that can give them something right now that some of their other players can't give him? Probably more the latter than the former. Just because without him and without Amos, when Amos wasn't practicing, they just didn't have a lot of bodies out there. and they have some guys that were on the team last year. You know, like Biggers is out there. Hamilton is out there, but those aren't guys that you're getting super excited about.

In camp, it's not like we're over the moon and excited about Rousseau, but just putting him out there, he already made a play. You know, he ended practice last week with a pick-six on Marietta. So I think just the addition of him, I can see him in their mind, at least, being in a kind of a similar spot to what Jonathan Jones was last year where he was a veteran presence that you know where you can run. lie on to come in and give you some good quality work on the outside. So I don't think it's like they're overly concerned about Amos.

He's like jogging around some of the time at practice too. So eventually he should be back on the field. He's not like sprinting or anything like that, but Amos is out there. He's moving. He's hard to miss. He's hard to miss out there. So he's hard to miss out there. I'm hoping that he gets back relatively soon.

All right. I think you may have already answered this question with Joshua Joseph's, but give me a player on defense that you've been talking to your friends about and people even out there that you think is going to make a bigger contribution than most think. You know, Joseph, this would be the one on the defensive side, though. We've had a lot of conversations about Nick Cross because he kind of flies around the football a little bit.

We didn't get any major collisions in the first day of pads. I may or may not have been taking bets on the sideline with some of the people out there, is who's going to be the first one to really get the fans loud by colliding. We didn't get any of those on Monday, but I think Nick Cross is a guy that he's getting a lot of reps at the starting spot on the safety position. I know a lot of people have expectations for him, but I think he could be really, really good with what they're trying to do.

But I would say, Joseph, to answer your question, Joseph would be the one where if he gets some quality snaps, we'll say like 10 to 15, maybe 17, I think he could make some good work out of that, at least in the early portion of the season, then we'll kind of see what happens on the back half. All right, we continue with Denton at the Denton Day on X. Give him a follow.

So how has Jaden looked to you since you've been out there? He looks good. He's learning. You know, and I'm not taking this, like, big referendron, referendum on what he's doing. I see him processing a lot more than some of the other quarterbacks, which is positive. You know, I think some of the other quarterbacks are trying to get the ball out of their hands

as quickly as possible, where it does look like Jaden is trying to go through all the progressions and understand what coverage is being played and how this particular play that we're running is going to look against this coverage so he can get familiar with it. He's on. He's on. And I'm sure you have had many of people come on and talk about this. The interior offensive line needs a little bit of help, specifically the center position. So at times it's been a little difficult to judge him.

I mean, they were running a two-minute drill at the end of practice today. and with Jaden's group with the ones, it was tough because there was like two sacks. They just couldn't block anybody up front. So they got to solidify that, but when he has time, he's picking the defense apart. He's doing some of the things that we, you and I, but very optimistic that he's going to do in 20206 that we didn't see a ton of in 2025. And he is the only quarterback, and I cannot stress this enough. He is the only quarterback that is not talking and running in like seven on sevens.

I mean, the amount of times that I'd be rolling my eyes from Michael Hartman or Marriota, they tuck it on seven on seven, like throw it. He's letting it loose. So I kind of like what I've seen from Jayden so far. I'll be it. It's not perfect, but look, dude, if you're like perfect on day four of training camp, your standard for perfection isn't high enough. So I've been liking what I've seen from him.

So what about the center position? I mentioned, you know, they signed a center, Trey Hill over the weekend and Allegretti's still out. Do you sense that there's any concern about him? and his availability, his camp goes on, and then eventually when the season comes around? I don't know that there's a concern about him from the team's perspective. I can tell you that I'm concerned about the center position. Even if Allegredy is fully healthy, it's not something he's done a lot over the course of his NFL career.

So this is a guy that you're putting into a totally new spot on a year that's really, really important. I mean, I have expectations that they are going to make it to the postseason this year, and that Jaden is going to look way more like 2004 than he did in 2025, but going out there with a guy that you're transitioning to center is a very, very bold move from the team.

And I know they were in the market for Linderbom, and it didn't work because the Raiders gave him a boatload, a truckload of money. But I don't know why they moved off of Biotish without a clear plan in place. So that has been a little bit alarming. You know, we'll see when Aligretti gets back.

I wish that we saw him today. I think we'll see him maybe at the end of the week. Maybe, so I'd like to see him in pads before one of the first preseason games. But I'm definitely alarmed at that. And I'm also a little curious as to why if the plan right now is that Paul is going to play left guard, I thought he played well there last year. If they're going to put him next to Laramie Tunsell, why are you not at least trying with the three's Brandon Coleman at center?

If we're just going to throw dust into the wind and hope of something becomes a guy that you can rely on, at least give him a couple of opportunities with the three years of third team to see if he can do it. They haven't really done that yet, so I've been a little confused by that. Week one against Philly, Coleman or Paul at left guard? I think it's going to be, I think it's going to be Chris Paul. I think I think he's getting a good amount of reps. Now, they are interchanging with him, but I think it'll be, I think it'll be Chris Paul.

I do think we're in a spot where Brandon Coleman has to win the position back. and so he's going to really have to stand out in camp the rest of the way and in preseason games, my expectation is that it'll be Chris Paul. Wide receiver room, let's just say right now they don't add anybody else, and the six or seven best of the group that they have right now is what they have when the season begins. What would that be for you? Would that be an area of concern, or have you seen enough,

talk to enough people to believe that they'd be okay? I would always be concerned without a legit wide receiver two, and I can understand from a fan's perspective of like, oh, this is the year Luke's going to break out, or, you know, Jalen Lane, this is his year, you're asking a lot of guys that haven't really done this. And when you look at the wide receiver position, the only guy that maybe had NFL success outside of Terry McCorran is Van Jefferson.

And he's running primarily with the twos and the threes. right now. I think Traylon Burks has a lot of intangibles that would make him a good wide receiver. We haven't seen that consistently over the course of his career. So while I do think that there are a lot of guys who have gotten better, I think Jalen Lane, through the first couple of days, has stood out in terms of his route running. He looks a lot smoother. He looks like an NFL wide receiver in a way that he really didn't. Last year, and I kind of picked up on that at OTAs in minicamp, but he's running against air. Like, it's really easy to look good against air. But I think the first few days of camp, he's looked really good,

but he actually had a really good day. I thought today. So I like what I've seen from Jayland Lane, but I haven't seen nearly enough to be like, yet that's a definitive wide receiver too. He could go for 800 yards. I just don't know if they have anybody there that I would rely on to do that outside of 17.

So they're better than they were last year. I don't think there's any doubt about that, but they're still not at the level that I would hope they would be at considering this is your number three. You're eventually going to have to make a decision on what to do with Jaden from a pace, standpoint, and there's a lot of pressure on the offensive coaching staff and on Adam Peters

to be like, hey, this is your number three. Like, you should have your guys in here now, and if they're not going out there and signing a digs or whoever, I would be a little concerned. I mean, they went to sign the center immediately when Allegredy went down. I'm a little, I don't know why the digs thing hasn't happened yet if there are real legs there. All right. Same question on offense that I gave you about defense.

Give me a player that you really like right now that most people aren't paying attention to. Jalen Lane is that for me. I think a lot of people are looking at Antonio Williams number 14, and ironically, I actually thought he had a pretty good day to day as well, but he's not running with the ones. He's running primarily with the twos and the threes. Jalen Lane is getting some reps with Jaden Daniels, which I love to see. I think there is something with him to where, I think this offense that,

David Blow is going to run is going to do a lot better of a job putting guys like him in space. And I think when you put the ball in his hands, he has the quickness to make guys miss, and then he has the speed to really turn an eight-yard play into the potential of a 20-yard play. So I would say right now Jalen Lane is the guy for me that I've been impressed with, and I think he could end up being a really important player for the team this season. All right. I can't let you go without asking you a little bit about college football. We are less than four weeks away from week zero. Early in the season, we've got some massive games. I mean, week two, Oklahoma at Michigan, Ohio State, at Texas. Week three, would you put LSU and Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss as the most anticipated 2026 game of the year right now? Yeah, I mean, it's so much so that we just skated by Ohio State and Texas, who at that point, are probably going to be one versus two. Yeah, like they were last year.

We were traded by them completely because we wanted to see Ole Miss and LSU. And some of that is because of the Lane Kiff and stuff. And I also think that LSU is a team this year is going to be pretty good. I like Sam Levitt. I liked him at Arizona State. Me too. Last year he had the injuries. Yeah.

I like Sam Levitt, though. I think LSU could be a really, really fun team this year. more than just the drama that their head coach brings. No, and Chambliss and Lacey are back at Ole Miss. That'll be an insane environment for sure. I can't wait for that. Again, we're getting closer to that. And, you know, week zero, nothing big, TCU, and North Carolina from Dublin.

There's not much there. Week one is not a great week one. You would agree, right? Yeah, it's one. one of the lesser week ones that we've seen. You know, last year we got Ohio State, Texas, exactly. And they pushed it to week two this year.

So it's a little bit of a letdown, but at that point you're just getting everybody in action. So you'll get some highlight plays from Arch. Jeremiah Smith will probably go for like a buck 40 in Ohio State's game. So it'll be a stat patting day for the people that could end up being Heisman candidates. Yeah, I guess Louisville Ole Miss on that Sunday night, September 6th, Clemson LSU in prime time on that first Saturday.

Those aren't bad games. But, yeah, not the... It's a different Clemson team this year. Yeah, exactly. Like, they're coming in with a lot less. And maybe they like being the underdog, but this is one of the lesser dabbo teams that I think we've seen, at least on offense in a couple of years.

All right. Good job. Appreciate it. I'll talk to you soon. Yeah, appreciate it. Debt and day, everybody. Really a talented, young broadcaster.

Does such a good job on air. All right, when we come back, something Debo Samuel said over the weekend about the guy that's been running his mouth out in San Francisco for the last two months. You'll hear that after these words from a few of our

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Kevin D.C. And you'll get a bonus from MyBooky. They've got everything up for the upcoming season, NFL and college. NFL-wise, all of the season win totals are up. All of the Super Bowl odds, championship odds, division odds, player of the year, rookie of the year, coach of the year. Everything is available. Preseason lines are up. Week one lines are up. By the way, I just checked it. Philly up to a five-point favorite now over Washington. Last week, they were a four-point favorite. So some big money probably came in over the weekend on the Eagles for week one. Philly's a five-point favorite with the total at 47 and a half. There will be some changing on this number between now and opening day. But my bookie is the place

to wager on football, even if you've got a place already. If you're doing this right, you don't have just one place. You've got multiple places, so you get the best numbers and the best pricing. MyBooky typically offers both. Again, mybooky.com, mybooky.orgy.orgia. promo code Kevin, D.C. So I want to finish up the show with Debo Samuel over the weekend on Michael Irvin's YouTube show called

The Locker Room with Michael Irvin. Debo, you'll hear the question from Michael about Brandon Ayyuk. Listen to what he says about Ayuk. It is an interesting evaluation of a player who hasn't played really

since 2023. What are your thoughts when you see Brandon Ayyuk? And what happened with Brandon Ayyuk? First of all, let's just Talk about them as a teammate, bro. Like, amazing.

Like, like this. Like a brother. Like, have a good time, play the game. Like, watching him at practice. And I play with some real good wild outs. I'm not throwing shade at no wideout. B.A. is the best receiver I don't play with. Bro.

Be it's the best receiver out of him playing with you. seriously hands down like it's not it's not nothing he can't do he went for what 1300 with me christian george you sheg ricky and like you go from that and i don't know what transpired when i left i don't know nothing about nothing i know nothing about anything i know when i was in washington and we still communicated having fun a good time and then all this stuff coming about i don't know nothing about. I don't speak on it. I don't get in the, like, I don't get into people personal issues or what's going on with this is that and the third. I, I sit back and just, you know, the only thing I can do is like, hey, bro, hope you good, you know what I think of all,

be like, hey, bro, whatever it is, like, you know, that's just me. I don't get in people's business. I don't ask questions. I don't, you know, I don't tend to all those things. I always talk to, like, mind my business, but, like, the time that I had with BA, That's for you. Debo Samuel talking about Brandon Ayuk being the best receiver he ever played with. No slight to any others, he said. I've talked a lot about Brandon Ayuk in 22, specifically in 2023. He was great.

I know there's been a lot of conversation from a lot of people over the last couple of months about, well, why even, you know, sweat this? Like, the guy is not all that. He isn't worth this. kind of conversation. If you got the Brandon Ayyuk from 2023, it is worth the conversation. Now, I think the conversation has ended. And I don't know that that conversation is going to get restarted anytime soon with anybody in the league. Never say never. But this dude at the end of 2023 was borderline uncheckable. He was a top 10 receiver in that moment and he was getting better

and climbing to a higher position. And that's why, more likely than not, somebody's going to give him a chance at some point. Debo Samuel, by the way, the 49ers, Mike Evans banged up today at 49ers training camp. He's got a quad strain. Piercell's done for the season. The PCL never really healed.

They put him on injured reserve. He's done for the year. Christian Kirk is banged up. Obviously, the IUC situation is not a good situation. He's not going back to play for San Francisco. But this is why they signed Debo and fairly quickly the other day before, you know, anybody else had a chance to do it. I don't know if that was their plan all along. Look, Debo did not get, you know, a top of market deal. Obviously, it was one year, $7 million. But Christian Kirk had gotten banged up. They put pierceal on season ending injured resorts. the guy that they drafted stribling from Ole Miss, who a lot of teams really had ranked super high on their list. He's banged up

right now. If they had to go play a game, they've got two healthy wide receivers in, one healthy wide receiver, excuse me, in Debo Samuel. Actually, DeMarcus Robinson. I read that on Twitter. Demarcus Robinson's there. I mean, they are hopeful by the time they open up their

season in Australia against the Rams that Evans, Samuel, and Kirk are all ready, and maybe even the rookie, scribbling. Kittle isn't, you know, a safe bet to be ready for the opener. Man, that electrical substation seems to be doing a number on 49ers teams in recent years, if that's what it is. I have no idea if that's it. So I did go look up Sacks, double-digit Sacks seasons for Washington.

off of the conversation that I had with Denton. The last double-digit, two players with double-digit sacks in a season, 2009, Brian Arakpo and Andre Carter each had 11. Before that, you have to go back to the 2000 season where Marco Coleman had 12 and Bruce Smith had 10. It's not very common for teams to have. multiple double-digit sacks. Last year, three teams did it.

The Texans had DeNeil Hunter with 15, Will Anderson with 12. The Saints had Cam Jordan with 10 and a half and Chase Young with 10. And the Lions had Aiden Hutchinson with 14.5. And Al-Mahmed also had 11 sacks for the 49ers. For the Lions, excuse me, last year. So three teams last year.

year had double-digit sacks for more than one player. There you go. Not an easy thing would be great if Washington produced, you know, chase on and away both with, you know, 10 and a half and 12. and a half. They're going to be a better pass rush team. But like I said in the open, a lot of that has to do with making sure that they're, you know, putting teams into obvious passing situations.

You can't do that without being effective against the run as well. All right, that'll do it for the day back tomorrow with Tommy.