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ThomasRoane

By ThomasRoane
in The Stadium

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wit33

wit33

Posted
Posted

I like the idea of knowing for next 3-4 seasons that Washington will be effective against the run and have a great interior pass rush. That seems like winning variables to build around. 
 

Go with known commodities and figure out the rest. 
 

Keep all 4!

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dyst

dyst

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Posted

I can’t believe people still think about cost of players, especially when they are your own and good at their job.

 

What you think is expensive now, becomes normal in a few years as that’s what the going rate becomes. 

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Skinsinparadise

Skinsinparadise

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When Jonathan Allen speaks, the Commanders listen

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Perspective by Barry Svrluga
Columnist|Follow
December 2, 2022 at 8:26 a.m. EST
 

The room of dignitaries included Washington NFL stars past and present, not to mention Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and the man for whom the road that leads to Jonathan Allen’s workplace is named: former coach Joe Gibbs. On this night last spring at the Ritz Carlton Tysons Corner, there would be ****tails, and there would be dinner. There would, too, be speeches.

 
 

Youngkin, of course, is a professional speaker accustomed to such a stage, and delivered his remarks smoothly and smartly. When it was Allen’s turn, someone asked him if he had notes.

“Nah,” the Washington Commanders defensive tackle said. “I’ll just read the room.”

He read the room. And then he captured it.

 

“I’ve always believed that being genuine is better than being more rehearsed,” Allen said this week.

 

That night, Allen spoke extemporaneously and passionately for eight or nine minutes. When he was done, Youngkin congratulated him as the best speaker of the evening.

“Jon could run for Congress,” said Nick Turner, a friend who was an assistant coach for Allen’s high school team in Ashburn. “He’s one of the better speakers you’ll ever be around.”

 

In this, his sixth NFL season, Jonathan Allen is a wrecking ball of a defensive tackle, among the best players at his position in the league, and a key to the Commanders’ revival that has them in position for the playoffs with five games to go. More than that, though, he has found his voice. A first-round draft pick is supposed to make an impact with his body and his play. Increasingly, Allen is making an impact with his words and his emotions.

 

“He’s the leader of our team,” quarterback Taylor Heinicke said. “He’s a pro’s pro.”

It’s hard to have a conversation about Allen without that thread coming up: his professionalism. That is true during the weekly three-hour glimpse the public gets into how he handles his job. But it’s also when the lights aren’t on and no one’s around.

 

“He’s not going to do something or say something because of the perception,” said Jim Tomsula, Allen’s position coach his first three years in the NFL. “He’s going to do and say what he thinks is right. If he’s wrong, he’ll come back and say, ‘I’m sorry. I’ll fix it.’ … He’s got the credibility because of what people see on Sundays. But that is one-tenth of why he has the credibility. It’s everything else. It’s the day-to-day.”

 

And it shows up everywhere. Years ago, when Allen was still playing college ball at Alabama, Turner was at the house of former Washington tight end Chris Cooley, who was in the process of moving. They had some massive couches and needed help. Turner called Allen, whom Cooley had known since his days playing at nearby Stone Bridge High. So here came a star defensive player at the country’s most prominent college football program to haul furniture, anonymously and diligently.

“He’s just an incredibly hard worker, and he’s so dedicated,” said Cooley, who back then spent lots of time around his former team as a member of the radio broadcast crew. “He’s willing to do anything — to the point of him helping me move. He didn’t have to help me move. It wasn’t because I was Chris Cooley. It’s because that’s who Jonathan Allen is. …

“I wouldn’t want a different guy in the locker room. I wouldn’t want a different guy on the practice field. I’m so proud of him. He’s incredible.”

 

When Washington was considering whom to select with the 17th pick in the 2017 draft, Tomsula was the team’s new defensive line coach. He put Allen above all the other defensive linemen in the draft. But that was only in part because of how he played.

“When you meet the guy, he’s got the ‘it,’” Tomsula said by phone this week. “He’s a different kind of person. The way he was raised. He’s a team guy. He’s a passion guy. He’s a hard worker. He’s smart. He knows right from wrong. He has common sense. I could talk about him all day.”

 

...“I don’t need to give a pregame speech,” Allen said. “But I asked them, ‘Do you like it? I don’t have to do it. It doesn’t bother me if I do it or don’t do it. It’s whatever you guys want.’ And everyone I talked to said, ‘Keep doing it.’”

So whether it’s with the defense or the whole team, he does. Wide receiver Terry McLaurin has similar sway in the locker room. Allen, though, has developed and displayed considerable range. In the locker room after a thorough but incomplete victory over Houston last month, Coach Ron Rivera gave Allen the floor. He was calm and measured.

“When we win, sometimes it’s hard to see the lesson, because we’re excited,” he told his teammates. “And I don’t want to dampen the mood, but we got to understand: That first half, we really showed what we can do. Defense in the second half, we can’t come out here and be sloppy. … I ain’t calling anybody out. I’m calling everybody out. Because we’ve got to be better.”

 

That set the standard for the following week’s task against Atlanta. On the field before that game, Allen gathered his defensive teammates around him. The crescendo was spine-tingling.

 

“We don’t rise to the occasion,” he said. “We don’t play with emotion. We fall back on what we do.

“After I tell you that, I’m going to look into your soul, so you know I’m for real. Ain’t no scared in my heart. This is what I do. I live this. I bleed this. This is how I feed my family. When we come out, we don’t got to say a word. We’re gonna knock your ass out, and they’re gonna feel that, for real.”

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XxSpearheadxX

XxSpearheadxX

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Warhead36 said:

“We don’t rise to the occasion,” he said. “We don’t play with emotion. We fall back on what we do."

 

Love this quote. Don't try to be a savior or a hero, just do your job and we can succeed.

Jonathan Allen is a man who accomplishes whatever he is planning on doing. God help you if you stand in his way. He does not play. 

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Stone Cold

Stone Cold

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Posted

Remember years ago when we were atrocious against the run…we signed 2 top tier FA DTs in Big Daddy Wilkinson and Dana Stubblefield?  And we continued to be atrocious as those 2 guys did the old Beltway bandit routine of coming to Washington to get paid and nothing else?

 

we now have our own home grown budding all pro DTs and running on us is folly.  I’m having flashbacks to Mann, Manley, butz, grant.  Absolutely love our homegrown turnaround.  Homegrown talent up and down the roster.  It has taken a tremendous amount of time; building the team through the draft has been a success.  Love to see it

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RandyHolt

RandyHolt

Posted
Posted (edited)

I remember Big Daddy Wilkinson and Dana Stubblefield among a host of others including Sean Gilbert who came here and never met even reasonable expectations. I think they were handcuffed in what I call Read React and Get Runover 2 gapping passive play - the height of our decade after decade of bend dont break defense notably giving up 99 yard drives at every chance, and 9 yards on every first down. Yes I am still bitter. Our DCs all sucked and never tried to dictate to offenses.

Edited by RandyHolt
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Stone Cold

Stone Cold

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, RandyHolt said:

I remember Big Daddy Wilkinson and Dana Stubblefield among a host of others including Sean Gilbert who came here and never met even reasonable expectations. I think they were handcuffed in what I call Read React and Get Runover 2 gapping passive play - the height of our decade after decade of bend dont break defense notably giving up 99 yard drives at every chance, and 9 yards on every first down. Yes I am still bitter. Our DCs all sucked and never tried to dictate to offenses.

Nice to know those days seem to be far in the rear view.  lol…tho I bear the scars of those lean years as well 

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mhd24

mhd24

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, RandyHolt said:

I remember Big Daddy Wilkinson and Dana Stubblefield among a host of others including Sean Gilbert who came here and never met even reasonable expectations. I think they were handcuffed in what I call Read React and Get Runover 2 gapping passive play - the height of our decade after decade of bend dont break defense notably giving up 99 yard drives at every chance, and 9 yards on every first down. Yes I am still bitter. Our DCs all sucked and never tried to dictate to offenses.

Gilbert was legit good here in his one season.  That’s why Carolina traded two number 1s for him after his hold out

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Dark Acre

Dark Acre

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Stone Cold said:

Remember years ago when we were atrocious against the run…we signed 2 top tier FA DTs in Big Daddy Wilkinson and Dana Stubblefield?  And we continued to be atrocious as those 2 guys did the old Beltway bandit routine of coming to Washington to get paid and nothing else?

Big Daddy did give Washington one of its most exciting pick 6's ever.

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Captain Wiggles

Captain Wiggles

Posted
Posted
22 minutes ago, mhd24 said:

Gilbert was legit good here in his one season.  That’s why Carolina traded two number 1s for him after his hold out

 

He was really good but got hurt in the second half of the season. 

 

Carolina was still foolish to trade two firsts for him. Lucked out that time as far as actually being able to trade a franchised player. Probably because Snyder wasn't around yet to **** it all up. 🤭

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Stone Cold

Stone Cold

Posted
Posted (edited)

Would love to use one of our top 2 picks on a second level game wrecker.  Really like the kid from Arkansas who seems to be physically gifted and was raised by a coach.  Adding Chase Young and a freak at LB would make our young secondary look awfully good.  
 

I initially thought we may be able to get the kid with our 2 but if he shows in the combine like I think he will, he’ll settle into the 1st around where we pick.  
 

id take him with our mid first then do what we can to stack picks to build ol depth

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