All things defense

[NoCalMike]

This defense is good, but I am done calling them great or elite.  They are still the strength of this team, but from the eye test, they don't do a lot of the dominant things you see out of the Top elite defenses.  They don't look the same.  I am assuming being soft in the middle of the field is a big reason why.

 

On the D-line, Sweat is probably the odd man out.  Look, we are yet to see Young's ceiling, but just in his short time back from injury, you can see the huge difference between a guy with blue chip talent who can do it all, and Sweat who is good and can be a solid contributor, but unless he is coming to the table to sign something team/cap friendly, I don't think his value matches the kind of contract he is likely to find in free agency.   I think finding a stout middle of a D-line is tougher, so I am doing whatever i can to keep the Allen-Payne combo, building the line from inside out. 

[method man]

3 hours ago, Koolblue13 said:

Should we trade Terry, Dotson and Samuels for draft capital? Can't pay them all. Samuels has a contract coming up, maybe we could get a 4rth.

 

See how dumb that sounds?

Not saying they should trade Samuel but I’d be a bit worries about giving him a third contract

[tmandoug1]

3 hours ago, Captain Wiggles said:

 

So we'd have an injury prone Tua instead. Meh.

 

I like Tua. He's one of the first qbs Alabama had in a long time that was legit nfl caliber. He can't stay healthy tho.

 

Don't even mention Herbert to me at that #2 pick. That's some hindsight is 20/20 **** more so than anything else. 

Was Tua injured alot in college? I thought he just had the hip injury....if that was the case then he wouldnt be considered injury prone and that would be hindsight as well! But I am not sure. However Hebert was considered a first round pick by most analysts. He was drafted 6th, 3 picks away. I am not a QB whisperer but we needed a QB in the worst way and we took a DE.  I remember saying he may be great or the next Bosworth....time will tell. 

2 hours ago, Zim489 said:

Theres people who think its a top 5-10 defense. I dont think its anywhere close. 

Agree, we got smoked by a dude who completed 9 passes......9. Dont care how bad our D was injured......that shouldn't happen.  Or maybe another arrow pointing at coaching failure.

[Captain Wiggles]

15 minutes ago, tmandoug1 said:

Was Tua injured alot in college? 

 

Kinda. He had a few ankle injuries before the hip. He had surgery on one ankle injury not long before the hip injury. 

 

The injury Tua had in the SEC Championship versus Georgia affected his play in that NC blowout loss to Clemson a few weeks later. 😒

 

The next Bosworth wouldn't be so bad. He made some pretty ****ty movies that were kinda entertaining maybe. 🤣

 

He's pretty good in them Dr Pepper ads too.

 

Edited January 2 by Captain Wiggles

[MrJL]

18 minutes ago, tmandoug1 said:

Was Tua injured alot in college? I thought he just had the hip injury....if that was the case then he wouldnt be considered injury prone and that would be hindsight as well! But I am not sure. However Hebert was considered a first round pick by most analysts. He was drafted 6th, 3 picks away. I am not a QB whisperer but we needed a QB in the worst way and

 

https://www.draftsharks.com/fantasy/injury-history/tua-tagovailoa/10483

 

there's an injury history

 

First round QB doesn't mean top two QB

 

Even 83 gave the NFL Todd Blackledge

[Koolblue13]

46 minutes ago, method man said:

Not saying they should trade Samuel but I’d be a bit worries about giving him a third contract

That's a different conversation. I was just pointing out how dumb the "well never be good unless we trade our talent and deplete our strengths, so we can add talent and build strengths" routine is.

[tmandoug1]

1 hour ago, MrJL said:

 

https://www.draftsharks.com/fantasy/injury-history/tua-tagovailoa/10483

 

there's an injury history

 

First round QB doesn't mean top two QB

 

Even 83 gave the NFL Todd Blackledge

Yeah.. I expect the coaching staff to do their due diligence and pick the best QB available. All the threads talking **** about our QBs and we blew it in 20. And we will blow it in the draft..... again. 

[MrJL]

17 minutes ago, tmandoug1 said:

Yeah.. I expect the coaching staff to do their due diligence and pick the best QB available. All the threads talking **** about our QBs and we blew it in 20. And we will blow it in the draft..... again. 

 

well last year seemed to start the NFL deciding if the best QB doesn't get a first round grade he doesn't get picked in the first so hopefully for me that remains true

[RandyHolt]

Seems like backs break Jamin's tackles more than I am used to seeing from Mikes. Sure he is not your typical Mike but bet his broken tackle advanced stat isnt good.

[Wyvern]

If Washington is going to keep rolling out defensive scheme relying on 2 LBs, it needs to resign Payne to strengthen the middle versus the running game. Payne seems to keep getting better with season -- I don't think we've seen his ceiling yet.  Also, he seems to be very durable and , mind-set wise, seems to be focused on getting even better.

Edited January 4 by Wyvern

[Warhead36]

The defense is good but when you lose guys like Allen and Curl, there is going to be a massive drop off. 

 

I'm fine with relying on 2 LBs. Almost every offense now is in 3 WR base so you need 3 starting caliber CBs anyway. With Juste out we have one and Fuller can only play the slot.

[skinny21]

1 hour ago, Warhead36 said:

The defense is good but when you lose guys like Allen and Curl, there is going to be a massive drop off. 

 

I'm fine with relying on 2 LBs. Almost every offense now is in 3 WR base so you need 3 starting caliber CBs anyway. With Juste out we have one and Fuller can only play the slot.

My understanding is Fuller has played almost solely outside for us.  Well, at least since he left for KC.  Am I wrong about that?

 

Either way, totally agree we need to add corners.  Interesting that Johnson seemed to play quite well in a limited sample, but then again, he’s set to be a FA.  I’m still intrigued by Holmes, Castro-Fields and Wildgoose (though he’ll be an ERFA), even if they struggled.  I’d certainly look to add (at minimum) a starting caliber corner that can push those guys down the depth chart though.

 

Also found it interesting that Keim sees safety depth as a need.  I suppose it makes sense considering Reaves will be a FA, and while I didn’t get much of a sense of Butler when he saw the field, he made some pretty significant mistakes on teams (though I’m inclined to chalk that up to being a rookie).

 

My defensive wildcard is Milo Eifler.  He’s an ERFA, but they seemed high on him.  At the very least, I think they have him compete for the starting gig alongside Davis.

 

One spot Keim didn’t mention is DT.  If Payne walks, that becomes a pretty glaring hole for us.  Mathis didn’t get a chance to prove himself, I tend to doubt Ridgeway will be ready to start next to Allen (though it’s possible), and we could really stand to give Allen more rest.  Of course, they didn’t sign Ridgeway after Mathis went down in week 1, but rather after Daniel Wise was injured in week 2… so maybe they see Wise as a viable candidate to compete with the other two to play/rotate in beside/for Allen.

[Skinsinparadise]

ASHBURN — Montez Sweat could tell by the tone of the text message that something serious had happened. This was more than a year ago when the Washington Commanders defensive end’s sister reached out to tell him that his aunt was coming over to his house and added that she loved him. 

When his aunt Cecily arrived, she delivered the news: Sweat’s brother, Anthony, was murdered. Shot and killed at an apartment complex in Richmond, three days after Christmas.

 

Sweat could hardly move. At that moment, he desperately wanted to be with his sister and grandparents in Georgia. Instead, for the next few days, he sat in his bed and cried.

---

“I had to find a reason to live,” Sweat says.

As Washington’s season comes to an end Sunday with a game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sweat has spent the past year searching for — and finding — that reason. After losing his brother in December 2021 and his mom six months earlier to a brain aneurysm, the 26-year-old had hit one of the toughest periods of his life.

He dealt with his grief and adversity in part by focusing more intently than ever on football, turning in arguably the best year of his career this season with eight sacks, 14 tackles for loss and 28 quarterback hits.

 

But those close to the player say that perhaps the biggest impact of tragedy on Sweat’s life can be seen in how the often-reserved star has opened up to family, friends, teammates and coaches.

Coach Ron Rivera said he noticed how Sweat “integrated” himself with teammates, how he learned to cope in a “better fashion” as time passed.

 

...‘Living out his dream’ 

Sweat learned to love football thanks to his big brother. Growing up in the Atlanta suburbs, he and started the sport at the same time. And in the early days, Sweat was struck by just how his brother’s passion for the game.

Naturally, wanting to be like Anthony, he learned to love it, too. 

“I was kind of living out his dream in a sense,” Montez said. 

Anthony, two years older, did not develop the same sort of physical gifts that helped his 6-foot-6, 286-pound brother become a 2019 first-round draft pick. Sweat jokingly says that as they grew up, he eventually became Anthony’s “little big brother.” 

But if there was one thing especially clear to Sweat and his family — as much as Sweat looked up to Anthony — Anthony was equally as proud of his younger sibling. A glance at Anthony’s Instagram page confirms as much. After a’ dominating Thanksgiving win over Dallas two-plus years ago, Anthony posted a clip of his brother’s leaping pick-six of quarterback Andy Dalton and urged people to vote for Sweat to make the Pro Bowl. “Y’all wake up,” he wrote. 

 

That sort of beaming energy was commonplace. Yvetta said Anthony was “a protector,” one who wouldn’t be afraid to light up kids on the football field if they went after Sweat. Anthony made clear that  “nobody would mess with his brother at all,” she said. 

“Anthony was the star of the show,” Yvetta says, laughing. “He had a smile that could light up any room. He’s more charismatic. Montez, he can be quiet. He doesn’t really like to talk as much.”

 

She’s now reminded of the dynamic when she sees Sweat and teammate Chase Young together. Young, like Anthony, can be, well, boisterous.

It’s a comparison that Young gladly embraces. The former defensive rookie of the year recalled how funny Anthony could be after getting to know him. Young shared a fond memory of how, when entering MGM National Harbor one night, he ran into the brothers on their way out — prompting a loud exchange right there in the casino.

When he learned of Anthony’s death, Young said he did everything he could to be there for Sweat.

 

“Me and ‘Tez, we got extremely close,” Young said. “I’m glad I can be that brother for him. That’s my dude.” 

 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jan/5/i-had-find-reason-live-how-montez-sweat-learned-co/

 

Edited January 6 by Skinsinparadise

[Skinsinparadise]

Been digesting stuff about Payne this week.  I said this in the off season that it was said from those in the know that Payne really really really wants a big payday and it seemed to help fuel his off season.  

 

According to those that talked to him yesterday, Payne wants that big payday now and its on his mind, will likely go to the highest bidder.  I wonder if they use the tag though as leverage.  Decked out in green yesterday.   He did the I need to get paid celebration when he had the sack against the Browns.

 

 

 

Edited January 10 by Skinsinparadise

[Ball Security]

1 minute ago, Skinsinparadise said:

Been digesting stuff about Payne this week.  I said this in the off season that it was said from those in the know that Payne really really really wants a big payday and it seemed to help fuel his off season.  

 

According to those that talked to him yesterday, Payne wants that big payday now and its on his mind, will likely go to the highest bidder.  I wonder if they use the tag though as leverage

 

 

 

I watched a YouTube clip last night from Logan Paulsen saying that we could get a first round plus for him.  That changes the calculus a little, I don’t think he’d command that much, but NFL trades get wacky.

[Skinsinparadise]

2 minutes ago, Ball Security said:

I watched a YouTube clip last night from Logan Paulsen saying that we could get a first round plus for him.  That changes the calculus a little, I don’t think he’d command that much, but NFL trades get wacky.

 

Yeah I'd be surprised they'd get that much but maybe after this season with all the sacks. 

 

I get the vibe that if they franchise Payne, he'd head to FA next year, he doesn't seem shy to make the case that he wants the biggest payday he can get and if that's the case open FA is his best shot to do it. 

Edited January 10 by Skinsinparadise

[pcbothwel]

 

LOLOL... that last question about what he is prioritizing next. I.E. Money, location, team, etc.

 

His answer: "I cant say too much right now. I'm just trying to get my stuff and get gone."

 

Translation: Get me the hell out of here. 

[Ball Security]

12 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

Yeah I'd be surprised they'd get that much but maybe after this season with all the sacks. 

 

I get the vibe that if they franchise Payne, he'd head to FA next year, he doesn't seem shy to make the case that he wants the biggest payday he can get and if that's the case open FA is his best shot to do it. 

The tag seems like a no brainer.  I recall reading around the trade line that Seattle was interested.  They have two firsts and seconds next year.  I’m not looking to move him, but I’m listening to see if someone wants to overpay.  Payne’s earned a big contract.  Happy for him to get it either here or elsewhere.  But if it’s elsewhere, I’d want to get compensated.

[Warhead36]

Payne wants to get paid. He deserves it. Kid has worked his butt off to become one of the best DTs in the league. This is his shot to cash out. I hope he makes every penny he possibly can. If that's here then great. If not, go get your money somewhere else bro. You deserve it. I am always 100% in favor of players getting paid.

[Koolblue13]

I'll miss him, but I doubt he has the same production when he leaves and gets paid.

[Skinsinparadise]

7 minutes ago, Ball Security said:

The tag seems like a no brainer.  I recall reading around the trade line that Seattle was interested.  They have two firsts and seconds next year.  I’m not looking to move him, but I’m listening to see if someone wants to overpay.  Payne’s earned a big contract.  Happy for him to get it either here or elsewhere.  But if it’s elsewhere, I’d want to get compensated.

 

 I am guessing he's getting north of 20 million. 

 

My guess though is they franchise him, I doubt Ron cares right now about 2024, its all about 2023.

16 minutes ago, pcbothwel said:

 

LOLOL... that last question about what he is prioritizing next. I.E. Money, location, team, etc.

 

His answer: "I cant say too much right now. I'm just trying to get my stuff and get gone."

 

Translation: Get me the hell out of here. 

 

Jonathan Allen grew up a fan of the team, I got the sense following that contract negotation he wanted to stay.

 

Digesting what some have said about Payne, he just wants the biggest payday possible, including if its here, it could be from the Texans for all he cares.  And his best shot to get the most money is to make it to FA. 

 

[Est.1974]

Payne sure deserves his pay day. No point trying to low ball him. Gonna take the highest bidder. There is probably a tag and then stand-off coming.

[Skinsinparadise]

[Warhead36]

Payne is really young for someone who's already played five years. He has insane durability and not only does he not miss games, dude barely misses snaps. He also broke double digit sacks which is crazy for a DT. He's going to get PAID.

 

We effed up not locking him up long term last year or even the year before that.

 

Best case scenario we tag him and trade him for some draft picks.

Edited January 10 by Warhead36

[Conn]

If we don’t pay him $20M per, he may be one of the only players in recent memory that you could actually tag and trade. That’s always a messy prospect but he’s that good, that young, and plays that many snaps. He could realistically pull big draft compensation from a team willing to negotiate a monster deal with his agent before the trade. 
 

Again, if he won’t sign here or we won’t pay him due to the ownership situation or guaranteed money or whatever. 

Edited January 10 by Conn