Welcome to the Commanders Jayden Daniels QB LSU

[Going Commando]

31 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

Anytime you land a blue chip potential elite franchise QB you should be excited. If that doesn't get you hyped up then you probably need to pick a different hobby.

 

Often you don't know if the guy is elite during his rookie season, even with the ones who end up becoming elite players.  Joe Burrow and CJ Stroud have warped rookie year expectations.  Most great QBs either sucked as rookies or sat the bench.  In hindsight, the Bengals and Texans had way more talented teams than anyone realized.

 

Take a look at Josh Allen and Andrew Luck's rookie year stats to see what I mean about setting expectations.  Even the QBs who still managed to tread water and be carried to wins by their teams like Roethlisberger weren't good passers until their third or fourth seasons.  It takes a huge amount of reps for almost all QBs to master the passing game.  You have to see so many situations and coverages before the instinct of how to respond becomes ingrained, and your career is in a really vulnerable state while you go through that growing pain.  That's why QBs who get drafted into quicksand organizational situations are almost always doomed.

 

We now have reasonable hope that that's not us any more.  But things might still be pretty ugly this year for both Jayden and our team.  The defense looks way better on paper, but the offense still only has five players in it that you could even call average based on their play last season.

[WashingtonRedWolves]

On 5/18/2024 at 9:58 AM, Skinsinparadise said:

 

Agree with you that the Bears supporting cast > Commanders.  

 

I do like the weapons Daniels has though over the 2012 team.   #1 WR was Garcon in 2012 and he got banged up in game 1.  Morgan and Aldrick, etc were just ok.   TE was probably a wash.   Alfred Morris had a career year his rookie season, wonder though if much of that was the RO which had defenses off balance.  

 

2012 Oline was better though.  Dismantiling a good O line and failing to rebuild it is among the long list of infamous aspects of Rivera's legacy here.   I also like the coaches and talent on defense now better than in 2012.

 

 

Agree.  It comes off ridiculous.

 

 

They keep it together in part by doing almost nothing in FA year after year.  Will McClay is a stud drafter, might be the best in the league.  But it feels like this year might be their last shot.  Dak and Micah need to be paid.  Dak supposedly wants 60 million a year.  And I'd guess Michah wants 30.  Something has to give.

DQ eyeing micah closely, ready to pounce when the time comes with all the cap space we still have 

[bird_1972]

20 minutes ago, WashingtonRedWolves said:

DQ eyeing micah closely, ready to pounce when the time comes with all the cap space we still have 

 

What is this claim based on? Do you have a source?

Edited May 19 by bird_1972

[bearrock]

47 minutes ago, WashingtonRedWolves said:

DQ eyeing micah closely, ready to pounce when the time comes with all the cap space we still have 

 

Isn't Parsons on his last year of rookie contract with 5th year option picked up?  If Dallas picks up 2 (or even 1) franchise tags, he won't hit free agency for a while (and I would be against giving up two 1sts for any FA, even Parsons).

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

1 hour ago, WashingtonRedWolves said:

DQ eyeing micah closely, ready to pounce when the time comes with all the cap space we still have 

I have it on good authority that Micah is a pain in the ass and the Cowboys brass would love to be rid of him but they can’t because he’s too good at football.

[bird_1972]

9 minutes ago, Sacks 'n' Stuff said:

I have it on good authority that Micah is a pain in the ass and the Cowboys brass would love to be rid of him but they can’t because he’s too good at football.

 

Can't tell if your sarcasm filter is on...

[Skinsinparadise]

While I appreciate @Going Commando's temper your expectations vibe.    It's always better IMO to feel that way with a new roster with a ton of new faces where rookies have to play key parts.

 

My take though is I can't think of a season that felt so wild cardish to me.  A season that could go either way including even making the playoffs.

 

I do think this roster has some potential.   Especially if McCaffrey blossoms, the WR crew will be good.  Sinnott was one of my favorite players in the draft and I've heard Ertz has looked sharp so far.  Strong RB room IMO.  I like the interior of the O line.  I didn't feel that way last year.  Don't love the tackle position.  My gut is this O line ends up about average to maybe slightly below.  Last year, I had low expectations for the O line.  

 

Defense I think goes top 10.  It was #3 2 years ago.  I think the talent is as good as it was then and the coaching is MUCH better on that side of the ball.

 

I do think tough the Texans were more loaded than we think is an overplayed point.  So I can't help harping on that one.   Most of the NFL pundits before that season thought they were bad enough to be the front runners for the first pick in the draft.

 

Players like Nico Collins were just a guy before last season.  He gets Stroud he becomes a superstar.  No coincidence IMO.   Similar to how Nabers stats were meh at LSU the season before Daniels arrived.  There is some clear symphony between great QB play and WR production.   

 

Texans had a roster that wasn't that well regarded coupled with being the most injured team in the NFL in 2023.   If you told most before the 2023 season, the Texans would be the most injured team in the NFL and especially at the O line -- I'd bet 99% of the pundit types would prredict they'd have the #1 pick in the draft.

 

What was the difference?  Much better Qb play. Much better coaching.  Does that happen here?  We don't know but it feels like there is at least a fighting chance it does.

 

 

 

https://texanswire.usatoday.com/2024/03/10/texans-overcame-leagues-highest-injury-total-in-2023/

Texans overcame league's highest injury total in 2023

the Texans led the league in injuries to significant players, according to the adjusted games lost metric (AGL) from FTN Fantasy.

Despite the rash of injuries, Houston finished 10-7, won the AFC South and made the playoffs for the first time since 2019. The Texans then beat the Cleveland Browns, who also had several injuries of their own, in the wild-card round.

FTN Fantasy charted the AGL for each team and found that injuries declined in 2023. However, the Texans did not have that luxury — especially on the offensive line.

 

Houston set a new record with 82.1 AGL, which surpassed the previous record set by the Los Angeles Rams in 2022. The Texans shuffled constantly throughout the regular season, starting seven different offensive line combinations. No group up front played more than four consecutive games together.

Texans right guard Shaq Mason was the only lineman to play all 17 regular season games. Green, tackle Tytus Howard, and rookie linemen Jarrett Patterson and Juice Scruggs each accounted for 10 AGL.

The lack of continuity up front likely contributed to the running game struggles. Houston averaged 3.7 yards per carry, tied with the Las Vegas Raiders for fourth-worst in the league. The Texans’ pass blocking was slightly better, with 47 sacks surrendered — just outside the bottom-10 in the league.

 

The injury bug also bit Houston’s defensive back room. Eric Murray, Jimmie Ward, Tavierre Thomas and Derek Stingley combined to account for 33.4 AGL. General manager Nick Caserio made savvy moves on the waiver wire, like signing safety DeAndre Houston-Carson to plug the holes caused by injury.

Houston receivers accounted for 17.2 AGL, the fifth-most in the league. Noah Brown and rookie Tank Dell were the biggest contributors to this metric.

 

Brown, who signed in 2023, was hampered by a multitude of injuries throughout the regular season as well and ended the year on injured reserve with a shoulder injury he suffered in the wild-card round. Dell sustained a broken fibula in the Texans’ Week 13 victory over the Denver Broncos and missed the rest of the season.

 

Don’t forget about quarterback C.J. Stroud, either. His two-game absence from a concussion accounted for 2.3 AGL.

In total, the Texans collected 159.1 AGL — 30 more than the New England Patriot, who finished with the second-most significant injuries. Houston’s offense contributed 106.6 AGL, again, 30 more than the second-highest team. New England had the most AGL on defense, with the Texans having the fourth most.

Edited May 19 by Skinsinparadise

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

1 hour ago, bird_1972 said:

 

Can't tell if your sarcasm filter is on...

Nope. I’m serious.

[Always A Commander Never A Captain]

10 hours ago, Going Commando said:

 

Often you don't know if the guy is elite during his rookie season, even with the ones who end up becoming elite players.  Joe Burrow and CJ Stroud have warped rookie year expectations.  Most great QBs either sucked as rookies or sat the bench.  In hindsight, the Bengals and Texans had way more talented teams than anyone realized.

 

Take a look at Josh Allen and Andrew Luck's rookie year stats to see what I mean about setting expectations.  Even the QBs who still managed to tread water and be carried to wins by their teams like Roethlisberger weren't good passers until their third or fourth seasons.  It takes a huge amount of reps for almost all QBs to master the passing game.  You have to see so many situations and coverages before the instinct of how to respond becomes ingrained, and your career is in a really vulnerable state while you go through that growing pain.  That's why QBs who get drafted into quicksand organizational situations are almost always doomed.

 

We now have reasonable hope that that's not us any more.  But things might still be pretty ugly this year for both Jayden and our team.  The defense looks way better on paper, but the offense still only has five players in it that you could even call average based on their play last season.

 

I'll add that even though a lot of work has been done overhauling the roster...it sucked to begin with.

 

Good chance Daniels has added pressure from trying to make up lost ground in the score column and that leads to mistakes.

 

I like a lot of the changes on defense. But the coverage unit could still be ugly. Our pass rush is unbalanced with a fair chance of good against some teams but stalled out vs others with more IOL talent and a pass blocking RB.

 

Dorance Armstrong seems best at cleaning up other people's pressures. Not actually causing the pressure himself. We have nobody on the Edge that will force the RB into thinking he also has to help out the OT at times.

 

I'm excited for the season. But I'm expecting a lot of growing pains.

[Warhead36]

20 hours ago, Going Commando said:

 

Often you don't know if the guy is elite during his rookie season, even with the ones who end up becoming elite players.  Joe Burrow and CJ Stroud have warped rookie year expectations.  Most great QBs either sucked as rookies or sat the bench.  In hindsight, the Bengals and Texans had way more talented teams than anyone realized.

 

Take a look at Josh Allen and Andrew Luck's rookie year stats to see what I mean about setting expectations.  Even the QBs who still managed to tread water and be carried to wins by their teams like Roethlisberger weren't good passers until their third or fourth seasons.  It takes a huge amount of reps for almost all QBs to master the passing game.  You have to see so many situations and coverages before the instinct of how to respond becomes ingrained, and your career is in a really vulnerable state while you go through that growing pain.  That's why QBs who get drafted into quicksand organizational situations are almost always doomed.

 

We now have reasonable hope that that's not us any more.  But things might still be pretty ugly this year for both Jayden and our team.  The defense looks way better on paper, but the offense still only has five players in it that you could even call average based on their play last season.

Luck actually played quite well as a rookie. Threw quite a few picks but he racked up yards and showed clear signs of being elite.

 

Allen struggled, but you could see flashes.

 

I think now more than ever young guys can come in and look at least pretty good right away. 

 

But I agree I'm not gonna sit here and expect Daniels to be as good as Stroud or even our own RG3.

[Going Commando]

53 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

Luck actually played quite well as a rookie. Threw quite a few picks but he racked up yards and showed clear signs of being elite.

 

Allen struggled, but you could see flashes.

 

I think now more than ever young guys can come in and look at least pretty good right away. 

 

But I agree I'm not gonna sit here and expect Daniels to be as good as Stroud or even our own RG3.

 

Luck threw for 4000 yards, but it took him 630 attempts to get there and he took a ton of sacks and threw a ton of picks.  A 54% completion percentage and a 76 QB rating are pretty bad.  His season was pretty similar to Howell's first year as the starter.  Allen's rookie year was worse than Bryce Young's.  There was no way to tell he was on track to become the second best QB of his generation from that season.

 

Rookie QBs struggle, with very few exceptions, and those exceptions are usually guys who ended up on teams with great OLs and a mature set of elite weapons.  They're a long way away from what they can become, and we don't have the kind of roster that can support Jayden really well right now. The left side of the OL is going to be terrible, and McLaurin is his only reliable passing game weapon.  The odds are that he's going to struggle to play efficiently and avoid sacks and mistakes, and that we're going to finish with another high pick.  We need to run a super conservative offense this year where we move the ball via the backs to keep Jayden healthy, preserve his good habits, and to keep the middle of the field spaced out.  Put the training wheels on and acknowledge that his development is more important than winning next year.

[Llevron]

14 minutes ago, Going Commando said:

Put the training wheels on and acknowledge that his development is more important than winning next year.

 

I think, for a lot of people, that is akin to giving up or admitting that he might not be the guy. What needs to be stressed is that if we don't follow the quoted instruction you have here, the chances are great he will never be the guy. 

 

I don't think you will get a lot of people to agree with you, but I think you are right.

[Going Commando]

17 minutes ago, Llevron said:

 

I think, for a lot of people, that is akin to giving up or admitting that he might not be the guy. What needs to be stressed is that if we don't follow the quoted instruction you have here, the chances are great he will never be the guy. 

 

I don't think you will get a lot of people to agree with you, but I think you are right.

 

To me, putting a QB in a training wheels offense isn't what giving up on them looks like.  Giving up on them is putting them in situations to develop bad habits, lose their confidence, and then benching them and putting your commitment to them in doubt.  You have to be so on point with your situational football as a coach when you're working with a young QB, and even still, you've got to stay patient and always consider the big picture.  It's a tough job, and that's why smart teams take away any possible temptation for their HCs to deviate from the plan and bench their prospects.  No coach should be empowered to give up on a plan that is an ownership level decision.  And smart teams also run offense that shields their prospects from carrying the load early, and accept that it means they won't beat good teams that are already fully developed.

[Llevron]

19 minutes ago, Going Commando said:

 

To me, putting a QB in a training wheels offense isn't what giving up on them looks like.  Giving up on them is putting them in situations to develop bad habits, lose their confidence, and then benching them and putting your commitment to them in doubt.  You have to be so on point with your situational football as a coach when you're working with a young QB, and even still, you've got to stay patient and always consider the big picture.  It's a tough job, and that's why smart teams take away any possible temptation for their HCs to deviate from the plan and bench their prospects.  No coach should be empowered to give up on a plan that is an ownership level decision.  And smart teams also run offense that shields their prospects from carrying the load early, and accept that it means they won't beat good teams that are already fully developed.

 

Right -- you have to be intentional with every decision involving them. You cant just leave it up to them to figure it out and work through it. I agree with you 100%

[Warhead36]

I'm fine with bringing him along slowly and I think we'll attempt to do that. Kingsbury talked about doing things Daniels is comfortable with, and we went out and got reliable veterans like Ekeler and Ertz that he can fall back on for cheap and easy check downs to get him into a habit of throwing them(in college their offense's checkdown was him running for the most part). As he develops confidence and the game slows down for him, we can throw more at him.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

I don’t think the goal this season is to win.  The goal is to compete, while developing Jayden.  Not a chance in the world they trot out anything remotely similar to what EB did to Howell last season.  I expect a much improved defense that in turn will allow the offense to play more small ball and give Jayden the opportunity to learn on the job without feeling the pressure of having to carry the team.

[goskins10]

13 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

I don’t think the goal this season is to win.  The goal is to compete, while developing Jayden.  Not a chance in the world they trot out anything remotely similar to what EB did to Howell last season.  I expect a much improved defense that in turn will allow the offense to play more small ball and give Jayden the opportunity to learn on the job without feeling the pressure of having to carry the team.

 

 

While I understand what you are saying, the goal is always to win. Why play if not to win. Having said that I agree they will not just throw him to the wolves and say sink or swim.

 

Maybe the way I would put it is while they are always trying to win, they also have the longer term visions for the team and how to develop Jayden. If they have to sacrifice a few wins this season for the greater good then so be it. 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

3 minutes ago, goskins10 said:

 

 

While I understand what you are saying, the goal is always to win. Why play if not to win. Having said that I agree they will not just throw him to the wolves and say sink or swim.

 

Maybe the way I would put it is while they are always trying to win, they also have the longer term visions for the team and how to develop Jayden. If they have to sacrifice a few wins this season for the greater good then so be it. 

Of course Quinn isn’t going to have a slide up come first day of camp indicating it’s okay to lose.

But I believe he’s smart enough to know what he has right now and that the promise land is located a ways down the road.  I think the complete overhaul of the defense has as much to do with the lack of talent he inherited as it does the fact that it can be a young QB’s best friend.

[Skinsinparadise]

 

As a club with a new head coach, the Washington Commanders have been able to get an early jump on a lot of things this offseason—and, as such, their organized team activities got started last week, a week ahead of most of the rest of the NFL.

So when Dan Quinn talks about what he’s looking for in the de facto start of football practice for the 2024 season, he’s not talking in hypotheticals.

 

“Two things,” Quinn quickly answers, on his way home Friday. “One, first thing, man, what a time to either sharpen your skills or develop them. So I think, number one, top of the pile, that’s really important in our game. Even if you’re already great at something, like, ‘Can I be the best at it?’ So I’m saying, it’s important for Terry McLaurin—and he’s an excellent player already—but it’s still important to sharpen his skills. Certain things, the running, training on your own, lifting, that doesn’t do it for these specific football skills. …

 

 

Quinn is in a bit of a different spot in Washington.

He’s new. So, too, as he said earlier, is so much of his roster. The ethos he’ll build has the same roots as what he built in Atlanta, with competition emphasized to everyone. So with all of that getting off the ground, both in the makeup of the program and mix on the roster, it’d be pretty tough to tell guys like McLaurin or Jonathan Allen that it’s time to fight for reps, and not have the rookie quarterback do the same.

Now, the downside to that approach, and benefit of doing it the way the Bears are, would normally be in the reps that a guy gets as a starter and misses out on as a backup. Which is why Quinn and his staff, with OC Kliff Kingsbury building the offense, are prioritizing reps in how they’re setting up practice.

 

Through the spring, that’ll mean running OTAs as “two-spot” practices—with the first and second teams running plays simultaneously to make sure everyone gets the most out of the (limited) time that’s allotted by the league for this time of year.

In doing so, Quinn and his staff will mix guys with the ones and twos to try to give everyone a shot to legitimately compete for playing time. For the quarterbacks, that’ll mean that both Daniels and veteran Marcus Mariota (the 2015 first-rounder, who’s actually one of 23 of the aforementioned 48 first-round QBs to start Week 1 as a rookie) getting work in with the starters and backups, and different combinations of their teammates.

Last week, in what was basically a passing-camp setting, everyone got their first taste of it.

 

“The fact is they’re both getting the same amount of reps, as opposed to if they were on the same field, and ‘I’ll get 50%, you get 50%,’” Quinn says. “It’s not just Jayden. It’s a good way for all these younger players [to] get extra turns, extra reps. So I did that all of [last] week and then next week, there’ll be times, O.K., those two can flip in terms of how we  do it with some players changing some fields. It’s been an effective way to get more reps for more players in a passing emphasis.”

The play calls on each field, both for the offense and the defense, are identical, giving the coaches a side-by-side look at their team, both live and on tape.

That said, Quinn isn’t living with his head in the clouds.

 

Obviously, you take a kid No. 2, he’s going to wind up your starter, whether it’s now or later. “Yep,” Quinn says, “correct.” So he acknowledged that while the quarterbacks are competing, an offense is being constructed by Kingsbury for Daniels’s skill set, which is one reason why the March signing of the mobile Mariota was an early tell that the Commanders were leaning heavy toward taking the reigning Heisman winner.

“A hundred percent,” Quinn says. “What we learn with any player, ‘O.K., this is a concept that he rips it on this route. This specific concept you can see it. So how do you feature a player into those spaces?’ So the first part of the OTAs—we’ve had three practices, we have three more [this] week. And so you just keep stacking on and, ‘O.K., what about this, what about this, what about this?’ And you find out the things that he’s exceptional at. But it is a process, and the cool part about it is, the hard-working part of it has clearly showed up.”

And it manifested pretty much right away, before Daniels even touched the practice field.

 

On the day after the draft, the Commanders brought him in for the normal, perfunctory press conference. Daniels came in, met with his new coaches, met with the press and, most importantly, got his first NFL playbook to take home with him. The next day, after Daniels and his family were ushered home, Quinn heard a story that stuck with him.

“The plane ride back home, where everybody else was sleeping, he was going through the hand signals of the offense, of how he’s going to communicate,” Quinn says. “So he just got drafted the night before, came here, did a press conference, did meetings and on the ride home, as opposed to just sleeping, he’s giving commands, doing hand signals, going through the offense. He wasn’t wasting a second. If nothing else, there’s an urgency and a work ethic that I thought was gonna be really strong.”

And after the rookie minicamp, Quinn continued, that was only cemented.

 

“It turns out,” the coach continues, “it’s exceptional.”

After seeing it over that second weekend in May, Quinn wanted to find a way to show his veterans what he’d already seen. So early on the first day, he put Daniels out there with the first team, so they could see for themselves that he’d already gained a level of command with the offense, a sign from the rookie to his older teammates of just how serious he’d taken the two and a half weeks since being drafted.

So where he may not have gotten the on-ramp that Williams did—the Commanders really installed with him just once predraft, and that was at the 30 visit nine days before they selected him—it was pretty apparent he was doing everything and anything he possibly could to make up for any lost time.

 

“He loves football,” Quinn says. “That came across. So like, ‘All right, Dan, what does that mean?’ I’m talking about wanting to just put in the extra time. You can tell how important it is to get it right and go for it. So I learned how much he loves it. Like, it’s evident by how hard somebody’s going for it. I knew he was an excellent competitor, everybody said that. But to see him take his work and communicate and already establish some leadership in the way he carries himself and works—that was cool to see.”

Quinn, and all his players and coaches, will get to see a lot more of it over the next month.

 

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

On 5/19/2024 at 2:40 PM, Skinsinparadise said:

While I appreciate @Going Commando's temper your expectations vibe.    It's always better IMO to feel that way with a new roster with a ton of new faces where rookies have to play key parts.

 

My take though is I can't think of a season that felt so wild cardish to me.  A season that could go either way including even making the playoffs.

 

I do think this roster has some potential.   Especially if McCaffrey blossoms, the WR crew will be good.  Sinnott was one of my favorite players in the draft and I've heard Ertz has looked sharp so far.  Strong RB room IMO.  I like the interior of the O line.  I didn't feel that way last year.  Don't love the tackle position.  My gut is this O line ends up about average to maybe slightly below.  Last year, I had low expectations for the O line.  

 

Defense I think goes top 10.  It was #3 2 years ago.  I think the talent is as good as it was then and the coaching is MUCH better on that side of the ball.

 

I do think tough the Texans were more loaded than we think is an overplayed point.  So I can't help harping on that one.   Most of the NFL pundits before that season thought they were bad enough to be the front runners for the first pick in the draft.

 

Players like Nico Collins were just a guy before last season.  He gets Stroud he becomes a superstar.  No coincidence IMO.   Similar to how Nabers stats were meh at LSU the season before Daniels arrived.  There is some clear symphony between great QB play and WR production.   

 

Texans had a roster that wasn't that well regarded coupled with being the most injured team in the NFL in 2023.   If you told most before the 2023 season, the Texans would be the most injured team in the NFL and especially at the O line -- I'd bet 99% of the pundit types would prredict they'd have the #1 pick in the draft.

 

What was the difference?  Much better Qb play. Much better coaching.  Does that happen here?  We don't know but it feels like there is at least a fighting chance it does.

 

 

 

https://texanswire.usatoday.com/2024/03/10/texans-overcame-leagues-highest-injury-total-in-2023/

Texans overcame league's highest injury total in 2023

the Texans led the league in injuries to significant players, according to the adjusted games lost metric (AGL) from FTN Fantasy.

Despite the rash of injuries, Houston finished 10-7, won the AFC South and made the playoffs for the first time since 2019. The Texans then beat the Cleveland Browns, who also had several injuries of their own, in the wild-card round.

FTN Fantasy charted the AGL for each team and found that injuries declined in 2023. However, the Texans did not have that luxury — especially on the offensive line.

 

Houston set a new record with 82.1 AGL, which surpassed the previous record set by the Los Angeles Rams in 2022. The Texans shuffled constantly throughout the regular season, starting seven different offensive line combinations. No group up front played more than four consecutive games together.

Texans right guard Shaq Mason was the only lineman to play all 17 regular season games. Green, tackle Tytus Howard, and rookie linemen Jarrett Patterson and Juice Scruggs each accounted for 10 AGL.

The lack of continuity up front likely contributed to the running game struggles. Houston averaged 3.7 yards per carry, tied with the Las Vegas Raiders for fourth-worst in the league. The Texans’ pass blocking was slightly better, with 47 sacks surrendered — just outside the bottom-10 in the league.

 

The injury bug also bit Houston’s defensive back room. Eric Murray, Jimmie Ward, Tavierre Thomas and Derek Stingley combined to account for 33.4 AGL. General manager Nick Caserio made savvy moves on the waiver wire, like signing safety DeAndre Houston-Carson to plug the holes caused by injury.

Houston receivers accounted for 17.2 AGL, the fifth-most in the league. Noah Brown and rookie Tank Dell were the biggest contributors to this metric.

 

Brown, who signed in 2023, was hampered by a multitude of injuries throughout the regular season as well and ended the year on injured reserve with a shoulder injury he suffered in the wild-card round. Dell sustained a broken fibula in the Texans’ Week 13 victory over the Denver Broncos and missed the rest of the season.

 

Don’t forget about quarterback C.J. Stroud, either. His two-game absence from a concussion accounted for 2.3 AGL.

In total, the Texans collected 159.1 AGL — 30 more than the New England Patriot, who finished with the second-most significant injuries. Houston’s offense contributed 106.6 AGL, again, 30 more than the second-highest team. New England had the most AGL on defense, with the Texans having the fourth most.

I sure don't see this as a top 10 defense. The corners blow, safeties are average at best and despite signing a bunch of second level DEs they do not have one impact player at that key position for a defense. 

Edited May 20 by Darrell Green Fan

[Skinsinparadise]

3 hours ago, Darrell Green Fan said:

I sure don't see this as a top 10 defense. The corners blow, safeties are average at best and despite signing a bunch of second level DEs they do not have one impact player at that key position for a defense. 

 

Will see.

 

LBs are IMO are VERY good.  The safeties IMO are good not average at best -- and deep.  DTs are among the best in the league.  

 

Dorance Armstrong, not even playing full time had similar production than the typical Montez Sweat year.

 

The 2022 defense was ranked top 3.  It fell apart last year.  Comparing 2022 and this year...

 

D line.  Only difference is Armstrong versus Sweat.   Ferrell, Fowler -- versus Toohill-Williams.   And the addition of Newton.  Feels like a wash to me at worst.

 

LBs.    upgraded dramatically from now to then.  From maybe one of the worst LB corp in the league to one of the best, will see.  Deep too.  Rivera had a crap LB crew and it wasn't deep either,

 

Safety -- feels the same to me or close enough.  Quan Martin emerged as the season progressed last year.  I admit I am biased towards Chinn, a dude I liked a lot before that draft.  Forrest was coming on the previous season but alas got hurt last season.   Hampton is a good depth piece. 

 

CB -- Sainstrill versus Fuller.  Not great then, not great now. 

 

And the coaches reputation wise are mountains better.  Heck I recall even with Logan Paulsen when working for this team back then saying he doesn't think Micah Parsons here would be what he is in Dallas because in Dallas Quinn was a master of finding matchups for him which is something this team doesn't do.

 

Luvu -- Armstrong as to pass rush i think will match Sweat and Williams or close enough maybe beat them.  You'd figure the DTs should be better with Newton in the mix,

 

Then you got Chinn who is a great blitzer, Sainstrill too now in the mix.   

 

When Quinn inherited the Dallas defense, it sucked, gave up the 4th most points in the league the year before.  Back then we took it for granted almost that Dallas would have a crap defense and ours would hopefully be better.  All of a sudden that all changed.  That all changed with Quinn.  The next year they were ranked 6th best in points allowed.  From zero to hero.  

 

 

Edited May 20 by Skinsinparadise

[Going Commando]

6 hours ago, Llevron said:

 

Right -- you have to be intentional with every decision involving them. You cant just leave it up to them to figure it out and work through it. I agree with you 100%

 

Yep.  To me, the biggest potential pitfall facing Jayden is the scenario where he and our coaches fall into the trap of having him scramble too much to keep the chains moving because we can't pick up enough yardage with our passing game/early down running game.  It's going to be very tempting to try and rely on his running ability this year.  We have got to keep him in the pocket/making throws on rollouts and keep him from taking hits.  When you look at where the Ravens might have gone wrong with Lamar, to me it's the very slow pace of his development as a pocket passer that caused him to fall behind his peers in Burrow/Allen/Mahomes.  And I think a big part of that is because they have been so reliant on his running ability that they just didn't bother to develop him as a complete passer at the rate the other guys developed.  And he's missed 13 games already in his career.  That is not the path we want to go down with Jayden.

[Skinsinparadise]

 

 

[Warhead36]

4 hours ago, Going Commando said:

 

Yep.  To me, the biggest potential pitfall facing Jayden is the scenario where he and our coaches fall into the trap of having him scramble too much to keep the chains moving because we can't pick up enough yardage with our passing game/early down running game.  It's going to be very tempting to try and rely on his running ability this year.  We have got to keep him in the pocket/making throws on rollouts and keep him from taking hits.  When you look at where the Ravens might have gone wrong with Lamar, to me it's the very slow pace of his development as a pocket passer that caused him to fall behind his peers in Burrow/Allen/Mahomes.  And I think a big part of that is because they have been so reliant on his running ability that they just didn't bother to develop him as a complete passer at the rate the other guys developed.  And he's missed 13 games already in his career.  That is not the path we want to go down with Jayden.

Daniels is a much better passer than Jackson was coming out. He's a legitimate pocket passer while also having exceptional mobility.

[Darrell Green Fan]

12 hours ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

Will see.

 

LBs are IMO are VERY good.  The safeties IMO are good not average at best -- and deep.  DTs are among the best in the league.  

 

Dorance Armstrong, not even playing full time had similar production than the typical Montez Sweat year.

 

The 2022 defense was ranked top 3.  It fell apart last year.  Comparing 2022 and this year...

 

D line.  Only difference is Armstrong versus Sweat.   Ferrell, Fowler -- versus Toohill-Williams.   And the addition of Newton.  Feels like a wash to me at worst.

 

LBs.    upgraded dramatically from now to then.  From maybe one of the worst LB corp in the league to one of the best, will see.  Deep too.  Rivera had a crap LB crew and it wasn't deep either,

 

Safety -- feels the same to me or close enough.  Quan Martin emerged as the season progressed last year.  I admit I am biased towards Chinn, a dude I liked a lot before that draft.  Forrest was coming on the previous season but alas got hurt last season.   Hampton is a good depth piece. 

 

CB -- Sainstrill versus Fuller.  Not great then, not great now. 

 

And the coaches reputation wise are mountains better.  Heck I recall even with Logan Paulsen when working for this team back then saying he doesn't think Micah Parsons here would be what he is in Dallas because in Dallas Quinn was a master of finding matchups for him which is something this team doesn't do.

 

Luvu -- Armstrong as to pass rush i think will match Sweat and Williams or close enough maybe beat them.  You'd figure the DTs should be better with Newton in the mix,

 

Then you got Chinn who is a great blitzer, Sainstrill too now in the mix.   

 

When Quinn inherited the Dallas defense, it sucked, gave up the 4th most points in the league the year before.  Back then we took it for granted almost that Dallas would have a crap defense and ours would hopefully be better.  All of a sudden that all changed.  That all changed with Quinn.  The next year they were ranked 6th best in points allowed.  From zero to hero.  

 

 

I hope you are right but I just don't see it this way, and I know this is the Daniels thread but we don't have much to talk about these days so let's have a go at this. 

 

I love the LB additions, I think that is obvious.  I certainly do not see the same improvements with the safeties as Martin is totally unproven and Chin, well we are not sure what we will get there just yet.  You are right about Quinn vs Old Jack. But the defensive coordinator is Whitt not Quinn and although exciting we don't know if his defensive will transfer this group from one of the worst to one of the best in one season as Quinn did in Dallas. He also has nothing like Micah Parsons to help make that happen.  

 

While the DTs may in fact be one of the best duos in the league neither is an impact player. Other than Luvu and perhaps Wagner (loved that signing) they do not have one impact player on this defense, and of course great LBs are not as important today as they were in the past.  And the corners are simply below average to bad.  Dicey corner play can kill a defense alone, especially since they have no real impact pass rushers.  .   

Edited May 21 by Darrell Green Fan