2022 Commanders off season thread part 1

Jon Bostic had a very disappointing season in 2020, but Holcomb was on the rise, KPL was playing solid and even with that the weakness at LB showed a lot. This D was only good against weak offenses that year.
This year we can't even line up 3 decent LBs on the field. And that's assuming Jamin Davis takes a big step forward, which isn't a guarantee.

Not to mention that we can't even line up two pass rushers at DE right now. If Montez sweat were to be injured we immediately go to NONE. We have absolutely no NFL-quality depth at DE. Every year, contenders sign proven NFL pass rushers who are near the end of their careers but can still play limited snaps to help a team - BUT NOT OUR TEAM!

When asked recently about our reserve DE's RR couldn't bring himself to show any any enthusiasm for any of them but still he makes NO CHANGES.

Truly, Rivera acts like he has a job for life. He even claims that he feels no pressure to make the playoffs this season. What a joke he is becoming! I want to see some sense of urgency in the man.

Jon Bostic had a very disappointing season in 2020, but Holcomb was on the rise, KPL was playing solid and even with that the weakness at LB showed a lot. This D was only good against weak offenses that year.
This year we can't even line up 3 decent LBs on the field. And that's assuming Jamin Davis takes a big step forward, which isn't a guarantee.

Well, that was kinda my point. In 2020, we could barely line up 3 decent LBs and it turned out to be a top 5 D. Yeah they played some backup QBs, but you can only play who is in front of you. If we get that D, with the potential this offense has - it could be a fun season.

I'm just saying I'm not panicking yet. They are pretty deep in the secondary - lot of good young talent there. The D-line, especially when C Young comes back should be more than solid. And RR said flat out that they would see how things go once training camp begins, and if it looks like they need to add a LB he would.

Not to mention that we can't even line up two pass rushers at DE right now. If Montez sweat were to be injured we immediately go to NONE. We have absolutely no NFL-quality depth at DE. Every year, contenders sign proven NFL pass rushers who are near the end of their careers but can still play limited snaps to help a team - BUT NOT OUR TEAM!

When asked recently about our reserve DE's RR couldn't bring himself to show any any enthusiasm for any of them but still he makes NO CHANGES.

Truly, Rivera acts like he has a job for life. He even claims that he feels no pressure to make the playoffs this season. What a joke he is becoming! I want to see some sense of urgency in the man.

I actually like our depth at DE. We can play the "but if he gets injured" game with every position group. That's part of the game. No team has endless starter-quality backups for all position groups.

I heard RR talking highly about the DE depth - Smith-Williams, Toohill, Obada, Toney...

I actually like our depth at DE. We can play the "but if he gets injured" game with every position group. That's part of the game. No team has endless starter-quality backups for all position groups.

I heard RR talking highly about the DE depth - Smith-Williams, Toohill, Obada, Toney...

I was talking specifically about pass rushers. I should have made that more clear. I don't know how you can like our depth at DE in that regard. They haven't done diddly in years. BTW, I did not say "starter-quality", much less "endless starter quality", so let's not debate on terms I didn't use. What I said was "NFL-quality", as in worthy of a spot on an NFL roster. I think we can do a much better job of acquiring pass rushing depth at DE.

I was talking specifically about pass rushers. I should have made that more clear. I don't know how you can like our depth at DE in that regard. They haven't done diddly in years. BTW, I did not say "starter-quality", much less "endless starter quality", so let's not debate on terms I didn't use. What I said was "NFL-quality", as in worthy of a spot on an NFL roster. I think we can do a much better job of acquiring pass rushing depth at DE.

I don't think it matters much if we like the depth at DE. RR seems to be ok with it. I thought they all played well in Young / Sweat's absence last year too.

With Young out for an extended amount of time, Rivera expects the depth at defensive end to step up in his absence. Players like James Smith-Williams and Casey Toohill will get an opportunity to contribute, and Rivera believes the depth at the position can handle the extra responsibilities.

All our depth guys - once we start the season - will be "NFL-quality" or they wouldn't be on this NFL roster.

Maybe you can give me a big name on an NFL roster who is #3 on their depth chart at DE, and is more of an "NFL-quality" guy than what we have. I'll bet the #3 and #F4 DEs on other rosters all stack up pretty evenly with the depth at DE on this team.

This is why, despite what they say, the Commanders aren’t too worried about LB

-JP

https://twitter.com/NFL_DougFarrar/status/1556289079888605184?t=ZZHkLAORr9IyVk01Rpnlww&s=01

I don't think it matters much if we like the depth at DE. RR seems to be ok with it. I thought they all played well in Young / Sweat's absence last year too.



With Young out for an extended amount of time, Rivera expects the depth at defensive end to step up in his absence. Players like James Smith-Williams and Casey Toohill will get an opportunity to contribute, and Rivera believes the depth at the position can handle the extra responsibilities.



All our depth guys - once we start the season - will be "NFL-quality" or they wouldn't be on this NFL roster.



Maybe you can give me a big name on an NFL roster who is #3 on their depth chart at DE, and is more of an "NFL-quality" guy than what we have. I'll bet the #3 and #F4 DEs on other rosters all stack up pretty evenly with the depth at DE on this team.

On DE, I'm with you, we were kinda spoiled with overall depth at DL the past few years, but with Young, Sweat, JSW, Toohill, second year guys Shaka Toney and Bradley King, even Rotimi who they like a lot... we're not short at DE in my view.

This is why, despite what they say, the Commanders aren’t too worried about LB

-JP

https://twitter.com/NFL_DougFarrar/status/1556289079888605184?t=ZZHkLAORr9IyVk01Rpnlww&s=01

To be honest the average percentage of snaps played in base D is a bit lower than I thought... But still 23.4% is something. We can't play it correctly as of now. And we have zero possible rotation on our 2 LBs set. And we're one injury away from XFL level play at the position.

I'm not ready to hit the panic button yet. RR and JDR are going into year 3. It was a 3-5 year plan from the get-go, and we haven't seen a snap in year 3 yet. Going into year 3, this roster is much better (and deeper) than it was when they got here, at pretty much every position group - especially the so called "skill positions".

I'll admit that it does feel a bit odd that that the one position group that appears (from the outside looking in) to be neglected is the same position both the HC and DC played. Although, they did spend a 1st round draft pick on a LB last year...hopefully JD shows improvement in year 2.

I don't know, we'll see...there's still five weeks before game 1. There's still plenty of time to make a move there if they think they need to. There will be quality players released, and there are still quality players that remain unsigned. But like I said, I'm not in panic mode about it. I'm pretty excited to see this team take the field. I'm optimistic for a big turnaround this year.

Washington Signs Former Eagles LB, 2 Others

https://www.si.com/nfl/commanders/news/washington-training-camp-preseason-linebacker-nathan-nate-gerry-philadelphia-eagles-san-francisco-49ers