Washington Commanders Jayden Daniels and 7 Offensive Players w/ Something to Prove | Brandon McManus - Raw Chili (2024)

Washington Commanders Jayden Daniels and 7 Offensive Players w/ Something to Prove | Brandon McManus

the Washington commanders have plenty to prove this coming season as a whole but there are eight players on offense specifically that I think have the most to prove and it all starts with rookie quarterback Jaden Daniels that and more coming up on today’s episode of Locked on commanders you are locked on commanders your daily podcast on the Washington commanders part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome in today’s episode of Locked on commanders part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day this is your daily podcast covering the Washington commanders and I’m your host David Harrison credential member of the media covering the Washington commanders for commander game day.com a part of Sports Illustrated here with you every Monday through Friday and I greatly appreciate you for coming through today every day greatly appreciate you for coming through every day on today’s episode by the first cut of the off season is going to come from a position that has zero competition and we’re talking about commanders offensive players with the most approv this season all starting with quarterback Jaden Daniels today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create your account use the promo code locked on NFL to get $20 off your first purchase terms apply if you want to discuss this episode or anything else Washington commanders related or if you got questions you need answers to you can text me directly by going to joins sub text.com lockon commanders today become a lockon commander Insider from there you will get messages content analysis and more delivered directly from me to your phone and delivered from you to me directly through your phone no hashtags no downloads no filters none of that required simply go to joins sub tex.com lockon commanders and become an Insider today I’ve got eight players with the most approve in Cliff Kingsbury’s offense this year and it’s all going to start with rookie quarterback jayen Daniels now the Washington commanders we’ve talked about this before every dar if’ got about 41-year contract not 41e contracts but about 40 contracts that expire at the end of the 2024 NFL season so in reality there’s about 40 players that have something to prove to this Washington commanders coaching staff because if they want to be in this organization next year they’ve got to show this year that they’re worthy of being a part of this organization but I wanted to go beyond just that scope don’t me wrong two of the players on my list of eight on the offense do have expiring contracts at the end of this year but I wanted to get outside of the scope of just simply well they’ve got an expiring contract so they got something to prove because that’s a little bit of a no du right so we start with quarterback Jaden Daniels who certainly does not have an expiring contract in fact he actually hasn’t even officially signed his first contract at the time of this recording doesn’t actually have to until the start of training camp so we do have some time uh before we need to actually worry about that so nothing to worry about there but he’s a number two overall pick and Washington fans you already know the pressure that comes with being the number two overall pick you’ve lived through two recent number two overall picks at least depending on how old old J Chase young was the most recent number two overall pick for Washington Robert Griffin I third the previous number two overall pick for Washington one of them a quarterback one of them a pass rusher both of them tons of pressure on their shoulder both of them expected to be franchise change makers impact players whatever you want to call it and especially the quarterback right expect expectations even higher for him than anybody else but it goes beyond that as well the second season for most NFL players is supposed to be your Breakout season and every day if you’ve been here for a while you’ll go back to our conversation last year during the off season about Jan doson who was expected to be a breakout player in 2023 for the Washington commanders and we kind of talked about the rates that players have those breakout Seasons what a breakout season really is we’ll get into that again this season of course we’re not going to dive deeply deeply into that here on this episode today but the bottom line is second season is quote unquote supposed to be the breakout season for most rookies especially first round rookies but in order to have that breakout season you got to have a solid foundation first and that’s why like when we went back to last year talking about Johan doson you saw the touchdown production especially early before he got injured but even after he came back after a couple games to really get back up to speed he really started having an impact on the offense again and you saw that ability so that platform is what helped launch everybody into this expectation anticipation of him having a breakout season in 20123 he himself expected him to have a breakout season unfortunately didn’t happen but again you need that solid first first year to have that breakout year and for a quarterback I think it’s doubly important so for Jadon Daniels it’s going to be really hard to expect him to have a quote unquote breakout sophom*ore season if his first season is in the dumps right if he comes out of the S his first season the 32nd ranked quarterback in the NFL or even worse depending on how much play time he gets all those things if he struggles to even see the field or struggles to stay on the field then it’s gonna be really hard to project him as a breakout player in his second season so that alone that pressure alone kind of comes with it the athletic Talent is honestly a small part of it really what separates the NFL quarterbacks from the college quarterbacks is IQ and decisionmaking now there’s certainly plenty of areas in his tape at LSU and even at Arizona State to look at his football IQ and say the dude is a smart football player but the decision making is somewhere where I think a lot of people have concerns that sack to pressure ratio all of those things are going to be things that everybody’s watching deeply in the National Football League and that is a challenge for Cliff Kingsbury Savita Pritchard his two primary off coaches to really kind of work on with him here during this portion because right now he can’t be sacked anyway so you want to be able to see him kind of make those decisions and you want to talk through making those decisions but it’s not all on him either and that’s kind of the part of pressure like sometimes can really kind of be an annoyance right a pain in the butt so to speak is that Jane Daniels needs to have a reasonable amount of time given to him by his offensive line and this offensive line just like last year a lot of Replacements a lot of new pieces really outside of your far right off offensive lineman your right tackle Andrew W Your Right Guard Sam Cosby everybody else is new and not only everybody’s new for Jaye Daniels right but as far as a fiveman unit three fifths of that unit are new even if Cornelius Lucas is the starter at left tackle yeah he was with the team last year but he wasn’t a starter and he certainly wasn’t playing next to Nick Alig or Michael deer at left guard certainly wasn’t playing with Tyler B at Center so either way it’s all going to be new outside of the Right Guard right tackle combo and then for Sam cosmi he’s got to play next to Tyler bies how he reacts to playing next to Tyler bies impacts how he plays next to Andrew Wy so there’s just a lot of things that go into that offensive line unit and that’s going to impact what Jaden Daniels can or cannot accomplish in his own rookie season and then finally that pressure is cumulative right we talk about pressure being cumulative all the time you saw it with Sam how last year as the losses started to pile up as the interceptions started to pile up as the sack started to pile up what you saw as a quarterback that was sometimes a little too trigger happy sometimes a little too I don’t even want to call it patient because really wasn’t patience it was almost being frozen in that anticipation or that doubt or that frustration for how the season had been going and how his own play uh had been going so that pressure is certainly cumulative the only way to lessen that pressure going into 2025 again have a solid 2024 if he has a struggle if he struggles a lot in 2024 especially if it’s just his struggles if there’s struggles that we can look at and say and that offensive line really didn’t help him out and that’s it then you know to a certain extent there’s there’s a little bit of wiggle room in there but if he comes out of 2024 if we come out of 2024 and it’s decision making and it’s throws and it’s offt Target it’s inaccuracies it’s bad interceptions it’s fumbles it’s taking bad hits things that Jaden can control and should control that’s going to be a long off season I mean people depend on where this team is drafting too like if this team is drafting top five there might be a quarterback that by the time we get to next April people are like look after what you saw from Jaden you look see this guy coming out of college you really kind of have to make that decision too those are going be questions or maybe there’s a veteran that comes available hey should this team go after go get the next day Kurt Cousins that’s coming out there or whatever it is just you know what I mean a lot of pressure that could potentially come out and as much as people want to say they don’t pay attention to all that they don’t see all that they do they see it they pay attention to it they feel it and the thing about pressure is everybody feels pressure nobody doesn’t feel pressure not nobody’s immune to pressure now some people handle it better some people hide the fact that they’re under pressure better certainly but everybody feels it so for Jon Daniels specifically you want to come into 2025 playing off of a good platform coming into the season with confidence not with an overabundance of pressure again not all on him so if he’s out of control what he’s got of control and then the final part of that pressure the fact that you were drafted over some dudes you were drafted over Drake may you were drafted over JJ McCarthy you were drafted over Michael penx Jr that matters that is a part of the equation Drake may may or may not play this season JJ McCarthy I think he’s playing this season Michael penck Jr no real plan to have him play this season but Drake May and JJ kthy go out there and play and they go out there and have significantly better years than Jane Daniels that’s going to just add to the pressure that we talk about the pressure that we had the fans had and that that he’s going to feel coming into the 2025 NFL season for all those reasons Jaden Daniels needs to have a very good season he’s got a lot to prove as a rookie quarterback especially that number two overall pick tag on him but he is not alone we’re going talk about seven of his offensive teammates that also have a really good amount of things that they need to prove in 2024 coming up next on today’s episode of Locked on commanders part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day and this episode of Locked on commanders is brought to you by game time game time makes getting NBA Finals tickets even faster and easier prices on the game time app actually go down the closer it gets to tip off with killer last minute deals Allin prices views from your seat and their lowest price guarantee game time takes the guest workor out of buying NBA tickets right now you can purchase NBA Finals game one tickets in Boston that’s how confident people are the Boston Celtics are headed to the NBA finals for $722 just over $700 with our promo code if you use that if you’re like me and you want to get the most bang for your buck you 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up on Twitter at DH Harrison 82 on that platform in the meantime make sure you’re checking out lock on sports today a free 247 sports streaming Channel program for you every day bringing you the biggest stories can’t miss analysis opinions and news streaming 247 on YouTube where the free Amazon Fire TV channels app all part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day Terry McClaren and Jan doson are the next two players I’ve got up that have something to prove in 2024 on the Washington Commander offense and I’m putting the duo together fair or unfair there is already doubt that has crept in and infiltrated the Washington commanders media and fan base wondering is Terry mclen really going to be a number one wide receiver in the NFL being a number two for considering where Terry McClaren got drafted being a number two wide receiver in the NFL is great there’s a lot of people who got drafted where he got drafted who would love to be number two receivers in the NFL but let’s let’s be honest Terry mcclaren’s goal expectation of himself is to be the number one guy he wants to be the guy that a franchise can build around fans thought for the longest time Terry mclen is going to be a number one receiver or he is a number one receiver just waiting on his quarterback media has been giving him all that love as well but there is some doubt starting to creep in amongst media you can see it in some of the coverage and amongst fans you see it in the comments all the time people wondering is Terry mclen a legit number one or does this team need to go find themselves a legit number one the problem here is they’ve also got Jan Dodson and Jan Dodson hasn’t done anything to prove himself as a number one receiver in the NFL either but most NFL teams don’t really want two number twos they want one number two they want a legit number one and then they’re okay being a number three but Terry McClaren and Jan doson also look too good to be number threes which means you’re not gonna pay both of these guys and the situation here is that if Jan doson doesn’t have his fifth year option picked up next offseason so this is Jan’s third year which means the 2025 offseason Washington commanders just like they had to decide with Jamie Davis this offseason have to decide if they’re going to pick up Johan dodson’s fifth year option if they don’t then 2025 will be a contract year for Johan Dodson just like 2024 is a contract year for linebacker Jamon Davis well Terry McClaren is also in a contract year in 2025 so if Johan Dawson doesn’t do enough this year to convince the Washington commanders to pick up his option next year then you basically have two receivers that as it stands today before we get into the season season a lot of people are starting to look at and say you might be a really good number two but you’re not a number one and you’re both going to be on expiring contracts the Washington commanders are not going to pay both of you guys so if dodson’s option does get picked up then it likely means he did really good or very good mclen is likely not going to get an extension in that season they’ll let Johan doson play 2025 2026 on his rookie deal Teran mclen play 20125 an expiring deal see what happens unless Terry McClaren just completely balls out now both these dudes come out and Paul out this season doson gets his option picked up McClaren gets another extension during the offseason maybe and then we can just roll this thing forward and everybody could be very happy but it’s more likely than not that only one or the other is going to have 2026 secured Johan doson 2026 secured through the fifth year option being picked up or Terry McClaren having 2026 secured by having an extension negotiated a lot of times players and agents with one year left on the deal they like to negotiate those extensions so that would be next offseason for Terry McClaren uh something to note Terry mclen does carry a $5.6 Million Dead cap number in 2026 if he is not on the roster that’s part of his last extension or his only extension so far his second contract in the NFL that deal included $5.6 million in void money that is in 202 uh 2026 so again if mclen is not on the roster past 2025 then the washhington commers will incur A 5.6 million do dead cap number uh for the 2026 salary cap so that’s why I put those two together Andrew Wy right tackle is the next offensive player that I feel like has a good amount to prove here in this coming season 2025 also a contract year for Andrew Wy he’s turning 30 this August so basically this is the last chance that Andrew Wy is going to have in his career he’s started before so I don’t want to you know make it sound like he’s just never done it but this is basically it this is your opportunity your last opportunity in the NFL to establish yourself as a starting right tackle it’s not going to be for very long but if you have a solid 2024 coming into a contract year in 2025 playing in Cliff Kingsbury’s offense maybe you’re able to convince his team tack on another two years let’s take this thing out through 2027 get me to say 33 I think the 33 years old is what he would be you know what I mean that’s a pretty good deal be the starting right tackle for the Washington commanders as they usher in Jaden Daniels give them a little bit of breathing room before they have to go spend high draft capital on a right tackle and Andrew Wy honestly has kind of the best road map to doing this he’s had the most experience playing with a quarterback similar to Jaden Daniels now I like you know during the draft process Bucky Brooks said that Jane Daniels is more Lamar Jackson whereas he uses his athleticism as a weapon versus Patrick Mahomes who has athleticism and can use it but doesn’t you know necessarily use it as a weapon but still very similar body types very similar athletic abilities so Andrew Wy having played with Patrick Mahomes kind of knows what it’s like to deal with a quarterback similar to that so that experience should help him an experience hopefully is helping the rest of the group as well as he kind of passes that on to them so Andrew Wy is another one running back Brian Robinson is another player and this guy again another guy that’s got a 2025 contract season so a lot of important contracts expiring after 2025 right now some Outlets still have Austin Eckler projected as the starter for this Washington commanders team I’ve told you I think Brian Robinson is running back number one the evidence that I’ve seen on the practice field tells me that Brian Robinson is is running back number one I know a lot of my fellow be reporters think that Brian Robinson is running back number one but outside of Washington a lot of people have Austin Eckler punched in or penciled in to that that space why because they haven’t seen a lot of Brian Robinson so for me the other be reporters you as a commanders fan you’ve seen more Brian Robinson that say these National guys have seen guys like PFF who ranked Austin Eckler in their starting running back rankings not Brian Robinson Jr so the reason that BR Rob hasn’t been able to show the national media whatever you want to call it everything that he’s potent he’s capable of is because he’s been underutilized right 19th in carries in 2022 granted he missed the first four games of the season after the robbery attempt 303d in carries though in 2023 so went way down compared to his rookie season despite the fact that BR was able to play in every game last year only had 12 Targets in his rookie season Scott Turner did not use him as a receiver at all 43 Targets in 2023 so he certainly went up but even that still only ranked 27th in the National Football League and think back to last year how much better could things have been if BR Rob was more involved in his offense as a receiver more Antonio Gibson more BR Rob probably would have done a lot of good things right so Brian Robinson we can sit here and say the national media Outsiders don’t know him as well as we do because they don’t see him as well so they don’t see the potential and that may be true but after three years if you have three different offensive coordinators three years in the NFL and nobody’s wanting to use you people are going to start to wonder if the reason is you not them Cole Turner is the next player that I have coming up that’s got something to prove this is a make or break year for Co Turner he already comes in has the number three tight end this team brings in Zack hers they draft Ben senet right now I’ve got him penil is the fourth tight end if he cannot show this sta that he’s improved as a blocker he may not even make this roster dami Brown wide receiver is in a contract year this year along with John Bates who tied end who’s also in a contract year right now the question for Dei Brown is what do you do better than Luke mcaffrey who is two inches taller than you the same weight so you kind of have the same build a little bit of the same build Yami is definitely more stacked more more Stout of a player but if Luke mcaffry is more Dynamic than you are in an offense that wants to be dynamic you may lose your spot in this roster coming up next offseason John baates it’s kind of in that same role this is a make or break year for him he’s got to show this team this team I feel like basically feels like that Ben s is eventually going to be that tight end number one learn from Zack hers develop as a rookie coming year two maybe year three take over that tight end one role John Bates your future in Washington probably looks like a tight end number two role but right now you may be viewed in the future as a tight end number three if you don’t lock in your spot as tight in number two this team goes back to the NFL draft next year or the year after that that gets another third or fourth round pick tied end and you may find yourself on the outside looking in so those are my eight offensive players and I feel like have significant amounts to prove this season John Bates tied end Dei Brown tied end Cole Turner or Dei Brown wide receiver Cole Turner tied end Brian Robinson running back Andrew Wy right tackle Terry McClaren and Johan Dodson together as receivers and quarterback jayen Daniels we will do the defensive side later this week but coming up next on locked on commanders we’re going to talk about Brandon mcmanis the first player that I think is going to be cut by the Washington commanders that’s coming up next on today’s episode of Locked on commanders part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day and we’re doing that thanks to our friends over at FanDuel it is winter take time take all time in the NBA and the NHL and FanDuel is giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own right now new customers you can get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $ five bet that’s 150 bucks to bet on spreads money lines player props and more my $100 bet on the Minnesota Timberwolves not looking too good and their odds are even greater now plus 1,200 the last time we checked so you can make a lot of money if you think the Minnesota Timberwolves are going to be able to pull off the upset over the Dallas Mavericks and win that series uh when it’s all said and done however if you want to go chalk with Boston Celtics at minus 240 nobody’s going to blame you so the NBA Finals matchup certainly looking more and more like it can be predicted Boston Celtics Dallas Mavericks likely to be the two teams meeting in the NBA Finals but whatever you think is going to happen go to fanduel.com lockon make every playoff shot count that’s FanDuel America’s number one sports book wrapping up today’s episode of lock on commanders with a story that dropped Monday afternoon I was actually just on my way up to my office to record our Tuesday episode when this story dropped and this is why I wait a little bit this is why I don’t drop my episodes uh super early I always want to kind of wait a little bit let news happen if it’s going to happen Brandon mcmanis kicker for the Washington commanders the only kicker on the Washington commanders roster at the time of this recording has been accused of sexual assault that according to a report that was filed by ESPN’s Mike dco with some help from ESPN beat reporter John K who’s out here on the Washington commers beat with me every single day and the article says quote two women are suing kicker Brandon mcmanis and the Jacksonville Jaguars alleging that mcmah has sexually assaulted them during the team’s overseas flight to London last year that being in 2023 and quote of course MC Manis was with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2023 not with the Washington commanders the uh the claim or the article continues quote the two women identified as Jane Doe one and Jane Doe 2 in the lawsuit filed Friday night in Duvall County Circuit civil court accused mcmanis of rubbing himself against them and grinding against them they also accused the Jaguars of failing to supervise mcmanis failing to create a safe environment for staff serving the team end quote the Washington commanders through a spokesperson did did Issue a statement in which they said quote earlier today being Monday we were made aware of the civil suit filed on May 24th against Brandon mcmanis we take allegations of this nature very seriously and are looking into the matter we have been in communication with the league office and Brandon’s representation and will Reserve further comment at this time now at the time of this recording Brandon mcmanis or his lawyers or both have yet to make any kind of statement in fact right there just now you’re not going to see it but I went ahead and just looked for an update just in case when had dropped since we started recording this thing uh Brandon McMahon has signed a one-year deal this offseason with the commanders $3.6 million to join Washington again spent 2023 with the Jacksonville Jaguars on a one-year $2 million deal before that was most well known as the Denver Broncos kicker also spent time with the Colts and Giants organizations um bottom line guys it this is just kind of the way that I think that things are going to go they’re going to have to cut them they can’t this Wasington commers team can’t spend all offseason the way that they have talking about standards talking about holding each other accountable talking about turning the page of your Josh Harris talking about moving past all of the Dark Cloud business that came before them and have this hanging over a player that is on the active roster the best case in my in my eyes just just judging weighing the treatment of persons and navigating the social structures and the pr part of this whole thing is you tell them you say you didn’t go do this go fight it win your case prove that you’re innocent or prove your your not your lack of liability it’s a civil court it’s not a criminal court so it’s not proving your innocence it’s proving that you’re not liable or whatever it is and we’ll bring you back right if you get Vindicated we’ll bring you back but until then go out there fight your fight do what you need to do focus on that but the best thing for this franchise and to be quite honest with you with the NFL in general remember the NFL has a terrible track record with the treatment of women treatment of employees all that stuff the best thing that they can do is not keep a player on the payroll that has this kind of accusation going on against them especially if it’s proven liable I mean if you take this guy through this season and week eight nine 10 whatever it is he gets found liable for these accusations you have now paid a player millions of dollars you have Now supported a player who is now being proven liable for these accusations you can’t do that the Houston Texans couldn’t do it with an MVP candidate potential franchise quarterback the Washington Commander certainly can’t do it with a veteran kicker playing for his third team in three years so if the Washington Mayers made that move and they cut him free agent options out there Robbie Gold 40 years old 27 of 32 for field goals last year including two of two from 50 plus yards so there’s an option for you Greg zerline 35 years old so a little bit a little bit cheaper 30 of 37 in 2022 Mason Crosby 38 years old 25 of 29 last year but only one of four from 50 plus that’s kind of concerning and then my preference I guess if you had come to this situation would be zaye Gonzalez former Arizona State sundevil I’m not even gonna shy away from that I don’t care 28 years old he did miss all of 2022 with a groin injury does have a little bit of injury history but if he took all that year off was able to heal and he’s healthy when he is healthy Zay Gonzalez certainly one of the more accurate kickers in the NFL he’s a little bit younger so you never know you might strike gold in that situation but it’s definitely in a situation we’re going to monitor we’ll see what the Washington commanders do in the coming days but you know just again reading the tea leaves the the landscape of the NFL the landscape of the Washington Commander specifically and what they’ve been preaching all off season what they’ve been trying to do what they’ve been talking about I just don’t see a way that Brandon McManus stays on this team uh unless this thing gets dropped with the quickness so we’ll see what comes uh but for now we’re going to wrap up this episode next episode again will be a mailbag episode so if you’ve got questions for that just drop them in the YouTube comment section hit me up on Twitter at DH Harrison 82 or text me directly by becoming a lockon commanders Insider go to join subs.com lockon commanders to do that today don’t forget to also check out lockon sports today the first ever 247 live streaming Sports channel on YouTube and as always thank you for making lock on commanders your first listen of the day every day every day thank you for coming through on a consistent basis like you do we speak again if you’re out about please be safe be kind and I’ll see you next time for another episode of lock on commanders part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day

The Washington Commanders have a lot to prove as a team and so do these eight offensive players, starting with quarterback Jayden Daniels.