Commanders Casey Toohill making his case

Casey Toohill will be a free agent in 2024.

In three NFL seasons, Casey Toohill had accumulated only two quarterback sacks.

But Toohill has already registered three sacks in 2023.

The former Stanford Cardinal was drafted in the 7th round (233 overall) by the Eagles in the 2020 NFL draft.

Toohill signed his four-year deal in July, but then the Eagles released Toohill in October of 2020. The very next day, Washington claimed Toohill off of waivers. In on 8 Washington games, he contributed two assisted tackles and a QB hit.

The 6-foot-5, 254 defensive end registered two quarterback sacks and 12 quarterback hits over the next two seasons 2021-22 with Washington.

In this his fourth NFL season, Toohill is making the most of his opportunities. Appearing in each of the six games this season, Toohill has already registered three QB sacks, seven solo tackles, one assisted tackle, two tackles for a loss and four QB hits.

This past Sunday in Atlanta, Toohill collected his first two-sack NFL game.

Toohill is a free agent at the conclusion of the 2023 season. Might the Commander’s brass actually be wise to go ahead and resign Toohill to a veteran-friendly contract for something like three years?”

When they last met: Commanders and Bears

It was ugly — and on Thursday night.

“When they last met” is an ongoing series during the NFL season, recalling the preceding game between Washington and the next opponent on the Commanders’ schedule.

Washington 12, Chicago 7 – Week 6,  October 13, 2022

Talk about winning ugly; that is exactly what the Commanders did, defeating the Bears 12-7 in a Thursday Night game at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Darnell Mooney bobbled what would have been the winning touchdown for the Bears, gifting the Commanders a 12-7 win in Chicago.

The Commanders had led 12-7, and Joey Slye had the opportunity to give Washington an eight-point lead with 1:49 remaining. However, Slye badly hooked his attempt wide left.

The Bears then drove 61 yards in eight plays against the Commanders defense. On 4th & Goal from the 4, Justin Fields looked right, spotted Mooney and fired his pass. The ball crossed the imaginary plane of the front of the end zone into Mooney’s hands. However, Mooney bobbled the ball, was hit by Benjamin St-Juste, and, falling back into the field of play, gained possession of the ball at the one-yard line. This gave the ball back to the Commanders for one quarterback sneak/kneel, running out the clock.

The game was ugly from start to finish. The only scoring of the first half was a Slye 38-yard field goal with 46 seconds remaining in the first half.

Fields connected with Dante Pettis on a 40-yard touchdown pass, providing the Bears their 7-3 lead through three quarters. Slye then was successful on a 28-yard field goal nine seconds into the final quarter for a 7-6 Bears lead.

Washington was gifted another scoring opportunity when on a Tress Way 57-yard punt, Christian Holmes recovered a muffed punt, giving Washington 1st & Goal from the Bears 6.

The second of two Brian Robinson runs was good enough with the help of a Carson Wentz block, providing Washington a 12-7 lead in the final quarter.

Fields gave the Commanders defense trouble all night, rushing for 88 yards with a long of 39 yards. But the Commanders defense sacked Fields five times and intercepted him once.

The Commanders offense struggled all night, with Wentz completing 12 of 22 passes for 99 yards, while Robinson could manage only 60 yards on his 17 rushing attempts. It was later discovered Wentz had actually fractured a finger on his throwing hand.

 

Analytics pioneer Warren Sharp heavily criticizes Commanders’ Rivera

Would analytics have helped the Commanders win more games in 2022?

Warren Sharp confidently supplied listeners with several analytics markers/statistics Wednesday when he was a guest on the “Al Galdi Podcast.”

In his opening comments, Sharp expressed that last season (2022) could have been much better for Washington had they utilized some emphasis on analytics.

Sharp has graded out the Commanders offense quite lowly amongst the 32 NFL teams. On the other hand, Sharp graded the Commanders defense much higher.

However, Sharp rated Ron Rivera as 28th out of 32 NFL head coaches.

Here are some selected quotes from Sharp directed at Ron Rivera.

“To me, the whole tenure of Ron Rivera has gone massively sideways.”

“Ron Rivera is a defensive-minded head coach. The concern, in general, is a defensive coach wants his defense to look good because that is why he was brought to town. He will sacrifice some things offensively to help the defense look a little bit better potentially. What they tend to sacrifice is quarterbacks passing the ball and trying to score quickly.”

“In lieu of this, they try to control the football, run the football, have time of possession because they feel it drives the defense to give them their rest to play better. It is such an old-school process.”

“Look, last year Washington executed it to a T. They had the most time of possession of any football team since 2019. They controlled the ball over 33:00 minutes a game. But the offense averaged .57 points per minute. (Ranked 31 in NFL).”

“You guys ranked 32 in pass rate in the first half of games. You were running the ball a ton and these runs were abysmal. Early-down runs in the first half you guys were last in the NFL.”

“He (Rivera) hasn’t delivered a single winning season in three years. He still hasn’t figured out the quarterback position.”

There was much more from Sharp being critical of Washington’s 2022 offense in general and Ron Rivera in particular. See the above link to listen.

However, one thing my father taught me while still in grade school: “There are two sides to every coin.” In response to this criticism of Rivera and the 2022 Washington offense.

I think Ron Rivera might perhaps man up and say, “Yes, we stunk on offense most of the time in 2022. Yes, our quarterbacks struggled last season, and that is why we have two other quarterbacks this season.

Yes, we ran the ball too much, and we have gone out and hired Eric Bieniemy to provide an entirely new offensive philosophy for this season. It will be his offense, and we needed to do this.

Yes, our two starting guards really struggled last season (Andrew Norwell, Trai Turner). This is why neither of them are with us this season. We need to be able to run the ball more effectively inside. Also, we need to be more athletic in our line to be able to throw screens behind the line of scrimmage to make it easier on Sam Howell as much as we can.”

Rivera has defended his use of analytics over the years. New owner Josh Harris is known for his reliance on analytics as owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils.

Is the Commanders James Smith-Williams appreciated enough?

James Smith-Williams is one of Washington’s more underappreciated players.

Being a final-round draft choice can certainly lead to a player being ignored.

Washington defensive end James Smith-Williams has been one such player. No doubt many Commanders fans are really certain of his name, they don’t recall his jersey number and they certainly don’t know where he played his college ball.

It was funny when even head coach Ron Rivera once spoke of the defensive end as James Williams-Smith. Smith-Williams is still only 25, turning 26 on July 30. He enters this season knowing it is a contract year for him.

What type of year did the former North Carolina State Wolfpack have for the Commanders in 2022? Check out this tweet for some perspective:

Number 96 gets lost by the fan base when he is playing with teammates such as Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, Montez Sweat and Chase Young. But he is accustomed to this, as it occurred during his college days at NC State as well.

Illinois defensive coordinator and former North Carolina State defensive coach, Aaron Henry a guest on the “Al Galdi Podcast,” Tuesday reminded listeners:

“What a lot of people forget is James Smith-Williams was behind Bradley Chubb, Kentavius Street, Justin Jones and B.J. Hill. All them dudes were drafted in the NFL. ”

“So, the fact that he was even a 7th rounder…we knew that young man was going to be special. His off-the-field philanthropy combined with his football ability, the sky was the limit.”

“He was absolutely everything you wanted in terms of building a program. Hard worker, great student, always on time, never any issues, a leader.”

“That young man will play however long he wants to in the NFL. That’s a quality, incredible pillar for the Washington Commanders.”

Twitter Reactions to Commanders declining Chase Young’s 5th year option

The reactions were all over the place regarding the Commanders’ declining Chase Young’s fifth-year option.

Chase Young was the 2020 NFL defensive rookie of the year.

That season, the Ohio State rookie forced four fumbles, recovered three fumbles, ran one back for a touchdown, collected 7.5 sacks, made 42 total tackles, had 10 tackles for a loss and 12 quarterback hits.

However, in 2021, Young, in 9 games, did not resemble the player we observed in 2020. There were only 3 tackles for a loss and only 4 quarterback hits and a mere 1.5 sacks.

Then a horrible knee injury occurred against the Tampa Bay Bucs. He missed the remainder of 2021 and almost all of 2022.

There is no easy answer to what the Commanders’ decision regarding Young’s 5th-year option should be.

Here is some of the varied Twitter reactions to the Commanders’ decision.

Commanders set to again draft at No. 16 and No. 47

For the second consecutive draft, the Commanders hold the 16th and 47th overall picks.

Did anything jump to your attention when looking at the Commanders’ selection positions in the upcoming 2023 NFL draft?

This year’s NFL draft, scheduled for Thursday, April 27 through Saturday, April 29, has the Commanders (at the present time) scheduled to draft in nearly the identical positions in the first three rounds as last year’s 2022 draft.

This year the Commanders are scheduled to draft at No. 16, No. 47 and No. 97 in their first three rounds of picks. Some Commanders fans may recognize that last year’s draft saw the Commanders select in the No. 16, No. 47 and No. 98 positions in the first three rounds.

The Commanders had entered the 2022 draft actually sitting in the No. 11 position before trading down with the New Orleans Saints. The Saints received the No. 11 selection and chose Ohio State receiver Chris Olave.

In return, Washington received the No. 16 position, No. 98 and No. 120 selections, choosing  Penn State receiver Jahan Dotson and Alabama running back Brian Robinson Jr.

During the fourth round, Washington traded that 120th selection and the 189th selection to the Carolina Panthers. In return, the Commanders received selections No. 144 and No. 149. They used those two selections to choose quarterback Sam Howell and tight end Cole Turner.

The Commanders will also be selecting No. 47 this year. Last year they used the No. 47 selection to grab Alabama defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis.

Incidentally, Turner, chosen at No. 149, also exactly matches this year again, as the Commanders hold the No. 150 position.

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Commanders QB Jacoby Brissett’s top plays from the 2022 NFL season

Some of the top plays from Jacoby Brissett’s 2022 season in Cleveland.

The Washington Commanders have a new veteran quarterback for the 2023 season, having signed the Cleveland Browns’ Jacoby Brissett.

The Commanders have produced a highlight package displaying Brissett’s talents and production during the 2022 season when Brissett was a Cleveland Brown.

Brissett completed 236 of his 369 passing attempts (64.0 percent completions) and 2,608 yards, 12 touchdown passes and 6 interceptions. He averaged 7.1 yards per pass attempt, 11.1 yards per completions, 163 yards per game.

His passer rating of 88.9 in 2022 was his career high in his seven NFL seasons. A 60.0 QBR was also a career-high. He also brought Cleveland back with two fourth-quarter game-winning drives.

Washington fans will enjoy seeing Brissett’s taking off to run, and displaying toughness as well when running with the ball, being difficult to tackle at times, due in part to his being 6-foot-4 and weighing 235 pounds.

One of the highlights is Brissett having his own diving-to-the-pylon-touchdown running to his left, which will bring back a very certain recent quarterback memory for Washington fans.

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Commanders add Falcons defensive tackle Abdullah Anderson

The Commanders add more depth on the defensive line.

Friday the Washington Commanders announced they have added defensive tackle Abdullah Anderson.

Anderson will come to the Commanders from the Atlanta Falcons. Age 26, Anderson saw action in 16 games for the Falcons in 2022, starting in half of those games. He recorded 40 tackles, a sack, and a pass defended.

Being in the league for four seasons, Anderson has the unenviable career path thus far of playing for a team only one season before moving on to his next team.

At 6-foot-3 and 297 pounds, Anderson was undrafted out of Bucknell, before going forward to play for the Bears in 2019, the Vikings (2020), the Packers (2021) and the Falcons (2022). Consequently, the Commanders will be the fifth team in five years for Anderson.

The Commanders have re-signed defensive tackle Daron Payne last week, re-signed fellow defensive tackle Jonathan Allen last season, so they are set with good starters at defensive tackle for the next few seasons.

As for depth, the team moved on after the 2021 season from Tim Settle and Matt Ioannidis. The other defensive tackles in addition to Anderson now on the roster currently as they move into the 2023 offseason are Allen, Payne, David Bada, John Ridgeway, and Phidarian Mathis, who spent 16 of 17 2022 games on Injured Reserve.

Top 10 Terry McLaurin plays of the Commanders’ 2022 season

What was your favorite Terry McLaurin play from 2022?

What would be your top-ten list of Terry McLaurin plays during the 2022 season?

The Commanders released Monday their video of what they believe to be McLaurin’s top-ten plays of the 2022 season.

Here is the list; see how much you agree or disagree.

  • 10. Week 2, 35 yard reception from Carson Wentz in Detroit vs the Lions
  • 9.  Week 8, 42-yard reception from Taylor Heinicke in Indianapolis vs the Colts
  • 8.  Week 3, 47-yard reception from Carson Wentz at FedEx Field vs the Eagles
  • 7.  Week 1, 49-yard touchdown reception from Carson Wentz at FedEx Field vs the Jaguars
  • 6.  Week 16, 52-yard reception from Taylor Heinicke in San Francisco vs the 49ers
  • 5.  Week 7, 11-yard reception from Taylor Heinicke on 3rd & 9 at FedEx Field vs the Packers
  • 4. Week 18, 48-yard reception from Sam Howell at FedEx Field vs the Cowboys
  • 3.  Week 10, 42-yard reception from Tyler Heinicke in Philadelphia vs the Eagles
  • 2.  Week 7, 37-yard touchdown reception from Taylor Heinicke at FedEx Field vs the Packers
  • 1.  Week 8, 33-yard reception from Taylor Heinicke in Indianapolis vs the Colts

What was your favorite Terry McLaurin play from 2022?

Commanders Daron Payne becomes 2nd-highest paid NFL DT

What does Daron Payne’s deal mean for Washington’s defensive ends?

Four years and $90 million for Daron Payne.

The Commanders made a big decision Sunday in finalizing the deal for the defensive tackle from Alabama, drafted 13th overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.

This means the Commanders have chosen to go with both Payne and Jonathan Allen from the inside. Yet, there are two sides to each coin. Thus, it also means the Commanders will most likely not be re-signing both Montez Sweat and Chase Young, who play on the outside.

This contract means Payne will be averaging $22.5 million per year. The Commanders have determined to average over $80 Million in their starting defensive tackles. They won’t be able to do this with Sweat and Young.

If these reported terms ($90 million over four years with $60 million guaranteed) are indeed correct, Payne vaults up the ladder of the higher-paid NFL defensive tackles, second only to the LA Rams’ Aaron Donald. Donald’s contract average per year salary is $31,666,667.

Payne, being franchise-tagged last week, was scheduled to make $18,937,000 for the 2023 season. This contract means his average salary pushes him ahead of the Chiefs’ Chris Jones ($20,000,000), the Colts’ DeForest Buckner ($21,000,000), and the Giants’ Leonard Williams ($21,000,000).

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