Category: Coaching Hires

Why did the Commanders trade Jahan Dotson?

Dan Quinn talks why the Commanders traded Jahan Dotson.

When Commanders coach Dan Quinn opened the floor for questions on Friday, John Keim was first and simply asked, “Why the decision to trade Jahan (Dotson)?”

“I think at the end, we’re always going to make decisions that are just rock solid and best for the team. This was one of those examples where we had an opportunity to do that. So that’s why we did it.”

Wow, it was “rock-solid and best for the team” that Dotson be given his ticket headed for elsewhere. Just a moment later, Quinn echoed this, “but certainly at the end, like I said, just really a matter of here’s an opportunity to go help the team, and thought that was the best way to go about it.”

The first-year Commanders head coach did not mention any of the particulars that Logan Paulsen has provided over the last week. Quinn also did not speak of the nature of Jahan Dotson’s competing in team drills or the two preseason games played thus far.

If you are looking for a few reasons why the Commanders traded Jahan Dotson…

  1. Dotson was too easily moved off of the timing and spacing of his routes in practices and the two preseason games.
  2. Dotson did not display urgency on the practice field or buy-in to the new coaching staff’s culture.
  3. Dotson, last year in his second season had some issues with dropping balls that were easily catchable.
  4. Peters and Quinn are looking for more physical, active, blocking wide receivers.
  5. As a first-round selection in the 2022 draft, Dotson’s salaries would have escalated these next three seasons. He is guaranteed $1,573,032 for this season (3rd). It naturally escalates to $2,757,048 in his fourth NFL season. The Commanders would then have been determining whether they were going to offer Dotson another sizeable raise involving the fifth-year option.
  6. The Commanders gained a top-100 pick in next year’s draft, as the Eagles are sending a third-round selection. Wide receiver classes continue to grow, as the college game is producing more receivers who can play right away. The Eagles will also send two seventh-round selections, which will have lower salaries for four seasons if they make the team’s roster.

After Jahan Dotson trade, Kliff Kingsbury talks about what Commanders want from WRs

Kingsbury’s answers on what Washington seeks at receiver were telling.

Someone had to speak with the press on Thursday.

Given that there would be questions about the trade of wide receiver Jahan Dotson a day earlier, perhaps Adam Peters or Dan Quinn would have been an obvious choice.

So, there was Kliff Kingsbury.

The offensive coordinator, as expected, quickly punted, saying he would defer to Peters and Dan Quinn regarding the trade. Of course he did. That’s not to criticize Kingsbury in any way. He doesn’t make trades, so why should he have to answer questions about them?

He was then asked in a roundabout way about what the coaches are looking for from the wide receivers.

“DQ’s [Quinn’s] style of play. Be physical and play hard without the ball,” Kingsbury said. “I think that’s what we preach is like everybody’s gonna run routes and make catches at this level, but how do you play without the ball?”

After all we have heard over the last week regarding Dotson, that response from Kingsbury lets you know. The coaches just didn’t see Dotson as being physical enough to run his routes or block.

The team could be thin at receiver this season, as only Terry McLaurin has produced significantly. However, Kingsbury knows there are other people to whom quarterback Jayden Daniels can get the ball.

“Austin Ekeler has been fantastic. I think there’s a narrative out there that maybe he lost a step, or something was off, and that couldn’t be further from the truth from what I’ve seen. … Brian Robinson, he’s a No. 1 back in this league, there’s no doubt.”

So, Kingsbury likes his top two backs and is counting on getting both of them the ball often. He also knows that developing a running game will decrease the pressure on Daniels to beat the defense through passing.

Perhaps one of the more interesting things Kingsbury said was about WR Kazmeir Allen.

“So he’s a guy that we could see similar —I’m not comparing — but he has a Deebo-type role to move him around and do different things,” Kingsbury said. “He has that type of explosiveness and ability to play in the slot, or you can hand it to him.”

Compared to Allen, Samuel is much larger and stronger. He is a beast at his position. But the first two preseason games have shown that Allen is someone the coaches like for his explosiveness, and they are looking for ways to get him the ball.

Who will be the Commanders’ punt returner?

Who will return punts in 2024?

Who will be the Commanders’ punt returner for the 2024 season?

The primary punt returner for last season, Jamison Crowder, is back again with the team, so perhaps the discussion should begin with Crowder?

Crowder returned a career-high 35 punts for Washington in 2023, the third most in the NFL last season. However, he was not in the top ten in punt return yards, and his 7.9 yards per return was only 21st in the league, despite having a long return of 61 yards against the Falcons.

Crowder, who turned 31 in June, also collected 16 receptions in 2023, with one touchdown and 9.9 yards per reception.

Ben Standig reported that five players worked on punt returns during Wednesday’s practice.

That means Kazmeir Allen, Crowder, Jahan Dotson, Olimade Zaccheaus, and Davion Davis were getting those reps.

Last week against the Dolphins, the coaches were definitely trying to give Allen touches. He had two punt returns with a long of 10 yards and two kickoff returns (22 long). He also ran 3-13 with a long of 7 yards. However, he did lose a fumble. They like his explosiveness.

Dotson was a good punt returner at Penn State but has not returned this preseason. He has three short receptions in the two games.

https://youtube.com/shorts/V8v_NLPGM9g?si=QGPySQKTwlNkzdWP

Davis had three punt returns with a long of 10 yards against the Jets. He collected four receptions for 20 yards, including a 12-yarder against the Dolphins.

This leaves Zaccheaus, who had short receptions against the Dolphins (5, 4 yards) but also returned a punt 19 yards against the Jets.

The Commanders tried to get Luke McCaffrey some punt return work against the Dolphins. He could only manage one fair catch, which was perhaps not wanted, being on the 5-yard line.

It’s a job clearly not yet won, and perhaps there will be more than one Commander returning punts in 2024.

The first player Commanders’ Quinn and Peters watched on film

Quinn talks scouting with Peters, plus sliding.

Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn, on his appearance Tuesday with the “Sports Junkies” (106.7 The Fan), was asked about when he and Adam Peters knew they were going to draft Jayden Daniels.

“I can remember it was the first player Adam and I watched back in the winter when I got here,” said Quinn. “We were through LSU and even went back to ASU (Arizona State). He showed me a game against Oregon. He (Daniels) was a freshman.

“He (Peters) had so much work already done on him that it was pretty clear to see how tough he was, the playmaking that he made. You knew this day would happen. I guess what was exciting to see was the how.”

He has absolutely gone for it: on the details, making sure early to get things right. Oftentimes he’ll come in the next day and already have gone through the script, the things he needed to do. So, I was really pumped up to see how he would compete for this thing, how he would go after it, and he absolutely did not stop.”

When Daniels did not slide Saturday, Quinn quickly took over, as did safety Jeremy Reaves, who was seen on television after the play twice motioning emphatically for Daniels to get down.

Daniels said Monday that sliding is not something he practices or works on. When Jason Bishop asked Quinn about this, he responded, “Hope is not a good plan, so we don’t go with that one for sure. Some QBs are more dive and roll. So that’s what Lamar (Jackson) does and what Jayden does…”

“If you’re a right-handed quarterback rolling on your left shoulder so you land that way…sometimes you see on the slide the defender still there ready to contact the guy up top. So, we do that more than the traditional baseball slide. Both of them are ways to what we call a ‘get down.'”

“So, yes, he caught an earful of not getting down into that space. But its definitely something that’s important because…let’s fight for the other three or four yards on a different down.”

“But ‘get down’ is a term we use, and it usually has a forward dive and a roll with it.”

Cam Newton was hurt when Ron Rivera and Commanders did not call

Cam Newton was upset that Ron Rivera never called him in Washington when he needed a QB.

Cam Newton is still surprised Ron Rivera did not seek him out to be his quarterback in Washington.

Rivera and Newton had been together in Carolina since the 2011 NFL draft. It was Rivera’s first head coaching job, and Newton was his first draft choice.

Fast forward nine seasons later into 2019. Washington started 0-5 and finished 3-13. Yet, their best performance of the season was when they went to Carolina and ran the ball all day on the Panthers, winning 29-21.

Ironically, it turned out to be Rivera’s last game as Panthers’ head coach, being fired subsequently. In addition, 2019 was also Cam Newton’s last with the Panthers.

Rivera was hired to coach the Redskins in 2020, and Newton was signed by the Patriots. However, after only one season, the Patriots turned elsewhere.

In 2021, Rivera lost his starter, Ryan Fitzpatrick, in the very first half of the season opener. Having to go with the undrafted, inexperienced Taylor Heinicke, Newton expected a call from Rivera.

Newton expressed his surprise and disappointment about Rivera on his “Funky Friday” podcast two days ago.

“I said at the bare minimum, Washington will come —- with me,” said Newton. “It wasn’t just Ron Rivera. It was d— Marty Hurney, it was Ryan Vermillion, it was everybody. It was Panthers reincarnated in Washington.”

“To not get no call? —-.”

Newton expressed that he and Rivera have yet to discuss it and that he does not know why he never got a call.

“I don’t know whether I was hurt or whatever. It f—– with me, though. I ain’t going to lie. I am not going to be one of these dudes, like Hell no.”

“We started the 2013 season 1-3 and finished 12-4. Coach of the Year. Of course, you’ve been through the, you know, struggle with him.”

“And then to not get a call? Yeah, it was one of them ______, I see what is happening here.”

The Panthers re-signed Newton in the middle of the 2021 season, and sure enough, Washington went to Carolina, and Newton was given his first start. Washington won that day 27-21; however, Newton had his best game of that season, completing 21 of 27 with two passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, 10 carries for 46 yards, and a 120.5 passer rating.

Asked what he and Rivera said that day when on camera greeting each other on the field, “Man, that ain’t no embrace that you can talk to. It was a brief, ‘Hey Coach, What’s going on, man? Always nice to see you. Take a picture. Ok, go poo.'”

Newton said he and Rivera need to chat, and it would be a good conversation for his podcast. He said he would ask Rivera, “What is it?”

“I felt like I could play. They had Taylor Heinicke. Taylor Heinicke, I respect. Uh, Scarface, that’s what we would call him. But to ride with him?”

“Cool, I ain’t going to dwell on that, but I felt a certain type of way that I didn’t get no interest from Washington in an unstable quarterback situation.”

Newton became a free agent after the 2021 season but was never signed by another NFL team.

How wrong was Eric Bieniemy for the Commanders in 2023?

A lot of ugly numbers here.

By the numbers, according to NFL analytics expert Warren Sharp, Eric Bieniemy was a disaster for the Commanders in the 2023 season.

Sharp, owner of SharpAnalysis.com, was a guest of the “Al Galdi Podcast” on Thursday, providing some real detailed numbers regarding Eric Bieniemy as the Washington Commanders offensive coordinator. Here we go:

“You’re passing the ball a lot; you should be able to have some explosive plays. But the Commanders were terrible in producing explosive plays. They had only 19 plays of 30+ yards for the entire season. Even though they had 736 dropbacks (26th in explosive plays while #1 in dropbacks).”

“This is when, on occasion, you might want to run the ball creatively just because the defense is playing pass. And yet, despite those light boxes (defense playing less men in the box), they ranked 29th in EPA per rush on first down.”

“He used the lowest rate of play-action in the NFL (32nd), the 22nd rate of motion, the 5th rate of shotgun, and the 6th rate of 11 personnel. They have no disguises to the defense, they don’t do anything to help their young quarterback. The defense is already playing the pass…as much as we know that Sam Howell struggled and is now gone, Eric Bieniemy did absolutely nothing to help Sam Howell, in my opinion.”

“I know for a lot of years people were clamoring to give EB that opportunity, and it’s just a shame. I didn’t see him do anything with that opportunity to help a team. It was like he came in with the mindset, ‘I have to pass the ball, passing wins games, this is what we did in KC’.”

“But then he brought nothing else or no other adjustments to the Commanders to help raise the floor, and as a result, the floor was extremely low for your offense, and you struggled. As a result, you fell behind in games massively. You scored only 39 first-quarter points the entire season, which was the third lowest of any team in the NFL.”

“You trailed by over 5 points a game after the first quarter, which was the #1 largest deficit in the NFL. You didn’t make any adjustments in the second quarter, which means you trailed by the largest deficit of any team by halftime of 133 points.”

Sharp concluded that Bieniemy “got it all wrong in the process.”

Albert Breer talks Commanders offensive issues

What do national analysts think of the Commanders offense?

What do NFL analysts think about the Commanders’ offense and Jayden Daniels?

SI’s Albert Breer had a lot to say to guest host Andrew Siciliano on the
Rich Eisen Show,” Tuesday.

Breer: “The Commanders are starting from ground zero so I think a big part of making him (Jayden Daniels) win the job is you want to make everyone win their job, especially when you are telling Bobby Wagner, Jonathan Allen or Terry McLaurin that every position is open. You’re trying to preach competition, so I think everyone here (Ashburn) knows the score. He’s taking all of the first-team reps, operating as the first-team starter would.”

“I think because of the offense they are going to run here, he has a real chance to hit the ground running as a rookie.”

Siciliano: “Is there any concern that this offense (pause) I just hope they protect him…for Jaden Daniels to make sure that he doesn’t get beat up?”

Breer: “This is a guy who did take a lot of big hits in college, and this is a guy who is not built like Cam Newton.”

“They have issues at tackle, so they are going to have to take care of how they protect, and they are going to want to take advantage of who he is as a runner. So, if you are going to do that, you got to teach him, ingrain in him the importance of sometimes you can be in second-and-6, you don’t need to get to second-and-2…You don’t always have to put your head down and grind out the extra couple of yards.”

“The other way they are going to manage this is through the run game. It’s more difficult to get to the quarterback if you are effective at running the ball. They feel they have a couple of good backs in Brian Robinson and Austin Ekeler, who has been fantastic. He does look like he has some juice left coming over from the Chargers.”

So, I’d say it’s Jaden being cognizant that he can’t take hits the way he did in college, leaning on the run game which will naturally slow the pass rush, and managing your offensive line issue in a certain way. I think Kliff (Kingsbury) is smart enough to coach around his personnel. I think they are well aware of their tackle issue, being what it is. There are going to be times they are going to have to do that (max protect) a bit more often in 2024.”

Logan Paulsen’s analysis of Commanders WR Jahan Dotson after Jets game

As always, Paulsen provides some excellent insight on Dotson. It’s mostly praise, with one area of improvement needed.

There’s been much speculation regarding Commanders receiver Jahan Dotson. Former 8-year NFL veteran Logan Paulsen watches the team closely, and he offered his analysis of Dotson’s situation to Craig Hoffman on Tuesday.

“I love him as a route runner, I love his feel for catching the football. But his play strength shows up more than I would like it to.”

“When you are watching Terry, OZ (Olamide Zaccheaus), even Jamison Crowder, there is a strength to them that allows them to play through contact. The fade in the second quarter going into the red zone where he (Dotson) beats the guy, but gets a little bit of a bump and then loses his footing and falls down.”

“If I am a coach, I want to see him play through that. The only way I get to see it is as he’s getting reps. I think that’s something coming out of the game.”

“I think Jahan did some good stuff. I think he had a screen where he was a little creative, but I need to see him play stronger.”

“Again, I love the route runner, I love the nuance, I love how he layers stems and indicators. He catches the football well, but he is always going to be limited if he can’t get through this. I think that is maybe why he plays a lot because you want to see him fight through some stuff.”

I also think he is playing multiple positions, he’s playing inside and outside. So you’re going to play more because you’re maybe the number 1F or the slot receiver. Then, when the outside guys go out, you become the number one outside guy. So maybe that’s another reason why.”

Could the Commanders trade wide receiver Jahan Dotson

What did Jahan Dotson’s number of snaps tell us last weekend?

What is going on with Commanders receiver Jahan Dotson?

Dotson played 32 offensive snaps against the Jets. What’s the big deal? According to the coaches, receivers Terry McLaurin and Olamide Zaccheaus only needed 11 and 10 snaps, respectively.

It’s no secret that Dotson has not produced as a player drafted 16th overall in a draft as expected. It is also no secret that general manager Adam Peters paused when asked about the roster he inherited, then replied that there were some good cornerstone players and that there was much work to be done.

The new staff wanted to see Dotson putting in more work. Might it be because coaches wanted to see him in the slot receiver role?

The Team 980 drive-home host, Craig Hoffman, went a step further on Monday. Hoffman suggested an issue might be that Peters had seen his receivers in San Francisco (Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel) be very tough, very aggressive receivers. Hoffman pointed to a deep route by Dotson, where he was easily rerouted by the Jets defensive back.

“I don’t think Jahan is weak-minded or anything. You have to learn the tools to ultimately fight through that stuff, and he hasn’t yet. Yes, there’s the weightlifting part of getting physically stronger…but it’s also him working with Bobby Engram in the position group to understand how to fight through some of that stuff.”

Proceeding one step further, Hoffman then asked, “For Jahan, I wonder if he fits what they want, and if not, he could fit better somewhere else…Dan Quinn and Adam Peters are trying to build their version of the Commanders. So, if someone came with a good offer for Jahan Dotson, it would not surprise me for a second if they were like, that’s good; we’ll take the draft capital.”

Hoffman was quite clear he was not reporting anything, nor had he talked to anyone about Dotson being traded.

So, are Peters and Quinn unsatisfied with what they have observed from Dotson? This week’s second preseason game against the Dolphins might reveal more to us.

How do Commanders coaches really feel about Daniels’ audible?

What did Quinn really think of Jayden Daniels’ audible?

It was third-and-6 at the Commanders’ 34-yard line. Going no-huddle, the call was for Jayden Daniels to attempt a screen pass, get rid of the ball,  and avoid being hit behind an offensive line that was without their top three tackles (Cornelius Lucas, Andrew Wylie, Brandon Coleman).

Daniels instead called for an empty backfield, sending wide receiver Dyami Brown deep down the right sideline. With no running back to help pick up a penetrating pass rusher or blitzer, Daniels lofted a beautiful pass that Brown snagged for a 42-yard gain.

Did Daniels’ change from the screen pass to the long pattern for Brown impress or concern head coach Dan Quinn?

Well, first of all, Quinn is certainly not simplistic. So, is it out of the realm of probability that Quinn was both impressed and concerned?

On the one hand, Daniels’ move appears very confident, very assertive. That could speak very well to the rookie’s leadership skills and confidence in his physical abilities.

On the other hand, might it have been a demonstration of Daniels’ lack of understanding of the risks involved? Both could be true, quite true.

Daniels is confident, but he also does not yet understand the risks involved in the NFL. The SEC is a great football conference, but even most of the SEC players he faced won’t make it in the NFL.

What if Daniels had been hit hard, perhaps even injured? There is not one of us that wants to go down that path.

The experienced Quinn remained very positive with the media following the game. But Quinn, being the leader he is, do you think he will simply shrug his shoulders and let it go because the result was a short-term success?

In September, the pass rush Daniels will begin facing will be much more intense and much faster. Consequently, Daniels should not be surprised this week when he hears again the need to follow instructions from those who know much more than himself concerning what lies ahead this season.