Tag: CB Marshon Lattimore

NFL analyst says Commanders should bench Benjamin St-Juste

NFL analyst weighs in on Washington’s cornerbacks once Marshon Lattimore is healthy.

What changes will the Commanders make in the lineup when Marshon Lattimore begins to play again?

Lattimore is currently recovering from an injured hamstring. He has returned to individual sideline work but has yet to be full-speed with the team in practice.

The Commanders began this 2024 season with Benjamin St-Juste and Emmanuel Forbes as the outside corners, and rookie Mike Sainristil held down the slot corner role.

Sainristil has been forced outside due to Forbes’ lack of development. The rookie from Michigan has continued to make progress playing outside. There is enough progress in the mind of one NFL analyst, who expressed his opinion Wednesday.

Mark Bullock, an NFL analyst who once wrote for the Washington Post, was a guest on the “Al Galdi Podcast” on Wednesday. At one point, Bullock strongly suggested what the Commanders should do when Lattimore enters the Washington starting lineup.

“I think I would leave him (Sainristil) outside right now. Because you see the improvement, and in the Eagles game, he was very good. I don’t think long term I would leave him outside. I would leave him out there to continue improving.”

Bullock pointed out that Lattimore would be the top team’s outside corner and would leave Sainristil on the outside and play Noah Igbinoghene inside in the slot.

“He (Igbinoghene) is holding up well enough in coverage, I would leave him there and put St-Juste to the bench.”

Igbinoghene has started seven games this season and played last season under Dan Quinn and Joe Whitt in Dallas.

St-Juste was drafted in the third round by Washington in the 2021 draft. He has 48 career games at corner and has started all 11 games this season at outside corner for the Commanders.

Meanwhile, Forbes continues to disappoint the staff, is not getting playing time, and may end up being another round-one bust pick by former head coach and general manager Ron Rivera. Michael Davis appears to have passed Forbes on the depth chart, getting defensive snaps against the Eagles.

Rivera missed on Chase Young (2020), Jamin Davis (2021), Jahan Dotson (2022) and now possibly on Forbes (2023) as well.

Adam Peters continues strengthening Commanders

Adam Peters continues to make all the right moves.

On Wednesday, in his press conference, Commanders’ general manager Adam Peters said, on more than one occasion, that he wanted to do what was good for the team.

Who could dare argue that Peters has done a fantastic job of repeatedly addressing the roster and seeing what changes he can make that are good for the team?

When hired, David Aldridge of The Athletic asked Peters what he thought of the roster. Peters didn’t reply immediately. He paused, took a breath, and replied that there were a few cornerstone pieces to the roster, and he had a lot of work to do.

And work is what Peters has done. He did not tweak Ron Rivera’s roster. Peters overhauled Rivera’s roster. After training camp, when the roster was reduced to 53, 30 were those brought in by Peters since taking the job.


Rather than being satisfied with his efforts,  Peters immediately returned to the driver’s seat and made quite a few decisions in the next week. He signed receiver Noah Brown (cut by the Texans), traded defensive tackle John Ridgeway to the Saints, signed linebacker Nick Bellore (released by the Seahawks), re-signed tackle Sam Cosmi to a four-year contract, and released receiver Byron Pringle; these all before the opener.

Once the season began, Peters released kicker Cade York, but the Jets released kicker Austin Seibert, so Peters quickly grabbed Seibert.

A few weeks later, veteran DT Jonathan Allen was lost for the season, and DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste was placed on injured reserve for at least four weeks. Well, the Jets had just released DE Jalyn Holmes. Instead of promoting a DE from the practice squad, Peters felt that the best thing for the team was to sign Holmes to the active roster. Holmes played only 11 defensive snaps against the Bears, but one of those, he had a quarterback sack.

Two weeks ago, Peters released Jamin Davis, a first-round draft choice by Rivera in 2021. This week, he traded for veteran Saints corner Marshon Lattimore and released DE Efe Obada, making room for Lattimore.

On Wednesday, Peters released WR Mike Strachan. Why? With DE Clelin Ferrell’s knee still not 100%, Peters brought back Obada to the practice squad, doing what he thinks strengthens the Commanders.

What do the Commanders know about Marshon Lattimore’s injury?

What is Marshon Lattimore’s current status?

Marshon Lattimore did not practice again on Thursday.

We know some said Lattimore was coming to a good team and would find his hamstring wasn’t really injured after all. Well, seeing the opponent is the 6-2 Pittsburgh Steelers, and Lattimore has not practiced Wednesday or Thursday, we should safely conclude that, yes, Lattimore does have a hamstring injury, and it has been confirmed by the trainers and medical personnel.


GM Adam Peters, head coach Dan Quinn, and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt have all publicly stated since the trade that they love Lattimore’s competitive fire and intensity.

The Steelers coming off a bye week, are rested, and they have also picked up former Redskins and Packers pass rusher Preston Smith and receiver Mike Williams. In addition, the Commanders are apparently going to be without Lattimore, and the Steelers do like for Russell Wilson to go deep occasionally.

Whitt, in his introductory remarks launching his press conference, expressed,

“I didn’t know if I was going to see some guys with their heads down because you bring in a talent like this, some other guys might say, ‘Well, I’m going to lose opportunity.’ And they might be saying that I don’t know, alright. But that’s the business, but nobody’s acting that way.”

Whitt likes the winner’s attitude he sees in the current defensive backs, who are glad to be bringing in Lattimore. Whitt added, “That’s a credit to DQ (Quinn) and AP (Peters) and the brotherhood and the culture that’s being set here. That everybody is bringing them in, helping him, teaching him, talking to him.”

However, Whitt made it clear from the start that he was willing to talk about his defense but not about Lattimore’s health and when he would actually begin playing for the Commanders.

“As soon as we can get him out there, we will. When that will be, I don’t know. Okay. So, please don’t ask me because I don’t know when that will be, but as soon as we can, we will.”

Would the Commanders keep Lattimore from running until warmups for Sunday’s contest? We can only hope. But for now, they might be targeting Lattimore for Thursday at the Eagles.

What does Dan Quinn communicate and enforce to new Commanders?

Dan Quinn is mindful of disrupting the team’s chemistry, but his rules are the same for all players.

Dan Quinn knows having the right people in the mix is paramount.

The Commanders are 7-2. They display wonderful chemistry, buy in, and are often heard referring to “the brotherhood.”

However, a decision was made Tuesday to bring in a new player—not just any player. This is not simply a new guy going onto the practice squad. No, Marshon Lattimore will be a starter, and he is accustomed to being a big fish in a small pond.

Quinn was asked how bringing a player like Lattimore might affect this team’s good chemistry.

“Yeah, (GM) Adam (Peters) is very mindful of that, and he knows the importance of that with the team and he knows I share that opinion with him, asserted Quinn. “Having the right people is the first thing, if that’s the first thing to get right. And so that’s where, if that part’s not right, then that’s the end of the line.”

Quinn went a bit further, revealing that it is important to set healthy boundaries and expectations for both new players and all remaining players.

“That goes for everybody that we bring in here, and we want to make sure coming here is unique and a really cool experience. And I told him today in front of the team, I said, ‘You can ask anybody here, man, we’re all here to help and support you and onboard you fast.'”

It was also important for Lattimore to learn that he is expected to treat everyone on Quinn’s team with respect, whether they are rookies, hall of famers, or practice squad players.

“We’re all on the same page here, so it doesn’t have to be, ‘I’m not going to talk to him as rookie.’ That’s no, no, no, that ain’t how we roll, man. Everybody on this team, we’re here to help support anybody that comes in and the message will be the same from all the guys.”

Dan Quinn understands that being an effective leader means conveying responsibilities, expectations, and cultural norms to your teammates in the organization.

 

Dan Quinn says Commanders elevated themselves

Washington’s defense got much better on Tuesday.

Dan Quinn will most likely fall asleep tonight, smiling.

Tuesday, the Commanders obtained Saints’ cornerback Marshon Lattimore and a fifth-round draft choice. The Commanders dealt a third, fourth, and sixth-round choice to the Saints in return for the four-time Pro Bowler.

Quinn was understandably upbeat when talking as a Sirius XM NFL Radio guest.

“We’re going to keep competing in every way that we can,” expressed Quinn. “This was another example of how to do that.”

In expressing why they were interested in making this trade, Quinn stressed, “We love his toughness, his ability to play man-to-man, to guard people.”

When Quinn was the head coach with the Falcons, he recalled Lattimore facing the top receivers in that division twice each season. Quinn said that was “a big deal.”

Quinn likes that Lattimore was Terry McLaurin’s and Noah Brown’s college teammate at Ohio State. He believes this move really gives the Commanders an opportunity to elevate themselves.

“We’re really pumped to add him to the crew,” Quinn said excitedly.

One reason might be that this addition could improve the Commanders in three positions. Lattimore becomes the top corner, Benjamin St-Juste becomes a stronger No. 2 corner, and Mike Sainristil now moves to the slot where he is most effective.

Quinn might also be glad to have Lattimore because Quinn believes in, wants, and demands competitiveness. Remember the great physical battles between Lattimore and Tampa’s Mike Evans?

Quinn might be pumped, but shouldn’t Lattimore be pumped as well? The Saints are 2-7 and just lost to the Panthers. The Commanders lost on opening day at Tampa Bay and have won 7 of 8 games since then. He was playing for a team that had only scored 207 points in nine games. Now, he partners with a team that has the fourth-highest point differential in the NFL. How much better is the quarterback room in Washington than in New Orleans?

So, sum it up like this. How many years has it been since a Washington Redskins / Commanders fan was heard saying, “This year, we are going for it.”