Tag: Chris Cooley

Chris Cooley: How is Jayden Daniels not the Commanders pick?

Count Chris Cooley among those impressed with Jayden Daniels.

Former Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley appeared as a guest on the “Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast over the weekend, providing his film breakdown of Jayden Daniels.

Cooley began, “So I’m in my third game, and I’m like, this is like a walking highlight tape. You’re just watching throws…and it’s a highlight tape. It’s insane. Jayden Daniels is incredible.”

Pretty early Cooley commented on Daniels being exceptionally agile and knowing how to slide. “Except for when he doesn’t. Because he gets smoked. He’s gonna have to learn that…He knows how to slide. I think he’s just competitive as a runner. He gets freakin’ waxed in the first half of the Ole Miss game, which is a first half that is like 31-28 with unbelievable offense. But he got hit in the face so hard and fumbled and went up in the air…you gotta know that that’s not a hit you need to take. Especially a quarterback, and he took three or four in that game.”

Chris acknowledged Daniels only weighs 210 but quickly added he could gain weight and be up to 225 in two years.

“He can get through progressions, at least can read the defense and identify who’s going to be open and where they’re gonna be open and throw the ball in rhythm and timing that is relatable to that concept.”

“He’s good out of a bunch set. Layering the ball down the field over linebackers on some of the little run-action, play-action throws. To really drive it in over linebackers is awesome. I think he’s very accurate.”

“He takes some risks, but I think he also takes necessary risks in the moments of the game where you’re like, Oh, that’s a bad decision…But a lot of the times, I think he’s got a good flow for the game and how he’s managing exactly that.”

Cooley lauded Daniels ability to run not as good but dangerously good. “He’s obviously a massive problem when he gets out in the open field…It’s not like he’s gonna gain 8 to 12 yards and slide, but he can get you 45 to 50 and outrun the entire defense.”

Touch on the ball is something Cooley liked, but he did notice that Daniels does not possess the strongest of passing arms. “I don’t think he’s got a rifle. He can really let it go; he can throw a ball downfield and throw a ball downfield with a ton of arc – he does a great job on deep balls – but I don’t think he’s got a throw it across the field to 17 yards on a comeback gun. To me, that’s not what I see.”

Concluding his review, Cooley praised Daniels, “I thought overall he’s really freakin’ special. To me, he seemed an incredibly experienced college quarterback. He’s calm in the pocket; his demeanor is absolutely tremendous. He makes big-time throws…I think his discipline is good, his timing is good… he’s a walking freaking highlight reel.”

Cooley asked, “How is this not your pick?”

Chris Cooley: Ron Rivera did ‘a complete 180′ with Commanders’ offensive identity

Cooley weighs in on Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio.

“It’s hard to play when you know your coach is gone,” said former Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley as a guest on the “Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast Friday.

Indeed the Commanders have now lost five of their last six games. In their last game, the defense at times offered no resistance.

“I didn’t feel like they were going to fire Jack Del Rio this week,” Cooley said. “I didn’t know or have an expectation that they were going to fire Ron Rivera this week. I am just telling you, you have a dead coach, and you just don’t play well. Go back to the Jim Zorn era, the end of (Jay) Gruden and (Bill) Callahan.”

Cooley said he has noticed that the first time out, a team often will play much better after a coach has been fired. He said he thought Washington would play better this week against Miami and then suggested, “If you want a better draft spot, you keep Ron Rivera in place.”

The former Washington Redskins radio analyst then joked, “I really don’t care if they make Craig Hoffman the coach, they are going to win the next game if they hire an interim head coach.”

Sheehan was in stitches at this point. Cooley added (you could imagine him smiling), “It was the first name I came up with.”

Cooley said he recognized players had been repeatedly trying to say the right things the last few weeks. He said when they say things like, “The players just have to do better,” or “It is just not working,” or “Something has to change,” that it was a clear indictment of the coaches.

Cooley pointed out how Rivera insisted that soon after last season, they were committed to running the football as their main identity and controlling the clock.

Then they hired Eric Bieniemy and threw the ball more times than anyone else in the league, and with a rookie quarterback.

“Rivera had this identity, he declared, and then he did a complete 180,” Cooley said.

“If I am Del Rio at this point, I am saying, “We went from a top-10 defense to 30th in part because we throw the ball on every down. Both sides of the ball affect both sides of the ball. I am by no means making an excuse for Del Rio or the big plays they give up. But at the same time, it doesn’t help.”

“I am almost blown away that Ron Rivera fell into that ‘OK, we will just do this now.’ You would think a guy that’s been around as long as he has would have said, ‘No, this is what I want. If this is going to be my last year, I am going out doing what I want to do.'”

“If it is my last year as head coach and I am resigned to my fate, or at least I think I am, I am going down swinging the way I want to go down swinging.”

 

What Chris Cooley sees watching Chase Young on defense

Simply put, the defensive line as a whole needs to get more pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

“They are not playing great gap-sound defense,” started Chris Cooley.

This was in response to Kevin Sheehan asking Cooley what he has observed regarding why the Commanders might have been giving up so many yards and points to the Eagles offense. Cooley was a guest on the “Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast on Monday.

Then Cooley became very direct and simply said, “Chase Young is not playing very well. Chase Young is somewhat of a problem on that side with Jonathan Allen. He seems like he is doing his own thing. To me, that is somewhat of an issue.”

Against the Broncos in Week 2, Young collected 1.5 sacks, and then he also had a sack against the Eagles last week.

In response, Sheehan added, “Yes, at times, he appears to not be doing what they want him to be doing.”

Cooley continued, “It’s really like he’s aloof to what they are doing on the defensive side of the ball. It’s not like he is not a good player. He’s a freak athletically, but he is still not the guy I saw two years ago before the knee surgery.”

Cooley briefly then discussed problems with the linebackers and secondary and voiced that teams will now be targeting Emmanuel Forbes before he circled back to what he feels is the core issue defensively.

“But it also goes hand-in-hand with the fact you are not getting dynamic pressure week in and week out in situations where you should be winning consistently up front.”

“When I mean ‘winning’, I mean kicking the s— out of the offensive line because you’re so good. You’ve paid (Daron) Payne, and you’ve paid (Jonathan) Allen. You’ve drafted first-round picks in (Montez) Sweat and Chase Young. You’ve got so much invested in those four dudes on the defense. You have to dynamically better.”

 

Chris Cooley praises Commanders’ Eric Bieniemy

Cooley thought Bieniemy did an excellent job preparing Sam Howell for a tough defense. And he also weighed in on Terry McLaurin’s “catch.”

Chris Cooley had high praise for Washington offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s preparation of Sam Howell for the Eagles game.

Cooley was a guest on the “Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast Monday, sharing his observations of having watched the Commanders fall to the Eagles 34-31 on Sunday.

“Bieniemy does a phenomenal job getting a young quarterback going in this game,” declared Cooley. “Keeping the quarterback going by changing the spot, the location of the pocket, mixing in more run. It was literally everything we talked about last Wednesday.”

Indeed, Cooley, a week earlier, had questioned Bieniemy’s game plan in repeatedly having Howell in predictable locations for the Bills defense. “You can’t simply drop a young quarterback into the pocket, leaving him in the same spot to fend for himself.”

“To me, it was an excellent game. It’s a huge bummer not to come out with a win. But it was an excellent game against a good team,” expressed Cooley.

Regarding the overtime non-catch by Terry McLaurin, Cooley was very confident that replay demonstrated McLaurin’s second foot indeed coming down on Blankenship’s arm, which was inbounds. Consequently, in Cooley’s view, the ruling of an incompletion should have been overruled, giving Washington a first down rather than punting the ball back to the Eagles.

What did Cooley think when Howell connected with Jahan Dotson for a touchdown on the game’s final play, making the score 31-30 Philadelphia?

“In the moment, I thought it’s Ron Rivera, and they are on the road; he is going to go for the two points. Personally, I think a young quarterback, you play it into overtime, so I didn’t mind Rivera’s call.”

Chris Cooley was impressed with Commanders QB Sam Howell

The former Washington star liked what he saw in Sam Howell’s performance against the Ravens.

“I loved the offense; I thought it was terrific.”

That’s how former Redskins tight end Chris Cooley opened his film review of the Commanders first-half performance against the Ravens. Cooley was a guest on the “Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast on Wednesday.

Here are some selected comments by Cooley:

“Actually, Sam Howell was really good. He did put himself in some bad situations, like taking a sack early.”

“I thought throughout the first half he was really accurate, his release was quick, and when he was on the move he was actually really good.”

“In the second quarter, when he hit (Jahan) Dotson on the run, great vision down the field. Great ball to Dotson. Who, by the way, was tremendous in the game. He (Dotson) is going to be a stud.”

“When he was holding the ball too long on a sack, he had two dudes open…He had early pressure; he should have stepped up and let it go.”

Over the middle of the field, I thought he made some really good throws…I was really pretty impressed by him.”

A couple of negatives:

“He bounces so much; he is like a rabbit back there. He is always bouncing, bouncing. He has happy feet. He is always looking down the field way too long to throw the ball. It’s open, or it is not. But he will get there. It’s open or it’s not, and your check-down is open now. Your check-down is not usually open later…That’s a young player, and I am fine with that.”

“Dyami Brown also looked good in this game. All the receivers looked good in this game.”

“All in all, I was impressed with the offense. He (Howell) did a great job executing within the game plan. He made accurate throws, and he looked very confident in doing so.”

“Can he read 4-Verts? Kansas City lives off of 4 vertical routes. Can he really push the ball down the field? If he can’t, he is going to get tight man coverage, press. Guys are really going to disrupt things, and you are going to have problems. So he has to be able to throw the ball down the field.”

“Can he survive in the pocket? Can he understand when some people start bringing some zone pressures and different looks? Can he not take a bunch of sacks? That is going to be a problem for this year because he is going to do that. Because he is hopping around a lot. He looks a little anxious in the pocket. So, he is going to take some sacks this year, but that is a young player.”

“My favorite thing about this game was we have a really young quarterback who has not seen enough looks. What are we going to do in this game? Why don’t we throw the ball 30 times? Great idea. Is it that hard? The one guy we really need? Let’s get him going.”

Albert Haynesworth trashes former Washington players, defends Dan Snyder

Unbelievable.

When you thought you’d never hear the name Albert Haynesworth associated with the Washington NFL franchise again, he opens his mouth.

OutKick posted an interview this week where Clay Travis interviews Haynesworth — who last played for Washington in 2010 — and asks him about his time in Washington, specifically playing for former owner Daniel Snyder, who foolishly gave Haynesworth a seven-year, $100 million contract.

That contract will forever be remembered as one of the worst in NFL history.

Not surprisingly, Haynesworth defends Snyder, calling him “super cool, and “not an a-hole.” Haynesworth said he would talk to Snyder at least once a week, and they were “super close.” Haynesworth likened Snyder to a “billionaire fantasy football,” who loved the Redskins but didn’t know a lot about football.

Let’s quickly review Haynesworth’s two-year stint in Washington. He played for two different coaching staffs, causing problems for each, complaining about the defensive schemes. Jim Zorn didn’t have the clout to stand up to Haynesworth — Mike Shanahan did.

And Shanahan became a hero to Washington fans by ridding the franchise of Haynesworth two seasons into that ridiculous contract. Washington traded Haynesworth to the New England Patriots in the summer of 2011 for a fifth-round pick.

He lasted four months in New England.

If Haynesworth’s comments about Snyder weren’t enough to enrage Washington fans, it was his comments about three former standout players: Cornerback DeAngelo Hall, running back Clinton Portis and tight end Chris Cooley.

He called all three former players “a joke” and said that they represented what “that team represented back then,” which was “trash.” He reiterated the trash statement again before the interview ended.

Hall, Portis and Cooley were some of Washington’s best players, along with Santana Moss, Sean Taylor, Chris Samuels, Trent Williams and Ryan Kerrigan over the last 20 years of Snyder’s ownership, and popular with fans.

You almost have to ask yourself, did this really happen?

Yes, it did.

We’ll leave you with Al Galdi’s response to Haynesworth, which is how every Washington fan “fondly” remembers him.

 

‘Commanders are one of 14 NFL teams to not….’

It’s been a while.

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Warren Sharp took a moment Sunday evening to educate his readers that 14 NFL teams have not won a playoff game in the last five seasons.

I immediately thought, “Five years? Why stop there, Warren?”

Well, technically Sharp didn’t. He did actually say “5+ years.”

Commanders fans were already quite aware of this discouraging and frustrating NFL reality. You see, we are all too aware that this NFL franchise has not won a playoff game in well over five years.

Hey Warren, try 18 NFL seasons without a team playoff win!

That’s right, Washington NFL fans have not enjoyed a playoff win since Joe Gibbs 2.0 came out of NFL retirement because he loved the franchise so much he wanted to bring it back some respect.

Gregg Williams was the defensive coordinator, Don Breaux was the offensive coordinator, and Joe Bugel was the offensive line coach.

Quarterback Patrick Ramsey started the season opener, and Mark Brunell the other 15 games. Clinton Portis gained 1,516 yards rushing, including 11 touchdowns.

Santana Moss gained 1,483 receiving yards on 84 receptions (17.7 yards per reception) and 9 receiving touchdowns. Chris Cooley generated 774 receiving yards on 71 receptions and 7 touchdowns.

Ladell Betts returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown. Antonio Brown returned one 91 yards for a touchdown. No, not that “Antonio Brown.”

John Hall and Nick Novak connected on 17 of 21 field goals and all 42 extra-point attempts.

Remember linebacker Lemar Marshall?

He led the team in tackles (101) and interceptions (4). Defensive end Phillip Daniels led with 8.0 quarterback sacks. He and linebacker Marcus Washington each led with 11 tackles for a loss.

What a year that secondary had, getting their hands on balls. Safety Sean Taylor led with 12 passes defended, and corners Walt Harris and Shawn Springs collected 11 and 10, respectively.

In fact, the defense was most responsible for the last playoff win in franchise history those 18 seasons ago, when Washington went down to Tampa and beat the Bucs 17-10.

Brunell was injured and unable to pass effectively, but Coach Joe was not putting Ramsey out there against the Bucs defense. The Washington offense totaled only 120 yards. But they won the turnover battle 3-1, including a Sean Taylor 51-yard fumble recovery touchdown run.

And so it was 18 NFL seasons ago when the Washington NFL team was the “Redskins,” and they last won a playoff game.

 

You can follow Ivan Lambert on Twitter @IvanLambert18 and Commanders Wire @Washington_Wire

Chris Cooley: ‘Greg Roman is as good as it gets’ in run-based offense

Chris Cooley likes Greg Roman but acknowledges he may be a tough get.

What does Chris Cooley think regarding the Washington Commanders search for a new offensive coordinator?

A guest Friday on the “Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast, here are some of Cooley’s thoughts concerning the Commanders Offensive coordinator candidate, Greg Roman.

“If you want to be a run-based team, I think Greg Roman is as good as it gets as a coordinator in the league.

He would be number one on my list. He is going to be coveted by more teams as coaches get hired. That is going to be a tough get.

I don’t think Greg Roman is going to Washington with the potential of being fired in only one year. I am not saying that is going to happen. Roman could come to Washington, and they win 10,11,12 games, and the narrative be completely changed. But I think that is a tough hire.

“I would love that hire. I would hire Greg Roman anywhere.”

Sheehan read how Roman’s offenses have finished repeatedly in the top in the NFL. So he asked Cooley why Roman has not become a head coach.

“Probably because rushing the ball is not cool. Rushing the ball just seems to be not cool.

I don’t know if it is even fair to say, Greg Roman is a run-offense type of guy.’ I am sure Greg Roman could come up with a pretty good plan to throw the football.

He is very good at formations, very good at creating motion, very good at creating misdirection and pre-snap problems. All of that ties into throwing the football as well.

Robert Griffin III spent some time in Baltimore as a backup quarterback, tweeting regarding Roman.

Cooley responded to the Griffin tweet, simply concluding, “I would say yes, to Greg Roman.”

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Another huge blunder by the Commanders organization

The team later invited Herzog to share memories of Jurgensen during the broadcast booth Sunday.

The Commanders have whiffed BIG TIME again!

How in the world can the Commanders not invite Frank Herzog to Sonny Jurgensen’s jersey retirement?  Jason Wright, how can this be?

Even further, how can the Commanders not invite Frank Herzog to lead the ceremony?

Jurgensen, in a long-overdue ceremony, will have his No. 9 officially retired Sunday in the season finale against Dallas. The organization should have retired No. 9 decades ago out of respect for his accomplishments.

In addition, shouldn’t they have possessed enough consideration for the now 88-year-old legend not to have him standing out in the January cold?  Why wasn’t this scheduled for September or October? Where is the common sense?

Herzog, a guest on the Kevin Sheehan Show Friday morning, expressed when asked that he was actually not invited to the special occasion, though he worked with Jurgensen for over two decades.

Jurgensen and Herzog spent 22 years together in the three-man booth of Frank, Sonny and Sam (Huff) on Redskins radio football broadcasts from 1981-2004. Three seasons earlier, Herzog became the play-by-play announcer, replacing Dan Lovett.

The organization’s decision to retire Sean Taylor’s jersey before a Hall of Famer, who in addition was part of the famed three-man booth for the franchise for over 35 years, was contemptible and blameworthy.

Once again, the Washington Football organization is displaying a huge lack of awareness, expertise and wisdom. Good grief, Dan Snyder himself knows who Frank Herzog was and why he absolutely needed to have been invited.

Former announcer Larry Michael as well, without question, if asked, would have mentioned Frank Herzog as needing to be on the invite list. I wonder if they even realize Jurgensen’s later announcing teammates Larry Michael and Chris Cooley should also be invited?

Can it be expressed enough how many times the organization mishandles and taints aspects of these celebrations?

Of course, after Herzog’s appearance on the radio with Sheehan Friday morning, Herzog did receive an invitation, per Michael Phillips of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

We often try and give the organization a pass for some things because much of it has been outside of their control. However, they have control over alumni relations. If you’re going to honor Jurgensen, shouldn’t you do a little research on his history before planning any type of ceremony?

Too often, does the team try to right a wrong after the fact? This is another one of those instances.

Sheehan was told by the team the reason Herzog wasn’t initially invited was that Jurgensen’s family requested a small, “mostly family” event, with the exception of a few, including Billy Kilmer.

Perhaps, that is correct. But then why invite Herzog after seeing the backlash of not inviting him in the first place? This team is too reactionary. How many instances recently did the team change course once they were criticized?

Here’s hoping for a good day for Jurgensen on Sunday.

Chris Cooley: ‘I would have went down with Taylor Heinicke’

Cooley gives outstanding insight into Washington’s passing game in recent weeks.

“I would have 100 percent went down with Taylor Heinicke.”

That was Chris Cooley’s first thought looking back at last week’s tough loss to the Browns. Cooley was a guest on the “Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast Thursday.

“Early in the game, there was nothing to show Wentz was prepared or better than Heinicke. I want to be clear; I don’t think there is much of a difference. I am not going to sit here and say Heinicke is a better player. I don’t think there is enough of a difference that I would have made the change (from Heinicke to Wentz).”

“You threw Wentz in because you didn’t know you could be eliminated, and so you thought maybe Wentz can give us a spark going into the playoffs.”

“He (Heinicke) still has never been phenomenal, but he still might make par on 18.”

Cooley was adamant that the Commanders have no intermediate passing game. “They have no 3-5 step (passing) game.”

“I still, at this point, don’t believe they have any semblance of how they want to protect the quarterback…There are some things they don’t pass off. They don’t pass off twists. They don’t pass off stunts, blitzers. They don’t pick up blitzers. There are a lot of things they don’t do.”

“Throughout the last six or seven games, I have not been impressed in any way with Scott Turner–at all…there are things they are not attempting to do, and I am not impressed with it.”

“He (Wentz) does make a deep out to the right to Dotson which is an absolute awesome throw.”

On the failed 4th & 1 toss to Jonathan Williams, Cooley was clear Terry McLaurin did not block down well on No. 20. He also did not like the way Turner’s play motioned into where they were going on the play. “I don’t hate toss on 4th & 1; I just hate the way they set it up.”

Regarding Wentz’s second interception: “He threw right into coverage; he never moved the safety. So, I don’t like that throw.”

On the third interception, Cooley expressed the throw should have gone to an open Cam Sims, as Wentz had no business even attempting the throw into double coverage.

“The other play I hated”, expressed Cooley was when Washington was down 17-7 at the Cleveland 24, 3rd & 5. “It is an easy read… Terry, by the way, was _____ wide open and is going to get 20 yards over the middle,” and it is going to be 17-14.

“He (Wentz) cannot handle pressure. He panics in the pocket to any form of pressure. He does not keep his eyes down the field. He is not comfortable when he sees any semblance of a blitz… If his first read is not there right now, he is in panic mode.”

There is much more where Cooley also comments regarding the defense.

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