Tag: Commanders 2024 Draft

Chris Cooley’s film review of Commanders’ DT Johnny Newton

What does Cooley think of Johnny Newton’s film? He likes him.

Chris Cooley praised the Commanders’ selection of Johnny Newton, but also offered a few concerns.

The former Washington tight end, who appeared on Thursday’s “Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast, expressed his film observations of Newton.

Not to be overlooked, Sheehan proposed that other teams possibly knew of Newton’s injury and that the Commanders did not. Newton fell into the second round, and Commanders GM Adam Peters was in disbelief Newton was still available at No. 36, where Peters selected him.

Here are a few selected quotes from Cooley’s review:

“He is a consistently productive guy,” Cooley said. “Four blocked kicks at Illinois. I love a dude that can block kicks! There is a knack to it.”

“He is a compact 6’2″, 304 pounds…He is not thin.”

“First team All-American. He wrecked Maryland; he wrecked Wisconsin. He can wreck a game. There is no doubt about it; he can play in the backfield.”

“He will come off the ball, quick twitch, and he can transition from speed to power. He can play inside; he can play nose. Quick hands, quick feet. When you are playing against Johnny Newton on the other side of the ball, you are worried he is going to beat you right now.”

“His hand-fighting is excellent. He will battle through that and get off of stuff.”

“I think when he wants to, he can crash back-side run plays really well.”

“He has great pass-rush moves; his high end is really high end.”

“I think the number one negative I see is he picks and chooses. There are times you can write L-A-Z-Y…It’s not that he can’t run down the line of scrimmage. It’s not that he can’t chase the ball carrier. It’s not that he doesn’t do that. He just picks and chooses.”

“He’s a guy you want to make sure is always going; you got to make sure he is always rolling or have him out.”

“His pad level is not very good. He plays upright; he plays high.”

“He plays around blocks as well, which you can’t get away with in the NFL.”

“Honestly, I think he is a great pick. He is going to be around a couple of defensive tackles (Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne) who will not accept anything but “go” all the time. I think it will be a really good fit for him.”

“There are a couple of concerns, but so much positive to him, so much upside to him.”

What does Chris Cooley think of new Commanders TE Ben Sinnott?

“Joe Gibbs would love Ben Sinnott.”

“If he is wearing No. 47, we are identical.”

That was Chris Cooley’s first reaction when watching film of the Commanders’ second-round choice (No. 53 overall), Kansas State tight end Ben Sinnott.

Cooley was a guest Friday on the “The Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast and gave his film review of the tight end the Commanders drafted last week.

“He is what Joe Gibbs used to call an H-back; he’s versatile,” added Cooley.

Cooley said what he really liked initially about Sinnott was that he is flexible. The Commanders will be able to split Sinnott out wide. He can play in a tight split, a wing split, full back, tight, and next to the quarterback in the shotgun. Cooley concluded that K-State using Sinnott in so many positions reveals the young man is an intelligent player.

Pointing to his 4.68 at the Scouting Combine, Cooley praised his running of routes, “He is clearly a big-time target,” saying it was fun to watch him.

Cooley also praised Sinnott for being a hands-catcher of the ball rather than a chest-catcher. The former Washington tight end loved Sinnott’s ability to catch the ball at the high point and praised his vertical jumping ability.

A former wrestler, Cooley is fully aware of playing another sport at a high level and how this develops you athletically. He and Sheehan both pointed to the newest Commander also playing a lot of tennis and hockey as well as football.

Cooley was also excited about his ability to make some awesome runs after the catch as an H-back. He elaborated, saying Sinnott is tough to bring down and has that toughness to run through everything.

Seeing the Commanders will be able to line up Sinnott in multiple positions, Cooley pointed out that it also presents another challenge for the defense because your personnel becomes more unpredictable.

As for a weakness? Cooley feels Sinnott in his blocking needs some work in his hands and footwork early on in a block, saying he was not technically sound in some of the film.

However, Cooley was also quick to say that Sinnott made many good blocks. Thus, he was encouraged, saying Sinnott is certainly willing to block and will therefore improve his technique as his NFL career progresses.

“I will tell you right now, Joe Gibbs would love Ben Sinnott. This would be his guy. He would draft this guy. This is his H-back who can play receiver and tight end. He is a versatile tight end.”

Commanders sign Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman

The Commanders are bringing in former Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman.

The Commanders, still looking for players to fill their 90-man roster, have signed Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman.

Consequently, Hartman went undrafted in the 2024 NFL draft, which concluded a few hours ago. Now, NFL teams are signing the players they would like to bring into their off-season program.

The signing of Hartman brings the Commanders’ quarterback room to five: Jayden Daniels, Marcus Mariota, Jeff Driskel, Jake Fromm, and Hartman.

Listed at 6-foot-1, 208 pounds, Hartman committed to and signed with Wake Forest of the Atlantic Coast Conference. As a freshman, Hartman saw action in nine games, completing 161 of 291 passes (55.3) for 1,984 yards, 16 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, and a 125.2 passer rating.

After playing only four games in the 2019 season, Hartman completed 58.2 percent of his passes for 2,224 yards in 2020 with 13 touchdowns and five interceptions for a 138.7 passer rating.

Hartman enjoyed largely productive seasons in 2021 and 2022, when he passed for 39 and 38 touchdowns with 14 and 12 interceptions, respectively. He also had his highest passer rating numbers of 148.6 and then 159.4.

Due to Covid altering the 2020 NCAA Football season, Hartman having one more year of eligibility, determined to transfer to Notre Dame. For the Fighting Irish, Hartman completed 63.5 percent of his 301 passes for 2,689 yards, 24 touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 159.5 passer rating.

Born in Charlotte, NC, he will turn 25 in July. He played his High School ball at Oceanside Collegiate in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and became a three-star college quarterback recruit.

 

Who are the Commanders getting in Luke McCaffrey?

What are the Commanders getting in Luke McCaffrey?

With the final draft pick of Friday night’s round three, the Washington Commanders selected Rice wide receiver Luke McCaffrey at No. 100 overall.

If you read that name and are wondering, yes, Luke is the younger brother of San Francisco 49ers star Christian McCaffrey. By the way, both are sons of former NFL wide receiver Ed McCaffrey.

Luke certainly knows what it takes to make it in the NFL. He has seen his older brother push himself to such limits that he is able to play in the NFL.

McCaffrey stands 6-foot-2 and is 23 years of age. While playing his high school football in Colorado, Luke played receiver for his first two years, while his older brother Dylan played quarterback.

A four-star recruit, Luke committed to and signed with Nebraska. Determining to depart after two seasons with the Cornhuskers, he committed to Louisville. After being at Louisville for a brief period, he departed for Houston to attend Rice.

In his last two seasons with Rice, McCaffrey caught 58 and 68 passes, averaging 12.5 and 14.2 yards per reception, including six and 12 touchdown receptions, respectively.

At the NFL Scouting Combine, McCaffrey ran a 4.46 40-yard dash and recorded a 36-inch vertical leap.

Who are the Commanders getting in Mike Sainristil

What are the Commanders getting in Mike Sainristil?

Michigan cornerback Mike Sainristil was the Commanders’ selection at No. 50 overall Friday night.

Although he is not long, standing only 5-foot-9, Sainristil is built and plays strong at 182 pounds.

The Commanders’ third choice in this draft was named 2nd team All-Big 10, leading the Wolverines’ defense with six interceptions in 2023

Peters, with this selection, obtained the best defender on the nation’s best defensive team, which won the national championship, led by its defense.

Also quite noteworthy is the new Commanders defensive back has only two seasons of playing on the defensive side of the ball. Sainristil actually played his first two seasons at Michigan as a receiver. Therefore, there is still plenty of upside in learning how to play defense.

He accumulated 108 tackles on defense for Michigan, so look for the Commanders to play him on the inside as a slot corner. He is an aggressive tackler, the leading tackler among Michigan defensive backs.