Tag: Commanders sign Austin Ekeler

Commanders listed as one of top 5 most underrated Week 1 games

Commanders and Bucs named a “sneaky good” Week 1 matchup.

What are the top five most underrated games of Week 1 in 2024?

Rich Eisen, on the “Rich Eisen Show” Wednesday, came prepared with his list of the top five games that he believes are under the radar of most NFL fans.

Eisen provided one honorable mention game that barely missed his list when he cited the Titans at Bears. Eisen stated this will be a big game as well because he believes overall No. 1 2024 draft selection QB Caleb Williams will result in the Bears being the most talked about non-playoff team (2023) during the upcoming preseason.

In his countdown, Eisen listed the Commanders at Buccaneers as the fifth most underrated game of the openers.

“Nobody is talking about this one. This team made the divisional round last year, and you want to talk about running it back, I am talking about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And it is the debut of Jayden Daniels in the National Football League and Dan Quinn as the new head coach of the Washington Commanders. Commanders at Bucs is an under-the-radar sneaky good Week 1 game that we are not talking about right now. I kind of dig it.”

“What if Washington hangs 30 on them and wins by two scores?” asked co-host Chris Brockman.

Eisen replied back, “Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson, Austin Ekeler, Brian Robinson Jr. These are no slouches, and Jayden Daniels comes in and shows up like he could be like, remember last year’s second overall pick in the draft did (referring to C.J. Stroud of course). No expectations, not high, right?”

The rest of Eisen’s list of Week 1 most underrated games were:

4. Cardinals at Bills

3. Texans at Colts

2. Jaguars at Dolphins

1. Raiders at Chargers

You can watch here for video of the entire segment.

Cowboys writer says Commanders signing already a flop

Some over-the-top comments regarding the Commanders and Dan Quinn.

A writer covering the Dallas Cowboys went on record Friday, stating he believes one Dan Quinn signing might already be a flop.

Jerry Trotta, who writes for “The Landry Hat,” asserted the new Commanders head coach, “Quinn overspent on a pair of Cowboys free agents in Dorance Armstrong and Tyler Biadasz and signed a 33-year-old tight end in Zach Ertz who’s played only 17 games the last two seasons.”

I actually admit to being concerned regarding Ertz, not knowing what he might still be able to contribute in 2024 for the Commanders.

Trotta then continued a step further, saying, “Any of those moves could blow up in Quinn’s face, but there’s one marquee signing that already looks like a flop: running back Austin Ekeler.”

Ekeler had appeared on the “Up and Adams” show with Kay Adams, stating that the Chargers were going a different direction, deciding to sign bigger running backs. So, Ekeler signed with Washington.

This reason didn’t satisfy Trotta, who called Ekeler’s reason “ludicrous.” Yet, Trotta doesn’t seem to understand that though Ekeler carried the ball 206 and 204 times during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, the 5-10, 200-pound running back is now entering his eighth NFL season.

The Commanders are not planning on using Ekeler to carry the ball 200+ times in 2024. If he reaches that many carries it will only be because Brian Robinson and Chris Rodriguez were both injured during the season.

The Commanders hope to assign Robinson and Rodriguez the workload of carrying the ball between the tackles, permitting Ekeler to be utilized more in space as a third-down back or pass-receiving back.

Trotta concluded, asking his readers, “You think Quinn already regrets signing Ekeler?”

Frankly, isn’t it much too early to make such an assumption?

Ekeler’s contract is only for two years. The Commanders can get the most out of Ekeler over two seasons by not pounding a 200-pound back too often, especially when they have guys like Robinson and Rodriguez, with younger bodies with less wear and tear, who can get the tough yards.

Perhaps, might his wishes that Quinn is not successful in Washington, be clouding Trotta’s judgment?

After all, we all (myself certainly included) have our own biases, and they reveal themselves from time to time.