Daily Slop – 18 Apr 25 – Commanders Log Season 4, Episode 3 explores draft prep, scouting & roster building

A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East, the NFL and sports in general, and a sprinkling of other stuff

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Commanders Log

The Right Pieces | Commanders Log: Season 4, Episode 3

Articles

Commanders.com

Ten 2nd-round draft prospects for Commanders fans to watch

The opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of the team.

• Kaleb Johnson, RB, Iowa: Although Johnson will likely need to show more as a pass-catcher, he’s quick and elusive as a runner with 1,537 yards and 21 rushing touchdowns in 2024. His workload doubled last season with 240 carries, and he more than tripled his production from 2023.
• Landon Jackon, EDGE, Arkansas: Jackson’s energy and play style make for an entertaining watch. There are more athletic and productive players in this year’s draft, but Jackson is elite when it comes to his competitiveness and work ethic.
• Aireontae Ersery, T, Minnesota: The Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year has prototypical size for an NFL tackle with his 6-foot-6, 331-pound frame. He has the quickness to beat defenders on perimeter runs and screen passes but shines the most when moving downhill to block interior defensive linemen.
• Jaylin Noel, WR, Iowa State: What Noel lacks in size (5-foot-10, 194 pounds) he makes up for with speed (he ran a 4.39 40-yard dash at the combine) and enough versatility to play anywhere on the field. He also has some experience as a return specialist with 1,287 yards on kickoffs and punts.
• Trey Amos, CB, Ole Miss: Amos was a productive cover corner at Ole Miss, leading the team in pass breakups (13) and interceptions (3) in 2024. Though he’s sub-200 pounds, he has enough length to win contested catches and come down with game-changing plays.

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Pro Football Focus

2025 NFL Draft: Best Day 2 fits for all 32 NFL teams

Washington Commanders

Prospect to target: CB Azareye’h Thomas, Florida State

Washington’s trade for Marshon Lattimore was a good start to revamping this secondary, but the unit still needs more attention. Thomas showcases natural movement skills and quick feet that allow him to mirror route breaks in press-man coverage.

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ESPN

2025 NFL draft: How all 32 teams can crush their picks, fill needs

No team should approach the draft more aggressively than the Commanders. They’ve already started this process, dealing picks to acquire veteran wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. and left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Once you make the NFC Championship Game in your rookie quarterback’s first season as a pro, you commit. Get the chips to the middle of the table. Trade up. Swing for the stars.

The Commanders could use impactful players at two key positions: edge rusher and safety. Depth remains strong on the edge, and the presence of Frankie Luvu elevates the group — but the primary sack-getter last season was Dante Fowler Jr. (10.5), and he left for Dallas in free agency. With the No. 29 pick, Washington could catch a falling Mykel Williams (Georgia) [or] Shemar Stewart (Texas A&M); both are projects with upside as pass rushers. Donovan Ezeiruaku (Boston College) is the pro-ready pass rusher with the sort of explosive outside rush profile Dan Quinn loves.

Similarly, at safety, the Commanders are right at the end range for Nick Emmanwori (South Carolina) and Malaki Starks (Georgia). Emmanwori looks like a ready-made Jeremy Chinn replacement, though he would likely require a trade-up. There have been only seven first-round trade-ups for a safety in draft history, and only one in the past 10 years (Darnell Savage in 2019) — so perhaps that’s a risk too far. Best to let the board fall to you. If safety doesn’t happen in Round 1, watch for hard-hitting box safety Kevin Winston Jr. (Penn State) in Round 3.

As far as other needs go, the Commanders might look to draft a boundary corner who can push 2024 second-round selection Mike Sainristil back inside. Quinn’s corners tend to have plus ball skills, which reads to me as Benjamin Morrison (Notre Dame) [or] Darien Porter (Iowa State). The former had six interceptions as a freshman starter, and the latter played three collegiate seasons as a receiver.

Investing in a WR3 who can replace [Deebo] Samuel after his contract expires next year feels wise, and if they are prioritizing YAC in that role, they should look no further than TCU — both Jack Bech (Round 2, maybe Round 3) and Savion Williams (Round 3, maybe Round 4) are deadly with the ball in their hands.

If a highly rated receiver, offensive lineman or defensive tackle does fall into the Commanders’ lap, they should leap at the chance. Again, adding high-impact, immediate contributors is the name of the game here. Trade up for falling players and take risks on guys with red flags on their eval — the sort of players who would have gone a round higher if not for injury history or poor production. Draft players you can envision starting — and mattering — in January football.

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Commanders Wire

5 teams who could be perfect trade back partners with Commanders

Cleveland Browns

It’s no surprise that the Browns are on this list due to their need for a quarterback and the unlikely chance they have to take one at pick 2 with Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter on the board. Cleveland has done extensive homework on quarterbacks this offseason, and we could see a run on quarterbacks with the Saints at No. 9 and the Steelers at 21. However, the right situation would allow the Browns to move back into the first round and take Jaxson Dart or Jalen Milroe. a trade package for 29 could include picks 33, 179, 192, and a 2026 fifth-round pick (which Washington also needs), to move back only four spots.

New York Giants

The Giants are in the same situation as the Browns, needing a quarterback, but also selecting too high in the draft at pick 3 to take one with the chance that Abdul Carter falls to them. There is still a chance that the Giants’ brass will end up taking Shedeur Sanders at 3, but if not, they will be eager to move back into the first round to get their guy. Washington could trade back five spots to pick 34, and maybe get lucky enough to land pick 105 in doing so.

Las Vegas Raiders

If they decide to pass on Jeanty [at No. 6 overall], the Raiders could move back up to 29 to take a running back before the run starts, or take a top wide receiver that falls as well. Washington trading pick 29 for 37, 108, and 143 would be a really valuable haul, and still be within the range to take a player who fell, such as James Pearce Jr., Maxwell Hairston, or Jayden Higgins.

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Podcasts & videos

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NFC East links

Bleeding Green Nation

NFL Draft Rankings 2025: Safety

3) Xavier Watts, Notre Dame

Xavier Watts is the best ballhawk in this class. The two-time all-American had 13 interceptions over the last two seasons.

He is a smart, rangy safety who will read quarterback eyes like a book and fly to the ball. He is also not afraid of making big hits in coverage.

He is a good, not great athlete and relies heavily on instincts over athleticism. His relative lack of size too shows up when coming at the run. Ideally he is a pure center fielding safety for a defense that runs a lot of Cover 3.

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Big Blue View

New York Giants draft preview: Edge defenders who could be of interest

Day 2 options

Landon Jackson, Arkansas: Landon Jackson is a controlled mover who possesses elite overall size with an excellent frame and length. His ability to play the run effectively as an anchor defender, penetrator, or pursuit defender make him ideal for any scheme, as well as his athletic ability, quick first-step, and his aforementioned size. Defensive line coaches will fall in love with a player like Jackson. His upside as a pass-rusher isn’t through the roof, but he took noticeable steps through his college career with his use of hands and ability to employ moves to create separation. His combination of shock value and hand technique are an asset. He has won with power and with finesse, albeit he does lose leverage against better offensive lineman who can reanchor his moves. Jackson should have a long career in the league as a high-floor hustle pass rusher with good hands to disengage at the POA, while excelling as a sturdy run defender.

Day 3 options

Antwaun Powell-Ryland, Virgina Tech: Antwaun Powell-Ryland carries a power punch to his rushes and offers multiple pass rushing moves. He does a good job getting up the arc and maximizing sufficient lower-body flexion by though his adaptive hands, his good explosiveness, and his low center of gravity. Powell-Ryland is a smart rusher who can pin his ears back from multiple positions. Antwaun Powell-Ryland is not a poor run defender, but his lack of length and only average play strength may lead to some trouble against better NFL offensive tackles and double teams at the next level. Overall, he was a productive rusher in college who will have a role in the NFL but may lack the length, ideal play strength, and athletic traits to be a consistent three-down contributor.

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Barstool Sports

The Single Worst Thing For Any Giants Fan To Hear: Pat Shurmur Thinks Shedeur Sanders Is ‘Very Similar’ To Daniel Jones

Daniel Jones caused a civil war among Giants fans. People were either in the camp of he has no help, he’s still young, he’ll be awesome OR why the fuck did we draft this guy? Then it became Saquon vs Daniel Jones and the money situation. Then it became this guy can’t throw the ball more than 8 yards downfield. Finally we get rid of Daniel Jones and that first camp is ready to freak out the moment he has his first decent game for someone else.

Here’s basically where I stand. If any person, especially a former coach who thought he was shafted a bit, compares Shedeur Sanders (or any other quarterback) to Daniel Jones, and thinks it’s a compliment, do not draft him. In fact, cross him off your board. You can’t have a second Daniel Jones. Just take Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter. I’m begging you.

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NFL league links

Articles

The Athletic (paywall)

NFL projection model ranks all 32 rosters ahead of the draft

My model ranked all 32 rosters from best to worst ahead of the draft. To do this, the model takes various metrics and assigns a “value” to each player that shows their impact on a single game. Of course, positional value is vital in football, which means superstar running back Saquon Barkley is not going to be as valuable as elite edge rusher Myles Garrett, even though they’re the best players at their respective positions. After summing up the values of each roster, we can rank each team 1-32.

1. Philadelphia Eagles

They may have lost some pieces this offseason, most notably along the defensive line, but they’ve done an incredible job in recent years of acquiring talent through the draft to backfill those pieces, all while being strategic with the salary cap to maximize their spending.

So, just how good is this roster? Of the 11 position groups, the Eagles rank inside the top 10 in eight of them. The Detroit Lions are the only other team that can boast that type of widespread talent. The Eagles are a little thin at edge rusher, but I expect them to address that in the draft. And if they do, there really isn’t a weak point on this roster.

9. Washington Commanders

Full transparency: My model had the Commanders as the worst roster in the league heading into the draft last season. Oops. Frankly, I stand by the assessment that the roster isn’t all that great, especially on defense, but QB Jayden Daniels was just that good last year. And now they’ve added a star left tackle in Laremy Tunsil and an interesting No. 2 WR in Deebo Samuel Jr. on offense. Still, the defense projects as a bottom-five unit in the league with major holes along the defensive line and in the secondary. If they find some legitimate defensive talent in the draft, watch out.

15. Dallas Cowboys

I’d never recommend drafting a ball carrier in the first round, but Dallas’ running back room ranks dead last in the NFL, so the position definitely needs to be addressed at some point in the draft. In the first round, however, they’re better off selecting a wide receiver or an offensive tackle because both of their groups currently rank in the bottom five in the NFL. Suffice it to say, they desperately need to add some talent around quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, because they can’t carry the Cowboys offense by themselves.

25. New York Giants

The Giants seem likely to add one of Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter with the No. 3 pick, and getting one of the truly elite prospects in this class will go a long way to stabilizing a roster that lacks star power. While Hunter seems destined for Cleveland, he’d be a better fit than Carter for a squad that could use help at wide receiver and cornerback. Still, there shouldn’t be any complaining from Giants fans if their team scoops up Carter. While the defensive line is already solid, there’s nothing wrong with building on a strength.

26. Chicago Bears

This is probably lower than most Bears fans expected to find their team. Why are they all the way down here? Let’s just say quarterback Caleb Williams has a lot to prove his sophomore season. And if they get a jump in production from second-year wide receiver Rome Odunze, that will really help flip the script for this offense. New coach Ben Johnson should get more out of this group than the last regime did. On defense, I’m still concerned with the line, as it’s projected in the bottom half of the league.

31. New York Jets

The Aaron Rodgers era was nothing short of a disaster, as the Jets’ offense heads into the 2025 season as one of the worst in the NFL. Outside of the interior offensive line, there isn’t a position group that rates higher than 27th. And while the defense should again outpace the offense, I’m not sure they’re destined to be one of the league’s best units any more, as their defensive line projects as below average.

32. Tennessee Titans

It’s fitting that the team with the worst roster heading into the NFL Draft is also the team with the No. 1 pick. And while that pick is likely going to be spent on a franchise quarterback, the Titans have a lot of work to do to rebuild this roster around their presumed pick of Cam Ward. The wide receivers, offensive tackles, edge rushers and corners all rate in the bottom five of the league. That’s essentially the opposite of what the Eagles have built to win a Super Bowl.

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Discussion topics

The Athletic (paywall)

Aaron Rodgers’ words for Aaron Glenn are a reminder: The Jets were right to move on

Rodgers thought he was meeting with Glenn and GM Darren Mougey to offer his thoughts and opinions on the Jets, what needed to be fixed, and the future — his own and the team’s. (“Why wouldn’t you want to pick my brain?” Rodgers said.) But, the way Rodgers tells it, Glenn wasn’t interested in his opinions. This wasn’t a meeting to gauge Rodgers’ interest in coming back. This was a meeting to let him know that, with a new regime taking over, he was no longer in the Jets’ plans. As Rodgers told it to McAfee:

“I figured that when I flew across the country on my dime, there would be a conversation,” Rodgers said. “I meet with the coach, we start talking … he runs out of the room. I’m like, that’s strange. Then he comes back with the GM. So we sit down and I think we’re going to have this long conversation, I’ve flown across the country, and 20 seconds in, I’m talking to the GM, and (Glenn) leans to the edge of his seat and says: ‘You’re sure you want to play football?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I’m interested.’ And he said, ‘We’re going in another direction at quarterback.’ ”

“I was kind of shocked.”

Then, Rodgers said, he unloaded.

“I just flew across the country and you could’ve told me this on the phone if we weren’t even going to have a conversation,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers said Glenn then asked him about the messaging of how he wanted his release to be announced. According to Rodgers, Glenn said, “I don’t want to be in front of the room saying something and have guys looking back at you. And I said, ‘Are you assuming I would be in the back of the room during a team meeting, undermining what you’re saying? You don’t know me.’ And he said, “You don’t know me.’ And then I said, ‘Exactly, that’s why I flew across the country to have a face-to-face meeting with you.’ ” Later in the interview, Rodgers said: “I think that was a little rogue by the head coach.”

Glenn had no interest in being in the Aaron Rodgers business, and it’s hard to blame him. If anything, the way Rodgers has handled the aftermath, specifically Thursday’s interview with McAfee, proved the Jets made the right decision.

If Glenn had told Rodgers they were done with him over the phone, would Rodgers have criticized him for not doing it face-to-face? Glenn handled this the right way. For all the Jets’ off-the-field missteps over the years, this was not one of them.

For two seasons, Rodgers was a walking distraction. The Jets never deterred him from making appearances on McAfee’s show, even as he used that platform to call out teammates, spew conspiracy theories and just generally cause a stir … only for Rodgers to later decry the Jets organization for having so many non-football distractions.

NFL.com

Aaron Rodgers remains undecided on future: ‘I’m open to anything and attached to nothing’

In his first public media appearance since January, Rodgers said retirement remains a possibility after a 20-year career. He’s also not ruling out the Pittsburgh Steelers as a possible destination. In short, a week from the start of the 2025 NFL Draft, Rodgers doesn’t know what he’s planning on doing — or at least, he’s not yet ready to reveal anything.

The 41-year-old Rodgers on Thursday cited “personal matters” as a reason he’s delaying any decisions on whether to play football next season. He also mentioned that he’s in a “serious relationship” and has some personal commitments that are his priority now.

“I have a couple people in my inner, inner circle who are battling some difficult stuff. So, I have a lot of things that are taking my attention and have since the beginning of January away from football,” Rodgers said. “That’s where I have been focusing most of my attention on. To make a commitment to a team is a big thing, whether you are a first-year player or 20-year vet.”

Rodgers also didn’t rule out possibly playing for another team, indicating that money was not a hang-up.

“I’ve been straight up with these teams from the start about where I was at,” he said. “Starting with the money thing, I told every single one of the teams that I was talking to that it ain’t about the money. I’ll play for ($10 million per season). I don’t care.

“I never once said I need a multi-year deal or $30 or $40 million is actual b——. I said, I’ll play for 10.”

One team we know won’t play for is the New York Jets. The quarterback painted a picture of a dysfunctional team during his past two years there and said his first meeting with new head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey did not go well.

After flying across the country for the face-to-face meeting, Rodgers said he expected to meet with the new Jets leadership for “a few hours,” but the meeting ended abruptly when Glenn told him that they were going in a different direction at the position.

“I was kind of shocked,” Rodgers said. “Not shocked because I didn’t think that was a possibility. Listen, of course, if they want to move on, that’s fine. But shocked because I just flew across the country, and you could have told me this on the phone.”

Pro Football Talk

Aaron Rodgers says he has no deadlines, with the Steelers or any other team

“I don’t have sources,” Rodgers said near the end of the segment. “I don’t have people that are out there pushing narratives. I speak for myself. And it’s been nice to be quiet for the last few months. It’s funny how in that time period how the shit narrative goes fucking crazy, right? When I haven’t said a fucking word. So there’s nothing to say. I just laid out where I’m at. There’s nothing else to report. There’s no other reason to be continuing to talk about me at this point. So time to turn the page, all those people that have made a lot of money slandering my name. You know, apologize for COVID, say your vax status, and keep it moving.”

On one hand, everyone should respect that there are personal issues delaying his next step. On the other hand, how hard would it have been to get that out there weeks ago? It would have avoided the very rumors and reports about which he’s now complaining.

It would have been simple. It would have been easy. And it would have answered a lot of the questions that, in the absence of Rodgers saying anything, have become the subject of rampant speculation.

It’s hard not to think that’s exactly what he wanted.

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All aTwitter

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