Washington DC Sports Today

Washington DC Sports News Continuously Updated

Daily Slop – 1 May 25 – Spotlight on Commanders 4th round draft pick, WR/PR Jaylin Lane

by

Virginia v Virginia Tech
Photo by Ryan Hunt/Getty Images

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

Commanders links

Articles

Bullock’s Film Room (subscription)

What WR Jaylin Lane brings to the Washington Commanders

At the combine, Lane measured in at 5-foot-10, 191 pounds and then had a performance to remember in the athletic testing drills. He caught everyone’s attention with his 4.34 40-yard dash time and his 1.5 second 10-yard split, but he also had impressive numbers in other drills too. He jump 40-inches in the vertical jump and 11-feet in the broad jump, while his 6.75 second three-cone drill time was the fourth fastest of any player at the combine.

Now those testing numbers are only guidelines that need to be crosschecked with the film to see if it transfers to the football field. With Lane, it does. It backs up what you see on tape, which is an explosive athlete with great short area quickness and terrific long speed. At his size, he profiles as someone more likely to work from the slot than outside, but that speed works anywhere and everywhere.

That speed is great for vertical routes down the field and the ball tracking makes him a real deep threat, but the speed plays elsewhere too.

On this play, Lane lines up stacked behind another receiver to the left of the formation. The defense has one safety rotated over the top of Lane while the other is in the middle of the field. Prior to the snap, Lane is sent in motion across the formation to the right side of the field. Instead of having a single defender try to run with Lane, the defense rotates the safeties. The one over Lane initially sinks back to the deep middle while the one in the deep middle rotates down to cover Lane, trying to maintain their leverage advantage.

However, as Lane completes his motion, the ball is snapped and Lane uses the momentum of his motion to work out into a wheel route. That motion gives him a good head of steam to burst down the field and the safety, despite rotating and supposedly having a leverage advantage, can’t keep up. Lane speeds by the safety down the sideline on his wheel route, but the quarterback feels some pressure and opts against the throw.

It’s not just speed that Lane has either, he has great short area quickness, meaning he can make sharp cuts and change direction at speed.

That ability to make sharp cuts and win with quickness should become a huge asset for Lane at the next level, especially working out of the slot. Quick slot receivers can be a huge threat over the middle of the field on things like choice routes where their quickness can see them beat a less athletic defender and run open over the middle of the field.

Commanders.com

5 things to know about Jaylin Lane

He bet on himself after a career season with MTSU.

Lane had to be patient for an opportunity with the Blue Raiders. He finished his freshman season with 13 receptions and a touchdown against Troy and had a role on special teams, but he only played in 177 snaps.

However, Lane was a more important piece of the offense the following season. He played in 12 games with eight starts, catching 42 receptions for 466 yards and four touchdowns while also keeping his role as the team’s punt returner. As a senior, Lane was even more impactful with 940 yards and five touchdowns, both of which led the team and earned him Second Team All-C-USA honors.

Lane could have gone on to be one of the best receivers in program history at MTSU but decided to transfer and finish his college career at Virginia Tech. The decision was about giving him the best chance to make it to the NFL, and he felt like the Hokies were his best opportunity.

“You always aim for the highest,” Lane said after the Commanders drafted him. “Being an NFL player has been a dream since I was a kid and making that decision to transfer was ultimately to elevate myself so I could continue to challenge myself.”

Lane had 1,004 yards in 2023 and 2024 combined, and while his production did not increase, his work ethic and athleticism stood out against a high level of competition.

Washington Post (paywall)

Can the D.C. Council really say no to RFK Stadium site deal? Answers to your questions.

Post Metro and Sports reporters answered your questions about the deal to bring the NFL franchise back to D.C. during a live chat.

Question: I’m getting a little bit of Leonsis to Virginia vibes (counting your chickens, putting the cart before the horse, or whatever euphemism you want to use). This mammoth agreement still has to pass the D.C. Council. With Congress cutting D.C.’s funding, that seems like no sure thing. So is the thought to have this celebratory press conference that it will get the region and the Council behind the proposal? Because it seems like nothing has actually changed between when the details of the deal were reported a couple of weeks ago and yesterday’s press conference.

Answer:

Sam Fortier, Commanders beat writer

Jeff, totally hear you. Meagan and I were part of the team covering the Monumental-Virginia deal, and it was not lost on us that both groups had big pep rally-esque news conferences before getting sign off from jurisdictional legislators. But I will say there are a couple big differences.

1. Commanders owner Josh Harris and D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser signed a term sheet. Yeah, the term is relatively short — the exclusive negotiating window ends July 15 — but it’s more serious than Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Ted Leonsis ever got. They never had a signed document.

2. Harris is very motivated to leave Northwest Stadium. Sure, Leonsis had his complaints about Cap One Arena in downtown D.C., but in the end, he knew he had a venue in a prime location that he’d already made significant investment around, such as the Monumental TV studio. Cap One was a better consolation prize than Northwest’s location would be.

Harris seems confident it’ll happen. He dismissed a question about if he worried about ending up like Leonsis: “It’s going to sell itself,” he said. “The council will recognize what an incredible opportunity this is.”

So, the big question now: Can a vocal opponent of a new Commanders stadium pull a Louise Lucas and torpedo the whole thing?

Washington Post (paywall)

After that Commanders pep rally, it’s time for D.C. to get a better deal

It’s early to celebrate the Commanders’ return to the RFK Stadium site, because the work is still getting started.

[L]et’s not act as though this is a straight-up gift from a new ownership group whose reputation is glistening in part because it is held up against that of the previous, dreadful regime.

Yes, the $2.7 billion that Josh Harris’s group would put into a new stadium on the eastern edge of Capitol Hill is a large number, and it doesn’t appear he’s trying to fleece the District. But another large number is $1 billion, which appears to be the floor on funds that would come from D.C. Don’t allow the mayor’s office to distract you by saying the percentage of public money is the lowest of any recently built NFL stadium. It’s not, because suburban Los Angeles’s SoFi Stadium received a total of $0.

Monday’s announcement, with a gleeful Bowser flanked by Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, might have felt like the end of a long, meandering process. It’s really just the start of one.

Another way to look at it: Of the nine NFL stadiums that have opened or are being built since 2009, only one — the upcoming facility for the Tennessee Titans in Nashville — is receiving more public cash.

This, at a time when the District’s bond rating was just downgraded, which could make it more expensive to borrow money. This, at a time when the federal workforce is shrinking by the day, meaning a company town is losing company people — and jobs. This, at a time when the budget Bowser will submit to the council could cut hundreds of millions of dollars from city services. Yeah, maybe the capital budget that funds projects such as this is a different bucket. But the District as a whole is a bucket that’s leaking at the moment.

Deadspin

What’s Next? Three NFL Teams That Need to Make a Move After the Draft

Just for fun, type “which NFL teams need a cornerback” into a search engine. What we got back was this list: Atlanta, Baltimore, Carolina, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minnesota, New England, New Orleans, New York (Giants), New York (Jets), Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa Bay, Tennessee and Washington Football Team.

Hey, wait a minute. Washington Football Team? Turns out the search engine focused on a story from 2020, so maybe we shouldn’t use that search engine again (its name makes you think of Chanandler Bong).

Commanders.com

Why the Commanders didn’t draft an edge rusher

Everybody, breathe, because the Commanders don’t seem panicked by how things worked out for them. The Commanders trusted their draft board throughout the weekend, and while they’re not necessarily settled at the defensive end position, they chose who they believed were the best players available when they were on the clock.

“It wasn’t, ‘We weren’t going to address edge at any point,’” assistant general manager Lance Newmark said at the end of the seventh round. “There were never any conversations of that mindset. It was, ‘These players made the most sense for us.’”

Analysts generally agree with the Commanders’ assessment of their draft class and have given the team favorable grades. What many point out, however, is the lack of attention given to edge players.

It’s also worth pointing out that other teams were looking to capitalize on the depth at pass-rusher. Prior to the Commanders taking Lane, four edge rushers went off the board. So, rather than reach for an edge rusher, they took Lane, the best player on their board at the time, who could add dimensions to their offense and provide help in the return game.

That strategy falls in line with how the Commanders have operated since Peters took over; trust the board, don’t overreach and take the best possible players who can help the roster.

They still have months to go before the season starts in September, and Newmark always has an eye on how they can improve the roster.

“You certainly are always watching that board,” Newmark said. “We watch it every day and we always circle back to guys and see where they’re at. Sometimes they don’t want to do anything right now, but that’s constant. It’s on the wall in my office, so I see it every morning when I walk in and we talk about it on literally a daily basis.”

Riggo’s Rag

5 free-agent targets the Washington Commanders should sign after the draft

Za’Darius Smith, EDGE

Za’Darius Smith is another veteran pass rusher who had a very productive season last year and could help Washington get to the quarterback next season. Smith joined the Lions on a one-year deal last season and made the most of his opportunity. He hit double sacks again with 10 on the season, and finished 10th in the NFL with 63 pressures, and sixth in the league with 46 hurries. Smith played a lot more snaps than Von Miller did, with 615 total snaps (421 pass rush, and 178 run defense), compared to Miller’s 279 snaps, primarily as a situational rusher. At 32 years old, Smith could be a player who joins Washington to make a major impact, and re-joins the team a year later.

Podcasts & videos

Commanders’ Draft Class RANKED Among NFC East Rival Cowboys, Giants, and Eagles, and a Kicker Change

NFC East links

Bleeding Green Nation

Ranking who the Eagles should play in the NFL’s season-opening Kickoff Game

If history is our guide, the NFL’s first game of the season will feature the Eagles at home, but against whom?

There are eight teams against whom the Birds, who won the Super Bowl, could play: the Cowboys, Giants, Commanders, Bears, Lions, Broncos, Rams and Raiders.

There are some truly marquee possibilities in there, and here is my ranking of who I would like to see the defending Super Bowl champions play as they attempt to defend the Super Bowl they won by humiliating Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs 40-22.

1) Detroit Lions

Let’s not kid ourselves, for most of last season, the Lions were the best team in the NFC. They were the No. 1 seed, going 15-2 with an offense that seemingly scored at will and mirrored the Eagles’ run-happy, big-play scheme. But injuries decimated their defense as the season went along, leaving them thinner than a piece of single-ply toilet paper by the time the Washington Commanders faced them in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Obviously, the Eagles were pleased things worked out the way they did. The Commanders won, the Eagles got to host the NFC Championship Game against a rookie QB, and the rest is history. But we never got to see these two titans ball out on the big stage, so it only seems right to open the season with perhaps the league’s two best teams going at it in an alternate reality NFC title game rematch.

2) Washington Commanders

All that being said, the Commanders’ ascent to the NFC Championship Game was remarkable, and there is perhaps no more exciting a player in the league than Daniels. The NFL loves to feature its marketable stars, and even though they lost 55-23 in the title game, very little of that was Daniels’ fault. He actually played quite well, and the Commanders were one of only three teams to beat the Eagles a season ago.

How can the NFL resist an NFC Championship Game rematch between division rivals featuring the hottest young QB in the league? It will be difficult. Personally, having played Washington three times last year (and the Eagles really should have won the middle game they lost in DC), I’m more interested in seeing how they match up with Detroit, but opening against the Commanders would be a ton of fun, too.

Blogging the Boys

The best and worst pick of the Cowboys 2025 draft

Worst Pick: Shemar James

The pick that seems like the most head-scratching for the Cowboys is taking Shemar James with the 152nd overall pick in the fifth round. Why it’s a striking move is that the Cowboys moved up 22 spots after making a trade with the Arizona Cardinals, giving up their 174th and 211th overall picks in the process.

James is a player that some outlets had falling to as far as the seventh round, so the Cowboys aggressively moving to take him comes as a surprise. As a prospect, James has some warts. Draft analysts say he doesn’t process what he is seeing fast enough in the running game causing him to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Although his speed on the field looks adequate, James didn’t test well on the 40-yard dash at the combine, running a 4.69.

At 6’1”, 221 lbs., James is a shade undersized. When you look at the depth chart, is there anyone that James can push for playing time? With the Cowboys needing so much on the roster, taking a player you traded up to get who may not see the field as a rookie doesn’t seem like the best move. You hope that Dallas’ defensive coordinator Matt Ebeflus has a plan for James and we’ll curiously await to see that.

If a player struggles with diagnosing plays in college, how well can he do as a rookie at the NFL level? You hope that James finds a way to contribute as a rookie but as of now, he may be one of the least equipped rookies of this Cowboys draft to do so given the circumstances.

NFL league links

Articles

NFL.com

Jets second-year QB Jordan Travis retiring after consultation with medical experts

New York Jets quarterback Jordan Travis’ NFL career has ended before it ever truly started.

The 24-year-old informed the club of his intent to retire after being medically advised to do so. Travis didn’t play a down after being selected in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft following a gruesome leg injury at Florida State.

“On November 18, 2023, my life took an unexpected turn,” Travis said in a statement, via the team. “I gave everything I had to the rehab process but despite all my efforts, my leg never responded the way we hoped. After much prayer and consultation with the doctors, medical experts and my agent, I’ve been medically advised to retire from the game I love so deeply.”

Discussion topics

All aTwitter