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Daily Slop – 13 Jul 25 – ESPN poll ranks Commanders offensive lineman #7 at his position

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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

ESPN

Execs, coaches, scouts rank NFL’s top 10 offensive tackles for 2025

7. Laremy Tunsil, Washington Commanders

Highest ranking: 4 | Lowest ranking: Unranked

Age: 30 | Last year’s ranking: 3

Tunsil has long performed like a top-five tackle on our list, but miscues and the Texans’ offensive line struggles hurt his case this time around. He has three consecutive seasons of committing at least 10 penalties, including 19 in 2024, according to NFLPenalties.com.

Evaluators still love his combination of footwork, agility and violence – and so did the Washington Commanders, who acquired Tunsil and a fourth-round pick in March in exchange for a package of Day 2 and 3 picks.

“Washington wouldn’t have done what they did if he wasn’t immensely talented,” an NFL personnel director said. “With the penalties, when they happen they seem to pile up, which makes you wonder whether he has the mental strength to wash the bad plays and move on.”

Heavy.com

Zach Ertz on comeback year in his 13th NFL season; ready to do it again in Year 14

His decision to return for a 14th season wasn’t just about Zach Ertz loving life in the NFL. Rather, the Washington Commanders tight end still believes he’s a difference-maker, but once he’s not, Ertz says he’ll “be done.”

The 34-year-old explained his thinking to Doug Farrar of Athlon Sports. Ertz made it clear he’s “not just gonna be out there if I can’t impact the game. I don’t do this just to say I’m gonna play 14, 15, 16 years. I’m gonna be out there if I can make a difference. If I can’t do that, then I’ll be done.”

Riggo’s Rag

Mike Florio on Terry McLaurin: “Either get him happy, or think about alternatives”

Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk thought McLaurin’s demands are way higher than the Commanders are willing to pay right now during an appearance on The Team 980. And if no middle ground can be reached, he thought Peters might be wise to extract maximum value for the wideout while he can.

“I’m surprised they haven’t worked it out yet, but it tells me that [Terry] McLaurin must want a hell of a lot more than the Commanders have budgeted. You’ve got two choices: pay the guy or don’t. And if you’re not going to pay him, then trade him to someone who will. But if you’re trying to parlay last year into a step forward this year and your guy’s not happy, you either need to get him happy or you need to think about moving on. Either get him happy, or think about alternatives.”

Mike Florio via The Team 980

NFL.com

2025 NFL season: One player to root for from each NFC team

Washington Commanders – Daron Payne – DT · Year 8

Many of us are already rooting for Jayden Daniels, because, duh, and for Terry McLaurin, because he’s A) very good and B) paid his dues in the extreme as a mainstay of the franchise’s pre-Daniels days.

How about giving some love to the other roster stalwart who has Really Gone Through It in Washington? Jonathan Allen’s departure this offseason leaves Payne (drafted 13th overall in 2018) as one of the longest-tenured Commanders, someone who’s started 84 straight regular-season games for the team — just 38 of which ended in victory, including 12 last season. The 28-year-old is as deserving as anyone of reveling in Washington’s transformation into a legit contender. All the better if Payne, whose pressure rate and sack totals dipped after an 11.5-sack 2022 season, can translate the positive buzz he’s been generating to a renewed dominance on the field.

Podcasts & videos

NFC East Preview + Rankings! | The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny

NFC East links

Pro Football Rumors

Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs Expected To Miss Start Of Season; Team Not Pressed To Make CB Addition

It appears as if Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs will indeed miss time in 2025. Diggs, who just finished the first year of the five-year, $97MM extension he landed in July 2023, began battling injuries shortly after signing the deal, and Joseph Hoyt of the Dallas Morning News confirms the Alabama product is not expected to be ready for the start of the upcoming season.

Diggs’ second knee problem necessitated surgery, and despite his hopes to be in the Week 1 lineup, we have been hearing for some time that his early-season availability is in doubt.

Diggs is one of a handful of players on Dallas’ CB depth chart dealing with health concerns. Third-round rookie Shavon Revel suffered a torn ACL of his own in his final year at East Carolina, and though he is presently expected to return in the middle of training camp, it is fair to wonder how effective he will be given the nature of his injury and the fact that he will not have had the benefit of a full offseason program in advance of his first professional season.

Second-year player Caelen Carson ended his rookie slate on IR and underwent shoulder surgery this offseason. Luckily, Hoyt indicates Carson will be a full-go for training camp, and the writer also says the Cowboys are comfortable with the current makeup of their secondary.

In other words, the club does not feel a pressing need to make an outside addition at this point, even with Diggs’ presumed absence.

Bleacher Report

Predicting Every NFL Team’s Biggest Bust of the 2025 NFL Season

Dallas Cowboys: RB Javonte Williams

The Dallas Cowboys experienced several issues in 2024, including multiple injuries. Even when the roster was mostly healthy, though, Dallas’ 30th-ranked running game continually disappointed.

This offseason, the Cowboys added former Broncos running back Javonte Williams to help reload their rushing attack. While Williams’ one-year, $3 million deal is modest, he’s still largely expected to open the season as RB1.

However, fantasy fans, in particular, should probably lower their expectations for the 25-year-old. Williams hasn’t been an explosive back since his 2022 ACL tear, and he’s likely to cede touches to Miles Sanders, Deuce Vaughn and rookie Jaydon Blue early and often.

New York Giants: QB Russell Wilson

The New York Giants’ decision to sign Russell Wilson to a one-year, $10.5 million contract this offseason was curious. On one hand, having a veteran on the roster will give New York time to develop rookie first-round pick Jaxson Dart. On the other hand, the Giants had already landed a bridge QB when they added Jameis Winston on a two-year deal.

There didn’t seem to be a lot of interest in Wilson this offseason, which is unsurprising after he faded down the stretch with the Pittsburgh Steelers. It felt like the Giants were bidding against themselves to land the 36-year-old, and they’re unlikely to get a strong return on investment.

If Wilson even wins the starting job out of training camp, don’t expect him to make New York a playoff contender or make fans forget that Dart is waiting in the wings.

Philadelphia Eagles: WR Jahan Dotson

The Philadelphia Eagles traded for wide receiver Jahan Dotson last August, hoping that he would finally provide the reliable WR3 the offense has long lacked. With A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith continuing to dominate the target share, though, Dotson finished the year with a career-low 216 yards and no touchdowns.

Now entering a contract year, Dotson has one final chance to show that Philly didn’t whiff by trading a third-round pick and two seventh-rounders for a fifth-rounder and the Penn State product. Given Dotson’s pedestrian production (1,257 yards in three seasons) and the fact that the Eagles rarely involve their third receiver, don’t expect that to happen.

Washington Commanders: DL Javon Kinlaw

Simply put, the Washington Commanders probably overpaid to land defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw. The 2020 first-round pick had a good year with the Jets in 2024, finishing with 40 tackles and 4.5 sacks. However, Washington gave him high-end starter money.

The Commanders were clearly eager to replace Jonathan Allen, who was released just before the start of free agency. However, Kinlaw, who had just five tackles for loss and 12 QB pressures in 2024, is unlikely to play up to his $15 million-per-year contract.


NFL league links

Articles

ESPN

Ranking NFL WR, TE, RB groups for 2025: Best and worst teams

These are not rankings of the league’s best offenses. These are the best sets of playmakers, where I’m trying to separate the production of running backs, wide receivers and tight ends from the quarterbacks, offensive lines and coaching staffs with which they play. Think about the question this way: If every team had a league-average quarterback, offensive line and playcaller along with average luck in a given season, who would have the NFL’s best offense in 2025?

To figure that out, I tried to use advanced metrics, adjusting for elements such as pace and opportunity, to see how players performed on a snap-by-snap basis.

This is only about 2025 on-field performance. I’m leaving stuff like contract value and long-term projections out of the equation. All I’m concerned with is what each player might do over the 17 games in the upcoming season and what that would look like in a league-average offensive architecture.

To do that, I’m trying to use recent history and other factors to project performance. While aging curves can’t be perfectly applied to any one individual player, we know those in their mid-20s are more likely to sustain their performance or grow than similarly productive players in their mid-30s. It’s impossible to perfectly project what each 2025 draft pick will do, but I can use the historical performance of players drafted in similar spots to guide our expectations.

Injury histories and suspensions matter. I can’t see the future, but it would be foolish to not consider a player’s recent track record of health in projecting what they might do next season. Tee Higgins is a star on a snap-by-snap basis, but he also has missed 10 games over the past two seasons with lower-leg injuries. Christian McCaffrey has been an MVP hopeful when healthy, but he has missed huge chunks of three of the past five seasons. I’m treating players such as Higgins and McCaffrey with a wider range of outcomes than guys such as CeeDee Lamb or Najee Harris, who have much better track records of staying healthy.

Wide receivers are weighted more heavily than running backs or tight ends. As a result, these rankings value elite wide receivers over elite running backs and tight ends. Outside of the true superstar backs and tight ends, the league also values very good and even above-average wideouts over most halfbacks and inline tight ends. I’ll generally lean toward teams with better depth charts at wide receiver over teams whose talents are focused at running back and tight end, although I’m not going to ignore offenses that have great backs and tight ends.

The focus is on elite players and a team’s top five contributors. Having great depth doesn’t hurt, but if you gave NFL teams $50 million to work with at wide receiver, most would prefer to add Justin Jefferson and a few solid players around him than, say, five wideouts who make $10 million per year.

Since teams can field five playmakers at a time, my focus here is on the five best players each team can line up at running back, wide receiver and tight end, with a further emphasis on the top playmaker for each team. I considered players outside that top five as tiebreakers between two close teams and I might mention them below, but the emphasis is on the guys who expect to see the most snaps

13. Washington Commanders

2024 rank: 26 | 2023 rank: 21

The arrival of quarterback Jayden Daniels and coordinator Kliff Kingsbury leveled everyone up in Washington. Terry McLaurin, finally given a quarterback worthy of his talents, soared on a per-route basis; he finished 16th in yards per route run and nearly doubled his prior career high in touchdowns, racking up 13 before adding three more during the postseason. He didn’t set a career high in receiving yards by virtue of not getting the same target totals he saw at times in previous seasons, but he was at his efficient best with improved quarterback play.

Wideouts Olamide Zaccheaus and Dyami Brown exceeded expectations before leaving this offseason, while Noah Brown should return in a lesser role. The big addition at receiver is Deebo Samuel who averaged 110 scrimmage yards per game during his All-Pro season in 2021 and 64 scrimmage yards per contest across his five other seasons. He’s a true outlier in terms of generating yards after catch year after year, and he should fit well as part of all the screens the Commanders run, but he has also had consistent issues with fumbles, drops and injuries. Projecting a Samuel turnaround like the ones we saw for reclamation projects such as Zach Ertz and Austin Ekeler last season is more difficult considering he’s leaving an offense built by Kyle Shanahan.

Ertz and Ekeler are back, and Brian Robinson Jr. has developed into a reasonable between-the-tackles runner, but I want to see whether this team’s high 2024 draft picks develop. Second-round tight end Ben Sinnott and third-round wide receiver Luke McCaffrey were along for the ride as rookies, combining for 194 receiving yards during the regular season. The Commanders didn’t need to integrate them into the lineup when things were working, but it isn’t as if they were facing historically stiff competition beyond McLaurin, either. One (or preferably both) of the young guys breaking out would be a big help for Washington, with regards to both its roster construction and standing in these rankings.

Discussion topics

Pro Football Talk

It could be too late for the unsigned second-round picks to take a stand

An agent who doesn’t represent any of the 30 unsigned second-rounders over the issue of guaranteed pay has raised a very good point — good enough to steal.

The second-round picks should have held out earlier. At a minimum, they should have collectively skipped mandatory minicamp. Instead, all of them signed participation agreements and showed up for work despite not being employed, throughout the offseason program.

So now they’re going to stay away?

The teams may not take it seriously. They’ll count on players caving so that they can get ready for the season, accepting less-than-100-percent guarantees in order to get to work. And any such deals coming later in the round will set the parameters for the rest of the round.

At the top of the second round, there’s another dynamic to consider. With the fourth pick in round two (Browns running back Quinshon Judkins) arrested on Saturday for battery and domestic violence, he could be the first one to take less than 100 percent guarantees.

However it plays out, it will be much harder to hold the players together once camps open. Especially since agents traditionally haven’t been willing to take advantage of the ability of players to coordinate and collude.

All aTwitter