WEBVTT - Notes from the NFL Combine | Episode 85

0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:09.680
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the Command Center podcast. I'm Braham Whitstein. The

0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:13.920
<v Speaker 1>nation's top college prospects are gathered in Indianapolis to showcase

0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:17.720
<v Speaker 1>their skills in the twenty twenty three NFL Combine. Former

0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:20.680
<v Speaker 1>Washington tight end Logan Paulson joined us from Indie to

0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:23.000
<v Speaker 1>share what he's seen from the first few days of

0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:27.600
<v Speaker 1>the combine. Logan Paulson joins us now from Indianapolis. At

0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:29.760
<v Speaker 1>the Combine, today is a good day to speak with you.

0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:33.920
<v Speaker 1>Almost every mock draft that I read has Washington locked

0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:37.120
<v Speaker 1>in at sixteen on a defensive back or an offensive lineman.

0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:39.400
<v Speaker 1>And the corners were working out today. So what did

0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:43.320
<v Speaker 1>you see and hear from that position group. Yeah, the

0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:45.680
<v Speaker 1>quarterbacks did their interviews today and I think it's been

0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:47.680
<v Speaker 1>not so much what they said in the interviews, but

0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:49.880
<v Speaker 1>it's what we learned last night when we're out kind

0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:51.960
<v Speaker 1>of talking to the coaches, talking to the scouts. It

0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:54.160
<v Speaker 1>seems like Christian Gonzalez is the guy that's going to

0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:56.440
<v Speaker 1>be kind of in that top ten pick. There's a

0:00:56.440 --> 0:00:59.800
<v Speaker 1>little bit concern about Meriweather's height weight. I love his

0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:02.160
<v Speaker 1>film better. If he was there at sixteen, I'd say

0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:05.880
<v Speaker 1>locked that in one hundred percent, but obviously everyone's got

0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:08.880
<v Speaker 1>their flavor of the month. Okay, So sixteen, do you

0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:11.720
<v Speaker 1>feel like defensive back after what you've seen it heard,

0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:16.520
<v Speaker 1>seems like a likely outcome for Washington. It does seem

0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:18.839
<v Speaker 1>like likely outcome if one of those guys were to fall.

0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:22.480
<v Speaker 1>I don't think they will. Obviously. The next guy is

0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:27.880
<v Speaker 1>Joey Porter Junior excuse me, very talented, more of a

0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:30.839
<v Speaker 1>man fit kind of guy, not a true scheme fit

0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:33.560
<v Speaker 1>for this cover three that Washington likes to run. So

0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:37.199
<v Speaker 1>I think if that's the option, maybe think about trading back. Okay,

0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:39.560
<v Speaker 1>so we'll keep an eye on defensive back. How about

0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:42.840
<v Speaker 1>offensive line? Obviously that's a need as well, maybe addressed

0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:45.520
<v Speaker 1>in free agency, may be addressed early in the draft.

0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:50.760
<v Speaker 1>What are you thinking it's sixteen in terms of offensive lineman? Yeah,

0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:52.400
<v Speaker 1>I mean really, the guy that everyone is kind of

0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:56.120
<v Speaker 1>talking about is Peter Scronsky. He is outstanding from Norris Winstern,

0:01:56.440 --> 0:02:01.840
<v Speaker 1>He's super talented. Obviously there's some size concerns technician. If

0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:03.960
<v Speaker 1>you were to follow you a sixteen, he can play guard,

0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:07.160
<v Speaker 1>tackles center. That's the guy that I got my eyes gone, obviously.

0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:09.120
<v Speaker 1>Broderick Jones is the guy that we're getting a lot

0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:12.880
<v Speaker 1>of mock to tremendous athlete, but very very raw. So again,

0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:15.600
<v Speaker 1>in that situation, if one of those guys isn't available,

0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:19.680
<v Speaker 1>trade back, look at a Darnell Right, look at Dwayne Jones,

0:02:19.919 --> 0:02:24.120
<v Speaker 1>those other guys very very talented, true tackles. How about

0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:27.919
<v Speaker 1>interior offensive line? Do you think that that's a possibility

0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:33.720
<v Speaker 1>for a straight guard center or strictly a guard at sixteen? Yeah,

0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:35.600
<v Speaker 1>that's really interesting, man. I'm glad you asked that. The

0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:38.480
<v Speaker 1>guy that has kind of been in circulation is the

0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:40.960
<v Speaker 1>big guard from Florida. But a guy that came up

0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:44.560
<v Speaker 1>in the conversations last night was Tillman, the center guard

0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:47.560
<v Speaker 1>out of Wisconsin, a guy that not what he's talking about,

0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:51.959
<v Speaker 1>but obviously the NFL community is really excited about. Okay.

0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:55.200
<v Speaker 1>The other spot that obviously is of need and mighty

0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:58.120
<v Speaker 1>get addressed in free agency and might get addressed in

0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:01.240
<v Speaker 1>the draft or potentially both is lined acker where there's

0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:04.639
<v Speaker 1>no clear cut starter on this roster outside of jam

0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:06.920
<v Speaker 1>and Davis. So from your point of view of the

0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:09.360
<v Speaker 1>linebackers who are going to be working out tonight, what

0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:13.440
<v Speaker 1>do you see from that draft class. Yeah, this is

0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:16.400
<v Speaker 1>kind of really fun group. There's a guy like Jack Campbell,

0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:20.160
<v Speaker 1>who's maybe the most linebacker linebacker of all time. He's

0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:23.480
<v Speaker 1>six two forty five pounds. But for a guy like

0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:26.160
<v Speaker 1>him today, how's he gonna run? He's a little tight

0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:28.520
<v Speaker 1>in the hips, and can he kind of match some

0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:32.480
<v Speaker 1>athletic qualities to that tremendous football intuition. Then you got

0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:35.080
<v Speaker 1>a guy like the kid from Washington State who played

0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:38.160
<v Speaker 1>receiver for a couple of years. Tremendous athlete, but how

0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:40.280
<v Speaker 1>does that intuition hold up? So there's kind of all

0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:44.040
<v Speaker 1>these cool storylines around these guys. Do you think linebacker's

0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:47.880
<v Speaker 1>a possibility early in the draft for them? You know,

0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:50.440
<v Speaker 1>I don't think so. I think there's the needed offensive line,

0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:53.920
<v Speaker 1>the need a corner as long as they're not addressing

0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:56.120
<v Speaker 1>that in free agency. I think the linebacker thing will

0:03:56.200 --> 0:03:58.920
<v Speaker 1>kind of address itself later in the draft. And I

0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:02.080
<v Speaker 1>think there's enough talent, enough kind of upside players that

0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:04.960
<v Speaker 1>you feel good about it. Logan Paulson at the Combine

0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:08.960
<v Speaker 1>in Indianapolis. Thanks Logan, Thanks appreciate it. With free agency

0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:12.560
<v Speaker 1>on the horizon, former players, Satanamas said, Fred Scouth joined

0:04:12.600 --> 0:04:16.080
<v Speaker 1>me to discuss franchise tagging defensive tackle to Ron Payne

0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:18.560
<v Speaker 1>and what they're looking for in free agency. Let's start

0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:20.760
<v Speaker 1>with Ron Hayne. What did you make of the tag?

0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:23.000
<v Speaker 1>This is what a tag is to me. It's like

0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:25.200
<v Speaker 1>when you're married and you in a relationship and you

0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:27.320
<v Speaker 1>gotta go see counseling. You know, you almost at the

0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:29.520
<v Speaker 1>end right now, you know this is the last ditch

0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:31.720
<v Speaker 1>effort to say this relationship and make us grown. But

0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:32.880
<v Speaker 1>at the end of the day, we did this with

0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:36.320
<v Speaker 1>Kirk Cousins, we did this with Brandon shaff I just

0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:39.400
<v Speaker 1>think when you draft well, you cannot play and resign

0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:41.599
<v Speaker 1>that entire room. So I thought this was the best

0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:43.360
<v Speaker 1>thing to do in it came room. Those other two

0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:45.000
<v Speaker 1>did not work out in the long term deal. I

0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:47.120
<v Speaker 1>think this situation is a little bit different, though, right

0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:49.520
<v Speaker 1>I think it's I think it's not so different. I

0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:51.760
<v Speaker 1>think the only different thing about this one he actually

0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:53.960
<v Speaker 1>wants to be yeah, yeah, okay, what do you make

0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:55.800
<v Speaker 1>a pay? But I mean, just to be honest with you,

0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:58.360
<v Speaker 1>we can't keep all those guys. I mean, we drafted

0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:01.200
<v Speaker 1>it so well to where if those guys you know,

0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:04.800
<v Speaker 1>basically played up to expectations. Sooner or later, we're gonna

0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:07.279
<v Speaker 1>have to say if we didn't win at that given

0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:10.240
<v Speaker 1>time that those draft picks was here, then we lost.

0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:12.920
<v Speaker 1>You know what I mean, These guys they deserve better pay,

0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:15.920
<v Speaker 1>They deserve what they're gonna probably be tentionally. What you know,

0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:19.400
<v Speaker 1>Dron Payne show you he's worth right now. And quite frankly,

0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:21.000
<v Speaker 1>we don't have the money for that. Our team has

0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:24.120
<v Speaker 1>other needs. And last time Brown two interior players made

0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:27.320
<v Speaker 1>over fifty million dollars. It was Warren Sap and Booker

0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:30.840
<v Speaker 1>McFarland at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They managed to get

0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:33.320
<v Speaker 1>one Super Bowl out of the team. I just don't

0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:35.839
<v Speaker 1>see people doing it. They prone to play the edges

0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:38.680
<v Speaker 1>before they and play the interior guys. You're gonna wait

0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:40.719
<v Speaker 1>out Chase Young to find out what the health is

0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:42.599
<v Speaker 1>with him, and then Montes Sweat. This has been kind

0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:45.560
<v Speaker 1>of a simmering story here. He's entering the final year

0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:47.120
<v Speaker 1>of his contract too, so there's a lot of decisions

0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:48.839
<v Speaker 1>that need to be made as well. All right, as

0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:51.720
<v Speaker 1>for Bobby McCain being released, Yeah, but it seems to

0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:54.760
<v Speaker 1>show a lot of confidence in the young safeties. Well,

0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:56.719
<v Speaker 1>you got for us, you got Butler that showed us,

0:05:56.800 --> 0:05:58.600
<v Speaker 1>especially that last game of the season, that he can

0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:02.160
<v Speaker 1>really go out here and be called upon and an answer.

0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:03.920
<v Speaker 1>So when you saw him, Macame, I think it was

0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:06.320
<v Speaker 1>a down year for him. He played well, he didn't

0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:08.320
<v Speaker 1>play as well as he played the year before. So

0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:11.320
<v Speaker 1>he was expendable. He wasn't versatile for them, Yeah, different,

0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:12.920
<v Speaker 1>he was versatile, and then that time he tried to

0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:14.680
<v Speaker 1>make him cover too much. I think, yeah, you know

0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:17.320
<v Speaker 1>him a knife but losing the stale. But I think

0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:19.320
<v Speaker 1>he was out there more for his leadership. He was

0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:21.760
<v Speaker 1>out there more for his communication skills, and this is

0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:24.000
<v Speaker 1>what they're gonna have to replace. Like person, but is

0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:25.760
<v Speaker 1>one of those guys play one hundred mile per hour,

0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:27.960
<v Speaker 1>not thinking all the time. He needs somebody to slew

0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:29.640
<v Speaker 1>him down and talk to him. So I look for

0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:32.040
<v Speaker 1>him in the off season to sign a veteran presence

0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:34.080
<v Speaker 1>back there with those defensive backs. Okay, so where's the

0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:36.440
<v Speaker 1>focus go next? They've done some of their business here.

0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:38.680
<v Speaker 1>Paint is at least in toe for this season. We'll

0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:42.600
<v Speaker 1>see beyond. There are holes offensive line, linebacker, corner. What

0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:44.719
<v Speaker 1>do you think the focus is? Fat boys? If you

0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:48.000
<v Speaker 1>don't smell like bacon. I don't want you. I want guys.

0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:50.240
<v Speaker 1>There's three hundred pounds that can move people. I want

0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:52.080
<v Speaker 1>people to kick people out the club. It has to

0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:54.600
<v Speaker 1>be the offensive life, and it has to be the linebackers. Yeah,

0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:56.560
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I mean, I gotta I got a second that.

0:06:56.680 --> 0:06:59.720
<v Speaker 1>I think offensive line is probably the top priority. We

0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:02.440
<v Speaker 1>want to look at linebacker snakes and then cornerbacks. Cornerback

0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:05.440
<v Speaker 1>should be bottom bottom of the list. But those two positions,

0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:07.560
<v Speaker 1>offensive line and linebacker, to me, I think those are

0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:10.200
<v Speaker 1>key for your offense and your free agency of the draft.

0:07:10.280 --> 0:07:12.160
<v Speaker 1>Or I need to let both With the linebackers, I

0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:14.280
<v Speaker 1>need an older linebacker because I need a leader help

0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:18.080
<v Speaker 1>I did. I need some youth to to incorporate into that.

0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:20.000
<v Speaker 1>So I want to get a little bit of everything.

0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:24.800
<v Speaker 1>For all your news and analysis, be sure to tune

0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:28.560
<v Speaker 1>into command Center weeknights at five and ten pm on

0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:31.920
<v Speaker 1>NBC Sports Washington. You can also stream on YouTube and

0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:36.360
<v Speaker 1>Commanders dot com.