WEBVTT - Season in Review | Episode 80

0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:09.680
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the Command Center podcast. I'm Julie Donaldson. The

0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:12.119
<v Speaker 1>off season is in full swing, but we are taking

0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:15.200
<v Speaker 1>one last look at the twenty twenty two season. Commanders

0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:18.599
<v Speaker 1>play by play Bram Weinstein and Washington legend London Fletcher

0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:21.079
<v Speaker 1>joined me to recap the year and what they will

0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:24.079
<v Speaker 1>be looking out for heading into next season. Okay, so

0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:26.279
<v Speaker 1>let's get a little bit further into the discussion about

0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:29.320
<v Speaker 1>what happened this season for the team and defensively London. Look,

0:00:29.560 --> 0:00:31.480
<v Speaker 1>the defense really kind of held their own. They kept

0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:33.280
<v Speaker 1>them in games, but at times that showed that it

0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:35.680
<v Speaker 1>might just be you need more than that. But the

0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:38.280
<v Speaker 1>defense certainly wasn't lacking. Yeah, I was impressed with the

0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:40.839
<v Speaker 1>job that Jack Dale real to defensive coordinator deal with

0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:42.960
<v Speaker 1>this defensive unit. You know, got off to a little

0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:45.240
<v Speaker 1>bit of a slow start PLO. Once he kind of

0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:47.640
<v Speaker 1>saturday in, especially on the back end when you saw

0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:50.120
<v Speaker 1>the emergence of a Benjamin Saint Jews and the way

0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:52.800
<v Speaker 1>he played. Derek Forrest was a you know what a

0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:55.320
<v Speaker 1>goss in he was, and at the free safety position

0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:58.200
<v Speaker 1>and then play a dron playing what he was able

0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:00.600
<v Speaker 1>to do. Just you know, when you look at those

0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:02.960
<v Speaker 1>guys and what they were able to do defensively. I

0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:06.080
<v Speaker 1>was extremely impressed with what those guys were able to accomplish.

0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:08.480
<v Speaker 1>And this was without Chase Sung for the majority of

0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:10.800
<v Speaker 1>the season. So once we get a healthy Chase Young,

0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:13.440
<v Speaker 1>I feel like this defense can take it even another

0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:17.280
<v Speaker 1>step forward. I think that they played above what was

0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:19.480
<v Speaker 1>out there on the field to end up third overall

0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:21.560
<v Speaker 1>in the league is a testament to the coaching and

0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:24.440
<v Speaker 1>the teamwork, you know. I think once all of those

0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:27.160
<v Speaker 1>players up front were drafted with first round picks, we

0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:30.000
<v Speaker 1>all envisioned that, being the leadership part of this team,

0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:31.520
<v Speaker 1>that this team is going to go as far as

0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:33.800
<v Speaker 1>they take them. And I thought collectively they had an

0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:36.440
<v Speaker 1>absolutely amazing year. And I'm with London here. We didn't

0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:38.800
<v Speaker 1>even see Chase Young play very much. Emergence of Derek

0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:40.880
<v Speaker 1>Forrest was a big part of everything. With Cam Curl

0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:44.679
<v Speaker 1>in the back end, and you saw them fill in vulnerabilities.

0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:46.640
<v Speaker 1>Cole Holcom goes out for more than half the season.

0:01:46.680 --> 0:01:49.280
<v Speaker 1>They have one viable starting linebacker. They survived with that.

0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:51.760
<v Speaker 1>Benjamin say Jews starts in the slot, moves to the outside,

0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:54.040
<v Speaker 1>their thin at corner. They survived with that. I think

0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:56.880
<v Speaker 1>the defense had a really great, great season. Yeah, we

0:01:56.960 --> 0:01:58.760
<v Speaker 1>did see where I think depth at the end kind

0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:00.560
<v Speaker 1>of hurt them a little bit the linebacker and in

0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:02.880
<v Speaker 1>the secondary. But man, that d line certainly came out

0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:05.440
<v Speaker 1>and performed well. Another question is can they keep them

0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:09.000
<v Speaker 1>all together for a return next season. Now, offensively, they

0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:11.920
<v Speaker 1>just didn't get the production that they wanted. Coach Ron

0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:14.120
<v Speaker 1>Rivera said, they want to be a run first team,

0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:16.640
<v Speaker 1>but you also have Terry McLaurin, Curtis Amuel johan Dotson,

0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:18.080
<v Speaker 1>so they had to find the right balance. But that

0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:20.600
<v Speaker 1>offensive line just seemed to have issues all season long.

0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:24.120
<v Speaker 1>And again, Bram, the rotation at quarterback. Yeah, rotation at quarterback,

0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:25.600
<v Speaker 1>And I really think it comes down to, and this

0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:27.919
<v Speaker 1>is for a lot of teams situational football. They were

0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:30.120
<v Speaker 1>not good at converting in the red zone. They had

0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:32.600
<v Speaker 1>trouble converting third and shorts, fourth and shorts late in

0:02:32.639 --> 0:02:36.040
<v Speaker 1>the season in tight, close games, specifically the ones against

0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:37.960
<v Speaker 1>the Giants, which is really I think the difference between

0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:39.880
<v Speaker 1>them being in the playoffs and not being in the playoffs.

0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:42.200
<v Speaker 1>They were not able to come through. And so you know,

0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:44.239
<v Speaker 1>there's some changes clearly that need to be made, but

0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:47.280
<v Speaker 1>I think situationally, if they get better, it's just that close. Yeah,

0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:49.920
<v Speaker 1>you know, situationally need to get better, like you said,

0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:51.960
<v Speaker 1>But I think really, when you look at this office

0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:55.320
<v Speaker 1>in general, a lot of attention has been pay to

0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:58.480
<v Speaker 1>the quarterback position. I'm looking at the offensive line is

0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:02.200
<v Speaker 1>where they really need to ask and get better. Regardless

0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:04.680
<v Speaker 1>of who's playing a quarterback next year, if you don't

0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:07.560
<v Speaker 1>address the issues at the offensive lip position, you're going

0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:09.640
<v Speaker 1>to continue to have to struggles. We have heard them

0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:12.160
<v Speaker 1>in the off season before even going into this last year,

0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:14.320
<v Speaker 1>that you build from the inside out. Would they do

0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:16.960
<v Speaker 1>that on defense? They obviously need to address that this

0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:19.440
<v Speaker 1>off season on offense, and then they'll be able to

0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:22.320
<v Speaker 1>figure out just what they have potentially in quarterbacks Sam

0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:24.200
<v Speaker 1>Howe and if he can be the guy for the future.

0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:26.800
<v Speaker 1>Plus I sat down with head coach Ron Rivera to

0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:30.519
<v Speaker 1>talk about what lies ahead this offseason. All right, coach,

0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:33.800
<v Speaker 1>here we are in this auditorium and you're used to

0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:37.600
<v Speaker 1>it being full, yes, of your entire team. It's it

0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:39.840
<v Speaker 1>kind of eerie to you. It is. Come in the

0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:43.000
<v Speaker 1>parking lots empty, the building's empty, the auditorium it's just

0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:46.800
<v Speaker 1>us it is erie. I'm used to activity. I'm used

0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:48.560
<v Speaker 1>to the hustle and bustle of what's going on, and

0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:50.960
<v Speaker 1>it's kind of a different time of year for us

0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:54.760
<v Speaker 1>offseason now I know officially there really is no off season.

0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:56.320
<v Speaker 1>I don't know why they call it that, you know,

0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:58.040
<v Speaker 1>I joke that this season is kind of like you're

0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:00.640
<v Speaker 1>running a marathon but at a sprint race. Do you

0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:02.800
<v Speaker 1>feel that? And then do you feel a change of

0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:05.520
<v Speaker 1>pace to where we are now? Yes? I do for

0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:07.520
<v Speaker 1>a couple of reasons. You know. One is obviously, you

0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:09.800
<v Speaker 1>know we we we've made some changes. We're making a

0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:11.880
<v Speaker 1>change on our offensive side. I'm looking for a new

0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:15.760
<v Speaker 1>offensive coordinator, looking to do things a little bit differently. Um,

0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:19.440
<v Speaker 1>you know, we have, obviously, I think, a very talented

0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:22.160
<v Speaker 1>group of players that you know, I want to approach

0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:26.839
<v Speaker 1>a different way. I also think as we start getting

0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:29.080
<v Speaker 1>prepared going into next year, because of where we are

0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:31.719
<v Speaker 1>with our personnel, it is a situation for us to

0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:34.440
<v Speaker 1>even take a bigger step this year. What went into

0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:37.200
<v Speaker 1>making that decision offensive coordinator? And we know that you're

0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:38.880
<v Speaker 1>doing a lot of interviews, so what is it? Is

0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:41.520
<v Speaker 1>there something you're specifically looking for I'm looking for a

0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:44.600
<v Speaker 1>different way to do things. I think, you know, we

0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:47.280
<v Speaker 1>have to approach it in a way that it is

0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:49.400
<v Speaker 1>different from what we've done. It's from different one I've

0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:52.799
<v Speaker 1>been involved with. But I also think it's a chance

0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:56.240
<v Speaker 1>to to really give ourselves an opportunity to attack the

0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:59.840
<v Speaker 1>opponent in a different fashion, using different players, different for

0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:04.000
<v Speaker 1>nation groups, um, different personnel groups, shoos me in different

0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:07.800
<v Speaker 1>formations that I fail can help us when it comes

0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:10.680
<v Speaker 1>to like evaluating the talent that you do have on

0:05:10.839 --> 0:05:13.200
<v Speaker 1>offense and defense, are there groups that you're really kind

0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:15.280
<v Speaker 1>of saying, all right, this is this is what we

0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:17.480
<v Speaker 1>need to build around. This is where we are going

0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:20.840
<v Speaker 1>to win and get into the postseason. Yes, because you know,

0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:23.120
<v Speaker 1>you go into this and you say to yourself, you

0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:25.200
<v Speaker 1>know what is going to be your philosophy with with

0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:29.160
<v Speaker 1>your offense, Well, it's find your quarterback, protect your quarterback,

0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:31.080
<v Speaker 1>and put playmakers around him. And I think we've done

0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:33.800
<v Speaker 1>a really job. I like the playmakers that are around him.

0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:36.479
<v Speaker 1>They're growing, they're getting better. They're a young group. That's

0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:38.200
<v Speaker 1>the other huge plus. You know, we got a veteran

0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:40.720
<v Speaker 1>tight end and logan and we've got four young guys

0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:44.240
<v Speaker 1>surrounding him. So you look at Terry and Curtis and

0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:46.159
<v Speaker 1>we got a bunch of young guys surrounding them. And

0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:48.200
<v Speaker 1>then you look at our running back room and it's

0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:50.760
<v Speaker 1>very young, so you go, wow, we've got those guys.

0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:53.719
<v Speaker 1>So now we have a quarterback we feel pretty comfortable in.

0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:57.400
<v Speaker 1>We're going to give Sam every opportunity to to see

0:05:57.400 --> 0:05:59.840
<v Speaker 1>if he can be our starter, and we'll go from

0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:03.480
<v Speaker 1>the free agency and draft are looming, and we know

0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:05.680
<v Speaker 1>you're already doing work and meeting for all of that,

0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:09.039
<v Speaker 1>but how do you approach what position groups and what

0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:11.960
<v Speaker 1>you need on free agency versus the draft. Well, the

0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:14.039
<v Speaker 1>biggest saying first form us is which of our guys

0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:15.480
<v Speaker 1>that we want to take care of now that are

0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.160
<v Speaker 1>free agents? And you know, and I did have our

0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:21.360
<v Speaker 1>meetings with the ownership. They've been tremendous, very supportive and

0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:23.200
<v Speaker 1>the things that we want to do. So that's the

0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:25.640
<v Speaker 1>first step. Second step is now going on and doing it.

0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:27.520
<v Speaker 1>And then once we are able to take care of

0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:29.719
<v Speaker 1>the guys that we wanted to initie and make contact

0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:32.680
<v Speaker 1>and let them know what our plans are, then we

0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:36.520
<v Speaker 1>start attacking free agency itself. You know, what guys out

0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:38.360
<v Speaker 1>there from the different teams that we feel can come

0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:39.880
<v Speaker 1>in and be part of what we want to do.

0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:41.360
<v Speaker 1>And then we look at and say, okay, if we

0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:43.480
<v Speaker 1>can get those guys, these are the guys that we've

0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:45.600
<v Speaker 1>got to target in the draft. So we know the

0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:48.400
<v Speaker 1>positions that we want. Now it's a matter of finding

0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:51.880
<v Speaker 1>those guys. So you're not sprinting anymore, you're just running. Yeah, Yeah,

0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:54.560
<v Speaker 1>you're right. We'll start sprinting when we get into March,

0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:56.560
<v Speaker 1>because that's when free agency is getting ready to start.

0:06:57.480 --> 0:06:59.960
<v Speaker 1>How often are you having these meetings because while most

0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.960
<v Speaker 1>people think everybody's off on vacation, you're still here. You're

0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:05.560
<v Speaker 1>still in building. I've been meeting for two weeks with

0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:09.720
<v Speaker 1>different people with our personnel department, you know, obviously said

0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:13.040
<v Speaker 1>with the ownership, with with Jason for that matter, and

0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:16.480
<v Speaker 1>then for the different guys that I've been interviewing with

0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:19.280
<v Speaker 1>some of my different offensive and defensive coaches. When it

0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:21.080
<v Speaker 1>comes to some of the things we want to celebrate.

0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:23.000
<v Speaker 1>You've got five players going to the Pro Bowl. What

0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:25.440
<v Speaker 1>do you attest that too? Um, I think, first of all,

0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:29.440
<v Speaker 1>finding the talent and then secondly developing it and just

0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:31.440
<v Speaker 1>the way those young men have played. They all deserve

0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:33.880
<v Speaker 1>the opportunity. All right, coach, We look forward to what's

0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:36.360
<v Speaker 1>going to be an exciting offseason with you cool. Thank

0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:41.840
<v Speaker 1>you for all your Commander's news and analysis. Be sure

0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:43.960
<v Speaker 1>to tune into Commands Center weeknights with five and ten

0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:47.320
<v Speaker 1>pm on NBC Sports Washington. You can also stream on

0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:53.280
<v Speaker 1>YouTube and Commanders dot com.