Speaker 1: Welcome to the Command Center Podcast. I'm Julie Donaldson. The
Speaker 1: Commanders were active during free agency this past week, adding
Speaker 1: depth at multiple positions. Washington resigned center Tyler Larson, defensive
Speaker 1: tackle Den Payne a defensive end at a robata plus.
Speaker 1: They added free agents on both sides of the ball,
Speaker 1: including quarterback Jacoby Brissette and linebacker Cody Barton. Santana Moss
Speaker 1: and Logan Paulson joined me to look at the Commanders
Speaker 1: at newest editions. I want to start right there at
Speaker 1: the quarterback position. Cody Brissette comes into this room and
Speaker 1: all along head coach Ron Rivera has said Sam Howell
Speaker 1: will have every opportunity to be the starter, but they
Speaker 1: needed somebody to come in with experience to challenge him
Speaker 1: and kind of helping grow him. Santana, what can Brissette
Speaker 1: do in helping that qb room and Howell? I think
Speaker 1: when you initially hear what coaches said, he's saying, Okay,
Speaker 1: we already want everyone to know that Sam's that guy.
Speaker 1: You brought the right guy ind and you brought a
Speaker 1: guy in Brissette who's he's a veteran for one, he
Speaker 1: can be a great mentor and he already knows role.
Speaker 1: He's been in that role. He's been in that position
Speaker 1: many of the times. He's played this role before from
Speaker 1: many different teams. So he can come in and be
Speaker 1: that great mentor and be that great leader. And also
Speaker 1: if everything hits the fan, you can go out there
Speaker 1: and say, well, we need you to win some games
Speaker 1: for us, and he can do just that as well. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just about to say, I think that's the thing
Speaker 1: that I like about it is that not only does
Speaker 1: he have that mentorship ability, but if it doesn't go well,
Speaker 1: he can win your football games. He's a good competitive guy.
Speaker 1: Everyone talks about what a great teammate he is. He's
Speaker 1: learned and studied under some of the best work with
Speaker 1: Tom Brady. So I think getting a guy like that,
Speaker 1: great teammate, great leader, great teacher is going to be
Speaker 1: extremely advantageous. He came in very humble as well, I think,
Speaker 1: understanding his position and to overall just make that room
Speaker 1: better to begin with. But it's a little bit of
Speaker 1: a different approach than what Washington head coach Ron Rivera
Speaker 1: has tried to have over the past few years, bringing
Speaker 1: in a veteran to be that guy where it hasn't
Speaker 1: necessarily worked out now saying we want to see what
Speaker 1: the young guy can do. I think we're all kind
Speaker 1: of excited to be able to see just what can
Speaker 1: how we'll do and how does that play out. Let's
Speaker 1: don't get to Cody Barton. Can he be that replacement
Speaker 1: for Cole Holcomb as he moves on? I mean, I
Speaker 1: think so. He's the guy that in Seattle. I think
Speaker 1: I had a slow start. You've been sitting for a
Speaker 1: couple of years behind you know, Bobby Wagner, one of
Speaker 1: the best linebackers ever to do it, And as the
Speaker 1: season went on, slowly slowly got better and you saw
Speaker 1: elements to his game. He's a converted safety to twitch,
Speaker 1: the explosiveness and as he got more reps the instincts,
Speaker 1: and I think he can play Mike. I think that
Speaker 1: green Dot will be very advantageous. He said that he
Speaker 1: enjoys that aspect of the game. So we're looking forward
Speaker 1: to him. And then when it comes to the offensive
Speaker 1: lineman they bring into Santana, how does that adjust and
Speaker 1: change what they could potentially do next year. I think
Speaker 1: what you look at it is doing some of the
Speaker 1: same things that we've done before. You know, we're bringing
Speaker 1: in depth. We adding guys that could be interchangeable. We
Speaker 1: adding guys that can be key players to what we
Speaker 1: do best here. And when you look at one of
Speaker 1: the guys, wildly, he's a guy that can play what
Speaker 1: tackle and guard, but you look at him a stand
Speaker 1: he will probably be, you know, predominantly a tackle. And
Speaker 1: so now he can say, Okay, the guy who did
Speaker 1: play that last year, he can go and side and
Speaker 1: play guard because he played better at that position. So
Speaker 1: it's great just to have those guys knowing that they
Speaker 1: bring at it, you know, depth to our team or
Speaker 1: to our offensive line. Yeah, I totally agree. I think
Speaker 1: that's what you're looking for. And you're kind of guy
Speaker 1: who's also a scheme fit with Eric enemy and Wiley, right,
Speaker 1: he understand Eric knows how to use him, and he
Speaker 1: knows what Eric's expectation as Wiley does. So I think
Speaker 1: that that's very advantageous. And as a player who's been
Speaker 1: on multiple teams, having a coach that can speak to
Speaker 1: your skill sets is extremely valuable and they frees them
Speaker 1: up to potentially to make more moves in the draft
Speaker 1: of the offensive line. I don't think that they're done
Speaker 1: just yet. Position groups, Just give me a group that
Speaker 1: you still want to see them build off of Santana
Speaker 1: line linebacker and I think I think DB's corner. I'd
Speaker 1: like to see another guy. I think they want to
Speaker 1: see what can Barton do and also the kind of
Speaker 1: free up jayme and just go out there and play
Speaker 1: his game. But we know they're far from done. This
Speaker 1: offseason as well, Washington brought in more depth that offensive
Speaker 1: line with the additions of Nick Gates and Andrew Wiley
Speaker 1: after five seasons in Kansas City. While he's no stranger
Speaker 1: to the Eric b Enemy offense, Logan and Santana shared
Speaker 1: their thoughts on Washington's newest guys up front. It's going
Speaker 1: to be exciting to see how the offensive line does
Speaker 1: shape up with some new additions out there as well.
Speaker 1: And we understand that this is an area in the
Speaker 1: team that really kind of needed a revitalization. Should we
Speaker 1: say so? I want to get into who are you
Speaker 1: so are anticipating being the starters in what position group?
Speaker 1: Understanding more moves could be made? Logan take us on, Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I think that you're like, as of today, it's
Speaker 1: probably Leno, it's probably Chris Paul Nowell might start the season.
Speaker 1: I think Tyler Larson, I'm a little bit worried about
Speaker 1: Chasing his health coming off the injury. And then I
Speaker 1: think Cosby and I think, um uh, and Andrews is
Speaker 1: the kids in the Kansas City. I think he's gonna
Speaker 1: that'll be the starting five. Ideally, I would probably have
Speaker 1: Andrews moving to guard at some point and Cosby play
Speaker 1: guard in draft to tackle, but I think that'll be
Speaker 1: the starting five. Yeah, you asked me today two I
Speaker 1: would say, while he at right tackle, I'm gonna cos
Speaker 1: Me at guard. I like Chase if he's healthy, and
Speaker 1: center Chris Paul or Gates at guard and Leno to
Speaker 1: be the left tackle. But like we said, you know,
Speaker 1: going forward, just knowing that we still have draft picks.
Speaker 1: You never know who can you know, be picked up.
Speaker 1: So it's gonna be interesting. Yeah, absolutely, all right, So
Speaker 1: there still some moves likely potentially to be made when
Speaker 1: it comes to the offensive line, but we'll have to
Speaker 1: wait and see. A quick programming note, at the end
Speaker 1: of the month, Command Center will be leaving NBC's Force Washington,
Speaker 1: but don't worry. It does not mean the show is
Speaker 1: coming to an end, we will continue to deliver you
Speaker 1: fans the best content involving your favorite team. You can
Speaker 1: watch new episodes of Command Center each week on the
Speaker 1: team's website and YouTube channel.