Speaker 1: Welcome to the Command Center Podcast. I'm Julie Donaldson. The
Speaker 1: Commanders host the Dallas Cowboys for their season finale on Sunday.
Speaker 1: With quarterbacks Sam Howell and the younger players expected to play,
Speaker 1: Santana Moss and Logan Paulson shared what they expect to see. Okay,
Speaker 1: So Ron there expects to play a lot of the
Speaker 1: younger guys, kind of a good chance to see what
Speaker 1: he has. And it starts right there with Sam Howell.
Speaker 1: What are the realistic expectations though, Logan, I want to
Speaker 1: start with you on this because you talk about Okay,
Speaker 1: you want to put him in a situation where he
Speaker 1: will be able to succeed, and it's the situation now
Speaker 1: where he gets the first team reps with the team
Speaker 1: coming into it. But you're also going up against a
Speaker 1: team that will come after you. Yeah, And I think
Speaker 1: that's the main thing for me is that this Dallas
Speaker 1: defense is very, very dynamic. They rushed the passer extremely well.
Speaker 1: Their first and second down philosophy is rushed the passer
Speaker 1: to stop the run like they want to get after
Speaker 1: the quarterback. You're getting a new left guard starting with
Speaker 1: Chris Paul which I'm super excited to see, but how
Speaker 1: does he handle the communication? They play multiple fronts, they
Speaker 1: bring multiple pressures, they disguise their coverages really well. This
Speaker 1: is gonna be a big, big testament to Scott and
Speaker 1: how he puts this guy in the best position to
Speaker 1: be successful. You know, it's funny watching practice days had
Speaker 1: I forgot how wal he throws the football. Got a
Speaker 1: live arm, live release, is very very physically gifted, but
Speaker 1: that only gets your show far mentally how closely they
Speaker 1: get him to be ready against his dynamic Dallas defense.
Speaker 1: And he's talking about a dynamic Dallas defense. That's what
Speaker 1: I said. You know, his athleticism is going to be key,
Speaker 1: you know him, how can he handle that pressure, you
Speaker 1: know duty get the ball? Yeah, he has a live
Speaker 1: m also, but he's gonna have to probably escape some
Speaker 1: of those rushes here and there and then you know,
Speaker 1: you know, you know, regain that that passing you know
Speaker 1: lane where he can get that ball out. So that's
Speaker 1: one of the things that I'm gonna be looking for.
Speaker 1: But it's gonna be a task that we're all gonna
Speaker 1: be looking forward to see and see how he passed.
Speaker 1: And you've played with do you remember how many rookie quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: You played with quite a few, right, Yeah, there's a
Speaker 1: certain amount of patients than you have to have, and
Speaker 1: this staff understands that. That's one of the things head
Speaker 1: coach Ron Rivera said, like, if you bring in a rookie,
Speaker 1: you have to give time for them to grow develop.
Speaker 1: But you want to see what that decision making is
Speaker 1: going to be. And they're going to get a good
Speaker 1: look at that to close out the season here to
Speaker 1: decide what do they need to do moving forward? Can
Speaker 1: Sam potentially be that guy? What about some other guys
Speaker 1: that are going to have some chance to have a
Speaker 1: little extra time out there on the field, Bogan, unless
Speaker 1: they're done offense? Who you want to see? Yeah? For me,
Speaker 1: it's the two young tight ends. And I know they've
Speaker 1: played a lot of you know, Turner and Armony Rodgers.
Speaker 1: I think they've played a lot. They've blocked really well.
Speaker 1: They've exceeded my expectation in that category. I just want
Speaker 1: to see them catch the football a little. But I
Speaker 1: remember in training camp Cole Turner was absolutely mossing every
Speaker 1: single person in sight. I want to see him get
Speaker 1: some more touches there. Armande Rodgers, is this dynamic athlete
Speaker 1: who every time he touches the football is a big
Speaker 1: play waiting to happen. What happens if you're able to
Speaker 1: feature him in the passing game a little bit more
Speaker 1: and get them some more touches. I want to see
Speaker 1: what their role is moving into next year. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: one of the things I want to look at offensively,
Speaker 1: I feel like, when you look at across the board,
Speaker 1: we have every guy you know, but the offensive line.
Speaker 1: I think this offseason is going to be we're talking
Speaker 1: about quarterback. Yeah, we need a quarterback too, but we
Speaker 1: also going to have to shop out there for those
Speaker 1: guys with protecting that quarterback. So knowing that Chris Paul
Speaker 1: is going to be playing, I've been hearing whispers here
Speaker 1: and there saying that Chris Paul is one of those
Speaker 1: guys not to be reckoned with. He's a guy that
Speaker 1: has showed these guys on our start in defense that
Speaker 1: he can be a force. And so I'm looking forward
Speaker 1: to him going out there and playing some live action
Speaker 1: and being able to show the world what you can
Speaker 1: expect next year. And when they drafted him, they said, Okay,
Speaker 1: he's going to be a player that we will develop
Speaker 1: and so his chance to get out there as well
Speaker 1: quickly here Santana, what about on defense? Well, defense, Percy Butler.
Speaker 1: You know another thing that I've been seeing since we
Speaker 1: lost Cam a little bit, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: We've been needing that safety to somebody to step up
Speaker 1: and be that other guy. So I want to see
Speaker 1: what Percy Butler has in the game where it's going
Speaker 1: to be really bad. Basically on him to go out
Speaker 1: and make some plays. Yeah. For me, it's the young
Speaker 1: linebackers Milo and Harris. Hopefully those guys step up and
Speaker 1: never agree in wide receiver John Dobson has put up
Speaker 1: some record numbers in his first year. Dodson seven touchdowns
Speaker 1: is tied for the most among rookie receivers this season.
Speaker 1: London Fletcher caught up with Dodson to get his thoughts
Speaker 1: on the season. All right, First off, Johan, congratulations man
Speaker 1: to you Nitney Lions on the Rose Bowl win be
Speaker 1: in Utah. Yeah, that's big time, big time got to
Speaker 1: go in that's a such a historic venue to play.
Speaker 1: Yet I always love seeing my Ninity Lions win. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So for you, you know, the season obviously as a
Speaker 1: team hasn't gone away we had hoped for, But you personally,
Speaker 1: you've had it ann outstanding the rookie season. You know,
Speaker 1: how how would you kind of rate your rookie season. Um? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, the games that I was
Speaker 1: able to play, I feel like I've done some some
Speaker 1: things very well, but I feel like there's there's a
Speaker 1: lot of room for improvement, um in my game, you know,
Speaker 1: from a lot of aspects of my game. Just being
Speaker 1: more comfortable out there on the field. Um. And I
Speaker 1: feel like that's just gonna come with time. Um. But
Speaker 1: you know, getting in the weight room, different stuff like that,
Speaker 1: getting with the coaches, more film work, just different little
Speaker 1: things that invest my game so that I'm even better
Speaker 1: next season. Even despite the only playing eleven games, You're
Speaker 1: one touchdown away from time the franchise rookie record for
Speaker 1: receiving touchdowns. This was set by Charlie Brown back in
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty two. I don't know if you pay attention
Speaker 1: to the any of that, or if you were aware
Speaker 1: of that. What does that mean to you? Having you know,
Speaker 1: been able to accomplish that. Yeah, you know, that'd be
Speaker 1: a very cool moment, especially for me and my family.
Speaker 1: You know, just to achieve such a goal. Um, coming
Speaker 1: in here, you know, I had high hopes for myself,
Speaker 1: high expectations for myself, and to be able to put
Speaker 1: myself in the record books with what guys like Charlie
Speaker 1: Brown and Terry. I know, I'm uh like tye with
Speaker 1: Terry or something like that. Just to be there with
Speaker 1: those guys. Uh, and they're they're already Washington. Great. So Um,
Speaker 1: it's truly a dream come true, as you as you
Speaker 1: kind of look at it, you and Terry in the
Speaker 1: same room. Have y'all had a chance to talk about
Speaker 1: that a little bit. Maybe Terry, I'm trying to try
Speaker 1: to freak your record. No, not really, you know, Terry,
Speaker 1: Terry is super humble, dude. I haven't really I haven't
Speaker 1: mentioned it to him at all, or he hasn't mentioned
Speaker 1: to me at all. Going going too this last game
Speaker 1: against the Dallas Cowboys. You you you played them down there,
Speaker 1: got a chance to experience what that rivalry is like.
Speaker 1: You know what are you looking forward to it in
Speaker 1: this game? Week a teen ageins the Cowboys playing them
Speaker 1: at home? Yeah? Um, looking forward to go out, go
Speaker 1: out the season on the right note. You know this
Speaker 1: thing on a good note. We didn't get to where
Speaker 1: we wanted to get to, but you know, we got
Speaker 1: one more tests and one more opportunity in front of us,
Speaker 1: and to go out with a bang and make sure
Speaker 1: that we do this thing right and on a good note,
Speaker 1: it would be a good good look for us. Looking
Speaker 1: back on this season, from the time you were drafted
Speaker 1: here to where you are now, what's been your favorite
Speaker 1: moment of your rookie season. Favorite moment of my rookie season.
Speaker 1: You know, honestly, I would just I would just say
Speaker 1: just coming in here and just spending time with the
Speaker 1: guys in my room. Like the guys in my room there,
Speaker 1: they're truly characters. Man. They make they put smiles on
Speaker 1: your face anytime you're around them. They their attitudes are contagious,
Speaker 1: Like you just always want to be around those type
Speaker 1: of guys. So I would just say spending the time
Speaker 1: with the guys in my room and just laughing and
Speaker 1: joking around. I'm looking forward to see you going down
Speaker 1: and breaking that record against the Cowboys, man, and hopefully
Speaker 1: we're able to get a win. So I'd love to
Speaker 1: see you. Wait, can't wait to see you play Sunday
Speaker 1: against the Cowboys for all your news and analysis. Sure
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