Speaker 1: Welcome to the Command Center Podcast. I'm Julie Donaldson. For
Speaker 1: the first wave of free agency in the books, the
Speaker 1: Commanders made moves at the linebacker position, resigning Milo Eifler,
Speaker 1: Nathan Gary, and Khalik Hudson. Additionally, Washington signed a free
Speaker 1: agent Cody Barton from Seattle Santana. Moss Logan, Paulson, and
Speaker 1: Fred Smooth joined me to preview the Commander's current linebackers.
Speaker 1: So how do we feel about the linebacker unit this year? Look,
Speaker 1: Barton comes in gonna take over for Cole Holkom with
Speaker 1: that green dot. Jam and Davis did it a little
Speaker 1: bit at the end of last season as Holcombe went
Speaker 1: down to injury. But Fred, what are you expecting from
Speaker 1: Barton in this unit? I'm expecting a lot. First of all,
Speaker 1: he's a guy that started his career office especial teams.
Speaker 1: I love guys to start from the bottom and get
Speaker 1: to the top. Now as a full time starter, you
Speaker 1: got to see him play last year. He showed you
Speaker 1: not only can I handle the A and the B,
Speaker 1: get I can cover, I can go get sex and
Speaker 1: that's what I like to see from my line black.
Speaker 1: But what I really like is you see that cherry
Speaker 1: blossom back there. You store the blossom at the right tack.
Speaker 1: And he is a guy that we have to ask
Speaker 1: the question can he lead and Kenny Kyle plays? I
Speaker 1: totally agree, Fred. I mean, I think converted safety a
Speaker 1: guy with excellent covers to believe Kyle was some snap
Speaker 1: to him. I think that gets you excited a little
Speaker 1: bit more instinctive run player than Cole be interest to
Speaker 1: see how we developed and Santana, let me bring you
Speaker 1: in here, because look, Jaman Davis did wear that green
Speaker 1: dat at a certain point. If it is on Barton,
Speaker 1: what does it mean for where Davis fits in in
Speaker 1: this unit? You know, that's a great question. And I
Speaker 1: hate to say he might not be on the field
Speaker 1: on third downs. You know, that's something that Logan pointed
Speaker 1: to us, you know when we're talking about this. But
Speaker 1: I think Jamie Davis one of those guys there regardless
Speaker 1: of when he's on the fielding when he's not, he's
Speaker 1: gonna be a difference maker. Yeah. And when it does
Speaker 1: come to Davis, then you know, we saw him take
Speaker 1: some great strides from his rookie season to his second year.
Speaker 1: The game kind of slowed down from him a little bit.
Speaker 1: You saw him growing his confidence and his instincts kind
Speaker 1: of take over, letting the athleticism come to you. So, logan,
Speaker 1: what can we get from Jayman if this is his
Speaker 1: new role, taking some of that responsibility off and just
Speaker 1: letting him go out there and fly around. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I definitely think he's a guy that's going to ascend.
Speaker 1: I think he's on that right trajector. We talked about
Speaker 1: the blossoms with Barton. I think he's kind of the
Speaker 1: same way, getting better each and every day, getting much
Speaker 1: more intuitive, much smarter, understanding the techniques needs to play
Speaker 1: with and how to match him pause country coverage right,
Speaker 1: this defense is very challenging on the linebacker, a lot
Speaker 1: of intellectual load. Every year he's gotten better. I expected
Speaker 1: to get better the years, but I did like about
Speaker 1: Jamie last year he stopped thinking one thing. Defense coordinates
Speaker 1: tell us you think long when you think wrong. I've
Speaker 1: seen him to say, you know what, I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: out here, I'm gonna play football. I'm gonna go slop
Speaker 1: paint with the other guys on the other side of
Speaker 1: the ball. I want to see his tenacity and intensity
Speaker 1: raised to another level. And that happens usually when you're
Speaker 1: through thinking and just go out there and play football.
Speaker 1: In Santana, you were saying as well that like year
Speaker 1: three is really the year that you get to know
Speaker 1: who these guys really are. Is more of that household
Speaker 1: name and what to expects. I speed that from experience.
Speaker 1: I was a guy that year three was the year
Speaker 1: for me, and I saw so many other guys that
Speaker 1: came in with big names or first round draft picks.
Speaker 1: You know, I had an injury early in my first year.
Speaker 1: Jamie wasn't injury, but he had you know, when it
Speaker 1: came to playing positions, he's out of position. So second
Speaker 1: year was kind of like one of those learning years
Speaker 1: and then you saw him make a lot of plays.
Speaker 1: Year three is when he become a household name. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, if he's gonna be one of those guys
Speaker 1: that we talk about, you know moving forward, he's going
Speaker 1: to do that this year. So when it comes to
Speaker 1: the unit and the additions that they have, the losses
Speaker 1: that they suffered as well, where are we in feeling
Speaker 1: confident and where this unit currently lies right in a
Speaker 1: logan going into next season? I mean, Fred, I think
Speaker 1: Forred ten, I think it's a group that needs to improve,
Speaker 1: right Julia, group that we can add depth too, and
Speaker 1: guys like these are good football players, but they're improving
Speaker 1: football players right forty Barton specifically, I think you just
Speaker 1: want to add some death, add some veteran experience, because
Speaker 1: you can never go wrong you add a good football players. Yeah, now,
Speaker 1: never go wrong with adding them. But the thing is
Speaker 1: we play a four to five, so we're gonna have
Speaker 1: a lot of linebackers. In the question he is with
Speaker 1: these linebackers. Look at them. These are athletes sideline the sideline.
Speaker 1: The question is what about the a gap? What about
Speaker 1: their begin Yeah, And one of the things Barton was
Speaker 1: saying about coming here is he is excited to play
Speaker 1: behind that D line, which takes a little bit of
Speaker 1: pressure oft of them, but not to diminish how important
Speaker 1: the role is on the field. It's a unit that
Speaker 1: you know, for a couple of years now, we've been
Speaker 1: saying we've wanted to see some good production out of him.
Speaker 1: Hopefully this is the offseason we're going to get even
Speaker 1: more growth there. It's never too early to start scouting
Speaker 1: out our division foes. We looked at some of the
Speaker 1: free agency moves across the division. Let's go inside the
Speaker 1: moves made by our NFC East foes. And for that,
Speaker 1: I want you guys to give a grade and then
Speaker 1: you can agree or disagree. In Santana, you're going to
Speaker 1: kick us off with the Cowboys. Well, I already no smooth,
Speaker 1: gonna hate this one, so I hate. I hate as well.
Speaker 1: But I have to give the Cowboys at a a though.
Speaker 1: Two names stand out to me. We got Gilwall coming
Speaker 1: to play corner. Now we got Cooks and and he's
Speaker 1: going to talk a whole lot of trains about Cooks.
Speaker 1: But I think Cooks are still approven target in this league.
Speaker 1: Next still can be productive at Gilmore, still one of
Speaker 1: the top cornerbacks in the league. Brandon Cooks, he's an
Speaker 1: old converse see you so much hate for him. He's
Speaker 1: been productive everyway. Everybody's been hard. Fred. Okay, well why
Speaker 1: don't we go since we're not going to totally agree
Speaker 1: in the Cowboys as we should not. Anyways, what about
Speaker 1: the Eagles? Fred? Now, the Eagles, I have to give
Speaker 1: a to be honest, but just from the off season,
Speaker 1: probably not. But there's some other stuff, right, Higgles, some
Speaker 1: other stuff see everybody looking at who they lost. They
Speaker 1: lives Huggary, They a lot of t J. Hills when
Speaker 1: the Kobe Dane was drafted last year, Joan Davis, the
Speaker 1: tackle was drafted last year. So they feel some gafts
Speaker 1: up there, and don't forget for Shot Penny. I think
Speaker 1: at the end of day, Philadelphia has a plan and
Speaker 1: the executing their plan, and they have two first round
Speaker 1: draft picks this year. Yeah, they'll be able to totally
Speaker 1: restock really good rosterbility. But I really like hearing that.
Speaker 1: But it's what Philadelphia is doing right now on the
Speaker 1: trend that they are on. How about Logan closed us
Speaker 1: out with the Giants. Let me give the Giants of
Speaker 1: B minus C plus. I'm the biggest star baller fand
Speaker 1: you ever see I got Darrin Waller pajamas, Right, he's
Speaker 1: been banged up, big contract, coming off an injury, right,
Speaker 1: what's he gonna be this year? I like the move
Speaker 1: piece Sequon Barkley also coming off an injury for two
Speaker 1: years ago. Ken those guys stay healthy and know they're dynamic,
Speaker 1: But I always get nervous about paying guys a lot
Speaker 1: of money. When a nerd I'm so shocked that you
Speaker 1: lift out, you lift my parents Campbell because I feel
Speaker 1: my opportunity and chance work and what's he done right? Well?
Speaker 1: Being coached by well, you know, yeah, great coach. We'll see, Yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll see. I mean, that's what Fred says. It's time
Speaker 1: to blossom. So we'll see if some of these players
Speaker 1: do or do not. A quick programming note, at the
Speaker 1: end of the month Command Center, we'll be leaving NBC
Speaker 1: Sports Washington, but don't worry. It does not mean the
Speaker 1: show is coming to an end. We will continue to
Speaker 1: deliver you fans the best content involving your favorite team.
Speaker 1: You can watch new episodes of Command Center each week
Speaker 1: on the team's website and YouTube channel.