1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Command Center Podcast. I'm Julie Donaldson. The 2 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: Commander's first round pick, John Dotson has been turning heads 3 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 1: this offseason. Santana mosson Logan Paulson broke down what makes 4 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: Dotson so explosive. Okay, so we're celebrating the fourth of July. 5 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: Now everybody likes to have the fireworks. I'll go off, 6 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 1: But if we're talking about fireworks on the field, what 7 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,200 Speaker 1: is it, Santana that makes Dotson that kind of explosive player. 8 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: I think one of the things that stands out, especially 9 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 1: from the wide receiver position, if you can have a 10 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: guy running that top speed and still get in and 11 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: out of his breaks at that speed, that alone is 12 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:49,479 Speaker 1: something different. You know, you have to be a rare 13 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:51,159 Speaker 1: breed to be able to do that. I was one 14 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: of those guys that they gave that. You know, say, hey, 15 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: that's one of the things that Tanna has gone for himself. 16 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: I see that with the hand. He's very deceptive in 17 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: his speed, but when it time to put deaf Flynn 18 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 1: the ground, he's in and out of those cuts and 19 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:04,759 Speaker 1: he's gone before you even get a chance to plain. 20 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:06,120 Speaker 1: How as open as you were even saying when you 21 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: watch him at Penn State so far showing that as 22 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:09,680 Speaker 1: well here, Yeah, I think so. I think he does 23 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:12,120 Speaker 1: a really nice job of stacking routes, like using the 24 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:14,039 Speaker 1: big out to set up the post the next time. 25 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: And he just is thinking about football at a very 26 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:19,119 Speaker 1: high level, how to beat dbs, how to manipulate defenses, 27 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:21,199 Speaker 1: and to me that leads some of his explosive stuff. 28 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: And again like his ability to accelerate when the football's 29 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: in the air, you know, very DeShawn Jackson esque. So 30 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:28,119 Speaker 1: a fantastic skill set for a young man. A lot 31 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: of girl he's so to do. But really excited about him. 32 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 1: We heard head coach Ron Riveri even saying, how you 33 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: know they look they're not going too hard against each other. 34 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: But while he was able to get the better of 35 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: a couple of our dbs out there as well, just 36 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,480 Speaker 1: early on explosive plays hopefully will follow him throughout his 37 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,119 Speaker 1: NFL career, especially his rookie season as well. For more 38 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: on what makes dot some special, I talked to Penn 39 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: State wide receiver coach Taylor Stubblefield, who spent a few 40 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: years with John in Happy Valley and coach Taylor Stubblefield 41 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: joins us now had John for a couple of years 42 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: at Pin State. Look, he gives high two is one 43 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: of his mentors helping him here. But when he was 44 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: drafted you actually went to congratulate him and also made 45 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,079 Speaker 1: a point that he came back for his senior year 46 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: for his brothers. What does that say for how it 47 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: helps him maybe get even further ready for the NFL 48 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: and also to the character of who he is as 49 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: a player. Yeah, I think that, you know, Coach Franklin, 50 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: we do a really good job here at the Penn 51 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: State of giving our guys the best information that they have. 52 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: We outsource it third party. We get information from the 53 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 1: teams around the NFL to see what his draft draft 54 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: status would be. And yeah, after his junior year, we 55 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 1: had had a meeting with him it would be best 56 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: for him to come back to help his draft status. 57 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: And he did that. He did it not own for himself, 58 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,919 Speaker 1: but also for the team because coach Franklin always says 59 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 1: that if if somebody can get drafted as high as possible, 60 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: that's better for them and it's better for Penn State. 61 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 1: And so he trusted the process. He came back, had 62 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: a heck of a year and put himself to be 63 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: with you guys, the Washington Commanders. One of the things 64 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:20,919 Speaker 1: that this team did very consciously is they went out 65 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: they wanted to get players that would be ready to go, 66 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: that you don't have to really kind of wait and develop. 67 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: Where would you say or expect him to come in 68 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: here and have an impact right off the bat. Well, 69 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: that that's going to be tough. You know, Johan is 70 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: extremely competitive and that wide receiver room there at Washington 71 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: is legit. And you know, coach Diaz is talked about 72 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: our defense coordinator here. He talked about the best players 73 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: can't have bad days, and Johan is going to make 74 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: sure that he does not have bad days, and he's 75 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: going to go in there and he's going to try 76 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: to be as consistent as possible. And it sounds like 77 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 1: he is doing a pretty good job of that. Um 78 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: and he knows that offense is about being where you're 79 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: supposed to be, when you're supposed to be there. And 80 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: then once you get that ball in your hand, then 81 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: you know your your creativity, you're you're explosive in this. 82 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:26,039 Speaker 1: That's where that comes into play um. You're playmaking, abuilding 83 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: and he obviously has that, so h, he's gonna be ready. 84 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: I know he's going to be ready mentally. NFL it 85 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: is fast, it is fast, fast, fast, so um, they're 86 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:41,279 Speaker 1: gonna get him ready for U for the season. Over, 87 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: what would you say is the least talked about the 88 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: element of his game that folks might be surprised by 89 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: how competitive he is because he's a quiet he's he 90 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: doesn't have this flamboyant demeanor or or persona about him. 91 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: He's gonna come, man, he got the little ball. He 92 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: might have some little fancy backpack, but he's probably gonna 93 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:06,840 Speaker 1: wear some you know, old dusty birkin stocks and he's 94 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:12,360 Speaker 1: gonna uh coming there and he's gonna work. So I 95 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 1: think that is going to be surprising. And then his 96 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: ability to work like his his catapult numbers um last 97 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:31,360 Speaker 1: year were offen. His his player load, the amount of 98 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: ninety percent reps H that he was doing in practice, 99 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:41,599 Speaker 1: the amount of over yards that he was running was 100 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 1: out of this world. And he never came up to 101 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: me was like, hey, coach, I need one to day 102 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,159 Speaker 1: or can I relax today. I didn't have to motivate 103 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:53,400 Speaker 1: him to work hard. He chose to work hard, and 104 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: I think that that can become an infectious especially as 105 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: he grows in his career in the NFL. We're already 106 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: seeing that the coaches are commenting on it, and the 107 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 1: fans are going to love to see the rewards from 108 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 1: that on the field once we do get to it. 109 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: A little bit of the break before we kind of 110 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:10,839 Speaker 1: get to same with pads On, but a lot of 111 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:14,200 Speaker 1: excitement already. We appreciate your time and for the work 112 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:15,839 Speaker 1: you put in to help him advance to be able 113 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: to join us here at the Commanders. Thank you, coach, 114 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:22,360 Speaker 1: Thank you for all your news and analysis. Be sure 115 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: to tune into Command Center weeknights five thirty and ten 116 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 1: pm on NBC Sports Washington, and if you miss an episode, 117 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: they're always there on our YouTube channel and our website. 118 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:33,480 Speaker 1: And while you're at at follow up Commanders on all 119 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,480 Speaker 1: social media platforms for the latest on the team. Hail 120 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: to the Commanders.