The Commanders were a bottom 5 defense against the run in 2024, can they get better without Allen?
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00:00But, Danny, one thing they'll have to do a lot better, not only if they want to win a
00:04Super Bowl, but if they want to have a dozen wins again, if they want to be a playoff team
00:08again, they are going to have to stop the run in a way that they couldn't last year.
00:14To have played as poorly against the run as they did and had the success that they did
00:19is like eating fast food every day and not gaining weight.
00:22It's not going to work very often.
00:2430th, 138 yards per game allowed on the ground.
00:2928th, 4.8 yards per carry just about given up on the ground.
00:34So now John Allen's gone, your D tackle, who at times has been very good against the run,
00:39and your linebacker, the only area you could really upgrade if Wagner walked, not in terms
00:44of overall play, I don't think you would have been able to upgrade from him, but maybe you
00:47would have just gone and gotten a speed guy who could get everywhere, 132 tackles becomes
00:51157 or something like that.
00:54You've got a year older, you're going to have a 35-year-old Mike linebacker who's going
00:56to be really good downhill and on that a gap area, but probably not get to as much
01:01cleaning things up on the outside.
01:03So how do they improve and get to a point where they are at least average or a little
01:08better than that?
01:09Stopping the run.
01:10What's so nuts about this just as a quick editorial is there were games and times where
01:14they were actually pretty good at it.
01:15That's what made this so frustrating.
01:16I mean, if you remember, you know, like a sick one, Barkley has 110 yards in the first
01:21quarter and, and 40, the rest of the way on 19 carries, whatever the numbers were, there
01:26were games at a time where they were good in week one, they were good against Tampa.
01:29They were good against not these teams aren't any good, but whether it was Carolina or Cleveland
01:33or Tennessee or new Orleans, I'm not saying these are the Baskin, the nineties runoff
01:36at, but still like they were good at times.
01:39And then at other times it looked like they had, have never seen a running play before
01:42and we're a disaster.
01:43So that's what bad teams do against the run would be my response.
01:47There's still 28th out of 32 and you line up for 17 games.
01:51Every team is good at times because the other team maybe doesn't run the ball well, or misses
01:55an assignment or whatever it is like the bad teams have those stretches too, as evidenced
02:00by the fact that with all those good stretches, you mentioned only four teams were worse.
02:03Yeah.
02:04They were still horrendous.
02:05And to that point, when Barkley rips off a hundred and a quarter and then you do a really
02:08good job for the last three quarters, didn't do that good job, respectfully.
02:12That's a failing grade.
02:13Yeah.
02:14You know, overall.
02:15Sure.
02:16So I guess to me, this is a, I think it's a big part of personnel issue.
02:19They're basically running.
02:20I mean, they, they switch and there's personnel shuffling in and out all the time, but this
02:23is basically a one gap scheme.
02:25And what you really want to do in a one gap scheme is have the guy, a defensive tackle.
02:29And then in this case, you know, your four down defensive linemen penetrate disrupt bother
02:34every once in a while, you might get gashed in the run game because somebody over commits
02:38or the plays flow in a different direction.
02:39But if you can win and get up field, you disrupt and you get teams out of it.
02:44They didn't have anybody very often or often enough that could win and get upfield Allen
02:48at one point in his career.
02:49I think it was that guy drawn pain in his contract here was that guy.
02:53This is not your Tony Syracuse, Gilbert Brown, smart car up front, occupy some blockers,
02:58let linebackers flow, keep Ray Lewis's Jersey clean, so you can go make 175 tackles.
03:03That's how this group operates.
03:04So you're vulnerable to a lot of things runs outside, especially because I think their
03:09edge defending was disastrous in that regard.
03:13They just simply didn't have the horses when Dante Fowler is your down defensive lineman
03:16on first down, he's 240 pounds, give or take, right?
03:19I mean, you think of a Trey Hendrickson, for example, is 270 pounds.
03:23Now that matters when it comes to being able to bother a tackle, push him into the backfield,
03:28maybe be more accountable against the run.
03:30They just simply were so bad at the edge.
03:32It was like a kid getting tickled and he could, he could, he could stop one.
03:36But then, you know, some other ones are getting through to different spots.
03:38They simply couldn't mask everything and all their problems.
03:42And I think also they were so terrified of their past defense that they were willing
03:46to sometimes let teams run all over them at the risk of a big place happened in the other
03:50direction.
03:51I don't know about the second part there.
03:53You may be right.
03:54I just, I'd have to look more into that and I never really watched it from that perspective
03:57to be able to agree with you.
03:59I would just say that's probably not what happened, but you might be right.
04:04The first part we will agree.
04:05It's almost going to be boring because I believe that the path has to be through what you do
04:09on the edge at defensive end, because that's where they really scuffled last year.
04:14And I can't reiterate this enough.
04:16I wish I still had these numbers.
04:17I had them the week of the Falcons game and I'm kicking myself for not looking them up
04:22again last night, but I will pull them up hopefully.
04:24And at some point today I'll throw them out there, but the way that they defended outside
04:28zone and not just specifically that look, but any kind of stretch carries to the outside
04:34last year was abysmal.
04:36They were the worst in the league for the vast majority of the season.
04:38And I keep going back to the team that does it the best Atlanta would be John and how
04:42they just ate their lunch over and over and over again.
04:45But you guys know what it looks like.
04:46I saw it with Jameer Gibbs at times against Detroit who did whatever he wanted and thank
04:51God they slowed him down by default.
04:55Detroit stopped giving him the ball, but I think that's got to be the path.
05:00You cannot go get a defensive end who's Dante Fowler where it's just pass rush speed.
05:06And I can't, you know, I'm going to play 60% of snaps.
05:09I think Fowler was like 52, 53% last year, but I'm not going to help you against the
05:13run.
05:14You could have one of those guys.
05:15That's got to be your, probably your third defensive end.
05:17You need Dorrance Armstrong, whether he's got a beef up or not to, to be healthy, played
05:2215 to 17 games and help you in that area.
05:24And then whoever you bring in here, maybe that's Harold Landry.
05:28Maybe that's Josh Sweck.
05:30Maybe that is a Trey Hendrickson.
05:32Hopefully they got to be able to stop the run because it was bad last year, man.
05:37And there's ways to get better.
05:38You could beef up at D tackle.
05:40They've gone the other direction today.
05:41You could get faster at linebacker.
05:43They've kind of gone the other direction today.
05:44So, okay, well now you really have to turn up the heat on the other positions.
05:49And if that means in the secondary, when you go get a corner, it can't be someone who's
05:52awesome in coverage, but unwilling on the outside to come downhill.
05:56Let's go to Gage in DC on the fan.
05:58How are you?
05:59Hey, how are you doing?
06:02I just, they're, they're going to have a big regression next year.
06:08Why is that?
06:09I'll make this super quick.
06:11They lost to the box first week, 17 by 17 points.
06:15They barely beat the last place giants by three.
06:18They beat a good team at the time bangles by five.
06:22They killed the Cardinals.
06:23Yeah.
06:24They killed the Browns.
06:25We can't go through the whole schedule here, but what's your larger point?
06:29They are a huge regression.
06:31They only beat three playoff teams last year.
06:34They have lost.
06:35I mean, look at their stats.
06:38No way.
06:39I mean, they lost to the sealers.
06:41Yes, they did.
06:42Yeah.
06:43The seals were playing really well at that point.
06:44I mean, you're for, you know, we're talking about week one in the playoffs.
06:48They beat Detroit and put on a clinic.
06:51They beat the box.
06:53Really good team.
06:54Both of those on the road and no, eventually gave up a ton to the Eagles.
06:59Now I actually happened to agree with his larger point.
07:02I just think last year was kind of, you know, a, a year where a lot of things went well,
07:06not to the same extent of Rivera's first year when it's seven and nine, they won the division
07:10because nobody around them was good.
07:11But I remember at the end of that year feeling like this is a bit of a house of cards thing
07:16and the bottom is going to fall out.
07:18It's not the same way this time because you have Jaden Daniels, you have the quarterback
07:21who if he's as good as we all think he is right now, then the floor is very, very high.
07:27And you're probably still going to be a playoff caliber team, but the schedule is going to
07:30get harder.
07:31You're not going to surprise anybody.
07:33For those reasons, if no other reason, I think that it's very reasonable to say, I'll take
07:38the under on their 12 wins.
07:40Yeah.
07:41They're playing better teams.
07:42That's just, that's on paper.
07:43Who knows when you play them and if they're quarter, if their quarterback's healthy or
07:46not or something's gone wrong or right.
07:48Who knows?
07:49But again, on paper, the schedule is more difficult.
07:50Let's go to JNDC.
07:51What's up, buddy?
07:52What's up you guys.
07:53Okay.
07:54Compliment.
07:55Right.
07:56You guys have the best show on radio.
07:57Love you guys.
07:58But I feel like you're talking out of both sides of your mouth.
08:02I feel like there's a reason why you let John Allen go, but you're not talking about that.
08:07You're talking about economics.
08:08So as soon as like, as soon as the draft came out, all of you guys, you, the rest of the
08:13media was saying, okay, they're going to let John Allen go.
08:16And then like, like it went straight to trading and it was completely reasonable just to let
08:21him go.
08:22Even though you say there's never been a bad one-year deal and he was on a bad one-year
08:26deal.
08:27He was on a one-year deal and we can't spend all the money, so why not play him?
08:31We need good players.
08:32So why, why let them go?
08:33Second, you let Debo come in, give a fifth round pitch, paying him 17 million.
08:38That's fine.
08:39And then when Christian Kirk gets traded for a seventh and a lower contract for a younger
08:43player, then you're like, oh, how does that make any sense?
08:46And you're laughing at Houston.
08:48Christian, Christian Kirk had two freak injuries besides that.
08:51I'm not laughing at Houston.
08:52I think it was good value.
08:54I liked the move.
08:55Yeah.
08:56Yesterday, yesterday you guys were like making fun of it.
08:58Like why would you get in a seven round pitch if they're already going to let him go?
09:02But you guys, you guys said John Allen was, okay, hang on one second.
09:05All we said yesterday was it's always hilarious when a guy that everybody knows is going to
09:09get cut, ends up getting, but if you listen, but you knew John Allen was going to get traded.
09:16Like everyone, everyone knew John Allen was going to get cut, but we were talking about
09:19him getting traded like it was a realistic thing.
09:22Everyone knew Debo was going to get cut.
09:23Just like it did yesterday with Christian Kirk.
09:26It absolutely can happen.
09:27It's not like it never happened, but this was always the most likely outcome because
09:32nobody was taking on his contract.
09:34I think most of us knew he wasn't getting traded or presumed that, but yeah, if you
09:38could find a dance partner for a desperate team who liked his tape said, we'll bring
09:42him in and extend him and give him a couple more years on his deal and spread out the
09:46money.
09:47Certainly possible.
09:48We talked about both outcomes specific to, I guess he was saying the double talk of,
09:53of liking the Debo move at similar money.
09:56It's pretty simple to me.
09:57If they would have kept John Allen, I wouldn't have had a major issue.
10:00You just have a defensive tackle who can help you that you overpay on a one-year deal.
10:04Not the end of the world.
10:05I think releasing him makes more sense because now you can then go spend more of this $16
10:10million on other areas that help your ball club.
10:13But both are true.
10:14He's, he's acting like it has to be one or the other, or they released him because they
10:17drafted Johnny Newton and don't need John Allen as much or because of the financial.
10:21My point is yes, if he made $4 million, he'd be here, but also you wouldn't be playing
10:26as much as you drafted Johnny Newton, who's good to make sure he doesn't play as much
10:31as an eight year guy who's aging and injury prone.
10:34No, we did a topic a while ago.
10:35Maybe you're out for this one.
10:36I don't remember, but I said, if I could keep one, I would actually keep Allen and try to
10:40move on from Ron Payne and whatever value I could get.
10:43Who knows if they tried to do that or not?
10:45You don't, I mean, we have no idea what the conversations were.
10:47We have no idea if there was any market for him or not.
10:50My bet is not really right.
10:51So this, this is a, this a lever kind of that you can pull.
10:54I don't like this.
10:55I would have loved to have kept John Allen.
10:57I don't know if I was clear about that.
10:58I'll, I'll say that.
10:59I just depends on what they do with it from here on out.
11:01I'm assuming they're going to, so you would not have cut him.
11:05Let me, let me try to phrase this the right way.
11:07If they're going to spend how I'd like them to spend, then I probably would have had to.
11:10But if they're going to do what I'm suspicious of, which is maybe we've done our big moves
11:14and that's it.
11:15We're going to fill in around the edges and I'm going, well, I'll, I'll overpay for a
11:18guy that's a, that's a veteran rather than not spend this money.
11:21You want that money so that you can go get better.
11:23Yes.
11:24You think there's a chance they roll a bunch of money over and don't need this.
11:27Yes.
11:28And if it works out that way, you'd rather have John Allen.
11:29Yes.
11:30Okay.
11:31Thank you for summarizing.
11:32For me.
11:33It's just simple.
11:34Uh, is he worth 16 and a half million at this point?
11:35No.
11:36No.
11:37And it's not that by the way, that's what they're saving.
11:38He actually makes like 22 and a half million.
11:40So I would rather have that money to respend now a year after drafting an offensive tackle
11:46in the second round, who personally I think is going to be better this year than John
11:50Allen would have been in Johnny Newton.
11:53That's how good I think this kid can be.
11:55So I want to be really clear about that.
11:56I think this is good business.
11:59Every situation, every position is a little bit different going and getting Debo who might
12:04be able to score seven or eight touchdowns on a one year deal for that money is worth
12:07it to me, a weapon added to Jade and Daniels.
12:11But yeah, this was not like a necessity that you had to cut John Allen because to your
12:15point we're working from two different perspectives.
12:19What I'm hoping they do, which is spend close to up to the cap to try to go win as many
12:23games as they can this year.
12:25And then that 16 million really helps you if they end up having, you know, 19 million
12:30in space when free agency is over or something.
12:33And then we sit here and say, would they be better off having 3 million in John Allen?
12:36Yeah, possibly.
12:38But let's see what they end up having available.
12:40Right now you're in the mode of creating as much space as you can.
12:43And maybe today they trade for Trey Hendrickson for all we know.
12:47And you just freed up 16 million of the money that you're going to give him.
12:50I'd sure as hell rather have him.