The Commanders released Dax Milne last week and Christian Holmes on Sunday, sending two more of Ron Rivera’s draft picks packing – which now leaves the tally at just four of Ron Rivera’s 18 2020-21 picks still in DC and two gone from the seven-man class of 2022.
Can’t count 2023 because half of those guys didn’t even play last year, so no one has any idea what they can do, but nine of 25 is a poor percentage any way you slice it, and four of 18 is even worse – not to mention that neither Chase Young nor Jamin Davis had their fifth-year options picked up.
So are the latest moves just regular roster churn, especially in Milne’s case, or further proof that Ron Rivera just didn’t get it on the personnel side? JP wondered if all the defensive line turnover – including adding a DT by cutting Holmes – raised eyebrows, to which Brian replied ‘you can see they’re not totally comfortable with what they have,’ and, yeah, that’s maybe an understatement on this roster.
“This is not just a Ron thing, this goes back to Bruce Allen and even some of Mike (Shanahan), there was this line between complacency and arrogance with their roster,” JP said.
“Whoever they picked, they automatically kept, because they felt that they knew more than everybody else, even though everybody saw that what you picked wasn't getting it done,” Brian replied.
But now, adding Stallworth means you have nine DTs in camp with three locks and a likely fourth penciled in with John Ridgeway…and that could spell doom for ANOTHER Ron pick, Phidarian Mathis?
“When you come here and you haven't been on the field, and somebody new comes in and they are starting to see other people do stuff that they like, that could be a problem for you,” Brian said.
“And then they add in Stallworth, a vet who has bounced around; he hasn't really found a ton of success with any one team, but he's been in the NFL since 2018 and won a Super Bowl with the Chiefs,” JP replied. “That's a dude that you bring to camp because you know he can do what you’re looking for.”
So back to the whole bad drafting thing, the guys wondered what Jamin Davis’ role will be – JP thinks “he might not be a top four linebacker or a top four end – but he’s still got a spot, unlike Sip Holmes.
“Let's not read too much into this, you’re talking about a seventh-rounder from two seasons ago, but the Ron draft picks are really starting to dwindle, and it's pretty ridiculous because we're only talking two or three seasons ago,” JP said. “The amount of guys that aren't finishing out their rookie contracts is really starting to add up, and even last year’s class is kind of quiet.”
“It’s eye opening,” B replied as JP then went through the 2022 class that is already missing two players and has a couple bubble players in the group still here.
“Look at what the new guys at linebacker and tight end have done,” JP said, “Sip Holmes is now gone, I don’t know what Chris Paul’s prospects are, and I don’t know what Mathis’ situation is. The roster lock types from Ron’s time is now fewer than 10. They’re turning over the roster fast and furious, and it seems like they have a little bit of a pattern going that they're not trying to just overhaul everything all at once. They wanted to get these guys into camp, get some pads on them, and see what they see, and I will not be surprised at all if we continue to see some churn throughout the next two weeks.”