B&F: Was Commanders' prospect Topgolf outing weird, smart, interesting…or all of the above?

In the search for their next QB, the Commanders did something unusual this week: they had several players come in for their Top 30 visits together, and brought them to play Topgolf?

“I think, for those of us that grew up here, those that approach things with a burgundy and gold lens, Washington wanted things done differently, now they're doing them differently, take it and embrace it – and oh, by the way, this is how the Niners operate, and they’re pretty damn good, so it’s okay,” JP Finlay said Wednesday.

Unconventional, sure, but in an era where every little moment can show pros or cons, especially with someone you’re handing the keys to your franchise to, why not? Would we find this weird, JP wonders, if it was happening somewhere else?

“Just say we're some dudes from Saint Louis watching as the draft approaches and we are interested in football, and Tobi Altizer, you’re greeted with, ‘hey man, did you see the Commanders took like 30 draft prospects to Topgolf, including the top four quarterback prospects? What do you think of that?’” JP asked.

“Just seems odd. Wouldn't you want to meet with the quarterback prospects one-on-one? I know you've probably already talked to him, but it just seems a little bit different,” Tobi replied. “I don't know that it's wrong, but it's just not conventional by any means.”

BMitch’s easy reply was ‘conventional hadn't worked,’ but Jeff Walker had perhaps the right idea.

“It's not normal, but it's not odd. I think it's a smart move actually,” Jeff said. “I didn't really understand it yesterday, but if you're bringing guys on the team, especially a new team, I kind of feel like you also want to see how they interact with each other, and how they act when they're not on the football field. Chemistry is a big thing on any sports team, and if you don't have the chemistry off the field, it's going to show up on the field. Most teams that are tight off the field are pretty much successful, so I think it was a smart move.”

Alrighty…so how does Brian, random guy from Louisiana and totally not a former NFL player, feel?

“Seems a little different, but if you're gonna be working with other players on the team, I think I would like to see how they interact with other people. I know a guy that brought some guys in and he saw exactly who were the leaders and who weren't,” BMitch said. “He brought all those top level people together, so I would say good move. Not necessarily conventional, but hell, what's been happening for him before?”

And finally, JP from anywhere but Bethesda who is absolutely not an insider? That answer was also interesting in the psychological realm:

“I'm acutely aware that of the quarterbacks they're seriously considering, they've already met with all of them, had dinner with all of them, gone to Pro Days and Combines and had zooms and watched all of their tape backwards and forwards, so I don’t think they lack interaction there – but where you're going to the guys after that, depending how draft boards shake out, it's entirely possible they'll get to 36 and the top two people they're considering they never had in because they never thought they'd be there,” JP said. “As the draft shakes out, it's pretty hard to figure out who you're going to go after. Somewhere in my brain is a journalism degree, and I'd like to think about all the angles and the things that people aren't asking, and I tend to be skeptical of a lot of things; I have a natural bent towards skepticism. And, the thing I can't help but keeps coming to mind? By having all these dudes there yesterday and today, they can't be anywhere else. What if you'd rather have your last meeting with the quarterback you're considering trading up to go get, and now you can't because they're at a Topgolf draft party in Ashburn, Virginia. I just can't help but think some of that's not slightly advantageous, and I think you've got an organization now that is really trying to think of everything.”

The one thing we also know? RG3 was the obvious pick in 2012 the minute the Redskins traded up, but a dozen years later, we know absolutely nothing. And…

“When a bunch of leaders get together, the big dogs are going to be the ones who step up and take over. Is that what they really want to see? Do they want to see who's gonna fold or who's gonna prosper in that situation?” BMitch asked. “It could be that simple, or, they just say, let's get everybody in here and get one last look at them, because we may have missed something.
They're not concerned about what the other teams want, because I tell you what other teams are thinking right now: Washington can't take every one of them. What they've done, I think it's a great gesture to show people we still care, because they're going to be guys in the league for the next five to 10 years we hope, and what if they become free agents? They may say ‘man, Washington was always cool. I might go try to go there.’”

Take a listen to the entire segment above!