Dan Quinn said that the narratives around the Commanders’ WR room were outsiders’ only, telling the media that ‘we don't care about that, I just want guys that are competing playing their best.’
If that’s the case, well…
“It’s hard to watch so far and not realize that Dyami Brown, outside of Terry McLaurin, seems to be having the best camp, the best chemistry with Jayden,” JP Finlay said. “All of that could change fast, because they spread the ball around to a lot of people, but people have decided definitively that Brown can't be good because he hasn't been good in three years, and I'm sure there's statistical support for that.”
Maybe, but this is a new era.
“My only counter to it, and not that the lack of production was on the same level because Dyami's lack of production for three years is really pretty remarkable, but I would also encourage people to look at the overall offensive lack of production – Nico Collins balled out last year, and are we all aware of what he was for two years prior to that?” JP asked. “CJ Stroud shows up and he has 80 catches for 1,300 yards and eight touchdowns – like, this can change pretty quick.”
“And also, we have the conversation about contract years and why guys play better, and my assessment has always been normally a contract year is a guy in his fourth or fifth year, which means they know now how to play,” BMitch replied. “London Fletcher stated the other day that guys now know what the league expects, they know their routine and they know exactly what to do. A lot of guys don't get comfortable until after their second year in the league – you get a few people that roll in like a Jayden who seem like they already know they belong – but Dyami now comes in with a staff who seems to be giving him an equal and fair chance to go out there and compete; other people, no matter what he did in preseason, he didn't get in the game in the regular season anyway, and you get a quarterback who will give you that chance, who has the confidence in you. Confidence changes everything, and I don't know if it's what he did in the offseason or the whole operation happened, but he is now at that point where if he wasn't trying to play better or playing better, then he wasn't gonna be able to play better.”
JP doesn’t know if it’s simply a situation of ‘the light came on,’ because guys can always improve, but maybe it’s just a better scheme and better players, to BMitch’s point.
“To try to extrapolate from what Dyami has done for a few seasons to what he could become, or what we're seeing so far this preseason, is hard,” JP said. “He had 12 catches last season, and he’s got like half of Jayden's catches so far this preseason. I understand the extrapolation is hard to do from the numbers, all I'm saying is to think that it's impossible to occur because of the numbers is short-sighted.”
“Once you settle down in this league, if you can play, you can play, and it takes belief from your quarterback and your coaches, because they draw up stuff for people that they believe in,” BMitch replied. “As my career went on, I picked up more and more and more stuff, not because I asked for it, but because I started to produce and show them that I could do more. When they see you working, you’re going to get more opportunities.”