Jay Gruden had one final visit with Grant & Danny on Monday, and after breaking down Super Bowl LIX, talk turned to how the Commanders will shape their offseason, and what they may need to do to compete with Philadelphia and stay near the top of the NFC East.
“You 100 percent think about that; you can't just have blinders on and just look at your own team and say, this is how I envisioned it, you have to ask what we have to do to compete with these guys,” Gruden said. “These guys are a big, strong, physical bunch, we better get some bigger guys on the lines and make sure we can compete with them in the trenches, because that's where they're winning games. I know everybody wants the flashy toys, but there’s a lot merit into matching them man for man on the lines, or we're not gonna have a chance.”
So, as you can imagine, both lines are where Gruden would start when planning the Commanders’ offseason moves.
“You have to figure out if Brandon Coleman is a starting left tackle, or are we going to move him to guard, and then who’s going to be the right guard, and where Cosmi and Wylie fit in,” Gruden said. “We got to make sure we fix that group first, and then go to the defense and figure out what to do. Are we gonna keep Payne and make sure Allen’s there, or are we gonna move on? What’s Dante Fowler’s status, because we need another pass rusher on the edge? We have to solidify the guys we want back first, then go out and start shopping for some free agents, because we can't leave the cupboard empty come draft day. You only have seven or eight picks, and the Day 3 guys are rolling the dice – sometimes even second or third-rounders are rolls of the dice – so we got to make sure we get the people back that we want on our own team, and then go out and cherry pick from some other teams and really fix some of the positions of need.”
Coleman, specifically, is a player Gruden sees as impressive as a rookie, and is someone that can be moved around if they don’t get a true left tackle but is functional there – but again, that was a third-round pick, so sometimes those dice rolls work.
But, then again, the Commanders built so much of a patchwork team and won 12 games sort of against all odds, so Gruden is concerned that trying that approach again might not work out as well the second time around.
“My biggest concern is that they had a lot of success with these patchwork players, and got a lot of use out of them, but I hope they don't think that that's the way it's going to be again,” Jay said. “You have a lot of guys that have to be re-signed, and clearly they have to upgrade some spots and get more depth. There are some good players available at spots they need, but the have to figure out who some guys are that fit the culture of the team, and how everybody fits into the masterpiece of the puzzle.”
Oh, yeah, and about wide receiver, and now Deebo Samuel wanting out of San Francisco…
“I love Deebo and what he can do, versatility-wise, and he’s physical and he'll block. Really not a lot of weaknesses in the game other than he's been hurt a little bit,” Gruden said. “You have to check trainers’ reports, but he’s a physical player that can really help a football team out because you can line them up in a lot of different places. He's very smart, very physical, and he's a tough guy, you just have to get the money right for this guy and keep him happy. The injuries come into play, because with his physical brand of football, longevity is a concern, but his most effective style of play is that physicality, so we got to make sure we, have him for the long haul.”
Gruden also gave some thoughts on Cooper Kupp and Tee Higgins, among others, so listen to it all above!