Sam Howell has been playing very well over the last three weeks, even as the Commanders as a whole have gone just 1-2, but his improvement has been both noticeable and reason for optimism.
But is there anything else to be positive about with the 4-6 Commanders thus far?
“We don’t want the cop out of Dan Snyder’s not here anymore, because we’re beyond that, or that Ron Rivera is going to be out of here, because we’re all there,” JP said.
So what do the Junks see as the biggest positives beyond those?
“I think Gibbie has shown that he can be a factor,” JP started off. “His numbers aren't overwhelming, he has only run the ball 30 times this year for 137 yards, but that's 4.6 yards per carry, and he has 30 catches for 269 yards and a couple of touchdowns. And, he’s number two in kick returns, so it’s not a huge thing or super impactful, but he’s been a positive.”
“He’s finally really being utilized as a pass catching back, as kind of a hybrid weapon out of the backfield, which is something that wasn't really happening under Scott Turner,” Cakes replied. “Bieniemy is getting him involved, not really as a running back but more as a receiver, which is kind of what people thought he should be the whole time. So, kudos to the staff for actually using him instead of nailing him to the bench because of his fumbling problem.”
EB and Cakes both were able to find one, even as “there really isn’t much to be positive about and we just didn’t want to pick a guy,” and Cakes’ is some addition by subtraction?
“I think it's pretty obvious mine is kind of unorthodox, but I applaud the team and the organization for looking at Chase Young and Montez Sweat and saying, ‘we're not paying you guys 20 some million dollars each in the off-season,’” Cakes said. “Why would we pay you losers who are contributing to a bottom five defense? Why would we reward you for that? We're not gonna do that, we're gonna ship you off to different teams and get draft capital back in return – and for Montez, high draft capital because you got the Bears’ second round pick, which is gonna be a high pick. So I love the fact that they looked at two guys that were not in their future plans who now will bear some fruit coming back into the organization in the form of other players.”
EB went negative though, saying he was expecting more from Cole Turner this year, before JP shut him down and they went to the phones.
Take a listen above to that conversation, and what the callers saw as positives!
