Cornelius Lucas on the reasons for the Commanders' success with Kevin Sheehan

Cornelius Lucas' first season in Washington was the first season of the Ron Rivera era. How much has changed aside from the team's name – twice since he signed from Chicago in 2020 – for the franchise? "What didn't change, that'd probably be the question," Lucas told Kevin Sheehan.

"From top down," he continued. "[Adam Peters] coming in, Dan Quinn coming in, top down with the administration, the owners, the way they go about things, the things they decide to invest into, the players they decide to invest into, them drafting 5 [Jayden Daniels], the realization of talent on the roster, being able to utilize that talent in the right space, right places.

"The food they picked, the way we travel, the amount of money they put into recovery before and after travel. From just top down, it was night and day difference. I felt like I was playing college ball for three to four years compared to where I'm at now... no slight to Rivera or the past [ownership], I just felt like I personally feel like we're night and day better than the last four years. It's not even a comparison."

Lucas talks about when he saw the Commanders were going to be better this year than last, the veteran talked about the OTAs, seeing the defense come together and seeing Daniels perform "from jump."

"There was no learning curve for him," Lucas said of the rookie QB. "It was from Day 1. He was audibling, he was calling the plays, he was getting us lined up, he was moving with a quickness and a pace that I had never seen before, he was getting the ball where it needed to be. Like from Day 1 his very first reps going forward there was no rookie drop off, none of that. The guy just came in and it seemed like the offense was his for [the past] four or five years, from practice one."

To listen to the complete conversation hit the audio player above!