Denton Day sat in for Kevin on a one-hour Sheehan Show on Friday, and of course, our resident college sports expert had a lot to say recapping Day 1 of the NCAA Tournament and looking ahead to Day 2.
But there was also a segment about the Commanders, who signed their 21st player of the offseason on Thursday by adding cornerback James Pierre, and they still have a TON of cap space left.
“Two career interceptions, 94 total tackles in four years, at the very best a depth piece; more likely than not you're gonna see him on special teams, and this is now where we are at,” Denton said of Pierre.
And while it’s great that 21 signings haven’t killed the cap, Denton needs to see more impact.
“I’d like a brief philosophy change in the way that the front office is handling this off-season – you deserve a round of applause or an award for what they’ve done with cap space, it’s an amazing accomplishment, but I’d like to get guys that are gonna start on defense,” D-Day said. “I would like to move forward, if we are going to continue to sign guys, to get guys that are actually going to play on defense. It feels like they have done a really good job bolstering the pass rush – it would be impossible not to, because once they traded Young and Sweat last year, there was zero pressure from anybody – but there's not an absolute wagon on the defensive line, particularly at the edges.”
They have guys who can rush, okay, and yes, bolstered linebacker big time, but the ‘back end needs a lot of help, and there are guys in free agency that you can still go after.’ Denton believes in Benjamin St-Juste, maybe not as a No. 1 lockdown corner but as a piece, but the other side is worrisome.
“I hope Emmanuel Forbes just had a down year last year, because the only other option is that the last regime just completely swung and missed on the kid, and he's just not a starting NFL corner,” Denton said. “That would be crippling considering that Christian Gonzalez from Oregon was drafted the immediate pick after, and before he got hurt in New England, he was playing some of the best football at the position. That would be very demoralizing if what we saw from Forbes last year is just what he is as a player. I'm hoping that's not the case, but I'm ready for them to start spending in free agency on a corner that is going to play.”
We know the Commanders are getting a QB at No. 2, and tackle is probably the next priority with the two second-round picks, with wide receiver maybe there too – but corner is NOT deep in this draft, and Day needs to see a good veteran brought in.
“Stephon Gilmore is still available, and he wasn't what he was when he was winning defensive player of the year with New England, but he's still a very good cornerback that, at the very worst, could help mentor Emmanuel Forbes,” Day said. “Xavier Howard, Tre’Davious White, Adoree’ Jackson, Stephen Nelson, Christian Fulton – there are guys that are available that you could go out and sign and not spend a lot of money on. You could go get a guy that could be plugged in immediately and help mentor Forbes while also playing good football at the position, and not have guys running wide open in the secondary like they've done for what feels like the past 40 years. You can go get a guy at a cheap price that will help that from happening, and then still draft a guy later that you then mentor with Forbes.”