Does Stink think the Commanders’ draft class doesn’t? As Mark Schlereth told Chris Russell & Doc Walker on a Gridiron Tuesday, the fish rots from the head down…is NOT something you can say about this group.
“I’ve seen enough of Marcus Mariota over the years to say it’s a lock Daniels will play from Week 1; he has to be your No. 1 guy,” Schlereth said. “I looked at all the quarterbacks coming out, and the one thing about him, he's got a skill set that translates to the NFL from the standpoint of you can run some of that zone read game or RPO things using his athleticism. He has got that stuff in him, and he is exceptional athletically. I heard him say something to the effect of he wants to be the greatest running quarterback in the history of the NFL, which puts a red flag up for me because I've seen a lot of good young running quarterbacks but never seen a good old running quarterback, but transitioning from the college game to the professional game, there's a package or two that that he can execute and be really good at. Think about Jalen Hurts year two as a starter when he took his team to the Super Bowl – that was a lot of what they did. You can't live in that world forever because you'll get the snot beat out of you, so you eventually have to transition, but look at RG3: out of 2,900 yards passing, 1,200 of them came from one singular play, the X Drift, so it can be pretty simple to have some success early, and build off of it.”
So now that we have coaches and know what Daniels can do with his legs, how does Mark foresee the approach from a run game standpoint?
“That's the question, especially with the way teams try to be in so much 11 personnel – and sometimes it's almost like 10 with the way a lot of teams use tight ends in today's game – so it’s limited compared to like what the Niners do with all their personnel groupings and formations,” Stink said. “There is a nature of it where it's our five on your five and it's pretty simplistic, but there’s so much technique that has to be involved for your offensive line to be decent. That's why a lot of teams are going to a pistol now, so that they can open up both sides of it. I hate shotgun runs, but I think how San Francisco uses play-action is how they’re always one of the top teams in the league, and can turn a guy like Brock Purdy into a Pro Bowler.”
Moving on to the top offensive lineman the Commanders took, what foes former guard Schlereth think about Brandon Coleman possibly being able to handle left tackle?
“It’s a big deal to be able to move from guard and play tackle because most of us guards, myself included, could never play tackle; it's just a harder position. You've got more space and going against elite rushers, while playing guard, you're playing in a phone booth with a guy on each side of you, and, you can funnel people,” Stink said. “It’s a different animal, so if a guy has that kind of athleticism and he can play that position, then play him there. If he gets beat out or he gets a little bit exposed skill-set wise, he's not quite ready to play out there, then you move him the guard, and you could take a lot of pressure off a guy. Jonathan Ogden, a Hall of Fame offensive tackle, played guard his first year in the league. It’s a much easier transition to go into guard, because you're protected on both edges.”
And then there’s this on TE Ben Sinnott, who Stink ‘loves’ to watch:
“Watching him on tape, he reminded me of Kyle Juszczyk; versatile, a guy that's a willing participant blocking people, and can line up in the backfield,” Schlereth said. “Playing tight end in this league right now is, from a knowledge standpoint, probably the second hardest position to play in football behind the quarterback. You have to understand the angles in the running game, or what to run inline on the line of scrimmage or outside in the slot. There’s so much to know about where you have to line up and all the different things you have to do, especially in the west coast offense. There's probably more to know at that position than any other than any other position minus quarterback. If Juszcyzk or George Kittle is the comp, you just drafted yourself a Pro Bowler."
And that leads us outside to receiver, where Stink thinks Luke McCaffrey can be a stud, maybe even on the level of his big brother.
“Luke’s a football player. I'm close to Ed and the McCaffrey family, so I've known those kids their whole lives, and Luke’s knowledge of the game is almost Cooper Kupp-esque,” Stink said. “When you talk about Kupp, you're talking about a guy that's in the quarterback meetings, and he just knows – so the fact he played quarterback for that long, he understands routes, leverage, the adjustment of routes. You get all that stuff, and he's unbelievably athletic and a hard-nosed football player. Ed told me he's made such an incredible jump in his route running, which he’s really brand new at, so he'll only get better and more refined. Nobody works harder than Christian McCaffrey, and Luke has seen that and seen what it takes to play in the NFL. I guarantee you, Luke McCaffrey will be the most professional kid you have ever seen as a rookie; that kid will be dialed in, there will be no mistakes, and he will line up in the right positions and know the motions and the shifts, and he'll be able to play multiple positions. Luke will be dialed into all that and take care of his body.”
Luke told Grant & Danny that his dad was always one to look for competitive advantages, and, well, having played with Ed for six years, Stink knows it’s true.
“Eddie was the biggest freak you've ever met about things like, don't wear jeans on game days because it makes your legs heavier. I mean, just ridiculous, crazy stuff,” Schlereth said. “Eddie’s jock strap looked like a G-string, he cut it down so much. He cut out all the slots where you put your thigh pads and didn’t wear any of that because that added extra weight to his uniform, and he wore shoes that were a size too small and would cut slits over the big toes, so when he stopped and his toes jammed in the front of the shoes that they would give him some relief so his toe could poke out a little bit, because he figured that he would be a little bit faster if his shoes were a little bit smaller and they weighed a little bit less. And, he’s the guy I give credit for changing the shoulder pads in the NFL! He was wearing like kickers’ shoulder pads. I'm sure the apple doesn't fall far from the tree with Luke.”