- 2 days ago
Danny and Tobi analyze the Commanders' room at tackle ahead of training camp.
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00:00Mission group a day keeps the program director at bay.
00:02Welcome back.
00:03Grant Nanny here on the fan.
00:04Tobes in for GP.
00:08Training camp's next week, people.
00:09Training camp.
00:10Football training camp.
00:12We're counting down the days till there's no real football content.
00:17They're almost over.
00:18Right?
00:19We're back to the real thing.
00:20Training camp news.
00:21Who's healthy?
00:22Who's hurt?
00:22Who looked good at practice?
00:23What are we doing?
00:24How are we doing it?
00:25What does it look like?
00:25What do they look like?
00:26Is the offense head of the defense or vice versa?
00:28Et cetera, et cetera.
00:29Preseason games.
00:30It's right around the corner.
00:31She's almost here.
00:32Yeah, excited.
00:33I mean, I can't wait to see.
00:34I mean, being out there in the hot sun.
00:36It's always funny how beginning of the football season with training camp, it's such a miserable
00:42experience standing out there, but you can't wait for it.
00:44Like just standing out there baking in the sun, 9 a.m., 10 a.m., just humid as all get
00:51out, standing out there in Ashburn, but can't wait for it.
00:54So excited for a football season to get rolling.
00:57Rolling rookies report next Friday, and we're rolling in just a couple of weeks in terms
01:01of actually practicing and before you know what, preseason games and getting ready for
01:05the actual regular season.
01:06It's crazy.
01:06Yeah, Sonny Stiles and the Rooks report July 24th.
01:09So what we're doing to countdown until then, going through a position group of the day
01:14each and every day.
01:16Yesterday, we did interior offensive line.
01:17We did some running back on Monday.
01:20Today, let's talk some tackles.
01:35So we're talking offensive tackles here, Tobes.
01:37Let's do, let's get the superstar out of the way first.
01:41Laramie Tunsil.
01:41That's a badass.
01:43That's a star.
01:44That guy is great.
01:45Now, he was banged up and has been banged up on occasion.
01:47I think that's part and parcel.
01:48That's football.
01:49But we were there.
01:51It was Kansas City, right?
01:52Where he was limping off, was just totally, yeah, just clearly in a lot of pain.
01:57Tried to go.
01:58Couldn't.
01:59Enter Brandon Coleman, who did fine.
02:00We talked about him a bit yesterday.
02:03But Tunsil, when he plays, is a top seven, top ten, top five, whatever ranking you want
02:07to use, that's fine.
02:09He's an asset.
02:09He's a star at that left tackle position.
02:13Agreed?
02:13Yes.
02:14Still has it, right?
02:15I love watching him.
02:16And he's one, when you look at the trades that have been made by Adam Peters and company,
02:22it's not something, it was totally worth getting a guy that you don't have to worry about that
02:27left side anymore.
02:28And I liked Brandon Coleman in his rookie season over there at left tackle.
02:31But you had to help him out and do some different things.
02:34As soon as you got Laramie Tunsil, you didn't have to worry about the left side.
02:37It's locked down, it doesn't matter who's lining up over him, whether it's one of the
02:40best defensive ends or not, you're going to leave him alone and he's going to do his
02:44job over there.
02:45It's a blast watching him.
02:46And he's one of the few guys, honestly, Danny, that we learned this a little bit with Trent
02:50Williams.
02:51There are certain guys that I don't really care what you do, just show up and play on
02:54Sunday and we're all good to go.
02:55And that's kind of how I feel about Laramie Tunsil.
02:57If he doesn't show up to OTAs, don't care.
02:59Doesn't show up to minicamp, don't care.
03:00Has to sit out of training camp practices, no big deal.
03:03Has to miss practices during the regular season, don't care.
03:05You play on Sunday, great.
03:06That's all that matters.
03:07You're going to go out there and do your job.
03:09Laramie Tunsil is one of those, set it and forget it at left tackle.
03:11And that's a real privilege to have in the National Football League.
03:14Is there something that you could see this year?
03:17I mean, it's hard to quantify this exactly, but where Blau and company might go, we've
03:22got this asset.
03:23I think of all the users of Trent Williams, who you referenced, I think that's a good one.
03:25Where I'm going, I could just run a regular man blocking scheme.
03:31I could also let that predator hunt.
03:35I could get that guy out in space having members of the secondary recoil, make business decisions.
03:41I could run a lot of quick screens that have misdirection the other way.
03:46He can get out there and make that reach block.
03:48He can get out there and get to a linebacker, a safety, somebody coming down.
03:52I think of that with Tunsil, not quite the same as Trent Williams, who's, again, probably
03:57one of one, but close to it in terms of that level of athleticism.
04:00But Tunsil's got some of that.
04:02I wonder if you go, we can do more than just have no motion, get to the line of scrimmage,
04:07and get rid of it quickly under Kingsbury.
04:09Yeah, I think so.
04:10And I think on the flip side, too, that's part of why Josh Connerly was so attractive.
04:13When you look at him talking about whether they were going to take him or Simmons out of
04:16Ohio State, part of what was exciting about getting a guy like Connerly is his ability
04:21to move his feet, but staying specifically on Tunsil, it does feel like they've kind of
04:25just used him as the left tackle that blocks around the edge, haven't got him out in space
04:30in the screen game or something of that nature.
04:32I think that is something that he could excel at.
04:34So regardless of what they do, No. 78, that's the guy I know I don't have to worry about.
04:39I know what I'm going to get every Sunday out of that guy and the chances of him laying
04:42an egg next to none.
04:44And I feel really confident about him protecting Jaden's blind side.
04:47So let's get to Connerly.
04:48This has been a mixed bag.
04:50I think that's a fair way to assess.
04:52100%.
04:52Yes.
04:53So again, not gospel.
04:55PFF grades have him 70th among 89 qualified tackles.
04:59That's rotational backups.
05:00That's swing tackles are ahead of him in a lot of those cases.
05:04Overall grade in the 50s when it comes to pass blocking.
05:07Low 60s rank in the 50s as a run blocker.
05:10I think his rookie year really soured a lot of people on him.
05:17I think there's more coming here.
05:20I think the nuts and bolts for a really good right tackle are there.
05:25I think we've seen it at times.
05:27I'm hoping this is the year that we kind of, you know, he looks at his fist like the hero
05:32in the stupid cheesy action movie and recognizes that he's got everything he needs in the toolkit
05:36to be really, really good.
05:37Yeah, when you look at the top of this offensive tackle list, the top 10s where Laramie Tunsil
05:43was fifth, Penny Sewell was an early pick.
05:46Trent Williams was an early pick.
05:47Tristan Wirth's an early pick.
05:49Jordan Mailata's a little bit different, but, you know, obviously you get that.
05:52Darnell Wright was a first-round pick.
05:54Lane Johnson was an early pick.
05:55Andrew Thomas, early pick.
05:56Ault, early pick.
05:57Garrett Bowles.
05:58Like, you don't get many guys that are very elite at their position at 29.
06:04And so, for Josh Connerly, the reason he was available at 29 is because there was going
06:09to be some development that was needed.
06:12He could have gone back to school for another year at Oregon, and maybe he's in a top-five
06:17conversation, but instead he decides to come out.
06:19So, you had to understand when you draft a guy at 29 that you hope can be your starting
06:24right tackle of the future, that there's going to be some growing pains there.
06:27Because you don't get that guy if he doesn't have some growing pains and some development
06:32needed at the pick that they did.
06:34So, you saw some of that.
06:36I'll just tell you, Danny, from seeing him at OTAs and minicamp, he looks bigger.
06:40He looks like some of the baby fat that he was carrying.
06:43He's kind of growing into his grown man body a little bit more.
06:46So, I'm curious to see if he's a little bit stronger.
06:48But you saw the makings of a guy that could be a really good offensive tackle.
06:52It's just that times didn't play out that way.
06:54I think having a full year under his belt, now a full offseason to work with this, I
06:59think he's going to be in a better scheme here.
07:02Because I do think they're going to run some of that outside zone stuff.
07:05And I think even just hearing him talk, there's excitement for him to be able to get out in
07:10space.
07:10Getting him in space is the key.
07:12And I think that's where he's going to really excel.
07:14So, I think year two for him, he's going to take a big step forward.
07:18And maybe he's not knocking on the door of this top ten list anytime soon.
07:21But I do think you're going to feel really good about him at right tackle going forward
07:24after the step that he takes this season.
07:27So, again, his rookie year was not great.
07:32It wasn't.
07:33I think you're going to see a lot of two tight end.
07:35I think you see a lot of John Bates on that side to maybe help to just to be maybe
07:41early
07:41on before you leave him on an island.
07:43Because it was in vogue.
07:44It used to be when I was a kid.
07:45The good pass rusher was the left defensive end.
07:48Or the right defensive end over the left tackle.
07:50Now, there's many, if not more, on the opposite side.
07:54Well, they're just hunting their matches.
07:55Yeah, exactly.
07:56Feasting on the weaker of the two.
07:58I don't know that I want him on Brian Burns in week one solo.
08:01I don't know that yet.
08:03Eventually, you'd like to be able to leave a first-round pick on that island.
08:05Maybe you can't do that yet.
08:06I think that's okay.
08:08But there was enough throw him into the deep end.
08:11Throw him into the fire.
08:13See what comes back where you've got to be mentally tough because it's an unforgiving position.
08:17You could be great for nine plays.
08:19The 10th, you give up a sack.
08:20Everyone thinks you stink.
08:22There was enough good there.
08:23Enough deposits from going, this is still worthwhile.
08:25I still think they have something.
08:28Maybe overdrafted by a handful of picks.
08:29But at the end of the day, no one's going to remember if he was the early second round or
08:32late one.
08:33I think he can play, though.
08:35And I think this is, I don't want to say make or break.
08:37But this is the year that those of us that believe will either be validated or you'll kind of see,
08:43right?
08:44Yeah, and I feel like for him last year, obviously he started the year going up against some really good
08:48pass rusher.
08:49Struggled early in the season.
08:50That was obvious.
08:51But again, you kind of expected there to be some growing pains for him.
08:54I thought as the season went on, he showed some real improvements.
08:58And then at the end of the year kind of took a little bit of a step back to what
09:01you'd seen maybe in the middle portion of the season.
09:03So I'm hoping that a full-off season, maybe in a scheme that fits him a little bit better,
09:08where they're going to be able to get him in space with screens and different things.
09:11Even getting him on the move just for the run game.
09:13I'm excited to see what he can do.
09:15Because I do believe that there's some really good potential for him here.
09:18And even something that, okay, he's a good right tackle with Tunsell.
09:22Whenever Tunsell's done, this is a second contract guy to be your left tackle.
09:25That's kind of what I'm hoping for him.
09:27Obviously, you still need to see a lot more there.
09:29But I think he's going to show some real growth in year two.
09:32So depth-wise, just to go through that super quick,
09:35they have the greatest tackle receiver of all time,
09:39who caught Jaden Nandles' first touchdown pass, Trent Scott, as part of their rotation.
09:43Good bit of trivia there.
09:45And Coleman, sort of, I think he's one part left guard, yes.
09:49One part left tackle, yes.
09:50Filling in, we saw him do that again, the games we were at in Kansas City on the road.
09:54They've got Foster Sorrell as a college free agent, I believe.
09:58A couple other names are kind of bouncing around there.
10:00Andrew Wiley, I guess, could be a contender for a spot, too.
10:04They've got that versatility of maybe it depends on the day.
10:08The Nationals will go, this guy hits slider as well, so he'll hit ninth today.
10:12Maybe it's something to that effect, or maybe it's a type of defense.
10:14But they've got pieces that you could get away with in the short term.
10:18Yeah, I think we talked about the interior O-line.
10:20I feel like for their offensive tackle position, Trent Scott can play there.
10:25Wiley can play there because he started at right tackle before for this team.
10:28Coleman can play there, obviously.
10:30And all of those guys, maybe the exception of Scott, Coleman can play guard if need be.
10:34Wiley can play guard or tackle if need be.
10:36So they've got some versatility.
10:37I feel like across the offensive line, the still major question mark is center and even
10:42the backup center position for that.
10:44But I think you've got to feel pretty good.
10:46If you are like we are, where we believe that there's still a lot of hope left in Josh
10:50Connerly, then if you believe in that, then you feel pretty good about this tackle position
10:53because there's not many better than Laramie Tunsil.
10:55And if Josh Connerly takes a step forward and starts looking like the first-round pick that
10:59you expected him to be, then that's a pretty good tandem to be protecting your quarterback.
11:03What's going on in our lives?
11:04Nothing to do with sports.
11:05We'll do that next at 345.
11:07But that's how we do a position group of the day.
11:10Today was left tackle.
11:11Tomorrow, let's do tight end.
11:14Let's do tight end tomorrow on Thursday.
11:16We're not bound by that.
11:18I'm suggesting we do that.
11:19That could be changed in post.
11:20No guarantees there.
11:21But that's the idea.
11:22Beltway Blitz at four.
11:23Double plays.
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