- 21 hours ago
The Commanders just lost Johnny Newton to a pec injury before the regular season even started. How big of a loss do you think this will be for Washington? Did you have high expectations for Newton or can he easily be replaced?
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00:00Washington Commanders defensive tackle Johnny Newton has undergone surgery for a torn peck
00:05and is expected to miss significant time with his 2026 return timeline still uncertain at this point.
00:13It's interesting, though, I put it out on Twitter last night, and I wrote big deal or little deal.
00:21And most of the Commanders fans were very cynical.
00:25And they were like, he's a sixth defensive tackle, just mocking him and saying that they were fine.
00:32Yeah, but they were going to use him.
00:33No, they were going to use him. It hurts. It's not going to say it doesn't hurt.
00:35It hurts the depth.
00:36It's not devastating.
00:37It's more than a little deal.
00:37It's not tonsil.
00:38It's at least a medium deal.
00:40I don't think it's devastating at all.
00:42Well, definitely not devastating.
00:43No, but what's devastating is if it keeps just adding up.
00:46Well, that's the problem. They have a list of like 10, 12 guys.
00:50And the one that I'm the most concerned about is Alec Gretti, who Kime was reporting, went into the blue
00:55tent yesterday just after on Tuesday when we were there.
00:58He had a limited whatever opportunity.
01:03They gave him like 15 reps.
01:04He was supposed to ramp up in pads yesterday, and then he had to leave, right?
01:09So presumably the calf still isn't right.
01:12And we've got an issue at center.
01:14We've got an issue.
01:15At D-Tackle, I think we're going to be okay with Payne, with Kinlaw, with Settle.
01:21Settle's banged up, too.
01:22He's nursing a calf injury right now.
01:24That's one I would worry about.
01:25So that's a limit.
01:26Shy Tuttle, a many who they have.
01:29Remember they brought in Brian Cowart.
01:31I think actually at Tackle we'll be okay.
01:34No?
01:34Maybe I'm wrong.
01:35Well, because you have your starters.
01:36We have our starters, and I think we have some depth.
01:39Johnny Newton has been okay.
01:41The depth is banged up.
01:42Yeah.
01:43Okay, Shy Tuttle might be banged up, but I don't think Omena, who is,
01:47they just brought in Cowart, who's a veteran.
01:50Newton and Settle.
01:51Newton's gone.
01:52Newton's going to be out.
01:52Newton's gone.
01:53He's dead.
01:54I'm going to guess the rest of the season.
01:55He's gone.
01:56Probably, yeah.
01:56He's like Tunsil.
01:57Dead.
01:58Yep.
01:58Gone.
01:59So you might as well not even talk about him.
02:01Devastating, no, but it's a factor.
02:02I don't think it's devastating.
02:03No.
02:04It's a factor.
02:04But I think if we lose Allegretti, it's going to be pretty devastating,
02:08because we don't have anything yet.
02:10I guess we're just going to wait until somebody cuts a veteran center.
02:13Is this something, is this a blight on Adam Peters?
02:17We were talking about this during the commercial break.
02:19All right.
02:20I like Adam.
02:23But when you look at those top picks outside of Jaden Daniels,
02:28there are some question marks, right?
02:30Ben Sinnott hasn't produced to the expectations.
02:34And this is a guy who some people were very happy that they were able to get him
02:39because of what he did in college, right?
02:41He was an All-American.
02:44He was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, I believe.
02:47Who are we talking about?
02:48I'm talking about...
02:50You're talking about Newton?
02:51I'm talking about Johnny Newton.
02:53Yeah.
02:53It's just been disappointing.
02:54Yeah, because remember he said he couldn't believe he was still available.
02:56But the reason he slipped was he had some injury issues.
02:58He had a foot injury issue that other teams were worried about.
03:04Yeah, but they resolved that he had surgery on both feet.
03:06But even when he was healthy, he didn't really take that next step.
03:09He never really...
03:10He would flash at times.
03:12Yeah, flash at times.
03:12But he was never consistent.
03:14Yeah.
03:16You always hope.
03:17So what's it say about Adam Peters and his drafts?
03:21It's probably mid right now.
03:22That's what I said.
03:23Yeah, I mean, if you're going to be fair, you've got contributors.
03:29We were talking about it, like McCaffrey, third-round pick contributor.
03:33Let's hope Sonny turns into a star.
03:34Fourth-round pick in Jalen Lane last year, contributor, special teams contributors.
03:40And Jaden, of course, is a home run, but is number two pick.
03:46If you've got a bust column and you have a hit column, it's probably about 50-50 right now.
03:54But I don't think it's fair to not really give him full credit for the Jaden because he was
03:58a two pick because guys bust on high picks all the time.
04:01So I think he gets full credit even though it was a high pick.
04:04If you want to give him bust for the others or whatever, that's fine.
04:08He could have had Drake May.
04:09Yeah, I'm not convinced that Drake May is better than Jaden.
04:13I'm not convinced Drake May is going to Hall of Fame.
04:14He wasn't in year one.
04:15He was in year two.
04:16Yeah.
04:17But Jaden's going to the Hall of Fame, but Drake May's not.
04:20I don't know yet.
04:21I didn't say he's not.
04:22I said I'm not convinced.
04:22You haven't made that declaration for Drake May yet?
04:25I'm kind of surprised.
04:25No, no, no, no.
04:26No.
04:26It's almost impossible to go to the Hall of Fame.
04:28He needs to build more and more.
04:29You've got to play like 15 years and put up crazy numbers.
04:32It's really disappointing.
04:33This was a make-or-break year for Johnny.
04:35It was a big one.
04:36They let Jonathan Allen go because of him a year ago.
04:40That's right.
04:40That's right.
04:41Eric, you can't shrug to that.
04:42That's what happened.
04:43Johnny has been a disappointment prior to the injury.
04:47Well, he had, as soon as they drafted him, a lot of people were excited because he was
04:52a top 15 talent, but the huge red flag was that this guy can't stay healthy.
04:56Yeah, I know.
04:56I don't know what kind of drama you're trying to, are you, are you, are you trying to say
05:00that Adam Peters is not good at this job or that Johnny Newton's not good at his job?
05:05I'm just saying there's, well, both.
05:06I mean, I don't want to say Adam Peters isn't good at his job.
05:09He's, he's had, I'm just telling you that these guys are missing.
05:12I'm just telling you as a Skins fan, I'm a Skins fan.
05:14You're not.
05:15But Skins fans, we're not expecting much from Johnny Newton.
05:18That's not true.
05:18That's not true.
05:19It's over.
05:20Well, at this point, maybe, but that doesn't, this is when you can revisit a draft.
05:24Three years later.
05:26But Commander's fans should expect a lot out of Johnny Newton when he's drafted in the
05:29second round.
05:30Yeah.
05:31That's the takeaway.
05:32Like, when you pick a player in the second round, like.
05:34You should, he should be a starter in his third year.
05:36I agree.
05:36He disappointed.
05:37Absolutely.
05:37And I don't, I don't care.
05:38You want to give him an F for it.
05:40I don't care.
05:41He just, I'm moving on from him.
05:43I think we, I like, we have enough depth.
05:45To handle it.
05:45That's where I'm at.
05:47If you want to say Adam Peters can't draft and Johnny Newton's a bust.
05:51Yeah.
05:52I'm not going to argue.
05:52But if those guys.
05:53I don't know if they have enough depth.
05:54I'm just saying.
05:54If those guys are a tick below.
05:56He's not that good.
05:57So you can definitely lose him.
05:59But on the depth chart, he was, he was above all those other guys you're talking about.
06:03He wasn't, he wasn't above Payne.
06:05Wasn't above Ken Long.
06:05Wasn't above Settle.
06:06No, no.
06:07None of those guys.
06:07I know they've been very, they've been talking up, before the injury, they've been talking
06:10up Shai Tuttle.
06:11He was on second team and he was going to be rotating.
06:14Yeah.
06:14I'm just, I think, I don't know.
06:16For some reason.
06:19You don't, you don't, it's not a factor to you.
06:20For some reason.
06:21I don't think it's, I don't think it's a big factor, but I think Drab wants it to be a
06:25big
06:25factor because he knows you're defensive about it.
06:28Yeah.
06:28I actually didn't know he was a defensive about it.
06:30I think it's a good talking point.
06:32And just because you're a Skins fan, that doesn't mean that other people can't have input
06:35on it.
06:36No, of course you can have input.
06:39I'm just telling you, as a Skins fan, we were, I don't think we were super expecting
06:44much.
06:44Like we've already kind of given up on Johnny Newton.
06:46Hold on.
06:47Given up on him before the injury happens?
06:49Kind of.
06:49Well, then that's it.
06:50If that's the case, that's a huge miss.
06:54Yeah.
06:54Who cares?
06:55Yeah, it's a miss.
06:55Yeah, but that's right.
06:56I don't care.
06:57Who cares?
06:57I'm not here to defend anybody.
07:00So I don't care.
07:01You can give him A or an F.
07:02My job is not to defend anybody's draft record.
07:04I could care less.
07:05I'm dealing in reality.
07:07Johnny Newton's has been a disappointment.
07:10So that's a reality.
07:11But he couldn't take that next step this year.
07:12It's a reality, but it's also a problem.
07:14If a second round pick isn't hitting in year three.
07:17It's a problem, but I think we'll be able to withstand.
07:19Here's the bottom line.
07:20We're not, we're going to miss the playoffs this year, not because of Johnny Newton.
07:24Not because of not having Johnny Newton.
07:25Okay, but like you're talking about all this depth they have behind him.
07:28I think we have pretty good depth.
07:30When we, I mean, I might know him if he walked through that door, but like you're relying on
07:35a shy tunnel?
07:35You don't think it's a problem if Adam Peters has, is having a track record of taking second
07:41round players.
07:42Well, that's a different issue.
07:43Taking second round players that have an injury history, a la Newton, a la Trey Amos.
07:48Well, that's a different issue.
07:49If you want to do this, turn this into a referendum on Adam Peters, that's fine.
07:52I'm looking at, what I care about is, are we going to win games this year?
07:57And losing Johnny Newton, I don't think is going to hurt us that much in winning games.
08:01That's what I'm looking at.
08:02You guys want to look at it and let's evaluate Adam Peters?
08:05That's a different discussion.
08:06To be fair, the injury that he's got now wasn't the injury that he had in college.
08:12Was he injury prone to college?
08:13Yeah, but it wasn't his pack.
08:14It's not what he has now.
08:16No.
08:16But he's been a disappointment.
08:17I would agree with you that it's not a huge factor, but I think it's a factor.
08:21I mean, I'll be honest, I'm not that confident in Shai Tuttle, Jeffrey Mbaugh, Byron Coward,
08:28I know he's flashed in camp, and Maurice Hurst.
08:31I feel like that depth is...
08:32Those are backups.
08:34Yeah, but those guys are going to have to now elevate with Johnny Newton's sidelines.
08:37So you think it's a big deal?
08:39It's at least a medium deal.
08:41At a minimum, it's a medium deal.
08:43I'll put that up as our junkies poll today.
08:45It's not a small deal.
08:46That's brought to you by Surfside Ice Cream Vodka.
08:48I think it's relatively small.
08:49Or Surfside Lemonade and Vodka.
08:51Relatively small.
08:51This summer, grab a Surfside.
08:53You go to a canned cocktail made with real vodka, only 100 calories and zero bubbles.
08:57It's not a seltzer.
08:57It's Surfside.
08:58Must be 21.
08:59Please drink responsibly.
08:59There'll be three choices on the poll.
09:01Big deal, medium deal, little deal.
09:03Definitely voting a medium deal.
09:05I need my phone back to put up the poll, but it'll get up there eventually.
09:09Then you start, you factor in Tunsell and Amos, and now...
09:14Well, that is a big issue.
09:17Yeah, and then Newton, Allegretti.
09:18The sheer number of injuries?
09:20Okay, so you've got four guys right there that are pretty big names that were certainly
09:23all either starters are going to play.
09:24Well, they've got Owe, and the thing that worries me, it's the same thing.
09:28He's got a calf, right?
09:29The problem with a calf is that could turn into an Achilles, and Settle has that, too.
09:34Settle's feeling the same thing.
09:36And then Chason hurt his knee.
09:38I mean, it's just starting to add up.
09:39So, second round picks, if you go back to Peter's first draft here, Johnny Newton, Ben
09:46Sinnott.
09:47Yep.
09:48Third round that year, Brandon Coleman, Luke McCaffrey.
09:50Yeah.
09:51All right.
09:51Coleman's going to start.
09:52Contributors, starter.
09:53McCaffrey could be the starting number three receiver.
09:55Then the rest of that draft was Jordan McGee, Dominic Campton, Gene Batiste.
10:02McGee has shown signs.
10:03McGee's at least a role, depth player.
10:06He's on the roster.
10:07Last year was Connerly, first round, starter.
10:11Amos, starter, second round.
10:13Jalen Lane, fourth round.
10:17Medrano, and then kind of the big hit was Bill in the seventh round.
10:21Yeah.
10:21Gory Krosky-Meritt.
10:22It's kind of early.
10:22I mean, he's only three years in.
10:23Yeah.
10:24It's kind of early to say he's not a good draft GM.
10:28Well, he's definitely had a bunch of hits.
10:29I don't think that that's fair.
10:30He's had a bunch of hits.
10:32Ben Sinnott and Johnny Newton, that first draft in the second round, are disappointments.
10:37All right.
10:38And he's got Sonny this year.
10:39Hopefully, Sonny is, you know, an instant star.
10:42Right?
10:43So.
10:43That's the hope.
10:44Yep.
10:44Hope he's.
10:45I mean, a lot of the guys.
10:46One of the leaders of the defense.
10:47A lot of the guys that you mentioned that he drafted are starters.
10:49They're contributors.
10:50I mean, you know, McCaffrey, Jalen Lane, they're at least special teams contributors.
10:57And come in and catch the ball a few times.
10:59Lane was a fourth round pick.
10:59What did you expect?
11:00I mean, the fact that he's one of the best or better punt returners in the league.
11:04Showed it last year.
11:05And your starting running back was the seventh round pick.
11:09Yep.
11:09Yeah, that's huge value.
11:10I think he has more pluses in the draft than minuses.
11:13I would agree.
11:13Johnny Newton is trending to be a minus.
11:15800-636-1067 is the loss of Johnny Newton from the defensive line of the commanders.
11:21Small deal?
11:22Medium deal?
11:23Big deal.
11:24800-636-1067.
11:26We'll take more of your calls on that next on an open line Thursday.
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