Atlanta, we have a depth chart! Falcons vs Broncos preseason preview | Atlanta Falcons Podcast

What's up Falcons fans and welcome back to the Atlanta Falcons podcast network. I am Will McFad and I'm joined as always by Tori Mlaney. We are just two days away from the Falcons first preseason game. We have a lot of training camp to talk about and we have a lot of news that has happened really since we last hit the mic. So there's a lot of stuff to cover today. Um, but we're going to kind of start with a little bit of Bjon talk. We have to celebrate him a little bit more. We're going to get our first kind of look at the depth chart today. >> Yeah. So, >> Houston, the depth chart has landed and it's the only thing I've looked at today. >> It literally is the only thing that Tori has been working on. >> I literally feel like I've gone crazy with this dang depth chart. I swear >> you're But you're doing the people's work. It's >> all you care about. I know. I know. >> It's like what we're waiting for. that first depth chart of the year. You and I have actually spent so much time >> between the moment that like you kind of got everything together and we hit record. >> That's all we've talked about is the depth chart. So, of course, it's what the people want to hear about. >> I know. It's crazy cuz I'm sitting here simultaneously. One side of my brain is like the depth chart doesn't matter and the other side of my brain's like but like where did they put X Y or Z person? >> We love to talk ball, right? And it's it's just new content to talk about. So, it's great. So, we will kind of continue some of that conversation, I think, a little bit here and then go through just training camp news, notes, our expectations for the preseason, what Kevin Stfansky has said about those uh will starters kind of who's going to play, what should we be looking for. Um, so that is all on today's show. And then at the end of the show, you're going to get our last nonFC South rival version of Know the Foe. Tori is gonna be breaking down the Washington Commanders who I think are kind of on the short list maybe of that non-division rival a little bit because of that game that Jane Daniels and Michael Pennix Jr. had. It's it's like those are the fun out of division and every era I feel like has has one. >> It was one of those games too where I even think I say in the know your foe segment later on that you will hear later on. I I think I said something along the lines of like this is one of those games that I that I feel like has ripple effects. Yeah. For some reason or another. And a lot of it is because of what I felt like it was two years ago and the ripple effects I felt coming off of that game and seeing what Michael Pennix did in that game. >> Are we going to have another moment like that? >> And now you're making me think even a little bit further back. But there were two years I think back toback during the the Arthur Smith era where like Don Payne knocked that ball down right at the like Washington has been those there have been some really good matchups in the last like five six years between these two teams. So I think I'm on to something. That's the short list there. [laughter] Uh but let's uh spend a little time wrapping up hot extension summer as I have dubbed it here in Atlanta. >> No more hot girl summer. It's hot extension summer. hot extension summer for the Atlanta Falcons or at least it was and what a summer it was. >> But it ends with Bjan Robinson getting done. And >> in kind of the aftermath of that, I wanted to do a story about what makes Bon Robinson just such a singular oneofone type of player. So I reached out to some of the best running backs who I watched growing up. Edin James, Tiki Barber, Fred Taylor, uh, and they were really kind enough to sit down and and talk with me about what they saw from their perspective about what makes Bjon great. And I mean, names like Barry Sanders, Leenian Tomlinson, uh, Walter Payton >> got brought up. And when you get mentioned >> Marshall Faulk, >> Marshall Faulk, like >> it was it was like such a blast from the past, but it's also helped me have an even greater appreciation for just how special Bjan is because like >> he's he not only is like in that conversation, >> he's the direct lineage of that conversation, the best like most game-changing running backs from the golden age of like offense. defensive football when we talk about all the the quarterbacks, but there was a real evolution of the running back position that took place. Work done was part of that. You know, Michael Turner was in a weird way a throwback version and that's why we all loved him was because he was just a bowling ball 1980s running back. But >> it was it was so cool hearing them and what they had to say about Bjon. His balance, his vision, his anticipation, getting to relive. I think one night I just sat and went on True Media. Yeah. And I put like EPA. I sorted like playbyplay. >> Yeah. >> And I was like, I'm just I could be here for two hours just watching like sevenyard Bjon runs. >> Yeah. >> It's it's so great. I've talked long enough. Uh Tori, I want to I want to hear your thoughts on Bjan the floor. >> I was just going to to double down on Will has worked so hard over the last what you've been working this for six weeks, >> maybe like eight weeks, maybe two months. >> It's a true like summer project. Yeah. And so make sure and check it out. It's on atlant falcons.com right now. I would absolutely recommend reading it. It's a really fun read and it is cool hearing from some of the greats about Bjon and the potential of him being a great in and of himself. >> Yeah. So I I shared it out on my social media accounts. Um go check it out on on the website. Uh but it it's a great story. It's a fun way to again kind of I think recognize and celebrate a person in the moment who we already understand to be >> in the grand scheme of league history >> a special player, right? you know, like we we covered Julio, we covered Matt, like we we understand Tony Gonzalez, like there are players um and I think there are a lot of players >> around the league like or on this team who are excellent players, but Bjon is just singular and it was really cool to to hear that. >> Um, >> awesome. >> So, let's get on to a little training camp talk, shall we? >> Let's do it. >> All right. What was the big news coming out of Wednesday morning's press conference? It was the first time since Monday that we had heard from Kevin Stfansky. He told us on Monday, hey, >> little bit early. We still got, you know, four or five days before that first preseason game. Check back with me on Wednesday. >> We might have a little news for you. He did. What was it? >> So, starters are playing in the preseason for the Atlanta Falcons. And as Kevin Stfansky has told us previously, I believe this was, you know, a couple weeks ago, his philosophy is he wants to see starters in the preseason, even just a little bit. And he said, you know, in order to get ready, you got to stay ready. year, he said something along those lines of like in order to play football, you actually got to go out and play football, which I appreciated. And um but he he did kind of talk us through the plan and it was funny because he was he even said I I think what he said was, you know, this is all in pencil right now and it'll be in pen once we get through this next practice. We'll we're sitting here now and I think the plan is probably a bit more closer to being in pen, but the plan as it is is starters will play. starters are and a a handful of starters are only gonna play about one series and he said or 10 plays. Whatever comes first. If they go out like you know >> you go three and out. Hey boys, get back out there, >> right? You're you're in for another series. But >> about 10 plays is what is what Kevin Stansky said. And that involves and when we're talking about starters, that's going to involve Tua. And so Tua is going to get the start against the Denver Broncos on Friday evening 7:00 Mercedes-Benz Stadium be there. Oh yeah. >> But the follow-up question is like does this mean that Tua is your starter in 2026 regular season? >> Starting over Mike, >> right? And the answer to that is no. Kevin Spansky was very adamant that like he's not this just because he's saying someone's a starter right now and going to start the game the week one preseason game does not mean that they're going to be the starter. and he's naming starters for week one of the regular season. So I want to make that very very clear. >> And Michael is is not even playing in this game. Right. >> Right. Yes. So what Kevin Spansky said is they'll start with Tua. He'll get that one series 10 plays then they'll go to Cooper Rush and then they'll have Jack Strand finish out the game. Michael Banick Jr. is still not cleared for 11 on 111 teamwork. And that is actually something that was also interesting today was Kevin Stansky even gave us a little bit of tidbit of information about the joint practices coming up in Indianapolis where he was saying Michael the plan for Michael Penn is to go up to Indie for joint practices and do exactly what he's been doing which is he's throwing he's he's working through individual drills. He's throwing in one-on- ones. He's throwing in seven on sevens but no team work. And we talked to Michael Penn after practice today and he's talking about his health and and trying to trust his health and everything like that, but that he feels good, but the one thing he can't do right now is take a hit. So, they're staying away from that right now. So, that's >> the big news of of all of what the last probably 24 hours has been. And I one other thing that was very well done I will add to that is we spoke to Alex Vampelt the quarterback's coach on Tuesday and he you know again kind of reiterated that they are aware of the differences in what Tua and and Mike can do they are adjusting to some degree giving Mike more of those seven on seven reps. So that work even though that is kind of the only place it can come. He's getting extensive work there, right? So Tua, you know, is again handling that 11 on 111, will get that preseason stuff, but Mike's doing more than nothing. He's doing a lot on the field. >> Yeah, [clears throat] I think we talked about that what last week. It's like it's not just he's he's not just out there hanging out like he actually is participating in a lot of practice, just not 11 on 111 stuff. >> Um, cool. We're going to get to uh the other positions kind of when we talk about the preseason game and what we want to see there, but depth chart, >> you wanna you want to kind of walk us through what we saw on Wednesday afternoon? >> Yes, I absolutely can. So, for everybody looking at the depth chart, if you're following along or have it pulled up or whatever, >> follow along. Yeah, >> follow along. You will see that Jawan Taylor and Michael Penn Jr. are listed as like the fourth reserve, like the last they're in that last column. And it's not because that's really where they are in the debt chart. It's because they are injured. They're they're given injured player designation. Yes. So all >> it's almost like a by default kind of thing. >> Yes. So I am honestly like there are so many times where I'm like I don't even care about the depth chart. Depth charts don't mean anything to me. But I know it means a lot to a lot of the people listening at home right now. >> I love to be evaluated against my peers, Tori. I love depth [laughter] charts. >> Well, I So, I I say all that to say like take depth charts with a grain of salt. Use them as a guide, not as just the official this is what's going to be for the remainder of our days in the 2026 season. Um, but I I do think it's going to be really interesting to see how some of these guys perform. talking about that. >> Was there was there any like one or two like positions that kind of immediately jumped out to you? >> Yeah, so it was interesting. I thought that the defensive lineup um particularly in the defensive front was was pretty interesting. They have it listed as kind of a fiveman front with two defensive ends and three defensive linemen. And Brandon Doris was actually listed as a defensive end which I thought Yeah. which I thought was interesting. But I think we've seen him kind of line up all over the place with this front. That was his calling card coming out of Oregon as well was that versatility where you literally saw him line up every single position on on Oregon's defense. That is a new use I think for him and an evolution maybe of what we saw to start training camp. >> But clearly they want to get their best players out there on the field. Brandon Doris is absolutely one of those. And in the wake of Jaylen Walker's injury, >> you know, you have an opening there. I would be curious to see if this evolves at all. >> Yes, I am too. >> Preseason. >> And Samson Ebucham is Brandon Durless is listed as his backup, which I thought was was also interesting because I think we both have been really pleased with what we've seen from Samson through especially the recent bulk once the pads have come online. >> Yeah, even even when Jaylen was was out there, he [snorts] was operating as the another as the other starter on the right side of the the that's curious. So again, that could just be a semantics thing with the depth chart. >> Exactly. >> Right. It could be when the ball is snapped week one. It is a Yeah. >> Yes. So, and then I'll add to Avon Terrell listed as the backup nickel, >> which was interesting to me because we've seen Avon Trail crossraining quite a bit, especially in the last maybe seven practices. Yep. >> Since the pads have come on. And so seeing him >> primarily listed and only listed as a nickel and not listed under the outside corners. Like I thought that was kind of an interesting wrinkle. Like we were talking before we hit record about does is is this an indicator of where their homes are? You know where they are going to make their homes in the 2026 season? And it's a good question for these coaches and and what they envision these guys being. You want to hear about kick return, punt return. >> Oh yes. >> Okay. So kick return, Brian Robinson Jr., Tyler Goodson, Alamade Zakias, Zachariah Branch. >> That Brian Robinson Jr. and Tyler Goodson being the first two names out of like >> Alamade and Zachariah I'm very hyped for. But I we'll get to in a second that I think >> having the combination of those two running backs back there on kickoff >> I I love it. >> Okay, great punt return. Zachariah Branch, Alamay Zakius, Dylan Drummond, Jan Dodson. >> Love all four of those. I think those are the right players in the right spots. >> Yes. And I think Dylan Drummond here, I think it's really a really nice um inclusion here for him as he's somebody who's fighting for a roster spot and fighting for um making that 53man roster. So seeing him there alongside Zachariah Branch, Lamad Zakius, and Johan Dodson I thought was interesting. One thing Kevin Stfansky has reiterated at every opportunity is like special teams is extremely important. Um, so that is a big indicator and I asked Kevin Stfansky about both Dylan Drummond and Chris Blair last week and he said that they were they were trusted valuable players. Like those are big words coming from from your head coach. So I I think that bodess very well for Dylan Drummond. >> Um, all right let's talk about the game. Let's kind of >> okay >> pivot to the players that we want to see a lot of in the game and maybe a couple of guys that you think >> could really really help themselves like guys who have >> played well out there on the practice field and and with a good first preseason game. It's like all right these guys could see the role expand in joint practices they could. So um we'll start with the positions that maybe or the players you want to see a lot of reps from on Friday night. Yeah, I really and we'll we'll get to him later on, I think, in this episode, too, but Ethan Onian has been somebody who I have been very pleased with over the last five days, the last bulk of practices. Uh, you know, he's somebody who coming into training camp, we were seeing a lot of Michael Jerrell taking those right tackle reps with the ones. that slowly but surely turned into a pretty heavy rotation between three guys between Michael Jerel, Brandon Walton, Ethan Onian. >> Yeah. >> Recently since probably Friday or Saturday, Ethan Onian has taken the bulk of the first team right tackle reps, which and I think he's looked the part. He He's tall. He's strong. There there were a couple moments where even in one-on- ones like offensive line versus defensive line, I think that he's made some really solid plays and and not and not in a vacuum either. Like it's not like he's really good in one-on- ons. It's he carries it over, I think, into some of these 11 on 111 more live periods. So, he's somebody who I I would love to see in a real true live tackling, live defensive ends going after the quarterback, like a live pocket. Does that translate? Because I think he's had a really good few days of practice, and I want to see more of it. >> I think that's a great choice. He is a player that I would expect to see a lot from. And it was funny, we we got the chance to talk to him. He talked about how much he's learning. Obviously, it's the proverbial, you know, drinking through a fire hose, but he brought up Star Wars >> and and was like, you know, it's like when Luke's kind of attacking the Death Star and there's just like everything flying around all over his head. And so later on we were like, oh, are you you a big like Star Wars movie fan? He was like, >> h [laughter] kind of looked at each other like, you're the one that brought Star Wars up. We got obviously we thought you were just had a Luke Skywalker poster in in the dorm, but >> I guess it was a great analogy. Did I ever tell you that I have a blueprint of the Millennium Falcon at in like my spare bedroom? >> I I did I think know that. I think I've seen it. I don't know. >> It was hanging in my office. >> Okay, there you go. I was like it was one of the first things I clocked that in the Marvel uh the kind of watercolor Marvel Thor Captain America watercolors. >> It was it was a huge plus in the Tory column in my mind. Yeah. Early on in our our relationship [laughter] for sure. Um that's a great choice. I am kind of looking at that nickel spot and really there are two guys so I'm going to kind of have a copout answer but I AJ Woods and Darn Holmes I just want to become a little more familiar with their games and I think these preseason games are going to be a really good opportunity to just for a three and four period stretch and this actually PSA to everybody out there. This is how I recommend watching preseason games is identify some players beforehand going in that you are curious about that you want to that you've heard us talk about that you have heard or seen people on Twitter talk about lock in on them for a full series. Just watch Ethan Onianwa. Don't watch the ball. Just watch him from snap to whistle. See what he's about. Watch the linebackers. Watch Harold Perkins Jr. That is my recommendation and that's what I'm going to be doing with the Nicholls is Darn Holmes has been a player who's had flashes for me. AJ Woods player who's had flashes for me, but I haven't been able to watch him for long stretches. >> Yeah, I'm glad you brought up Harold Perkins, too, because we've seen a lot of Kendall Daniels and Harold Perkins side by side because Divine Diablo unfortunately suffered an injury >> in the Saturday practice under the lights at Lineer High School. >> Did any indicator of if he will be out there? No indicator from Kevin Spansky. I think it there was a question asked of him on Wednesday of hey, you know, Avon Trail is working through something. Lale London, Deshawn Han, like there's a group of defenders. Yeah, there is. >> That didn't practice or were just out there. Jesse Bates the third like Brillin wasn't out there today. >> Yes. Brilland Trice. So, what are kind of some of the plans? And th some of those guys were all bulked together and so Kevin was just kind of like, "Yeah, they're all working through it and they're all in different phases." So, >> if you you give a coach an out, >> he's going to take it. >> He's going to take it, >> you know, and I can respect that. >> It's money ball. They're just giving it to you. Take it. >> Yes. But to the point, Kendall Daniels, Harold Perkins, I've been very I've been very pleased that we've gotten to see so much of them. Obviously not pleased that Divine Diablo was hurt. That's a that that's not great. and he's working through it and it, you know, Kevin Spansy did say it's nothing serious, but this is a good opportunity for Kendall Daniels and Harold Perkins to show us what they've got. And I think that there could be a potential that we see quite a bit of them in the the preseason game, particularly in that first half and how Kendall Daniels, who has the green dot right now, how he commands the defense, how he gets the play call in, how he gets guys aligned, and then Harold Perkins, how he works off of that. those two guys and how they one work as individuals but also two work as a tandem is something that I'm very very much looking forward to seeing in a live game because actually these guys can go and hit somebody. >> Yes. And that that is going to be huge. And I don't care like how old you are whether it's elementary, middle school, high school, what the first chance and opportunity to get to go hit somebody else after months of going against your own teammates is is exciting and special. Uh let's go quickly to some guys who we think with a really good performance in preseason game one. And this is giving me an idea for a totally different exercise, but it would be really interesting to almost have like a board where you like >> the positions that we enter camp with some questions with and then like the games in which we could >> close the door on them or check them off. And it's like >> quarter number two. I think if Mike Hughes has a really good solid first series and he'd be a guy that I think would be out there for one series >> then that answers a lot of the qu kind of puts a lot of stuff to bed in my mind >> right >> I would look at a player like Dylan Drummond who we mentioned if he goes out and is just very solid steady three catches kind of just does his thing >> I think he would help himself Tyler Goodson we mentioned is another player who I don't think the running back battle gets put to bed in any way shape or form I've just been impressed with him and I I think that he has kind of checked a lot of boxes in my mind and preseason game running backs are going to get a lot of action. So, let's see what he's about. >> Yeah, I'll add Brilland Trice to that as well. Don't know like how healthy he is right now because obviously he's missed the last couple of practices, but I really want to see Brilland Trice out on the field. I thought that he was doing some good things early in camp this year. And it's it's kind of one of those things where we talk a lot we were talking a lot about Clark Phillips and how Clark Phillips is somebody who always flashes in camp and is like >> very practice again on Wednesday. >> Yeah. He's just like constantly making plays and then you know you don't really see that in the regular season for one reason or another not really getting out there. But like I think that Brilan Trice is somebody who I think has flashed when he's been healthy. >> And I want to I want to get him to that point to where it's like he's not just we're not just saying like he's flashing when he's healthy. We're just saying he's flashing. Yes. And so I I really hope that >> for Brilland Trice we get to see him at some point this preseason. Like that's a hope for me for me is that like we can see something out of Brilland Trice at all. I I just for him I hope he gets to show it because he showed it to us. Like I I know it >> I would forgive you if you're kind of like, "Yeah, but I gotta see it, Will, before I believe you and Tori that like Brilen has looked great and I hope he gets the chance to to show it because he looked good in Miami." >> He looks so good in Miami. >> He looks so good at that Miami joint practices too. That's what made his injuries and the injuries that have followed so >> we were coming out of that week of joint practice. I literally had written I remember this vividly. I literally just wrote like Brillin and huge letters on my like in my notebook after that pre or not after like the second joint practice in Miami. Yeah. And it's like sweat is like dripping on it and it's like running everywhere and I'm like no Brillin tric is like it. >> You're like that meme where it's just like Brilan and like nothing else. >> Nothing else. Yeah. >> Yeah. I So, we're looking for kind of those types of performances. Somebody needs to step up and and show it in that preseason game one. You mentioned Clark Phillips. >> He has a special relationship with uh with this program with this podcast studio. He was our first ever camp champ. >> He was >> He was our first ever camp champ, which speaks to how good he's been in training camp practices. The man has been >> He flashes so much in training camp. He's everywhere all the time. >> Eric Sabert 2.0. That was my original uh camp champ. That was kind of the concept of this came from Eric Albert who's actually doing pretty well for himself. Um let's quickly catch up on just our Cam Champ over the last stretch of practices. Do you want to go first? >> You're asking who >> who is your Cam Champ since we I guess last >> since we last spoke. >> Give me Ethan Onian. I I know I've just talked about a lot about him, but I really do think he's had a really good four or five day block of practices and he's looked strong. He's looked athletic and I'm really really wanting to see what he can do in in the preseason. >> Great pick. I will say Tyler Goodson. Um I I've talked a little bit about him here, but it's his speed. I think his agility in the hole in particular has really stood out. And then we got a chance to talk to him after Saturday Night Lights. He played football in that stadium at Lener High School. It was just so cool. So I'm rooting for him as a person. And you know, that's always who I like to reward in a camp jam, too, is somebody who I I get to >> Yeah. >> kind of grow attached to during training camp. >> I love that. >> So, that will do it for today's podcast. Thank you guys so much again for listening. The next Falcons pod that you will get will be tomorrow night, Saturday morning. We will record directly after the Broncos game and recap what we saw and then kind of get a little bit of a head start on joint practices in Indiana against the Colts. I will be live on the ground bringing you kind of the coverage from that. Uh so really excited to kind of see they're going to be some great matchups. Um Falcons Audible will be be back on Tuesday to give their thoughts on the game and joint practices and everything. Um but for now let's finish it off with know the foe. Tori, you are up to bat. [music] All right guys, we're coming back at you with another Know Your Foe segment. This week we are talking about the Washington Commanders. So really quickly off the bat, Falcons will play them later in the year on the road. Could be a big-time matchup that we potentially look back on as being a a key turning point in the season for either team. And I I'll get into that in a little bit. So let's start with our starting question that we always start with. Who were the Washington Commanders last season? Well, the 2025 Washington Commanders were a 5 and12 team that for lack I tried to find a nice way to say this, but for lack of a better phrase that I found really fell off the wagon wheel after a superb 2024 season that ended with them going 12 and five, making it to the NFC Championship game. Really, it was the Jaden Daniels year of quarterback play. He was everywhere and the Washington Washington Commanders under Dan Quinn really struck a match that just lit a flame for that entire season and they were so fun to watch. Well, that wasn't necessarily the case going into 2025 despite the fact that that 2024 team had a lot of carryover into the next year and also that the expectations were raised significantly from the year before. Now, the main reason for this fall off obviously help. Jaden Daniels played only seven games because of injuries and Washington had 16 starters miss a combined 103 games. So, that's like across like how many games each individual played. I want to make that clear. The defense deteriorated pretty rapidly as the season went on because of injuries as well. The team was eliminated from playoff contention in December. All in all, because of these injuries and because of how things were piling up, it just they could never get a foothold anywhere, it felt like. So, the important context to what the 2025 season was for the Washington Commanders was that it wasn't a regression in a sense of like, oh, you it was like a flash in the pan in 2024 and then they regressed a little bit. No, it was because of this disastrous injury riddled type of season that the team that was a legitimate contender and was doing some things really well coming out of 2024 just did couldn't sustain anything because they didn't have the bodies. Uh Daniels is going to be the central figure for what this team is in 2026. They're not trying to go into this 2026 year looking for a franchise quarterback. They feel like they have it in Jaden Daniels and so when he's healthy and trying to get him back fully healthy, that's where things lie for Washington right now. So what was the offseason narrative about this team? It was about resetting the identity a little bit. Dan Quinn essentially decided that the 2025 version had become too dependent on like the individual talents of some guys and and too inconsistent across the board. He moved on from offensive coordinator Cliff Kenningsberry and defensive coordinator Joet Jr. replacing with replacing them with David Blau and Donte Jones. Specifically, Dan Quinn talked a lot this off season about wanting a different type of offensive identity that was a bit more traditional but also physical under center formation, zone runs, motion, play action rather than kind of living in shotgun and expecting Jaden Daniels to to create everything off of that. Defensively, Jones is really emphasizing speed, versatility, physicality. The broad narrative of what this team was over the off season was they they want to show that 2025 was a a fluke in and of itself and that they are a more physical and well-rounded team than even that 2024 version of themselves were. So, who was the biggest offseason departure this off seasonason? Um, there there's kind of a twofold answer here. I say it's between Bobby Wagner and Debo Samuels. Like that that is kind of where those two names mattered so much I think to the Washington Commanders organization that not having them around in this year is is pretty impactful. And they also not just those two but they also lost a lot of veteran production in obviously Wagner, Samuel, Zack Z, Austin Eckler like and a few others. So, but Wagner is I would argue the biggest like football identity loss and like who they are. He was a veteran centerpiece of the defense, major communicator and leader. And then from on the offensive side, similar to to Debo Samuel is like he he was acquired with the idea that he was giving that he he was this nice counterpart to Jaden Daniels and giving him kind of this explosive option, a dynamic weapon offensively. And so that mattered. But the reason why I have Bobby Wagner maybe as 1A and D. Samuel as 1B is because of the biggest offensive addition that the Washington Commanders made this off season, which was it has to be Stefon Diggs. Uh, and this acquisition is, you know, kind of one of one. I know I said 1A1B between Wagner and Samuels, but Stefon Diggs is Stefon Diggs. He signed that. So, the Washington Commanders this offseason signed the four-time Pro Bowl receiver to a one-year deal worth up to $12 million. He comes off of a 10,00 yard season with New England and gives Daniel another legitimate veteran separator opposite Terry McLaren. So that's that's where we land with the offseason acquisition and it's a it's kind of one of those things that separates I think offensively as they are trying to figure out what this new identity is with the new play caller because Diggs arrives just as Washington's new offense is emphasizing play action explosive throws and Dan Quinn even since Stefon Diggs has has gotten there has been on the record multiple times really praising Stefon Diggs football IQ as well as just like the physicality and and the nature of of who he is. So, it's been a lot of there's been a lot of good for Stefon Diggs in Washington according to to Dan Quinn. Um, but there is one wrinkle of of this offensive conversation that I want everybody to keep an eye on. You know, obviously we're in the middle of training camp right now and the Washington Commanders did lose offensive tackle Laramie Tonsil for most of the season because a because he suffered a torn tricep in training camp. So, they're not looking to get him back until December is what reports are saying right now. So, that's something to keep an eye on as we're talking about where this offense goes. So, finally to wrap us up, what is the team identity of the Washington Commanders and how does that match up with Atlanta? I think the fun part about this matchup particularly is that Washington and Atlanta are really trying to become somewhat similar teams. You would describe Washington as rungame centric, play action, Jaden Daniels explosive, versatile, physical defense. The goal isn't to make Daniels a 40 attempt a game quarterback. It's to make the defense respect the run, get Daniels operating from under center, the motion play action stuff to create space and then let his athleticism do what needs to be done. So that that's Washington. So the way that you would maybe characterize this matchup with Atlanta is Atlanta wants to win the game with physicality and structure. Washington wants to pretty much do the same thing. And now it's about how Jaden Daniels returns to that 2024 form that we saw him light things up in his rookie year. So I I I would say all of that and if Atlanta can force Washington, this is I think the important part. If Atlanta can force Washington to consistently execute long drives rather than giving Daniels like the explosive plays off of movement, scrambles, play action, if they can contain him, I think this this matchup can be favorable to the Atlanta Falcons. But bottom line, Washington is essentially trying to become a more physical, more disciplined, healthier team than even what they were in 2024. And they're trying to prove that 2025 was an injury riddled fluke and that's all it was. And that who they were in 2024 is who they're going to be for in the now and also in the notsodistant future. Atlanta is trying to build a new physical stfansky era identity around Bjon Robinson around some new gap style stuff incorporated with some wide zone stuff in Atlanta. Um, philosophically, I think Washington and Atlanta are actually a little bit closer than maybe what you would think, but Washington simply has this quarterback question of Jaden Daniels and how he can return to form. That's going to be the biggest indicator of how much Washington takes a step in the right direction. So, thank you guys so much for sticking with me. I know that was a lot. I know I threw a lot of different stuff your [music] way, but this is a very intriguing matchup that I am pretty interested to see how it ultimately plays out. So again, thank you guys for joining us and we will see you next time.