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of us. This episode is brought

1:01

to you by State Farm. You might say

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there. What's up? What's happening?

1:31

Welcome in. Take command podcast.

1:33

Logan Paulsen there. Craig Hoffman

1:35

here. NFL draft. Over. We did

1:37

it Logan. We survived yet another

1:39

draft season. Filling people's brains with

1:42

knowledge of players that we'll see on other

1:44

teams and five that we'll see on

1:46

the commanders. Yeah, it was interesting. I

1:48

was talking to Dan Quinn. We did

1:50

an interview with him on the command

1:53

center show. It's on the command center's

1:55

YouTube page. You could check it out. One

1:57

of the things he said was like

1:59

everyone's like this is a lot of work

2:01

for for very little payoff. You know,

2:03

you watch 300 guys, you know, obviously the

2:05

direction of college scouting is probably watching

2:07

closer to 500 guys. You take five

2:10

people. So it's like a one to 100

2:12

ratio in some cases. And he said, I

2:14

don't look at it that way. I look

2:17

at this is the best way to learn

2:19

the league, which I thought was a really

2:21

insightful thing. And I kind of now am

2:23

like, okay, you know, now you kind of

2:26

get the landscape where these guys are going,

2:28

where these guys are going, a lot of prep,

2:30

but I do think there is a benefit

2:32

outside of just outside of just the draft.

2:34

I think when you have a coach that's

2:36

bringing that to your attention, obviously, it's

2:38

important because like that shows you how

2:41

locked in the whole staff is and

2:43

how locked in they will be moving

2:45

forward when they're looking for people that

2:47

can bring in. 100% I feel I felt

2:49

that this year in a way that was

2:51

different for me. Not that people care about

2:53

my or your drive process, I don't know

2:55

how many people care about mine, but just

2:57

30 seconds like I feel like I had

2:59

more of a file on more guys this

3:01

year than any draft I've ever covered. And

3:03

I think it's a part because there's

3:05

never been more possibilities for the team

3:08

that I covered to take certain players

3:10

at 29. I mean, I, I, we.

3:12

probably studied like 20-25 guys in depth

3:14

for the 29th pick and Josh Connolly wasn't

3:17

even really one of them and then they

3:19

took him so then you do your crash

3:21

course on Connolly like I had a small

3:23

file on Connolly but then you go watch

3:26

him and do some more research but I

3:28

do feel like you know guys go off

3:30

the board here guys go off the board

3:32

here guys go off the board there and

3:35

you're like oh I get that or I

3:37

don't get that you understand how they fit

3:39

in certain places and we can see how

3:41

it plays out, but also then, you know,

3:43

three, four years from now and for agency,

3:45

when these guys hit, become available, you do

3:47

have some level of file. And, you know,

3:49

for the staffs that go through that year

3:52

over year, it does help, obviously, in the

3:54

future. All right, with that said, how they

3:56

do? Let's start off there. Before we dive into

3:58

like who these guys are, when you... look at

4:00

the commanders, the how they do

4:02

question is close to the, what

4:04

grade do you give them question?

4:06

And I am team, I hate

4:08

draft grades because we don't know

4:10

until five years from now. But

4:12

if you look at kind of

4:14

what we hoped they would get

4:16

out of it and what they

4:18

did get out of it, how

4:20

do you feel about how they

4:22

approached this draft and any major

4:24

kind of storyline to stick out

4:26

to you, positive negative? I mean,

4:28

he's, I don't think that guy sleeps.

4:31

You know what I mean? He's about to

4:33

enter hibernation. Yeah, right, exactly. And we were

4:35

talking about Connolly and you know, how much

4:37

we liked him and how much he liked

4:39

him and you know, he brought up

4:41

something that I thought was really

4:43

interesting. It's like, you know, when you

4:46

look at the offensive lineman, obviously there

4:48

was four kind of top. top kind of

4:50

like first round tackles let's say

4:52

guys that you'd give a first

4:54

round grade to and then after

4:57

Connerly there weren't any right it

4:59

kind of becomes a little bit

5:01

land of the Wild West and

5:03

you know are onto yours reason

5:05

there there's some other guys that

5:07

kind of fall in that mix

5:09

but nobody you feel as good

5:11

about is those top four guys

5:13

so in some ways like that

5:15

tackle pick is better because you

5:17

kind of should be a first round player but

5:20

kind of heading into the end of the

5:22

second round. That first dash, second grade. Yeah,

5:24

correct. And I think that that was like

5:26

really good insight by him. You know, like

5:28

that piece, that position becomes more valuable

5:30

because you're still kind of residing in that

5:32

first round range as opposed to Edge, for

5:35

example, which as the NFL showed us in

5:37

the draft, like was kind of full of

5:39

second round players, like I think everyone kind

5:41

of had circled Donovan as a Rocco and

5:43

Mike Green and some of these other guys,

5:46

but if you look at it. like they were

5:48

firmly second round players it wasn't like they

5:50

were top of the second they were like

5:52

five to six seven uh... picks in so

5:54

i think that's again a really interesting perspective

5:56

on that tackle selection and then i think

5:58

when you look at how they handled the

6:00

quarterback thing. Like I remember on draft night

6:03

when we were kind of going through the

6:05

picks and I'm crossing off my big

6:07

board and kind of saying, who's available, what

6:09

would I do here? And it's kind of

6:12

between Trey Amos, Lan and Jackson, and I

6:14

forget who the other player was, but there

6:16

was two other players, Chavo and Ravel, maybe,

6:18

and then there was a safety or

6:20

something. And I was like, the best player

6:23

of this group, in my opinion, or the

6:25

player with the least amount of questions,

6:27

went down the board and were like

6:29

these are the available players like Josh

6:32

Carley is a first round player for us he

6:34

kind of falls in this tier he's the

6:36

best and again like when you look when

6:38

I looked at my sheet it was like oh

6:40

he's the best player available like for me

6:42

even you know and I'm not I'm not

6:44

in the room with them and you go down

6:46

to Tramos and it's kind of the same thing

6:48

and I think for those first two picks

6:50

like just being so process driven

6:53

was fantastic and then you get

6:55

to their kind of Kain Madurnos,

6:57

your, what's his name? Jackson, is

7:00

that he's saying? Jacobi, Kakori, Kroski,

7:02

Merit. He'll look, his nickname's Bill,

7:04

and Jakori, we're gonna call you

7:06

Bill because apparently that's what

7:09

everybody calls you. And then,

7:11

and then, you know, we're

7:13

gonna get his name correct,

7:15

the hyphenated Kroski Merit and

7:17

all. We can just call him Bill.

7:19

Yeah. And I look at those players,

7:22

and we've talked about them a little

7:24

bit offline. They are just good ball

7:26

players, right? Yeah. They're competitive,

7:28

they're tough, they're smart, and

7:30

we'll talk about them more

7:32

specifically, but I just, when they picked

7:34

Lane, I think I texted you and I

7:36

was like, dude, I like this player quite a

7:39

bit. And then- Not as pumped as you

7:41

were for Madonna, but- Yeah, we'll talk about

7:43

him more in a second. But I just

7:45

think you go down the list and

7:47

you're like, good football player that adds

7:50

value right now, like- He is an interesting guy

7:52

because he didn't play last year. He played one

7:54

game last year. But if you watch him at

7:56

New Mexico, like he has all of these kind

7:58

of like running back traits. he's a seventh

8:00

round pick, he's just above kind of being

8:03

a UTFA, but I think he's extremely talented.

8:05

And so I like the ability that they

8:07

showed in the first round to be extremely

8:10

disciplined and find the best player. And I

8:12

think they all kind of fit a certain

8:14

level of need, which is great. And then

8:16

I think they all kind of fit a

8:19

certain level of need, which is great. And

8:21

then when you get to the second

8:23

round, to find these pieces that are just

8:25

like, this there's no way this guy makes

8:28

this team because they have this person here

8:30

he's gonna be on the practice squad this

8:32

feels like kind of a wasted pick i

8:34

feel like these three guys i'm not just

8:37

saying that's like this is supported my evaluation

8:39

like came to derno was a top

8:41

100 player for me you know so for

8:43

him to be there then to be there

8:46

to be a top 100 player for me

8:48

you know so for him to be there

8:50

then to get him the six round the

8:52

six round the special team's value all that

8:55

stuff i feel that way about this on

8:57

the phone yesterday like I think these

8:59

guys not only make it in 2025, but

9:01

I think these guys are on the team

9:04

in 2026, 2027. Like that's, that is rare

9:06

in a draft class. And of course, it

9:08

could go sideways because of course it

9:10

could. Every team is thinking, oh, we just

9:12

took somewhere between four and we just took

9:15

somewhere between four and 11 dudes that are

9:17

thinking, oh, we just took somewhere between four

9:19

and 11 dudes that are thinking, oh, we

9:22

just took somewhere between four and four and

9:24

11 dudes that are by. whatever the version

9:26

of that is. But I think Washington

9:28

did a really good job of attacking really

9:30

talented players with both high upside but also

9:33

usefulness in the immediacy. And Lance Newmark said

9:35

that Jaylon Lane was also the best player

9:37

on their board. Now the best player on

9:40

the board becomes less. critical less scientific less

9:42

whatever the farther down you go obviously like

9:44

there's gonna be way more variance on

9:46

who the best player is on on every

9:48

team's board the farther you go but for

9:51

them it was it was an obvious thing

9:53

and I think in part because one we

9:55

know we they wanted to add some speed

9:58

to that offense, they wanted to add some

10:00

burst, some pop, but like he's got a

10:02

use right now. And that's the other

10:04

thing that Lance said that I liked a

10:06

lot is they have plans for all of

10:09

these guys. Like I think Jaylon Lane is

10:11

gonna be their punt returner and possibly their

10:13

kick returner in 2025. And then they'll see

10:16

what he can do on offense. Obviously Kane

10:18

Magrano is going to be a special teams

10:20

guy with his athleticism and then, you

10:22

know, could he play more. coverage linebacker in

10:24

certain situations because his coverage skills are so

10:27

unique a guy that used to be an

10:29

offensive player like could you teach him some

10:31

stuff in third down situations and have him

10:34

be out there like it's a big role

10:36

for a rookie but like maybe and then

10:38

you know we'll see what Kroski merits

10:40

role is but I think he could be

10:42

a kick returner or he could obviously be

10:45

just a running back who you give the

10:47

ball to and let him be the runner

10:49

that he is so I think that's the

10:52

other thing that's impressive about the five Logan

10:54

is They have battle plans for these guys.

10:56

And it just shows, again, a prepared

10:58

organization that is thoughtful and not just kind

11:00

of throwing darts at talented athletes, even if

11:03

all of these guys are extremely athletically gifted

11:05

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11:07

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Play responsibly. Want to go back to

11:34

the radio? Okay. Yeah, and I think with,

11:36

you know, Jaylon Lane is a good example

11:39

of this, like, you know, prior to that

11:41

pick, I think it was like, there was

11:43

like a pick, like a rash of like

11:46

four edge rushes directly in a row. I'm

11:48

trying to remember exactly who they were, but

11:50

it was all guys that I was

11:52

really high on. I thought, oh man, this

11:54

is going to be the edge. And, you

11:57

know, and then I think the cold straw.

11:59

that a tackle and then obviously the Washington

12:01

commanders draft Jaylon Lane and I liked all

12:04

those players I think I texted you I

12:06

like I mean I love players it was

12:08

like 121 to 125 or 27 I

12:10

don't remember exactly the I think it was

12:12

yeah Lane was 128, it was 121 to

12:15

127 that you were like, dang. 121 was

12:17

David Walker from Central Arkansas. Latham Ronsome, Safety

12:19

from Ohio State, who they visited with a

12:22

couple of times, was 122. And then you

12:24

got the next three picks were edges. Jack

12:26

Sawyer, Barron, Scorwell, and Kyle Kennard. Dylan

12:28

Sampson, the running back from Tennessee, was 126.

12:31

And then your guy, Jaylin Travis, was the.

12:33

Iowa State tackle who went to the Colts

12:35

at 127 all right before lane at 128.

12:37

And I'm sure, I don't, I have no

12:40

inside baseball on this, but I'm sure some

12:42

of those guys were on the board, right?

12:44

And I'm sure that they were in

12:46

a similar tier to jail and lane and

12:49

they kind of fit a more acute need,

12:51

obviously. And the thing that stuck out to

12:53

me is like, we've covered teams in the

12:55

past where it feels like they've made.

12:57

quite frankly bad decisions and I felt like

13:00

watching through that like that would have tripped

13:02

up another organization that would have tripped up

13:04

a team that was less prepared and for

13:07

them to be able to like oh yeah

13:09

jail and late and I think I told

13:11

you this like he was a guy that

13:13

I was watching another player from Virginia

13:15

Tech and he just consistently popped in terms

13:18

of his competitiveness at the catch point his

13:20

vertical speed and that offensive Virginia Tech is

13:22

terrible like it's like this weird kind of

13:25

like run and shoot RPO hybrid but like

13:27

they take these deep action shots on the

13:29

field and for him to find a way

13:31

to like show up as a blocker

13:33

to show up and making explosive plays I

13:36

thought was really fantastic so when he says

13:38

he's a good football player like there's no

13:40

doubt in my mind and then when you

13:43

go back like you said and you watch

13:45

his highlights you see a guy who has

13:47

the ability to create after the catch has

13:49

some good contact balance and can return

13:51

kicks and so it just it could have

13:54

gone sideways really quick there, I think. If

13:56

you're like, man, we have to get an

13:58

edge at 128, we have to, we have

14:01

to, we have to, like, just to effortlessly

14:03

pivot and be like, no, we're okay. Like,

14:05

this is the best player on our border,

14:07

this is the player we value right

14:09

here, and he has a skill set that,

14:12

like you said, is gonna see the field.

14:14

I thought, again, it just showed great composure

14:16

by the staff and great preparation in my

14:19

opinion, and we talked about. with Connor Lee

14:21

we talked about with Amos like the way

14:23

the board fell was a little bit dicey

14:25

in my opinion and you could have

14:27

made a weird decision but they just kind

14:30

of were like all right we trust our

14:32

board we trust that game that we played

14:34

in the week sitting up where it's like

14:37

if it's this player it's this player and

14:39

we just just got on base got on

14:41

base and I just really appreciated that and

14:43

I just thought you know that fourth

14:45

round pick was really interesting because of the

14:48

landscape leading into it. Lance Newmark afterwards said

14:50

entering day three Lane was the number one

14:52

player wouldn't surprise me it wouldn't surprise me

14:55

every team always says that says that what

14:57

are they gonna say oh no he was

14:59

the fifth player on our board where we

15:01

drafted but we passed up the four

15:03

other guys because like what would make sense

15:06

to complete that sentence absolutely not I mean

15:08

I guess it was a position of need

15:10

okay whatever but like Maybe

15:12

those edges weren't ahead of Jaylyn Lane

15:14

on the board. But I do think

15:16

it's worth mentioning. This is one thing

15:19

I do want to talk about. The

15:21

one, I don't call it downside, negative.

15:23

I'll call it a negative, but not

15:25

that they did a bad job, which

15:27

will make sense in a second. I'll

15:29

just say the thing, correct. They didn't

15:31

have flexibility to move in this draft.

15:33

And so the one downside to kind

15:35

of having the five picks is they

15:37

had the five picks and then. there's

15:39

no way to trade up if a

15:41

run on a position happen. And so

15:43

they have this run where from 121

15:45

David Walker to 125 Kyle Kennard, there's

15:47

five picks and four of them are

15:49

edges. And if David Walker comes off

15:51

the board, most teams will go, oh

15:54

God, here we go, if they really,

15:56

really. really wanted an edge and they

15:58

would say let's go flip a fifth

16:00

or flip a sixth to move up

16:02

three or four spots or even let's

16:04

flip a future fifth to move up

16:06

commanders have five this year five next

16:08

year they couldn't do that and so

16:10

I believe them when they say Jaylon

16:12

Lane was the best player on their

16:14

board and that run on edges that

16:16

they didn't really care about. But it

16:18

is worth saying that they didn't really

16:20

have the optionality once that run started.

16:22

So they were a little bit boxed

16:24

in, but I actually don't know how

16:27

much it affected their draft based off

16:29

their board and certain, you know, they're

16:31

telling us it didn't, and I guess

16:33

it's telling us it didn't. And I

16:35

guess it's up to all of us,

16:37

it didn't. And I guess it's up

16:39

to all of us, whether we believe

16:41

them or not. And I guess it's

16:43

up to all of us, whether we're,

16:45

or not, like, like, like, like, like,

16:47

or maybe even a third round pick

16:49

and obviously gets pick in the fourth,

16:51

but like you just are a very

16:53

high floor with a high ceiling kind

16:55

of prospect. And if you look at

16:57

the way they went, you know, with

16:59

the first two picks, like that's exactly

17:02

what those guys are high floor and

17:04

there's some potential there to be high

17:06

floor and there's some potential there to

17:08

be high ceiling players as well. And

17:10

I just, so it wouldn't surprise me

17:12

if he was the number one player

17:14

on their board. It wouldn't surprise me

17:16

in the least, because they wanted to.

17:18

that the media felt that the commander

17:20

should address. Here's this run of players

17:22

that I think are pretty gosh darn

17:24

good. You know, I know they met

17:26

with Kennard at the at the combine.

17:28

I know they had David Walker in

17:30

for a 30 visit and they met

17:32

with him at the combine and they

17:34

met with him at the combine and

17:37

they met with him at the combine

17:39

and they met with him at the

17:41

combine and they met with him at

17:43

the combine. And they met with him

17:45

at the with him. He was hyper

17:47

productive in. But I'm just I am

17:49

saying like there was some kind of

17:51

what is that like tier six seven

17:53

talent there that could have been pretty

17:55

devastated like they could have gone in

17:57

that direction had they chosen to but

17:59

obviously Like, I think Jane Lane is a

18:02

heck of a football player. And I

18:04

love the value that he adds right

18:06

now as a return man, as your

18:08

fourth receiver, potentially. And he's got to

18:11

compete for it, obviously. But he's athletic,

18:13

man. He ran a 4-340. He's got

18:15

an 11-foot broad jump. You see him

18:18

catch the football well. And he is,

18:20

he's this competitive runner with the football

18:22

on his hands. And I talked to

18:24

Jeremy about this little bit yesterday, too.

18:27

He's not a running back necessarily, but

18:29

he's got the kind of contact balance

18:31

of a running back. So I think it

18:33

could be pretty cool in this offense where

18:36

they try to create these space plays for

18:38

the receivers. For sure. We'll double click on

18:40

that in a second. Let's go through all

18:42

these guys. We'll start with Trey Amos, the

18:45

second round pick. We obviously talked about Connor

18:47

Lee already. So if you missed that episode,

18:49

check it out. But there's our big picture

18:51

look at it. Now let's get into some

18:54

of the details. Are

18:58

you ready to dive into the story

19:00

stats and personalities that make baseball

19:02

the greatest game in the world?

19:04

Rob Bradford from the Baseball's and

19:06

Boring Podcast here. And we'll have

19:08

you covered every day with podcasts

19:10

that bring you closer to the

19:13

action. From the bleachers to the

19:15

clubhouse, whether you're a diehard fan

19:17

or just a casual observer, these

19:19

conversations are aimed, educate, entertain, and

19:21

most importantly, inform you. Follow the

19:23

Baseball's and Boring podcast in the

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Free Odyssey app or wherever you

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get your. podcast.