The Daily Slop – 16 August 2026
Editor’s note: Each day, Hogs Haven compiles a collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East, the NFL and sports in general, with a sprinkling of other stuff. Enjoy!
Commanders links
Articles
The Athletic (paywall)
What we learned from the Commanders’ preseason win over the Dolphins
The Commanders’ defensive line featured all reserves, but Sonny Styles and Leo Chenal started at linebacker, and the secondary included safeties Will Harris and Quan Martin, along with veteran corner Rasul Douglas. That they couldn’t stop a Miami
team lacking in playmakers and depth was alarming, but Washington quickly regrouped.
After their opening score (a one-yard run by De’Von Achane), the Dolphins never made it past Washington’s 45-yard line and ended their subsequent drives with a turnover on downs, an interception, six consecutive punts and two interceptions.
[Quan] Martin’s place on the roster remains uncertain, despite starting 32 of the Commanders’ last 34 games. Last season, he had a 154.6 passer rating against, the fourth-highest among NFL defenders with at least 200 coverage snaps. He also missed 15 tackles, the second-most on the Commanders behind Frankie Luvu’s 21.
Martin was benched in the team’s Week 11 loss to the Dolphins in Madrid, and logged only six defensive snaps in the team’s season-ending loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Washington signed veteran safety Nick Cross as a free agent in March and has another year with Will Harris. Tyler Owens and Percy Butler are also back and, like Reaves, have been core special-teamers for Washington.
To say Martin needed a strong showing on Friday would be an understatement. He delivered with a body-slamming tackle of Achane during Miami’s first drive, then the interception early in the second quarter.
Also:
[O]n Friday, the team not so subtly restored one piece of Native-adjacent imagery by restoring the line “Braves on a warpath” to its fight song. The line had been replaced with “Fight for our Commanders” after the name change.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
NFL.com
2026 NFL Preseason, Week 1: What We Learned from Friday’s games
Commanders have battle for final RB spot(s). Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Rachaad White reside at the top of Washington’s running back depth chart. Behind them are two veterans, Jeremy McNichols and Jerome Ford, and two rookies: sixth-rounder Kaytron Allen and undrafted free agent Robert Henry Jr. Both first-year players scored on Friday, perhaps making a push for the final 53-man roster. The more impressive of the two was Henry. He had the juice, breaking off a 15-yard run early and later beating everyone to the outside for a 22-yard score. He finished with 75 yards on 12 carries (6.3 YPC). Allen also represented himself well (23 carries for 85 yards), sporting a long of 16 and taking a goal-line plunge to find the end zone. Could either or both supplant a vet on the roster? Croskey-Merrit, a 2025 seventh-rounder, shot up the depth chart his first year, so it’s certainly possible.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Commanders.com
5 takeaways from Washington’s 20-7 win over the Dolphins
2. Robert Henry Jr. has some juice
With Jeremy McNichols out, it created an opportunity for the players down the running back depth chart to show off their skill sets. All the running backs had a solid night, but it was Henry, the undrafted free agent out of UTSA, who stole the show.
Henry, who rushed for 2,339 yards in college, showed burst, decisiveness and quickness with the ball in his hands. Although he’s not the biggest player at 196 pounds, he wasn’t afraid to plow up the middle of the defense for dirty yards.
He also knows how to separate from defensive players when necessary, and he showed off his 4.5 speed on the Commanders’ opening touchdown. He followed a reach block by sixth-rounder Matt Gulbin and outran the Dolphins’ defense down the sideline for the 22-yard score.
Henry ended up leading the Commanders in a 174-yard rushing performance from the group, but an even bigger win for the running back was that he made his case to be on the roster for Week 1.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Sports Illustrated
Commanders running back battle just took an interesting turn
Kaytron Allen’s 23 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown are another reason Washington’s running back decision remains crowded. Allen handled 45 offensive snaps, more than twice Henry’s workload, including 23 rushing snaps, making his performance more about sustaining a heavy workload than producing the same per-snap efficiency Henry did. Allen finished with a 56.0 overall offensive grade and 61.7 rushing grade, well below Henry’s 72.5 and 73.0 PFF grades. Allen just put an exclamation point on a roster case that was already developing during camp, while Henry is the player who introduced a new name into the four-back equation.
Jeremy McNichols did not suit up for the Dolphins game, nor did he participate in the last few days of camp practice. McNichols could lose his spot if his injury lingers, although the trust the team already has in him will likely buy him enough time to compete. McNichols carries weight beyond that trust because the team knows his veteran reliability, familiarity with the offense, and proven ability to handle different responsibilities are hard traits to replace.
Friday was just one game against another team’s backups, not the weeks of work of this offseason and training camp. It was also a good gauge of where the personnel is currently. That said, the game changed Henry’s situation completely because he now owns both productive game tape and a favorable independent film grade to go with the practice evaluation Washington already had. The next checkpoint in this battle will be Detroit; if Henry can add another efficient rushing performance and continued special-teams work, it will be much harder to dismiss Miami as a one-night breakout.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
A to Z Sports
6 winners and 3 losers from the Washington Commanders’ preseason win
Winner: CB Antonio Hamilton Sr.
What can you say about the night Antonio Hamilton Sr. had? It seemed like every time there was a big hit on defense or special teams, Hamilton was leading the way. He finished second on the team with four combined tackles, a tackle for loss, and a pass breakup. This is what Washington knew it was getting when the Commanders re-signed him a few months ago.
Hamilton Sr. probably won’t be a starter this year, but he’s a depth guy you can rely upon in tight spots and a good special teams player.
Winner: WR Jaylin Lane
We know what Lane can do as a returner. The next key development step for him is to prove he can make plays in the passing game, and he did that on Friday night, finishing with a team-leading three catches for 31 yards on four targets with a long of 17. He moved the chains, and that’s an efficient night for a receiver.
This bodes well for the Commanders’ receiver room as a whole because, before Stefon Diggs arrived, there were a lot of questions about who was going to be that guy after Terry McLaurin. I’m not saying Lane is going to have a breakout season, but it was very encouraging to see him make those plays in the passing game.
Loser: WR Luke McCaffrey
Two targets, zero catches, zero yards. McCaffrey looked okay in run blocking, but at this point, his production just has to get better. He hasn’t done anything over his first two seasons in the NFL. He’s got good size, good hands, and the athleticism to play inside and out, but 29 catches for 371 yards and three touchdowns across two seasons is poor. He hasn’t even topped 20 receptions in a single season. Going 0-for-2 in this game is not a good way to start the preseason.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Heavy.com
Commanders newest DT Byron Cowart ‘dominant’ in preseason
“Dominant” perfectly describes defensive tackle Byron Cowart’s debut for the Commanders, according to 106.7 The Fan’s Grant Paulsen. He was impressed by how former New England Patriots draft pick Cowart toyed with the Miami Dolphins during a 20-7 win for Washington on Friday, August 14.
It’s a welcome rave review for a journeyman of seven teams who still faces an uphill battle to make the final roster. Cowart recently joined a loaded position group featuring two first-round NFL draft picks and a returning veteran well known to the Commanders.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Commanders Wire
Quick facts, numbers from Commanders’ preseason win over Dolphins
[Each] of the kickers competing for the job [was] successful on [his] only attempt. Incumbent Jake Moody made his despite hitting the right upright from 29 yards, and then Iowa rookie kicker Drew Stevens made his one attempt from 41 yards.
The Commanders defense was one of the worst at creating turnovers in 2024 and 2025. Friday night, they intercepted Dolphin quarterbacks three times. Interceptions were made by Quan Martin, Malik Spencer, and Ale Kaho. Linebacker Kain Medrano also dropped a would-be pick-six.
Perhaps the best defensive performance of the night came from DL Ricky Barber. Barber collected five tackles on the night, three of which were solo. Barber also was credited with a quarterback sack. NT Shy Tuttle also looked good, having three tackles, one of which was solo and a tackle for a loss.
TE Colson Yankoff continues to produce in his opportunities. He made two catches and had a very nice block to spring RB Kaytron Allen.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Podcasts & videos
Chig Okonkwo On Joint Practice, Playing W/ Jayden Daniels & Preseason WK1 | Next Man Up | Commanders
20 UNANSWERED: Commanders Depth Flips Preseason Opener vs Dolphins
Commanders Throw Dolphins Back Into The Ocean!! – 08.15.26 – W/ Felix Trammell
NFC East links
Bleeding Green Nation
Eagles-Ravens preseason observations: Position battle updates, injury news, and more
To no surprise, the Eagles barely played any starters in this game. You could say that any football is better than no football but this was mostly a boring game. The Eagles’ offense mustered just 100 yards on their first 31 plays before Cole Payton finally led a scoring drive later in the fourth quarter.
Andy Dalton got the start on Saturday night. The offense ran nine plays for 12 yards and three punts while he was in. Not exactly sharp. He finished 3/6 for 20 yards and 57.6 passer rating.
Tanner McKee wasn’t much better. He was 6/10 for 35 yards and a 66.7 passer rating.
This outing reflected what we’ve seen from the QB2 battle in training camp thus far; no real separation between these two.
The Eagles are off tomorrow, Sunday, August 16 before returning to practice on Monday. Then Tuesday is a travel day ahead of two joint training camp practices against the New England Patriots on Wednesday and Thursday.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
The Ringer
Sean Mannion
You know those hypothetical questions that pop up on social media that are like, Would you take having a 99 percent chance of winning a billion dollars if it came with a 1 percent chance of dying? Getting offered the Eagles offensive coordinator job has to feel a little like that, only with slightly lower stakes. Instead of winning a billion dollars, you could go on to land one of 32 NFL head coaching jobs in a year or two, and instead of dying, you could just become the most hated public figure in Philadelphia and suffer enough professional embarrassment that you’ll probably never get a meaningful NFL job again.
Historically, Philadelphia has mostly kept Hurts in the gun, where he poses more of a run threat on option plays. Hurts hasn’t been very productive on option keepers in recent seasons, but the threat that he’ll pull the ball still opens up space for Saquon Barkley, who led the NFL in EPA on “read option” carries last season, per Sports Info Solutions. Mannion says that the Eagles will “lean into” Hurts’s rushing ability. That suggests Philly will still regularly line up in the gun since there are few concepts that get the quarterback involved in the run game from under center (outside of QB sneaks). The 28-year-old QB also showed up to camp looking notably leaner and quicker, which could make those option keepers more effective than they were a year ago.
Among quarterbacks with at least 10 option keepers last season, Hurts had the lowest success rate, and only Bo Nix lost more EPA on those plays, per Sports Info Solutions. So there’s a lot of room for improvement in that area, and a faster Hurts should be more capable of burning defenses that are keyed in on Barkley.
It will be interesting to see how Mannion incorporates the QB run-option game into the modern West Coast offense. We’ve seen coaches from the Shanahan-McVay tree use pistol as a middle ground between under center and shotgun formations, and if that does end up serving as a foundation for Philly’s offense in 2026, we’ll likely see it in the preseason, when teams work on their base concepts.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Blogging the Boys
The Cowboys are 1-0 in the preseason for the first time in almost a decade
The Dallas Cowboys won their first preseason game of the year. It has been almost a decade since that sentence was true.
We all know that preseason results, in terms of wins and losses, are meaningless, but you’d certainly rather win than lose.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Big Blue View
The NY offense is anything but a well-oiled machine so far
The Vikings are not a great team to play your first preseason game against. Brian Flores’ defense has flummoxed the Giants’ offense in regular season games for two consecutive years. Many defensive coordinators run vanilla defenses in the preseason, but not Flores. He stacked the box and liberally blitzed Jaxson Dart in the first half. That’s a good thing in the sense that Dart needs reps recognizing the blitz and countering it. It’s a bad thing, though, when you don’t recognize it and your running back (in this case, Tyrone Tracy) doesn’t pick up the blitzer. The result was Dart’s first trip of 2026 to the blue tent.
The larger question, which couldn’t be answered today, is whether the Matt Nagy offense will be much more conservative than what we’ve gotten used to the past few years. We’ll have to see the Giants against a more conventional defense to get a better feel for that. What we do know is that today they passed 21 times (completing 16), but for only 160 yards, while rushing 25 times (not including scrambles) for 70 yards. Not a lot to get excited about.
Oh, and…maybe the Giants need to go shopping for a QB3. Brandon Allen was awful, getting intercepted twice in the second half. On the second one OBJ was wide open on the other side of the field and Allen never looked his way.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Also from Big Blue View:
Dart threw a beautiful 15-yard touchdown pass to Fields. That was an improvised scramble play with Dart moving to his left, the kind of unscripted play on which Dart excels.
Dart found his new favorite target, Isaiah Likely, for two first downs.
On the negative side, Dart took two sacks. The first one bothered me more than the big hit he took on the second one because it appeared to be his fault. He had an opportunity to throw the ball, chose not to, and ended up holding the ball and running himself into a sack. Dart led the league in sacks with the quarterback being at least partially responsible last season, and he needs to get better about not causing negative plays.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
For Discussion
The Athletic (paywall)
It’s time to throw the red flag on NFL challenges. Why are they needed at all?
A lack of technology may have made them necessary back when replay review was antiquated and cumbersome. We have reached an age when NFL replay officials in New York can monitor every available broadcast angle from every game across the country within seconds.
Regardless of who is throwing the flag, the NFL requires teams to spot a mistake, grab a handkerchief, find an official before the ball is snapped again and wager one of their timeouts against whether the referees got a call wrong.
Coaches have essentially become trial attorneys: File the right motion, at the right time and on the correct grounds, or have the entire case thrown out.
Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell correctly believed the Los Angeles Rams’ Colby Parkinson was down at the 4-yard line in a December game last year and challenged the spot when officials instead placed the ball at the 3.
But a spot is only reviewable when it impacts a first down or touchdown. Parkinson caught a short pass from Matthew Stafford on first-and-10 and turned it into a big play. Since the disputed yard did not affect whether the Rams gained a first down, officials ruled the spot was not challengeable and charged the Lions with a timeout. Replay assistance corrected the call, and officials placed the ball at the 4 anyway — but still took a timeout away from Detroit.
More fundamentally, enforcing the rules should remain the league’s responsibility. A receiver’s foot was either out of bounds or it wasn’t. A runner’s knee was either down or it wasn’t. Those facts shouldn’t change because one coach had a timeout available, recognized the mistake or employed a better replay staff than his opponent.
Why should coaches have to weigh whether a first-quarter officiating error is important enough to risk a timeout? Getting a call right shouldn’t depend on whether a coach is willing to make a bet.
The NFL already accepts that principle on scores, turnovers, failed fourth downs, and during the final two minutes. Those plays aren’t automatically reviewed because replay officials suddenly become more capable when the stakes rise. They’re reviewed because the league has decided those calls are too important to leave to coaching strategy. A mistake in the first quarter is no less wrong.
The NFL has tried a booth-driven system before. From 1986 through 1991, replay supervisors decided which plays warranted review. The league dumped it amid complaints about delays and frustration that teams had no way to request a review.
Technology has evolved quite a bit since the late 1980s. Video was primitive, and the process was excruciatingly slow. Now replay officials can view synchronized, high-definition angles through Hawk-Eye Innovations and communicate directly with officials on the field. The concept wasn’t necessarily wrong; it just arrived about 35 years too soon.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Stadium-related reporting
WUSA9
Federal filings reveal Washington Commanders’ premium seating plans — and fans in two NFL cities show what the price tag could look like
The team offered one of the first glimpses inside the 70,000-plus-seat stadium during a presentation to a federal approval panel in July: a view from what a designer called the Capitol Club, overlooking East Capitol Street with the U.S. Capitol and Washington Monument on the horizon.
The blueprints identify multiple premium levels throughout the building — the Capitol Club, a club and suite level, and down at field level: an owners level and a “pocket suite level,” a type of smaller luxury suite increasingly popular in newer NFL stadiums.
[T]he majority of Commanders season tickets will come with personal seat licenses, or PSLs — a one-time fee, often thousands of dollars and sometimes tens of thousands, just for the right to purchase season tickets. Sources say sales will begin in 2027, three years before the stadium’s scheduled 2030 opening. The team has already leased space at 2200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW for offices and a sales center modeled on the ones NFL teams have opened in other cities.
Commanders fans have never paid a PSL. To understand what’s coming, WUSA9 interviewed season ticket holders in Nashville and Buffalo — two fan bases living through it right now.
The Tennessee Titans are selling PSLs for their new stadium, which opens next year. Fans told WUSA9 club-level licenses ran from $20,000 to $75,000 per seat at midfield. The Titans say those premium club PSLs sold out in three months, two and a half times faster than expected.
With a year to go before opening day, only a handful of licenses remain on the team’s website: almost $13,000 per seat along the side of the end zone, more than $10,000 behind the goal posts, and $3,500 for the upper deck — the cheapest left.
Blake Reynolds paid $1,500 per seat for club-level PSLs at the current stadium in 2020. To stay in the club, the cheapest license quoted to him was $20,000 per seat.
Two longtime Bills fans who spoke on condition of anonymity described harder math. One calculated his first year would top $30,000 for four lower-bowl seats and gave up tickets entirely. The other was quoted roughly $15,000 per seat to keep seats his family had held since the mid-1980s. He declined — and a month later, the team called back with a $1,000 upper-bowl license. He took it.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
