The Daily Slop – 2 September 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
Too Deep Zone
Aaron Donald: Good. Commanders: Bad. Ravens … Confusing. (Mailbag Pt. 1)
Commanders Questions
It feels like Washington may be a sneaky contender for “worst team in the league”
this year. We all know the Browns and Dolphins stink; why will Washington be worse? – Kevin Langstaff
Reader Brutus Rugburn chimed in:
Kevin, I agree completely. Looking at their schedule, 3 wins should be the over/under mark. The miracle of 2024 completely screwed up any reasonable, orderly rebuild.
Mike, to add to Kevin’s query, how, if at all, could Washington have responded differently to their winning 2024 season with the clearly deficient roster they had?
The Commanders are projected to win 7.7 games by DVOA. I think they have had a miserable offseason, despite adding Stefon Diggs. The cavalcade of 32-year old acquisitions I have been dunking on all summer leaves me with little faith about the quality of the front office and the lower tiers of the roster. Dire tales from joint practices make me wonder about the reconfigured coaching staff.
So I think the Commanders could be the worst team in the NFL. It’s hard to project them with the worst record, because the Browns quarterback situation is so dire that the team could surrender at the trade deadline, while the Cardinals schedule is so brutal.
Relitigating what the Commanders did after reaching the NFC Championship Game in 2024 is tricky. It’s easy to condemn the Laremy Tunsil and Deebo Samuel trades, but those moves made sense at the time. The Commanders got so little besides Jayden Daniels from the 2024 draft that the seeds of decline may have already been sewn.
The Commanders needed to do a better job self-scouting the bottom half of their roster and creating competition among younger players in 2025 and this offseason. They should have stockpiled late-round picks and UDFAs and given the ones they did have better opportunities to win roster spots and roles. One or two come-from-nowhere contributors would make their roster look a lot less like the result of an end-of-free-agency shopping spree.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
ESPN
2026 NFL bold predictions: Potential surprises for 32 teams
Washington Commanders
Don’t be surprised if … quarterback Jayden Daniels struggles to regain his brilliant rookie-year form.
What I’m hearing: This isn’t about Daniels himself. He’s an absolutely awesome player, and assuming he can get through the season healthy, I expect him to perform at a high level. It’s what’s around him that has me concerned. He has a thin and aging group of wide receivers. He has question marks at running back. And the offensive line issues, especially with left tackle Laremy Tunsil going down with a training camp injury, are too significant to overlook.
Earlier in the offseason, I was high on the Commanders’ chances to rebound and contend in the NFC East. But the concerns that arose during camp are giving me pause. The fact that they have a young, first-time offensive coordinator in David Blough adds to the mystery (as, to be fair, it does with the first-time OC in Philadelphia and the first-time defensive coordinator in Dallas). There could be significant growing pains early in the season, if not longer. And even if things work out better than they look right now, Daniels’ 2024 rookie season was one of the best we’ve ever seen. Washington could be pretty good and still not bounce back to that level.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
The Athletic (paywall)
NFL execs rank NFC teams: Rams, Seahawks clear favorites
13. Washington Commanders
Votes: 13-12-13-14-9-13 | Avg: 12.3 | Median: 13 | Vegas wins: 7.5 (T-11th-NFC)
Tier votes: Division contender: 1 | Sub-.500: 4 | Top-10 pick: 1
The voter highest on Washington thought Jayden Daniels’ return to health was enough to lift a Commanders team that has question marks entering coach Dan Quinn’s third season, including first-time coordinators on offense (David Blough) and defense (Daronte Jones).
“They get Jayden back, and Terry McLaurin will be healthy,” this exec said. “They’ve added some really good parts defensively in free agency. They have to get the offensive line solidified.”
Left tackle Laremy Tunsil’s season-ending injury will not help.
“I think they are going to be bad,” another exec said. “The quarterback is talented, but his style of play, unless he changes it, is a concern. The weapons around him are OK, but I don’t think it’s a dynamic team offensively. Defensively, they plateaued.”
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
The Athletic (paywall)
Jayden Daniels is ready for a new offense. His first task: Learn how to huddle
Last season the median NFL offense huddled about 82 percent of the time. When Daniels was on the field, the Commanders huddled about 32 percent of the time. If you remove the first play of the drive (when almost every team huddles), that number plummets to 20 percent. Taking away huddles after timeouts or penalties would drop it even more. For all intents and purposes, Daniels has never huddled play-to-play in his pro career.
Kliff Kingsbury’s offense the last two seasons didn’t require it, but Daniels also didn’t do it in college. Without a huddle, there is less information a quarterback can communicate to the other 10 players.
That lends itself to a less complex offense, one that’s easier for defenses to decipher. Tempo typically offsets some of that. Even if you have a simpler offense, going quickly can create an edge. Instead, the Commanders self-neutralized their inherent advantage. Last year, on average, there were 9.6 seconds remaining on the playclock when the Commanders snapped the ball, eighth-highest in the NFL and much closer to the league average (9 seconds) than the Dallas Cowboys’ league-leading 12 seconds.
Commanders coaches know Daniels is going to run — they just don’t have to call it. Quinn estimates Daniels will have four or five rushing attempts off scrambles alone each game. Adding designed runs to that “is how you end up with 10,” Quinn says.
The league’s average quarterback scramble rate the past two seasons is 5.5 percent. Daniels sits atop the NFL at 13.8 percent, multiple percentage points ahead of runners-up like Justin Fields, Tyler Huntley and Drake Maye.
So Washington has to set up some guardrails. And this is the biggest reason why Daniels will be under center more often this year. Getting under center should, in theory, make defenses respect the play-action game more than shotgun, where sometimes defenders can see the entire exchange (or lack thereof). That will help Daniels as a passer, as defenses have to play the run more honestly, and help the run game be more explosive.
Just like the huddle, no team the last two seasons has been under center less often than the Commanders. Last year Washington was under center just 13.1 percent of the time, and that dropped to 5.8 percent when Daniels was on the field. The Cincinnati Bengals had the second-lowest percentage of plays under center (18.4).
With one training camp and three preseason snaps in the books, Daniels hasn’t decided on whether to stand up, hunch over or take a knee [in the huddle].
“It might depend,” Daniels tells The Athletic. “I might get down on a knee. I tried it a little bit. I kind of like it. It’s easier for guys to hear me if I project up, so it’s still a process.”
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Sports Illustrated
Washington’s edge rush is suddenly a Week 1 concern
Odafe Oweh and K’Lavon Chaisson are still working through rehabilitation from calf and knee injuries, respectively, and were unable to practice again on Tuesday. Add in the fact that Dorance Armstrong is suspended for Week 1’s game against Philadelphia, and you start to see the issue facing the Commanders.
Remember, Oweh and Chaisson weren’t brought in as rotational depth; these two were expected to take on major roles in Daronte Jones’ new scheme. Before the injuries, both consistently wreaked havoc and created pressure during camp, especially during the Miami joint practice session. Now, questions about their health may linger about whether or not they can handle their expected workloads heading into Week 1.
With several days remaining before the opener on September 13, there is no reason to assume either will miss any game action. The concern, of course, is that Washington has started gearing up for Week 1 while both players remain working off to the side, away from the full-speed work with their teammates. Even if they are cleared for Week 1, their overall conditioning and missed practice time could still affect how many actual snaps they see.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Sports Illustrated
Commanders’ most glaring roster hole may not be where fans think
[GM Adam Peters’] decision to invest in Mike Sainristil in 2024’s second round looked wise at a few specific junctions, but he’s not the lockdown man-coverage corner out wide that the team needs him to be. Accomplished veteran Marshon Lattimore was envisioned as the stopgap defender to lean on while those younger teammates developed, but his near-immediate flameout killed any of Washington’s chances to get anything out of that midseason trade.
Now, we’re left with the frustrating Trey Amos story, another costly second-round defensive back who won’t be as effective as quickly as the fans need. He’s already hitting the injury/reserve list after an incomplete rookie bid, leaving the 53-man roster with a cornerback room made up of Sainristil, Amik Robertson, Rasul Douglas, and, following his re-signing as a free agent, returning journeyman Fabian Moreau.
This group is going to remain depleted until Amos returns to action after a month or so of rehabilitation, as they’re fresh out of meaningfully disruptive cornerbacks worth signing amidst any other quests to bolster the limited secondary.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Last Man Standig (paywall)
Ben Sinnott ate his way into becoming a tight end. Now he’s hungry for more in Year 3
Ben Sinnott’s welcome-to-college football moment came with a rather blunt message: You’re not a tight end yet.
He arrived at Kansas State as a roughly 200-pound walk-on. The Wildcats wouldn’t even let him play tight end on the scout team. Sinnott then saw the visual evidence. Ball don’t lie. “I have a clip of me getting completely laid out by one of our starting linebackers,” Sinnott said. “I thought I was never going to play football ever.”
The solution? Eat. A lot.
Sinnott estimates he gained roughly 50 pounds in six months. Sonic Blasts. M&M’s. Reese’s. Snickers. Whatever could help move the scale. “It was amazing,” he said. “I love to eat in general, so it was awesome to just go put on as much weight as possible.” Things worked out.
For more from Ben Standig, click here
Podcasts & videos
The District Film Room: Nick Allegretti at Center & Chris Paul at guard; how David Blough’s scheme can help them
NFC East links
DallasCowboys.com
Why the Cowboys chose Sam Howell as their backup quarterback
Should Milton not elect to return, Schottenheimer said the team expects to sign a quarterback with the remaining spot they have on their 17-man practice squad. For now though, the room consists of Prescott and Howell, who had work to do when he signed with the Cowboys this offseason in regards to learning the offense and excelled at doing so in Schottenheimer’s eyes.
“It was back and forth,” Schottenheimer said. “Sam is a guy that at the end of the day, he’s got a great feel for what we’re trying to do. The way he played against New Orleans was good, and he bounced back. This was a great battle between two great competitors that like I said, I’m giving compliments to both of them, they both wanted the job…
“At the end of the day, we just felt like making this decision now was in the best interest of our football team giving us clarity. Sam has done an awesome job of learning the system. Both Dak and Joe were ahead of him when he got here because they were here last year, but his understanding and grasp of the playbook is really, really good. He’s got great field vision. That’s one of the best things that jumps off the film, is he understands where everybody is and how it effects spacing and things like that. That’s why he’s able to play pretty quick through progressions.”
Since entering the league in 2022, Howell has played in 20 games and started 18. Milton on the other hand has appeared in five, and hasn’t started in any technically, but played the majority of the game in a Week 17 game against the Bills with the Patriots his rookie season.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Big Blue View
NY Giants, Malik Nabers seem uncertain about his availability for Week 1
Nabers says he is “getting there,” but doesn’t sound convinced he is ready to face the Dallas Cowboys
Nabers seemed a bit cryptic when asked on Monday how he was physically.
“I’m going to keep the checkpoints in-house,” Nabers said. “It’s not really anything too big, but like I said, I’m going to keep it more in-house and just to myself.
“I feel real good, to be honest. But like I said, you’re going to feel good, but there’s still some things that you still have to check off the box for you to participate. So, I’m still going through that, still listening to the trainers, still listening to doctors and sharing everything with them.”
“How much he can play and in what capacity? That’s exactly what we’re looking at,” Harbaugh said. “Is he going to be where he needs to be to help us win? And then he has to be confident. Of course, he’s got to be confident.
“Because for him to play at the level he’s going to need to play for us to win and protect himself, he’s going to have to feel good about it. He’s got to feel like he’s there. He’s got to know he’s there. To me, that’s just going to be an ongoing conversation right throughout.
“When you come back from an injury, whether it’s long-term or even short-term, where do we stand with the doctors, the trainers, the player? How does he look on tape? What do the numbers say? How fast is he running?”
Nabers himself doesn’t seem certain how this will play out.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
ESPN
Cowboys’ Stephen Jones on Pickens, Lamb situation: Not sure any team can pay two receivers at the top of the market
EVP Stephen Jones verbalized the salary cap obstacles that the organization faces next offseason during an interview on the DLLS Cowboys podcast.
“I don’t know of any teams that really can pay two top receivers top of the market, so that’s gonna be a real difficult situation as we move forward,” he said. “We’ve managed to figure out how we can do it for this year. If everything works out the way we think it is, [in] which CeeDee and George both have huge years again, then it’ll be a bigger challenge next year.”
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
NFL league links
Articles
Front Office Sports
Netflix Secures Commercial Distribution for Expanded NFL Slate
As out-of-home viewership metrics are increasingly important across television, Netflix has helped ensure full distribution of its NFL games
With a newly expanded NFL rights deal, Netflix has struck a critical distribution pact to help ensure maximum distribution of those games.
The streaming giant has reached a multiyear agreement with EverPass Media in which the technology platform will continue to distribute Netflix’s NFL games to commercial establishments, including bars and restaurants.
EverPass, meanwhile, is in the midst of being acquired by London-based DAZN in a deal that will add to that company’s increasing U.S. profile. Closing is expected after receiving needed regulatory approvals.
As part of that deal, EverPass will ultimately rebrand itself to DAZN for Business.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Discussion topics
The Athletic (paywall)
The NFL’s 10 worst quarterback situations
6. New Orleans Saints
Starter (QB Tier ranking): Tyler Shough (Tier 3, No. 26)
Backups: Spencer Rattler, Zach Wilson
The Saints feel like they may have found the stability at the position they’ve been looking for in the post-Drew Brees era. Shough came off the bench last season and had some promising showings but there wasn’t the sample size necessary to anoint him as the next one. Still, quarterbacks with promising flashes typically get the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. Behind Shough, there’s not a whole lot of hope. Rattler has a 1-13 career record in the NFL and Wilson hasn’t started a game since 2023.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
