Daily Slop – 31 Mar 25 – Azareye’h Thomas stands out in April’s draft as a long, physical press corner

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, and a sprinkling of other stuff

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ESPN

Washington Commanders feel good about roster makeover

The Washington Commanders knew they would be busy during free agency. Indeed, they made nearly three dozen transactions in the past two weeks — hoping to fortify a roster that fell one game shy of the Super Bowl and must contend with the champion Philadelphia Eagles twice per year.

One-year deals: Of the 29 players Washington signed or traded for since free agency began on March 12, 24 are signed only for this season. As one league source said, they’re not tied to bad contracts for an extended period.

It worked last season with veterans such as linebacker Bobby Wagner and Zach Ertz, both of whom started every game. Wagner earned second-team All-Pro honors, and Ertz had 66 receptions and seven touchdowns.

Defensive line versatility: The Commanders cut former Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jonathan Allen then proceeded to add to their front with players who perhaps did not have his resume, but who provide flexibility and greater depth. Washington signed four newcomers along the front — ends Deatrich Wise Jr. and Jacob Martin and tackles Kinlaw and Eddie Goldman.

They’re experienced: That foursome has combined for 384 games played and 204 starts. Washington also re-signed veteran end Clelin Ferrell and also has tackles Daron Payne and Jer’Zhan Newton and end Dorance Armstrong in the fold.

Washington entered free agency hoping to find a left tackle. One league source said they were interested in Ronnie Stanley, but he re-signed with Baltimore before the legal tampering process began on March 10. But their quest landed them five-time Pro Bowler Laremy Tunsil in a trade with Houston.

“I can make a huge impact: a pass protector, a damn good run blocker,” Tunsil said. “I can make a huge impact quickly, honestly. They traded for me for that reason.”

Now they have a strong protector on Daniels’ blind side.

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Bullock’s Film Room (subscription)

NFL Draft Profile: CB Azareye’h Thomas

Thomas stands out as a long, physical press corner. He measured in at the combine at 6-foot-1 ½, 197 pounds with long 32 ⅜ inch arms. Those arms are about the longest of any corner in the class and they help him excel in press coverage where he can reach and get his hands on guys without having to lunge at them. Having that length enables Thomas to stay very patient at the line of scrimmage, which is a stand out feature of his game.

This play is a great example of how patient Thomas can be at the line of scrimmage. Often you’ll see young corners playing press coverage fall into the trap of lunging at receivers to try and jam them at the line of scrimmage, which often leads to them being off balance and getting beat quicker. Thomas plays much smarter than that. At the snap of the ball, you can see how Thomas hardly moves his feet. He waits for the receiver to declare his intentions before then reacting off that. The receiver comes off the snap faking an inside release. Thomas doesn’t bite, and as soon as the receiver then tries to skip back outside, Thomas is ready to get his hands on him.

Thomas first strikes with his outside hand, disrupting the release and buying himself some time to get his own feet sorted out. Thomas then immediately gets his inside hand on the receiver as a follow up, establishing position and control of the route. With the receiver unable to skip past and get vertical thanks to the jam, he has to work wider to try and get around Thomas. Thomas uses this to his advantage, showing the receiver as close to the sideline as possible to make any potential throwing window incredibly tight. By the time the receiver gets to the first down marker, Thomas has already forced him almost out of bounds while still maintaining his leverage and staying on top of the route. The quarterback has no chance of making a throw and has to work elsewhere instead.

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The Athletic (paywall)

Washington Commanders NFL Draft 2025 guide: Picks, predictions and key needs

Commanders’ key positions of need

Edge rusher: The Commanders ranked 30th against the run last season, with opponents finding big plays on the edge. Washington targeted help in free agency and perhaps found interesting run defender pieces in Deatrich Wise Jr. and Kinlaw. However, the position needs more youth and pass rushers.

Defensive back: The Commanders need cornerback depth, even if Marshon Lattimore rebounds after a trying half-season debut and Jones contributes outside or in the slot, depending on where Washington deploys Mike Sainristil.

Running back/playmaker: Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury tactically maximized his options last season. More talent was required even before receivers Dyami Brown and Olamide Zaccheaus exited in free agency. Samuel and Michael Gallup are the only new options acquired, and while Samuel will occasionally play out of the backfield, Washington could use more breakaway ability in the running back room or elsewhere.

The Athletic’s latest mock drafts

March 24: Ben Standig’s 2025 mock draft

Standig has the Commanders trading out of the first round and selecting Florida State cornerback Azareye’h Thomas with the No. 33 pick.

March 21: Beat writer mock draft 2.0

Standig has Washington selecting Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr. with the No. 29 pick and adding some pass-rush help to the defense.

March 10: Nick Baumgardner rounds 1-3 mock draft

Baumgardner has Washington addressing the edge by selecting Marshall’s Mike Green in the first round.

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NFC East links

NFL.com

Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer on contract talks with Micah Parsons: ‘I think he’s in a good spot’

Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer still believes the team will get a deal done with the four-time Pro Bowl pass rusher.

“Micah has said all along that he plans on being there. Again, it’s a business, right? There’s a lot of factors that go into a deal,” Schottenheimer told NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero on Sunday at the Annual League Meeting. “There are two sides in every negotiation, it’s not just our side, it’s Micah’s side. This is an opportunity for Micah, especially, with some of the guys that we lost as leadership for Micah to step up. He’s excited about that. He wants to have more leadership responsibility.

“So, again, we have a ton of time, and we’ll take it day-by-day. Again, my conversations with Micah have been great and I think he’s in a good spot. It’s business, as he understands.”

Asked about a scenario if Parsons was not on the Cowboys in 2025, Schottenheimer replied, “I wouldn’t think so. He’s an elite player. He’s a guy we think can wreak havoc on opposing offenses for a long time in a Cowboys uniform.”

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Blogging the Boys

Dallas Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones hints that trade could be coming

As things stand the Cowboys have 10 picks to work with, the number of selections they had after compensatory picks were originally announced.

• 1st Round (12th overall)
• 2nd Round (44th overall)
• 3rd Round (76th overall)
• 5th Round (149th overall)
• 5th Round (171st overall) [compensatory pick]
• 5th Round (174th overall) [compensatory pick]
• 6th Round (204 overall) [from Kaiir Elam trade]
• 6th Round (211th overall) [compensatory pick]
• 7th Round (239th overall) [from Kenneth Murray trade]
• 7th Round (247th overall) [from Jonathan Mingo trade]

It feels incredibly unlikely that the Cowboys will utilize all 10 of their picks during the 2025 NFL Draft, although to be fair we said that four years ago after Dallas picked up a selection from moving back in the first round and they wound up doing so. Anything can happen.

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Big Blue View

How much has New York Giants QB Russell Wilson declined?

With all the coaching changes it’s hard to tell

Right off the bat, let’s eliminate Year 11 (2022), Wilson’s first of two seasons in Denver, when first-time head coach Nathaniel Hackett was clearly in over his head and Wilson had his worst season ever by all three measures charted above. Even without that year, though, we can see that Wilson’s performance has declined over time, since about 2020 (Year 9).

The interesting thing about Wilson’s NFL career is that most of it has been spent with head coaches whose offense revolved around the run more than the pass. That was Pete Carroll’s calling card when he was head coach of the Seahawks, so much so that in 2019, fans began to implore him to “Let Russ Cook.” Indeed, by the measures of QBR and PFF passing grade, 2019 (year 8) was his best season. Carroll did let the offense revolve more around Wilson in 2020, but with less success that year and more so in 2021, which led to his trade to Denver. Giants fans will remember the game in Seattle in 2020, when Patrick Graham’s zone defense flummoxed Wilson and allowed the Giants to win in Seattle despite having Colt McCoy at quarterback.

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Articles

Pro Football Talk

Anthony Richardson, Daniel Jones will split QB1 reps in OTAs

Head coach Shane Steichen told reporters at the league meetings in Palm Beach on Monday that Anthony Richardson’s experience in the offense won’t land him any more work in the early stages of offseason workouts. Steichen said that Richardson and free agent addition Daniel Jones will split the starting reps once the team begins organized team activities in the coming weeks.

Steichen did not set any timeline for when he’ll name a starter and the stated hope that the competition will bring out the best in both players suggests that the Colts are going to want to see things play out for a while before making any choices.

Competition Committee had “heated” meeting on proposed tush push limitation

There are…strong feelings on the current rule, which has resulted in the Eagles essentially shrinking the distance between the orange sticks.

“It’s weak,” an unnamed team executive told Kahler regarding the proposal. “It’s punishing a team who became excellent at executing the play. In 2022, when Philadelphia was the only team doing it, there was a concern that it made the game less compelling because fourth-and-short was no longer in doubt. Then other teams copied it, and they can’t do it as well. . . . It reeks of jealousy.”

Momentum for a change was sparked by the incident from the NFC Championship, when multiple offsides fouls by the Commanders nearly resulted in the awarding of a touchdown under the never-used “palpably unfair act” language of the rulebook. One source described the outcome to Kahler as a “shitshow.”

The debate over the change could become one, too. Kahler reports that, on Sunday, Eagles G.M. Howie Roseman, assistant G.M. Jon Ferrari, and Rams coach Sean McVay and Bills coach Sean McDermott had a “private and animated side conversation” about the proposed change.

The proposal remains vague. As previously noted, it bans only an “immediate” push after the snap. It doesn’t prevent a second-act shove, after the first push by the offensive line. Thus, to the extent there is concern about the look of the play, the current rule won’t change that very much, if at all.

Hovering over the entire discussion is the fact that nothing will change unless at least 24 teams want it to change. If at least nine teams are fine with the status quo, the tush push will be going nowhere.

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All aTwitter

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