Washington DC Sports Today

Washington DC Sports News Continuously Updated

Daily Slop – 4 Apr 25 – Offseason program starts April 22nd; OTAs start May 28th; Mandatory minicamp June 10-12

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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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Bullock’s Film Room (subscription)

NFL Draft Profile: CB Shavon Revel Jr.

From an athletic profile standpoint, there aren’t many corners that can match him. He’s one of the biggest and longest corners in this draft standing at 6-foot-2, 194 pounds with 32⅝-inch arms. He didn’t do any athletic testing due to a torn ACL last season, but on film he looks to be a very fluid mover for a cornerback of his size. The raw traits are there, but he comes from a smaller school that didn’t always face the best opposition, so there is a lot of projection in his evaluation.

At his best, Revel looks like a long, physical press corner that can disrupt receivers at the line of scrimmage by jamming them or shut them down by sticking close to them throughout the play.

On this play, Revel lines up in press coverage against an isolated receiver to the right of the offensive formation. East Carolina is sending a blitz, trusting Revel to hold up in man-to-man coverage on his own. Revel does exactly that. At the snap of the ball, he doesn’t look to jam the receiver, instead showing patient feet and forcing the receiver to declare his intentions. Once the receiver takes an outside release, Revel works to stay on top of the route and uses his positioning to force the receiver wider to the sideline. By forcing him outside, Revel effectively closes any potential throwing window for the quarterback.

However, due to the blitz, the quarterback feels pressure and decides to take his one-on-one matchup regardless, putting the ball up for grabs. Revel is engaged with the receiver at this point, both fighting for positioning but Revel is still on top of the route in a great spot. Because of that, he’s able to look back for the football while knowing exactly where the receiver is. Revel sees the throw the whole way and attempts to make a play on the ball. Unfortunately, the receiver turns into a defender and is able to get his hand into the catch point to break up what would have been an interception, but it still goes down as a pass broken up by Revel and a good example of what he’s capable of.

There was a lot to like about that rep. Patient feet in press coverage, good positioning to force the receiver into the sideline and closing the throwing window, and then the ball skills to know when to safely look back for the ball and get both hands on it. Later in that same game, those ball skills showed up again, but this time from an entirely different situation.

Here, Revel plays off coverage in what appears to be a zone coverage of sorts. The coverage is distorted because the offense runs a trick play. They hand the ball off to sell a run fake, only for the running back to stop and pitch the ball back to the quarterback on a flea flicker. This causes defenders to rush that perhaps shouldn’t have been rushing, thinking it was a run and then continuing into a blitz because they knew they wouldn’t be able to get back into coverage. That leaves a big hole in the defense, which the offense looks to exploit.

The receiver opposite Revel at the snap runs a deep over route, a common route off of a play-action fake. Revel, as a deep outside third defender, isn’t responsible for the route once it breaks inside over the middle, but he recognizes the situation and breaks out of the system to fix the problem. He sees the receiver crossing into open field and follows him across the field, breaking the structure of the defense. He can do that because he’s playing from off and with vision on the quarterback. He can see the quarterback is under pressure and drifting to his left to make a throw, which makes it unlikely he’ll be able to throw to the zone Revel was responsible for.

As such, Revel is able to track the crossing route and drive down on it to undercut the route as the ball arrives. He times the undercut perfectly and intercepts the pass right in front of the receiver. From there, Revel has a ton of open field to work with. He continues his momentum to sprint down the sideline as he looks to score a touchdown off his interception. His teammate does a great job getting out in front and blocking the quarterback, who was the only offensive player with a chance of stopping Revel. With him blocked, Revel cuts his return back inside and takes it to the end zone for a 50-yard pick-6.

Commanders.com

Commanders sign DE T.J. Maguranyanga

Maguranyanga is a member of the NFL’s International Player Pathway program (IPP), which was established in 2017 to identify talented international athletes an provide them with opportunities to develop their skills in American football. Maguranyanga was named as one of 13 players in the Class of 2025 last December.

Maguranyanga, born in Harare, Zimbabwe, is a professional rugby player who most recently played for ASM Clermont Auvergne in the French Top 14, a French rugby union league. He previously played for the Golden Lions in the Under-18 Craven Week from 2015-21. He was selected as a captain of the Golden Knights in 2020.

Earlier in his career, Maguranyanga played in the Under-16 Grant Khomo. He also represented his country on the Under-18 Sevens side at the Capricorn Group International Junior Sevens Tournament

Podcasts & videos

ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter on Commanders Free Agency and 2025 Draft | Next Man Up | Podcast

NFC East links

The Athletic (paywall)

Joe Milton III trade grades: Cowboys pick up a lottery ticket, Patriots cash out

Milton is a lottery ticket. He played well in limited opportunities as a rookie, notably in the preseason and the final game of the year when he went 22-of-29 passing for 241 yards and a touchdown with another score on the ground in a 23-16 win over Buffalo.

Milton, who has one of the strongest arms in the league, will have time to develop behind Prescott in Dallas, so there will be minimal pressure in terms of expectations as long as Prescott stays healthy.

We’ll see if the Cowboys add a more experienced backup before camp. They loved Rush’s ability to command the offense in a pinch, so there will be more of a learning curve with Milton. And considering Prescott has missed time in four of the past five seasons — and at least five games in three of those years — the Cowboys should covet a little more certainty on the depth chart.

But if Milton develops into a starter or turns those flashes into something more consistent before the expiration of his rookie contract, the Cowboys will love this trade.

NFL league links

Articles

Pro Football Rumors

Raiders To Extend QB Geno Smith

Smith’s Raiders deal will be worth $75MM, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.

This represents a bridge deal for both parties, though Smith’s age may well make this his final starter-level contract. Set to turn 35 in October, Smith had angled for a deal north of $40MM per year. That aim prompted the Seahawks to trade their three-year starter rather than agree to his price. The Raiders, after being prepared to give Matthew Stafford a big guarantee in a trade, pounced and reunited him with Pete Carroll.

This marks Carroll’s second time signing off on a Smith starter-level contract, as he was in place as the Seahawks’ top decision-maker when they gave him a three-year, $75MM deal in 2023.

At $37.5MM per year, Smith again will come in with a lower-middle-class contract on a skyrocketing QB market. When Smith signed his $25MM-AAV deal in March 2023, the league had not seen the $50MM-per-year club form. It has now, with 10 passers comprising it. Smith only moves up a few spots on the QB salary list, and it is certainly no coincidence his new AAV matches Derek Carr‘s Saints number

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