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The Washington Commanders drafted 7 players last weekend. They also signed 12 UDFAs and had an additional 35 tryout players in Ashburn today for rookie mini-camp.
The Commanders invited 35 players to tryout at their rookie minicamp. pic.twitter.com/gUTkNORq5b
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) May 12, 2023
Ron Rivera
Commanders 2023 schedule:
Ron Rivera on the Commanders' schedule: "It's all right. It'll be fun to have the Thanksgiving game. It would've been nice to have the bye a little sooner."
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) May 12, 2023
Speed and technique:
Ron Rivera is addressing the media ahead of rookie minicamp. Said he’s looking for speed, particularly from the defensive linemen, and techniques from the offensive players
— Zach Selby (@ZachSelbyWC) May 12, 2023
Emmanuel Forbes:
Rivera said in watching Emmanuel Forbes in meetings and the walk-through, he can see/hear the thought process that leads him to making plays. "You see how attentive he was and the questions were really thought out," Rivera said.
— John Keim (@john_keim) May 12, 2023
“There was a couple of coverages that I sat there and did go back on a couple times. One of ‘em was he went into a hinge technique and basically what he did was he put himself in to be able to play the high, the low, and the ball was thrown to the high and he was able to turn, and with that burst of his speed, that length, he was able to tip the ball outta bound, so you could see that and that was one of the things that caught my attention. Another one was when he jumped a route quick SL on the inside was able to beat the receiver to the spot and make the interception. I mean, those are the kind of things, the great anticipation, but then you kind of wonder where it comes from. I was sitting behind him and watching him in meetings and then I was sitting back watching him during the walkthrough today and then I watched him with Coach Vieselmeyer and as coach was explaining something to him, you can see how attentive he was. The questions he was asking, I thought were really well thought out. There are some things that kind of lead to why I think, or I believe that’s why he makes those kinds of plays because those little detail things I think don’t get away from him.”
Rookie minicamp:
“First of all, first opportunity to see them in a football environment, you know, on the field. I’m looking forward to that this afternoon. More so than this morning because this was really just walkthrough, installation, try and get these guys familiarized with some of our basic stuff so that they can go out and perform quickly. For us, we really wanna watch how they react to what they’re seeing, how their retention is and then just some guys making plays in terms of some of the receivers, some of the defensive backs. We wanna see some quickness as far as some of the defensive players, defensive line in particular and then with the offensive guys, we wanna see them using their techniques that that’s being taught to them today. We’ll see how that goes today and tomorrow in terms of their retention and how are they adapting to the techniques that we are teaching as well.”
If in the draft they were looking for a running back that can do certain types of runs:
“I would say we were looking for a back that fit what we wanted to do and the way we wanted to do it. I know Eric really liked Christopher, so that was one of the pluses for when he was available when we were picking. Secondly, I still liked what we saw as far as the growth was concerned with Antonio. I’d like to see Antonio get a few more tries, obviously last year, but Antonio’s shown tremendous growth and we’re pretty excited about who he could be. This is a guy that played wide receiver at one time coming out and one thing that he did have was every nine touches resulted in a touchdown, so we’re looking for some production from him as well and we’re looking to see that he does fit in into the scheme of things as far as what Eric Bieniemy wants to do with the offense.”
Kazmeir Allen:
On the return game, Rivera highlighted Allen Kazmeir from UCLA as a player to watch. He’s a young man who has our attention, Rivera said
— Zach Selby (@ZachSelbyWC) May 12, 2023
Asked Ron Rivera about the return game and whether any of the rookies/UDFAs could factor into the mix. He mentioned one name:
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) May 12, 2023
Kazmeir Allen
Wrote about the UCLA speedster and the other UDFAs:https://t.co/LoBiVchNG1 pic.twitter.com/eIYBPw1Xdo
“Well, there are a couple guys out there, but one of the more notable names, and I’m gonna have to look it up and so I can say it properly, but he’s a young man we got out of UCLA. He’ll wear number 10 out there, Kazmeir Allen. He played some slot for them, some wide receiver for them, some running back for them and then he returned both kickoffs and punts for them, and he did ‘em in the bowl game in the All-Star games as well. So he’s a young man that most certainly has gotten our attention and he’s a young guy that we went out and tried to make sure we were able to recruit and bring him in as a free agent.”
Teaching players about gambling:
“Lesson will be very blunt. It’ll most certainly be one of the ones that we will use in our player development program. You know, I think Malcolm has done a tremendous job with that and that’ll be one of the things that will most certainly be emphasized with them. When we did find out about the Shaka Toney thing, we called the league and asked the league if they could send us some information that we could use and do a presentation with. We presented to the team. Malcolm led that for us and the whole team, everybody that that’s in that building that’s associated with us was in that room. We presented it. We talked through it. Malcolm will follow up with these young guys and, and it will be presented and they will talk through it with him as well.”
Finding talent from the XFL and USFL:
“I believe you can and again, the good part of it is these guys have film and quality film for us to take a look at. We’ll get a chance to see where some of these guys are and how good some of ‘em move. It’s just like anything else. It’s just as if you were watching college tape but it is some of these guys are talented and someone just need an opportunity.”
What he wants to see from the undrafted/tryout players:
“Scouting and drafting and signing college for agents, it’s a difficult thing. It’s not a proven 100% science. Some guys are gonna slip through the cracks and maybe this is an opportunity to find one of those guys but again, you’re looking for somebody that will stand out depending on his position and whether or not he was making plays. If it’s a receiver or DB, is he running good routes and making catches, or is he defending receiver as well? If it’s an offensive line, how’s his technique, how is his pad level and by that I mean, is he in a good body position. With offensive lineman, it’s about technique and body position and that that’ll tell you whether a guy has a chance.”
Eric Bieniemy:
Ron Rivera appreciates the "shake up" that Eric Bieniemy is providing as Washington's OC. Per Ron, Bieniemy is helping with the planning and structuring of the offseason and also injecting some of the ideas/operations he picked up on with the Chiefs
— Pete Hailey (@PeteHaileyNBCS) May 12, 2023
“This is a little different this year having Eric Bieniemy out there. I would say it’s kind of twofold as far as the offensive guys. We want to really be able to feel comfortable about a lot of these guys have assimilated to what Eric has brought and has installed as far as our offense and what we’re gonna use this season and then it’ll be about the retention. Just how muchof what we’re doing, do they learn how much of it they’re gonna retain and that’ll be important for when we get started that first week of training camp, so right now it’s about learning the X’s and O’s of what we’re doing. And then the second thing, more so anything else, is did they show some growth in their abilities, their techniques, their base fundamentals. Did they improve that way? And again, we’ll see that by the end of Minicamp and OTAs and then we’ll get a flavor for where they are the first week of training camp.”
Learning curve for coaches:
“I think it should be very good. I think for the most part everything that they’re gonna be installing has been everything that they’ve been working on. One of the things that I’ve alluded to with some of the questions I’ve gotten is just how early they get started. Typically you come in, everybody starts at eight o’clock, but with Eric and the offensive staff, they start at 7:00 AM. They go through everything. And then the thing that’s been impressive is how he’s worked with each one of these coaches individually for their specific positions, whether it be the offensive line, the tight ends, the running backs, wide receivers and he’s with the quarterbacks daily. But he’s constantly with these coaches and constantly going through little detail things, so it’s been real interesting to watch the way he handles things.”
Expectations for drafted vs undrafted/tryout players:
“Well, I think with the draft guys, you have an anticipation and the expectation of them coming in and really doing things well. Some of these younger guys that hadn’t been drafted, there may be some limitations or some things that they’ve gotta work on and that’s, that’s probably why they didn’t get drafted, but they still have a skillset set, you know what I’m saying? They still show a burst. They still show some quickness. They still show some strength and power which is all the more reason to want to keep some of these guys because you could always exchange a guy for somebody that you’ve already signed. If somebody flashes like that, you sit there and go, wow, we need to really think about this young guy and if you change him out, you do and if you don’t, he’s most certainly be on a short list if something were to happen, he’s a guy that you would want to bring back.”
Mason Brooks:
“Well, he’s a guy that played a lot of football. He may not have started a lot, but he played a lot of football. He’s shown some position flexibility more so anything else, that’s always something that we always feel is an important thing. There was a general toughness that we liked and that we thought, this is a guy that could come in and help us out. If you can get a guy like that as a undrafted free agent, you gotta see and take a shot.”
Roster Moves:
Washington Commanders Roster Moves: Two players released; 12 UDFAs sign their contracts https://t.co/RZ4gst9BR7
— COMMANDERS FOOTBALL (@HogsHaven) May 12, 2023
Day 1:
Rookies first day of work #HTTC pic.twitter.com/0mHTA2aft5
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) May 12, 2023
Adam Raine:
Oh wow @KingCole_Turner has competition.
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) May 12, 2023
Meet Adam Raine, a DT from Basingstoke, England. pic.twitter.com/Wfiw0uXmGg
Ricky Stromberg:
First look at 3rd round center Ricky Stromberg gettin some work in #HTTC pic.twitter.com/tgv5GYFUV7
— Mitchell Tischler (@Mitch_Tischler) May 12, 2023
Chris Rodriguez:
Chris Rodriguez taking the handoff during drills. pic.twitter.com/AVDqu77HX3
— Zach Selby (@ZachSelbyWC) May 12, 2023
6th-rd RB Chris Rodriguez Jr. pic.twitter.com/uzAofeGpRZ
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) May 12, 2023
Rodriguez going through cone drills pic.twitter.com/ttm94psNzl
— Zach Selby (@ZachSelbyWC) May 12, 2023
Emmanuel Forbes:
Emmanuel Forbes leading the DBs in position drills pic.twitter.com/YhdyXmmrmu
— Zach Selby (@ZachSelbyWC) May 12, 2023
First look at Emmanuel Forbes in special teams work: pic.twitter.com/TroflGNT0N
— John Keim (@john_keim) May 12, 2023
Our first look at first round pick Emmanuel Forbes on the field for #Commanders rookie minicamp@JPFinlayNBCS will have reports from Ashburn this afternoon @nbcwashington #HTTC pic.twitter.com/RP5GRs8iXf
— NBC4 Sports (@NBC4Sports) May 12, 2023
WRs coach Bobby Engram:
One thing that stuck out to me last year was Carson Wentz talking about the receivers all running their routes slightly differently … new Commanders WR Coach Bobby Engram is drilling some pretty specific details even here in rookie mini camp pic.twitter.com/EpTDeXQqNE
— Mitchell Tischler (@Mitch_Tischler) May 12, 2023
Jalen Sample:
UDFA Jalen Sample catching passes to start the day pic.twitter.com/kxNUxQE1qI
— Zach Selby (@ZachSelbyWC) May 12, 2023
Rookie minicamp Practice ends with a pretty deep ball from DJ Golatt to Jalen Sample - real impressive catch. Sample a UDFA from Minny State. He will be at camp. 6’6. Somebody to watch in August maybe for prax squad.
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) May 12, 2023
Juan Castillo:
Mentioned this on a recent pod, but expect to see Juan Castillo, a longtime OL coach, with the OL more this year. Run-game coordinator title may be coming.
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) May 12, 2023
Travelle Wharton will be official OL coach. Todd Storm likely candidate to replace Castillo as TE coach. pic.twitter.com/4olIGtv2Rz
Emmanuel Forbes INT:
Emmanuel Forbes just got his first interception as a Commander. Didn’t take long.
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) May 12, 2023
Picked off Tim DeMorat in 7v7
Emmanuel Forbes with his first pick, stepping in front of Kyrie McGowan on a route over the middle. Liked how Forbes plays these routes; a little crouched and ready to pounce. What he did here to pick off Tim DeMorat.
— John Keim (@john_keim) May 12, 2023
Emmanuel Forbes just had a PBU.
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) May 12, 2023
Eric Bieniemy:
Eric Bieniemy makes his presence felt. Will get on guys for not finishing plays. Barks at C Nolan Laufenberg to “take control” of the huddle.
— John Keim (@john_keim) May 12, 2023
Notes:
Anyway, here's the rookie minicamp notebookhttps://t.co/jUeSodWXsA
— Zach Selby (@ZachSelbyWC) May 12, 2023
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