Hogs Haven
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
Rodriguez was in a similar position entering last season, and even initially didn’t make Washington’s 53-man roster as the team placed him on the practice squad. However, as Robinson and Ekeler both missed a handful of games due to injuries, he was elevated for much of the second half of the campaign. He also accumulated offensive snaps in seven different contests.
His best performance was against the Tennessee Titans in Week 13, rushing for 94 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Rodriguez also found the end zone in Washington’s playoff-sealing Week 17 win over the Atlanta Falcons. But opportunities were limited.
In addition to Robinson and Ekeler, Rodriguez was also slotted behind veteran Jeremy McNichols on Washington’s depth chart for most of 2024. He also re-signed with the Commanders for 2025, which will only make the third-year pro’s work that much harder.
Only one of McNichols, Croskey-Merritt, and Rodriguez will likely make Washington’s opening 53-man roster.
After the 2025 NFL draft, the Commanders signed former Florida State cornerback Fentrell Cypress II as an undrafted free agent.
CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso thinks that could be a sneaky good move for Washington.
Fentrell Cypress II is a man-coverage specialist with the athletic attributes to play that role in the NFL. While not ridiculously long, the former Florida State star is 6-foot-1 and 181 pounds with 4.43-second speed in the 40-yard dash, a 38-inch vertical jump and tremendous agility illustrated by his 6.84-second time in the three-cone drill at the Seminole pro day.
Sometimes that natural talent is all a cornerback needs to impress coaches enough to go from undrafted to on the roster in Year 1.
Roughly two-thirds of Mason Brennan candidates failed to meet their preseason Hype! with a third of those flaming out spectacularly.
As the first Mason-Brennan back of the Peters’ era, some may contend Bill is a different animal, but the history of late round backs can’t be denied. For every Alfred Morris there are multiple players that never log a regular season stat. As mentioned in the [linked] Chris Rodriguez article, just about every season there does seem to be one late round running back that surprises the league so fans may continue to hope that is JCM this year.
Setting the bar too high makes it almost impossible for the nominee to have any chance of clearing it.
How are we doing with tempering expectations for Jacory Croskey-Merritt so far?
Based on a recent interview with the 7th Round back on...
