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
A surprising 12-5 season left Washington fans salivating for more. The preliminaries begin next week when training camp opens for rookies on July 18, followed by the veterans reporting four days later.
For a team trying to win as much public support as it can for the $3.8 billion stadium, the more exposure to the savior, Daniels, the better. And despite all the good feelings surrounding the release of the Commanders’ “Super Bowl Era” alternate uniforms, this is still a team that finished 30th in attendance last year, worse than the previous 4-13 season, and in some ways is being treated like an expansion team by customers. Being selective about your exposure when you’re trying to sell not just a stadium, but also a product, seems foolish.
When I posed the question to Commanders officials about why there aren’t more open training camp dates, a spokesperson responded only, “We’re excited to host training camp at the OrthoVirginia Training Center in Ashburn again this summer as we prepare for the 2025 season. We’re pleased to once again offer our fans, including season ticket holders, the opportunity to see the team practice this summer along with hosting a day for our military. We also look forward to welcoming those attending training camp and our joint practice with New England this summer.”
Commanders coach Dan Quinn is also worried about spies – but in this case, unwitting spies, perhaps among their own supporters.
They don’t want your iPhone videos showing up in the offices of the Cowboys or another 2025 opponent.
I’ve been told that the technology of hand-held videos has become so good that NFL scouts often go through fan websites looking for video nuggets that would give their team a competitive advantage, and that the Commanders do this as well.
While the team loves the energy of open practices, it must balance them with the need to install systems and plays coaches will use for the coming season, and these generally are not done in a public setting, a team source said.
The centerpiece was trading for five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Then he used his first-round draft pick to select Josh Conerly Jr. It was the first time Washington had used its Round 1 pick on an offensive lineman since Brandon Scherff in 2015, the last OL to make the Pro Bowl in Washington.
Even with the loss of Cosmi, the Commanders appear to be well-positioned to improve their offensive line play in front of Jayden Daniels. When the stud right guard eventually...
