Daily Slop - 21 May 25 - NFL owners meet today; will vote on ‘tush push’, playoff re-seeding, onside kick & more

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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NFL.com

Who could dethrone Super Bowl champion Eagles?

Rank 6 - Washington Commanders - 2024 record: 12-5

Washington was the feel-good story of 2024, which amounts to good and bad news. The good news is that head coach Dan Quinn immediately established a winning culture within a franchise that had been languishing for years and found a burgeoning superstar in quarterback Jayden Daniels, last year’s Offensive Rookie of the Year. The bad news is that the Commanders won’t be sneaking up on anybody any longer.

General manager Adam Peters was once again aggressive in his second offseason on the job, as he engineered trades for former 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel and former Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Washington still needs more help when it comes to rushing the passer, but it’s obvious how this team wants to win games. The Commanders plan on putting as much pressure as possible on opponents with Daniels engineering a prolific offense. Last season, Washington went on a seven-game winning streak before losing to Philadelphia in the NFC Championship Game. The Commanders scored at least 30 points in four of those wins, including 45 in a Divisional Round victory at Detroit and 36 in a Week 16 triumph over Philadelphia. The Commanders ultimately proved last season that they’re not intimidated by anyone.

This season will bring a different set of tests, including adjusting to how defenses attack Daniels in Year 2 — remember the struggles that the highly touted Texans experienced last year after quarterback C.J. Stroud had exploded onto the scene as a rookie in 2023? — and whether Washington can handle life as a perceived heavyweight.

Commanders Wire

What are the Commanders’ running backs plans for 2025?

Robinson Jr. had multiple games last year where he was simply ineffective, inefficient, and unimpressive. Was Robinson injured? Was he simply not reading the plays and their developments properly?

If Robinson again struggles, the question becomes, who do the Commanders look to most to run on first and or second downs?

• I know this sounds crass, but at least consider this fact that Croskey-Merritt was drafted by Adam Peters and Chris Rodriguez was not.
• Peters did decide to bring back Rodriguez, and it shouldn’t be dismissed that Rodriguez did have good showings against the Giants (11-52) and the Titans (13-94) and had a couple of really nice runs, including a touchdown run against the Falcons in that Sunday night overtime win.
• Jeremy McNichols’s special-teams play might be the significant factor in why Rodriguez was the RB4 and not RB3 most of the 2024 season. McNichols is valued for his work ethic, and seeing Peters and Quinn have brought back McNichols as well suggests that his fumble in...