Hogs Haven

Photo by Jorge Lemus/NurPhoto via Can things get better? For the past couple of years now, I’ve been doing an annual look back at the injury numbers for Washington at the end of each season. I had originally hoped that with the arrival of Ryan Vermillion before the 2020 season, we would see an improvement in Washington’s games lost to injury, and things did improve from 2019 to 2020, if only because they hardly could have gotten worse. In 2019, Washington finished 31st in the league in games lost to injury, improving to 24th in 2020. In 2021, the season in which...

Photo by Scott Taetsch/ It’s 5 o’clock somewhere… The 5 o’clock club is published from time to time during the season, and aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below. CLICK HERE to see the full 5 o’clock club archive I’ve delved into the archives to look at the 90-man training camp rosters for Ron Rivera’s 4 seasons in Washington. Of course, we are still about 7 weeks away from 2023 training camp, but I...

Photo by Grant Halverson/ It’s 5 o’clock somewhere… The 5 o’clock club is published from time to time during the season, and aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below. CLICK HERE to see the full 5 o’clock club archive Today is June 2nd, which means that the Chase Roullier release has now taken effect, adding around $8m in available space to Washington’s 2023 salary cap. If the front office was waiting for cap...

Jack Del Rio speaks to the media after practice The Washington Commanders held their 6th OTAs practice today. Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy spoke earlier, and now it’s Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio’s turn at the mic. Washington drafted CB Emmanuel Forbes in the 1st round and DB Quan Martin in the 2nd round, and Del Rio is looking for the defense to start faster and create more turnovers. Forbes was a turnover-machine in college, and Del Rio is looking to elevate Washington’s defensive standings with the talent infusion in the secondary. Del...

Eric Bieniemy answers questions from the media after today’s practice The Washington Commanders completed their 6th day of OTAs practices today, and new Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy got the chance to talk about it with the media. Sam Howell is a very competitive kid, but he is steady, and knows how to autocorrect himself. The 2nd-year QB is projected to be the starter, but veteran Jacoby Brissett is also competing for the spot. Bieniemy has been responsible for scheduling practices under Ron Rivera, and he has emphasized to his players that they...

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports A daily collection of Commanders articles from around the web OTA Notebook | Emmanuel Forbes is learning to thrive as slot CB “He’s looked pretty good,” said head coach Ron Rivera. ”He’s very quick. That’s one of the things that he is, he’s really quick. When you get those little water bug routes where the guys are trying to run options off you inside or out, he seems to handle those very well.” Ranking best, worst 2023 NFL offseasons: Which teams improved? 1. Washington Commanders What went right: Team owner...

It’s 5 o’clock somewhere… The 5 o’clock club is published from time to time during the season, and aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below. Let’s say that everything goes the way that most people seem to expect it to go this offseason, and Sam Howell is the starting quarterback for Week 1. As the starting quarterback, is it automatic that the 2nd year player who has thrown 19 regular season passes as a professional will...

Ron Rivera speaks to the media before OTAs The Washington Commanders are back in Ashburn for another set of OTA practices and Head Coach Ron Rivera met with the media before the team hit the field. He said 2nd-year QB, and projected starter, Sam Howell has been showing confidence in the huddle, and they’ve noticed the difference in him from his rookie season to now. The coaches began mic’ing him up at last week’s practices, and they will be doing that with the other QBs on the roster. Jacoby Brissett has been showing the veteran leadership that is expected of a player...

Photo by Hannah Foslien/ 3 XFL players headline the Commies’ roster reinforcements I published the last depth chart update when the Commanders officially finalized their 90-man offseason roster, but, as Martin Mayhew reminded us in his post-draft press conference, roster-building never really stops. In the two weeks since Washington’s 90-man roster became official, four new players have been signed — 3 of them from the XFL — while 3 players have been released and one moved to the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. Note on Armani RogersTE Armani Rogers...

Photo by Cooper Neill/ It’s 5 o’clock somewhere… The 5 o’clock club is published from time to time during the season, and aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below. The LA Rams chose Terrell Burgess, a versatile defensive back from Utah, in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft as the 104th overall pick. At the time, there was considerable optimism that the team had discovered a player who integrated the strength of...

Photo by Harry How/ News, links to articles, updates and more from DC area writers and national sports journalists and others The goal of All aTwitter is to give readers a handy spot to check the Washington Commanders beat writers & bloggers, national sports journalists, and football fans in order to keep up on the latest news and opinions about Washington, the NFL, and sports in general, along with a smattering of other things. Washington Commanders twitter feed: Tweets from https://twitter.com/ScottJenningsHH/lists/beat-writers NFL News...

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports On the latest Trap or Dive Podcast episode, Commanders analyst Mark Bullock explained what he has seen from Jack Del Rio as Washington’s defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio’s time as the Commanders defensive coordinator has rightfully provided mixed reviews. Things got off to a good start, though, finishing his first season as Washington’s DC statistically top 4 in both points and yards allowed. Unfortunately, Washington saw a significant dip in the same categories in the following season, finishing 25th in points allowed and 22nd in...

Photo by Nick Cammett/ It’s 5 o’clock somewhere… The 5 o’clock club is published from time to time during the season, and aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below. Let me say right at the top that I love reading Pro Football Talk, the website that is created pretty much in its entirety by Mike Florio. I read the website every day, and I learn new things from Florio, who is intelligent and creative. Florio is 57...

Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports In response to a piece that I wrote earlier this afternoon, poster/writer LASkin wondered allowed in the comments: Comp picks only work if you have a fountain of talent that you are constantly replenishing. Most draft picks, especially comp picks, aren’t day 1 starters. They need a year or more of development before they are ready. That means you need reserves ready to step in for the departed players while you see what you’ve got with the comp picks. Sometimes you will hit the jackpot, most of the time you get nothing. I’d love to...

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports Better luck next year! Over the years, Washington has been one of the worst teams in the league at collecting compensatory draft picks, so it was a pleasant surprise when - for the first time since 2019 - Washington generated two compensatory picks for the 2023 draft last year. The comp pick capital for those two picks was gained by letting Brandon Scherff and Tim Settle walk in free agency for contracts that were sufficiently large - $16.5M and $4.5M APY, respectively - that they met the compensatory pick cut off threshold, while at the...