Chenal's Fit On New Commanders Defense & Commanders Come In Second On Some Big Names

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1:21Right now you can get Disney Plus and Hulu for just $4.99 a month for three months with a special limit to time offer ends March 24th. After three months playing auto renews at $12.99 a month term supply. Welcome back, take command Logan Paulson and Grant Paulson. If you missed our pod from the start of the week, after day one of free agency we recorded Monday night, we've got detailed breakdowns on Adafee Owe as well as Tim Settle, Logan buzzed the tape on him and we also looked at Mike Robertson as well. How are those guys going to fit in? Edition number four externally from outside the organization is Leo Shinol. We've been talking about that. You wanted to get into some of that usage. I mentioned 161 times on the D-line, 267 in the box and then slot corner a dozen times, most of them very early in the year. Yeah, and I think that is something that again, Doronte Jones has preached is the flexibility. And so I think another reason I was so excited is that flexibility is important. But then also I think about good defenses and how they put players in position to be successful,

2:22they put players in position to make plays. And I just felt like they were asking them to do really hard things a lot. And so while they're the end, nickel, off-ball backer, they're asking to do a lot of stuff and they're not really giving him easy pitches to hit if that makes sense. So I think that's something that for me was, again, the diversity is important, but sometimes I think about Frankie Lubu two years ago, like in the way that he was deployed in this defense where he's getting good matchups on backs, he's getting matchups on centers, he can blitz, he can kind of be who he is as a player, disguise stuff in the front. I think there's an element of that to Leo Shinol that has been totally untapped in his timing Kansas City. And there's nothing wrong with that because it still means he's a good football player. But I think the production, the numbers, like tackles, interception, sacks is going to go up when he comes to a defense like this because he's just going to get more opportunities to kind of hit that ball off the tee. Leo Shinol missed all of four tackles last season, by the way, and that was twice as many as the previous year. Found a great number on next-gen stats from 2025 where Shinol had missed just two

3:23tackles all season, including the playoffs. His missed tackle percentage of 3.4% was, at that time, best among linebackers, 50 tackle attempts, 2025 regular and post seasons combined. So if he's around, he's going to get you on the ground. I was starting to get a little antsy. You know, I'm not frustrated, not annoyed or anything, but a little antsy about linebacker because if you just look at what's happened at that position, a lot of money got spent, everything got picked over. Shinol is a nice addition, but I don't view him as the mic, and it's very possible, they just run Bobby Wagner back at this point. How do you think that ends up going? I mean, sunny styles, it is very much in play at seven, I would think. If he ends up getting to them right now, this moment, you know, him paired with Shinol and Frankie Luvoo, I mean, I could just lick my lips thinking about that, but what do you think they're going to do about Mike? Yeah, you know, it's interesting because like obviously, I think people were, I kind of, I see, so a couple of things that could do one, either Leo Shinol takes a larger role,

4:27takes a larger bite at the apple and becomes the mic linebacker for this team, maybe Frankie adopts that role. I think the other person that people are forgetting about is Jordan McGee. Like, you know, he talked at points last year about how Bobby Wagner was kind of helping him kind of grow into that green dot responsibility and that green dot role. And so, you know, I think Jordan McGee is a tremendous football player, he's explosive, he's snappy, he runs the football, he arrives with violence, like he stays square on tackles, he's got some good coverage ability, like maybe this staff feels he can take a step and if you support him with guys like in the secondary, like Will Harris, maybe they feel like they can support a young football player there with that mic linebacker responsibility. So, I think it'll be interesting to see how it goes and kind of, again, what this defense requires, you know, I think about Smith, Harris and Smith in Minnesota and how he was such a leader and how he kind of did so much in terms of getting that group lined up. Like, maybe again, you can offset some of that responsibility with some of the more experienced players on the roster. So, I don't think they necessarily have to get like the quote-unquote

5:30mic linebacker green dot. I think you've got some pieces in place, especially with this edition of Chanel. It'll just be interesting to see how they handle it. Like if they did sign a green dot, like you said, like sunny styles in the draft, like, awesome, this is the best thing ever. We've got three stud linebackers. That's fantastic. But I just be curious is he how they kind of handle everything, moving forward and I wouldn't write off Jordan McGee just yet. I'm not willing to rule out Bobby Wagner coming back either and having a role. I mean, that would not surprise me in the least the way that they feel about him. I love Jordan McGee. He's a running hit guy speed, power has done a nice job getting guys on the ground and I certainly think there's a future there. I would be surprised if it ends up being that he ends up, you know, at the top of the depth chart on week one and they're expecting to go out there and thump for 17 weeks because he just hasn't proven durable or that he could stay healthy. But the player is really, you know, scintillating and interesting and I get the excitement there. But yeah, I've just been a little surprised and that's why I'm starting to think maybe Wagner or some other, you know, plan that

6:33we're not thinking about because if you look at like green dot type, kind of almost that second level, it's Devin Lloyd gets 45 million to the Panthers. Quay Walker and the Kobe Dean both got paid by the Raiders. Tremaine Edmonds goes to the Giants. Kate and Ellis today, who is a guy kind of circled 33 million to the Saints. Shenol with Washington at 24-7 is now checking in sixth on this list. But the Mario Davis 11 per to the Jets. Alexander only 8.5 per to the bucks. Quincy Williams from the Jets to the Browns at 8.5. Alex Singleton seven and a half mill to the Broncos. So that's like one of a few positions where the market moved fast and these are kind of picked over. I'm not sitting here saying there's nothing left, right? Because there is. In fact, I would tell you that, you know, Bobby Wagner right now is probably like third on the projections of, you know, what a guy's going to make this year. The guy I still really like is Bobby O'Carrickay who is making 10 million dollars a year with the Giants. Devin Bush from the Browns is interesting as an athlete. You know, he's

7:35going to do well, I think, still in free agency. And then you got the Ageless Wonders in Wagner's going to be 36. Levante David is going to be 37. But that's kind of the list of what's left. Right. Yeah, and I do think, okay, O'Carrickay is interesting. I've always liked him up in New York. And so there are some pieces there. But because of what the market looks like at the moment, I would just be, I'd say like, can one of the guys can Leo should all do something like that do a version of that? Or is it something they believe can be taken care of in-house? And again, like the Bobby Wagner, you know, contingency plan is always on the table. So, you know, I don't think they're done kind of building this thing out, but definitely something to keep an eye on moving forward. Hey, this is Richard Ditch, the host of the Sports Media Podcast. If you're interested in what's happening with all the places where you consume sports, the Sports Media Podcast has you covered. I've been turning down interviews all week. Oda Copy reached out. Oprah, George Stephanopoulos. So I said, no, I was booked on the Ditch Podcast before the Taylor Swift phenomenon. I must live up to my responsibility. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

8:44Logan Paulson, Grant Paulson, take command. What do you make of them having finished to run her up a couple times? It feels like they've been in on receivers, man. I mean, they did everything they could to get Alec Pearson. I don't think I'm breaking news here. I mean, I was told though by multiple people that they had an offer every bit as good as what he signed with the Colts. Maybe even exceeded any anapolis. You know, we've heard that a team did. And maybe it was Washington. Then you had Romeo Dobbs today. I know they really liked him. They've been all over him. That went kind of to the final minutes. He ended up choosing New England to go play with the Patriots over Washington at 17 and a half million per. His different escalators could get him up to 20 million per. But it tells you a that they feel like they've got a significant need and be by missing out a couple times. You wanted Pierce. Then you reassess. You go after Dobbs. Now what do you do? We invest available going into day three as we record right now. Probably Joanne Jennings from San Francisco. Yeah, probably Joanne Jennings. And I do think like maybe the IUK thing becomes a

9:46little bit more real. And I'm not saying you're going to pay him top of the top of the market money or anything like that. But maybe one year five to ten million dollar range type of flyer kind of prove a deal. Maybe that's more on the table than it was previously. So just something to keep an eye on. And again, like it just this is free agency. You know, and like it's I was disappointed when the Alex Pierce thing didn't happen because I think it sounded like again I heard the same things. They were kind of all in. Obviously the Romeo Dobbs thing too. But that's just the nature of the beast, man. Like you could make all the offers. It could look appetizing. And the guy's going to make a decision like on where he wants to go. And so I just think like that's something to keep in mind for fans like when they're watching and listening to some of these announcements or some of the you know, like oh, we almost got this one. Like that's just out for agency works. Like I just speaking from my own experience and I never signed a big deal. But I think about when I signed with Atlanta, like I was between Detroit and Atlanta. And they went back and forth a little bit and Atlanta came with a little bit more money. The situation was a little bit better for me. So I ended up picking there. There was nothing wrong objectively with Detroit. It just kind of

10:50the deck tip just in the ever so right way. I had a better relationship with the tight end coach there. And that was it. So, you know, like that's just the nature. It's a fickle it's a fickle business. It's a fickle moment. And I just think that's important to remember in these situations. And while it's disappointing, no doubt. Like this is how free agency works. Logan Paulson, Graham Paulson, take command to wrap things up next. I got a quick draft question for you related to what they've done so far in free agency. And then one of the wildest rug getting pulled out moments ever. Oh, yeah. Remember in the NFL with this Max Crosby thing. I want to get into that too. We'll do it next on take command. Two teams. One cup. The prime time stage is set for the TGL presented by SoFi finals. Los Angeles golf club versus Tigers Jupiter links. Keep up. It's playoffs tune in Monday, March 23rd, 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN 2 and Tuesday, March 24th, 7 p.m. Eastern on ESPN and on the ESPN app.