Commanders Re-Sign Chris Paul... Does That Guarantee His Starting Spot Over Coleman?

0:00It's Charles Barkley here with Wayfair. Let me tell you, game day is serious business at my house. If I'm grilling, chilling, and watching hoops, my outdoor setup better be ready to play. That's where Wayfair wins. From patio seating and umbrella to grills and grill accessories, Wayfair's got it all and it shows up fast. I'm talking fast and easy delivery. So level up your grill game and your outdoor chill game and head to Wayfair.com to get your outdoor space ready for the season. Wayfair every style, every home. O-T-W-A-G-R-U-N-S dot-C-O.

1:02A year from today, what would your dream private practice look like? Would you spend less time chasing claims? Or only working with clients who value your skill set? What if you had a network to reach out to for questions or free continuing education? What if you had more time for yourself? Alma empowers you to confidently accept insurance, backed by an all-in-one EHR that simplifies scheduling, documentation, and day-to-day practice operations. Within network of engaged providers and free CE resources, Alma makes it easy for you to build the practice of your dreams on your terms. Alma believes that when therapists get the support they need, mental health care gets better for everyone. Learn more about Alma at helloalma.com slash get started. Your dream practice is closer than you think. Get started now at helloalma.com slash get started. Hey, buddy.

2:02Hey, buddy. Hey, buddy. Hey, buddy. It's time to take command with former NFL tight end, Logan Paulson. This past spot by Paulson, the tight end. And from 1067, the fan, Grant Paulson. Welcome in to take command with Logan Paulson to spend a decade in the NFL. I'm Grant Paulson. Thank you, as always, for making this podcast, one of your stops for commander's content. It means a lot. Please also spread the word. Subscribe, rate, review. We're giving you three episodes a week. A lot of breakdowns via free agency. And also player movement as we get closer to the draft. We'll have full previews on everything Washington could do. Logan, for people watching on the stream today, that's a good looking UCLA pullover you got going there. Yeah, UCLA Bruins, man. I think they sent this to me probably like more than that now, probably like 10 years ago. You know, so they they looked out, got a nice little hoodie out of it. Great school. You know, love to support them. So how does this work after you go there and play?

3:04Are you just like forever then getting year sent to you like every now and then? Or what? So I think for my first four or five years, I got like a little like, hey, here's a here's a shirt and some shorts. Here's a, you know, some guys get like, you know, I remember the, I forget who it was. It was probably correlated to draft picks, but it was like they'd get like a, you know, beats headphones and, you know, I was like, what is happening here? Like UCLA's like, here, here's this t-shirt, you know, which is great. I'm really grateful for it. But just there's levels to this obviously. But I wonder like now that you're not in the league anymore. Do they still send you stuff or is it like wearing this around the facility? No, they don't even remember that I played there. You know, like, who are you? What happened? What's going on? So what is going on here? All right. There's a few things we got to get into today. Things have slowed down on the free agency front for the moment for the commanders. But I want to talk about their offensive line with you, starting with a couple of the things that have changed. And at left guard, Chris Paul came back. We didn't get into this on the last pod.

4:05But remember the idea was he was going to get paid. A lot of national reporters, Albert Brear of SI among them saying the market was going to be substantial. He's going to get a quote unquote like he got what contract, but it didn't happen. He tested the market. He came back, Washington ended up getting him. We haven't seen the numbers yet, but it sounds like a pretty good rate. What do you make of the return of Chris Paul, who was one of the highest graded players in terms of pass protection at guard by PFF last year? I mean, obviously, I'm ecstatic that Chris is back. I think he's a great guy for the culture of the team. And you know, it was one of the things we talked about, like what is he actually going to get? And when Sihan Johnson signed that huge contract to go to Cleveland, I was like, oh, Chris is about to get broke off. But obviously, I think teams were kind of like, hey, man, it was one year of success. Like, why only one year? Let's maybe kind of more of approve it here in terms of contract value. And I think that's kind of reflected in why he came back to Washington. And I think he's a good player.

5:06I think there's still growth there for him. I guess a pass protector and his run blocker. And I do think like this system that is going to be coming in, this Detroit system, which really relies heavily on guards, is going to help him because I think it's going to help with angles. It's going to help with targets. It's just going to help him be a little bit more consistent. Kind of let him play a little bit faster. So I'm glad that he's back. I don't think he's necessarily the starter day one. I think I would expect there to be like a competition between him and Brandon Coleman. But again, I want good players in the building. And I think Chris Paul kind of fits that bill. Yeah, and Kudos to Chris Paul who is a former seventh round pick. Who I remember, you know, a couple of times sitting here over the years at training camp, trying to put together a roster and either not having him on it or really having a fight tooth and nail to get him on to the team as a bubble guy. And lo and behold, he just kind of survived, right? And it's been multiple regimes. And then you're the number five graded guard out of 81 and pass blocking the FFF. And you end up ending the market. And people supposedly, you know, we're looking at paying him.

6:08Now it didn't work out. He comes back to Washington. And the depth is significant here. That's a really important part of this. You know, their line as a chance again to be very good. Because they paid Larry me tonsil at the top of the market. He's been extended. They've got the very high upside right tackle and Josh Connolly. They drafted in the first round last year. I don't think anybody would be surprised if you know a healthy Sam Cosme were to make his first pro ball this year next year. He's that type of player. And then on the interior, the questions are kind of left guard and center. But now Paul comes back where he played at a high enough level that he would be at least the first guy to get a shot at left guard. I want to double click on the idea of the competition because I'm hoping Brandon Coleman at some point does get another opportunity here. I always liked what I saw from him at tackle. I know guard didn't go quite as well, but it was a very small sample. He missed a bunch of training camp last year. Would you think it'd be like an open competition or based on how Paul played last year? Do you give him the inside track, but Coleman has a chance to supplant them?

7:09Like, how is that going to work? I think the Coleman things really interesting because you know, you're always he's like a lot of guys that I played with. He's Uber talented and Uber talented guys like coaches and staffs and front offices. They want to get those guys on the field because I think they add a little bit more upside. Like again, I think Chris Paul had a great year. He's extremely powerful. He's got strong hands. He's got a good base and pass protection. But you know, we've talked about this before like Brandon Coleman read a sub sub five flat 40 for offensive lineman, which is a huge marker of kind of longitudinal success for the position. He's got 35 inch arms. That's a huge element in terms of kind of length and staying power at the position. Like you look at guys with long arms, they tend to play for a long time. So again, I look at the upside, looking at his ability kind of on the interior to like quickly like reach people to work up to the second level. And you mentioned it last year, like didn't really get a fair shake at it because I turn remember the exact number of I think you had like seven practices or something before his first start. We won against the giants.

8:10And so obviously there was going to be some issues there in terms of struggling right in terms of technique. And also for him, it's about staying healthy. But I think if you had a pick, all things being equal, health being equal, you know, experience at the position, practice at the position being equal, like you want the better athlete in there. So with regards to your question, like I think I think I don't know if it's going to be an open competition because I think Chris Paul played really well. But I do think Brandon Coleman will be right there throughout training camp because again, it's this administration's guy. He's a freak athlete and I think getting that kind of talent on the field. Like think about that Laramie Tunsell, you know, Brandon Coleman third round pick whoever's going to play center. But you mentioned causing me and Connerley, like that is a tremendously athletic group with a ton of upside. If they get those four guys all healthy and out there. And that's not taking anything away from Chris Paul because I think he's a fine player in himself. But I'm just saying athletic ceiling looks a lot different with Brandon Coleman, their left guard. Yeah, and look, your point is well taken. I mean, Paul was a seventh round pick. Coleman went in round three just from a sheer athletic profile standpoint.

9:15I think that that's telling Coleman's huge, by the way, 66 320. That size, like we've seen guards get bigger. It feels like the last few years. I'm old enough to remember, you know, covering training camps where if I saw a guy who is 66, you know, with his frame and profile, I'd stare at him and go, that is a tackle. That's not a guard. I mean, is there something to his size given him some issues or making life a little bit harder with any of the stuff that he may have struggled with last year? I think the main thing with Brandon Coleman as and I think it's a really good point of comparison to Chris Paul is just general play strength and like midsection strength. And so what I mean by that is like, yeah, like core strength. That's a good way to put it because like again, like when you see sometimes Brandon Coleman punch on the interior. He gets a little bit of a waistband. Paul has a really good base. He's able to kind of sit into his hips like bend his knees really well and he throws those big neat cleavers out there and really can stun guys. And I think that's the one thing I'd say with Coleman compared to Paul and Coleman even when he played tackle, right?

10:17There's just this lack of like top end strength. And like when you look at guys in the NFL, like they just have this offensive lineman specifically. They just have this like grown man dad strength for lack of a better descriptor, right? And I think Coleman's still kind of growing into that while Chris Paul has that. So that's one thing I would just keep an eye on. Like if it is a true competition during training camp is like what is Coleman's strength and health look like? Because I think on the interior dealing with bigger, more powerful players. And again, better pass rushers are starting to kind of cultivate the interior of the defensive line now. And all those things I think are things like that could potentially make it more challenging for Coleman to be successful there at Garden. Guys, by now you've heard me talk about collars and co makers of the dress collar polo. They've already sold over a million of these amazing shirts. Well, collars and code just came out with the new Maverick performance blazer. This blazer is sharp and wrinkle resistant so you can travel anywhere with it. Just throw it in your bag and it will remain wrinkle free.

11:18It even comes with security zip pockets, a sunglasses loop and an optional pocket square. So visit collars and co dot com and use code tiki for 20% off at collars and co dot com. Logan Paulson, Grant Paulson, on take command. The other thing I would just remind people on brain and Coleman who has made it work everywhere he's been, right? This is a guy that started in juco at Trinity Valley that ended up at TCU climb the draft board played multiple positions. You know, I talked about this months ago on the show when he got benched. But I remember having a good conversation with him at training camp is a really, really good dude. And he was talking about how like when he was playing left tackle in his rookie year in 24 he had gotten comfortable, right? They get to the NFC championship game. He was playing at a fine level. I actually would have been okay with him playing left tackle. It happens. You can get larmy tonsils so like great. Do that and figure out the brand and Coleman thing. But he gets a call from Adam Peters and Peters goes, Hey, man, we love you. You're going to write tackle is like no problem.

12:20Then it's draft night and Josh Connerley falls to them and they decide that's what they're going to do. And so he calls Brandon Coleman a few weeks after that original call and he goes, Hey, man, we love you. But you're going to left guard is like, OK, no problem. And then he obviously shows a betraying camp and gets beat out and doesn't get to practice a whole lot and all those things. So he has moved a bunch and he didn't really have a home. I mean, it's not like left guard is comes naturally. So when you talk about the number of practices, this is not like it's a position he's played for 15 years and the only seven practices. He was really drinking throw fire hose. So he is a guy. There are probably others. Maybe this is a topic. Like Evan, we could put a pin in for another pod that would be fun. Like the guys you would bet on kind of flourishing this season. He's a guy with a full off season at a position coming back hungry after getting benched. Like I would imagine we're going to see a different Brandon Coleman and training camp. So I'm not rolling out him winning that job. I think it's going to be very much a competition. No, I'm with you on that.

13:21I think the things you just talked about, like the idea of having a full off season to play left guard is huge. Like because I remember watching him coming out of TCU and he and I kind of thought of him as a guard. I can't have this guard body type like at least on film. Like he had this big kind of blade neck roll and you know kind of this big thick lower half. No, that's going to be a guard, even though he played tackle. And then I went back and looked at the clips because like the games I watched at TCU who's playing predominantly guard. And then you realize that the majority of his reps in college were a left tackle. Like that's again, when you look at like kind of his his his snap totals, right? And then people look at like just another good point of comparison is currently the majority of his snap. Totals were a left guard and he's moving or left tackle. Excuse me. And then he's moving to right tackle. And there's a learning period there. Like it's just a little bit different. The foot works a little bit different. Like I coach offensive lineman in the off season. I'm coaching one right now. And it's just amazing to me how their bodies are so ingrained in a specific movement pattern and position.

14:21And so for you in a in an off season to kind of say, Hey, I'm going from left tackle to right tackle to left guard. I've only got a couple of practices like. So not only do we have to kind of rework the footwork rework the positioning, but also punch timing. You know, leverages are different combinations are different. Footworks different. So I'm with you, Grant. I do think that like the more exposure he gets to the position, the better it's going to be for him. And again, I'm betting on an athlete. And I'm betting on a guy that at every stop, like you said, like his coach is always reference the kind of worker and the kind of competitor that he is. I just think again, this is Chris Paul being back, Brandon Coleman at the position for a year only build well for the Washington commanders. So I like good football players. I think there's two of them here. And I think it's going to be a really interesting battle to see a wins out left guard spot. Yeah, just to give you some details. Freshman year 2020 in school. He played right guard for four games, sophomore year eight games, primarily a guard. Then from junior on, it was pretty much tackle. So 2023, 11 starts.

15:23And then in 2022, 15 games at left tackle or an honorable mention all big 12. So you know, the junior year, especially didn't touch the guard position, a worth noting. We're taking a deep dive into the offensive line today on take command. I want to look at the center position and expectations, maybe for Nick Allen, ready. We'll do that next right here on take command. I'm Spencer and I work at United Healthcare. Suspenser, why do you care? I care because my daughter, Adeline has special needs. I am motivated by Adeline who inspires me every day. I am driven to help families like mine navigate the healthcare system. I'm so blessed to lead an amazing team at United Healthcare focusing on the member experience and making that better. I'm Spencer and I'm committed to care.