WEBVTT
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You know, usually when you talk about building a championship
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caliber football team, there is this expectation of structural integrity.
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Right, you want that solid foundation exactly.
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You pour the concrete, you frame the walls, and the
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front office points at the depth chart and says, well,
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there it is solid as a rock.
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Yeah, until it absolutely isn't right.
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But then you step into the reality of an NFL
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training camp in August and someone just accidentally knocked out
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your absolute most crucial load bearing wall.
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It is pure chaos, it really is.
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Today we are looking at a roster landscape that is
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completely scrambled. We have our hands on the official Washington
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Commander's Training camp noebud.
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Oh this is the one from August tenth, twenty twenty six, Right, yeah, that's.
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The one written by senior writer z ex Selby. And
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our mission for this deep dive is to basically bypass
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the standard sports pr spin. We want to analyze exactly
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how a professional football operation manages a sudden, massive collapse
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in their foundation.
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Which is easier said than done, oh for sure.
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We want to see how they evaluate talent when the
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walls are closing in, and how they prepare for a
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highly anticipated season when the ground shifts right underneath their feet.
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It is the absolute definition of organizational chaos management. Like
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you think you have a script for August and then
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the universe reminds you that the script is written in pencil.
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Huh, that is the perfect way to frame it, because
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let's jump straight into what altered the energy of this
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entire camp.
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Let's do it.
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So the team is back on the practice field in
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full pads after taking Sunday off, But the defining fact
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of the day comes straight from head coach Dan Quinn.
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Pro Bowl left tackle Laramie Tunsel suffered a triceps injury.
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Yeah yeah, and it requires surgery. They have completely lost
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their anchor. And for you listening, I want to quantify
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just how devastating a triceps injury is for a left tackle.
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It's basically the worst case scenario.
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It really is. I mean, the triceps is the muscle
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responsible for elbow extension. It is quite literally where you're punched.
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Power comes from.
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Right. If you can't violently extend your arms to punch
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a two hundred and eighty pound edge rusher, you just
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you cannot play the position exactly.
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And Tunsall isn't just some guy on the roster. The
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Commander's traded for him ahead of the twenty twenty five
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season and handed him a massive extension this passed offseason.
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A huge investment, huge, and he's been.
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A vital mentor to their twenty twenty five first round
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pick Josh Conorley Junior. Plus he built a really strong
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rapport with left guard Chris Paul.
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The ripple effects there, they go far beyond just the
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physical blocking. Yeah, you are losing a primary teacher in
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the locker room.
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Oh absolutely.
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When you have a young developing offensive line like Connorley
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Junior figuring out the nuances of the pro game, having
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a veteran like Tunsul in the film room is.
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Invaluable, right, showing him how to diagnose pre snap friends
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and all that exactly.
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And now that brain trust is just sitting in a
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sling on the sideline.
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Okay, let's unpack this. You are a head coach and
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you just lost your star left tackle. The front office's
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proposed solution to mitigate the crisis is to slide in
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Brandon Coleman.
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The former third round pick out of TCU.
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Right, and I have to push back on the strategy immediately.
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I mean this isn't just sliding in a replacement part.
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You don't buy that it's a clean swap.
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No, It's like pulling out a forged steel beam and
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hoping a wood and two by four can hold up
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the roof just because it happens to fit in the slot.
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Huh. I mean, that's a harsh way to look at it,
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but yeah.
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But think about it. Tunsel is an All Pro who
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can anchor against anyone in the league. Is Brandon Coleman
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really a viable full time replacement to protect your franchise
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quarterback's blind side?
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I completely understand the skepticism m HM, and on paper,
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comparing an All Pro to a former third rounder feels
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like a mismat.
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Right, it feels like a total downgrade.
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But we have to look at the specific traits Coleman
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brings to this exact offensive system. What's fascinating here is
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that the coaching staff isn't asking Coleman to replicate Tunsell's.
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Game because they can't exactly.
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They are entirely different players. Where tunsl wins with overwhelmed
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anchor strength and that punch you mentioned, Coleman possesses exceptional
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footwork and spatial awareness.
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Okay, footwork is good.
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Yeah, the source material specifically highlights his ability to operate
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in space and get to the second level.
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But footwork doesn't really matter if you're getting bull rushed
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straight into the quarterback's lap, does it.
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Well, it matters when the offensive scheme is designed to
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weaponize that exact footwork. Let's remember the context of this roster. Okay,
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the commanders are falling back on a trusted historical solution here.
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Coleman actually won this exact job during his rookie year.
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Oh that's right.
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Yeah, and he helped keep Jaden Daniels upright all the
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way through their twenty twenty five NSC Championship run. So
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he already has the reps in this specific system.
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So it's not totally unfamiliar territory.
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For him, not at all. When the coaches talk about
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him moving in space, they are talking about his ability
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to dictate the geometry of the pocket.
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The geometry of the pocket.
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I like that, right. He might not stonewall and edge
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rush sure the way tunsl does, but his spatial awareness
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allows him to run that rusher in a wide arc
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safely past the quarterback's drop back depth.
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Okay, so it's a customized bracket that they already know
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fits their machinery, even if it's not the premium steel
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forged part they originally ordered exactly. So if we are
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trusting this wood and two by four to hold up
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the roof, we really need to look at what happened
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when the pressure actually started caving in during.
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Practice, because theory is great, but practice is reality, right.
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Pads on Pad's collision is where we find out if
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that geometry actually holds up. The notebook details some incredibly
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physical practice battles in the trenches.
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Yeah, the offensive line drills were.
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Intense, super intense, Like Sam Cosmi is out there in
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pass protection, literally stopping bull rushes dead in their tracks.
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Cosmey was looking great.
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But on the other side of the ball, Javonte Jean
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Baptiste is having his way powerfully pushing offensive linemen straight
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into the backfield.
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So it's a real mixed bag.
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It is. But naturally all were grued to Brandon Coleman.
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During a rush drill, Coleman squared off against odafe Oa.
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Oh wow, that is no small task. Now, Owie has
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the exact kind of explosive first step that exposes tackles with.
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Heavy feet and Coleman successfully pushed Oh completely out of
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the play. But here's where it gets really interesting. The
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notebook specifically points out that Coleman's victory over Oh wasn't
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a flashy, dead stop block right.
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It wasn't a highlight real moment, not at all.
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It wasn't a brick wall moment. It was, according to
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the observations, an ugly win.
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An ugly win. I love that term.
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It makes me think of a bouncer at a busy nightclub,
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Like if a patron is causing trouble, the bouncer doesn't
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have to cleanly knock the guy out in the middle
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of the dance floor to do his job.
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Uh, probably better if he doesn't.
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Right, he just has to successfully shove him out the
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side door into the alley. If the guy is out
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of the club, the job is done.
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That's a great analogy, right.
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Have you ever had a project at work where the
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final product looked terrible behind the scenes, but it got
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the exact outcome your boss needed. That is what we
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are looking at here.
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The bouncer analogy is spot on.
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Yeah.
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If we connect this to the bigger picture, it reveals
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a fundamental truth about offensive line play. That totally gets
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lost and highlight reels, which is what it is ultimately about,
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functional results, not aesthetics. The coaching staff isn't grading on
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style points in August. He just needed to work exactly.
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A win is a win if it keeps the defender's
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hands off the quarterback Coleman widening that arc using his
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feet to run oh out of the play rather than
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stuffing him at the line of scrimmage. It achieves the
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exact same functional result.
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The quarterback stays clean.
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Yes, the quarterback doesn't care if his left tackle looked
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graceful doing it as long as he's appeeling turf out
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of his face mask.
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That is so true. But surviving an ugly win against
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a guy like Oa only matters if the person standing
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in the pocket knows how to capitalize on that extra
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half second.
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The quarterback has to do his job right, and.
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That brings us to the most critical piece of this
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higher puzzle. Jade and Daniels.
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Yeah, the raining guy.
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Because if this reshuffled line can function well enough, it
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should theoretically allow the skill players to operate. And according
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to the camp notes, the offensive firepower is humming, which
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is honestly surprising.
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Given the magnitude of the structural shift we just discussed.
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I am genuinely confused by it. I mean, the source
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highlights some major offensive successes. Daniels is having an exceptional month.
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Yeah, the word exceptional was used.
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He looks totally comfortable. The notebook describes this highly competitive
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best of three series they ran in practice. It was
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specifically a second and long scenario.
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Those are tough scenarios.
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Very Daniels drops back, navigates the pocket, and launches this
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perfect pass to Diami Brown right in the front corner
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of the end zone to win the rep.
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Just thread in the needle.
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And later on, Stefan Diggs is making plays, catching a
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pass threaded just inches over the outstretched arms of linebacker
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Leoshanal before turning it upfield.
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Incredible precision.
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Right. So, I'm watching these reports of Daniel's dealing and
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I have to ask, if the left side of the
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line is a functional liability relying on ugly wins, how
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is his offense operating at its ceiling?
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It's a valid question.
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Is the Camp notebook just hyping up the quarterback or
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can an elite comfortable quarterback like Daniels actively mask the
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deficiencies of a patch together offensive line by getting the
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ball out quickly to reliable targets like Digs.
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This raises an important question about the symbiotic relationship between
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a quarterback and his offensive line, and it really dives
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into the cognitive mechanics of playing the position at an
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elite level.
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Okay, let's hear it.
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The short answer is, yes, Daniels is masking the line's deficiencies,
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but the mechanism of how he does it is what
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makes this offense viable. How so, a quarterback's mastery of
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the offensive system, specifically his pre snap processing speed, it
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can entirely neutralize a defense's pass rush.
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Break that down for me, like, how does processing speeds
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stop a two hundred and eighty pound guy running a
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four point six forty.
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By making the math impossible for the rusher impossible? Yeah.
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If Daniels steps to the line of scrimmage, reads the
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safety rotation, identifies the mic linebacker, and knows exactly what
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leverage the cornerbacks are playing with, he has already solved
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the puzzle before the ball is snapped. Oh, I see,
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he knows exactly where Digs or Brown will be relative
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to the coverage so when the ball is snapped, his
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cognitive processing allows him to release the ball in let's
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say two point two seconds.
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Right, extremely fast.
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Exactly. No edge rusher in the world is getting to
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the quarterback in two point two seconds, even if the
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left tackle completely whiffs, so.
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The pass rush simply becomes irrelevant.
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Irrelevant. Daniels is sharp decision making, and his comfort in
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this specific offense act as the ultimate safety valve. You
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mentioned the second and long drill earlier. Yeah, second and
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long is notoriously difficult because the entire playbook is technically open,
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but the defense knows you need chunk.
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Yardage, so they can disguise stuff.
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Right, allowing them to disguise complex coverages. For Daniels to
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comfortable dissect a disguise second and long coverage and hit
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Diami Brown in the corner of the end zone, it
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tells us his processing speed is at a master level
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that is wild. The coaches know they can't leave Brandon
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Coleman on an island forever, but Daniels's ability to process
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quickly means they don't have to. He is protecting the
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offensive line just as much as the offensive line is
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protecting him.
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It's fascinating how one player's processing speed can stabilize the
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very top of the roster. But you know when you
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look at the bottom of the roster that stability vanishes completely.
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Oh yeah, the bottom is a mess.
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When the starting lineup shifts, when Tunsil goes down and
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Coleman moves up, it sends shock waves all the way
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down the depth chart. It affects everyone, it really does.
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It forces coaches to constantly re evaluate every single player
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fighting for a spot.
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August is a pressure cooker for those fringe roster players.
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Every single rep is a job interview.
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And yet the coaching staff treats the documentation of those
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job interviews like literal jump mail.
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Huh, they really do.
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A notebook highlights the release of the twenty twenty six
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unofficial depth Chart, which you know fans and media obsess over.
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Well, we analyze every comma.
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Right, but head coach Dan Quinn offered an incredibly blunt
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dismissal of the entire document. When asked about it, Quinn
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literally said, yeah, so the unofficial depth chart is about
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as valuable as preseason rankings.
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That is a very diplomatic way of saying it belongs
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in the shredder.
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So what does this all mean? I look at Quinn's
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absolute disregard for it, and it reminds me of a
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corporate org chart handed out on day one of a
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messy corporate merger.
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Oh Man, perfect analogy, right.
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They pass out this piece of paper to all the employees,
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but everyone in the building knows it's mostly fiction. The
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real power dynamics haven't been settled yet.
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The real evaluations are still happening behind closed doors exactly.
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But even if the CEO or the head coach thinks
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it's a meaningless administrative requirement, the employees the players reading
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it definitely do not.
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You hit the core of the psychological tour of training
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camp right there.
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It's intense. Right.
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Think about the last time you had a hyper competitive
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performance review at work and your boss was standing over
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your shoulder watching every keystroke, knowing there was only one
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promotion available.
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Sweaty Palm's just thinking about it.
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Now. Multiply that anxiety by one hundred and broadcast it
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to the public. To a guy fighting for his livelihood,
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seeing his name listed on the third string creates immense
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psychological pressure. It has to every drop pass, every single
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miss block feels like it could be the end of.
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A career, and we actually see that mental strain manifesting
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physically in the notebook, specifically with the special teams.
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The kickers.
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Yes, the kickers Jake Moody and Drew Stevens have apparently
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been fairly accurate all camp, but on this particular day,
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amidst the roster shuffling and the depth chart release, they
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uncharacteristically melted down.
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They did.
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They combined for only five successful field goals all practice.
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Which is an alarmingly low conversion for professional kickers in
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a practice setting with no live rush.
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What happens mechanically to a kicker when that psychological weight
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gets too heavy.
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Well, kicking is an entirely closed loop motor skill. It's
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much like a golf swing.
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Okay, I can picture that.
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It relies entirely on muscle memory, smooth hip rotation, and
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consistent plant foot placement. When you are locked in an
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ongoing neck and neck positional competition that drags all the
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way through August, the cognitive load becomes overwhelming.
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You's getting your own head exactly.
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You stop trusting your muscle memory and you start trying
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to guide the ball or you try to kick it
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harder because you know the other guy just hit from
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fifty yards. Oh, overcompensating, right, You overstride, your hips, open
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up too early, and suddenly you are missing kicks you've
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made a thousand times. Wow, a bad day isn't just
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a bad day in training camp. It's a day you
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might have handed your job to the guy standing next
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to you.
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But you can only evaluate that psychological breaking point so
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much when they are hitting their own teammates right like
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a kicker melting down in an intrasquad scrimmage. Is one thing, sure,
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but eventually the coaching staff needs an outside variable. They
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need a true stress test against unfamiliar opponents to see
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who actually cracks when the environment changes.
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You cannot simulate the unknown. When you practice against the
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exact same defense for three weeks straight, it just gets stale,
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very stale. The offensive lineman learn, the defensive lineman stells.
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The defensive backs start jumping the offensive routes because they
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recognize the formations stagnation sets in.
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Which is exactly why the commanders are bringing in outside variables.
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They are hosting the Miami Dolphins for a joint practice
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this Wednesday.
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A huge test.
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Yeah, the Dolphins are coming to town, led by their
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head coach, Jeff Hafley, and they're holding this at the
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Big Bear dot Ai Performance Center. Now, the notebook explicitly
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highlights the immense value of these joint practices over actual preseason.
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Games, which surprises a lot of people.
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It does. It feels counterintuitive to a lot of fans
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who tune in on Friday nights. Yeah, but in a
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joint practice, the coaches dictate the terms. They can run
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controlled situational reps. They can say, Okay, we are only
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running third down and medium scenarios for the next twenty minutes,
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or we are only doing goal line stands.
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It entirely removes the unpredictability of a game clock and
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replaces it with targeted, high leverage learning.
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It's basically a closed door dress rehearsal for a Broadway play.
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I like that.
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Like if you are the director and someone flubs a line,
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or in this case, if Brandon Coleman gets his footwork
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wrong and misses a block on a dolphin's edge rusher,
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you can blow the whistle, stop the scene, correct his
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pad level, and run the exact same play again instantly.
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You can't do that in a preseason game not at all.
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A preseason game is a live, unstoppable broadcast. If a
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mistake happens, you just have to suffer through the consequences,
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punt the ball away, and watch the error on an
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iPad on the sideline.
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Which isn't great for immediate.
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Learning, right, But in this joint practice they get to
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curate the adversity. The notebook mentions they wrapped up the
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day with a highly orchestrated two minute drill run by
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Marcus Mariota.
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Mariota looks sharp, he did.
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He goes two for three, launches a deep shot to
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Nick Nash, and finishes it off with this incredible leaping
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end zone catch by Jacoby Jones. They controlled the environment,
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dictated the scenario, and built confidence on their own terms.
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The concept of the controlled environment is paramount here, and
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it speaks to a much larger strategic shift in how
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NFL teams operate. How So, it's not just about running
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plays repeatedly. It's about strategic load management. If you read
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between the lines of how modern coaching staffs utilize these scenarios,
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you can deduce exactly who they value.
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Oh interesting, the players who take the heavy highly valuable
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repetitions against the Dolphins in this controlled joint practice on Wednesday. Well,
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they are very likely going to be wearing sweatpants during
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Friday's actual preseason game.
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Wait, really, so the game under the bright lights on
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national television is actually the less important evaluation tool.
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Less important teams are optimizing player health and rigorous evaluation simultaneously.
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That makes a lot of sense.
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They get the high quality, high stress tape against a
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foreign opponent on Wednesday, where they can control the tackling
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and protect the.
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Quarterback without the wild cards.
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Exactly without exposing their critical assets to the uncontrolled, chaotic
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injury risks that come with a live, unscripted preseason game
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on Friday.
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That totally flips how we view the month of August.
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And honestly, for you listening to this deep dive right now,
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these granular football details translate directly into everyday life oh
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one percent. Whether you are managing a massive corporate project,
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running a small business, or just try and keep your
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household organized, you are inevitably going to face your own
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Laramie Tunsil moment, a moment.
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Where your structural integrity suddenly collapses.
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Exactly the load bearing wall comes down unexpectedly. What this
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commander's training camp shows us is the supreme importance of
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having adaptable contingencies.
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You have to be ready.
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I might not have another premium forged steel part sitting
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in the garage, but do you have a Brandon Coleman.
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Do you have someone with the fundamental traits, the footwork,
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the flexibility of the raw, capability to widen the arc
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and keep things functional even if it's an ugly win.
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A win is a win, right, And just as importantly,
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are you utilizing controlled stress tests to see if your
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backup plan holds water before you go live? You never
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want to test your emergency plan for the first time
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during the actual emergency.
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Which leads us with a really compelling thread to pull
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on regarding the future of the sport itself.
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Let's hear it.
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Given that NFL coaches like Dan Quinn explicitly value the controlled,
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highly situational environment of a Wednesday joint practice far more
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than the Friday night exhibition, are we currently witnessing the
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slow extinction of the preseason game as a meaningful tool
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in professional sports?
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Wow? That is heavy.
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I mean if the real evaluations, the actual adversity management,
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and the high leverage reps all happen behind clos those
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doors on a practice field. What exactly are we paying
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to watch on the weekends in August.
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That is a brilliant question and definitely something to keep
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in mind the next time you turn on a preseason
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broadcast and wonder why the stars are wearing baseball caps
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on the sideline. It turns out they've already knocked down
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their load bearing walls and rebuilt them before the camera's
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ever turned on. Keep questioning the blueprints and we'll catch
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you next time on the Deep Dive.
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You know, usually when you talk about building a championship
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caliber football team, there is this expectation of structural integrity.
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Right, you want that solid foundation exactly.
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You pour the concrete, you frame the walls, and the
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front office points at the depth chart and says, well,
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there it is solid as a rock.
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Yeah, until it absolutely isn't right.
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But then you step into the reality of an NFL
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training camp in August and someone just accidentally knocked out
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your absolute most crucial load bearing wall.
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It is pure chaos, it really is.
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Today we are looking at a roster landscape that is
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completely scrambled. We have our hands on the official Washington
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Commander's Training camp noebud.
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Oh this is the one from August tenth, twenty twenty six, Right, yeah, that's.
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The one written by senior writer z ex Selby. And
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our mission for this deep dive is to basically bypass
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the standard sports pr spin. We want to analyze exactly
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how a professional football operation manages a sudden, massive collapse
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in their foundation.
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Which is easier said than done, oh for sure.
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We want to see how they evaluate talent when the
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walls are closing in, and how they prepare for a
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highly anticipated season when the ground shifts right underneath their feet.
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It is the absolute definition of organizational chaos management. Like
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you think you have a script for August and then
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the universe reminds you that the script is written in pencil.
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Huh, that is the perfect way to frame it, because
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let's jump straight into what altered the energy of this
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entire camp.
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Let's do it.
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So the team is back on the practice field in
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full pads after taking Sunday off, But the defining fact
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of the day comes straight from head coach Dan Quinn.
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Pro Bowl left tackle Laramie Tunsel suffered a triceps injury.
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Yeah yeah, and it requires surgery. They have completely lost
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their anchor. And for you listening, I want to quantify
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just how devastating a triceps injury is for a left tackle.
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It's basically the worst case scenario.
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It really is. I mean, the triceps is the muscle
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responsible for elbow extension. It is quite literally where you're punched.
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Power comes from.
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Right. If you can't violently extend your arms to punch
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a two hundred and eighty pound edge rusher, you just
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you cannot play the position exactly.
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And Tunsall isn't just some guy on the roster. The
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Commander's traded for him ahead of the twenty twenty five
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season and handed him a massive extension this passed offseason.
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A huge investment, huge, and he's been.
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A vital mentor to their twenty twenty five first round
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pick Josh Conorley Junior. Plus he built a really strong
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rapport with left guard Chris Paul.
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The ripple effects there, they go far beyond just the
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physical blocking. Yeah, you are losing a primary teacher in
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the locker room.
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Oh absolutely.
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When you have a young developing offensive line like Connorley
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Junior figuring out the nuances of the pro game, having
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a veteran like Tunsul in the film room is.
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Invaluable, right, showing him how to diagnose pre snap friends
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and all that exactly.
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And now that brain trust is just sitting in a
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sling on the sideline.
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Okay, let's unpack this. You are a head coach and
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you just lost your star left tackle. The front office's
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proposed solution to mitigate the crisis is to slide in
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Brandon Coleman.
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The former third round pick out of TCU.
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Right, and I have to push back on the strategy immediately.
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I mean this isn't just sliding in a replacement part.
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You don't buy that it's a clean swap.
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No, It's like pulling out a forged steel beam and
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hoping a wood and two by four can hold up
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the roof just because it happens to fit in the slot.
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Huh. I mean, that's a harsh way to look at it,
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but yeah.
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But think about it. Tunsel is an All Pro who
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can anchor against anyone in the league. Is Brandon Coleman
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really a viable full time replacement to protect your franchise
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quarterback's blind side?
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I completely understand the skepticism m HM, and on paper,
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comparing an All Pro to a former third rounder feels
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like a mismat.
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Right, it feels like a total downgrade.
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But we have to look at the specific traits Coleman
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brings to this exact offensive system. What's fascinating here is
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that the coaching staff isn't asking Coleman to replicate Tunsell's.
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Game because they can't exactly.
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They are entirely different players. Where tunsl wins with overwhelmed
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anchor strength and that punch you mentioned, Coleman possesses exceptional
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footwork and spatial awareness.
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Okay, footwork is good.
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Yeah, the source material specifically highlights his ability to operate
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in space and get to the second level.
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But footwork doesn't really matter if you're getting bull rushed
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straight into the quarterback's lap, does it.
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Well, it matters when the offensive scheme is designed to
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weaponize that exact footwork. Let's remember the context of this roster. Okay,
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the commanders are falling back on a trusted historical solution here.
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Coleman actually won this exact job during his rookie year.
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Oh that's right.
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Yeah, and he helped keep Jaden Daniels upright all the
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way through their twenty twenty five NSC Championship run. So
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he already has the reps in this specific system.
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So it's not totally unfamiliar territory.
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For him, not at all. When the coaches talk about
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him moving in space, they are talking about his ability
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to dictate the geometry of the pocket.
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The geometry of the pocket.
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I like that, right. He might not stonewall and edge
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rush sure the way tunsl does, but his spatial awareness
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allows him to run that rusher in a wide arc
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safely past the quarterback's drop back depth.
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Okay, so it's a customized bracket that they already know
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fits their machinery, even if it's not the premium steel
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forged part they originally ordered exactly. So if we are
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trusting this wood and two by four to hold up
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the roof, we really need to look at what happened
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when the pressure actually started caving in during.
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Practice, because theory is great, but practice is reality, right.
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Pads on Pad's collision is where we find out if
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that geometry actually holds up. The notebook details some incredibly
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physical practice battles in the trenches.
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Yeah, the offensive line drills were.
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Intense, super intense, Like Sam Cosmi is out there in
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pass protection, literally stopping bull rushes dead in their tracks.
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Cosmey was looking great.
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But on the other side of the ball, Javonte Jean
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Baptiste is having his way powerfully pushing offensive linemen straight
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into the backfield.
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So it's a real mixed bag.
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It is. But naturally all were grued to Brandon Coleman.
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During a rush drill, Coleman squared off against odafe Oa.
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Oh wow, that is no small task. Now, Owie has
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the exact kind of explosive first step that exposes tackles with.
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Heavy feet and Coleman successfully pushed Oh completely out of
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the play. But here's where it gets really interesting. The
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notebook specifically points out that Coleman's victory over Oh wasn't
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a flashy, dead stop block right.
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It wasn't a highlight real moment, not at all.
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It wasn't a brick wall moment. It was, according to
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the observations, an ugly win.
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An ugly win. I love that term.
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It makes me think of a bouncer at a busy nightclub,
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Like if a patron is causing trouble, the bouncer doesn't
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have to cleanly knock the guy out in the middle
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of the dance floor to do his job.
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Uh, probably better if he doesn't.
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Right, he just has to successfully shove him out the
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side door into the alley. If the guy is out
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of the club, the job is done.
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That's a great analogy, right.
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Have you ever had a project at work where the
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final product looked terrible behind the scenes, but it got
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the exact outcome your boss needed. That is what we
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are looking at here.
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The bouncer analogy is spot on.
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Yeah.
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If we connect this to the bigger picture, it reveals
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a fundamental truth about offensive line play. That totally gets
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lost and highlight reels, which is what it is ultimately about,
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functional results, not aesthetics. The coaching staff isn't grading on
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style points in August. He just needed to work exactly.
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A win is a win if it keeps the defender's
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hands off the quarterback Coleman widening that arc using his
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feet to run oh out of the play rather than
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stuffing him at the line of scrimmage. It achieves the
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exact same functional result.
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The quarterback stays clean.
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Yes, the quarterback doesn't care if his left tackle looked
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graceful doing it as long as he's appeeling turf out
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of his face mask.
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That is so true. But surviving an ugly win against
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a guy like Oa only matters if the person standing
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in the pocket knows how to capitalize on that extra
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half second.
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The quarterback has to do his job right, and.
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That brings us to the most critical piece of this
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higher puzzle. Jade and Daniels.
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Yeah, the raining guy.
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Because if this reshuffled line can function well enough, it
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should theoretically allow the skill players to operate. And according
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to the camp notes, the offensive firepower is humming, which
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is honestly surprising.
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Given the magnitude of the structural shift we just discussed.
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I am genuinely confused by it. I mean, the source
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highlights some major offensive successes. Daniels is having an exceptional month.
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Yeah, the word exceptional was used.
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He looks totally comfortable. The notebook describes this highly competitive
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best of three series they ran in practice. It was
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specifically a second and long scenario.
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Those are tough scenarios.
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Very Daniels drops back, navigates the pocket, and launches this
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perfect pass to Diami Brown right in the front corner
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of the end zone to win the rep.
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Just thread in the needle.
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And later on, Stefan Diggs is making plays, catching a
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pass threaded just inches over the outstretched arms of linebacker
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Leoshanal before turning it upfield.
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Incredible precision.
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Right. So, I'm watching these reports of Daniel's dealing and
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I have to ask, if the left side of the
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line is a functional liability relying on ugly wins, how
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is his offense operating at its ceiling?
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It's a valid question.
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Is the Camp notebook just hyping up the quarterback or
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can an elite comfortable quarterback like Daniels actively mask the
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deficiencies of a patch together offensive line by getting the
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ball out quickly to reliable targets like Digs.
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This raises an important question about the symbiotic relationship between
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a quarterback and his offensive line, and it really dives
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into the cognitive mechanics of playing the position at an
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elite level.
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Okay, let's hear it.
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The short answer is, yes, Daniels is masking the line's deficiencies,
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but the mechanism of how he does it is what
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makes this offense viable. How so, a quarterback's mastery of
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the offensive system, specifically his pre snap processing speed, it
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can entirely neutralize a defense's pass rush.
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Break that down for me, like, how does processing speeds
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stop a two hundred and eighty pound guy running a
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four point six forty.
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By making the math impossible for the rusher impossible? Yeah.
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If Daniels steps to the line of scrimmage, reads the
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safety rotation, identifies the mic linebacker, and knows exactly what
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leverage the cornerbacks are playing with, he has already solved
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the puzzle before the ball is snapped. Oh, I see,
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he knows exactly where Digs or Brown will be relative
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to the coverage so when the ball is snapped, his
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cognitive processing allows him to release the ball in let's
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say two point two seconds.
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Right, extremely fast.
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Exactly. No edge rusher in the world is getting to
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the quarterback in two point two seconds, even if the
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left tackle completely whiffs, so.
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The pass rush simply becomes irrelevant.
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Irrelevant. Daniels is sharp decision making, and his comfort in
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this specific offense act as the ultimate safety valve. You
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mentioned the second and long drill earlier. Yeah, second and
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long is notoriously difficult because the entire playbook is technically open,
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but the defense knows you need chunk.
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Yardage, so they can disguise stuff.
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Right, allowing them to disguise complex coverages. For Daniels to
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comfortable dissect a disguise second and long coverage and hit
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Diami Brown in the corner of the end zone, it
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tells us his processing speed is at a master level
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that is wild. The coaches know they can't leave Brandon
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Coleman on an island forever, but Daniels's ability to process
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quickly means they don't have to. He is protecting the
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offensive line just as much as the offensive line is
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protecting him.
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It's fascinating how one player's processing speed can stabilize the
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very top of the roster. But you know when you
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look at the bottom of the roster that stability vanishes completely.
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Oh yeah, the bottom is a mess.
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When the starting lineup shifts, when Tunsil goes down and
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Coleman moves up, it sends shock waves all the way
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down the depth chart. It affects everyone, it really does.
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It forces coaches to constantly re evaluate every single player
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fighting for a spot.
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August is a pressure cooker for those fringe roster players.
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Every single rep is a job interview.
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And yet the coaching staff treats the documentation of those
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job interviews like literal jump mail.
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Huh, they really do.
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A notebook highlights the release of the twenty twenty six
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unofficial depth Chart, which you know fans and media obsess over.
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Well, we analyze every comma.
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Right, but head coach Dan Quinn offered an incredibly blunt
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dismissal of the entire document. When asked about it, Quinn
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literally said, yeah, so the unofficial depth chart is about
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as valuable as preseason rankings.
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That is a very diplomatic way of saying it belongs
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in the shredder.
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So what does this all mean? I look at Quinn's
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absolute disregard for it, and it reminds me of a
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corporate org chart handed out on day one of a
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messy corporate merger.
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Oh Man, perfect analogy, right.
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They pass out this piece of paper to all the employees,
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but everyone in the building knows it's mostly fiction. The
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real power dynamics haven't been settled yet.
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The real evaluations are still happening behind closed doors exactly.
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But even if the CEO or the head coach thinks
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it's a meaningless administrative requirement, the employees the players reading
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it definitely do not.
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You hit the core of the psychological tour of training
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camp right there.
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It's intense. Right.
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Think about the last time you had a hyper competitive
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performance review at work and your boss was standing over
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your shoulder watching every keystroke, knowing there was only one
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promotion available.
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Sweaty Palm's just thinking about it.
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Now. Multiply that anxiety by one hundred and broadcast it
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to the public. To a guy fighting for his livelihood,
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seeing his name listed on the third string creates immense
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psychological pressure. It has to every drop pass, every single
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miss block feels like it could be the end of.
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A career, and we actually see that mental strain manifesting
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physically in the notebook, specifically with the special teams.
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The kickers.
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Yes, the kickers Jake Moody and Drew Stevens have apparently
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been fairly accurate all camp, but on this particular day,
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amidst the roster shuffling and the depth chart release, they
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uncharacteristically melted down.
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They did.
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They combined for only five successful field goals all practice.
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Which is an alarmingly low conversion for professional kickers in
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a practice setting with no live rush.
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What happens mechanically to a kicker when that psychological weight
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gets too heavy.
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Well, kicking is an entirely closed loop motor skill. It's
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much like a golf swing.
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Okay, I can picture that.
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It relies entirely on muscle memory, smooth hip rotation, and
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consistent plant foot placement. When you are locked in an
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ongoing neck and neck positional competition that drags all the
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way through August, the cognitive load becomes overwhelming.
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You's getting your own head exactly.
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You stop trusting your muscle memory and you start trying
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to guide the ball or you try to kick it
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harder because you know the other guy just hit from
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fifty yards. Oh, overcompensating, right, You overstride, your hips, open
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up too early, and suddenly you are missing kicks you've
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made a thousand times. Wow, a bad day isn't just
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a bad day in training camp. It's a day you
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might have handed your job to the guy standing next
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to you.
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But you can only evaluate that psychological breaking point so
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much when they are hitting their own teammates right like
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a kicker melting down in an intrasquad scrimmage. Is one thing, sure,
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but eventually the coaching staff needs an outside variable. They
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need a true stress test against unfamiliar opponents to see
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who actually cracks when the environment changes.
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You cannot simulate the unknown. When you practice against the
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exact same defense for three weeks straight, it just gets stale,
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very stale. The offensive lineman learn, the defensive lineman stells.
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The defensive backs start jumping the offensive routes because they
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recognize the formations stagnation sets in.
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Which is exactly why the commanders are bringing in outside variables.
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They are hosting the Miami Dolphins for a joint practice
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this Wednesday.
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A huge test.
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Yeah, the Dolphins are coming to town, led by their
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head coach, Jeff Hafley, and they're holding this at the
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Big Bear dot Ai Performance Center. Now, the notebook explicitly
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highlights the immense value of these joint practices over actual preseason.
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Games, which surprises a lot of people.
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It does. It feels counterintuitive to a lot of fans
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who tune in on Friday nights. Yeah, but in a
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joint practice, the coaches dictate the terms. They can run
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controlled situational reps. They can say, Okay, we are only
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running third down and medium scenarios for the next twenty minutes,
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or we are only doing goal line stands.
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It entirely removes the unpredictability of a game clock and
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replaces it with targeted, high leverage learning.
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It's basically a closed door dress rehearsal for a Broadway play.
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I like that.
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Like if you are the director and someone flubs a line,
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or in this case, if Brandon Coleman gets his footwork
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wrong and misses a block on a dolphin's edge rusher,
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you can blow the whistle, stop the scene, correct his
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pad level, and run the exact same play again instantly.
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You can't do that in a preseason game not at all.
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A preseason game is a live, unstoppable broadcast. If a
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mistake happens, you just have to suffer through the consequences,
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punt the ball away, and watch the error on an
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iPad on the sideline.
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Which isn't great for immediate.
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Learning, right, But in this joint practice they get to
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curate the adversity. The notebook mentions they wrapped up the
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day with a highly orchestrated two minute drill run by
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Marcus Mariota.
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Mariota looks sharp, he did.
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He goes two for three, launches a deep shot to
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Nick Nash, and finishes it off with this incredible leaping
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end zone catch by Jacoby Jones. They controlled the environment,
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dictated the scenario, and built confidence on their own terms.
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The concept of the controlled environment is paramount here, and
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it speaks to a much larger strategic shift in how
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NFL teams operate. How So, it's not just about running
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plays repeatedly. It's about strategic load management. If you read
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between the lines of how modern coaching staffs utilize these scenarios,
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you can deduce exactly who they value.
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Oh interesting, the players who take the heavy highly valuable
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repetitions against the Dolphins in this controlled joint practice on Wednesday. Well,
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they are very likely going to be wearing sweatpants during
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Friday's actual preseason game.
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Wait, really, so the game under the bright lights on
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national television is actually the less important evaluation tool.
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Less important teams are optimizing player health and rigorous evaluation simultaneously.
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That makes a lot of sense.
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They get the high quality, high stress tape against a
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foreign opponent on Wednesday, where they can control the tackling
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and protect the.
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Quarterback without the wild cards.
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Exactly without exposing their critical assets to the uncontrolled, chaotic
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injury risks that come with a live, unscripted preseason game
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on Friday.
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That totally flips how we view the month of August.
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And honestly, for you listening to this deep dive right now,
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these granular football details translate directly into everyday life oh
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one percent. Whether you are managing a massive corporate project,
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running a small business, or just try and keep your
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household organized, you are inevitably going to face your own
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Laramie Tunsil moment, a moment.
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Where your structural integrity suddenly collapses.
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Exactly the load bearing wall comes down unexpectedly. What this
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commander's training camp shows us is the supreme importance of
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having adaptable contingencies.
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You have to be ready.
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I might not have another premium forged steel part sitting
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in the garage, but do you have a Brandon Coleman.
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Do you have someone with the fundamental traits, the footwork,
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the flexibility of the raw, capability to widen the arc
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and keep things functional even if it's an ugly win.
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A win is a win, right, And just as importantly,
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are you utilizing controlled stress tests to see if your
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backup plan holds water before you go live? You never
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want to test your emergency plan for the first time
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during the actual emergency.
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Which leads us with a really compelling thread to pull
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on regarding the future of the sport itself.
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Let's hear it.
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Given that NFL coaches like Dan Quinn explicitly value the controlled,
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highly situational environment of a Wednesday joint practice far more
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than the Friday night exhibition, are we currently witnessing the
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slow extinction of the preseason game as a meaningful tool
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in professional sports?
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Wow? That is heavy.
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I mean if the real evaluations, the actual adversity management,
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and the high leverage reps all happen behind clos those
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doors on a practice field. What exactly are we paying
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to watch on the weekends in August.
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That is a brilliant question and definitely something to keep
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in mind the next time you turn on a preseason
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broadcast and wonder why the stars are wearing baseball caps
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on the sideline. It turns out they've already knocked down
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their load bearing walls and rebuilt them before the camera's
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ever turned on. Keep questioning the blueprints and we'll catch
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you next time on the Deep Dive.
