OTA Observations | Episode 13

we caught up with them to hear their observations. So we're here with Brand Weinstein here after OTA the first open media availability for OTAs, and we're haven't talking to some of the players and us a couple of things. The other really stuck out to me. One was that Carson Wentz. Obviously you have to talk about him, right, I mean, how do you think he looked so far? You know that its first first, really couple of days.

What do you think about him? I'm waiting for all the tweets of we haven't seen somebody throw the ball like that in a few years. They've already come. Yeah, the first impressions of here is this particular level of athlete that kind of hasn't been here in a few years. So first impressions are good. I honestly, I was sitting there talking to Logan Paulson during practice, and he was actually quite surprised at how organized they were for day one.

And I felt the same way, like you know, I think it's they've made it very important that everyone get here, be here. You know, I think jump on board with this is a year we're supposed to start winning. We invested in a quarterback. He's got a lot of experience, and he looks the part. I mean, he looks every bit the part. So I really want to hear from him.

I want to see how he feels about it, right, No, I mean, and you notice how precise he is with the ball, you know, Johan Dason even mentioned that earlier today, he mentioned how precise and accurate he is with his passing. You know, you were right, you do feel it kind of around Procie how important it is for them to feel like this is the moment where we're all going

to take this step forward. Here. You know, another player in offense that I really saw kind of be out there a lot more as Cold Turner, you know, with with Logan Thomas out, you know, he's kind of stepped in there in those first team reps. How do you think he looked in that New York Because that's a lot for rookie right, it's a big athlete. They clearly have likes at that position. You can see what the type of players that they brought in and Clue Hodges

as well, the undrafted free agent. This is an interesting position group to watch. It's a lot of inexperienced players. Logan Thomas may or may not be ready for the start of the season. They're gonna have to bridge that gap. They don't have another veteran here unless you count John Bates as a veteran. So I do think it's gonna

be very interesting. And Turner is clearly an interesting prospect at his size, his speed, He's a little stiff a little bit when he runs, but as they talk about this catch radius is obvious he's going to be a weapon for them. How this plays out through the summer probably depends on how healthy Logan Thomas is, but how this plays out through the summer is going to be

probably one of the most interesting position groups for the team. Well, yeah, I think you know, they like John bass where, they like his hands, But there's just some things that Cole has been able to show so far as you really just can't find a lot of other players let's go to the other side of the ball here, and you know, as allay, they're running a lot of three safety looks here and Derek Forres really kind of stepped up into

a lot of really good things today. I mean, do you do you think he's starting to take another step, you know, so far in the second year of his career, I think they're going to ask him to I mean, like, so, you know, they I think it's clear that there are a couple of position that they're probably going to look at in this third wave of free agency. A veteran safety might be one of them. A veteran linebacker clearly

is going to be one of them. But Derek Forst getting opportunities right now to play kind of in that role at like seeing Cam Curl moved back up towards the line of scrimmage. You know, I think he's a playmaker specifically in the box. So who becomes this buffalo nickel person or whatever this kind of position flexes. I think it'll be something to be interesting to watch. But Forrest is going to get opportunities because there is not a lot of depth at the position's draft pick a

year ago. Second year, hopefully he can step up. We know Corne Elder made the first interception to OTAs, but you know Derek was not too far behind and making a cup for himself. You know. Also Cole Holkum, you know another Cole. He's been talked about a lot of taking another step being that mic linebacker. Do you think he had that press? Do you think he handled that down pat? You know during team droves and it looks like it. I mean, and everything we know about him

is he's film junkie. He's going to be in and out of the building. He accepts any responsibility that's put in front of him. And again, this is another situation, not unlike Derek Forrest in a lot all of depth at that position. He's trying to have to step up and do it. It does feel like in the case of Holcombe, they're behind him, you know, taking this position by the reins and let's see how please out well if it leadships ain't been like it's hearing. You know,

he's got it pretty down. Patch about that. You guys can check out all of our code for OTAs on Commanders dot Com. Head coach Ron Rivera spoke with the media following yesterday's session. Here is what the head coach had to note from the opening day of OTAs. Probably the biggest thing is an opportunity for our players to work their techniques, develop some rapport with each other. Part of it also will be the learning aspect in terms of retention. What will happen is, you know, the stuff

that we did today will be included tomorrow. We'll do some installation this afternoon. They'll have to carry over from yesterday today and we'll see what we have as far as that's concerned. And again, it's just a matter of seeing how guys are adapting to the things that we're doing. And would you make a Carson today? I thought Carson did some good things. You know, uh, he did throw the pick today, but man, that was a pretty dog on good play by Corn Elder. I mean, it's very

veteran moved by Corn. But I thought he did some really good things. Got some pretty good report with these guys. The thing I like is, again it's about making good decisions. You're seeing a lot of good decisions out there right now. I thought Taylor had a pretty good day. He had a couple opportunities and missed a couple of them, but he threw the ball. Well, I thought again, Sam came

in holland did a nice job. Hey, Coach, one more with Landon Collins now gone and Bobby McCain having signed a new contract, do you have any buddy who's struck out to you as a leader in the secondary? Yeah, I think, Um, Bobby is stepped up. He stepped up last year as well and helped out. I like what Kendall Fuller brings to the table as well, you know. And the guy that's kind of starting to find his voice is Cam curl Um, you know, and he's played

very well for us. So I think it's a It's a good group, very skilled group, and I think they're coming together and they got to continue to work together and communicate. Coach, he signed Andrew Norwell and the Austin and Brian Trey Turner. Are you comfortable with where this offensive line is right now? Very much? So? Um, you know, we have we have Chase Ruler who's still healing up up, you know. But um, I like what West does as far as his position, flex and be quietness. West as

a heck of a football player as well. So I like the group. I like the depth that we had UM. You know, one thing we wanted to do consciously was we wanted to be at least UM, you know, wanted to have at least ten guys that were veteran, savvy guys that have played on the field for us UM. And we like that minimum of ten men depth. We'll try and keep as many of those guys as we can.

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