Washington Commanders 53-Man Roster Projection: Quarterback Sam Hartman Favorite as 3rd Quarterback?

Intro which players will get the first two spots when it comes to the quarterback room on the Washington commanders 53 man roster seems like a pretty easy slam dunk but what they do with that third spot is where the questions really start to take shape for the Washington commanders that more coming up on today's episode of Locked on commanders you are locked on commanders your daily podcast on the Washington commanders part of the locked on podcast cast network your team every day and Locked on Commanders welcome into today's episode of Locked on commanders part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day this is your daily podcast covering the Washington commanders free and available everywhere and don't forget that you can subscribe for free on YouTube or wherever you're getting this podcast I'm your host David Harrison credential member of the media covering your Washington commanders for commander game day.com a part of Sports Illustrated Fan Nation here with you Monday through Friday thank you for coming through for today's episode every day as appreciate you coming through every single day welcome back of course on today's episode we have our first early keyword early 53 man roster projection and there are some notables that I have left off that you may not be happy about but we're also going to identify some openings for those players to make the roster anyway but first we're going to started off with three quarterbacks on the commanders 53 man roster with veteran Jeff Driscoll and undrafted free agent Sam Hartman battling out for that roster spot that final roster spot in the quarterback room if you want to discuss that anything on this episode or anything Washington commanders related all you have to do is shoot me a text message go to join sub text.com loocks on commanders come an Insider today and from there you text me I text you ask me questions I'll ask you questions we'll just have good old conversations about the Washington commanders and more you'll get bonus content analysis all delivered directly straight to your phone no hashtags no downloads no filters none of that just go to join sub tex.com loock on commanders become an Insider today today's episode's brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create your account use the promo code locked on NFL and you will get $20 off your first purchase terms apply so we're looking at a 53 man projection and again it's very early ahead of training camp but I thought it was a good time to kind of take a look at this Washington Commander roster to and and what the 53 man projection might look like not to necessarily Pat myself on the back in know in a month and a half or whatever and say hey good job me and and you did everything right and you're 100% accurate because first of all probably not g to happen second of all that's not the point of doing this this early what the point is is to look at the roster and see the health of it where we are where understand with the Washington commanders and where some of these Camp battles and where some of these bubble players are really going to come from we all talk about Bubble players but until you actually sit down and try to flesh out a 53 man active roster for the commanders you don't really get a big sense of where those bubbles lie and where those players could be coming and falling off of so one big question the commanders have to answer right off the top of things quarterback is obviously the most important position on any football team they've got to answer how many quarterbacks are they going to carry right so for the quarterback room the first two guys are are booked in right Jaden Daniels Marcus Mariota obviously making this roster neither of them is going to be coming off the roster no practice squad projections no releases no trades none of those things but the question is do is it is it veteran Jeff Driscoll who joins those two as the third quarterback or is it the rookie on drafted free agent out of Notre Dame who does it and I think when you look at the third quarterback rule you also have to ask the the question is do the Washington commers want to take advantage of that rule so third quarterback rule in case you need a little bit of a refresher Washington commanders are allowed to identify a third quarterback who is inactive on game days but will still suit up and is basically the emergency quarterback so if the starter goes down and the backup has to come in so in this case if jayen Daniels goes down knock on wood it doesn't happen but if he goes down Mar Mariota comes into the game you can then deactivate Jaden Daniels activate that third quarterback and now you have a backup quarterback again instead of having to have just the two active quarterbacks and then maybe I don't know a running back or a wide receiver like Luke mcaffrey in there uh taking quarterback snap so the the the bug on that though is he has to be on the 53 man active roster so a guy like Sam Hartman wouldn't be on the game day active so he could be a game day and active on the active roster though overall still dress and potentially be that Savior and I think when you look at a Young quarterback like Jaden Daniels you want to have that safety net because you don't want to be put in the position where you have to make decisions on a player's Health based off of need and and I I kind of call it desperation I I don't want to go completely that direction but I think you get the idea right so J Daniels has a health scare or has an injury scare or just tweaks something but doesn't completely injure it or something like that you want to be able to have the option to say hey look let's be smart here let's shut it down let's just call it a day we have another quarterback to bring in so let's put Marcus in and if something happens to him we still have another guy and I think when you look at it and then you you combine the putting a guy on practice squad right Sam Hartman was a quarterback that no he didn't get drafted but his phone was certainly active after the NFL draft there were certainly plenty of teams calling to potentially sign him as an undrafted free agent he chose to come to Washington he and Jaye Daniels appear to be very good friends on the practice field and on social media you know uh uh Sam recently tweeting uh some photos or Instagraming some photos of him with the Jaye Daniels Jersey very very funny stuff so you don't I don't I don't feel 100% confident you put Sam Hartman on the practice squad that he's not gonna get poached at some point in time might not be right away but at some point in time a team is Gonna Come offering offer him an active roster spot and it would be really hard to blame Sam Harton for not taking advantage of that opportunity so you had that to consider as well so for the quarterback position you have that that those situations I think you carry a third quarterback and for me it's Jaden Daniels Marcus Mariota and Sam Hartman when you look at practice during the mini camp portions and the OTAs and all that things it's not that Jeff Driscoll is doing anything necessarily to make himself look bad or not make himself look worthy certainly looks like an NFL quarterback I just think Sam Hartman actually looks maybe I would say more advanced and again it's it's a big grain assault thing to talk about because we're not talking Live pass rush we're not talking live hits we're not talking pads right so again for for the context of what we're looking at he looked better than I've seen other undrafted free agent quarterbacks look so just take that compliment uh in in the framework that it is and I don't feel confident if you put Sam Harman on the prac squad like I said he doesn't get poached by someone so I'm carrying three quarterbacks in Jaden Marcus and Sam so we already got three spots on our 53 man roster knocked off let's move to the running back position I think Brian Robinson Jr is at the top of that depth chart veteran Austin Eckler was obviously brought in here for a reason that third spot is really the question and then of course question is do you Terry Carry Three running backs or four running backs I've got three and right now I'm giving the tip of the cap the secondy year running back Chris Rodriguez Jr over a guy that was brought in who has familiarity with his with his coaching staff to a certain extent in Jeremy McNichols and and to me the Commander's running back room now kind of looks like a Goldilocks running back room you got a hammer you got a lightning and you got a combo and then the combo guys is at the top Brian Robinson can do a little bit of both nobody's going to call him the fastest guy on the field but he certainly showed off some pass catch and chops last year certainly showed off a little bit more agility than I think everybody realized had when he came out of Alabama obviously he's a big dude he's got some power behind him things like that so then you got a good combo of ability you know you can run him between the tackles on the edge use him as a receiver I think the commanders like that Austin Eckler more less of a battering Rim more of the receiver type more of the edge running type then Chris Rodriguez Jr it's kind of that straight up B battering ram at least by reputation I feel like he's got a little bit more Dynamic ability to him but he hasn't really had the opportunity to showcase it fully obviously uh so far in the NFL did have a really good finish to last year before he end up having to miss some time due to an injury so right now I've got three running backs on the 53 wide receivers you go Terry McClaren Jan Dodson diami Brown Luke mcaffry the rookie out of rice lamad zius and Jameson Crowder now the interesting thing about Jameson Crowder is really this is a return specialist move but how much of a return specialist need is he or or value does he bring if he's really only available for punt returns not really an ideal use for the for the return for the kick return game every team in the NFL is trying to kind of hammer out how their run game or how their running backs or how the receivers or how who's going to return kickoffs what's the best combination it's going to be really interesting to see how every team kind of attacks that I think that from what we've seen with the Washington commanders I the vibe that running back is kind of a piece of that so I look at a guy like Chris Rodriguez Jr even Brian Robinson and you know teams have definitely gone away from putting like starter you know uh role player skill position players in those types of positions but I get the vibe that the Washington commanders maybe not be or may not be one of those teams that might be willing to maybe put a guy out there like that they feel like it's it's worth it so that could compromise you know not only that roster spot like do you need an extra receiver if he's not going to be a return specialist but if you do want that extra receiver is it going to be like a guy like Jameson Crowder or will that open the door for somebody else to come in and take that spot and then tight ends we're going to go there and finish that off before we talked about the offensive line I've got four tight ends right now on the 53 man roster Zack her's the veteran he's the number one guy I do still have Ben CET the rookie out of Kansas State taking over that number two spot by the end of training camp I think right now John Bates still the number two but I do think the vinet certainly has the potential to take that position John Bates have got number three and I'm putting Cole Turner in that fourth spot now the thing about Cole Turner is he has to have gotten better at blocking from the last time we saw him because you know from from from his first year to last year not really a big Improvement there this year you need to see more Improvement there if we don't see that once the pads come on that I think that spot could be left open I still feel pretty confident in four tight but which tight end is that fourth tight end that could be the question mark and of course we've got even more question marks about the offensive line who is going to be the offensive line on the active roster who the starters and and I'll tell you why I have confidence right now that this offensive line will be better than last year's no it's not just because last year was pretty bad so it's kind of hard to not go up there's legit reasons I think this offensive line this year will be better than last year's that and the rest of my 503 man active roster coming up next on today's episode of lock on commanders part of the lock on podcast Network your team every day Episode Sponsor and we're doing that today thanks to our friends over at eBay Motors who know that it's passion drive and patience that's that get teams they're winning trophies and they also know that those three things get you what you need to keep your ride or die vehicle 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dayers thanks for coming through thanks for being patient this week this week a little bit crazy on the schedule I'm out here in Colorado doing some things that are family related uh you know I've gotten a lot of messages of support from insiders and everything I greatly appreciate that but thanks for bearing with me um the next week is going to be a little bit hectic as well I've got a three-day Drive ahead of me and my family Sunday Monday Tuesday we're on the road going to do my best to churn out as much content as I can for you guys definitely have a plan of action for that content it's just going to be a matter of time and all that stuff but in the meantime even if we do miss an episode here or there over the next two weeks for locked on commanders between training camp you can always tune in to locked on sports today it's a free 247 sports streaming Channel on YouTube that is programmed to bring you the biggest stories of the day every day with C Miss analysis opinions and news streaming again 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app all part of locked on podcast Network your team every day so no matter what lockon has got you covered with whatever is going on in not just the National Football League but in sports in general wrapping up the offensive side of our 53 man roster projection with the offensive line of course a lot of questions about the offensive line so I kind of wanted to isolate them and make sure I give them plenty of time didn't want to try to squeeze them in before the first break so coming back here left tackle left guard Center Right Guard right tackle here's your starting five as I see it today and again early 53 man Rosser projection but this is how I see it today Center Tyler botes left guard Nick Alig Right Guard Sam Cosby left tackle Cornelius Lucas right tackle Andrew Wy backups I got Brandon Coleman the rookie uh coming in at left tackle out of TCU almost like Kansas State left guard backup Michael deer Center backup Ricky Stromberg Right Guard backup Chris Paul who'll be moving over from left guard right tackle backup I got Trent Scott and those are the 10 offensive linemen I have identified for the 53 man active roster obviously a lot of questions with his offensive line new look but an improved unit and here's why I say that Nick Alig to me is an improvement bottom line just coming in above Chris Paul and above sadique Charles who are The Duo last year the two battling It Out quote unquote and the two who really got the starts you know when when things were going on with the Washington Comm I then you just look at their histories I know Nick allery never been you know the full-time established starter in Kansas City and all that stuff but when you look at him on the field you watch the tape you turn the Reps on and then you just remember the Reps Chris Paul you remember the reps with sadique Charles Sadi you know obviously not here anymore you certainly hope Chris Paul is taking another step we'll see once the pads come on during training camp but even if Chris Paul's getting better which would be great Nick Alig better already just from what we've seen from last year than what Chris Paul was showing last year so that's number one number two Center position Tyler botes again he's he's an upgrade over Nick Gates and Tyler Larson as a combo as individuals for a lot of the same reasons for Nick aligra but with Tyler botes you have a starting history and you have a consistent history there with him as a veteran Center so I feel very confident there Sam Cosby and Andrew Wy both solid players again a lot of people want to see Andrew Wy replaced I get it you want that all proo you want that Pro Bowl caliber guy but Andrew Wy very solidified veteran not sure you know I'm not going to sit here and say he's gonna be your guy in 2025 2026 all that stuff but for 2024 with the other moves that were made you feel comfortable with that left tackle is obviously the biggest question and that's where you kind of have to back off the this line is already better than last year's because if that left tackle position turns out to be a big liability it doesn't matter if the left card is improved it doesn't matter if the center is improved doesn't matter if Sam Cosby get got a little bit better doesn't matter if Andrew Wy got a little bit better that left tackle position is a is a problem it's a problem for everyone right now I got Cornelius Lucas in that starting job just reading the te leaves and again very hard to evaluate reps right now so again take it with the great ass all early early 53 man roster projection so total offensive players we got 26 returning players from last year or before 14 rookies five new veterans coming onto the squad uh seven players slipping over the defensive side of things we're start with the D tackle obviously start the defensive line John Allen Don Payne they're solidified I think Johnny Newton the rookie unless there's some sort of again IR situation with him he's gonna be on the roster then I've got federan matys rounding out the top four or the the four active roster guys on the defensive tackle rejuvenated Duo at the top both guys seem incredibly motivated John Allen has come out and said that you know from his angst last year he feels a lot better confidence F Darian mattisse that's really the question here and as we get into training camp is he truly that fourth D tackle or is this staff not going to necessarily weigh his draft stock right which they shouldn't and is it possible that someone like Ridgeway or somebody else comes in and takes that spot defensive end group dorren Armstrong Jr Cleland frell Dante Fowler Jr Andre Jones Jr KJ Henry again Mal on wood barring any injuries I think those are your top five guys on the defensive end line or part of the defensive line on the defensive line tons of new blood here Jamon Davis not listed as a defensive but he's going to be playing on the edge there we already know that and we already see them preparing for that speaking of Jamon he's going to be listed as a linebacker right Bobby Wagner Frankie luu Jamon Davis and right now I've got Anthony Pitman and Jordan McGee the rookie out of Temple making this 53 man roster there's a mix of veterans and youth there in that group special teams contributors I think that's why you're going to see maybe a little bit more linebackers than a lot of people might predict I think with this new kickoff rule especially linebackers that can pursue and do it quickly and do it efficiently are going to be really really valuable so I think that that's where you're going to see more linebackers and then of course Jamon Davis Kind of filling a DN role and a linebacker role when he's asked to cornerback this is where things get a little bit more interesting Benjamin St juice Emanuel Forbes Michael Davis and Christian Holmes weakest group on the team as far as I'm concerned until they're proven otherwise it's going to be a problem until it's not a problem shootouts are just as dangerous as that offensive linemen so you definitely want to see that unit look good once the real competition starts so we'll see how kind of how that unfolds right now I do give Emanuel Forbes that so and I look every D I know I go back and forth one episode be like I think Michael Davis has it one episode I'll go Emanuel forb Sam 4 The Washington Post came in and said he thinks that Michael Davis has the inside track I know a lot of other beat reporters have Michael Davis with the inside track but I really do kind of like what this system this scheme this style of play offers Emanuel Forbes so I'm gonna kind of keep him there until I really have a strong gut feeling that he's not so that's my promise to you at least I hope I can keep that promise that until I have like training camp true competition evidence we're going to stick Danel forb right there in that starting spot right now nickel quarterback obviously Mike Sanders still the rookie out of Michigan a lot of weight on Sanders Still's shoulders because if he falur as a nickel Corner that failure takes away from the safety group because you he Quan Martin's probably gonna have to duck down there and it just kind of starts to move pieces around that you don't necessarily want to move them around and speaking of quan free safeties Quan Martin and Derrik Forest I think confidence is growing in that group just in general strong safeties Jeremy chin and Jeremy Reeves so pair of Jeremy is Jeremy Reeves a really a really good fit for this defensive style of play that's my big question going into training camp in the pre you know the effort is going to be there right effort's there every single time no no question there but can he just make the plays and play the roles that this defense is going to ask him to so that's a total of 23 players 12 returning three rookies eight veterans special teams I think that's easy right now kicker R Amed obviously we haven't seen where we're seen limited competition for him since he came in punter Tres Way Long Snapper Tyler OTS uh kicker questions of course that's always going to be a big problem so you want to see those solved 28 out of 32 NFL teams in my opinion have kicker question every single offseason so that's just kind of a thing in the NFL three total players one returning two new veterans no rookies that gives us a total of 52 players returning players 27 eight rookies 17 new veterans and that's right that's 52 players so there are some notable names that I've left off the active roster so far who will all be fighting for that final roster spot or one that I've already given to somebody else that's coming up next on today's episode of lockon commanders part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day FanDuel and today's episode of Locked on commanders is brought to you by FanDuel I love sports I love them so much I never want them to stop but as the playoffs wind down in the NBA 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FanDuel official sports betting partners of Major League Roster Projection Baseball wrapping up today's episode of locks on commanders an early 53 man projection here ahead of training camp and we're going to set this up and moving forward here on locktown commers we're going to take some episodes and we're going to dive into these position groups a little bit deeper go over some of the observations from mandatory mini camp OTAs all that stuff the health of the position group and if we need to see if we some offseason moves or some remaining offseason moves could be made maybe some trades some player cuts from other teams and all these other remaining free agents but for now we have one more roster spot to hammer out we've got 52 players already on the roster but that means we've also got some players off of this roster some notable names not on the roster right now that have either been established before or very popular right now one of them wide receiver Marcus rosem Jack Saint the undrafted free agent rookie out of Georgia he certainly got a cult following he certainly made some good plays during OTAs during the mandatory mini camp certainly could see him competing and specifically there's a possibility that with him that say Jameson Crowder is not available or let's say lamad zakus doesn't necessarily step up to the plate during the training camp and the preseason opportunities and all that stuff Marcus rosemy Jack say is a guy who could potentially step in and take advantage of one of those situations offensive lineman Bradon Daniels I already know that there are a lot of commanders fans out there that are not going to be happy that I've left his name off this list so far tight end Armani Rogers is certainly one and running back Jeremy McNichols who has a history with Anthony Lynn possible openings look if they don't make that third quarterback decision like I did with Sam har obviously that opens up another possibility for another offensive player or defensive player but that opens up a potential roster spot tight and Cole Turner while right now I feel fairly confident in my fourth tight end projection if Co Turner doesn't show that improved H blocking ability that opens the door for a guy like armanii Rogers to come in and say hey look I'm gonna show that off or never sleep on some some some undrafted guys like Coulson yankov things like that and then wide receivers alamad Zas Jameson Crowder again based on Performance Based on potential production Al and also based on special teams usage due to the new rule changes one or both those guys could find themselves on the way on the outside looking in and could open the door for any of these other guys to fill that spot on top of the fact like I said we've left a spot open defense and Noble absences defensive tackle John Ridgeway already kind of talked about him just a little while ago defensive end Fe obata defensive end Javon Jean Baptist seventh round pick from this year cornerback Choi andum very popular undrafted free agent out of Colorado State free safety Percy Butler and cornerback Noah IG bagy who came over from the Dallas Cowboys along with some other players possible openings obviously again we still have that 503rd roster spot so one of these guys could slide in there the defense has fewer players in the offense that doesn't necessarily matter if you feel like you have a good stock of Talent on either side but potentially you could just add another guy in there maybe we add John rid Ridgeway I feel like we have a good amount of edge rushers especially with Jamon Davis but still if they like fa obata enough maybe they want to get deeper in corner get deeper in the secondary with got La Percy Butler opens up a lot of opportunities but also linebacker position maybe I went too deep in linebacker position maybe they decid to trim that and maybe Anthony Pitman or Jordan McGee are left off the active roster that opens up another spot for one of these guys federan matthysse we talked about him right how high is that confidence in this coaching staff did not bring him in this coaching staff has not been coaching him you know Ryan carrian obviously has been around for a year but fian Mattis how much stock does he really have can he stay healthy and can he show enough in the preseason training camp to earn that fourth spot that I have right now or potentially create an opening or be that fifth defensive tackle if he does make it anyway defensive ends Andre Jones Jr KJ Henry you're always a little bit weary of late round picks that were not selected by the current staff both of those guys fit into that category and then Christian Holmes the cornerback right now he's a guy who got pencil in there but certainly could see another player make a push for that position there's there's other quarterbacks I didn't even mention here necessarily in the notables left off so there's still a lot of competition out there so this is a commander group and and there's always been this kind of adage around thetion National Football League the more questions the more good players you have that are potentially not going to make your roster the better your roster is so I'm not saying this is the best roster in the National Football League but I think when you look at some of the players that are looking like they might be on the outside looking in especially in the defensive side of the ball I think you feel pretty good about where this roster is going again not not the the number one roster on paper so far but you got to start somewhere and certainly the the paper names could turn into legitimate onfield production that's going to wrap up to say 53 man Pro we're going to take this and we're going to meld it into a series of episodes coming up breaking down each position group based off what we saw in mini camps what we saw at the OTA practices all those things what we see for the future all leading into training camp this July so make sure you come back for that in the meantime if you got questions or comments just throw them down in the YouTube comment section or hit me up via text message by become a lock on commanders Insider at joins sub text.com lockon commanders don't forget also check out locked on sports today the first ever 247 live streaming Sports Channel on YouTube and as always thank you for making lock on commanders your first listen or your first View today and every day every day things for coming through on a regular basis like you do until we speak again if you're on about please be safe be kind we'll see you next time for another episode of lockon commanders part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day