Grant and Danny
Jay Gruden On The Commanders Offense Bouncing Back
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So it's great to have Jay on to discuss a blowout win of the Titans 42 to 19 that saw washed and rack up 463 yards on 77 plays, six a pop. So Jay, why don't we start with some of the adjustments with MacLaurin. You were calling for this last week. You said move them around, send them in motion, line them up on the right, throw them the ball earlier in games. All of that happened. He caught two first half touchdowns, not too shabby. Not too shabby. The way they started was pretty impressive. I like the fact that they came out throwing their first two passes, got two easy completions for Jayden and then obviously the big hit to Brian Robinson, which was huge. Fast start, which got everybody just jump started, the whole offense defense specialty. Everybody was just, you know, fired up the play and it's just great to get that momentum and keep it for a long period of time. It was impressive. Jay, what other adjustments did you see from Kingsbury and company with this offense? It looked like there was just more available, more open against the defense that came in, playing pretty decent. Yeah, that was shocking. I can't believe how a little resistance there was by the Tennessee defense and I think the offense had a lot to do with it and they just punished them. The inside zones, the counters, they just had their way with the defensive line, which was shocking. The line backing crew was nowhere to be found. The safety supports were oblivious, the run fits, the safety angles they took were terrible. They just looked this interesting and part of the reason is because Washington punched them in the mouth early. This kept swinging. It's 14. Nothing. It's 21. Nothing. Then, you know, Jeffrey Simmons is a great pass rusher. Realize it. I'm not, I'm not going to get the Russia pass. I'm going to have to play double teams all day and play the run and play action in a bootleg every now and then. They just took the wind out of their sails early and Tennessee never could recover. What do you think of the Jaden Daniels performance, 25 of 30, 206 through the air, first three touchdown game as a passer, ran for a touchdown as well? Awesome. Really, I think he's an incredible player and some of the things that he does, just people don't really realize he's scrambling for a four-yard game when he avoids the sack. I think, you know, he avoids the negative plays effortlessly. He threw the one pick, which was arguably a drop, it was a little bit high, but it was tipped up to intercept it, got out of, I mean, he just, he just makes everything look so easy and effortless and just a hell of a player and he just, you know, just watching other teams play and watching Jaden play. I think you got to feel pretty damn good to have this guy on your team for a long time. J grid with us here on G and D. So just go back over the last month or so. I know he was banged up to whatever degree we don't know exactly what the ribs, etc. But you know, just the eye test to, to a room like myself, Jay, you're right. He looks so much more comfortable. You saw that easy athleticism. That's kind of the way I describe it, where some defenders run in full speed. He's kind of going just fast enough to outrun the guys, still scan the field, do whatever he wants. What's the difference there? Is it as simple as health or is there a comfort level too? I think a little bit of both. You know, I know they said he wasn't hurting all that stuff, but he just didn't seem like he had the same juice that he had early in the season. He does, so he did just kind of see, you know, for whatever, that could be totally wrong, but he just is very fast, very quick, very mobile. He's got a great feel for the game. Instinctually, he's got a great feel to avoid pressure and avoid, avoid tackle. He just makes little moves, subtle moves with his feet and hips and, and guys can't touch him. He'd be the most amazing flag football quarterback in the history of the flag football. He couldn't grab his flag. So yeah, he's a very comfortable and clips offense and what he does, he just feels really good about playing. He has a lot of fun playing and he's, he's a joy to watch quite frankly. Look around. What do you see? Cars, lots of them, and guess what, they're probably on auto trader. Whether you're into timeless classics or the latest trends, did somebody say solar powered eco-friendly vegan leather wrapped aroma therapy scented disco ball equipped self driving car. If you see it on the road, you can likely find it on auto trader, big cars, small cars, blue cars, new cars and used cars, electric cars. And one day, maybe even flying cars. With millions of options to choose from, buying a car becomes a whole lot easier. See it? Find it. Auto trader. 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It was third and one, third and two, third and two, third and two, fourth and two, third and three. That's the difference to me in this game versus the last three weeks. We've spent so much time talking about where were they broken, what was wrong, how did they get right. The early part of the year, Jay and yesterday, they've been in third and short, like first and second down has been dominant and they're in third and short. And that wasn't the case for a few weeks. And they got back to that. Can you speak to just what a difference that is as a play caller and overall offensively when you're doing that as opposed to when you're not? It makes a huge difference if, you know, when I was a play caller, if you look at my conversion rate, probably third and one to five, I was at hell of a lot better than six to eight and nine plus, I mean, it's just a lot easier because you have a lot of plays that you're just closely, you can still call, you can still run the ball. I mean, you're right. The first drive for touchdown, I went three plays, didn't have a third drive, a third down. The second drive, they had two, third ones that were to both of them. And then they threw the short pass of Terry and a long pass of Terry over the middle of the 25 yarder and then the touchdown of Zach Gersh was a third downer. So yeah, these are all third and two to threes at once. And Cliff knows that as hell, if we don't get it, we still probably going to go for it. I'm sure Dan Quinstone health, if you don't get it, we're going to go for it. And fourth and one or two. So this, the playbook is wide open on third one and third and two. They're not easy. Now I don't get any wrong. I've had 20 times where I fail, I'm certain when I'm fourth one, but the way they're going with the zone reads, the RPOs and the play passes off of those, they're very hard to stop when you have a quarterback like Jaden, you look at the touchdown run that he had, it was an RPO, he could have handed it off on the inside zone. He chose it though to Zach Gersh in a flat, Harold Landry just drifted back and would have intercepted or batted down. He keeps it again. So it's a RPRO and scores a touchdown. These are plays you just don't coach. He's just an unbelievable player. The commanders are 21 of 24 on third and one this year, 21 of 24, and they haven't been stopped on fourth down. They're another handful, you know, perfection there. So it's like probably 26 of 29 or something on third and fourth and one. Yeah, they're getting a lot of movement. You got to credit those big guys up front too, you know, Al Grady and obviously Cosby and those guys are, you know, say what you want about some of their past protection issues, but when they get their pads down, they're low Tyler Beidage is also a hell of a player at center. So they get great movement, really allows B Rob or Rodriguez or when Eclara was playing vision to really make it cut and get in there and get that yard. So offensive line tight ends, backs with good vision and obviously the threat of Jaden running his own reads is impacts the backside where the defensive ends can't close and make a play. So Jay, ultimately, obviously you've got to play well enough to take advantage of mistakes. And I think Washington did that. There's no question about it. You got to turn over. You go down and score. You punish somebody for messing up. But how much of this game do you think you already kind of touched on earlier with, you're not really sure what Tennessee was doing? They look terrible. The two of the first three plays were false starts and it got worse from there, believe it or not, especially in that first half. How much of this was, okay, Washington's back, they got right, all the adjustments of Kingsbury and Daniels and company versus Tennessee, just vomiting on themselves. That's a major combination right there. I mean, they had 10 plays of offense and they were down 28th and nothing. That's how bad it was for Tennessee. I've never heard of that before in my life and then they got the ball back and went three out again. So they had 13 plays, 28 got them, they had a fumble to kick off, Pollard fumbled. But you know, you got to take it away, you know, it's a great job by Washington, take it away. But defensively, like I said, they had no absolutely no plan whatsoever. They were, their run fits were awful. I don't know what the hell they were doing. It's like they didn't watch any film. Hey, do you guys know Jayden Daniels can run? Did you guys know that? I mean, it's really amazing. They're going to run the count of roti. You guys know that, right? It's like they never saw it before. I'm never saying like it. So I don't know. They're probably just this right. They got a huge win last week against Houston, probably had a little leisurely week of practice and then came in a little bit big headed, thought they're going to win because Washington was on a three game losing streak, watched the film, probably wasn't impressed. And then got punched in the mouth and never could recover. Where are you at on Brian Robinson? I said last week as much as I like him. And when he's playing and healthy, by the way, this is just a different offense. He brings a physical nature to their running game that just changes everything it seems like. But he is also, I agree, but, but, but here's where I'm at on this Jay. Like he's so big. I feel like the big guys like him and this is why Derek Henry so amazing. They take so many hits and they have that bruising style. He's always banged up or hurt. He hasn't been durable or really able to stay on the field. So I almost feel like this offseason, you need to get something like him, but that's more available that you know is going to play weekend and week out. What's your thought on that? Well, I like the fact that they had Echler. I think that one to punches is critical. You look at Gibson Montgomery. I love the one to punch of running backs nowadays in the NFL, just to fill in Derek Henry. You take the heat off of Brian Robinson, you know, 25 30 times a game and play the other guy. And it's very important this day. Like you mentioned, because of the punishing style these running backs have Derek Henry doesn't play every snap. Now he's a hell of a back. They want to explore every now. Maybe not take on, but yeah, I think it's very important to have that second back. I don't think you want the second back to be like your Rob. I think you need to change a pace back to take the pressure off and really work the passing game as well. Jay, I just in the wake of them, let go, Emmanuel Forbes, I traded away, Johan Dotson. You know, last year they moved on from a couple of first round picks as they kind of started this rebuild. It's kind of remarkable that they're good at all without a first round pick from the last six seasons on the team. I just, I can't remember saying anything like that. When you were a head coach, even an assistant coach, how long did you say, you know, we've got to be really patient here, even when you're trying to win games, it's a really competitive league. Obviously you guys are always kind of fighting for your, for your league lives. How patient should you be? Should they have been? Etcetera. Just kind of remarkable that they were able to move on that quickly. Yeah, they made a great, they made some great losing free agency. You know, we, we went, uh, I think four and 12, my first year, three and 13. We went nine and seven. My second year went to the playoffs, hit on a couple of free ages and Kurt got a lot better. The quarterback position obviously was, uh, fixed, but, uh, I think hitting up Bobby Wagner and Louvoo was huge on defense. I mean, just huge. And obviously getting the center and Al Grady, I mean, these guys are huge additions and Zach Kurtz, you know, say what you want, but the presence of a tight end in the running game, I mentioned last year, like a thousand times, that's why the running game is no good. You know, Logan Thomas can't, he can't block. He's, that's not his style, but get a couple. Now they have three guys in there that can block. They're using two tight end, three tight end sets. They're physical up front. So they changed that part of their offense. They added some beef in the middle, some tough, good leaders in the middle of the defense. And, uh, just hit on those guys and obviously Jayden makes a huge difference as well. You mentioned Louvoo, what do you make at his game? He's used so uniquely as a pass rusher, despite being kind of an off ball linebacker. He's a Swiss army knife, man. He is. You know, I think he gets a lot from, uh, you know, obviously Quinn had Micah Parsons last year and Mike, he didn't really play off the ball a whole lot, but moving around is very important for an athlete like that, but he's all over the place. I love that guy. He sees baton balls made a tackle on the same plate. You know, you got a sack, you know, he's just, uh, you line them up at end, line them up at linebacker. Early in the season, I was a little concerned about his linebacker play with some of the angles and some of the run fits look like he was a little confused. But I think the way they're using on their using them is a go get the ball type guy where you don't have to worry about a whole lot. I think it's perfect for his style of play. Jay, two parter here, I wanted to ask about this last week, but I forgot, I've heard this from, from people anecdotally, I've read it a little bit, but obviously you wouldn't much better than me. Is it harder a lot of times for a college tight end to adjust to life in the pros? That's something that maybe a position that takes a little bit longer on average? Yeah, it depends on the tight end. Yeah. You know, if you get a guy from Wisconsin or Iowa, they're used to having her hand in a dirt block and he's defensive ends and it may not take him as long, but these guys stand up outside and think they're glorified wide receivers that play tight end. But these guys take forever. You know, the ability to run the ball with a tight end nowadays, either have a blocking tight end or receiving tight end. Very few guys can do both like a George Kittle, like Zach or it's like Kelsey, these guys, that's why they're so valuable, Sam LaPorta. The guys that can do both make your team so much better in the run game and the play action game. It's not even funny. And if you don't have one, you bring one in, it's the third down guy. Everybody knows you're going to throw it. You're not going to run. There's no threat of run. If you got a big block or he's no threat in the passing game, it really inhibits your offense. That's the position. I think is one of the most under appreciated, most important positions on offense is that tight end. It can do both. So, so part two about that then, and it didn't matter yesterday, obviously they were rolling everybody got right, but what have you seen from Ben Senate in terms of maybe being that guy that can do both at some point in his career? It's still early, obviously, and the offense is rolling. So no rush, but what have you seen from Senate to this point? Yeah, I haven't seen enough of him in the passing game. Other than catching a couple of flat routes, maybe a scene ball down the field as far as him running and separating from linebackers or safeties. I haven't seen a whole lot of that. He hasn't had that opportunity. So that jury's still out there, but he's obviously a tough physical kid that has a role in the football team, special teams coming in as a second or third tight end, cutting off the backside, catching some flat routes. You know, I'm sure he's working into the offense as far as a true pass catch rate, and Cliff really hasn't used the tight ends a whole lot. Zach does a lot, but you know, not as many as like George Kittle type plays or Kelsey type plays. They're not really involved as much. You know, jury's still out, like you said, but he's a young player with, I like the fact that he could do something pretty good. That's blocked. Now we can work off of that and use them in the passing game eventually when he gets used to it. Jay Gruden, former head coach here in DC on Grant and Danny Carl wants to know your thoughts on Chris Rodriguez ran for 94 yards in the second half yesterday. He wants to know about him potentially eventually having a bigger role. Yeah, I mean, I think they just cut him Wednesday and he said, you know, never mind, we need you this week and you're going to play in rush for almost 100 yards. That's a hell of a, hell of a week for Rodriguez. So yeah, he is a tough guy. I don't know a whole lot about him. I know he was drafted last year. I think it was, um, six around Attic and Tucky. I think it's right. Yeah. Yeah, it was very early, but he runs hard. He's a physical guy. And, you know, it's just a matter of, you know, when I was coaching, you'll usually address three backs. One was your lead down back. One was your change of pace back and your third one had to be a little bit of both. I think the one that's what he's going to be really good at is being able to back up both positions as far as, you know, if something happens to be robbing the game, he can take over something happens back where he could be the second back. So you got to be versatile in what you do. But I do like what I see. He's a tough kid. Yeah, I was dead wrong. Going a little NFL big picture here. I was dead wrong about the bills this year after losing some guys here and there. I thought they'd be worse. They're not. They're awesome. And, you know, Josh Allen with that signature play last night in the snow might have just sewed up the MVP. What have you seen from them? Yeah, he's just an amazing player and they do it the right way. They're physical upfront. They're offensive lines. They don't get a lot of credit, but they're really good upfront and defensively. Coach McDermott, I've said this before, is one of the best defensive coordinators, coaches and football. He gets those guys in the right spot that may attach and they're very good. I was worried about them as well on defense because they lost both safeties. You know, they got Hamlin in there and I think Taylor Raps. You know, those are a very important position for McDermott because those guys rotate and they do a lot of different things, but they fill it up and Josh Allen, just a cheese he is MVP is the best. Jake Gruden on Grant and Danny, a couple of other games to hit on with you. Manded Kirk Cousins have a rough day yesterday. Four interceptions, worse since 2014, I think right before you benched him actually, before he became your starter. Atlanta finally got a good defensive game. They basically needed one more score and they couldn't figure it out. Would you see there? Why also? Why don't they put him under center and do anything in the dropback game or, you know, play action where he's made his money his whole career, he's lives in the pistol like he's Matt Stafford. It's kind of the opposite of kind of what he's thrived on. Yeah, I can't say I'm a pistol. I never liked it. Looks stupid. Running backs can't see you in the ball. Snap. They hate it. I just never liked it. You know, he's athletic enough. He's healthy enough to play under center and do play actions and the ball off. Don't tell me that. I mean, this is a kill. He's I've seen their Rogers is doing it right now. He's 50. So it bothers me. It's a crappy offense. He made some poor decisions. He's forcing the issue. He could. I think, you know, he could sense the offense needed a spark. He tried to force a few balls in there, but it was inexcusable to some of the throws. The last though he had an end zone. I've never seen anything like it since the dying giant game when we needed a win. He threw it right to DRC, but he's too good to be playing like this. And I think he's got to snap out of it because you've got a rookie quarterback breathing down his neck right now. But there's six and six there. First place in our division. So hopefully he snaps out of it because I like watching a play. How would you handle Justin Tucker right now, Baltimore, fewer in charge? I'd pat him on the head and just figure out a way to get his confidence back. I mean, I'm having to kick an extra point in practicing everybody's problem. I don't know. I don't want to go into the playoffs for the last four games of season with a kicker. I don't even know. I'm going to bank on Justin kicking himself out of this, hopefully. And if it doesn't work out, he doesn't kick himself out of it. We don't make the playoffs because of it, so it'll be it. But he's done way too much for the organization, been too clutch over the years, won them a lot of football games. I got to let him. I got to let him finish this thing out. Hey, how much of Colts Patriots did you watch yesterday? Not much. I was the least important game on my plate when I was watching TV. Yeah, it wasn't a great game. The reason I ask is every time I look at Anthony Richardson and I have to go back and watch it tonight. I haven't seen it. He completes about 50% in every single game. Now, I haven't looked at a daughter, how many layups they got him or whatever, but he was 12 of 24 again for a bucko nine. They won 25 24, but damn if that doesn't seem like a problem that every single one weeks, your quarterbacks at about 50% who watched him to Florida. He's only played a year at Florida. He would almost kill cheerleaders. I mean, he would miss throws by a hundred yards. He's got a cannon, but my God, and then he throw a ball, you know, flick his wrist for a 65 yard bomb and you'd be like, Oh, that's the best I've ever seen. So yeah, you're going to have to live with those inaccuracies. That's not going to be cured overnight. Now he's going to be an accurate for quite a while, but you have to utilize this skill set that is running the football, but quarterback design runs, get them out in space, try to get up some deep shots and then play really good defense to make up for some of his inadequacies, inadequacy wise. Jay, awesome as always, man. Enjoy the week. Thank you. I'm gonna see you guys later. You got it, bro. There's Jay Gruden with us every single Monday after the commander's games on Grant and Danny. Oh, I know on the road. Jay Gruden is driven by the Ted Bird automotive group, Ted Bird Ford and Chantilly and Fairfax, your F one 50 headquarters, Ted Bridge into the Lincoln and Ted Bridge Chevrolet and Sterling home of Ted Bird for lifetime vehicle coverage. See and shop them all at Ted Bird dot com. That was a great line. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Whether you love true crime or comedy, celebrity interviews or news, you call the shots on what's in your podcast queue. 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Jay Gruden, former head coach for Washington, joins G&D to discuss the renaissance from the Commanders offense against the Titans.