Daily Slop – 4 May 24: One-on-one with Adam Peters

A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East and the NFL in general

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Five things to know about Luke McCaffrey

He’s one of the best receivers in Rice history.

McCaffrey transferred to Rice ahead of the 2021 season to finish out his college career. While he started his time with the Owls as a quarterback, throwing for 313 yards and two touchdowns, he eventually made a position switch and moved to wide receiver permanently in 2022. It ended up being the best decision for McCaffrey, as he went on to be one of the best wideouts in program history.

“I think the whole first year that I switched to receiver that first season, I put so much emphasis on the fundamentals of the basics of route running and the basics of getting off press and doing that,” McCaffrey said. “And then the second year I kind of had the opportunity to put some things together and I think that’s the journey from now until the end of my career is just trying to soak up knowledge, trying to learn and trying to do everything I can to compete and to make whatever team I’m on the best team possible.”

McCaffrey may have still been learning the position in 2022, but that didn’t prevent him from being one of Rice’s most potent weapons. He was voted as the team’s MVP by his peers for leading the Owls with 919 all-purpose yards, including 723 receiving yards with six touchdowns.

The following season, McCaffrey was the most dominant receiver in the AAC last year, leading the conference in touchdown catches. Although his time at Rice was short, he made his mark on the program. His 19 touchdowns rank third all-time in school history, while his 1,686 yards rank eighth.

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ESPN

Why Commanders selected Jayden Daniels No. 2 in NFL draft

While every No. 2 pick is of huge importance, this pick could alter the trajectory of a franchise trying to establish a new identity under new owner Josh Harris — who purchased the team last summer — new coach Dan Quinn and first-time GM Peters. Washington is attempting to get beyond more than two decades of futility under previous owner Dan Snyder, and solving its decades-long quarterback quest with a long-term answer at the position would go a long way toward accomplishing that goal. Washington has started 33 quarterbacks since last winning the Super Bowl after the 1991 season; the Commanders started eight in the past four years; no quarterback has served as the No. 1 guy for more than three years since Mark Rypien from 1989-93.

They needed to make sure they had the right guy. In the end, their process led them back to where they began: Daniels.

“We knew it was Jayden for a while,” Peters said. “It would have taken a lot for it to not be Jayden. The whole building I would say was unanimous on that one. It’s easy to see why.”

[O]ne source said [that] the game that set Washington on the Daniels’ path was LSU’s season-opening 45-24 loss to Florida State. Daniels threw for 346 yards and ran for 64 more, but one Commanders source said, in addition to his polish and arm talent, they liked how he responded after suffering multiple big hits in the game.

Peters, meanwhile, said he could not believe how good Daniels was when he finally watched the tape.

“The way he can process, the way he can see the field, the way he goes through his reads, the way he delivers [the ball] on time. He’s the best deep-ball thrower in the draft,” Peters said, “and that’s even before we start watching him run and the way he runs he just takes your soul as a defense. You think you got him and then all of a sudden, he rips off a 40-yard run. And this is against the SEC, the best of the best.”

After drafting Daniels last Thursday, Peters referenced other selling points that led Washington to the decision, including his use of virtual reality, which Daniels claims helped him improve by “70 to 80%” for his final year.

Quinn also liked his experience. Daniels played in 55 games over five seasons and started 26 more games than McCarthy and 29 more than Maye.

During his private plane ride home after his news conference in Washington, Daniels, surrounded by family and friends, spent an hour of the trip pretending to stand at the line of scrimmage, calling out checks or plays that he already knew from the Commanders’ playbook.

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Commanders Wire

Jason and Travis Kelce praise Jayden Daniels and the Commanders

“I think Jayden Daniels is a little bit more, uh, I want to say NFL-ready,” Travis Kelce said. “But I think I’ve seen him make more on-time throw throws than I have Caleb. Caleb, you kind of get that back-yard ball type of deal. I think Jayden actually showed pocket poise and slinging that around a little bit more from the pocket.”

What did Jason Kelce think of the Commanders?

“I am excited to watch; I hate that it’s in our conference, but the Commanders they’ve made a lot of offseason additions,” Jason Kelce said. “They’re under new ownership, and they’ve clearly been signing veteran players to try and fix, I think, some of the, it just feels like the team has been off. It doesn’t feel like it is any one person or coach’s fault. It just feels like they need a new fresh start. They brought in a lot of veteran talent, there’s a ton of playmakers, it feels like over there. And Jayden Daniels will get to jump aboard. I think they’ve had a really good offseason, and I’m not just saying that.”

Jason Kelce spent his entire career with the Eagles, playing Washington twice per season, and now he is in the media. To hear that coming from him is a positive. No one would have better insight from an opposing perspective than Kelce and he, too, is encouraged by Washington’s future.

Here’s the full episode of “New Heights,” and you can hear the Washington and Daniels talk around the 46:00 mark [already queued up].

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Sports Illustrated

‘Thank God’: Former Rival Happy LB Frankie Luvu Joined Washington Commanders

The Washington Commanders are happy they landed linebacker Frankie Luvu, and so is one NFC South player in particular.

“Thank God he’s out of Carolina,” Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Rachaad White said about Luvu joining the Commanders on a recent appearance on the Hear The Cannons podcast. “I see him a lot in the off-season. We talk a lot. We both respect each other game. He (is) basically like a big brother to me. So I was happy he was gone…his game needed to be respected more.”

White and Luvu share an agent so they’re connected in more ways than one, but in White’s two NFL seasons he’s had to face his ‘big brother’ twice per year, so he’s grown very familiar with the person and the player.

When a former rival celebrates a competitors departure, that’s a good sign for the team acquiring him.

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Burgundy & Gold Report

Newton Could Be the Steal of the Draft | WASHINGTON COMMANDERS ROOKIE SERIES

Many fans were left scratching their heads with the selection of Illinois defensive tackle Zer’Zhan Newton, known as Johnny to his friends, family and teammates. The fact of the matter is that Newton was ranked as a Top 15 prospect by many evaluators.

His draft slide was believed to be due to his January Jones fracture surgery, but stated during the NFL Combine that he’s “Fully Healed” from the surgery and ready to go.

There has been chatter that HC Dan Quinn along with DC Joe Whitt Jr. could utilize a 3-4 base look with DaRon Payne, Jon Allen and Newton. [Note: Adam Peters said as much in a recent interview; see the “Exclusive Post-Draft Interview with Adam Peters” linked below]

Regardless it’s believed Newton will have a significant role this season and could be viewed three years from now as the steal of the 2024 NFL Draft.

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Podcasts & videos

Exclusive Post-Draft Interview with Adam Peters | Command Center | Washington Commanders

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Mike Sainristil 2023 Highlights

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Photos

PHOTOS | The best of Luke McCaffrey

Check out the top photos of former Rice wide receiver. Luke McCaffrey.

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fbschedules.com

NFL schedule release 2024: Matchups, possible dates for reveal

The NFL Schedule release 2024 has not yet been officially announced, but the release date will likely be during early May.

Last year, the complete NFL schedule was released by the league on Thursday, May 11. This will mark the fifth consecutive year that the NFL schedule has been released in May after the NFL Draft. Previously, the NFL had been releasing the schedule in mid-to-late April.

Here are the release dates for the past [four] seasons:

• 2023 – Thursday, May 11
• 2022 – Thursday, May 12
• 2021 – Wednesday, May 12
• 2020 – Thursday, May 7

Based on the release dates since 2020, we can assume that the 2024 NFL Schedule will likely be released on Wednesday, May 8 or Thursday, May 9.

The 2024 NFL regular-season is scheduled to kickoff on Thursday, Sept. 5 and will feature the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting an opponent to be determined.

One regular-season matchup has already been announced by the league. The Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers will play the first-ever game in South America at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, Brazil, on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. The Eagles-Packers game in Brazil will be exclusively streamed by Peacock and will also be available to view over-the-air (OTA) in the local markets of the two teams as well as on NFL+.

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