NFC Notes: Josh Harris, Commanders, Giants, Lions

Commanders

Thursday, July 20, marks the start of a new era for the Washington football franchise with the official ouster of owner Dan Snyder and the confirmation of new owner Josh Harris. Organizations are only as good as the person at the top, and Snyder’s foibles have tanked his team for decades. A fresh face coming in is a justifiable cause for optimism, and there’s a lot of intrigue surrounding Harris. He already owns the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils in the NBA and NHL, and both teams have been on the cutting edge of incorporating analytics. The NFL has lagged behind other leagues in that area but with an owner like Harris coming in as a possible analytics champion, that could change for the Commanders. 

“He’ll have 15 models by Tuesday that are like the perfect way to build a team, leveraging the hard cap, and where you put your money and how you build an organization,” a businessman who knows Harris told the Athletic’s David Aldridge in April. “Do you build offensive line first, then defensive line, then quarterback? He’ll have a plan, quickly. He’ll do the research and do the work, and put the data science in place and put the health and wellness people in place. He’s no joke. His people are wicked smart.”

Giants

Giants HC Brian Daboll wouldn’t rule out CB Adoree’ Jackson returning punts in 2023.

“I think every year is different. Every game is different,” Daboll said, via Giants Wire. “We have a lot of guys out here returning punts right now. We don’t have to make that decision for a while, so we’ll cross that bridge when it comes to it.”

Lions

When appearing on The Season with Peter Schrager podcast, Lions GM Brad Holmes spoke about moving on from RBs D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams in favor of David Montgomery and first-round Jahmyr Gibbs. In the end, Holmes expects their offense to improve in 2023. 

“When you look at it systematically, I do think we’ll be better offensively,” Holmes said. “That’s no knock on the contributions that those other two guys gave us. Swift is a dynamic player and Jamaal was a great leader for us, and he did so much for us. He had a great season. But I think Montgomery and Jamaal are different backs. Montgomery does a little bit more in the passing game. And being able to add Gibbs, he’s just so dynamic as a receiver. Look, he’s a home run hitter as a running back, that’s the easy part. What he does as a receiver — he runs routes like a receiver.”

Holmes saw the impact of running backs who are productive receivers like Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk when he was a scout for the Rams and Christian McCaffrey when he was drafted by the Panthers in 2017. 

“When I first got with the Rams in 2003, Marshall Faulk was still there, and I was a huge Marshall Faulk guy — just kind of seeing what he does in both phases,” Holmes said. “And just from a scouting standpoint, when Christian McCaffrey came out, he was the last guy that I was like, ‘Holy cow, this guy can run routes like a slot receiver but also run it.’ So, you start getting reminders of those players. I’m not sitting here saying Jahmyr Gibbs is those players, but (he’s) just a special weapon like that. We have a lot of excitement and optimism.”