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The 5 O’Clock Club: Washington’s tight ends

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The 5 O’Clock Club: Washington’s tight ends


The 5 o’clock club is published from time to time during the season, and aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below.


CLICK HERE to see the full 5 o’clock club archive


Zach Ertz

Washington’s tight end room is led by 11-year veteran Zach Ertz, who spent most of his previous pro career with the Philadelphia Eagles. He appears to have ended up in Washington, however, due to his connection to offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who was Ertz’s head coach in Arizona in 2021-22. Three of Ertz’s last four seasons (2020, ‘22, ‘23) were marred by injury. Rather than attempting to recount the career of a player most Commanders fans are quite familiar with, I’ll just post his career stats.

Receiving & Rushing Table
Games Receiving Rushing Total Yds
Year Age Tm Pos No. G GS Tgt Rec Yds Y/R TD 1D Succ% Lng R/G Y/G Ctch% Y/Tgt Att Yds TD 1D Succ% Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Touch Y/Tch YScm RRTD Fmb AV Awards
2013 23 PHI TE 86 16 3 57 36 469 13.0 4 25 50.9 38 2.3 29.3 63.2% 8.2 0 36 13.0 469 4 0 4
2014 24 PHI TE 86 16 5 89 58 702 12.1 3 42 58.4 35 3.6 43.9 65.2% 7.9 0 58 12.1 702 3 1 5
2015 25 PHI TE 86 15 7 112 75 853 11.4 2 40 51.8 60 5.0 56.9 67.0% 7.6 0 75 11.4 853 2 1 6
2016 26 PHI TE 86 14 12 106 78 816 10.5 4 42 57.5 30 5.6 58.3 73.6% 7.7 0 78 10.5 816 4 0 7
2017* 27 PHI TE 86 14 13 110 74 824 11.1 8 46 56.4 53 5.3 58.9 67.3% 7.5 0 74 11.1 824 8 1 8 PB
2018* 28 PHI TE 86 16 16 156 116 1163 10.0 8 66 57.1 34 7.3 72.7 74.4% 7.5 0 116 10.0 1163 8 1 9 PB
2019* 29 PHI TE 86 15 15 135 88 916 10.4 6 50 56.3 30 5.9 61.1 65.2% 6.8 0 88 10.4 916 6 1 7 PB
2020 30 PHI TE 86 11 11 72 36 335 9.3 1 16 38.9 42 3.3 30.5 50.0% 4.7 0 36 9.3 335 1 0 3
2021 31 2TM TE 17 14 112 74 763 10.3 5 40 50.0 47 4.4 44.9 66.1% 6.8 1 4 0 0 100.0 4 4.0 0.2 0.1 75 10.2 767 5 0 8
ARI TE 86 11 11 81 56 574 10.3 3 30 51.9 47 5.1 52.2 69.1% 7.1 1 4 0 0 100.0 4 4.0 0.4 0.1 57 10.1 578 3 0 6
PHI TE 86 6 3 31 18 189 10.5 2 10 45.2 28 3.0 31.5 58.1% 6.1 0 18 10.5 189 2 0 2
2022 32 ARI TE 86 10 10 69 47 406 8.6 4 24 55.1 32 4.7 40.6 68.1% 5.9 0 47 8.6 406 4 0 3
2023 33 ARI TE 86 7 7 43 27 187 6.9 1 8 41.9 17 3.9 26.7 62.8% 4.3 0 27 6.9 187 1 0 2
Career 151 113 1061 709 7434 10.5 46 399 53.4 60 4.7 49.2 66.8% 7.0 1 4 0 0 100.0 4 4.0 0.0 0.0 710 10.5 7438 46 5 62
9 yrs PHI 123 85 868 579 6267 10.8 38 337 54.0 60 4.7 51.0 66.7% 7.2 0 579 10.8 6267 38 5 51
3 yrs ARI 28 28 193 130 1167 9.0 8 62 50.8 47 4.6 41.7 67.4% 6.0 1 4 0 0 100.0 4 4.0 0.1 0.0 131 8.9 1171 8 11

Ben Sinnott

I’ll defer to Ben Sinnott’s biggest fan to explain who he is and his expected role with the Commanders.

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In his four years at Kansas State, Sinnott never put up gaudy numbers, though his 2023 stats were very solid, catching 49 balls for 676 yards and 6 TDs (better numbers than Sanders and All, it should be said). It was enough to earn him Honorable Mention All-American recognition as well as First Team All Big 12 honors.

With measurables that comp pretty closely to former first round pick TJ Hockenson and LaPorta, it was (and still is) baffling to me that people weren’t drawing the parallels.

When most fans think about tight ends, they usually want to envision the splashy plays: Oversized slot receivers grabbing a ball over the middle and taking it to the house, ideally having smashed some diminutive defensive back into oblivion on the way there. And, don’t get me wrong, I love that too. But that’s generally not how young tight ends get their break in the pros.

Coaches have a decision with their inexperienced TEs:

Do we risk our pass protection, and our quarterback, by testing a tight end who’s not quite ready? Or do we ease that tight end into the lineup, and hope that slowing down the process produces results down the road?

Generally speaking, coaches choose option two. So when you see a college player who is a talented pass catcher, and can do this, you pay attention:

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Sinnott offers a bit of positional flexibility, being reminiscent of the Joe Gibbs “H” back. Here’s what Chris Cooley had to say about Sinnott this past week:

“I will tell you right now, Joe Gibbs would love Ben Sinnott. This would be his guy. He would draft this guy. This is his H-back who can play receiver and tight end. He is a versatile tight end.”

That kind of versatility could end up allowing the Commanders to keep 4 players at the tight end position, with Sinnott moving around the formation in a variety of roles.


Armani Rogers

On May 18, 2022, I was so excited about Armani Rogers that I devoted an entire 5 O’Clock Club post to him.

Here’s how I summarized that article:

In 2022, Armani Rogers was targeted 6 times. Five of those passes were completed for 64 yards (12.8 average) and 4 first downs.

Washington was 3-0 in games in which Rogers was targeted.

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Like Logan Thomas, 25-year-old Armani Rogers is a converted college quarterback (UNLV). He was undrafted last year, and played well in training camp and the preseason. He was one of 5 tight ends on the initial 53-man roster.

What I see in these 6 plays is a guy with good hands, an understanding for how to get open, an ability to get north and south in a hurry, awareness of where the first down marker is, and an ability to break tackles.

As you can see from his film clips above, Rogers was having a pretty good rookie season, but missed several games due to injury — he was on IR from Week 11 to Week 17. I’m thinking that Eric Bieniemy might be excited when he sees these plays by the young 2nd-year tight end.

At that time, I expected Armani Rogers to develop into a good NFL tight end during the ‘23 season, and then take over as the team’s No. 1 option this season. Of course, all of that came to a crashing halt when Rogers tore his Achilles tendon in the team’s first OTA session of the ‘23 offseason in late May.

He isn’t quite a year removed from his injury, though Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins each suffered Achilles tears in the regular season and are expected to play this season, so I am cautiously optimistic that Armani will be able to participate in OTAs, attend training camp, and earn a spot as one of the team’s tight ends this season.

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Right now, there’s little to base that hope on other than a handful of regular season snaps from 2022 and good reports from coaches and beat reporters about what he showed in practice, but if he is able to come back healthy and get back on his earlier track, Rogers could provide a strong element to the TE group.

John Bates

I may be the biggest John Bates fan among the Washington faithful. I like what he did in college and I like what he adds to the Commanders roster. He was drafted in the 4th round of the 2021 draft by the Washington Football team.

Here’s what Hogs Haven said about Bates in July last year, ahead of the ‘23 season:

While Bates’ 2022 performance fell below that threshold, his rookie performance, in 2021, exceeded it. His 2021 numbers, 20 receptions for 249 yards and 1 TD were among the best in his draft class, and they would have placed him 12th in receptions and 8th in yardage among TE2s in 2022.

As a tight end primarily drafted for his blocking proficiency, I’m not sure anyone ever expected Bates to be among the most productive tight ends in the league. However, during his initial – admittedly short – two season sample, he certainly appears capable of performing as a decent TE2 in the league, in terms of offensive performance.

The only thing that can really be said for John Bates’ receiving stats in 2023 is that they were slightly better than his 2022 stats.

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Receiving & Rushing Table
Games Receiving Rushing Total Yds
Year Age Tm Pos No. G GS Tgt Rec Yds Y/R TD 1D Succ% Lng R/G Y/G Ctch% Y/Tgt Att Yds TD 1D Succ% Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Touch Y/Tch YScm RRTD Fmb AV
2021 24 WAS TE 87 17 8 25 20 249 12.5 1 11 68.0 32 1.2 14.6 80.0% 10.0 0 20 12.5 249 1 1 2
2022 25 WAS TE 87 16 7 22 14 108 7.7 1 4 50.0 20 0.9 6.8 63.6% 4.9 0 14 7.7 108 1 1 1
2023 26 WAS TE 87 17 4 28 19 151 7.9 0 6 50.0 35 1.1 8.9 67.9% 5.4 0 19 7.9 151 0 0 1
Career 50 19 75 53 508 9.6 2 21 56.0 35 1.1 10.2 70.7% 6.8 0 53 9.6 508 2 2 4

Personally, I think Bates has a role on an NFL team, and I’d like it to be in Washington. Looking beyond this season to 2025, when Zach Ertz may well be retired from the NFL, it would be good to have Bates returning as a home-grown free agent.

But if we assume that Ertz and Sinnott are roster locks, then Bates could find himself fighting for a spot on the 53-man roster in the final year of his rookie contract.

Cole Turner

Cole Turner was a big receiver (listed by the Commanders at 6’6”, 240 pounds) who converted to tight end as a college sophomore in 2020.

Much was expected from Turner in his rookie season after being drafted in the 5th round of the 2022 draft by the Washington Commanders. That season, however, turned out to be rather disappointing, as he was often inactive or unused due to a chronic hamstring injury. He ended up being targeted only 9 times, and ended up with 2 receptions for 23 yards.

Last year, Turner showed up to training camp sporting a new look that was both stronger and leaner.

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Expectations were again high going into the ‘23 season with new offensive coordinator Eric BIeniemy. Again, Turner’s actual production was disappointing, seeing just 142 offensive snaps (17%). He had 11 receptions on 15 targets for 120 yards, but he was all but invisible in the team’s offense. It seemed like he was ‘in the doghouse’ with coaches because there was no clear reason for how scarcely he was used.

Snap Counts Table
Games Off. Def. ST
Year Age Tm Pos No. G GS Num Pct Num Pct Num Pct
2022 22 WAS TE 85 10 2 245 36% 0 0% 61 23%
2023 23 WAS TE 85 12 1 142 17% 0 0% 86 25%
Career 387 0 147

If the Commanders keep only 3 tight ends (and even if they keep 4), Turner could find himself as the odd man out, being a less capable blocker than John Bates. His role as a little-used receiving target who also plays only about 25% of special teams snaps is unlikely to endear him to coaches unless he impresses mightily in minicamps, OTAs and training camp.

Colson Yankoff

Like Cole Turner, Yankoff is a big(ish) former receiver (6’3”, 233 pounds) who changed positions — first to running back for his final two seasons at UCLA, and now to an aspiring tight end, a position he never played in college.

As an undrafted college free agent, Yankoff’s best-case scenario for his rookie season is to end up on the practice squad.

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Based on this profile from Lance Zierlein, Yankoff’s chances of sticking around while he develops his skills as a tight end seem to rely almost solely on his special teams skills.

Yankoff’s talent rests in his ability to get down the field to find and tackle punt and kick returners. He has adequate top-end speed as an F tight end, but he has very little practical experience as a route runner. He will need to prove his ball skills and show he can wall off defenders as a run blocker in space. His experience as a running back should help him after the catch. Unless a team decides to use him exclusively as a special-teams ace, he will need to prove to be at least functional at an offensive position to secure a roster spot.

This is mirrored in a slightly more enthusiastic summary of his play published in mid-April:

The former four-star recruit at quarterback (and Elite 11 participant) committed to Washington before transferring to Westwood after redshirting his first year. Yankoff moved to wide receiver in 2020, then to running back in 2022. He’s clearly a projection at tight end, but he showcased the necessary skills and tested well at the Bruins’ pro day. If given an opportunity, he could become a special teams ace — Yankoff produced 10 tackles in 2023. Projected: PFA


Poll

Which of these three players is LEAST likely to make the Commanders 53-man roster in 2024?

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Which of these three players is MOST likely to make the Commanders 53-man roster in 2024?

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Will Colson Yankoff manage to get a spot on the Commanders practice squad in 2024?





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Michigan State basketball wallops Washington at Breslin in 88-54 rout

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Michigan State basketball wallops Washington at Breslin in 88-54 rout


EAST LANSING — Welcome to the Big Ten, Washington.

Michigan State basketball rolled out the red carpet Tom Izzo-style, with one of the most concise displays of his principles of basketball, looking every bit like the Izzone alumni in the stands remembered from the program’s embryonic era.

A defense that smothered from the outset. An offense that ran in transition and elevated the electricity. Rebounding in punishing fashion.

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In short, a physical assertion of everything No. 14 MSU has been about for three decades, and a completely possessed performance obsessed with the details — a swagger-flashing, muscle-flexing, all-around 88-54 domination of the Huskies on Thursday night.

“The last two games, I think what we learned about ourselves is just the toughness of this team,” said freshman guard Jase Richardson, who had 12 points and five of the Spartans’ 10 steals and two of their six blocked shots. “We battled in that Ohio State game. And then today, I felt like our toughness kind of overpowered (the Huskies).”

The Spartans (13-2, 4-0 Big Ten) won their eighth straight game and held Washington (10- 6, 1-4) without a field goal for more than 10 minutes to open the game and then scoreless for another nine-plus minute stretch after an early free throw. Their lead grew to as many as 29 points by halftime thanks to continued well-rounded scoring and smothering team defense, moving Izzo to 347 victories in Big Ten play, second-most all-time and six behind Bob Knight’s record 353 at Indiana.   

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Jaden Akins led the Spartans with 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting, with Jeremy Fears Jr. adding 12 points and 10 assists for his first career double-double and Tre Holloman scoring 11 points with six more of their 24 assists on 32 made baskets. Along with Richardson, the four guards also turned it over just four times between them.

MSU outscored Washington 28-2 on the fastbreak and shot a sizzling 52.5% as all 10 regulars scored; 12 of the 13 players in green and white who stepped on the court grabbed at least one rebound. The Spartans also hit 7 of 21 3-point attempts and committed just 12 turnovers.

“I thought we we played awfully well,” Izzo said. “We stayed focused. … Yeah, I did see it in their eyes. That was, it was fun to see that.”

MSU travels to Northwestern for its third road game of the conference season. Tipoff is noon Sunday (Fox) at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois.

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Tyler Harris had 14 points for for the Huskies (10-5, 1-3), who shot just 32.7% and committed 15 turnovers. MSU held leading scorer and rebounder Great Osobor to just six points on 0-for-8 shooting with just four rebounds as the Huskies were outrebounded, 40-30.

Huskies just dog-gone confounded

Izzo’s players took the court before the game wearing new “Strength in Numbers” warmup shirts. Then they delivered a “dialed-in” look and performance that Izzo said started to emerge in practice Wednesday.

Everything the Spartans showed in the first 20 minutes is everything Izzo has demanded from his teams for 30 years. So much of it that the game felt in the win column in the first seven minutes.

Nothing Washington could do went right, including, at one point, Washington’s “Zoom” Diallo slamming into teammate Mekhi Mason at the top of the key on offense with no MSU player within 2 feet of the collision. Huskies first-year coach Danny Sprinkle spun toward his bench and shook his head in frustration and disgust.

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After Osobor’s free throw opened the scoring, MSU ripped off the next 16 points, starting with a Fears 3-pointer and another by Akins. A Coen Carr breakaway dunk in transition prompted Sprinkle to call a timeout as the alumni Izzone erupted into a cacophonous din of celebration.

The Huskies went scoreless for 9:10 and played the first 10:27 without making a field goal. And the rout was on.

“Just trying to slow the momentum,” Sprinkle said of his timeout. “I mean, the game was actually kind of a little bit out of reach, even at that point.”

From 16-1, when Washington finally made a basket and scored three straight points, the Spartans pushed it to 29-8 thanks to a strong stretch that included contributions from two fairly forgotten faces — a 3-pointer from struggling Frankie Fidler and strong defense and four free throws from Carson Cooper.

By halftime, things started to get really out of hand.

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MSU danced and smiled its way into halftime with a 42-13 cushion by holding the Huskies to 5-for-29 shooting and without a 3-pointer in nine attempts. The Spartans turned eight Washington turnovers into nine points and had a 25-19 rebounding edge, as well as a 20-10 scoring edge in the paint while shooting 45.2%.

There wasn’t much to say in the locker room, and it might have been one of the shortest talks in Izzo’s tenure. The players came bouncing back onto the court with more than five minutes to get in shots. And they maintained the same locked-in intensity and pushed it to a 37-point lead a little over four minutes into the second half and led by as many as 41 before Izzo summoned his deep-bench reserves.

Izzo’s truncated halftime message?

“To keep it rolling,” said Akins, who went 8-for-13. “Whatever we do, keep our foot on the gas keep it rolling. And that’s what we did.”

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A green-and-white party

Perhaps most importantly was the confidence with which MSU played. It was a bravado his best teams showed in abundance and something that has been lacking in recent years, maybe longer.

Fears got in the head of Washington’s young point guard, with a dose of trash-talking and watching the Huskies freshman in foul trouble. In doing so, that allowed the Spartans’ redshirt freshman to dictate the tone of the toughness and the pace of play all night.

Coen Carr shook off a hard foul that prevented him launching for a dunk in transition early in the first half, nearly getting tackled, only to pogo-stick and hammer one down in transition after a poke-away steal by Booker and feed from Richardson.

Richardson continued to show moxie beyond his freshman year, with his father Jason in the stands seeing a slaughtering not unlike his 2000 national championship team’s 114-63 blowout nearly 25 years ago on the same court. 

“Our competitive spirit wasn’t there tonight, our physicality and our toughness,” Sprinkle said. “And in order to play against Michigan State, you know what their program is built on. We knew what we’re coming into as a staff, we tried to convey that to the players. And obviously, we didn’t do a good enough job of doing that.”

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Everyone took a turn going on runs, including Holloman, who also had six assists. Jaxon Kohler had six points, seven rebounds and four more assists. Cooper finished with six points and seven boards, while Carr grabbed five rebounds. The Spartans went 17-for-18 at the free-throw line, finished with a 44-26 edge in paint points and got 37 points from their reserves.

Even Nick Sanders gave the alumni in the Izzone one more thing to get loud about before their belated bedtime, sinking a jumper to seal it with a minute to play, a thorough thrashing complete.

“We still got a long way to go. I mean, it was one of those nights tonight,” Izzo said. “But this team is getting better —the camaraderie, the fastbreak, the strength in numbers, the constantly coming at you. There’s some pluses to that right now.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

 Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes weekly on Apple PodcastsSpotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

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‘The worst I've seen': Some Prince George's residents still waiting for snow plows

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‘The worst I've seen': Some Prince George's residents still waiting for snow plows


“I hope they come by today.”

That’s what Temple Hills resident Eunice Hill said as she looked out on her icy street on Thursday.

Days after major snowfall, the Prince George’s County street she’s called home for 40 years since hasn’t been plowed.

“They’ve always come and cleared the streets in the past. This is the worst I’ve seen,” she said.

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A few doors down, News4 spoke with Jerome. He’s lived on the block for almost three decades. He said he’s tried to remain patient but that’s wearing thin.

“I would have appreciated to see trucks by now,” he said.

Here’s what the public works director said about plowing and salting

The county’s Department of Public Works and Transportation said the agency has a snow protocol they activate before and after a storm. First up: the primary roads, to ensure emergency personnel can access passable roads. Next up are the residential and neighborhood roads.

“They started working on the residentials yesterday and they’ve continued on multiple shifts, been continuing on that. As we continue, the low temperatures have not been helpful,” Director Michael Johnson said.

Crews are using chemicals to help treat roads and still have plenty of salt. They started the storm with 43,500 tons of salt and have used a little over 6,600 tons so far, Johnson said.

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“They’ll be bringing the enhanced chemicals, and we’ll be applying them this evening,” he said about Thursday night.

As crews prepare for another snow event, residents hope their streets will be treated soon.



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Watch Live: Former President Jimmy Carter's state funeral in Washington

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Watch Live: Former President Jimmy Carter's state funeral in Washington


Six days of memorial tributes to former President Jimmy Carter will conclude on Thursday starting with a state funeral in Washington attended by all of Carter’s living successors and ending with a private ceremony back in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.

The state funeral will begin at 10 a.m.

Read more about that funeral here and view today’s full schedule here.



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