RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 4 sourcesESPN Commanders’ reporter John Keim spoke on his recent podcast about the up-coming training camp which begins for Washington this Wednesday. One thing he mentioned that caught my attention is how he expects to see more one-on-one matchups during camp this year – something they surprisingly deviated from last year under head coach Dan Quinn.
John went on to talk a bit about how Quinn absolutely loves competition, and how the decision to not see as many one-ones at last year’s camp was a bit of a surprise.
There was an interesting dynamic last year, as Washington had an older roster compared to this season. Could that have been a reason why Washington shied away from this so very important part of camp?
We may never know the answer to the question above, however both Peters and Quinn are scheduled to speak to the media later on Tuesday afternoon, so maybe this topic gets brought up by our journalists.
The importance of one-on-ones:
Competition breeds excellence. This is not just for football, but essentially every facet of life.
Iron sharpens iron
As an athlete growing up, one-on-ones were part of my life. At the early age of 8, my father would have my best friend (who lived across the street from me growing up in Martinsburg, WV.) and I out in the back yard in pads doing nutcrackers prior to the midget football season starting.
In high school, we’d carve out time to compete in what we called the “box of war”, which was a position-specific live one-on-one open-field tackling drill against our teammates. We’d also do Oklahoma’s, 7v7 and O-line-D-line 1v1s.
In college back in the late 90’s-early 2000’s, restrictions were much different than they are now. More live action was allowed and our coaches made sure they took full advantage of this teaching time to do one-on-ones. Today, collegiate practices are much different, only allowing a certain amount of “contact” per week. I always joke with my son that he has it easy in college compared to what I did, but there is still plenty of one-on-one exposure these athletes get.
From a pure coaching perspective, I always valued one-on-ones with my athletes. It was my measuring stick from practice to practice, week to week and even year to year. Without this competition, there was truly no way to judge where my athletes stood or how much progress they were making.
I would carve out time into my weekly INDY periods to have my players do specific 1v1 drills. We would run passing skelly at minimum twice a week, and I would often end my practices with some one-on-ones.
Everything we’d work on during any specific practice would be reinforced through one-on-ones. We’d often have our film crew tape these as they were incredible teaching moments.
In an NFL training camp, one-on-ones are the measuring stick that coaches can hold their players to. Some examples below are intriguing matchups I’d be interested in seeing this camp for Washington.
OL vs. DL
Tunsil vs. Oweh
Conerly vs. Chaisson
Cosmi vs. Payne
Coleman vs. Newton
Allegretti vs. Settle
Paul vs. Kinlaw
*These battles can tell us a LOT; especially:
If a D-lineman gets stoned initially, what secondary moves does he have.
Can an interior o-lineman anchor against a powerful bull-rush?
Can a quick guy like Newton win with just his first step?
Do our offensive tackles have correct hand-placement (this is BIG)?
Do our interior offensive linemen have patience and not lunge or over-extend?
LB vs. TE/RB (out of the backfield) in coverage
Styles vs. Chig
Chenal vs. Sinnott
Luvu vs. Bates
Magee vs. Yankoff
Styles vs. White
Chenal vs. Bill
*Here, I’m looking at a few different things:
Can the LBs flip their hips and run vertically with a TE?
Can the LBs be on their toes and not get caught flat-footed by a RB on a choice-route?
Can the LB open up and run with a RB on a wheel?
I expect an athletic TE to beat a LB – can they do that consistently?
S vs. TE
Cross vs. Chig
Martin vs. Sinnott
Owens vs. Chig/Sinnott
Reaves vs. Bates
*Here is what I’d be looking to see:
Can Cross stay with Chig in off-coverage?
Does Owens have the hip fluidity to stay with a shifty TE?
Can Martin be physical when the ball arrives?
TE play-strength – using their body against a smaller defender.
Although a lot of zone may be played on the backend this year, 1v1s with wide receivers against corners can tell the coaches a lot.
WR vs. CB
McLaurin vs. Amos
Williams vs. Sainristil
McCaffrey vs. Robertson
Burks vs. Rush
Brown vs. Douglas
*Here is what I’d be looking for:
Does Terry still have that extra gear?
Mikey vs. Williams – the short-area-quickness matchup?
Can Burks win with play-strength against a young, big, physical CB?
How aggressive is Robertson within the cushion?
Can Douglas cover deep speed?
I am very excited to see more one-on-one matchups this summer during training camp. I also expect to see this in some of our joint practices.
All the above are just examples (there will certainly be many more) of what I hope becomes a very competitive 2026 camp and help to prepare our team for a very intense start to the 2026 season.
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