Joe Jacoby would be happy for his teammate, but fans might feel torn if Hall of Fame voters go this direction
Editor’s note: Each day, Hogs Haven compiles a collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East, the NFL and sports in general, with a sprinkling of other stuff. Enjoy! JP Finlay Looking at Ben Johnson’s offenses and trying to extrapolate what it means with David Blough in Washington The “10 targets a game” idea got me interested though. How realistic is that? 17 games x 10 targets per game = 170 targets. Well I think it’s important not to get bogged down by semantics here. Only two receivers literally got to 170+ targets last season (Ja’Marr Chase and Amon Ra St. Brown). In 2024 only Chase got to 170+. For me the idea of 10 targets is much more about identifying McLaurin as the alpha receiver and feeding him the ball regularly, regardless of situation. That seems what Blough intends to do. And there are numbers to support that. Ben Johnson ran the Detroit Lions offense for three seasons from 2022 to 2024. During that time, St. Brown averaged 150 targets per season. McLaurin has never had more than 130 targets in a season, and that came back in 2020. In Detroit , Johnson clearly identified St. Brown as the Lion’s best receiver and made sure he got the football. Expect Blough to do that in Washington with McLaurin. It’s a bit harder to extrapolate much from the Bears offense in 2025, Johnson’s first year as a head coach. It sure appeared that second-year WR Rome Odunze grabbed the alpha role for Johnson’s offense but he only played in 12 games. Still, in just 12 games, Odunze led the team with 90 targets. Enough about Johnson. Now it’s Blough’s time in Washington. It’s not as simple as “make sure to throw to Terry.” If the offense stinks and doesn’t generate first downs, there won’t be enough plays to get Terry targets. A balanced offense will get McLaurin more looks. So the notion of getting McLaurin into that 150 target range also implies a healthy running game and plenty of looks to tight end Chig Okonkwo and other wideouts. Commanders.com Allen, one of the Washington Commanders’ two sixth-round picks, is not guaranteed a roster spot because of where he was drafted and the depth at the running back position. There is a possible role for him as a short-yardage back, but he’ll have to earn that right while competing against players like Jerome Ford , Jeremy McNichols and undrafted free agent Robert Henry Jr. Allen wouldn’t have it any other way, and he’s ready to earn a spot in Washington’s backfield. Allen said he can do everything a running back needs to be at the NFL level, but the Commanders were more focused on one area of his skill set: picking up tough yards that general manager Lance Newmark said aren’t always appreciated but keep drives alive. Allen certainly has the build for it with his nearly 6-foot, 216-pound frame in addition to the right attitude. The only thing the Commanders need to do is “put the rock in my hands,” Allen said. “I’m ready to go.” Allen has a track record of finding ways to get yards in congested running lanes. He faced heavy boxes (at least eight defenders) on 27% of his carries — more than any other running back in the 2026 class — and still managed to average 4.8 yards per carry in those situations. A lot of that comes from his patience in the backfield to let blocks develop and find creases at the line of scrimmage. Only 11% of his career runs failed to gain yardage, which ranked third in his class. But as Newmark alluded, defenders also have a hard time bringing him down. He forced 57 missed tackles, which ranked 13th among running backs last season and tied for sixth in his draft class. Bullock’s Film Room (subscription) [N]ow it’s time to see where I feel the roster is currently at after most of the roster turnover is done. As always, I’ll list out the players on the roster for each position, but I’ll also put what I felt the level of need was for each position entering the offseason and what I feel t [... truncated ...]
