Watching Tape With Washington Commanders Tight End Zach Ertz

Doug Farrar: Let's first talk about your initiative with Abbott, Global Health Leader, and Real Madrid. What was it like to be in D.C. for the Abbott Dream Team tryout, and kind of get into what that all is, and how you became involved?

Zach Ertz: Yeah, being able to partner with Abbott, like you said, one of the Global Health Leaders, truly is an honor. It's an organization, it's a company that truly prioritizes the health of people. And so for me, just to be able to be out here today, and obviously my knowledge may not be so much the technical side of soccer, but what I do know a lot about is taking care of your body, prioritizing nutrition, prioritizing being your best off the field, so you can be your best on the field. And so for me, just being out here, kind of talking to these young men about the opportunity that they had to go out there today, and try out to possibly earn a trip to Real Madrid, to be at their facilities for a week, learn about nutrition from some amazing nutritionists today as well, and further that knowledge with the trip to Real Madrid. For me, it was a no-brainer.

And like you said, being in the DMV now for a little over a year, being able to be in the community is something that I never take for granted, because they support us not only on Sundays, but really every day throughout the year. They love their Washington Commanders out here, and so just to be able to be in the community, feel the love and support, and kind of reciprocate that as well, was an awesome day today. That's great.

DF: So you're going into your 13th NFL season, which is kind of unusual from a longevity perspective. To what do you attribute your longevity? I mean, you had some injuries in the middle of your career. Last year, you played the whole season. How were you able to sort of buck that trend of, you know, you start to lose it a little bit, but you really haven't?

ZE: Yeah, I have an amazing trainer, first of all. Shannon Turley, who was my strength coach in college, still trains me every day. We talk every day. We talk about the process. We talk about the program. And it is something, you know, being at your best on Sundays is not just, you don't just show up for this year, August 22nd, and from August 22nd on, you have to be at your best. For me, it is whenever the season ends. We have a process where we take a little time off, and then we attack the body to be at our best.

It's something that I take a lot of pride in, the way I approach the game off the field. And it's not just the physical training, it's the nutrition. I take a lot of pride in my nutrition, my sleep habits, just so I can have the opportunity to play as long as I can be a difference-maker. That to me is something — I'm not just going to be out there if I can't impact the game. I don't do this just to say, I'm going to play 14, 15, 16 years. I'm going to be out there if I can make a difference. If I can't do that, then I'll be done. And so for me, I'm trying to do everything I can to be at my best for this team this year. And like I said, I've been surrounded by some amazing people as well.

Coach Quinn took amazing care of me this year. No one knows me like Kliff knows me. And so for me, it really was just everything kind of aligning a quarterback like Jayden Daniels, really just allowing me to be my best again.

DF: I got to watch tape with Jayden the day before he won the Heisman. We spent like five minutes talking about his fade balls, because they're so ridiculous. I mean, biscuit in the basket, 30 yards downfield. He was my QB1 ahead of everybody. But when you got in there, when did you realize, and you've played with a lot of great quarterbacks... with Daniels, when did you realize, we've got something special here? This is not a rookie, this guy is ready to transcend everything.

ZE: I mean, this is gonna sound a little cliche, but I knew early on. To those that would listen, I don't say this lightly, he's the closest to Andrew Luck that I've been around. And I said that before he even took a snap in the NFL. And so for me, I think that is the ultimate compliment. But you know, it really had nothing to do with the physical components. I played with a lot of guys, played with Carson [Wentz], drafted second, Kyler [Murray], drafted first. Sam Bradford was drafted first, who I played with as well.

Michael Vick was obviously drafted very high, and played with him for a couple games, which is crazy to talk about. But it really was the intangible stuff with Jayden that you knew he was gonna be able to be successful. It was the fact that during rookie minicamp, the kis having walkthroughs at 5 a.m. when no one else is even in the building, and he doesn't want anyone to know about it. He's not out there showing off, doing Instagram videos of him showing up to the building at 4:00 a.m. with the time stamp on it. He's really just out there trying to be at his best, because he has extremely high expectations for himself. He holds himself to very high standards, and he's going to do everything he can to maximize his potential.

And that, to me, is the ultimate difference-maker. And then he's got a guy like Marcus Mariota, who, in my opinion, is not a backup quarterback in the NFL. You saw what he can do in a Kliff Kingsbury, Chip Kelly-type open system again when he came in for Jayden a few times. And so with those two guys, we've got a lot of confidence in the quarterback room, obviously, but the sky's the limit for Jayden, obviously.

DF: With Luck, it was really, yeah, you have physical tools. My NFL comp for Luck was Steve Young because he could do so many things, but it really, with Luck, it was the processing. With Jayden, it seemed to be that same thing. He could read through an entire progression, hit the backside third [receiver], and it was no problem for him right away.

ZE: Like you said, you could take away his athletic ability, which in and of itself is an insane threat. He would still be a phenomenal quarterback in the NFL. And so, for me, he has the ability to just play in the pocket. He wants to play in the pocket, which for a lot of guys is not necessarily the case. He's a guy that wants to and can play strictly from the process, or from the pocket, excuse me. And then when things break down, he could be the fastest guy on the field any time he steps on the field. And so those two things really just align for him to be deadly for years to come.

DF: Before we get into the plays... last season, the Commanders were one game away from the Super Bowl, not really expected after the 4-13 record in 2023. And you're back on the roster; what do you expect from this season from you and your team?

ZE: If I'm being honest, I expect this is going to sound cliche — it's going to sound like the old veteran answer. But I expect us to hopefully not to put any stock into our success last year.

The reality of the situation is, we won four or five, six games on literally the last play of the game. If the ball bounces one way or the other, a ball gets deflected, or they hit a field goal, whatever it is, or the Saints don't get stopped at the one-yard line, we're possibly talking about a completely different situation. And so yeah, in the playoffs, we played some really good football.

But at the same time, we didn't we didn't hit our ultimate goal, which was a Super Bowl. And the season could have been extremely different if we just lost a few more games. And so for me, the message is, we've got a lot of new players. We've got a lot of new talent on the roster. All that talk and all those expectations mean absolutely nothing when the ball is snapped against the Giants in Week 1. And so, I hope that is the message. I hope that is the expectation within the building.

Winning In the Red Zone

 

DF: Well, speaking of snapping the ball, let's get into some plays. And we're going to start with about two minutes of you doing this to other teams because it's kind of ridiculous. Zach, you were killing defenses in the red zone with what looked to me like these kind of Texas or whip routes. I know you guys probably call it something else, but my count four of your eight touchdowns came on some variation of this. So what is it called in Kliff's offense? And how are you able to take it to where you're getting under the defender with an angle, and you sit in those little gaps so well in the end zone. And I know you've run this a thousand times before, but it seemed to be a huge focus in Washington. You know, when you guys needed a touchdown, just send Zach on one of these things, and he's going to catch the ball.

ZE: Yeah. I mean, the plays that the two plays that we just saw, the one against the Falcons, and the one against the Lions, are very, very different plays. I know it kind of looks similar. This one against the Falcons is probably the one that I'm probably have caught the most touchdowns on. And it's really a lot to do with the timing of the quarterback.

Olamide Zaccheaus is the key as the receiver. He kind of takes away the hook player inside and [tight end] John Bates takes the high player up top. And so I'm really one-on-one with the flat defender, who is the nickel. And he has like, if I just run a flat route, he has to respect the flat route. And so I have the ability to really sell the flat route, knowing that if I do run the flat route, Jayden could throw me the ball. I know that's not the actual play, but a defense does not know that, obviously.

And then, you've got to be able to cross the guy's face, and you've got to trust that. I know whenever I run this route, if I get a yard — let's call it a yard and a half outside the defender's body, he should react as well. But if not, I still know my body's capability to break in front of the guy. And so, I put a lot of trust in the quarterback. The quarterback trusts me a lot to protect the throw always. And then it comes down to the timing of the quarterback.

This play [against the Tennessee Titans] is a little different. I don't necessarily have a route per se.

DF: Yeah, you're kind of releasing through.

ZE: Yeah, John Bates is the primary — 87 right there on the right. He's supposed to block 17 and kind of block him like he all dominates every outside linebacker on the ball or whoever that guy is.

DF: He's such an underrated blocking tight end, by the way.

ZE: He really is. He's probably the best I've ever been around. Honestly, it's not even close.

It's kind of just a late throw, checkdown, whatever you want to call it. Jayden kind of scrambles and finds me, and they're playing the zero hole defense where they don't really have help. So there is no one to worry about in the middle of the field. But Jayden, trust me, we've put a lot of time on task and we're out running. We talk a lot about routes. We text.I'll be watching the film at nine o'clock and I'll text him like, hey, how do you want me to do this? And he loves the process. So he's texting me, asking me questions. What do you see here? And really, you see the success happen on Sundays. Yeah, but we did this a thousand times in the offseason.

DF: And this final one against the Cowboys...

ZE: Yeah, I was going to say, this is kind of another difference. This is we actually took this play from the Lions and they threw it to [receiver Amon-Ra] St. Brown at the bottom of the screen. And my route was kind of just a route. You're kind of running interference, not really involved. And then I see what looks like really zero man with a spy on Jayden. And then I kind of just speed my route up and Jayden sees it the same way.

There's a lot of stuff that happens in the red zone, and that happens really quickly down there. And if you don't play on time in the red zone, I feel you have no chance to be a good red zone offense when it comes to the passing game, because the windows are too small, and [we] don't have the threat of getting beat deep. So it's more horizontal separation than vertical separation down there. And Jayden is just a guy that can play with elite anticipation.

DF: I was just going to say, this really speaks to his ability to throw with anticipation and tight windows, which is not something you expect from a rookie.

ZE: Correct. And I think that speaks to the coaches. I think how he sees the game can process. We can't coach that in time on task. We repped this play four or five times, and I don't think the ball went to me once, but we saw that in the offense, I can do that. I could win against the coverage. I could win against the look, could win against the player, and it turned out well.

 Turning Knowledge Into Explosive Plays 

 

DF: So this is against your first team, the Eagles, and this is a 21-yard catch. Showed something I see in all the great veteran tight ends. You're able to diagnose coverage and where the voids will be right away and take advantage in a hurry. 8:02 left in the third quarter. Dyami Brown ran a vertical route from outside right in a condensed formation, more on that later. And that had Darius Slay and CJ Gardner-Johnson taking Brown up top.

Zack Baun came down to cover the flat with that. You had kind of an opening while Gardner-Johnson tried to catch up. First question on this one, as long as you've played, how quickly are you able to figure out wherever the defender is on the field and how best to take advantage now, as opposed to maybe when you were a young player? When you watch Travis Kelce, he's so good at sitting in zones, and you're that same kind of player. How do you get to that point over time?

ZE: Well, I think it's a lot of time on being able to go against a lot of defenses over the years. Helps, obviously. A lot of film study goes into it.

I was telling someone the other day, whatever you want to say about a player's age, whether they lost a step, whatever. But when you're young, if you have a 10-yard route, maybe you figure out everything at eight yards. When you first get into the league, you're waiting until eight yards to really figure out what the defense is doing. As you get older, maybe it's five, six yards. I'm at the point now, I feel like I know the defense before the ball is even snapped. And so I'm able to play. I think I'm still the same player, but whatever you want to say about older players. But as you get more years in the league, your play speed, their processing speed is so much quicker. And so I'm able to manipulate a guy much easier because I know what he can and cannot allow based on the coverage that they're showing.

And I see the release. I see Zack Baun. He has eyes on me, but I know [running back] Brian Robinson is going to the flat. So I'm really not worried about him. And then it's from there, who is the next guy that I could work the route off of? It's obviously CJ [Gardner-Johnson] from there. And he's just really put in a tough spot with Dyami running a thousand miles an hour on a pylon route.

And then me kind of, am I breaking in? Am I breaking out? And so it's really a great coaching, obviously. Kliff put us in position to be successful, and to me, that's the ultimate part of the play, which matters. And then just understanding how a defense can react, what are their responsibilities pre- and post-snap, and just being able to manipulate them how I want to.

DF: Is that an option route, where you're bending off the coverage, or is it more of just a corner or a sail route?

ZE: It's a true Seattle or sail route, whatever you want to call it. And a lot of routes are based on the defender. How like I sell in knowing he has to go in knowing I have Dyami to kind of use as a, it's not a pick obviously, but you're gotta avoid him as a DB at that point. He's running full speed. You can't just run into the guy either.

DF: No, it's never a pick, because that would be illegal, right?

ZE: Thank you.

DF: It's never a pick. It's always a rub. Yes, indeed.

ZE: So yeah, I think that that is ultimately what happened.

DF: And as much quarters as the Eagles play, I mean, that's the [Eagles defensive coordinator] Vic Fangio staple, right? Was this a specific, okay, we're going to beat Cover-4 with this, or was it more just a general, this is going to work because of whatever?

ZE: Like you said, Coach Fangio does a lot of quarters. They also roll a lot to Cover-3. And this is kind of the two coverages that the play could work well against either way. You have answers. I feel like if you're hi-lo on the flat defender, if it's the old school Cover-3, you're beating a man. If it's the new-school Cover-3 where they're carrying or if it's quarters, you're working off a safety that's 10, 12 yards deep.

So it's a staple play. You see a lot of West Coast [offense] teams have the three-layer concept, whether it be the true post corner flat, whether it be the pyl

Making the Most Out of Condensed Formations 

 

DF: You guys had 440 condensed formation plays last season. And when in those formations, Jayden completed 101 of 143 attempts, 8.5 yards per catch, and 4.2 average yards of separation. This is something I'm seeing from a lot of NFL teams, more and more condensed [Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean] McVay obviously does it a lot. What are the advantages for you as an offense with these condensed formation? Because it's really spiking up in the league.

ZE: Most of the time when you have receivers that are all the way outside the numbers, the threat of them breaking across the middle of field is very, very small. The defensive lines are too good to wait for a guy to break all the way across the field. But when you align the receivers inside the numbers or near the numbers, they have the ability to run outside to the left. If [the guy is] inside the numbers on the left, he can run out routes to the left. They go in shallow.

So the right, they can run deep cross to the right. They can run verticals. It's hard for the defense. The pattern matching, I would say, is more difficult when they're in these condensed splits.

This first play against the Ravens is literally the same concept I would say as the play against the Eagles that we just saw. It's that three-level pylon route. Um, they bring pressure weak. So I know I'm running the route on [linebacker] Roquan [Smith], and he's just got bad leverage from the start. He's kind of left one-on-one with tough leverage. And once again, I know there's someone in the flat, so I'm not worried about the first guy going to the flat. I know I'm running, going to be running around off someone shortly after.

This one [the second play against the Ravens] is another three-level concept, the post/deep cross/flat. Like I said, it's a staple in the NFL, this is just a deep cross against the corner.

Watching tape with Zach Ertz was fascinating, and I learned a ton, because you always do when you're able to mine the mind of a player who has been in the league for so long, and has done so much to realize his potential with the mental side of the game. That was a big part of his comeback year in 2024, and when you match it with the physical tools that Ertz still has, and his place in that Kliff Kingsbury offense, good things are coming for Ertz and the Commanders — perhaps even better things than they saw last season.