Pro Football Talk‘s Mike Florio is at it again.
He’s well-known for targeting teams and speaking his mind on whatever issue in his crosshairs, whether it’s a positive or negative take. To his credit, he isn’t afraid to dish his opinion, no matter how off-base it may be.
His latest endeavor involves the Washington Commanders and its unique pre-draft strategy of hosting more than a dozen prospects at a local Top Golf. Adam Peters and Co. did this last year and it turned out to be a rousing success that played a part in drafting Jayden Daniels, the eventual Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Florio didn’t like it back then and he, along with his cohort Chris Simms, are once again dragging the idea in 2025. Even though attending players have done nothing but praise the idea, the two talking heads see the situation in a much different light and they made their thoughts public during the Wednesday edition of PFT’s talk show.
“I don’t like that. I’m just telling you. I don’t care. You are treating players like zoo animals,” said Simms via Commanders Wire.
Florio then responded with: “Exactly! Let’s put them in this environment and let’s study them.”
Simms then took things to a new level: “I don’t like that crap! They think they are right because they were going to take Jayden Daniels at No. 2 if he just sat down in the corner and didn’t hit one golf ball! Don’t give me that bull crap. I don’t like it, I don’t like it one bit. I’m just going to say it.
“You don’t have enough research? You haven’t watched enough film? You don’t have people who are scouting that school? We got to go out here one more time? What does that really mean?”
It’s Simms’ last comments that really take the cake. What are we doing, here? He’s clearly taking the overdramatic/hyperbolic route and it comes off as purely petty.
Oh, you didn’t like what the Commanders did last year and they did it again, this year, so now you’re insinuating that Peters’ process is flawed and you’re even suggesting he and the front office aren’t doing the due diligence required to draft the right players? To be honest, that’s insulting at the end of the day.
It’s even more bewildering when listening to the players talk about the experience. Both Daniels and Drake Maye said they had a lot of fun and enjoyed themselves and the vibe from this year’s gathering is much the same.
But no, that can’t be true, because two guys who have no involvement in this whatsoever so say it’s a bad idea. Frankly, it sounds like two guys who are mad they didn’t get their invite to the party, therefore, they have to trash the idea and make it seem like they aren’t missing out on anything.
And guess what? Other teams are picking up on the idea. For instance, the Las Vegas Raiders pulled off something similar this year. But in one of Florio’s most recent articles, he asks the question of why aren’t other teams doing this? Peters got the idea from his time in San Francisco, so now we have proof that at least three teams think it’s a good idea and it’s worth trying out.
The whole situation is just another example of how he and Simms are tailoring this storyline to fit their need for rage bait during one of the slowest weeks of the NFL season.
For the Commanders, this is the price of success. Every move they make in 2025 will be placed under a microscope and analyzed for better or worse. Even regarding the most innocuous of decisions, like taking draft prospects to Top Golf. And this obviously falls on the side of dumb criticism that is only in the public sphere due to PFT’s platform and that’s it. If Florio and Simms were just a couple of guys on X, this wouldn’t even be a thing.
Sure, one may not like the process. But to go as far as saying players are getting treated like zoo animals and questioning the diligence of a front office that pulled off one of the greatest, one-year turnarounds in NFL history is simply taking things way too far. Florio and Simms may as well be wearing fluorescent, blinking signs saying “LISTEN TO ME! LISTEN TO ME!” around their necks while they speak.
Maybe they’ll finally come around if this process leads to another OROTY situation or a Defensive Player of the Year situation, but at this point, that doesn’t even seem likely.
And if that does come to fruition, well, at least we can say they’re consistent. For better or worse.