​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!AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSign up for a user account and get:Fewer adsCreate community postsComment on articles, community postsRec comments, community postsNew, improved notifications system!Sports IllustratedPhilip Hughes: When Washington drafted you, what was the first thought that went through your mind once the moment settled in?Athan Kaliakmanis: When I got drafted, the first thought that went through my mind was my appreciation for God. It was an appreciation of my journey as a whole, and I was just thankful God was with me on every step of my journey. I was then thankful for my family and just grateful I got to experience that moment with them. It was a collective effort.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPhilip Hughes: You said after the draft that you wanted to be a Commander. What was it about this team, this staff, or this situation that made Washington feel like the right place for you?Athan Kaliakmanis: Washington felt like the right place for me for a number of reasons. I felt like after my visit, I really wanted to play for the coaching staff in Washington. I loved the area and the experience the entire coaching staff had as a whole. I also thought it would be a great opportunity to learn from a group of very talented NFL quarterbacks. I couldn’t have asked for a better situation.To read more of this article, CLICK HEREBullock’s Film Room (subscription)AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe good news for Washington is a switch to more zone runs suits Croskey-Merritt perfectly. In fact, one of my concerns with Croskey-Merritt when he was drafted was his fit with Kingsbury’s preference for gap scheme runs. In college, Croskey-Merritt ran almost exclusively zone run schemes, so I wondered how he’d fare in a different system. Overall he did well under Kingsbury, but during the middle of the season, we did see times where he lacked discipline with gap scheme runs.There were times in his rookie year that Croskey-Merritt made back side cuts work and picked up nice gains, but when he started to go hunting for big plays a little too often, he saw his workload reduced quite a bit over the middle part of the season. But when he started to earn more snaps later in the year, he did show more discipline. That discipline will be important for him in his second year because the zone scheme does require discipline, but it also provides some flexibility that suits his running style. In the zone scheme, the offensive line isn’t blocking to open up a specific gap, but rather it’s looking to use horizontal movement of the offensive line to create vertical lanes for the back to cut into. The running back can cut into just about any available lane he wants to, but the key is to make