# The Insiders Podcast: Aaron Rodgers Final Season and Emmitt Smith and Falcons DC Jeff Ulbrich Join the Insiders

An episode of [NFL: The Insiders](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1543090622), 21 May 2026, 43 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/0414225e-5167-477f-9f83-ae390070e4d2/696f1395-7e97-485a-9412-b4510009cbed/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=3e412703-0644-468e-9001-ae390070e4db

NFL Network Insiders Mike Garafolo and Judy Battista discuss Aaron Rodgers’ announcement that 2026 will be his final year and share their expectations for the Steelers as they begin organized team activities. Garafolo and Battista also preview the upcoming seasons for the Raiders, Browns and Giants. Cam Wolfe and Brian Baldinger review the AFC South teams’ “to-do lists,” Michael F Florio breaks down the Titans offense from a fantasy perspective, and Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith and Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich join the show. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:08] Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers was back in front of the cameras the
[0:10] Speaker 1: other day. Today in front of the microphone. Here from
[0:13] Speaker 1: the Steelers quarterback on why he decided to return and why, Yes, indeed,
[0:19] Speaker 1: this could be his swan song that could be actually
[0:23] Speaker 1: will be a swan song.
[0:23] Speaker 2: Emit Smith.
[0:24] Speaker 1: His swan song was over twenty years ago. The Cowboys
[0:28] Speaker 1: Hall of Fame running back and Cardinals, by the way,
[0:31] Speaker 1: we'll join us to talk about the Cowboys maybe getting
[0:35] Speaker 1: back to where they haven't been since he was running
[0:37] Speaker 1: the football.
[0:37] Speaker 2: Yes, the glory days of the Cowboys.
[0:39] Speaker 1: And we round out our to do lists with the
[0:42] Speaker 1: AFC South, see what the Jaguars, the Texans, the Colts,
[0:48] Speaker 1: and the Titans did and still have to do. As
[0:51] Speaker 1: we get ready for Week one, Welcome Inside with the Insiders.
[0:56] Speaker 2: Here's your starting nine for tonight.
[0:57] Speaker 1: Judy Batista leading off, me, Mike Garrafolo batting second, Omar Ruiz,
[1:01] Speaker 1: then Brian.
[1:02] Speaker 2: Baldinger he's the cleanup hitter.
[1:03] Speaker 1: Cameron Wolf will be joining us Michael Florio to talk
[1:06] Speaker 1: about all your fantasy needs.
[1:07] Speaker 2: Ian Rappaport's gonna pinch it.
[1:09] Speaker 1: Later in the program, the aforementioned Emmitt Smith and batting
[1:12] Speaker 1: knife and pitching. Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Olbrick. This guy
[1:17] Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers, I talked about Judy leading off. We're gonna
[1:20] Speaker 1: lead off with this news right here. Rogers back throwing
[1:24] Speaker 1: to his teammates just a little less than a year
[1:28] Speaker 1: since the first time he arrived in Pittsburgh for Mini
[1:30] Speaker 1: camp and talked about maybe it was gonna be his
[1:32] Speaker 1: last season.
[1:33] Speaker 2: Well, he said pretty much definitely, this is gonna be it.
[1:37] Speaker 3: I'm gonna love Mike.
[1:38] Speaker 4: Mike and I spend a lot of time together, a
[1:42] Speaker 4: lot of great highs over the years, a lot of
[1:45] Speaker 4: respect for him, and it's pretty amazing. Guys coached at
[1:49] Speaker 4: three iconic franchises. Now with Green Bay in Dallas, you know,
[1:55] Speaker 4: it was surreal. Honestly, sitting in the meeting, in the
[1:57] Speaker 4: first to first eight o'clock meeting on Monday, took me
[2:00] Speaker 4: back to being a twenty two year old kid sitting
[2:03] Speaker 4: in Green Bay listened to Mike's first meeting in two
[2:05] Speaker 4: thousand and six.
[2:06] Speaker 5: So it's fun.
[2:07] Speaker 4: I mean, it's like a pinch me moment. Just familiar
[2:11] Speaker 4: with some of the changes that Mike has made to
[2:14] Speaker 4: the offense over the years. We haven't been together since
[2:16] Speaker 4: twenty eighteen, so there's some terminology we're working through. But
[2:23] Speaker 4: I mean, I've been out in Pittsburgh since early May,
[2:27] Speaker 4: so I was excited to actually get to come to
[2:31] Speaker 4: the facility here.
[2:32] Speaker 5: Did you believe computer last year?
[2:34] Speaker 2: If you even to say to that right.
[2:36] Speaker 3: Now, yes, this is it?
[2:39] Speaker 1: Yeah, from two thousand and five to twenty twenty six.
[2:42] Speaker 1: How will it end? We don't know just yet, but
[2:45] Speaker 1: Brian Baldinger joining Judy and myself to maybe give us
[2:48] Speaker 1: some answer.
[2:48] Speaker 2: So Judy he's back.
[2:50] Speaker 1: He made it clear that maybe if Mike McCarthy basically
[2:55] Speaker 1: not maybe if Mike McCarthy didn't become the coach of
[2:57] Speaker 1: the Steelers, that probably wouldn't be back.
[2:59] Speaker 2: He thought once Tomlin was fired, that was it for him.
[3:01] Speaker 1: So your overall thoughts on where Rogers is in his
[3:05] Speaker 1: career toward the end and where this could go, well.
[3:09] Speaker 6: Where he is I take him at his word.
[3:11] Speaker 7: I thought he was pretty definitive today saying this is it.
[3:14] Speaker 7: Last year when he was asked the same question he
[3:17] Speaker 7: hemmed and hawed a little bit.
[3:18] Speaker 6: He said, I'm pretty sure this is it. This is
[3:21] Speaker 6: it now?
[3:21] Speaker 7: So this certainly sounds like it's going to be the
[3:24] Speaker 7: last year.
[3:25] Speaker 6: He sounds really sentimental.
[3:27] Speaker 7: It sounds sort of emotional for him that he and
[3:29] Speaker 7: Mike McCarthy are back here, right. He mentioned that when
[3:32] Speaker 7: Mike Tomlin stepped down at the Steelers, he thought that
[3:35] Speaker 7: was it for him in Pittsburgh, and then when they
[3:39] Speaker 7: hired Mike McCarthy, and by the way, Aaron Rodgers said
[3:42] Speaker 7: he had encouraged Omar Khan to interview Mike McCarthy. That
[3:46] Speaker 7: is when it started to dawn on him, like, hmm,
[3:48] Speaker 7: maybe this could work and I could be back and
[3:51] Speaker 7: we could run it back one more time together. So
[3:54] Speaker 7: it sort of sounds like a sweet reunion. Obviously, the
[3:56] Speaker 7: familiarity he mentioned is a huge bonus for the Steelers
[4:00] Speaker 7: to pick up they hope where they left off and
[4:02] Speaker 7: go much further than they did last season.
[4:05] Speaker 8: You know, Judy, this is Mike McCarthy is obviously the
[4:08] Speaker 8: fourth coach since Chuck Noll took over in nineteen sixty nine,
[4:11] Speaker 8: but it's the first time it's an offensive minded coach,
[4:14] Speaker 8: and I do think there is some something to that.
[4:17] Speaker 8: He did bring Brian Angelica, Tom Arth, James Campen the
[4:21] Speaker 8: offensive line coach with them. You know when Aaron has
[4:24] Speaker 8: been with the Jets and last year with Pittsburgh, if
[4:27] Speaker 8: he had ideas, he had to basically tell the entire staff,
[4:30] Speaker 8: including all the players.
[4:32] Speaker 3: You could see it in practice when he was going
[4:34] Speaker 3: through certain things.
[4:35] Speaker 8: I mean, right now, Mike is certainly going to understand
[4:37] Speaker 8: a lot of the things he's seen at the line
[4:39] Speaker 8: of scrimmage from an audible standpoint, changing a play standpoint.
[4:43] Speaker 8: He was ten and six as a starter last year
[4:46] Speaker 8: for Pittsburgh. They did win the division, and I do
[4:48] Speaker 8: believe the offense is better, especially on the offensive line
[4:52] Speaker 8: and at the receiver position, than at any point last year.
[4:56] Speaker 3: And so those are encouraging things.
[4:58] Speaker 8: For Aaron to come back to, including the familiarity with
[5:02] Speaker 8: the head coach, Mike McCarthy.
[5:04] Speaker 2: He's got some young quarterbacks there.
[5:05] Speaker 1: Rogers does He was asked about mentoring Drew aller uh
[5:10] Speaker 1: and he said it's not my job description, which is
[5:12] Speaker 1: what Brett farv One said about him. Maybe that's what
[5:15] Speaker 1: they were laughing about right there, Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy.
[5:18] Speaker 2: Here's McCarthy on the reunion.
[5:22] Speaker 9: You know what it means. It's just you see the reaction,
[5:24] Speaker 9: you know, in the building. Uh first and foremost, you know,
[5:27] Speaker 9: starting with the players, you know, the locker room, the
[5:30] Speaker 9: coaching staff. So you know, everybody was extremely excited when,
[5:34] Speaker 9: you know, when the decision became official. Uh So, I
[5:38] Speaker 9: think that speaks, you know, speaks for itself and speaks
[5:41] Speaker 9: volumes of you know what he's established just in a
[5:44] Speaker 9: short time here.
[5:47] Speaker 10: Judy.
[5:47] Speaker 1: It's a unique deal because you've got a new coach here,
[5:50] Speaker 1: especially when you haven't had a new coach in Pittsburgh
[5:52] Speaker 1: in forever. But it's a guy that's been around before.
[5:56] Speaker 1: There's the reunion aspect for a guy who's on his
[5:58] Speaker 1: way out. We did mention some of the younger guys
[6:00] Speaker 1: it's like it's just you got to get this and
[6:02] Speaker 1: you got to hit the ground running and you got
[6:04] Speaker 1: one shot at this basically. But the fact that they
[6:06] Speaker 1: know each other and have that history has got to
[6:08] Speaker 1: lend to the possibility of some immediate success, right.
[6:11] Speaker 7: I don't think there's any question. I mean, they know
[6:14] Speaker 7: the verbiage. If nothing else, they can speak each other's language,
[6:18] Speaker 7: and Aaron Rodgers can translate that language to his teammates
[6:23] Speaker 7: who now have a new head coach. I think the
[6:26] Speaker 7: familiarity is a huge part of this. Again, I go
[6:29] Speaker 7: back to it seems special for both of them. They
[6:33] Speaker 7: both seem kind of nostalgic, and this is a sweet
[6:35] Speaker 7: reunion and they sort of understand. I think the big
[6:39] Speaker 7: picture of this is their last chance to run it back.
[6:42] Speaker 6: This is going to be Aaron's.
[6:44] Speaker 7: Last run at it, and what a great way to
[6:46] Speaker 7: tie a Hall of Fame career with a bow. To
[6:50] Speaker 7: make one last run with the coach that you want
[6:53] Speaker 7: a Super Bowl with.
[6:54] Speaker 6: It's going to take a lot of work.
[6:56] Speaker 7: They are better, though than they were last season. It's
[6:59] Speaker 7: a better roster sure that they're coming in with, and
[7:01] Speaker 7: again the familiarity should allow them to get ahead much
[7:06] Speaker 7: quicker than they did at this time last year.
[7:09] Speaker 3: Judy, the MVP of the offense last year was Kenneth Gainwell.
[7:12] Speaker 8: He now plays in Tampa in a large part because
[7:15] Speaker 8: he was the receiving end of seventy nine of Aaron
[7:17] Speaker 8: Rodgers passes. If the running back leads this team in
[7:20] Speaker 8: receptions this year, then this is not going to be
[7:22] Speaker 8: a good offense.
[7:23] Speaker 3: But I don't think that's going to be the case.
[7:25] Speaker 8: And so part of it was Aaron wanting to get
[7:27] Speaker 8: rid of the ball too quickly because they did have
[7:30] Speaker 8: some issues up front on the offense line. I think
[7:32] Speaker 8: they're better, and I think he's going to be able
[7:34] Speaker 8: to hold the ball and wait for some of these plays,
[7:37] Speaker 8: you know, allow Michael Pittman junior, allow Jeremy Bernard, allowed
[7:41] Speaker 8: DK Metciff to get down the field where he can
[7:44] Speaker 8: kind of still show off the arm that he has
[7:46] Speaker 8: and maybe push the ball down the field a little
[7:48] Speaker 8: bit more and get some more explosive plays to this offense,
[7:51] Speaker 8: something that was really drastically and obviously missing from this
[7:56] Speaker 8: offense a year ago.
[7:58] Speaker 1: Yeah, and at times if he needed to create some
[8:00] Speaker 1: space and some time last year, Baldi, He's just not
[8:03] Speaker 1: that guy anymore. He's not going to be able to
[8:05] Speaker 1: move and throw in the run the way that he
[8:07] Speaker 1: used to. He needs to do it so gracefully and
[8:09] Speaker 1: so quickly with the flick of a wrist.
[8:11] Speaker 2: Baldi, don't go anywhere. We've got you coming back later
[8:13] Speaker 2: in the program.
[8:14] Speaker 9: Here.
[8:16] Speaker 1: Omar Ruiz is out there in Vegas. We can get
[8:19] Speaker 1: to him in a second. I'm talking about Fernando Mendoza here.
[8:21] Speaker 1: That's the name I'm going for the number one overall pick.
[8:24] Speaker 1: You may have heard of him arriving in Vegas. Here
[8:27] Speaker 1: is Clint Kobiak, the new head coach, on Mendoz's arrival.
[8:33] Speaker 11: Anything that you put in front of him, he's going
[8:35] Speaker 11: to attack it, you know. So anything that's new, he
[8:38] Speaker 11: spends extra time on it. You can tell he fixes
[8:40] Speaker 11: things from one day to the next. Very coach, Boyle,
[8:44] Speaker 11: And that could be said for all those quarterbacks in
[8:46] Speaker 11: the room.
[8:46] Speaker 12: We'll spend your impressions are Fernanda Mendoza thus far in
[8:49] Speaker 12: a way he's been trying to pick up the dophinse
[8:52] Speaker 12: as advertised.
[8:53] Speaker 11: You know, he is not disappointed. He's working his tail off.
[8:56] Speaker 11: It's a very important to him. Asks a lot of
[8:58] Speaker 11: great questions when he gets on the field. He's no bs,
[9:01] Speaker 11: He's all ball.
[9:04] Speaker 1: Yep, they've got some studious quarterbacks, Omar Ruiz. Now you're
[9:08] Speaker 1: in with us, joining us out there with the raiders.
[9:11] Speaker 1: I need some rep counts. I need some breakdowns. Who's
[9:13] Speaker 1: taken the ones?
[9:14] Speaker 2: How many? Give me all that?
[9:15] Speaker 3: Omar, Well, I'll start with this, Mike.
[9:18] Speaker 13: When you're driving into Vegas, there is a big billboard
[9:21] Speaker 13: with big bold letters that simply say Fernando. It is
[9:25] Speaker 13: not quite the mania yet. But the hype clearly has begun.
[9:29] Speaker 13: But to Mendoza's credit, he said multiple times since he's
[9:32] Speaker 13: been drafted, he knows he is starting at the bottom
[9:35] Speaker 13: of the totem pole, and that was clearly on display
[9:38] Speaker 13: as Ota practice number two got underway. Kirk Cousins was
[9:43] Speaker 13: QB one eight and o 'connell QB two, and then
[9:47] Speaker 13: in a whole other practice field, seemingly in a galaxy
[9:51] Speaker 13: far far away, the Nando Loorian was getting his work
[9:55] Speaker 13: in with the third and fourth stringers. Now for Nano,
[9:58] Speaker 13: Mendoza has said leon he's focusing on his footwork, working
[10:03] Speaker 13: under center, making sure he gets deep enough on those dropbacks,
[10:07] Speaker 13: and staying in rhythm and on time. I asked Clint
[10:10] Speaker 13: Kubiak what progress looks like for Mendoza at this point.
[10:14] Speaker 13: How will they know that he's making the strides that
[10:16] Speaker 13: they want him to make? And he simply told me
[10:19] Speaker 13: completions getting the ball out into playmakers' hands. As far
[10:23] Speaker 13: as that goes, Mike, from my perspective, Mendoza just had
[10:27] Speaker 13: two incompletions. He was working the field in and out
[10:31] Speaker 13: of rhythms with the receivers. He was hitting guys at
[10:34] Speaker 13: the top of their routes. He was hitting guys in stride,
[10:37] Speaker 13: he was checking down, he was hitting screens, in command
[10:40] Speaker 13: of the huddle, seemingly doing it all for the Raiders
[10:42] Speaker 13: here in practice number two.
[10:45] Speaker 1: That's going to help my fantasy Ota team right there.
[10:48] Speaker 1: Fernando Mendoz is gonna be my starting quarterback for ops Omar.
[10:52] Speaker 1: Now my tight end, maybe it should be brought Bowers
[10:56] Speaker 1: leading the way for some of these weapons that he
[10:58] Speaker 1: and Kirk Cousins are going to be able to throw to.
[10:59] Speaker 2: I Kubiak is ecstatic about Bowers right now.
[11:04] Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been pretty impressive.
[11:05] Speaker 13: The way brock Bauers moves on the field, as explosive
[11:09] Speaker 13: as he is when he gets the ball in his hands,
[11:11] Speaker 13: the way he turns upfield, how fast he accelerates in
[11:15] Speaker 13: fat Kubiak told me that brock Bauers is a football
[11:19] Speaker 13: robot from heaven, certainly a tone.
[11:23] Speaker 3: Setter for this Raiders team.
[11:24] Speaker 13: And you can say the same thing for Ashton gent Today.
[11:27] Speaker 13: Genti is saying that he's been working on his cardio,
[11:30] Speaker 13: doing some boxing drills to help him get ready. What
[11:34] Speaker 13: could be an added workload, Kubiak saying they're going to
[11:36] Speaker 13: put a lot of pressure on gent to be as
[11:39] Speaker 13: involved in the offense as possible. In fat Kubiak even
[11:42] Speaker 13: reference a guy like Christian McCaffrey who hardly ever leaves
[11:46] Speaker 13: the field. One other note from this Raiders practice today,
[11:50] Speaker 13: Max Crosby was out there during the stretching portion of practice,
[11:54] Speaker 13: mixing it in, showing his leadership. Kubiak saying he's still
[11:58] Speaker 13: one of the first Raiders at practic just in the
[12:00] Speaker 13: building every single day. They do expect him to be
[12:03] Speaker 13: back for training camp as he continues that recovery from
[12:07] Speaker 13: knee surgery in January.
[12:09] Speaker 2: Yep, there was no.
[12:10] Speaker 1: Question about the short term for Max Crosby. Was about
[12:13] Speaker 1: the long term. That's where the questions came in for
[12:16] Speaker 1: the Ravens. But even they knew that he was going
[12:17] Speaker 1: to be ready for Week one and play football this year.
[12:20] Speaker 2: We'll see what he's got.
[12:21] Speaker 3: Omar Ruiz, he's.
[12:22] Speaker 2: Got it all for us out there in Vegas.
[12:24] Speaker 1: Appreciated our final division to offseason to do lists.
[12:28] Speaker 2: It's the AFC South that is coming up in a bit.
[12:30] Speaker 1: But first, Emmit Smith, He's got advice for George Pickens
[12:34] Speaker 1: on how to win a contract dispute with the Cowboys
[12:37] Speaker 1: roll or step number one be really good.
[12:39] Speaker 2: That's next to the Insiders.
[12:48] Speaker 7: The Dallas Cowboys began OTAs on June first. Remember when
[12:51] Speaker 7: the Cowboys won Super Bowls like a lot? Are they
[12:54] Speaker 7: finally getting closer to winning another one? Tom Palliser and
[12:57] Speaker 7: I caught up with someone who knows plenty about winning
[13:00] Speaker 7: in Dallas Hall of Fame running back Emitt Smith on
[13:02] Speaker 7: what he thinks about the current version of these Cowboys.
[13:06] Speaker 14: An NFC showdown in Week one Primetime Sunday Night Football.
[13:11] Speaker 14: Cowboys and Giants coming your way on September thirteenth, eleventh
[13:17] Speaker 14: Minion Week one. Between these teams, the Cowboys are ten
[13:19] Speaker 14: and one, including a thirty five nothing shut up back
[13:22] Speaker 14: in nineteen ninety five where someone ran for one hundred
[13:26] Speaker 14: and sixty three yards and four touchdowns.
[13:28] Speaker 1: Ts.
[13:28] Speaker 2: It's this guy. Evan Smith joined us right.
[13:30] Speaker 14: Now here on the Insiders with me, TODM Telisero and
[13:33] Speaker 14: Judy Batista.
[13:34] Speaker 6: They have it a lot to get into with you.
[13:35] Speaker 6: But do you remember that game?
[13:37] Speaker 2: What do you remember about that night in nineteen ninety five?
[13:40] Speaker 12: Yes, I do remember that game. I remember my very
[13:43] Speaker 12: first carry opening game, probably played two of the whole
[13:50] Speaker 12: entire game, I go sixty six yards of seventy seventy
[13:54] Speaker 12: yards four touchdown on my way to four touchdowns.
[13:58] Speaker 6: Then Monday night, I bet the Giants remember that game too.
[14:05] Speaker 7: Actually, you had tremendous success against the Giants, and the
[14:08] Speaker 7: Cowboys have dominated the Giants, especially in the primetime games.
[14:12] Speaker 7: But give us your scouting report. How are you feeling
[14:15] Speaker 7: about the Cowboys team this season?
[14:18] Speaker 5: Well, I think that we had a lot.
[14:22] Speaker 12: Of things to address first and foremost, and I believe
[14:25] Speaker 12: we did address a lot of those things during the
[14:29] Speaker 12: draft through free agency as well. The key is how
[14:35] Speaker 12: all these pieces of the puzzle come together as a
[14:37] Speaker 12: defensive unit, because I think the Cowboys needed to upgrade
[14:41] Speaker 12: defensively more so than anything else on the team.
[14:45] Speaker 5: Defensive, linebacker, corps, secondary needed to be upgraded.
[14:49] Speaker 12: We did that with the new defensive coordinator. I think
[14:53] Speaker 12: all those things are key elements to leading the Cowboys
[14:58] Speaker 12: to having a successful season. What I mean by that
[15:02] Speaker 12: is a winning season that perhaps gets us into the playoffs.
[15:06] Speaker 12: If you think about how poorly our defense played last year.
[15:13] Speaker 12: We lost games because we couldn't stop people when we
[15:16] Speaker 12: lost games and gave up big drives and continuational drives
[15:20] Speaker 12: by making mistakes in the secondary loan coverages. All that
[15:26] Speaker 12: played a significant part in terms of how average our
[15:30] Speaker 12: defense was and what will happen if we improved from
[15:34] Speaker 12: the bottom thirty to somewhere in the top twenty.
[15:39] Speaker 5: We will win more games. Our offense will get more possessions,
[15:43] Speaker 5: We should score more touchdowns.
[15:46] Speaker 12: We got one of the best kickers, if not the
[15:49] Speaker 12: best kickers in the game, kicker in the game, and
[15:52] Speaker 12: so all those things should be part of and are
[15:57] Speaker 12: part of how well we should improve.
[16:00] Speaker 14: But also to this has become an annual tradition Emmitt
[16:02] Speaker 14: the Cowboys have some type of a contract squabble that
[16:06] Speaker 14: goes into the off season. Whether it's CD or Dak
[16:09] Speaker 14: or Micah. Now it's George Pickens. You have a little
[16:12] Speaker 14: bit of experience in a protracted contract situation with Jerry Jones.
[16:15] Speaker 14: If you're giving advice in this case to George Pickens,
[16:19] Speaker 14: what is it about navigating these coming months?
[16:22] Speaker 5: I would say to George Pickens right now, you just
[16:25] Speaker 5: ran into the business side of sports. Period.
[16:29] Speaker 12: There's nothing else but pure business is Try not to
[16:33] Speaker 12: take it personally.
[16:35] Speaker 5: I know you will, because I would take it personally too.
[16:38] Speaker 12: But if you do, shuffle, shuttle that energy over into
[16:42] Speaker 12: your performance, because I think your performance itself is going
[16:46] Speaker 12: to speak a lot louder than anything else. Allow your
[16:50] Speaker 12: mood and your focus to be on dominating as a
[16:52] Speaker 12: wide receiver, so you.
[16:53] Speaker 5: Can position yourself for free agency or position yourself to
[16:58] Speaker 5: be traded, or or positioning yourself to make.
[17:03] Speaker 12: To give yourself an opportunity and options and better options
[17:08] Speaker 12: for next year.
[17:09] Speaker 5: And that's a good thing. And also what it sends,
[17:12] Speaker 5: it sends the right message, and it sends the message
[17:16] Speaker 5: that you are worthy of the dollars that you want.
[17:20] Speaker 5: It sends a message that to the marketplace that you
[17:23] Speaker 5: are worthy of not only playing at the professional level,
[17:27] Speaker 5: but you work at it. You own your craft, and
[17:30] Speaker 5: you're a great team player. Anybody or any other twenty
[17:36] Speaker 5: nine or thirty teams will appreciate having a player on
[17:40] Speaker 5: their team. If the Cowboys choose to trade you, or.
[17:46] Speaker 12: You choose to go into free agency, whatever decisions that
[17:49] Speaker 12: you make going forward, it puts you.
[17:50] Speaker 5: In a better life.
[17:52] Speaker 12: And I think anybody can appreciate that you're still young,
[17:56] Speaker 12: you got many years left, and you have an opportunity
[18:00] Speaker 12: to just set your self.
[18:01] Speaker 6: Apart the last Cowboys Super Bowl.
[18:05] Speaker 7: You must know it well nineteen ninety five, thirty one
[18:08] Speaker 7: years now.
[18:09] Speaker 6: If everything is in place, if Dak can.
[18:12] Speaker 7: Stay healthy, if George Pickens is on the field, if
[18:15] Speaker 7: the defense performs the way it's expected to perform. Now,
[18:20] Speaker 7: is this a team that can win the Super Bowl again?
[18:24] Speaker 5: You know, it's hard to say because we're still in
[18:27] Speaker 5: May and we haven't seen the team actually come together.
[18:32] Speaker 5: But on paper wise, it looked like it could turn
[18:36] Speaker 5: around fairly quick. And one thing that I think people
[18:40] Speaker 5: underestimate is the importance of an offensive coordinator and that
[18:46] Speaker 5: style that fits that team, a defensive coordinator and that
[18:51] Speaker 5: style that fits that team, and the players that play
[18:54] Speaker 5: within that schematic system. If that comes together, you could
[19:00] Speaker 5: see a team that was very poor last year defensively
[19:04] Speaker 5: in the bottom thirty, bottom twenty five, if you will,
[19:08] Speaker 5: and then worked their way all the way up to
[19:11] Speaker 5: the top twenty, in the top twenty, or even in
[19:15] Speaker 5: the middle of the pack. Any of that type of
[19:17] Speaker 5: improvement will have our Cowboys competing at a level that
[19:21] Speaker 5: make them look like a championship caliber football team just
[19:25] Speaker 5: because of just just those little subtle changes. And most importantly,
[19:33] Speaker 5: it's the contribution of an offensive.
[19:37] Speaker 12: Coordinator like Brian Scheinheimer and a new decordinator that's bringing
[19:42] Speaker 12: those things together, and players taking up on themselves and
[19:46] Speaker 12: the responsibility of geling together as a football team, which
[19:50] Speaker 12: is what they should be focusing on right now.
[19:52] Speaker 14: Anyway, in your last few seasons with Dallas, you're playing
[19:56] Speaker 14: in a division where Andy Reid was coaching the Eagles.
[20:00] Speaker 14: Here we are Emmitt and your son, EJ is playing
[20:03] Speaker 14: for Andy Reid with the Chiefs. Undrafted rookie, big hill
[20:06] Speaker 14: to climb here. But tell us about EJ and one advice,
[20:10] Speaker 14: if any you've given him as he gets an NFL shot.
[20:13] Speaker 12: I told him on Sunday night, I said, son, I said,
[20:18] Speaker 12: you're about to step into manhood because you're about to
[20:22] Speaker 12: be around a bunch of grown men that are hungry,
[20:26] Speaker 12: fighting to feed their families. And if you don't mash
[20:30] Speaker 12: that energy, you will get eaten up. But if you
[20:33] Speaker 12: match that energy, you will have an opportunity. There's no
[20:37] Speaker 12: doubt in my mind that he has the talent to play.
[20:40] Speaker 12: But like every player, you got to be in the
[20:42] Speaker 12: right system. Andy Reid is the right coach for my
[20:46] Speaker 12: son in my mind, because he is a creative officer
[20:49] Speaker 12: of genius. Every enemy is back and they can utilize
[20:54] Speaker 12: talent that can move around, create matchup issues.
[20:57] Speaker 5: That's what they do.
[20:59] Speaker 15: They play, saying a lot of football, and they play
[21:01] Speaker 15: at the very best. He has a great quarterback in
[21:04] Speaker 15: Patrick Mahomes once he comes back off of his knee,
[21:08] Speaker 15: Andrey he got Travis Kelsey, a tight end that's a veteran.
[21:13] Speaker 5: He got other players around that.
[21:17] Speaker 12: If EJ can not only learn the system but add
[21:22] Speaker 12: this element to the game, which is a lot more
[21:25] Speaker 12: diverse than I was, he can do that in the
[21:28] Speaker 12: ady C's that he has something that no one else
[21:32] Speaker 12: really saw. And EJ can stay healthy. He has an opportunity.
[21:36] Speaker 12: That's all it is, is an opportunity, and that's what
[21:38] Speaker 12: I share with him.
[21:40] Speaker 5: You go up there and you be who you are.
[21:43] Speaker 5: Don't change, don't follow the crowd, Be.
[21:47] Speaker 12: The young man that you've always been and learn your craft.
[21:53] Speaker 12: Then meet people, network with folks, and be the very
[21:58] Speaker 12: best that you can possibly be.
[21:59] Speaker 5: That's it.
[22:02] Speaker 7: Before we let you go, we got to ask you
[22:04] Speaker 7: see the bud light right in front of you.
[22:06] Speaker 6: What are you doing with bud light?
[22:08] Speaker 5: Yeah, Peyton Manning and I are celebrating grilling in the
[22:12] Speaker 5: backyard with a couple of ice cold bud Light, and
[22:16] Speaker 5: this is for everyone. We're embarking up on the summer.
[22:21] Speaker 5: We have a Moarrior Day coming out. We have four
[22:23] Speaker 5: for the fourth of July coming.
[22:25] Speaker 12: Up, and football and tailgating season is about to come around,
[22:30] Speaker 12: and so this is our way of encouraging and inspiring
[22:37] Speaker 12: all of bud Light consumers to get ready because the
[22:41] Speaker 12: ultimate tailgating backyard grilling set.
[22:44] Speaker 5: Is coming up and that's our commercial.
[22:46] Speaker 12: Bud Light is also giving away two hundred and fifty
[22:49] Speaker 12: thousand dollars in grilling essentials, including coolers and cash. But
[22:53] Speaker 12: they also got this commemorative bottle right here, all celebrating
[22:58] Speaker 12: two d and fifty years of America and its resistance
[23:02] Speaker 12: and and this is something to sell them.
[23:05] Speaker 5: Show you the bottle. You can't see that bottle? Yeah,
[23:09] Speaker 5: I can see it in my screen. So, uh, that's
[23:14] Speaker 5: that's what we're doing.
[23:15] Speaker 12: And Peyton Manning is a is an absolute pro when
[23:19] Speaker 12: he's on when he's on set, he's an absolute pro
[23:22] Speaker 12: when he was in the game, and that is translated
[23:24] Speaker 12: onto the set and also into off the field activities.
[23:28] Speaker 12: And that's what I try to do as well. So
[23:30] Speaker 12: the combination of he and myself and maybe some others.
[23:36] Speaker 6: Uh.
[23:37] Speaker 5: I think you will enjoy the commercial.
[23:42] Speaker 3: And it thanks a ton for your time.
[23:44] Speaker 16: Man.
[23:44] Speaker 2: Always a pleasure seeing you have a great summer.
[23:47] Speaker 5: Thank you, You'll be good.
[23:51] Speaker 3: Coming up, we're.
[23:52] Speaker 7: Gonna look at the a f C South off season
[23:55] Speaker 7: to do list. Cam Wolf will join us, Baldy will
[23:58] Speaker 7: be back. They will break down their top priorities. That
[24:01] Speaker 7: is coming up next on the Insiders. They got a
[24:12] Speaker 7: quarterback competition in Cleveland this spring. Deshaun Watson is healthy.
[24:16] Speaker 7: Shador Sanders of course, returns from last season. Here is
[24:20] Speaker 7: new head coach Todd Munkin on the competition.
[24:24] Speaker 5: And we two spot.
[24:26] Speaker 17: We divide up Shador and DeShawn, so when it was
[24:28] Speaker 17: too spotted, we just keep the guys in the same spot. Actually,
[24:32] Speaker 17: Shador took the first team reps arrest of practice.
[24:35] Speaker 11: Can you say which of the quarterbacks is a high
[24:37] Speaker 11: at ditch point?
[24:39] Speaker 17: No, nothing's really changed other than it's a different day
[24:42] Speaker 17: and you're firing the same questions. I'm not trying to
[24:45] Speaker 17: be I mean, nothing's really changed. I mean we're going
[24:49] Speaker 17: to rotate those guys and play the best player, I mean,
[24:52] Speaker 17: and we'll.
[24:52] Speaker 1: See Browns providing content for our inside training camp coverage.
[24:57] Speaker 2: Coming up in a couple of months.
[25:00] Speaker 1: We'll certainly be in Littrobe to go see Aaron Rodgers
[25:03] Speaker 1: and the Steelers once again. Rodgers confirming this is his
[25:06] Speaker 1: last NFL season. His career began in twenty five and
[25:10] Speaker 1: ends in twenty twenty six.
[25:11] Speaker 2: Here's Rogers.
[25:13] Speaker 4: Yeah, there was some doubt for sure, but a good
[25:16] Speaker 4: conversation with Mike going back to when he was hired, and.
[25:21] Speaker 3: Yeah, it's nice to come back.
[25:22] Speaker 4: I mean, it felt different than last year because I
[25:24] Speaker 4: knew some of the guys and some of the people
[25:26] Speaker 4: that work here and stuff, So it felt good coming.
[25:28] Speaker 5: In your last year.
[25:31] Speaker 2: Or you have to say to that right now.
[25:33] Speaker 5: Yes, this is it.
[25:35] Speaker 10: Yeah, Rogers hoping for a better ending than this game
[25:40] Speaker 10: that just never felt like it ever had a possibility
[25:42] Speaker 10: of resulting in a Steelers' victory at Sheldon Rankins taking
[25:46] Speaker 10: it to the house.
[25:47] Speaker 2: This Texans defense.
[25:48] Speaker 1: All over Rogers and all over the Steelers backfield. Speaking
[25:52] Speaker 1: of the Texans, Yeah, let's do the final installment of
[25:56] Speaker 1: our off season to do list the AFC South Brian
[26:00] Speaker 1: Baldinger joining me, and we're going to start right there
[26:02] Speaker 1: in Houston, cam with those Texans who continue to take her.
[26:06] Speaker 1: With that defensive front extended Will Anderson Jr. They are
[26:10] Speaker 1: still dominant upfront.
[26:12] Speaker 16: Yeah, they've got to established the physicality, the dominance on
[26:15] Speaker 16: the offensive side of the ball, particularly in the run game. Look,
[26:19] Speaker 16: you mentioned it, that defense is elite. They're good enough
[26:21] Speaker 16: to win a championship last year. They may be even
[26:24] Speaker 16: better on defense this year. They paid Will Anderson. They're
[26:27] Speaker 16: going to be great defensively. The offense has been the issue,
[26:30] Speaker 16: and there's a lot of conversation pa c J. Stroud
[26:32] Speaker 16: not Pa c J.
[26:33] Speaker 3: Stroud. They've got to give some support around him.
[26:36] Speaker 16: They've worked on reworking that offensive line, bringing in a
[26:39] Speaker 16: Braden Smith, bringing in awaat Teller, drafting a Kielan Rutledge.
[26:43] Speaker 16: But to me, maybe the biggest addition they made was
[26:45] Speaker 16: David Montgomery. Don't forget about that trade earlier this offseason.
[26:50] Speaker 16: That helped this running game. Their playoffs were ended last
[26:53] Speaker 16: year from a really poorish run game. They've got to
[26:55] Speaker 16: have that physicality, which is why you add a guy
[26:57] Speaker 16: like Rutledge, who's.
[26:58] Speaker 5: A mauler, probably going to play center.
[27:00] Speaker 16: Potentially guard, but he's going to be starting Week one
[27:03] Speaker 16: for them, adding a little bit more of that swarm
[27:05] Speaker 16: mentality that Miko Ryans wants on the offense side of
[27:08] Speaker 16: the ball. Then you can let CJ. Stroud be a
[27:11] Speaker 16: little bit more free in year two of this system
[27:13] Speaker 16: under Nick Cayley.
[27:16] Speaker 8: Came in that division, the Indianapolis Colts. At one point
[27:18] Speaker 8: last year, we're eight and two and we were talking
[27:21] Speaker 8: about Danny Dimes as an MVP candidate. He was playing
[27:23] Speaker 8: that good and it was legit, and Shane Seiken had
[27:27] Speaker 8: that offense rolling that Danny Dimes gets hurt and Ali
[27:30] Speaker 8: on a six game losing streak and you know, they
[27:32] Speaker 8: call up Philip Rivers and get them off the couch
[27:34] Speaker 8: and away from his high school football team coaching, and
[27:37] Speaker 8: it was just a disaster. And so I feel like
[27:40] Speaker 8: this team has improved in certain areas. I mean, Ty
[27:44] Speaker 8: Warn come back and he'll be in the second year,
[27:46] Speaker 8: and the offense line is good, and Jay Train will
[27:49] Speaker 8: get rolling next year, and they made some improvements for
[27:52] Speaker 8: lou Ana Roumo on defense. But honestly, I mean, Daniel
[27:55] Speaker 8: Jones has played seven seasons in this league and he's
[27:58] Speaker 8: only been healthy for one of the seven. So what
[28:02] Speaker 8: is going to happen at the backup quarterback position. Is
[28:05] Speaker 8: Anthony Richardson then camp in his fourth year, does he
[28:08] Speaker 8: step up and be able to fill that role?
[28:11] Speaker 3: Does Riley Leonard step up and fill that role?
[28:13] Speaker 8: I feel like they've got to establish a backup quarterback
[28:16] Speaker 8: they can win game for them.
[28:18] Speaker 3: They were really struggling in that department a year ago.
[28:22] Speaker 16: Yeah, Baldy quarterback's been an endless question in his last
[28:24] Speaker 16: decade for Indianapolis. It's not a question for Jacksonville, who
[28:27] Speaker 16: knows they have their guy and Trevor Lawrence. The big
[28:30] Speaker 16: question there is what do they do with Travis Hunter.
[28:33] Speaker 16: It's been an all off season conversation again talking with
[28:36] Speaker 16: people in that building there. The plan is for him
[28:39] Speaker 16: to play significantly more defensive snaps. Whether that offensive snap
[28:43] Speaker 16: count decreases or not, that's yet to be seen. But
[28:46] Speaker 16: the plan is for him to play offense. So how
[28:48] Speaker 16: do you finalize your plan get him comfortable on defense?
[28:51] Speaker 16: He had so much swimming at him and you're one
[28:54] Speaker 16: playing both sides of the ball. Defense was the area
[28:56] Speaker 16: where he played the least. Maybe didn't have as much time,
[28:58] Speaker 16: didn't have as much technique.
[29:00] Speaker 6: They think he can.
[29:01] Speaker 16: Be a top five cornerback in football, an elite playmaker
[29:04] Speaker 16: on that side of the ball. He's going to play
[29:06] Speaker 16: close to full time snaps on cornerback. I know all
[29:09] Speaker 16: the fantasy football community wants to worry about his offensive snaps.
[29:12] Speaker 16: We'll see in week one if that ends up being
[29:15] Speaker 16: forty percent or sixty percent, and it may change week
[29:17] Speaker 16: to week, but he is going to be an elite playmaker.
[29:20] Speaker 16: And in year two of Liam Cohen's scheme, they'll have
[29:23] Speaker 16: more versatility on offense, more two and three tight end sets,
[29:26] Speaker 16: more opportunity for Travis Hunter to come in in situations
[29:29] Speaker 16: and make splash plays. But this guy is going to
[29:31] Speaker 16: be an elite playmaker.
[29:32] Speaker 6: They just going to.
[29:33] Speaker 16: Figure out how he can best help the team and
[29:35] Speaker 16: not really worry about how everybody critiques this trade that
[29:39] Speaker 16: they made a year ago to go get him.
[29:41] Speaker 1: That's seventy five percent of our AFC offseason to do
[29:44] Speaker 1: list breakdown. We're going to do the Titans later on
[29:47] Speaker 1: with Cam Baldy. You're good for the rest of the night. Hey, folks,
[29:49] Speaker 1: you like the hat Baldis breakdownstore dot Com, Go check
[29:53] Speaker 1: it out and pick.
[29:55] Speaker 2: Yourself up one of those sweet lids right there.
[29:58] Speaker 7: Raise the Flags marks fifty since of the Tampa Bay
[30:01] Speaker 7: Buccaneers for a ten part series exploring the franchise's history,
[30:04] Speaker 7: defining moments, and untold stories. The series chronicles one of
[30:08] Speaker 7: the most remarkable turnarounds in sports history. Ketch Raised the
[30:12] Speaker 7: Flags Episodes one and two on NFL Network Monday at
[30:16] Speaker 7: eight pm Eastern.
[30:18] Speaker 6: And speaking of the NFC.
[30:19] Speaker 7: South Falcons, OTAs are underway. They have a quarterback competition
[30:24] Speaker 7: going on there this spring, and you know it was
[30:26] Speaker 7: going to try to make their lives.
[30:27] Speaker 6: Difficult in practice.
[30:28] Speaker 7: Defensive coordinator Jeff olbrich In and I caught up with
[30:32] Speaker 7: him at the owners meeting in Orlando.
[30:35] Speaker 18: You've also had first first hand experience as an NFL
[30:40] Speaker 18: coach serving as an interim So we're going to get
[30:42] Speaker 18: to that in a second. But as far as the
[30:43] Speaker 18: actual program goes, how was it for you?
[30:46] Speaker 5: What did you learn?
[30:48] Speaker 19: It was? It was fantastic. You know, we get into
[30:50] Speaker 19: these silos as assistant coaches, you know, and I think defense, defense, defense,
[30:56] Speaker 19: and this has been an opportunity to kind of step
[30:58] Speaker 19: back and take a global look at what my vision
[31:02] Speaker 19: would look like. And ultimately how to create that vision
[31:05] Speaker 19: and make it real. And at the end of the day,
[31:09] Speaker 19: you know, you're hopeful that this leads to an interview,
[31:12] Speaker 19: and in that interview, that much more prepared because they've
[31:16] Speaker 19: really asked questions that I've never even thought about.
[31:18] Speaker 5: So from that standpoint, there's been a lot of growth.
[31:21] Speaker 7: You are, obviously we're also an introm a head coach,
[31:24] Speaker 7: so that gives you maybe a.
[31:25] Speaker 6: Different twist on the perspective. What can you take.
[31:28] Speaker 7: From that experience that now you can apply as you
[31:31] Speaker 7: get ready for maybe your next shot at a head
[31:33] Speaker 7: coaching job.
[31:34] Speaker 19: Yeah, I really believe, like I've been with amazing head
[31:37] Speaker 19: coaches and they all like they were excellent at keeping
[31:42] Speaker 19: all the head coaching stuff off the rest of the
[31:44] Speaker 19: staff so we could be so focused on on you know, attacking, offense, defense,
[31:49] Speaker 19: special teams, whatever it was. So from that standpoint, I
[31:52] Speaker 19: got an opportunity to see all the things that come
[31:54] Speaker 19: across that desk, you know, and in that there there's
[31:58] Speaker 19: I think there's tremendous power, you know, and having that
[32:00] Speaker 19: experience and ultimately creating a plan for you know, if
[32:04] Speaker 19: I got that opportunity again, you know, what would it
[32:07] Speaker 19: look like, you know, and I had failures that I'm
[32:10] Speaker 19: going to I'm going to learn from and grow from.
[32:12] Speaker 19: And I had successes too for things that I can
[32:15] Speaker 19: replicate and be part of my next opportunity.
[32:18] Speaker 18: You know, there's a couple of different parts of the accelerator.
[32:21] Speaker 18: One part is the connecting with other assistant coaches. Obviously,
[32:25] Speaker 18: if you're going to be a head coach, finding the
[32:27] Speaker 18: right staff, and you know, you're pretty good dude, so
[32:30] Speaker 18: I imagine your connections run pretty deep in the NFL.
[32:32] Speaker 18: But but how much do you focus on or pay
[32:35] Speaker 18: attention to just making sure that you were connected to
[32:38] Speaker 18: different staffs and different people so when the time comes
[32:41] Speaker 18: you can hire the right staff.
[32:42] Speaker 19: Yeah, it's huge, Like there's no great coach in this
[32:45] Speaker 19: league or any other league that wasn't a byproduct of
[32:47] Speaker 19: a really powerful, good coaching staff and roster, you know.
[32:51] Speaker 5: So it's imperative that you get surrounded with the right
[32:54] Speaker 5: people in this business.
[32:55] Speaker 19: There's just there's so many things that go into it
[32:57] Speaker 19: from a culture standpoint, scheme standpoint, and everything else in between.
[33:01] Speaker 19: So it's been a great opportunity to meet some coaches
[33:04] Speaker 19: that I you know, otherwise wouldn't have had had contact
[33:06] Speaker 19: with an experience with and and there's there's tremendous power
[33:09] Speaker 19: in that, but also creating some relationships with potential executives
[33:13] Speaker 19: and future gms because you know, as we all know,
[33:18] Speaker 19: but it's rare. Unfortunately, there's rare, like real alignment between
[33:23] Speaker 19: coaches and gms. And I know that sounds crazy to
[33:26] Speaker 19: the to the fan because you think billion dollar industry,
[33:29] Speaker 19: there'd be this great synergy between both houses. That's not
[33:32] Speaker 19: always the case, you know, So I think a big
[33:34] Speaker 19: part of having success as a head coach is your
[33:36] Speaker 19: alignment and your relationship with the general manager in place.
[33:39] Speaker 19: So getting an opportunity to meet more of those type
[33:42] Speaker 19: of guys, there's there's there's great, great.
[33:44] Speaker 5: Power in that.
[33:45] Speaker 6: Talk about the Falcons a little bit.
[33:47] Speaker 7: When you look at this defense in this off season,
[33:50] Speaker 7: what do you keyed on working on especially hard this offseason.
[33:55] Speaker 19: Well, the first part was the roster and getting the
[33:58] Speaker 19: necessary guys to be successful because at the end of
[34:01] Speaker 19: the day, this league is driven by players. You know,
[34:03] Speaker 19: I don't have to be an ex player to know
[34:04] Speaker 19: that that's that's a real thing. So getting the right
[34:06] Speaker 19: players in place was was the first piece. I thought
[34:10] Speaker 19: Ian Cunningham did an excellent job. I thought him and
[34:13] Speaker 19: his whole staff they all of my complaining and yelling
[34:18] Speaker 19: and you know, they filtered through all of that stuff
[34:20] Speaker 19: and found a truth and found the right group of guys,
[34:24] Speaker 19: you know, and in that, you know, the platform has
[34:27] Speaker 19: been set. Now it's it's an opportunity to really refine
[34:31] Speaker 19: what we did last year. It was my first experience
[34:33] Speaker 19: really blending multiple systems together.
[34:35] Speaker 5: You know.
[34:35] Speaker 19: It wasn't the Jets defense, it wasn't the Falcons from
[34:38] Speaker 19: the previous year. It was a little bit of both
[34:40] Speaker 19: in that there are some growing pains and it was
[34:42] Speaker 19: painful at times, and but I really felt like towards
[34:46] Speaker 19: the end of the year we kind of found a
[34:47] Speaker 19: sweet spot between blending all these systems together. So now
[34:50] Speaker 19: it's just an opportunity to really refine, you know, what
[34:53] Speaker 19: we created.
[34:54] Speaker 3: And I can't speak.
[34:56] Speaker 19: Enough for the hiring of Patrick Tony, our new passing
[35:00] Speaker 19: game coordinator.
[35:00] Speaker 5: And the influence he's brought.
[35:02] Speaker 19: You know, He's got this amazing database of information and
[35:07] Speaker 19: very fortunate to have. I mean, he's really been able
[35:09] Speaker 19: to challenge schematically some of the stuff that we're doing,
[35:12] Speaker 19: and also like maybe elevate the way we teach the
[35:15] Speaker 19: stuff that was already placed.
[35:17] Speaker 18: Last thing, Jeffy, You guys as an organization have a
[35:20] Speaker 18: quarterback competition. Obviously it's going to be a big focus
[35:23] Speaker 18: for all of us in training camp. Michael Penix versus
[35:26] Speaker 18: to your role is going to be a little different.
[35:30] Speaker 6: How do you view.
[35:31] Speaker 5: Your sort of job?
[35:33] Speaker 18: I mean, is it literally just to make their lives
[35:35] Speaker 18: difficult and make them earnit or how do you see
[35:38] Speaker 18: you know, your and your defense's role in all of this.
[35:41] Speaker 19: It's my job just to make it difficult for the
[35:43] Speaker 19: offense in general, you know, and in turn, like i'd
[35:48] Speaker 19: like to say, we're going to make it hard on
[35:49] Speaker 19: both those guys you know, and in that you know,
[35:52] Speaker 19: there would be a clear winner, and but ultimately I
[35:56] Speaker 19: got it. My primary focus is obviously with the defense
[35:58] Speaker 19: and making everybody on that offense side of the ball
[36:01] Speaker 19: very comfortable on a daily basis.
[36:04] Speaker 5: Appreciate jeff, Thanks for hanging out with us. Thanks.
[36:06] Speaker 16: Thanks.
[36:08] Speaker 7: It's time to wrap up our look at the offseason
[36:10] Speaker 7: to do list AFC sounds So Cam Wolf is back,
[36:13] Speaker 7: all right, Cam Tennessee Titans, very last team on the
[36:17] Speaker 7: off season to do list right on home. What do
[36:19] Speaker 7: they need to do?
[36:21] Speaker 16: Yeah, Titan's number one offseason priority, putting the cam Ward
[36:24] Speaker 16: Brian Day ball relationship on easy mode. Listen here. Cam
[36:28] Speaker 16: Ward has done a really good job so far in
[36:31] Speaker 16: camp from people I talked to picking up the scheme.
[36:33] Speaker 5: But last year he.
[36:34] Speaker 16: Was great at the hard stuff and maybe struggled more
[36:37] Speaker 16: consistently with the easy stuff. I talked with this quarterback coach,
[36:40] Speaker 16: Darryl Colbert, and one thing they really focused on this
[36:43] Speaker 16: offseason was the easy completion using yards after catch, you're
[36:47] Speaker 16: yack using your playmakers, and that's something him and his
[36:50] Speaker 16: new offensive coordinator are going to spend a lot of
[36:52] Speaker 16: time on in this June July period. They went out
[36:55] Speaker 16: this offseason and did great by him winning, got a
[36:58] Speaker 16: Carnel Tate, a big, tall webon, and got one Dell Robinson,
[37:01] Speaker 16: a ball catching magnant in the middle. Now let cam
[37:04] Speaker 16: wore eat. We know he can play out of structure.
[37:06] Speaker 16: Can he consistently make the instructure plays on the eighty
[37:10] Speaker 16: percent of the snaps so that we can see the
[37:12] Speaker 16: highlights of the twenty percent. They think cam Ward can
[37:14] Speaker 16: be really really special. This season is not going to
[37:17] Speaker 16: be guarded by the wind Mark is going to be
[37:19] Speaker 16: guarded on what the development of cam Ward is and
[37:22] Speaker 16: the Titans feel like they have the right group around
[37:24] Speaker 16: him for him to really eat.
[37:27] Speaker 7: Can't wait to see what Brian A. Ball does with
[37:30] Speaker 7: cam Wart this season. Cam Wolfe, thank you very much, Mike.
[37:35] Speaker 1: Cam woardon cam wolf can trip anybody up, but not Judy.
[37:38] Speaker 1: She is lighter de feet, as is Michael left Florio,
[37:42] Speaker 1: who proved it the other night and we had some
[37:43] Speaker 1: audio issues and he just worked his way through it,
[37:46] Speaker 1: kind of like his Nicks worked their way through that
[37:48] Speaker 1: big time deficit that they came back from last night.
[37:50] Speaker 1: All right, let's get to the business in end. Titans
[37:53] Speaker 1: just talked about them, So let's do the Titans fantasy focus.
[37:57] Speaker 1: Brian Dabele. Let's start right there, because that's going to
[38:00] Speaker 1: the biggest impact for sure on this Titans offense.
[38:03] Speaker 5: Yeah, dabol a guy who started in Cleveland, didn't work
[38:05] Speaker 5: out as well in New York.
[38:07] Speaker 2: Kind of like the Cavs, right, But I think Brian
[38:10] Speaker 2: Dable is a really.
[38:11] Speaker 20: Good offensive mind and I'm very excited to see him
[38:13] Speaker 20: in Tennessee.
[38:15] Speaker 2: Last season, no team threw more than the Titans.
[38:17] Speaker 20: That was out of necessity trailing a lot. The Giants
[38:20] Speaker 20: stole under and the Bills under Dable aired it out
[38:23] Speaker 20: a lot. A lot of similar tendencies that use eleven
[38:26] Speaker 20: personnel at high rates, screen passes, all of that, but
[38:29] Speaker 20: his rushing attack had way more success during his tenure
[38:32] Speaker 20: with the Giants. They were top five in explosive run rate.
[38:36] Speaker 20: And if you could get the running game going, that
[38:38] Speaker 20: helps cam Ward. A lot does help cam Ward.
[38:40] Speaker 1: Dave All brought with him Shay Tierney, who was his
[38:43] Speaker 1: quarterbacks coach with the Giants. He will be working with
[38:45] Speaker 1: cam Ward. What do we think about Cam's prospects year
[38:48] Speaker 1: two with a better coaching staff and some better weapons
[38:51] Speaker 1: around him.
[38:52] Speaker 2: I think it's arrows firmly up for cam Ward.
[38:54] Speaker 20: Look, first of all, he got a lot better after
[38:56] Speaker 20: they moved on from Brian Callahan last year. Passer rating
[38:59] Speaker 20: went from sixty seven to eighty seven, the completion percentage
[39:03] Speaker 20: yards per tenth EPA, they all increased without him and
[39:07] Speaker 20: with Ward, and the Titans are the team that I've
[39:10] Speaker 20: been talking about the most this offseason, saying they remind
[39:13] Speaker 20: me of the Patriots a year ago.
[39:14] Speaker 5: Right new play caller a ton.
[39:16] Speaker 20: Of cap space all their draft picks, and they're building
[39:19] Speaker 20: around a first year quarterback that has a lot of talent,
[39:22] Speaker 20: So I'm very excited for his real life growth. I
[39:24] Speaker 20: think he helps the pass catchers here a lot, but
[39:27] Speaker 20: his fantasy ceiling at best is still a low MQB one.
[39:30] Speaker 20: So there's upside options like Kyler and Willis I like more.
[39:34] Speaker 20: And then as for the running game, look, Tony Pollard
[39:37] Speaker 20: has been solid. He's like a league average back for
[39:39] Speaker 20: the last couple of years now, but Taj Spears eats
[39:42] Speaker 20: into the passing game at a high rate, which makes
[39:45] Speaker 20: Tony Pollard more of an RB three for fantasy, and
[39:47] Speaker 20: it doesn't give Spears enough standalone value. But then added
[39:50] Speaker 20: Nicholas Singleton, who is a very versatile back who was
[39:54] Speaker 20: picked by this regime. I am looking to avoid this backfield,
[39:57] Speaker 20: but I have no problem.
[39:58] Speaker 5: Throwing a late round darthrow on Singleton.
[40:01] Speaker 2: Especially in the late rounds of drafts, like a Best.
[40:04] Speaker 5: Ball draft or something like that.
[40:05] Speaker 1: You talk about the late rounds, how about the early
[40:07] Speaker 1: rounds of the regular NFL draft where Carneal Tate went
[40:10] Speaker 1: despite a lot of people thinking Tennessee was going to
[40:12] Speaker 1: go defense. You take a wide receiver that high, he
[40:15] Speaker 1: better contribute right away. What are we expecting?
[40:17] Speaker 5: Yeah, and history says that he will.
[40:19] Speaker 2: I think Tate was one of the biggest.
[40:21] Speaker 20: Winners of the NFL draft, and since twenty ten, every
[40:25] Speaker 20: rookie wide receiver who was taken in the top five,
[40:27] Speaker 20: if they stayed healthy, they saw at least one hundred
[40:30] Speaker 20: and fifteen targets.
[40:31] Speaker 5: But then Brian Dabele loves heavily.
[40:33] Speaker 20: Targeting his alpha wide receiver, step Van Diggs. In two
[40:36] Speaker 20: years with Dable averaged one hundred and sixty five targets
[40:39] Speaker 20: per year. Neighbors as a rookie had one hundred and
[40:42] Speaker 20: seventy Hero's on pace for over one hundred and eighty
[40:45] Speaker 20: last year. So I think the Titans have to throw
[40:47] Speaker 20: a bunch Tate to me as a wide receiver three
[40:49] Speaker 20: in fantasy, with the upside to be.
[40:51] Speaker 5: Much higher, and then Audo's around it.
[40:54] Speaker 20: Right, They're bringing Rondel Robinson one hundred and forty targets
[40:57] Speaker 20: two years in a row under Dable, But he did
[41:00] Speaker 20: we had a lot better. I got a lot more
[41:01] Speaker 20: volume after Davile was gone last year. I think his
[41:04] Speaker 20: role was kind of similar to what it's been with
[41:07] Speaker 20: the Giants right, a chain mover of possession, reliant wide receiver.
[41:12] Speaker 20: Better in PPR, there's Calvin Ridley coming off of a
[41:14] Speaker 20: severe injury, lck I Manner, Chimrie Dk. They got a
[41:18] Speaker 20: couple of tight ends. Those are all waiver bar guys
[41:20] Speaker 20: at best, hopefully they hit, but none that you should
[41:22] Speaker 20: be looking to draft on your drafting, Michael le.
[41:25] Speaker 1: F Florio with your draft strategy regarding the Tennessee Titans.
[41:28] Speaker 1: Appreciate your insight always.
[41:30] Speaker 2: My friend.
[41:31] Speaker 1: I want to find that much more. Find us Monday
[41:33] Speaker 1: to Friday, seven pm, NFL network.
[41:35] Speaker 2: Ain't hard right here.
[41:37] Speaker 11: Most Aura Mendoza, Fernando, I gotta Lenando and you gotta
[41:41] Speaker 11: go Fernando, Fernando Mendoza, Fernando Mendoza, Fernando, Fernando.
[41:46] Speaker 12: Fernando Mendoza to Mondal Fernando, my QB Heisman winner.
[41:50] Speaker 5: Heis, how's the winner?
[41:52] Speaker 3: You gotta go?
[41:53] Speaker 20: I walked around the airport with this guy and we
[41:55] Speaker 20: got swarmed for literally hour straight.
[41:57] Speaker 19: We've always been the same, and I have mores aura.
[42:01] Speaker 3: I feel like I have Thank you guys.
[42:04] Speaker 2: I feel like I have the least aura, like I
[42:05] Speaker 2: feel like everyone thinks about cornball.
[42:07] Speaker 3: Hey, there we go.
[42:07] Speaker 16: I guess that's something I never thought it get really unexpected,
[42:11] Speaker 16: but you know, thanks to the sports system.
[42:12] Speaker 5: Thanks God, thank you, my teammates.
[42:14] Speaker 3: I appreciate the voters, you know, shout.
[42:15] Speaker 5: Out the voters.
[42:17] Speaker 6: That means a lot.
[42:17] Speaker 5: That's actually crazy. It's not like it's like it's not
[42:20] Speaker 5: like a prank.
[42:20] Speaker 6: No, no, it really is like.
[42:23] Speaker 3: I feel like everyone thinks about.
[42:24] Speaker 2: Cornbally different ways to have aura.
[42:27] Speaker 7: Right, Yeah, he's definitely got aura. He's so awesome and
[42:32] Speaker 7: so likable.
[42:34] Speaker 2: Yeah, good for you display that aura in Vegas.
[42:37] Speaker 1: We'll be here to talk about his aura and everybody
[42:39] Speaker 1: else is tomorrow and the inside of dryness

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