# AFC West Preview + Panthers Problems

An episode of [NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/680904259), 24 Jul 2026, 1 h 10 min.

Audio: https://pdrl.fm/91be81/podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/claritaspod.com/measure/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/9ce11dad-e86a-444f-ba83-ae27003475be/84985a40-734f-4017-8041-b490017dd433/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=deff018f-4b51-4501-937c-ae27003475d1

Gregg Rosenthal and Jourdan Rodrigue go around the AFC West for a team-by-team preview of the Broncos, Chiefs, Chargers and Raiders. Gregg and Jourdan tell you which non-quarterback player on each team is the most important, what the biggest concern is, discuss the ceiling and floor for each team and more! Plus, news from around the league including an unfortunate injury to Nic Scourton to start camp for the Panthers and an update on Jimmy Garoppolo. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcasts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:04] Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where we are not members of
[0:07] Speaker 1: the New York Giants. I'm Greg Rosenthal here in the
[0:11] Speaker 1: Chris Westling podcast studio, ready with my friend Jordan Rodrieg
[0:16] Speaker 1: to start our division preview series going around the AFC
[0:20] Speaker 1: West today.
[0:21] Speaker 2: I love it. I'm so excited. This was a fun exercise.
[0:24] Speaker 1: You haven't even done it yet, but yeah, I'm really
[0:26] Speaker 1: excited about it too. We're going to put twelve minutes
[0:28] Speaker 1: on the clock talk about these four teams. We got
[0:31] Speaker 1: different categories. It's a lot of fun. But as I
[0:33] Speaker 1: mentioned on What was It Wednesday? Show, training cape has
[0:37] Speaker 1: started for a couple teams, so you know, the first
[0:39] Speaker 1: couple of days of training camp are a little Panthers
[0:42] Speaker 1: Cardinals heavy. And unfortunately, we start the news with a
[0:46] Speaker 1: bad injury update out of Carolina, the first team to
[0:49] Speaker 1: be on the practice field on Thursday morning, and it
[0:53] Speaker 1: didn't take long until we learned that Nick Scorton was
[0:57] Speaker 1: carted off the field was in tears and it already
[1:01] Speaker 1: has been reported that he has a torn right knee
[1:06] Speaker 1: ACL and that is absolutely brutal. Mike Kay of the
[1:11] Speaker 1: Charlotte Observer said, if he was listing and this is
[1:14] Speaker 1: before we knew for sure that it was a torn
[1:16] Speaker 1: acl the ten players they could least afford to lose,
[1:21] Speaker 1: this second year ed rusher Nick Scorton would be on
[1:25] Speaker 1: that list. Why do you think he put Scorrton in
[1:27] Speaker 1: that level of importance.
[1:29] Speaker 2: Well, he was supposed to be such a huge part
[1:31] Speaker 2: of their defense, taking another step forward after already taking
[1:34] Speaker 2: a step forward, especially near the end of last season,
[1:37] Speaker 2: he was coming along so well. You could see the progress,
[1:42] Speaker 2: the explosiveness, the speed to power, some of the moves
[1:46] Speaker 2: he was starting to develop in his arsenal. The way
[1:47] Speaker 2: he could turn the corner at the end of the
[1:48] Speaker 2: season to get to the quarterback was really starting. You
[1:51] Speaker 2: could really see something there. And then they go out
[1:54] Speaker 2: and they signed Jalen Rager in free agency, me Jalen
[1:58] Speaker 2: Phillips in free agency, and that tandem was supposed to
[2:02] Speaker 2: be their starting pass rush tandem for them. And this,
[2:05] Speaker 2: you know, this is brutal. And the reporting of how
[2:10] Speaker 2: distraught teammates were in the moment, I mean, it's just awful,
[2:12] Speaker 2: awful news.
[2:13] Speaker 1: First day of camp. That is absolutely brutal. Your heart
[2:17] Speaker 1: hurts for him. And yeah, he was just a big,
[2:19] Speaker 1: strong athlete and it's a position where they're rather thin,
[2:23] Speaker 1: so they're backups. They have Patrick Jones who was with
[2:26] Speaker 1: the Vikings, kind of a journeyman type, Princely Uman Miellen
[2:30] Speaker 1: who did not look great as a rookie. They haven't
[2:33] Speaker 1: had a ton of hits this front office in terms
[2:37] Speaker 1: of their draft classes, and he was looking like a
[2:42] Speaker 1: real important core piece. So just something to keep an
[2:45] Speaker 1: eye on. There are some edges out there in free agency.
[2:48] Speaker 1: Could we have a Jedevian Clowney reunion every year?
[2:52] Speaker 2: You think?
[2:53] Speaker 1: I think it makes a lot of sense. To be honest,
[2:56] Speaker 1: we don't know if Joey Bosa wants to play football again,
[2:58] Speaker 1: but if he did, this would be a good spot
[3:01] Speaker 1: because look, they're looking to compete, and that's a devastating news.
[3:05] Speaker 1: That's the negative news out of Panthers camp. I did
[3:08] Speaker 1: notice mentioning Mike k though. You know, he put up
[3:10] Speaker 1: this post on Blue Sky, and I saw our old
[3:14] Speaker 1: friend Darren Gant, who I used to work with at
[3:15] Speaker 1: Pro Football Talk, you know, showing different clips and it
[3:19] Speaker 1: was just a picture if you're watching on YouTube of
[3:22] Speaker 1: his training camp notebook. I love this stuff. I live
[3:27] Speaker 1: for this stuff. This is the first day of training
[3:30] Speaker 1: camp notebooks in any notes, this is Jonathan Brooks's first
[3:33] Speaker 1: ever participation in a training camp practice in the NFL.
[3:36] Speaker 1: He was out there, Jonathan Brooks, who was a high
[3:37] Speaker 1: pick a couple of years ago and has suffered these
[3:40] Speaker 1: you know, awful knee injuries and back to back seasons.
[3:42] Speaker 1: He was out there taking reps with the first team
[3:44] Speaker 1: after practice. You know, Canalis said he expects, you know,
[3:47] Speaker 1: it's back to the old Jonathan Brooks. So there's some
[3:50] Speaker 1: positivity and just the fact that we're taking training camp notes.
[3:54] Speaker 1: I hate that we had to start with an injury,
[3:56] Speaker 1: but I just feel like, Okay, it's our season. We're here.
[3:58] Speaker 2: Yes, and shout out to Mike k because he also
[4:00] Speaker 2: writes notes to us the reader of the notes that
[4:04] Speaker 2: he posts, and I love it this. He does this
[4:05] Speaker 2: every year's been doing it forever. You note at the
[4:08] Speaker 2: bottom if you're watching this on YouTube, sorry for the delay.
[4:10] Speaker 2: Phone service is bad. And I love that stuff. I
[4:14] Speaker 2: love when you break the fourth wall as a beat
[4:16] Speaker 2: writer because you're sharing your I just like it. I
[4:19] Speaker 2: like how personal it feels. He's there, he's taking attendance
[4:22] Speaker 2: those beat writers in Charlotte. Mike k Joe Person, Darren Gant,
[4:26] Speaker 2: they are Cassidy Hill. They are taking attendance as well,
[4:28] Speaker 2: they're checking boxes.
[4:30] Speaker 1: It's it's a big thing attendant taking my own word
[4:34] Speaker 1: that I always admire the attendants taking because I'm when
[4:38] Speaker 1: I go to a training camp practically, that's a lot
[4:40] Speaker 1: of work to go through and like figure out who's
[4:42] Speaker 1: there who's not. But that's why they're there every day
[4:44] Speaker 1: and we just fly in for a day at least
[4:46] Speaker 1: speaking for myself. So it's Blue Sky Note season, It's
[4:48] Speaker 1: Twitter note season. A couple other small things as we
[4:52] Speaker 1: wait to get the AFC West Division preview ready. Nick
[4:56] Speaker 1: Emon Warri, we found out why he wasn't available to
[4:59] Speaker 1: practice for the Seahawks. He's on the pup list to
[5:02] Speaker 1: start training camp. He had ankle surgery this offseason. That
[5:05] Speaker 1: happened sometime after you know, he did some offseason work
[5:09] Speaker 1: with the team, so he's probably hoping to avoid it,
[5:11] Speaker 1: but it happened. They do hope and think that he'll
[5:13] Speaker 1: be back at some point before the season starts, so
[5:16] Speaker 1: it sounds like they expect him to be back for
[5:18] Speaker 1: week one. Year Old buddy Jimmy Garoppolo is now putting
[5:22] Speaker 1: it out there through through the reports that he is
[5:24] Speaker 1: open to playing again. So it sounds like it's probably
[5:28] Speaker 1: full in LA. They don't need him with the Rams,
[5:30] Speaker 1: but he might he might play again.
[5:32] Speaker 2: Well, there's I think enough worry about the fact that
[5:35] Speaker 2: all of the news out of training camp was that,
[5:37] Speaker 2: you know, oh, Ty Simpson and Stetson Bennett are still
[5:39] Speaker 2: competing with each other, and you're like, you don't trust
[5:41] Speaker 2: your first round pick to be the backup. No, but
[5:44] Speaker 2: the the which, by the way, I don't. I think
[5:46] Speaker 2: we'll we'll see clearly kind of where everyone's at in
[5:49] Speaker 2: training camp. What I loved about this was that there
[5:53] Speaker 2: was a lot of reporting and also rumors, and more
[5:57] Speaker 2: than that, if you're me like thinking about him going
[6:01] Speaker 2: to the Cardinals, his bond with Mike Lafleur, their their buddies,
[6:04] Speaker 2: they you know, they've talked about playing together, you know,
[6:07] Speaker 2: in the past. And then this Jacoby Brissette contract, he
[6:10] Speaker 2: keeps holding out, holding out, holding out. The day after that,
[6:14] Speaker 2: Jacoby Brissett's like, oh, I'm going to get a raise
[6:17] Speaker 2: and come back to camp. Then Jimmy Garoppolo is like, Okay,
[6:21] Speaker 2: I'm ready to play against Okay, when he was like
[6:23] Speaker 2: floating retirement rumors. Was it because he didn't want to
[6:25] Speaker 2: play for the Cardinals? And now, I mean how they
[6:28] Speaker 2: were a friend.
[6:28] Speaker 1: You would think you could just say no directly that
[6:31] Speaker 1: he did. I don't know.
[6:32] Speaker 2: Men can be real passive aggressive.
[6:33] Speaker 1: That's fair. And I could see Jacoby and I could
[6:36] Speaker 1: see Jimmy g not wanting to be a guy disappoint people.
[6:39] Speaker 1: But yes, Jacoby is there. We haven't heard whether he's
[6:42] Speaker 1: going to be out there a practice as of this taping,
[6:44] Speaker 1: but I'm not really that concerned with that situation. The
[6:47] Speaker 1: Cardinals also announced that their fourth round pick Caleb Proctor,
[6:49] Speaker 1: who was a prospect a lot of draft knicks really
[6:53] Speaker 1: liked as a as a defensive tackle could just shake
[6:55] Speaker 1: things up from a small school, it's going to be
[6:57] Speaker 1: out for the entire season. We didn't know he was
[6:58] Speaker 1: hurt earlier in the off seat, that this was a possibility.
[7:02] Speaker 1: But he is gone. And that's just the little you know,
[7:05] Speaker 1: bits and bobs from the two teams that are at
[7:08] Speaker 1: training camp. But training camp, as we know, from hard knocks,
[7:12] Speaker 1: and we'll be watching the Seahawks hard knocks in a
[7:14] Speaker 1: couple of weeks. Is speech season and I couldn't help
[7:18] Speaker 1: but notice the Giants put out this series online on
[7:24] Speaker 1: their website going through their entire offseason, and we got
[7:29] Speaker 1: a little sneak preview into speech season that on Hard
[7:32] Speaker 1: Knocks by getting to hear a part of John Harbaugh's
[7:35] Speaker 1: introductory speech to the New York Giants. Standing up here
[7:39] Speaker 1: in front of the New York Giants, the New York Giants,
[7:45] Speaker 1: this is a New York.
[7:46] Speaker 2: Giants said in this room, the New York Giants.
[7:49] Speaker 1: I'm just gonna be using that all year, the New
[7:51] Speaker 1: York Giants, and I hope you give me a better
[7:55] Speaker 1: reaction than those players gave.
[7:56] Speaker 2: I was trying to sit as you talk, just like
[8:00] Speaker 2: players in that room.
[8:01] Speaker 1: It's like you say something and you don't get much
[8:03] Speaker 1: of a reaction, so then you just say the same
[8:04] Speaker 1: thing again, but louder, the New York Giant.
[8:06] Speaker 2: That's exactly how I have my conversations with you.
[8:10] Speaker 1: Not that far off. Also used to be big news
[8:13] Speaker 1: with the number one overall pick signs with his team
[8:15] Speaker 1: right before training camp start, but that's because there used
[8:18] Speaker 1: to be worry that a guy wouldn't. For whatever reason,
[8:20] Speaker 1: none of the quarterbacks in this class had signed coming
[8:23] Speaker 1: into training camp, but Carson Back, the third round pick
[8:25] Speaker 1: of the Cardinals, just signed before camp, and then Fernando
[8:27] Speaker 1: Mendoza has officially signed as a member of the Raiders,
[8:32] Speaker 1: and reportedly there was, you know, some back and forth
[8:35] Speaker 1: about like how his guaranteed money was going to be paid,
[8:38] Speaker 1: but it will be paid and it will be paid soon.
[8:41] Speaker 1: Just imagine that dollar figure, twenty million or whatever.
[8:44] Speaker 2: But you think Tom Brady was trying to negotiate that
[8:46] Speaker 2: he pays it to him in like defunct bitcoin company.
[8:49] Speaker 1: Or wow or that you know, he puts a little
[8:53] Speaker 1: bit into his contract that he has to be part
[8:54] Speaker 1: of his new WWE storyline.
[8:57] Speaker 2: Oh kill me.
[8:58] Speaker 1: Let's get into our first ever around the AFC West
[9:05] Speaker 1: or around any division division preview, trying something a little
[9:08] Speaker 1: bit different. What we're gonna do here. We're gonna put
[9:10] Speaker 1: twelve minutes on the clock because famously we like to honk,
[9:13] Speaker 1: and I do think constraints make great art. Saw The
[9:17] Speaker 1: Odyssey last week and if you would think, oh that
[9:19] Speaker 1: that was a long movie, but there was some reporting
[9:21] Speaker 1: that because of the Imax cameras and how the projectors were,
[9:24] Speaker 1: he knew it had to be under three hours because
[9:28] Speaker 1: it's almost three hours, but you feel like it could
[9:31] Speaker 1: be even longer. That thing could be like three and
[9:32] Speaker 1: a half four hours. They had to speed. But I
[9:34] Speaker 1: think constraints in general can make great art, and that's
[9:38] Speaker 1: what's going to happen here.
[9:39] Speaker 2: Well, for the listener, as we sat down, Greg already
[9:42] Speaker 2: tried to add three minutes. I'm thinking about doing fifteen minutes,
[9:45] Speaker 2: but we're going to constraints over here.
[9:47] Speaker 1: Well, either way, it's a constraint. But yes, after the
[9:51] Speaker 1: AFC West, if I feel like fifteen minutes was a
[9:54] Speaker 1: better number, we might switch it to fifteen for other
[9:56] Speaker 1: divisions and we'll get those three minutes back for all
[9:59] Speaker 1: four of these teams, so it's even at some future dates.
[10:01] Speaker 1: So we're gonna do some categories for each of the
[10:05] Speaker 1: teams that I threw out there, but in general, it's
[10:07] Speaker 1: going to be a free flowing conversation. We're going to
[10:09] Speaker 1: talk about what's bringing us joy. We're going to talk
[10:12] Speaker 1: about something schematically related. I call that scheme dream just
[10:15] Speaker 1: something you wanted to point out, coaching or schematically. We're
[10:18] Speaker 1: going to talk about the most important non quarterback on
[10:21] Speaker 1: the team. You can't pick a head coach can't pick
[10:23] Speaker 1: a quarterback, but who else is important that you want
[10:26] Speaker 1: to talk about. We'll say things will go wrong for
[10:29] Speaker 1: this team if it's just just kind of biggest concerns.
[10:32] Speaker 1: If we've got anything left over, I'm calling that a
[10:34] Speaker 1: little land yap, you know, just a little something extra
[10:37] Speaker 1: at the end. And then at the end of each
[10:40] Speaker 1: team we'll kind of talk about the ceiling, the floor
[10:42] Speaker 1: and at the very end of the show, and you
[10:44] Speaker 1: got it, that means you gotta stay with us. We
[10:46] Speaker 1: will make our predictions of how this division is ordered,
[10:51] Speaker 1: which I hadn't really thought about because to me, it's
[10:53] Speaker 1: so it's early to be making predictions, and I don't
[10:56] Speaker 1: feel that strongly about this division. I thought about it
[10:59] Speaker 1: as I was parking the car to I don't even know.
[11:01] Speaker 1: We're gonna see how the vibe hits me during this show.
[11:04] Speaker 1: But we will go in alphabetical order, Jordan. We will
[11:07] Speaker 1: ask our great producer Eric Roberts to put twelve minutes
[11:12] Speaker 1: on the clock right now, and we'll start with the
[11:17] Speaker 1: Denver Broncos to last year, of course, number one overall seed.
[11:22] Speaker 1: You were high on them coming into this season. Yes,
[11:24] Speaker 1: we thought they were your sleeper team. They win fourteen games.
[11:28] Speaker 1: Everyone knows their one score game record was absolutely outrageous.
[11:32] Speaker 1: They probably would have made the Super Bowl if bo
[11:35] Speaker 1: Nicks had not hurt his ankle. Have among the most
[11:38] Speaker 1: continuity of any team in the entire NFL. I'll get
[11:41] Speaker 1: to that. What is bringing you joy? Let's start there
[11:44] Speaker 1: with the Broncos.
[11:44] Speaker 2: Well, it kind of ties into what we're going to
[11:47] Speaker 2: talk about about scheme dreams and the things that make
[11:50] Speaker 2: us happy schematically or that we're interested in. But as
[11:52] Speaker 2: I was going through and I was watching them from
[11:54] Speaker 2: last season, God, I was thinking about how much I
[11:57] Speaker 2: loved watching Corland Sutton play. I just think he's always now.
[12:01] Speaker 2: I know he's not slept on just collectively in terms
[12:04] Speaker 2: of like the analyst community and all of that, but
[12:07] Speaker 2: some of the catches he made, some of the connection
[12:10] Speaker 2: between he and bo Nicks, especially down the back stretch
[12:12] Speaker 2: of the season, and then sometimes Bonis would be a
[12:15] Speaker 2: little streaky, but then Courtland Sutton would just sort of emerge,
[12:18] Speaker 2: right and just be this prototypical receiver that we think,
[12:22] Speaker 2: you know, what we think about when we think about
[12:24] Speaker 2: like a Sean Payton offense essentially, And I started thinking about,
[12:28] Speaker 2: first of all how joyful I am to be watching
[12:31] Speaker 2: that again, and how we're probably going to get even
[12:33] Speaker 2: more of that because of the addition of Jalen Waddle.
[12:37] Speaker 1: And that's what I think about when I think of
[12:39] Speaker 1: Sean Payton offense as an especially wide receiver, rooms that
[12:42] Speaker 1: he's very good at having different types and then finding
[12:45] Speaker 1: the right roles in Courtland Sutton is that Tecmo Super
[12:49] Speaker 1: Bowl type where they do that close up of him
[12:52] Speaker 1: just rising over the receiver, and it matches up really
[12:55] Speaker 1: well with what bon Nicks does well, which is I
[12:57] Speaker 1: think he throws to the outside, well, he throws it
[12:59] Speaker 1: deep well, better than we expected I think coming into
[13:03] Speaker 1: the league. And so that's a great shout. And I
[13:06] Speaker 1: think having Wattle there and then maybe Totons a one,
[13:08] Speaker 1: B or A two, and then suddenly the battle for three,
[13:12] Speaker 1: which is Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant, Marvin Mims, like they're
[13:15] Speaker 1: all in better spot. So I love that for bringing
[13:17] Speaker 1: this straight. My idea for bringing me joy is more
[13:21] Speaker 1: of just the build in general. It is an old
[13:24] Speaker 1: school team build, and going through their projected starting lineup,
[13:29] Speaker 1: I noticed that the entire offensive line has been on
[13:35] Speaker 1: this team for at least four seasons and they've started
[13:38] Speaker 1: together for three seasons. The center Luke Wattenberg, who was
[13:41] Speaker 1: there before but he was on the team out, has
[13:44] Speaker 1: been starting for three years. You know, you got McGlinchey,
[13:48] Speaker 1: you got Garrett Boles who's gotten better, Quinn Minors is
[13:50] Speaker 1: in all pro. Wattenberg's really emerged as a good young center.
[13:53] Speaker 1: It's like, wow, that's how you want to build an
[13:55] Speaker 1: offensive line. And Sean Payton's so good at and then
[13:58] Speaker 1: you look at the entire defensive line. They've all been
[14:01] Speaker 1: on the team for at least three years as well.
[14:04] Speaker 1: And yes, Jonathan Franklin Myers left, that was one of
[14:06] Speaker 1: their big departures. We'll get into the addition's departures during
[14:09] Speaker 1: this conversation, but everyone else that's there, including Malcolm Roach
[14:13] Speaker 1: who's probably stepping in, has been there any You could
[14:17] Speaker 1: even go back to their linebackers and Justin Strenat and
[14:20] Speaker 1: Alex Singleton, they've all been there. So this is a
[14:22] Speaker 1: team and you look at the lines first. I think
[14:25] Speaker 1: when looking for good teams that has been together for
[14:30] Speaker 1: so long, it is so rare and so hard to
[14:32] Speaker 1: do that in the NFL. And it's a mix. It's
[14:34] Speaker 1: like half draft picks half not somewhere here before these
[14:37] Speaker 1: this GM some some not a lot of pickups, Like,
[14:39] Speaker 1: it's pretty impressive how they've kept this group together on
[14:42] Speaker 1: both sides.
[14:42] Speaker 2: Yeah, I think what I A lot of people were
[14:45] Speaker 2: sort of laughing or questioning, and rightfully so. It's rare
[14:48] Speaker 2: when you see in free agency a team like the
[14:50] Speaker 2: Broncos that don't do anything right. They did nothing until
[14:54] Speaker 2: you know, much later in the waves of that period,
[14:56] Speaker 2: and then they went out and got Jalen Waddle, right,
[14:59] Speaker 2: who will contin you talk about a minute. But the
[15:02] Speaker 2: reason why is because they're built like this. The reason
[15:05] Speaker 2: why is because they have an above average player at
[15:08] Speaker 2: at least all of those positions across on either side
[15:12] Speaker 2: of the line, if not a very very good player,
[15:15] Speaker 2: and then around them they have continuity. It is what
[15:18] Speaker 2: really opens them up. I think on the defensive side,
[15:20] Speaker 2: for Vance Joseph the defensive coordinator to be very very
[15:23] Speaker 2: comfortable throwing so much heat, but in simplistic format like
[15:28] Speaker 2: he doesn't. He doesn't do a lot of things that
[15:31] Speaker 2: are when teams play as much man coverage, for example,
[15:35] Speaker 2: as the Broncos do, which is the most in the NFL,
[15:37] Speaker 2: he can also drop them into zone, and he's not
[15:40] Speaker 2: sending like these crazy he blitzes. But he's not sending
[15:43] Speaker 2: like these exotic pressures all the time or doing things
[15:46] Speaker 2: they're doing relatively, I don't want to say simple, because
[15:48] Speaker 2: it's NFL and the NFL is hard, but they're not
[15:51] Speaker 2: sitting there and they're basically saying, our guys can beat
[15:55] Speaker 2: your guys, and we're gonna throw some crazy stuff at
[15:57] Speaker 2: you sometimes, but other times we're just gonna sit back
[16:00] Speaker 2: and let our guys beat your guys because we can
[16:02] Speaker 2: rush our entire front.
[16:03] Speaker 1: So I know, you know, throwing this category in here
[16:06] Speaker 1: is dangerous scheme dream we could just lose for it
[16:09] Speaker 1: in for the next ten minutes. Stop that maya that scheme,
[16:12] Speaker 1: but no, I'm really excited as something that you wanted
[16:14] Speaker 1: to point out schematically that interests you with this team.
[16:16] Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I love that you mentioned it. You've also
[16:18] Speaker 2: mentioned it on Quarterback Casting Call earlier this year, Greg
[16:21] Speaker 2: about Bonnick's allergy to the middle of the field. Really
[16:26] Speaker 2: does not like to throw to the middle of the field.
[16:28] Speaker 2: It was something like nineteen percent or sixteen percent of
[16:31] Speaker 2: his throws overall actually were designed to be into the
[16:34] Speaker 2: middle of the fields as intended by the concept and
[16:38] Speaker 2: not just him working out of structure or dumping things off.
[16:41] Speaker 2: And Jalen Wattles addition, people, I think when you first
[16:44] Speaker 2: think about all that speed, you think, oh, more perimeter
[16:47] Speaker 2: attack for Bonnicks, more burner speed. And you know, the
[16:51] Speaker 2: majority of Jalen wattles routes last season with the Dolphins
[16:55] Speaker 2: were vertical, right like he would at least start them vertically.
[16:59] Speaker 2: But his in breakers, where his second most volume of routes,
[17:03] Speaker 2: run at thirty eight point five percent per next Gen Stats.
[17:07] Speaker 2: And he gets there fast. And that's what I think
[17:09] Speaker 2: is the key here. He runs those in breakers and
[17:11] Speaker 2: I'm not talking just like slants, you know, I'm talking
[17:14] Speaker 2: deeper digs. I'm talking middle of the middle range digs.
[17:18] Speaker 2: And he gets there so fast that I think that
[17:21] Speaker 2: builds your confidence as a quarterback when you are in
[17:24] Speaker 2: an offense that wants to play faster, as Davis Webb
[17:27] Speaker 2: says he wants to do. When you're in a space
[17:29] Speaker 2: where you want to diversify what you have in your
[17:31] Speaker 2: past game and where you're targeting those voids in the field,
[17:34] Speaker 2: you have a Courtland Suttlent Sutton who can then get
[17:37] Speaker 2: a little bit more single coverage down the field. Jalen
[17:40] Speaker 2: Wattle just not only opens up pretty much anything because
[17:44] Speaker 2: they're going to align him anywhere. He also I think
[17:47] Speaker 2: starts to heal that middle of the field target share,
[17:49] Speaker 2: and I think that really opens up everything else for them.
[17:52] Speaker 1: Yeah. I want this to be a place if you
[17:54] Speaker 1: haven't been totally locked in this offseason, that you do
[17:56] Speaker 1: get updated about the big news that's happened with each team. Obviously,
[18:00] Speaker 1: trading for Jalen Wad was was an incredible, you know,
[18:03] Speaker 1: show of intent by this team. So was Sean Payton
[18:05] Speaker 1: giving up play calling to Davis Webb.
[18:07] Speaker 2: Shocking, He just like blew everyone's mind.
[18:09] Speaker 1: Well, we'll see how that goes and we'll talk about it,
[18:11] Speaker 1: I'm sure throughout the course of the season. My schematic
[18:13] Speaker 1: thing I'm kind of keeping an eye on is, you know,
[18:15] Speaker 1: the one spot this does not look like a Sean
[18:17] Speaker 1: Payton team has been the running game, right. He just
[18:19] Speaker 1: has not had the same consistent running game that he
[18:21] Speaker 1: had when he was in New Orleans. They bring back JK. Dobbins,
[18:25] Speaker 1: They draft Jonah Coleman, who is a good mid round pick.
[18:28] Speaker 1: But that's something I want to see them figure out
[18:31] Speaker 1: whether it's with the pace, innovatively, whatever they're going to
[18:33] Speaker 1: do to improve that running game. And then I'm also
[18:35] Speaker 1: just wondering, and this could go and things go wrong
[18:37] Speaker 1: if and what we'll switch to that here that you
[18:40] Speaker 1: know as vance, Joe's gonna still be able to keep innovating,
[18:45] Speaker 1: still have his fastball. It is just tough for a
[18:46] Speaker 1: defensive coordinator who's been on a heater for year after
[18:49] Speaker 1: year and you saw maybe just at times that not
[18:53] Speaker 1: be as effective last year all the blitzeing, but for
[18:55] Speaker 1: the most part it was. So he's going to have
[18:58] Speaker 1: to like keep innovating, and.
[19:00] Speaker 2: Maybe it is go a little more I mean, he
[19:02] Speaker 2: does blitz, but maybe it is go a little bit
[19:04] Speaker 2: more funky, a little bit more crazy, because it's not
[19:07] Speaker 2: simple what he does at all, let me be clear.
[19:10] Speaker 2: But they just have better dudes, right, So then let
[19:13] Speaker 2: your players play and play in those mixed coverages, whether
[19:17] Speaker 2: it's man or zone like they like to do. I
[19:19] Speaker 2: can see why you fall into something like that.
[19:21] Speaker 1: And part of that things could go wrong if Jonathan
[19:25] Speaker 1: Cooper is suspended. So he was arrested a couple of
[19:29] Speaker 1: times this offseason, for a domestic assault allegations. I asked around,
[19:35] Speaker 1: Nobody knows if he's going to get suspended. I mean,
[19:38] Speaker 1: there's a world where the Broncos just let him go.
[19:41] Speaker 1: That hasn't happened in the past. The NFL has often
[19:44] Speaker 1: waited for the legal process to play out, So it
[19:47] Speaker 1: might not play out before this season. That's just a
[19:50] Speaker 1: question mark. But he is a strong first step number
[19:54] Speaker 1: two pass rusher to Nick Benito, who's one of the
[19:57] Speaker 1: very best in the league and kind of fits what
[19:58] Speaker 1: they do. And if you have to like pick knits
[20:01] Speaker 1: for this entire team build, it's maybe the backups on
[20:04] Speaker 1: the defensive side we just haven't seen much from. There's
[20:07] Speaker 1: some younger mid round picks we haven't seen much. But
[20:09] Speaker 1: it's a little thin edge, so that those are a
[20:12] Speaker 1: handful of things all connected that things could go wrong
[20:14] Speaker 1: with you don't have Cooper if they're just a little
[20:16] Speaker 1: thin on the defensive side and then injuries hit.
[20:20] Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's top heavy teams who aren't necessarily thinking
[20:24] Speaker 2: that they have to replenish every year in the draft
[20:26] Speaker 2: or they need to find starters in the draft. Sometimes
[20:29] Speaker 2: they will operate like this, right, you just don't know
[20:32] Speaker 2: what the backups are forty nine ers who kind of
[20:34] Speaker 2: been in this I would say, quote unquote trouble for
[20:37] Speaker 2: the past. I mean aon basically. I mean I think
[20:39] Speaker 2: that's a little bit more of an exaggerated version of this,
[20:42] Speaker 2: but I think this, you know, this is a really
[20:44] Speaker 2: serious situation and still has a lot to play out.
[20:48] Speaker 2: I'm interested to see how they recalibrate in camp because
[20:52] Speaker 2: it's almost like, Okay, you've got more defensive backs and
[20:55] Speaker 2: more corners than you know what to do with at
[20:57] Speaker 2: this point, and you got more corners than you have
[20:59] Speaker 2: spot to play them at this point, and you're really
[21:02] Speaker 2: still questioning what's going to happen with some of the
[21:04] Speaker 2: peer pressure that they're bringing when they want to rush,
[21:07] Speaker 2: like out of base or something like that.
[21:08] Speaker 1: We were already through ten minutes, which means we're going
[21:11] Speaker 1: the most important non quarterback and I'll just I'll be
[21:13] Speaker 1: quick on this, which is like it's it is pat
[21:16] Speaker 1: Certan to me. Yeah, they're so deep in the secondary
[21:19] Speaker 1: that they don't even have a starting spot right now.
[21:20] Speaker 1: For today, Baron we talked about his battle with Riley Moss,
[21:23] Speaker 1: like and yet if Sirtan is in Certan and just
[21:27] Speaker 1: making everyone better around him in the secondary. Like the
[21:31] Speaker 1: secondary I think is what helps make this team really special.
[21:34] Speaker 1: I love the safeties too, but it only makes sense
[21:37] Speaker 1: when you have potentially the best cover corner in the
[21:40] Speaker 1: entire NFL.
[21:40] Speaker 2: In certan, Yeah, I mean, I'm going to go with
[21:42] Speaker 2: the offensive line because overall, I think it's the best
[21:45] Speaker 2: offensive line in football. It has been for a couple
[21:47] Speaker 2: of years now. That also means you mentioned it in
[21:50] Speaker 2: scheme dream got to run the ball better. Number nineteen
[21:53] Speaker 2: in rushing dboa last season. That is not befitting of
[21:57] Speaker 2: what they want to do with this offense, and that
[21:59] Speaker 2: makes Jonah Coleman accidentally became very very important work. Lots
[22:03] Speaker 2: of buzz around this fourth round rookie locally and obviously JK.
[22:07] Speaker 2: Dobbins and RJ. Harvey are still the leaders there. They
[22:09] Speaker 2: need more from that entire group, and so I make
[22:11] Speaker 2: them maybe the most important.
[22:12] Speaker 1: The Brogress fans were mad that JK. Dobbins like wasn't
[22:15] Speaker 1: ranking in the top twenty on some of the things
[22:16] Speaker 1: that were down to a minute here my land yapp here,
[22:19] Speaker 1: which is just something a little extra some buzz. Jared
[22:22] Speaker 1: Stidham might lose his backup quarterback job to Sam Ellinger.
[22:25] Speaker 1: How about that.
[22:26] Speaker 2: I have it in my notes. This is the team
[22:29] Speaker 2: that should go get Jimmy Garoffolo to play backup quarterback
[22:32] Speaker 2: for them because we all watched you, Jared Stidham in
[22:34] Speaker 2: that game last year. Much respect to your career overall,
[22:38] Speaker 2: but my goodness, my friend.
[22:39] Speaker 1: That was tough. Yeah, it was a tough situat. I mean,
[22:41] Speaker 1: Drake Bay wasn't that much better. It was a tough,
[22:43] Speaker 1: tough weather day. Justin Strnad, who is one of our
[22:46] Speaker 1: friend Dolly Connolly's very favorites as a rush linebacker, has
[22:50] Speaker 1: a much bigger role now as a starter. They got
[22:51] Speaker 1: rid of Drake Greenlaw if our listeners missed that. And
[22:54] Speaker 1: then I just noted with the opening schedule they have
[22:58] Speaker 1: the three NFC West teams plus the Chargers and the
[23:05] Speaker 1: Chiefs and the Jaguars in the first six weeks of
[23:08] Speaker 1: the season. That is brutal. I mean that is five
[23:11] Speaker 1: playoff teams for you go, three of the best teams
[23:13] Speaker 1: in the league from the NFC West. That's crazy. Let's
[23:16] Speaker 1: wrap up. We're at the end of our twelve minutes,
[23:19] Speaker 1: but we'll go over with our ceiling and our floor
[23:21] Speaker 1: for the team, it is sort of I mean, we
[23:22] Speaker 1: haven't done the ceiling floor part.
[23:24] Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think this is the best team
[23:26] Speaker 2: in the AFC West.
[23:27] Speaker 1: Okay, and then so what's the floor you think? So
[23:30] Speaker 1: then you think it's more like a while the floor.
[23:32] Speaker 2: Is they can't run the ball and the quarterback gets hurt,
[23:35] Speaker 2: and it's more of.
[23:35] Speaker 1: A okay, yeah, I'm trying to take getting major players
[23:38] Speaker 1: injured because we could say that for everything, because I
[23:40] Speaker 1: did think about.
[23:40] Speaker 2: That too for every tea. I think with everyone healthy,
[23:43] Speaker 2: still that's the floor because if they can't run the ball,
[23:46] Speaker 2: better teams are just going to start kying on them
[23:48] Speaker 2: way more.
[23:48] Speaker 1: So, I think judging about what you're saying, like, even
[23:52] Speaker 1: in a worst case scenario, as long as they have
[23:53] Speaker 1: good health, you see them as a playoff yes, and yeah,
[23:56] Speaker 1: I mean I think the ceiling is winning the super Bowl.
[23:58] Speaker 1: It's not that it's the same one of the teams
[24:00] Speaker 1: that could do it. I think in this division they
[24:02] Speaker 1: could be a third place team, though I don't think
[24:05] Speaker 1: it's that crazy to imagine them in that spot. If
[24:09] Speaker 1: just a couple of the things we talked similar to.
[24:10] Speaker 2: The NFC West last year. I think this year is the.
[24:13] Speaker 1: AFC and it's tough. If you're the third place team
[24:16] Speaker 1: in your division, it's tough to make the playoffs. You
[24:18] Speaker 1: can do it, but you're back in that spot where
[24:20] Speaker 1: they were a couple of years ago, where you're like
[24:22] Speaker 1: on the road in the Week one against a good
[24:24] Speaker 1: team like the Bills. It's time for the offseason ride
[24:28] Speaker 1: Along presented by Toyota. It's tough division and that's because
[24:32] Speaker 1: it includes the defining team of the last decade. The
[24:37] Speaker 1: Kansas City Chiefs had one of the best seven year
[24:41] Speaker 1: runs of all time in the NFL. Maybe it's right there.
[24:46] Speaker 1: Three titles, two more conference titles where they lost the
[24:49] Speaker 1: Super Bowl, and two more conference championship losses. So they
[24:52] Speaker 1: came up one year short of what I thought was
[24:55] Speaker 1: the most unbreakable record in the entire NFL, which was
[24:58] Speaker 1: the Patriots eight straight conference It's championship game appearance. You're
[25:01] Speaker 1: in the final four eight straight years. They were one short.
[25:03] Speaker 1: They win six games. Last year. They were bad even
[25:06] Speaker 1: before Mahomes tears his ACL And so I really do
[25:09] Speaker 1: look at that as like the beginning of something. Is
[25:12] Speaker 1: this the start of a new Chiefs era or do
[25:16] Speaker 1: we end up looking at at last year as like
[25:18] Speaker 1: a little bit of a blip when you look at
[25:20] Speaker 1: them overall, We'll start with what's bringing joy in terms
[25:24] Speaker 1: of their situation.
[25:25] Speaker 2: Well, like anyone with healthy boundaries, Greg, I decided to
[25:28] Speaker 2: reframe your question and say, what helps me keep my
[25:31] Speaker 2: joy as it pertains to the Kansas City Chiefs, and
[25:34] Speaker 2: it is just solely focusing on the idea of getting
[25:36] Speaker 2: a healthy Patrick Mahomes back. Then stop right there. Okay,
[25:41] Speaker 2: don't think about what the run game may or may
[25:42] Speaker 2: not look like.
[25:43] Speaker 1: Oh this doesn't sound joy.
[25:45] Speaker 2: Don't think about the receiver's room, that the tight ends
[25:47] Speaker 2: room maybe stagnant. Just don't think about sounds.
[25:49] Speaker 1: I think that could go wrong.
[25:50] Speaker 2: All I'm saying is I'm keeping my joy and I'm
[25:53] Speaker 2: thinking about what healthy Patrick Patrick Mahomes returning means for football,
[25:58] Speaker 2: for our fun level, for our excitement, for our joy.
[26:01] Speaker 2: And that's where I stop.
[26:02] Speaker 1: I'm glad we had a good media conversation about Mahomes
[26:06] Speaker 1: on the Quarterback Island casting call, so everyone checked that
[26:10] Speaker 1: out from Wednesday. So I don't want to repeat myself.
[26:12] Speaker 1: But what's bringing me joy for this team specifically is
[26:16] Speaker 1: them being in a different spot, like we were getting
[26:19] Speaker 1: a little bored. I was getting a little bored. And
[26:21] Speaker 1: it's these all time greats. Three guys who I think
[26:24] Speaker 1: are obviously Mahomes and Andy Reid are going to the
[26:27] Speaker 1: Hall of Fame. I think Steve Spagnola should, yeah one day.
[26:29] Speaker 1: And it's three guys Chris Jones you could throw on
[26:32] Speaker 1: that list too, who are in just a different position
[26:35] Speaker 1: that they're having to kind of box their way out
[26:38] Speaker 1: of lowered expectations, a lesser roster, and just a year
[26:44] Speaker 1: to go. Show us like, wow, they really are different.
[26:47] Speaker 1: Because if they come back this year and they win
[26:49] Speaker 1: the division, or they win twelve or thirteen game, they're
[26:51] Speaker 1: winning in the play, it's just it's just pretty unprecedented
[26:55] Speaker 1: what they've accomplished. But there's more doubt coming into this season,
[26:59] Speaker 1: and that kind of variants gets me excited. I know,
[27:02] Speaker 1: schemes get you excited. And so I'm going to go
[27:04] Speaker 1: first on scheme dream why not? And it's how spags
[27:08] Speaker 1: is going to deploy this new secondary. Yeah. So they
[27:11] Speaker 1: drafted Mansor de Laine in the top ten and they
[27:15] Speaker 1: bring in a lowie. Gilman is going to be at
[27:17] Speaker 1: safety at Nickelback, they have Cater Kohu. They don't have
[27:19] Speaker 1: Trent McDuffie anymore, but they drafted a couple guys. Kennedy
[27:23] Speaker 1: is another player, and then bring back Lagerius Snead who
[27:27] Speaker 1: had some great years for them before he went to Tennessee.
[27:29] Speaker 1: And so they were pretty middling last year. They weren't
[27:33] Speaker 1: as effective with the blitz. In the end, Spegnolo kind
[27:37] Speaker 1: of figured it out to where they were like a
[27:38] Speaker 1: plus defense, but not a great defense. And so I
[27:41] Speaker 1: want to see how Spags uses this secondary, including like
[27:44] Speaker 1: a top ten pick.
[27:45] Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's a great choice because he's like
[27:49] Speaker 2: our he did it again kind of guy, where you know,
[27:52] Speaker 2: it's like, oh, give him, give him your draft picks
[27:54] Speaker 2: and your rookies and he will turn them into the best,
[27:57] Speaker 2: one of the best, and most terrible to play if
[27:59] Speaker 2: you're offense. Defense is in the entire NFL and has
[28:03] Speaker 2: that reputation for a reason. I think something that goes
[28:06] Speaker 2: part and parcel with what you're saying is I don't
[28:08] Speaker 2: know if they can rush the passer from the edges.
[28:10] Speaker 2: I still am not sure about that. But when they
[28:13] Speaker 2: brought in like Kyrie's Tanga for example, who was my
[28:16] Speaker 2: most important non quarterback on this team because of what
[28:19] Speaker 2: this defense looks like on paper. Greg it's because he
[28:23] Speaker 2: is supposed to and has the expectation of being able
[28:27] Speaker 2: to free up Chris Jones because he's acquiring more of
[28:30] Speaker 2: the double teams. Chris Jones was like at a thirty
[28:31] Speaker 2: eight percent double team rate. Kyrie's Tanga didn't play every
[28:35] Speaker 2: snap he's for the Patriots and missed a game or two,
[28:38] Speaker 2: but he also was double teamed like on half of
[28:42] Speaker 2: the snaps that he did play, So he's going to
[28:43] Speaker 2: be eating up that extra attention. If you can rush better,
[28:47] Speaker 2: even if you could move the pocket better like they
[28:49] Speaker 2: want to with Chris Jones from the interior, your secondary
[28:52] Speaker 2: is going to be better. Your life is not as
[28:54] Speaker 2: hard for those young guys. Steve Spagnolo has a has
[28:57] Speaker 2: a better table set for him. So I can see
[28:59] Speaker 2: the I'm a little dubious.
[29:02] Speaker 1: I can see the vision, but I was surprised Tonga
[29:04] Speaker 1: got such a big contract, especially from a team that
[29:07] Speaker 1: doesn't have a lot of money to spend, Like he's
[29:08] Speaker 1: a twenty five to thirty snap a game guy for
[29:11] Speaker 1: the Patriots, but he was really emerging. Yeah, and it's
[29:15] Speaker 1: a body type and it's a it's a position that
[29:17] Speaker 1: tends to age well and get better. Chris Jones, like
[29:23] Speaker 1: his cap figure is so big. That was a contract
[29:27] Speaker 1: that they almost felt like they had to give. But
[29:29] Speaker 1: you know, it's bigger than Patrick Mahomes. It's way higher
[29:32] Speaker 1: than anyone else at the position. And you mentioned, yeah
[29:35] Speaker 1: that the edge spot is one of my things that
[29:36] Speaker 1: could go wrong, which is you have Carl Loftis, who's
[29:39] Speaker 1: kind of an average player, maybe a little above average,
[29:42] Speaker 1: on a big contract too. And then at the other
[29:44] Speaker 1: spot is one of the position battles. I never got
[29:46] Speaker 1: to with CHOOKI was our Mason Thomas is like sneaky important.
[29:50] Speaker 1: He's a second round pick and he's going to be
[29:52] Speaker 1: batting Ashton Jilotti, their old first round pick. Felix in
[29:56] Speaker 1: a d que Zama and those guys they just haven't
[30:01] Speaker 1: hit for Brett Beach. He needs someone to hit our
[30:04] Speaker 1: Mason Thomas.
[30:05] Speaker 2: Maybe maybe because Felix and you said it better than
[30:08] Speaker 2: I will just hasn't. Injury has been some of it,
[30:12] Speaker 2: but just been underwhelming.
[30:13] Speaker 1: Did you have a scheme dream?
[30:14] Speaker 2: By the way, I do, And I'm really excited about it. Okay,
[30:18] Speaker 2: Kenneth Walker obviously being there, they think that's going to
[30:20] Speaker 2: fix so much of the offense and offense by the way,
[30:23] Speaker 2: which I can't wait to watch some of the clips
[30:26] Speaker 2: that we're going to get out of training camp because
[30:28] Speaker 2: I want to see how much Patrick Mahomes is under
[30:30] Speaker 2: center with Eric Banemy back and some of that twenty
[30:32] Speaker 2: twenty two stuff that they did that really worked. But
[30:34] Speaker 2: also because Kenneth Walker said in the off season he
[30:37] Speaker 2: prefers to run from under center because he has so
[30:40] Speaker 2: much more of a vision on the defensive backfield and
[30:43] Speaker 2: on the linebackers when he can do that so he
[30:45] Speaker 2: can set up He's very artistic the way that he runs.
[30:48] Speaker 2: But I mentioned it the other day and I was
[30:50] Speaker 2: really hoping to get into a bar with you with
[30:51] Speaker 2: him on screens my favorite play from last year, A
[30:55] Speaker 2: couple of my favorite plays from last year where the
[30:57] Speaker 2: Seattle Seahawks featuring Kenneth Walker as the past at your
[31:00] Speaker 2: on screens, he had the highest second highest EPA on
[31:04] Speaker 2: screen passes of any running back who caught at least seven.
[31:07] Speaker 2: It's a small sample size for running backs on screens.
[31:09] Speaker 2: I understand that, Yeah, he made magic happen when he did,
[31:13] Speaker 2: because he runs he treats it like he's running outside zone.
[31:16] Speaker 2: So even if they change some of their blocking, even
[31:18] Speaker 2: if they change some of the under center and the plan,
[31:21] Speaker 2: even if they do those different things, they I suspect
[31:24] Speaker 2: are going to treat the especially because of the way
[31:26] Speaker 2: Kenneth Walker runs these screen passes and as an extension
[31:30] Speaker 2: of how he hits those layers to the perimeter on
[31:33] Speaker 2: outside zone runs, and he is absolutely so visual and
[31:37] Speaker 2: like he's an artist when he does it. So I'm
[31:39] Speaker 2: really excited, and I think it's why they didn't do
[31:42] Speaker 2: more with their tight ends. I think it's why they
[31:43] Speaker 2: didn't do more with their receivers because they think of
[31:45] Speaker 2: how much of a factor he's going to be in
[31:47] Speaker 2: the passing game.
[31:47] Speaker 1: I picked Chris Jones as my most important non quarterback,
[31:51] Speaker 1: but I think Kenneth Walker would also fit. They're really
[31:53] Speaker 1: counting the lot yes on Kenneth Walker because Patrick Mahomes
[31:57] Speaker 1: is not going to be able to run as much
[31:59] Speaker 1: as he did a year ago coming off that torn
[32:01] Speaker 1: acl look. The Seahawks had some seasons where they were
[32:04] Speaker 1: counting a lot on Kenneth Walker too, and he didn't
[32:07] Speaker 1: always come through like everything wasn't his Super Bowl MVP performance.
[32:11] Speaker 1: He hasn't been like the guy the guy, and they
[32:14] Speaker 1: were a team last year that was still good running
[32:15] Speaker 1: in short yardage, but they had no explosiveness. They bring
[32:18] Speaker 1: back Eric b Enemy, So again, if you're just kind
[32:21] Speaker 1: of tuning in, you know, they're long time offensive coordinator
[32:24] Speaker 1: who hasn't been with the team for a few years.
[32:26] Speaker 1: They're expecting his return to help the running game, to
[32:29] Speaker 1: help the details, to help the offense. And I think
[32:32] Speaker 1: that could happen and all connected to that. My number
[32:35] Speaker 1: one thing is things could go wrong. Of where things
[32:37] Speaker 1: would go wrong is if the offensive line is an
[32:40] Speaker 1: elite and this is my way of saying, I think
[32:43] Speaker 1: they could be elite, you know, like if you're creating
[32:47] Speaker 1: a path for them to win the division, to go
[32:49] Speaker 1: deep in the playoffs, it's that the offensive line is
[32:52] Speaker 1: the best in the league or close to it. I
[32:55] Speaker 1: think that's a reasonable thing to hope for Josh Simmons.
[33:00] Speaker 1: You know, he has the potential. We'll see could he
[33:03] Speaker 1: be the next like Laramie Tunzel type of player, Like
[33:06] Speaker 1: I think he could. We'll see it. They already have
[33:08] Speaker 1: an all prone in Creed Humphrey. They have a guard
[33:10] Speaker 1: they love in Trey Smith's who Mattea got better. They
[33:13] Speaker 1: have a highly paid right like with the enemy there
[33:16] Speaker 1: if their elite, everything else gets like, yeah, those wide
[33:20] Speaker 1: receivers that we don't love, they look better. Mahomes's injury
[33:23] Speaker 1: is less of a big deal. The running game like
[33:25] Speaker 1: they could, they hold the ball more. Everything is better,
[33:27] Speaker 1: and I think it's possible that, to me is the
[33:30] Speaker 1: route to them being the Chiefs again.
[33:32] Speaker 2: The one red flag I have about this because I
[33:34] Speaker 2: think true and I you know me, I came in
[33:37] Speaker 2: here fired up last offseason a Josh Simmons believer saying
[33:42] Speaker 2: a team is going to get an absolute steal on him.
[33:44] Speaker 2: It so far looks that way other than you know,
[33:46] Speaker 2: you need to count on him for a full season,
[33:48] Speaker 2: and so that's that's a factor after you missed part
[33:50] Speaker 2: of last season with personal stuff going on. My red
[33:53] Speaker 2: flag is right tackle right, because everyone, all the local
[33:57] Speaker 2: beat writers are talking down there right now out how
[34:00] Speaker 2: Jalen Moore is actually going to have competition. Andy Reid
[34:03] Speaker 2: is not. Maybe it's a motivational thing. Andy Reid has
[34:06] Speaker 2: not just said this is our starting five and Jalen
[34:08] Speaker 2: Moore is.
[34:09] Speaker 1: They're paying in fifteen million dollars right.
[34:10] Speaker 2: He came from seeing and Asapol and even Khalil Benson
[34:14] Speaker 2: were actually thought to be legitimately in the mix for
[34:18] Speaker 2: that job, and so this is going to be interesting.
[34:21] Speaker 2: They say that at Kansas City Chief training camp, you
[34:24] Speaker 2: could pretty much tell right away in the early days
[34:27] Speaker 2: of the practices because they're so grueling. Basically who Andy
[34:31] Speaker 2: Reid wants there full time. I think it's probably rare
[34:34] Speaker 2: that someone loses their job after they start out that
[34:36] Speaker 2: way if they if they perform well, so we'll know
[34:38] Speaker 2: very soon about what that will look like.
[34:40] Speaker 1: Yeah, I do worry about that a little bit. They've
[34:44] Speaker 1: been able to coach it up over the years. It's
[34:46] Speaker 1: been a little more up and down the last few years.
[34:48] Speaker 1: My most important ne quarterback, as I mentioned was, was
[34:50] Speaker 1: Chris Jones, just because the way their team salary cap
[34:53] Speaker 1: structure is, they just don't have superstars on defense. Delane
[34:57] Speaker 1: maybe could be that guy. His play was a little
[35:00] Speaker 1: down last year, but not that far down, like he
[35:02] Speaker 1: was averaging about eighty eighty five pressures a season in
[35:05] Speaker 1: the regular season. In the three years before that, he
[35:08] Speaker 1: was down to sixty eight last year, like just down,
[35:11] Speaker 1: but not that far down. They just have to have
[35:15] Speaker 1: him be incredible and so that's why he's important. Where
[35:18] Speaker 1: was did you have a things go wrong? If as
[35:20] Speaker 1: we get well.
[35:21] Speaker 2: I think I've kind of said it as I've gone
[35:23] Speaker 2: I do want to tell you it's sort of a
[35:25] Speaker 2: land yap kind of thing.
[35:26] Speaker 1: Let's go.
[35:27] Speaker 2: It's just this trickeration that Andy Reid likes to do.
[35:30] Speaker 2: It goes back to Mike Kenneth Walker and our point
[35:32] Speaker 2: that how much of a factor he's going to be
[35:34] Speaker 2: in the offense. There are certain things that Kenneth Walker
[35:38] Speaker 2: does and that they could design with him. In Seattle
[35:40] Speaker 2: last year, that one really set up bait essentially, and
[35:45] Speaker 2: we often see past blockers bait the rusher. We see
[35:48] Speaker 2: that all the time, blitz pick ups, things like that.
[35:50] Speaker 2: There's a play a twenty yard gain in the first
[35:52] Speaker 2: quarter of Seahawks forty nine ers in Week eighteen. He
[35:55] Speaker 2: fakes like he's going to pick up the blocker, a
[35:57] Speaker 2: totally typical, you know, fake blitz pick up where you're
[35:59] Speaker 2: baiting the delayed rusher. It's because they saw that San
[36:02] Speaker 2: Francisco was going to send an extra rusher late. So
[36:06] Speaker 2: delayed Blitz, so Kenneth Walker basically just like swung open
[36:09] Speaker 2: the door for that guy just popped out in the
[36:12] Speaker 2: middle and there was like a little he had to
[36:14] Speaker 2: sell it. It was a trickeration almost like he had
[36:16] Speaker 2: to he had to really commit to it, step out
[36:18] Speaker 2: of the way of the train just in time. And
[36:20] Speaker 2: then they obviously have the math advantage on that side
[36:23] Speaker 2: for the screen the tunnel screen at that point because
[36:26] Speaker 2: he has numbers back into the pocket trying to get
[36:28] Speaker 2: to the quarterback. That's like tricky stuff. That's the way
[36:31] Speaker 2: you have to sell those things. Andy Reid and Patrick
[36:33] Speaker 2: Mahomes love that stuff. That was my little land yep
[36:37] Speaker 2: of like, oh, I could really see that working there
[36:39] Speaker 2: if it worked in Seattle with Sam Darnold, like with
[36:42] Speaker 2: Patrick Mahomes and the ballsmanship, like I could one hundred
[36:45] Speaker 2: percent see that working.
[36:47] Speaker 1: It used to be a cliche what's Andy Reid gonna
[36:49] Speaker 1: show early in the season that everyone is going to
[36:52] Speaker 1: stop start copying? Like what's Andy Reid got in his
[36:54] Speaker 1: back pocket in September? Not saying you know he's getting
[36:59] Speaker 1: older here, but has he had that the last few years?
[37:01] Speaker 1: I don't know. We're out of time but like we
[37:03] Speaker 1: could use Andy Reid, like getting some schematic groove back
[37:07] Speaker 1: because on the show, I don't think they're the most
[37:10] Speaker 1: talented team in the world. All right. I guess how
[37:13] Speaker 1: we're doing it now is like we use the twelve
[37:14] Speaker 1: minutes to talk Eric and then we do the ceiling floor.
[37:17] Speaker 2: At what did I say? What did I say of it?
[37:20] Speaker 1: This connor Or our friend at Sports Illustrated, And he
[37:25] Speaker 1: had the call I saw as I'm walking through the
[37:28] Speaker 1: newsroom on Wednesday that Fox Sports has a whole segment
[37:34] Speaker 1: about connor Or wrote down fourteen teams for Sports Illustrated
[37:38] Speaker 1: that have a chance to win the Super Bowl, and
[37:40] Speaker 1: he did not have the Chiefs as one of his.
[37:42] Speaker 2: Ohoh so you know who? I bet that made mad
[37:46] Speaker 2: Nick right?
[37:46] Speaker 1: Yeah, and yeah, they had a whole segment about it.
[37:48] Speaker 1: That's why I know I disagree with Connor. They would
[37:52] Speaker 1: be on my list of teams that could win the
[37:54] Speaker 1: Super Bowl. And that is almost entirely in my almost
[37:59] Speaker 1: blind faith in Patrick Mahomes and him being able to
[38:03] Speaker 1: prove a lot of people wrong when you least expect it, Andy,
[38:07] Speaker 1: Andy Reid and enough talent still there. So the ceiling
[38:11] Speaker 1: to me is that's the very high ceiling. But I
[38:14] Speaker 1: think winning the division is a realistic goal. It is
[38:17] Speaker 1: more likely that they become a normal team, and a
[38:21] Speaker 1: normal team. It's like, we're fighting to make the playoffs,
[38:23] Speaker 1: and there's a world where we don't make the playoffs.
[38:26] Speaker 1: But whether they are still the Chiefs Capital Chiefs like
[38:30] Speaker 1: we will find out. I don't think that's the most
[38:32] Speaker 1: likely outcome.
[38:33] Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they're a worst team collectively over all
[38:37] Speaker 2: in their build than the Denver Broncos or the Los
[38:40] Speaker 2: Angeles Chargers, So that automatically puts their floor super low
[38:43] Speaker 2: for me because of the division that they're in. Right,
[38:47] Speaker 2: But I have in my notes once again, this team
[38:50] Speaker 2: will go as far as Patrick Mahomes takes them. The
[38:53] Speaker 2: thing that so many of those teams that are sort
[38:56] Speaker 2: of middle right don't have are an exceptional, extraordinary quarterback.
[39:01] Speaker 2: And so for me, if he's right, if he stays
[39:03] Speaker 2: right like that is there's no limit to what's possible
[39:07] Speaker 2: when he is your quarterback.
[39:09] Speaker 1: And yet, yeah, coming off of torn acl you just
[39:11] Speaker 1: glance over that, like, we don't know for sure that
[39:14] Speaker 1: he's back week one. We don't know what he's going
[39:16] Speaker 1: to be like during the season. That's what we expect.
[39:19] Speaker 1: You know, we've seen great quarterbacks come back from torn
[39:21] Speaker 1: acls and not quite be the same, including you know,
[39:25] Speaker 1: the guy who has the closest career to him, Tom
[39:27] Speaker 1: Brady was was not wasn't bad, but it wasn't quite
[39:30] Speaker 1: his best.
[39:30] Speaker 2: Go had to change his play style a little bit in.
[39:32] Speaker 1: Two thousand and nine and it was one of the
[39:35] Speaker 1: only season they won eleven games, but they did not
[39:37] Speaker 1: make the playoffs that year with Tom Brady. That was
[39:39] Speaker 1: the off season ride along presented by Toyota because when
[39:43] Speaker 1: people are the destination, your ride is important. Learn more
[39:47] Speaker 1: at Toyota dot com and find the vehicle that fits
[39:50] Speaker 1: your people. Let's talk about the Loss Vegas Raiders. Oh my, Now,
[39:56] Speaker 1: if you haven't been paying attention, this was one of
[39:58] Speaker 1: the most active teams. Not only did they sign NFL
[40:02] Speaker 1: Daily guests Clint Kopiak to be their coach, you know,
[40:05] Speaker 1: right after we talked to him after the Super Bowl,
[40:07] Speaker 1: but they signed Tyler Linderbaum, big time center, like reset
[40:11] Speaker 1: the market. They replaced like who was it at linebacker
[40:18] Speaker 1: last year that it was ridiculous? Was playing like oh
[40:21] Speaker 1: the void, yes, just a total void. And then you
[40:24] Speaker 1: give a lot of money to Nikobe Dean and Kuay Walker.
[40:27] Speaker 1: They somehow kept Max Crosby by mistake after trying to
[40:30] Speaker 1: trade them. They now have a surplus of passers. They
[40:32] Speaker 1: signed Quitty pay. They brought back Mountain Koont's like a
[40:35] Speaker 1: lot of off season moves. They signed Jalen Naylor, who
[40:38] Speaker 1: was a receiver with the Vikings, w will play a
[40:40] Speaker 1: big role here. So this is a team that was
[40:43] Speaker 1: very active. They look a lot different than they did
[40:47] Speaker 1: when they ended last season the new look Raiders. What's
[40:51] Speaker 1: bringing you joy?
[40:52] Speaker 2: I like watching a bad team try to get good.
[40:55] Speaker 2: That really you. I love team building. I love team building.
[40:58] Speaker 2: I like chananging processes. I like trying to understand how
[41:02] Speaker 2: processes are changing, how coaching methods are changing, which I
[41:05] Speaker 2: think is a big one here. Just I think that
[41:07] Speaker 2: this scheme lifts a lot of players that are already
[41:10] Speaker 2: on the roster, which we'll get to. But just like
[41:13] Speaker 2: I just like watching. We don't know how this is
[41:15] Speaker 2: gonna go. I like watching a bad team try to
[41:18] Speaker 2: get good.
[41:19] Speaker 1: And it's interesting because they kept their GM. John Spytech, what.
[41:22] Speaker 2: Does that say about me psychologically? No?
[41:24] Speaker 1: I think that makes you gave me a little concern. Look,
[41:27] Speaker 1: you're into the front office. Maybe you can imagine if
[41:31] Speaker 1: you were going to be somewhere in the NFL, it
[41:33] Speaker 1: would be in the front office. You like the process,
[41:36] Speaker 1: you love process.
[41:37] Speaker 2: I do love process, and.
[41:39] Speaker 1: Part of the Raiders process was to keep John Spytech,
[41:42] Speaker 1: who was the GM, and so they actually did keep
[41:45] Speaker 1: a decent amount of their players from last year in
[41:47] Speaker 1: terms of like the middle class, but they brought in
[41:49] Speaker 1: a lot of money. What's bringing me joy is just Mendoza.
[41:52] Speaker 1: I mean he is a walking ball of joy. True's
[41:54] Speaker 1: I got too carried away. This is a franchise that
[41:57] Speaker 1: just hasn't had a lot of hope. I know Derek
[41:58] Speaker 1: Carr was a franchise quarterback, but I never believed in
[42:02] Speaker 1: him as a difference maker. As a difference maker, I
[42:05] Speaker 1: just didn't. This is I don't think people realize how
[42:09] Speaker 1: bad the Raiders have been for a team that is
[42:11] Speaker 1: I would say the second most popular team in the NFL.
[42:14] Speaker 1: They have had a winning record twice since they made
[42:18] Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. That was in two thousand and two.
[42:21] Speaker 1: Do the math.
[42:22] Speaker 2: How old were you during that?
[42:23] Speaker 1: I was ten, I was I don't know, twenty three
[42:27] Speaker 1: or something. Yeah, like that was twenty two years ago,
[42:30] Speaker 1: twenty three years ago, they've had a winning record twice. Yeah,
[42:36] Speaker 1: like Mendoza just he gives him a chance. That the
[42:41] Speaker 1: word is that Kirk Cousins is gonna be the quarterback
[42:44] Speaker 1: all year. I just don't believe that. If he looks good,
[42:47] Speaker 1: we'll see, Like and I just don't believe Kirk Counins
[42:50] Speaker 1: would even stay healthy for an entire year anyways. They
[42:52] Speaker 1: know that in the back of their head. By the way, anyways, like,
[42:54] Speaker 1: what are the odds that Kirk Cousins at this age
[42:57] Speaker 1: stays healthy? What keeps you going? When it comes to
[42:59] Speaker 1: the scheme.
[43:00] Speaker 2: Well party, I mean, Colton Miller is going to be
[43:02] Speaker 2: back in terms of protection, but in particular, it seemed
[43:04] Speaker 2: like some of the moves that they did make, including
[43:06] Speaker 2: Tyler Linderbaum, was specifically for to help buoy the run.
[43:09] Speaker 2: And obviously that's a young quarterback's best friend, having a
[43:12] Speaker 2: center like that. But he's supposed to help grade the road.
[43:14] Speaker 2: He's not necessarily known for his past protection, right, so like.
[43:18] Speaker 1: He will help I've heard road grader. I don't know
[43:20] Speaker 1: if I've ever heard grade the road.
[43:23] Speaker 2: That's the active verse. Yeah, that's the active.
[43:26] Speaker 1: Sid I think, where are you going, Tyler? I'm going
[43:28] Speaker 1: to go grade the road.
[43:29] Speaker 2: Grade the road. Hey, I think that for me, I'm
[43:32] Speaker 2: really curious about, Like you mentioned that middle class of players.
[43:35] Speaker 2: I think that there are some traits that they seem
[43:38] Speaker 2: to draft for that didn't make sense at all once
[43:41] Speaker 2: we saw what Chip Kelly's scheme actually was going to be,
[43:44] Speaker 2: including some of the receivers, Jack Besch being a prime
[43:47] Speaker 2: example of that, who sort of projected as like this
[43:50] Speaker 2: power slot who's going to do a lot of work
[43:51] Speaker 2: away from the ball. That is what a Kubiak family
[43:56] Speaker 2: offense is going to ask of the receiver, and certainly
[43:59] Speaker 2: of the type although I think they're gonna use brock
[44:02] Speaker 2: Bowers in every way possible. But that is what I'm
[44:05] Speaker 2: curious about. Can this scheme, and that's probably what they're
[44:07] Speaker 2: waiting to see, is can this scheme elevate some of
[44:10] Speaker 2: the skill guys that otherwise would have wasted draft picks on.
[44:13] Speaker 1: Ashton Genty was a top ten pick last year that
[44:15] Speaker 1: might have been more of a Peak Carroll pick, and
[44:17] Speaker 1: yet they could maximize him with their offensive line. If
[44:21] Speaker 1: you're looking for a ray of hope, this maybe doesn't
[44:24] Speaker 1: fit into any particular category, but they drafted a couple
[44:28] Speaker 1: guys in the third round last year on the offensive line.
[44:30] Speaker 1: They got playing time late last season sitting what was it,
[44:33] Speaker 1: Caleb Rogers, another one this year in trade soon. You
[44:36] Speaker 1: look at the offensive line in general, Jackson powers Johnson
[44:40] Speaker 1: is there. You have Colton Miller, you have Linderbaum, you
[44:43] Speaker 1: have dj gl like you have depth. I think if
[44:46] Speaker 1: John Spytech can feel quietly good about something related to
[44:50] Speaker 1: the team build, he's like, this offensive line might be
[44:53] Speaker 1: something that we have fail safes. If there's injuries, it's
[44:58] Speaker 1: going to be an identity people don't know. Maybe it's
[44:59] Speaker 1: our identity yet, kind of like with his old team,
[45:02] Speaker 1: the Bucks, like it was quietly built into their identity.
[45:05] Speaker 1: And that makes everyone skill position wise better, including gent
[45:09] Speaker 1: who didn't wow me last year, and including all the
[45:11] Speaker 1: receivers you mentioned Jack Besh. It's a pretty underwhelming receiver group.
[45:15] Speaker 1: It's Jack Best, Trey Tucker, and Jalen Naylor as their
[45:18] Speaker 1: top three wide receivers. Bowers is their one, and you
[45:22] Speaker 1: have Michael Mayer at tight end too, So you have
[45:23] Speaker 1: some depth, but it's not a lot of star power.
[45:25] Speaker 2: I think, and again talking sematically, you have to give
[45:28] Speaker 2: those guys a second job. Those guys have to exist
[45:31] Speaker 2: in large part to spring your talent skills open and
[45:36] Speaker 2: Ashon Janty in the past game is a talent skill,
[45:39] Speaker 2: and especially some of those like heavy power screens that
[45:42] Speaker 2: you would see Clint Kubiak run at the start of
[45:45] Speaker 2: last season and then went away from it because people
[45:47] Speaker 2: were starting to scout them loading up in twelve personnel
[45:52] Speaker 2: four by one with both of your tight ends and
[45:55] Speaker 2: your heavy power slot in Cooper Cup on the one side.
[45:57] Speaker 2: My favorite play I saw all last season, and it's
[46:00] Speaker 2: a screen and they layer it out all down the
[46:03] Speaker 2: field like they're doing a micro version of an outside
[46:05] Speaker 2: zone run, and it's Kenneth Walker just like skipping his
[46:08] Speaker 2: way down the field freely, untouched. Ashton Jenty can run
[46:12] Speaker 2: in space. I trust him maybe less, you know, I
[46:17] Speaker 2: just need to see more. I need to see more.
[46:18] Speaker 2: But he can run in space, and I think that
[46:20] Speaker 2: is where you're gonna try to maximize it.
[46:21] Speaker 1: Well, you talk about road Grady, and I think this
[46:24] Speaker 1: is a good looking offensive line in terms of running
[46:26] Speaker 1: the ball. No running back in the league maybe was
[46:29] Speaker 1: less suited than Ashton Gendy to deal with that terrible
[46:32] Speaker 1: offensive line because ultimately he's not Kenneth Walker. He's not
[46:35] Speaker 1: gonna make you miss in a phone booth. He is
[46:38] Speaker 1: going to run you over. He will get broken tackles
[46:40] Speaker 1: and miss tackles, but he needs a little bit of
[46:43] Speaker 1: a runway, like a Derrick Henry for him to do
[46:47] Speaker 1: his best. And I think they could be that type
[46:49] Speaker 1: of offensive line. My scheme dream here is just pointing
[46:52] Speaker 1: out who their defensive coordinator is. It's thirty eight year
[46:54] Speaker 1: year old Rob Leonard, who they know because he was
[46:57] Speaker 1: on the staff and they decided to keep him. But
[47:00] Speaker 1: he's never called plays before, and I think quietly it
[47:05] Speaker 1: was a big loss, you know, changing defensive coordinators because
[47:09] Speaker 1: as average as their defensive you know performance was a
[47:15] Speaker 1: year ago. I actually think they were pretty well coached up.
[47:18] Speaker 1: And so you have a first time coordinator in Rob Leonard,
[47:21] Speaker 1: who's going to have to show he has more talent
[47:24] Speaker 1: to work with. I mentioned up front, you know they're
[47:27] Speaker 1: much better. They're pretty deep in terms of their pass rush.
[47:29] Speaker 1: Now with Crosby.
[47:30] Speaker 2: Kept Max Crosby, right, you kept Max Case.
[47:33] Speaker 1: You're under a Rosby and you're paying a lot of
[47:36] Speaker 1: money at linebackers that could go a few directions, but
[47:40] Speaker 1: you know, we got to see it's a guy who's
[47:41] Speaker 1: never done it before in Rob Leonard.
[47:43] Speaker 2: Yes, double edged coin there too, because yeah, that's going
[47:48] Speaker 2: to be a sort of a baptism by fire essentially,
[47:50] Speaker 2: but it's also totally unscouted, like what is his system right,
[47:54] Speaker 2: and it's not going to be probably anything quite like
[47:57] Speaker 2: the tree quote unquote that he comes from. I think
[48:01] Speaker 2: when we're talking about all this stuff, like, I think
[48:03] Speaker 2: that this team overall, Greg is going to have to
[48:05] Speaker 2: be really scheme heavy, Like they're gonna have to because
[48:08] Speaker 2: they're just talent that we know of so far. Until
[48:10] Speaker 2: we see some of these guys develop as the course
[48:12] Speaker 2: of the system, as the course of the season continues.
[48:15] Speaker 2: I just think they're gonna have to get the best
[48:17] Speaker 2: out of putting guys in position to be successful. Like
[48:20] Speaker 2: I mentioned, giving players multiple jobs to help spring open
[48:24] Speaker 2: or create space for some of their stars. And we
[48:27] Speaker 2: cannot leave this segment without talking about Brock Bauers, who
[48:31] Speaker 2: is like a my real reason for joy be my
[48:34] Speaker 2: land yapp see just.
[48:36] Speaker 1: As most important on Quarterback's important.
[48:38] Speaker 2: Most quarterback, which is what I said and I think
[48:42] Speaker 2: I think that there's this sort of people are looking
[48:46] Speaker 2: and I've done the same thing looking at some of
[48:48] Speaker 2: the Seattle concepts last year. With that Clint Kubiak ran
[48:51] Speaker 2: to try to get a sense of what they're gonna
[48:53] Speaker 2: do and what kind of player brock Bowers will be
[48:56] Speaker 2: in this offense. I think that might be the wrong
[48:58] Speaker 2: place to look, because if you were going to take
[49:00] Speaker 2: a J. Barnard Seattle tight end and put a jet
[49:02] Speaker 2: pack on him and then like you know, double him
[49:05] Speaker 2: or whatever, it's just not right. I think you look
[49:07] Speaker 2: back at those twenty three twenty four George Kittle seasons
[49:10] Speaker 2: where he goes over one thousand yards per season as
[49:13] Speaker 2: a pass catcher, and the entire offense is re coordinated
[49:16] Speaker 2: to funnel through what he does. He's a move player.
[49:20] Speaker 2: He is doing really interesting things out of stacks in
[49:22] Speaker 2: different formations. Yes, he's blocking in the run game as well,
[49:26] Speaker 2: but that passing game really reverted out of need at
[49:28] Speaker 2: that time to funnel through him. Clay Kubiak, excuse me,
[49:30] Speaker 2: Clint Kubiak, Geez, there's a lot of freaking kubas he
[49:35] Speaker 2: was he is following from that playbook. Is kubaks a
[49:38] Speaker 2: kettle a kettle of kubiaks.
[49:40] Speaker 1: Bowers is the best player on the team. I think
[49:43] Speaker 1: he's better than Mack if I had to choose, you know,
[49:45] Speaker 1: I take him over at Crosby and again he can
[49:49] Speaker 1: open things up in a way that just others can't.
[49:51] Speaker 1: I mean, he is a guy that has Hall of
[49:53] Speaker 1: Fame hours. I love you. Man has like Hall of
[49:57] Speaker 1: Fame talent and so hurt last year and it was
[50:01] Speaker 1: hurt for parts of last year. Is not the biggest
[50:03] Speaker 1: tight end in the world. I think things go wrong
[50:05] Speaker 1: if the secondary gets fried. Yeah, you mentioned, you know,
[50:09] Speaker 1: they've got to scheme things up. Patrick Graham was the
[50:11] Speaker 1: coordinator I should have mentioned earlier that did a good job. Look,
[50:13] Speaker 1: their number one corner is Eric Stokes. I said, a
[50:17] Speaker 1: fourth round pick, Jumont McCoy, who has a lot of talent,
[50:20] Speaker 1: could be battling for the other starting job. They drafted
[50:23] Speaker 1: a player trading Stukes in the second round, who could
[50:26] Speaker 1: be a slot, who could be a safety. They brought
[50:29] Speaker 1: in Tarron Johnson who was good for the Bills, but
[50:32] Speaker 1: they let go of them. I think for a reason,
[50:34] Speaker 1: like it could work, but that's it's a pretty unproven
[50:39] Speaker 1: secondary and it's also a linebacker group in Nikobe Dean
[50:43] Speaker 1: and kway Walker who.
[50:45] Speaker 2: That's a variance.
[50:47] Speaker 1: Variance is right, Like they they have given up some
[50:50] Speaker 1: big plays, They've made some big plays. They're getting paid
[50:52] Speaker 1: a lot of money. So if things go wrong, I
[50:55] Speaker 1: think it's that the past Russ doesn't even have enough
[50:58] Speaker 1: time because the back end just is fried.
[51:00] Speaker 2: Yeah, their defense minus you know, a couple of spots,
[51:06] Speaker 2: including whatever side Max Crosby is lining up on to rush,
[51:10] Speaker 2: is a huge red flag to me. Even what I understand,
[51:14] Speaker 2: drop my pen. I understand why bringing in like those
[51:19] Speaker 2: linebackers it makes sense to me. You know exactly who
[51:23] Speaker 2: they are if you're the coach, like we don't know
[51:25] Speaker 2: what it's gonna look like here. They know they can
[51:27] Speaker 2: sort of level set around them. They need stability. They
[51:30] Speaker 2: needed veterans on that side of the ball too, that
[51:32] Speaker 2: are not just occupied up front on the line of scrimmage,
[51:35] Speaker 2: that can communicate. Like I understand all of this, I
[51:38] Speaker 2: just man, I don't. Last year was so rough through
[51:42] Speaker 2: most of it for the Raiders. I don't think it
[51:44] Speaker 2: can get any worse. But I do think that there's
[51:48] Speaker 2: gonna be some real bumps for this defense along the way.
[51:51] Speaker 1: I love the edge group with Crosby and could he
[51:54] Speaker 1: pay as the two key run Crawford was a good
[51:56] Speaker 1: draft pick. Malcolm Koons is a year healthier, so they
[51:59] Speaker 1: have some talent. What is our ceiling and our floor
[52:02] Speaker 1: for this team? What is success for the twenty twenty
[52:05] Speaker 1: six Raiders progress?
[52:06] Speaker 2: Right? I have him anywhere. I could see potentially four
[52:10] Speaker 2: wins on their schedule. I could see him as high
[52:13] Speaker 2: as six.
[52:13] Speaker 1: Okay, I thought four was the ceiling. That's tough.
[52:17] Speaker 2: Noo. Six four to six wins is sort of my
[52:19] Speaker 2: range for them to.
[52:21] Speaker 1: Me, And this is unfair. I'm taking the question in
[52:23] Speaker 1: a different way. Success is just Mendoza.
[52:26] Speaker 2: Yeah, well yeah, I mean, if you'd spent the.
[52:28] Speaker 1: Refer t he's gonna play and if he just looks good.
[52:31] Speaker 1: I mean, we've seen rookie quarterbacks be pretty promising right away,
[52:37] Speaker 1: very recently in this league. CJ. Stroud, Jayden Daniel Like
[52:40] Speaker 1: it happens if he goes out there, and whether whether
[52:42] Speaker 1: it's early in the season or late, and he just
[52:44] Speaker 1: looks good. I don't even care what the record is,
[52:47] Speaker 1: but yeah, it's hard. It's hard with their schedule. The
[52:49] Speaker 1: entire AFC West, like I mentioned, has to play the NFC.
[52:51] Speaker 1: West's hard to imagine anything higher than seven or eight wins.
[52:55] Speaker 1: But to me it, you know, it's just Mendoza. If
[52:58] Speaker 1: Mendoza looks if if he only plays three games, but
[53:01] Speaker 1: those three games are really promising, that's funny.
[53:04] Speaker 2: So would you say he's your Mendoza line?
[53:06] Speaker 1: Hey over under on Mendoza starts, I'm setting at twelve.
[53:16] Speaker 2: Oh that's a lot more than I probably not by
[53:18] Speaker 2: the hype. Yeah, I'm I'm going to say I don't.
[53:20] Speaker 2: I have to go back and look when they're bye
[53:22] Speaker 2: week is but i'd say after.
[53:23] Speaker 1: The bye week sure, yeah, we will wrap up. And
[53:28] Speaker 1: I think this is going great. I'm having a lot
[53:30] Speaker 1: of fun.
[53:31] Speaker 2: Jeordan with this next one, can we just like triple
[53:33] Speaker 2: the time?
[53:35] Speaker 1: Come on? We will be going to Chargers camp at
[53:38] Speaker 1: one point, famously low budget here at NFL daily in
[53:42] Speaker 1: terms of our early travel, so we travel to the
[53:45] Speaker 1: places that are close. Uh, and the Chargers are like
[53:47] Speaker 1: ten minutes away. We're going to go see the Chargers
[53:49] Speaker 1: in a couple weeks so you can talk about them more.
[53:51] Speaker 1: Sure then? Okay, Chargers coming off in eleven and sixth season,
[53:56] Speaker 1: only seventeenth in DVOA last year, though, that kind of
[54:00] Speaker 1: cut my eye.
[54:01] Speaker 2: M hm.
[54:01] Speaker 1: The bad playoff game is a factor. They really invested
[54:05] Speaker 1: in getting their blocking better. They bring in Charlie Kohler,
[54:08] Speaker 1: They hire Mike McDaniel, an offensive you know, running game wizard.
[54:13] Speaker 1: They remade the entire interior of their offensive line. They
[54:16] Speaker 1: signed Tyler Biattas, who's been a good center for Washington.
[54:19] Speaker 1: They signed Cole Strange, who was in Miami with Mike McDaniel.
[54:22] Speaker 1: They drafted Jake Slawder in the second round, and so yeah,
[54:26] Speaker 1: they really emphasized getting a little tougher up front, like
[54:31] Speaker 1: an old school Jim Harbaugh team, especially in terms of
[54:34] Speaker 1: running the ball. That's just a little bit of an overview.
[54:37] Speaker 1: We obviously can't hit everything here of where they're at
[54:40] Speaker 1: entering the season, what is bringing you joy other than
[54:43] Speaker 1: Mike McDaniel.
[54:44] Speaker 2: This quote from tackle Rashaun Slater on the new blocking scheme.
[54:47] Speaker 2: The rule is just get off and just go destroy
[54:50] Speaker 2: everything in your path. So honestly, just fun to block,
[54:54] Speaker 2: doesn't take too much thinking.
[54:56] Speaker 1: That is a beautiful way to think about this Chargers team.
[54:59] Speaker 1: And and yeah, all Joe allt They're left tackle and
[55:03] Speaker 1: Rashaun Slater the right tackle. Them being back and us
[55:07] Speaker 1: just being in the time of the year before anything
[55:10] Speaker 1: horrible happens to the Chargers. It gives me joy. I'm
[55:14] Speaker 1: always way too high.
[55:14] Speaker 2: They realist in every time I do it. Every time willingly,
[55:19] Speaker 2: willingly they tell me, girl, delete the number, and I
[55:22] Speaker 2: just say, you know, but maybe I can, Maybe I
[55:23] Speaker 2: can change them this year.
[55:24] Speaker 1: Here's the thing. And I don't know if you want
[55:26] Speaker 1: to get into McDaniel in terms of scheme dream, but
[55:28] Speaker 1: it is year three of this Jim Harbaugh build. I
[55:32] Speaker 1: always think year three is the year for the new regimes.
[55:36] Speaker 1: And I know it's the first year of McDaniel, but
[55:37] Speaker 1: it's year three of Harbaugh. You have these tackles coming back.
[55:41] Speaker 1: Like the vision of whatever this Harbaugh Joehorties team was
[55:45] Speaker 1: supposed to be. It's now and they've had success. They've
[55:48] Speaker 1: made they've made the playoffs and back to back seasons.
[55:50] Speaker 1: But it's now, yeah, you know, and they're not third
[55:53] Speaker 1: year forty nine ers Jim Harbaugh. And maybe that's they
[55:57] Speaker 1: suffer a little bit because I'm always comparing them to
[55:59] Speaker 1: those old forty nine it's not and they're not there,
[56:02] Speaker 1: there's potential maybe, and tell tell us scheme wise how
[56:05] Speaker 1: they could get that potential.
[56:06] Speaker 2: Well, they got to run the ball better, which that
[56:09] Speaker 2: you know, we've talked, we have talked, we will talk.
[56:11] Speaker 2: I think so much more about this Mike McDaniel run
[56:13] Speaker 2: game and what it's supposed to be. I think it
[56:15] Speaker 2: will take some time to really see the full expression
[56:18] Speaker 2: of what the run pass game with him is going
[56:20] Speaker 2: to be because it's so detailed, and I just want
[56:22] Speaker 2: to touch on it very briefly, the run part, the
[56:24] Speaker 2: run game part of it, which you're smiling because you're like, brief.
[56:27] Speaker 1: Moment whatever you say, very briefly, you're like.
[56:29] Speaker 2: No, she's got paragraphs. Because I think they're going to
[56:34] Speaker 2: use motion more. I mean, it's it's pretty obvious. It's
[56:36] Speaker 2: you watch any of his other schemes on the in
[56:39] Speaker 2: the run game specifically, the Chargers were not a really
[56:41] Speaker 2: predominantly motion team, particularly not in the run game last
[56:44] Speaker 2: season and certainly for the last few seasons. And I
[56:47] Speaker 2: think with this because he uses tight end, tight ends
[56:50] Speaker 2: and fullbacks to execute a lot of the motion concepts
[56:53] Speaker 2: in the Run game specifically, that means he's he's changing
[56:57] Speaker 2: gaps so your linebackers will shift or or they'll be
[57:00] Speaker 2: staying stagnant and they won't rotate till after the snap.
[57:02] Speaker 2: Against this team, particularly, you probably are going to have
[57:06] Speaker 2: to try. Do you think they're running the ball counter
[57:09] Speaker 2: rotating to where they're motioning, because otherwise a gap is
[57:11] Speaker 2: going to be open. Because he uses the big guys
[57:14] Speaker 2: to basically say, Okay, I'm gonna pick up this gap
[57:16] Speaker 2: that I have and I'm gonna move it over here.
[57:18] Speaker 2: And now the linebackers and the safeties do not know
[57:21] Speaker 2: what gap they're supposed to be covering or they're out
[57:22] Speaker 2: of their gap assignment because of the way that they end.
[57:25] Speaker 2: So he does it with formations, big personnel. So that's
[57:28] Speaker 2: what I think is part of what will make this
[57:30] Speaker 2: run game so effective.
[57:31] Speaker 1: And it's a lot to deal with, especially early in
[57:34] Speaker 1: the season. One of my little land yap things was
[57:36] Speaker 1: this is on paper, one of the toughest schedules in
[57:39] Speaker 1: the entire NFL, but they open with their two easiest
[57:44] Speaker 1: games on the entire schedule, Cardinals Raiders at home back
[57:47] Speaker 1: to back. So that's like a nice little you better
[57:51] Speaker 1: win those games. But I just think McDaniel has a
[57:55] Speaker 1: lot to work with, Yeah, but also a lot to
[57:58] Speaker 1: work on. Yes, new players, new tight ends, tackles, coming
[58:03] Speaker 1: back from injury. Yes, it's just a lot, and it's
[58:07] Speaker 1: a little bit of a prove it year for McDaniel
[58:09] Speaker 1: in a way that to I think Aaron Shots pointed out, Well,
[58:12] Speaker 1: he's not exactly a made man. Even we've never seen
[58:15] Speaker 1: him as an offensive coordinator running his own offense. We've
[58:17] Speaker 1: seen the Dolphins, but even as great as the Dolphins were,
[58:21] Speaker 1: they never kept it going the whole season. They're often
[58:23] Speaker 1: he's supposed to be an O line guy. The old
[58:25] Speaker 1: line was up and down there. He's supposed to be
[58:26] Speaker 1: a run game guy. It was great when it was great,
[58:28] Speaker 1: but sometimes it was it was pretty bad. You know,
[58:31] Speaker 1: like Tua gave him limitations, but it wasn't all perfect.
[58:35] Speaker 1: So it's just a lot for him to do.
[58:37] Speaker 2: I'm glad you said that because there are so many
[58:39] Speaker 2: details where I'm not sure we see this. I think
[58:43] Speaker 2: our expectations are so high for what this is. I'm
[58:45] Speaker 2: not sure that this offense meets them immediately. I think
[58:47] Speaker 2: over time it does, but immediately there's so many things.
[58:51] Speaker 2: I mean, he changed justin Herbert's footwork, This year, and
[58:53] Speaker 2: this goes into some of the passing game tweaks that
[58:56] Speaker 2: they're doing. There's so much intricate, meticulous, small, tiny timing
[59:02] Speaker 2: things that go into how he wants to do this.
[59:04] Speaker 2: He does not have the speed that he had in Miami,
[59:07] Speaker 2: but he's going to use space in very very similar ways.
[59:10] Speaker 2: And so they flipped justin Herbert's foot front foot, so
[59:14] Speaker 2: his left foot's forward now because in Mike McDaniel's mind
[59:17] Speaker 2: has always been this way that you can get the
[59:19] Speaker 2: ball out faster. Well, that can't just happen in a vacuum.
[59:22] Speaker 2: What they will also do, and you'll see a lot
[59:23] Speaker 2: of this, I think, is use motion with the receivers
[59:27] Speaker 2: to inform a checkdown, not necessarily use motion to go
[59:30] Speaker 2: on these long developing plays. Justin Herbert had very few answered,
[59:34] Speaker 2: quick answers, quick options to mitigate pressure. That was some
[59:37] Speaker 2: of the things that really drove fans crazy watching in
[59:40] Speaker 2: some of these years. And what Mike McDaniel does differently
[59:43] Speaker 2: about his checkdowns is he uses motion and he uses
[59:46] Speaker 2: formation changes to set those up to where they can
[59:49] Speaker 2: gain more yards out of a small pass when the
[59:52] Speaker 2: quarterback's under pressure than they normally would as sort of
[59:54] Speaker 2: a desperation option. So I think all that's so based
[59:57] Speaker 2: on timing. It takes Its going to take some time.
[1:00:01] Speaker 1: And Herbert's been a guy who likes to hold on
[1:00:02] Speaker 1: to the ball and then make a big play, and
[1:00:04] Speaker 1: I do think this could help him potentially stay healthier, Like,
[1:00:07] Speaker 1: can we have a normal justin Herbert season? The story
[1:00:09] Speaker 1: half the time is him just playing through some injury
[1:00:12] Speaker 1: and being heroic about it. But you don't always want
[1:00:15] Speaker 1: him to be a hero. I'll mention something we haven't
[1:00:18] Speaker 1: mentioned yet in like the first five minutes they played
[1:00:21] Speaker 1: defense for the charges too.
[1:00:22] Speaker 2: It's so sweet that you think we've only gone five
[1:00:25] Speaker 2: minutes now.
[1:00:25] Speaker 1: I think that's true. Roughly. Chris O'Leary is their new
[1:00:29] Speaker 1: defensive coordinator, so a lot of attention on Mike McDaniel,
[1:00:32] Speaker 1: but they have two new coordinators. Jesse Minner was thought
[1:00:35] Speaker 1: of as one of the best coordinators in the entire league,
[1:00:37] Speaker 1: so these are big shoes to fill. They sent Chris O'Leary,
[1:00:40] Speaker 1: who was with the staff before, to Western Michigan to
[1:00:43] Speaker 1: try out some fun schematic stuff, and then they bring
[1:00:47] Speaker 1: him back. It's like a farm system. What does he
[1:00:49] Speaker 1: bring now? It's not an overwhelmingly talented defense. I don't
[1:00:53] Speaker 1: think it's not an untalented defense. But when you're looking
[1:00:56] Speaker 1: for real difference makers, you know, Derwin James is getting
[1:01:00] Speaker 1: up there in years. But but is that guy Tully
[1:01:03] Speaker 1: Poloto is a great edge, But is he you know,
[1:01:09] Speaker 1: a great number one edge? You know, I think he's somewhere.
[1:01:12] Speaker 1: He fits somewhere between like the twentieth and twenty fifth
[1:01:15] Speaker 1: you know edge in the league. What they have is
[1:01:18] Speaker 1: continuity of their eleven projected starters that I looked at.
[1:01:22] Speaker 1: Ten were on the team last year, and most of
[1:01:25] Speaker 1: them have been with the team for a couple of years.
[1:01:27] Speaker 1: So I will get to kind of a larger point
[1:01:30] Speaker 1: of like where this team can get better. But I
[1:01:33] Speaker 1: do think like seeing what O'Leary has to play with
[1:01:36] Speaker 1: because this was a very extreme team last year. They
[1:01:38] Speaker 1: played with the lightest box in the league. They play
[1:01:39] Speaker 1: the most six defensive backs in the league. Like, we'll
[1:01:41] Speaker 1: see if he keeps that same style, well, I.
[1:01:43] Speaker 2: Think he could be extra an extreme team in other
[1:01:46] Speaker 2: ways too. Western Michigan they were scoring defense, so that's
[1:01:49] Speaker 2: sort of feast or famine, right, And so I think
[1:01:51] Speaker 2: that with they want him to be very much like
[1:01:54] Speaker 2: Jesse Minter. That's that's my impression. But they also are
[1:01:59] Speaker 2: they send down to the college game to work on
[1:02:02] Speaker 2: some front structures and pressures and different types of spacing
[1:02:05] Speaker 2: and flexing his mind about making game plans where the
[1:02:09] Speaker 2: spacing is different at that level. That's what they've done,
[1:02:12] Speaker 2: the Harbaughs have done now in this second like reinvention
[1:02:15] Speaker 2: of them both in the NFL. And so I think
[1:02:18] Speaker 2: that's what I'm curious about is how aggressive will this
[1:02:21] Speaker 2: defense be? How much will it depend on what Chris
[1:02:24] Speaker 2: O'Leary did in a very small sample size of actual
[1:02:27] Speaker 2: defensive coordinator slash coaching that we've seen him do, game
[1:02:30] Speaker 2: planning we've seen him do, And then will he continued
[1:02:34] Speaker 2: to sort of operate this bespoke package for Derwin James
[1:02:37] Speaker 2: like he helped build with Jesse Minter when he was
[1:02:39] Speaker 2: first there.
[1:02:40] Speaker 1: So that connects with my things go wrong if yeah,
[1:02:43] Speaker 1: and to me, it's if the D fence looks sneaky old,
[1:02:46] Speaker 1: you know, Derwin James, Khalil Mack, Dalvin Tomlinson, who is
[1:02:51] Speaker 1: the one news starter that they brought in. Tony Jefferson
[1:02:55] Speaker 1: might not start, but he's going to have a big role.
[1:02:57] Speaker 1: Denzel Perryman, Dante Jackson's like about thirty. Even their draft
[1:03:01] Speaker 1: picks a key Messidor is old. You know, he's like
[1:03:05] Speaker 1: twenty six year old rookie, So that that worries me
[1:03:10] Speaker 1: a little bit. They have some young players on the roster,
[1:03:13] Speaker 1: and this is a more overall kind of idea I'll
[1:03:15] Speaker 1: throw at you with the Chargers. To me, the only
[1:03:18] Speaker 1: way they're as good as we think they're gonna be
[1:03:20] Speaker 1: is if they're younger players, specifically on offense really turn
[1:03:24] Speaker 1: into some of those great pillars that his old forty
[1:03:28] Speaker 1: nine ers teams have. And that means Joe all actually
[1:03:30] Speaker 1: being like the best left tackle, and rashond On Slater
[1:03:33] Speaker 1: fulfilling his potential and lad McConkie really taking a step
[1:03:37] Speaker 1: up and Herbert taking a step up. When I looked
[1:03:40] Speaker 1: at like areas for improvement for this team, it's the
[1:03:42] Speaker 1: young receiver too. It's I think, especially on offense, like
[1:03:46] Speaker 1: they just need to develop these guys and there's been
[1:03:48] Speaker 1: a lot of potential on this team, Like that's the
[1:03:51] Speaker 1: only way they're gonna be as good as we think
[1:03:53] Speaker 1: they are as all of those young dudes taking a
[1:03:56] Speaker 1: big step up.
[1:03:57] Speaker 2: Yeah. They I really was sort of of just gobsmacked
[1:04:01] Speaker 2: by this when I went to their camp last year
[1:04:03] Speaker 2: as the man they passed the eye test. They are
[1:04:06] Speaker 2: massive at every position, even they're smaller receivers like tray hairs,
[1:04:09] Speaker 2: like they are giant players like everywhere. They've got all
[1:04:14] Speaker 2: this size, they've got mismatched personnel, they've got all the
[1:04:16] Speaker 2: kinds of new fangled ways you want to play offense
[1:04:18] Speaker 2: and all the kinds of old school plays ways that
[1:04:21] Speaker 2: you want to play offense. And with Mike McDaniel, you
[1:04:23] Speaker 2: know they're gonna match it all together and I'll be fine.
[1:04:25] Speaker 2: But I think if things do go wrong, it's because
[1:04:27] Speaker 2: collectively it takes too long, first of all, for all
[1:04:31] Speaker 2: these little detailed things to happen, which I know is
[1:04:34] Speaker 2: why you wanted to bring in alec Ingold and Charlie Kolar,
[1:04:37] Speaker 2: because those are two guys who can kind of jump start.
[1:04:39] Speaker 1: That block full back and a block cafe full.
[1:04:42] Speaker 2: Back and a blocking titan who can catch the ball,
[1:04:44] Speaker 2: who are going to activate that entire surface run in pass.
[1:04:47] Speaker 1: And then I.
[1:04:50] Speaker 2: Know, I almost got a tattooed on me this offseason.
[1:04:52] Speaker 2: I was on PTO, you know, wild times, it was
[1:04:55] Speaker 2: really like, it's really like if if it takes too long,
[1:05:00] Speaker 2: it almost might be too late, right because everything is
[1:05:02] Speaker 2: going to be so competitive in that entire division, And
[1:05:06] Speaker 2: I don't think it. I don't think fans should mind
[1:05:08] Speaker 2: if it takes longer than they expected. I think expectations
[1:05:11] Speaker 2: are out of the gate. They kick doors down. But
[1:05:14] Speaker 2: if it if it starts to delay a little too much,
[1:05:17] Speaker 2: like that's when people are going to start to get
[1:05:19] Speaker 2: real restless about it.
[1:05:20] Speaker 1: Yeah, I have Lad McConkie kind of representing that entire
[1:05:22] Speaker 1: group as the most important non quarterback of all these
[1:05:25] Speaker 1: younger guys who have a ceiling they could get to.
[1:05:29] Speaker 1: But I feel like they're going to all need to
[1:05:31] Speaker 1: do it together, you know, Rondi Gadson's in that mix,
[1:05:33] Speaker 1: some of their young cornerbacks, Cam Hart, Like they all
[1:05:35] Speaker 1: need to kind of grow up together.
[1:05:38] Speaker 2: Grow up. Do you know what my land yap is
[1:05:41] Speaker 2: Their tight ends room is Aronde Gadson, Charlie Colar and
[1:05:43] Speaker 2: David Nijoku. If that doesn't make you smile, I don't
[1:05:46] Speaker 2: know what would.
[1:05:47] Speaker 1: That's pretty good in the running back room with Amari
[1:05:49] Speaker 1: and Hampton and Kamani Vitel and Keaton Mitchell. All. I
[1:05:52] Speaker 1: love how in both those rooms they're all doing different things.
[1:05:55] Speaker 1: It's not a star studded skill group, but it's very deep.
[1:05:59] Speaker 1: Herbert has more than enough around them. Yeah, we can't
[1:06:01] Speaker 1: make the excuses this year. All right, Ceiling and floor
[1:06:03] Speaker 1: for this team if you were doing the exercise, and
[1:06:06] Speaker 1: maybe Connor's way of thinking about it is instructive and helpful,
[1:06:10] Speaker 1: and we'll do it that way. Like would you put
[1:06:11] Speaker 1: them on that list of teams that could win the
[1:06:13] Speaker 1: Super Bowl?
[1:06:14] Speaker 2: Yes?
[1:06:14] Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I would too. I think they're like
[1:06:17] Speaker 1: they're reasonable. Ceiling is winning the division certainly, like having
[1:06:21] Speaker 1: a home playoff game or two. And the floor is
[1:06:24] Speaker 1: that they're the freaking Chargers. Like it's amazing how much
[1:06:28] Speaker 1: has gone wrong injury wise for Jim Harbough and yet
[1:06:31] Speaker 1: they've won eleven games the last couple of years. But
[1:06:34] Speaker 1: the floor is that just disaster strikes. Yeah, yeah, even
[1:06:40] Speaker 1: if healthy, like they could be third place in this division.
[1:06:42] Speaker 1: I would say that for all three teams. I don't
[1:06:43] Speaker 1: think there's that much separation.
[1:06:44] Speaker 2: Yeah, I have big depth questions about them on off
[1:06:47] Speaker 2: the offensive line and on defense like you mentioned, but really, yeah,
[1:06:52] Speaker 2: their ceiling is about as high as any team with
[1:06:55] Speaker 2: talent in the league, and certainly with that exceptional quarterback.
[1:06:58] Speaker 2: Their floor is what wild stuff is going to haunt
[1:07:02] Speaker 2: us this year. As it pertains to the Los Angeles Chargers.
[1:07:05] Speaker 1: We've reached the part of the show I was most
[1:07:08] Speaker 1: fearing slotting the division in. No, I really have to
[1:07:12] Speaker 1: come up with it, because I don't want to be
[1:07:15] Speaker 1: picking things just because oh, well, everyone's going to be
[1:07:18] Speaker 1: doing this, or you know, like or picking just what
[1:07:20] Speaker 1: you want to root for. But I do that a
[1:07:21] Speaker 1: little bit because you like, why not. You don't know
[1:07:25] Speaker 1: if you're going to be right or wrong anyway, so
[1:07:27] Speaker 1: you might as well you go first, one to four.
[1:07:30] Speaker 2: One to four. I'm going Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders.
[1:07:38] Speaker 1: I have this feeling about the Broncos that the season
[1:07:43] Speaker 1: when the expectations are so high, when everyone agrees it's
[1:07:49] Speaker 1: like the best roster, when nothing's changed, when the last
[1:07:52] Speaker 1: season ended with some like bad luck loss, and then
[1:07:55] Speaker 1: everyone just kind of pencils you in the next year.
[1:07:58] Speaker 1: It's just setting you up for big disappointment. And so
[1:08:02] Speaker 1: I don't know how or why it's not going to
[1:08:04] Speaker 1: work for them, but I have them third in the
[1:08:06] Speaker 1: race for third, and that might just be like a
[1:08:09] Speaker 1: ten win season or whatever. But I hate the teams
[1:08:12] Speaker 1: that are like that and they just expect to start.
[1:08:15] Speaker 2: It's not beating the allegations.
[1:08:16] Speaker 1: Not beating the allegation.
[1:08:17] Speaker 2: It's not beating the allegations.
[1:08:19] Speaker 1: Although I've been called many times in my socials a
[1:08:23] Speaker 1: Chiefs hater and just like way too in the bag
[1:08:26] Speaker 1: for the Chargers, but I do have this gut feeling
[1:08:28] Speaker 1: that I'm going to go with is I'm going to
[1:08:30] Speaker 1: take the Chiefs to just find a way this year
[1:08:32] Speaker 1: and win this division. And so I think if, if
[1:08:35] Speaker 1: and when NFL dot Com asked me, and I think
[1:08:37] Speaker 1: they will to prick all the playoff teams, I'll probably
[1:08:39] Speaker 1: put all three of these teams in, but I will
[1:08:42] Speaker 1: put it in order, Chiefs, Chargers, Broncos and then Raiders.
[1:08:49] Speaker 1: H Give me the Chiefs in a season where they're
[1:08:51] Speaker 1: like not expected to win the thing, I just.
[1:08:53] Speaker 2: Well, and then they do that. Nobody believes in us
[1:08:55] Speaker 2: except for Greg Rosenthal. No, I think this is a
[1:08:58] Speaker 2: master takesmanship. By the way, by the way you taught
[1:09:01] Speaker 2: me about this, Yeah, I do believe it. I do
[1:09:04] Speaker 2: think I do think that they're all they all are.
[1:09:07] Speaker 2: All three of those are playoff teams.
[1:09:09] Speaker 1: I do think that, and I do think they're all
[1:09:12] Speaker 1: about the same. And it seems like a cop out,
[1:09:16] Speaker 1: but I really think the top of the AFC and
[1:09:18] Speaker 1: I would put these teams in it. It's a pretty
[1:09:21] Speaker 1: even six or seven teams, and I think these are
[1:09:23] Speaker 1: three of those teams that should feel really good about themselves.
[1:09:27] Speaker 1: And then the Raiders. You got a kid to be
[1:09:29] Speaker 1: excited about. I'm excited to do the rest of these
[1:09:31] Speaker 1: division previews. Now we nailed it. I know.
[1:09:33] Speaker 2: I signed myself up for so many of them.
[1:09:35] Speaker 1: That's how we want to do it. All Jordan, all
[1:09:38] Speaker 1: the time, all gas, no breaks, well especially before you
[1:09:42] Speaker 1: do some of your training camp tour. That's it for
[1:09:45] Speaker 1: our week. But as you hinted at, we're doing the
[1:09:47] Speaker 1: NFC West. We decided to do West is Best first,
[1:09:51] Speaker 1: and so that division preview is coming on Monday, in
[1:09:53] Speaker 1: addition to a bunch of training camp news. It's going
[1:09:55] Speaker 1: to be happening. Teams are showing up Seattle, the Patriots,
[1:09:58] Speaker 1: the Super Bowl teams will be there on Monday. Calculam mhmm.

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