# NFC West Preview + Mahomes' Return

An episode of [NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/680904259), 27 Jul 2026, 1 h 17 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/a5c3e0dd-50cd-4443-84b9-b49401544ec2/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=deff018f-4b51-4501-937c-ae27003475d1

Gregg Rosenthal and Jourdan Rodrigue go around the NFC West for a team-by-team preview of the Cardinals, Rams, 49ers, and Seahawks. 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, an update on Patrick Mahomes' status going into the preseason and Jacoby Brisett got his new contract with the Cardinals. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcasts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:04] Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily. I think we can just say it,
[0:08] Speaker 1: football is back.
[0:09] Speaker 2: I'm Greg Rosenthal and the Chris Westling podcast studio. Late July,
[0:16] Speaker 2: six teams already in training camp and practicing. Wow fully,
[0:20] Speaker 2: not with pads, but six teams practicing. The rest of
[0:24] Speaker 2: the NFL reports on Tuesday.
[0:26] Speaker 1: It's all happening.
[0:27] Speaker 3: Jordan Rodrieg, I'm so excited we're here.
[0:31] Speaker 1: We are here.
[0:31] Speaker 3: Long summer.
[0:33] Speaker 2: Hope everyone you know, enjoyed their break. If you weren't
[0:37] Speaker 2: listening to NFL Daily, who are you? No, Actually, everyone
[0:40] Speaker 2: was listening to NFL Daily by the numbers, so we
[0:43] Speaker 2: appreciate all you. We're going to continue our division previews,
[0:46] Speaker 2: which I'm excited to keep rolling.
[0:49] Speaker 1: Staying in the West.
[0:49] Speaker 2: We're going to do the NFC West with the two
[0:53] Speaker 2: teams that are at the top probably of everyone's power ranking,
[0:58] Speaker 2: favorite division. It's a great division. But first we're going
[1:02] Speaker 2: to do a little bit of news, and we have
[1:05] Speaker 2: to start with Kyle Shanahan. This was surprising news that
[1:08] Speaker 2: came up over the weekend that he was seriously hurt
[1:11] Speaker 2: in a car accident. Let's start, I guess with the
[1:14] Speaker 2: good news, which is that he was healthy enough to
[1:16] Speaker 2: attend the forty nine ers practice that occurred on Sunday.
[1:20] Speaker 1: That was their first practice.
[1:22] Speaker 2: He came after the the media taping session, so there
[1:25] Speaker 2: wasn't like video of it or anything, but he was
[1:27] Speaker 2: there for thirty minutes talking. He's not doing all of
[1:30] Speaker 2: his responsibilities right now as the head coach. He suffered
[1:35] Speaker 2: a severe concussion. The injuries occurred on July fourteenth, so
[1:40] Speaker 2: it was a little while back. He needed more than
[1:43] Speaker 2: forty stitches. He had a broken nose, a broken hand,
[1:46] Speaker 2: three broken ribs, and assistant head coach Chris Forster, along
[1:52] Speaker 2: with kind of Raheem Morris on the other side of
[1:55] Speaker 2: the ball, are handling the head coach responsibilities. It sounds
[1:58] Speaker 2: like no one's really going to be addressing the entire team.
[2:01] Speaker 2: They're just dividing into offense, defense, and special teams. But
[2:04] Speaker 2: the important thing here, as John Lynch the GM pointed out,
[2:07] Speaker 2: was that Kyle Shannon's on his road to recovery. They
[2:10] Speaker 2: expect him to be good enough to coach the team
[2:13] Speaker 2: and go to Australia in week one, and that the
[2:15] Speaker 2: other party that was in this accident is also okay.
[2:21] Speaker 4: Yeah, I was listening and sort of had one eye
[2:24] Speaker 4: on Chris Sims the morning that we're recording this over
[2:28] Speaker 4: on Pro Football Talk, where called Monday. Well, yeah, but
[2:32] Speaker 4: maybe the listeners listening on Tuesdays.
[2:34] Speaker 3: I don't know.
[2:35] Speaker 1: I don't know.
[2:35] Speaker 4: I don't judge it would be Monday, say, I don't
[2:37] Speaker 4: judge what people's schedules are. So he was talking, you know,
[2:41] Speaker 4: Chris Sims and Kyle Shanahan are our best friends, are
[2:44] Speaker 4: really really close, have been.
[2:46] Speaker 3: For famously, have decades. On the matching two.
[2:50] Speaker 4: Yeah, and and was talking about how he knew had
[2:53] Speaker 4: known about this and the severity of it, was getting
[2:56] Speaker 4: pictures from, you know, Kyle Shanahan's wife and the family
[3:00] Speaker 4: after the accident happened in that in Chris Sims's words,
[3:03] Speaker 4: Kyle Shannan came really close to losing his right eye
[3:06] Speaker 4: in those stitches, the forty stitches you mentioned, stitches in
[3:09] Speaker 4: his face. So for me, that's it's really really scary,
[3:13] Speaker 4: serious and thinking about that, and obviously glad everybody is
[3:17] Speaker 4: overall going to be okay in this situation was scary stuff.
[3:21] Speaker 2: And there was some conversation how come this didn't come
[3:24] Speaker 2: out for a couple of weeks. There was no criminal
[3:26] Speaker 2: activity that we would have seen and not everything is
[3:30] Speaker 2: a huge conspiracy. That said, if it who was Brock
[3:33] Speaker 2: Purdy who got in a big accident like two weeks ago,
[3:36] Speaker 2: I feel like he might not have received the same
[3:39] Speaker 2: consideration that Kyle Shannan did. But the ultimate thing here
[3:42] Speaker 2: is that that Kyle Shannan is getting better and you know,
[3:46] Speaker 2: it's almost something I just want to get to. Like
[3:49] Speaker 2: the Jordan James is getting back up running back reps
[3:52] Speaker 2: at the forty nine ers practice. That's excited. That's more
[3:55] Speaker 2: exciting to me. But it's great to see on the
[3:57] Speaker 2: k first.
[3:58] Speaker 3: Day on the practice, Greg, that's like, calm down.
[4:01] Speaker 1: That's why I have a separate document.
[4:04] Speaker 3: He's already so fired up.
[4:06] Speaker 2: That's camp notes and I have learned over there is
[4:09] Speaker 2: you got to wait for them to pile up for
[4:10] Speaker 2: a bunch of days until you know what matters what doesn't.
[4:13] Speaker 2: So that'll be coming later this week with Shooki. The
[4:17] Speaker 2: Chiefs have been back at practice for a few days
[4:19] Speaker 2: here at least there are rookies and injured players, which
[4:22] Speaker 2: include Patrick Mahomes. So since we last taped Patrick Mahomes
[4:26] Speaker 2: where she rice both fully cleared to start camp at
[4:29] Speaker 2: this point, they're not doing eleven and elevens because they
[4:31] Speaker 2: don't have enough people out there. So we don't know
[4:33] Speaker 2: if Patrick whom is going to do every single aspect
[4:35] Speaker 2: of camp. They're obviously not practicing with pads. They have
[4:38] Speaker 2: to practice for four days before that happens. But he
[4:42] Speaker 2: is out there. Let's listen to Mahomes back at the
[4:46] Speaker 2: podium looking slender.
[4:47] Speaker 5: Russell stronger than I've ever felt as far as strength
[4:50] Speaker 5: and lifting and stuff like that. And so now it's
[4:52] Speaker 5: just about getting that quarterback stuff down, the stuff moving
[4:56] Speaker 5: in the pocket quick, making those quick movements, reacting and
[4:59] Speaker 5: steing stuff like that. I am a competitor, so game day,
[5:02] Speaker 5: I'm gonna want to be out there, but I understand
[5:05] Speaker 5: the process of getting myself ready to play and the
[5:08] Speaker 5: regular season is more important. But we will see. I mean,
[5:11] Speaker 5: the coaches and dogs will kind of make that decision
[5:13] Speaker 5: for me. But I'll prepare myself like I'm gonna play,
[5:15] Speaker 5: and then if I'm just doing a very hard warm up,
[5:17] Speaker 5: I will take that. As serious as as playing in
[5:20] Speaker 5: the preseason game is.
[5:22] Speaker 2: Patrick Mahomes plays in the preseason more than virtually any
[5:26] Speaker 2: starting quarterback. It's just how the Chiefs do things. They
[5:29] Speaker 2: also practice with pads on and contact more than just
[5:33] Speaker 2: about any team out there. It's just how they've done
[5:35] Speaker 2: things and it works for them. So we might not
[5:37] Speaker 2: see him in the preseason, but the fact that he's
[5:39] Speaker 2: talking about getting ready to play shows he's further along
[5:42] Speaker 2: than I would have expected. And I gotta say, I
[5:45] Speaker 2: don't know if it's the the fade or the fit
[5:49] Speaker 2: or what, but it does kind of look like Patrick
[5:53] Speaker 2: Mahomes in this recovery and this rough season that they
[5:57] Speaker 2: had last year.
[5:58] Speaker 1: It's like he's in the best shape of life. That's
[6:00] Speaker 1: what he looks like.
[6:01] Speaker 4: He looks leaner to me, and I think that's important
[6:04] Speaker 4: when you're thinking about you're coming back from from an
[6:06] Speaker 4: injury where you don't want to put, you know, a
[6:09] Speaker 4: certain excess amount of body weight or force onto the knee.
[6:12] Speaker 3: Right.
[6:13] Speaker 4: And then also he was basically the Chiefs run game
[6:15] Speaker 4: last year, right, so you know, hope the knee is
[6:19] Speaker 4: back to full performance.
[6:21] Speaker 3: Right.
[6:21] Speaker 4: But in general, you know, if you want to scamper around,
[6:24] Speaker 4: if you're going to be running, you know, you might
[6:26] Speaker 4: as well might as well be trim.
[6:27] Speaker 2: There's only so much like big news that can happen.
[6:30] Speaker 2: Unfortunately in the first week of training camp. It's mostly
[6:32] Speaker 2: guys are on schedule, ahead of schedule, or get injured.
[6:36] Speaker 2: And in this case, I think the Chiefs have to
[6:38] Speaker 2: be really happy about where he's at, where where she
[6:40] Speaker 2: writes is at. We also found out Mansor Delane, their
[6:43] Speaker 2: top ten pick, is coming off shoulder surgery, which from
[6:46] Speaker 2: an injury that he suffered during the off season, like
[6:49] Speaker 2: during practice, in his words, going too hard, not supposed
[6:52] Speaker 2: to be doing contact. So I don't know how and
[6:56] Speaker 2: where that happened. But he is back on the field
[6:59] Speaker 2: and they hope that he will be practicing fully soon,
[7:03] Speaker 2: but he is practicing somewhat Unfortunately. On Monday, we got
[7:06] Speaker 2: disturbing news concerning Eric Benemy, the assistant coach has left camp,
[7:13] Speaker 2: the essentially the coach who's expected to run their offense.
[7:18] Speaker 2: After that, his son was arrested and charged with the
[7:21] Speaker 2: shooting of Eric Bienemy's wife and at their home in Virginia.
[7:27] Speaker 2: And obviously, you know, we're just thinking the best thoughts
[7:30] Speaker 2: for me a b Enemy. She's in stable condition, but
[7:33] Speaker 2: she suffered from multiple gunshot wounds and in enemy will
[7:36] Speaker 2: be away from the team in the meantime, more injury news.
[7:41] Speaker 1: On the field is a good one here.
[7:45] Speaker 2: Namdi Madabuicke for the Ravens has been cleared to return
[7:50] Speaker 2: to practice for the Ravens.
[7:52] Speaker 3: He could practice as early as this week.
[7:54] Speaker 2: For now he's on the pup list, but the doctors
[7:56] Speaker 2: have cleared him to return.
[7:57] Speaker 3: That's significant.
[7:58] Speaker 4: You know, he was so he's been so missed, his
[8:01] Speaker 4: presence has been missed. And then also the injury itself,
[8:05] Speaker 4: there was so there was such murkiness around it throughout
[8:08] Speaker 4: the course of the season when when he wasn't able
[8:10] Speaker 4: to play. So this is absolutely significant news.
[8:13] Speaker 1: For the Ravens.
[8:13] Speaker 2: There were reports that he was potentially going to retire.
[8:16] Speaker 2: And he is a guy who's gotten all pro votes.
[8:19] Speaker 2: He is a guy who to me makes their defensive
[8:22] Speaker 2: line go from hmmm, that could be a problem. As
[8:27] Speaker 2: Jordan slides my pen back to me, you know, just
[8:29] Speaker 2: giving you a little present. Throw it you always take you.
[8:32] Speaker 3: I do steal your pens a lot. You can't have
[8:34] Speaker 3: this one.
[8:34] Speaker 2: I mean I take them from overseas every summer, get
[8:37] Speaker 2: them from Muji, and then I take bring them back
[8:39] Speaker 2: and then I run out where were we we were
[8:42] Speaker 2: talking about the defensive line for the Ravens and generally
[8:45] Speaker 2: their defense in general.
[8:46] Speaker 1: To me, you could poke some holes in it.
[8:48] Speaker 2: It looks a lot different with Matdabuike in the middle,
[8:51] Speaker 2: so obviously we're gonna have to keep tracking him to
[8:53] Speaker 2: make sure he's healthy.
[8:54] Speaker 1: But they just had one of the best quote.
[8:57] Speaker 2: You know, it's not a signing, but it almost feels
[8:59] Speaker 2: like signing of any team if I was thinking he
[9:03] Speaker 2: was not going to join them again. He is one
[9:04] Speaker 2: of the most important offseason additions, even if he was
[9:07] Speaker 2: there all along. Malik Neighbors is not starting camp on
[9:11] Speaker 2: the pup list. I put this in the rundown partly
[9:13] Speaker 2: because I saw a lot of reaction was like he's back,
[9:18] Speaker 2: Like this is great, let's boost him in the fantasy
[9:21] Speaker 2: rankings and stuff. Just because you're not on the pup
[9:23] Speaker 2: list doesn't necessarily mean you're remotely healthy. Just means that
[9:26] Speaker 2: they want you to do some extra stuff at the
[9:27] Speaker 2: start of camp. So this one was like a little
[9:29] Speaker 2: bit of a TBD. Don't celebrate, don't take them any higher.
[9:32] Speaker 2: I am still quite concerned about Malik neighbors is recovery
[9:35] Speaker 2: and him being on the pup list or not has
[9:38] Speaker 2: no influence on me.
[9:40] Speaker 4: Yeah, this for a lot of the Giants in general,
[9:42] Speaker 4: but specifically this situation. It is I will believe it
[9:46] Speaker 4: when I see it right kind of a situation.
[9:48] Speaker 2: And you know he'd still be eligible for short term
[9:51] Speaker 2: injured reserve at the beginning of the season. We'll see.
[9:54] Speaker 2: Let's get to the news. I know you've been waiting for.
[9:56] Speaker 2: One of the reporters who helped confirm report the Jacoby
[10:01] Speaker 2: Brissett deal is right here on my left, Jordan rod
[10:05] Speaker 2: Rieg Insider. Should we should get like a down drop
[10:09] Speaker 2: or something. Well, you helped confirm that Jacoby Brissett has
[10:13] Speaker 2: indeed signed a new deal. I don't know if you
[10:15] Speaker 2: had the terms, but I'll give Ian Rapaport where I
[10:17] Speaker 2: saw it first the credit. Yes, he ut fifteen point
[10:20] Speaker 2: five million dollars. Incentives would bump that up an extra
[10:25] Speaker 2: five and a half million or so to twenty one.
[10:27] Speaker 2: We don't know what the incentives are. That is roughly
[10:30] Speaker 2: a ten million dollar raise off of where Jacoby Brissett
[10:34] Speaker 2: was scheduled to be paid. He was serving as his
[10:36] Speaker 2: own agent. He talked about that and said it was
[10:38] Speaker 2: a little stressful that situation. But I gotta say good job,
[10:41] Speaker 2: Jacoby Brissett agent.
[10:43] Speaker 1: Let's listen to him.
[10:44] Speaker 6: I mean, I think I gotta go out there and
[10:45] Speaker 6: prove it, you know. I mean I don't think that's
[10:48] Speaker 6: I don't think it mean it's a given just because
[10:51] Speaker 6: the deal gets done. I think, you know, you go
[10:52] Speaker 6: out there and put your best foot forward. I think
[10:55] Speaker 6: at the end of the day, no matter what who
[10:57] Speaker 6: money was, I think as the coach and as the
[11:00] Speaker 6: people of the organization, they got to put the best
[11:01] Speaker 6: person forward.
[11:03] Speaker 2: So he's talking about whether he is just the starter
[11:07] Speaker 2: or whether he has to earn it.
[11:09] Speaker 1: I hear what he's saying there.
[11:10] Speaker 2: When I saw the terms of this contract, Jordan, I said, oh,
[11:13] Speaker 2: there actually isn't going to be a quarterback battle in
[11:16] Speaker 2: Arizona if there was, if I was, there was any doubt,
[11:19] Speaker 2: because this contract actually shows to me he doesn't have
[11:21] Speaker 2: to prove it. He's the starter, right, That was my interpretation.
[11:24] Speaker 2: Tell me if you disagree, No, I.
[11:25] Speaker 3: Don't disagree at all.
[11:26] Speaker 4: I think that when you're looking at these incentives in
[11:29] Speaker 4: this contract, it's pretty clear what they what they would be,
[11:32] Speaker 4: or what.
[11:32] Speaker 3: They are is will you continue to be the starter?
[11:35] Speaker 5: Right?
[11:35] Speaker 4: How many games are you playing? How many you know,
[11:37] Speaker 4: how many snaps are you taking? Like that is what
[11:40] Speaker 4: these incentives seem to me to be all about. And
[11:43] Speaker 4: I think it really he stood his ground. I remember
[11:46] Speaker 4: telling you the story last off season when I was
[11:48] Speaker 4: at Cardinals training camp and I had a conversation with
[11:50] Speaker 4: Jacoby Brissett for a story I was writing for The
[11:53] Speaker 4: Athletic about being a backup quarterback. He was so confident
[11:57] Speaker 4: and competitively minded that he was going to work to
[12:01] Speaker 4: try to get that job and Kyler Murray was still
[12:04] Speaker 4: on the roster. Now it wasn't like a negative thing.
[12:06] Speaker 4: It wasn't tension, none of that. It just was how
[12:09] Speaker 4: he is and how he was thinking about it. And
[12:12] Speaker 4: in a very non cliche I'm gonna prepare like, it
[12:15] Speaker 4: wasn't that at all. It was like, no, no, I
[12:17] Speaker 4: may be starting by mid season. And so he called
[12:20] Speaker 4: a shot there and then he stood his ground. And
[12:22] Speaker 4: I think for any of us, who are you know,
[12:24] Speaker 4: in a negotiation with a ration or anyone out there
[12:27] Speaker 4: who's thinking, do I.
[12:28] Speaker 3: Ask for the thing? Ask for the thing, see what happens.
[12:32] Speaker 4: Maybe Carson Beck has taken snaps in the spring metaphorically speaking,
[12:36] Speaker 4: and the organization decides to pay you.
[12:38] Speaker 2: And they didn't have to really give him this money.
[12:40] Speaker 2: That's why I give him some credit. And my old
[12:43] Speaker 2: boss Florio and others who are in the business like
[12:46] Speaker 2: to point out when players who serve as their own
[12:48] Speaker 2: agent don't do that. Well, they didn't have to give
[12:50] Speaker 2: him this money, so he did pretty well. My only concern,
[12:53] Speaker 2: and this could be part of the Cardinals preview which
[12:55] Speaker 2: is coming up.
[12:55] Speaker 1: But what the heck.
[12:57] Speaker 2: Here's just a list of play callers Jacoby Brissett has
[13:01] Speaker 2: played under in his career. Might not be complete. Josh McDaniels,
[13:05] Speaker 2: Rod Chadzinski. That was with the Browns, right, Nick Siriani
[13:09] Speaker 2: for a while, the Sirianni Frank Reich duo, but that
[13:12] Speaker 2: was the longest he was ever in one place. George
[13:14] Speaker 2: Gotsee was his coordinator with Miami, Alex Van Pelt a
[13:18] Speaker 2: couple times with Cleveland and New England and Kevin Stefanski
[13:23] Speaker 2: and then Drew Petsing last year. There's a lot of systems.
[13:26] Speaker 2: There's not this system. He has not really been in
[13:29] Speaker 2: the tree. There's some connection a little bit with Petsing
[13:32] Speaker 2: last year and whatever. All these trees aren't, you know,
[13:34] Speaker 2: necessarily pure whatever, But he's not a guy who's shown
[13:37] Speaker 2: that this is the right system for him, and so
[13:41] Speaker 2: I expect to see Carson Beck play multiple starts this year.
[13:45] Speaker 2: Whether that starts in like week seven or ten or
[13:48] Speaker 2: fourteen probably depends on how Jacoby is playing. But I
[13:52] Speaker 2: think it's interesting that they're giving him this money and
[13:55] Speaker 2: they've never seen him in this type of system.
[13:56] Speaker 4: They must believe well and his teammates. He helped get
[13:59] Speaker 4: his teammates paid, you know, he has. He Trey McBride
[14:03] Speaker 4: had one of the most productive seasons last season. You know,
[14:07] Speaker 4: has gotten the contract previously, but then also got the
[14:10] Speaker 4: All pros and all of these things.
[14:12] Speaker 2: Because he's one of six players in the NFL that
[14:14] Speaker 2: is a ninety nine on Madden this year. Yeah, in
[14:16] Speaker 2: a one way, he is one of the six best
[14:18] Speaker 2: players in the NFL.
[14:19] Speaker 4: Continued to get his targets, as we know, despite the
[14:23] Speaker 4: one and eleven record that Jacoby Brissette did have as
[14:26] Speaker 4: the starter. But this was also we'll get to it
[14:28] Speaker 4: in the preview. Yah, it just was such an injured
[14:31] Speaker 4: team and I don't want to get into specific until
[14:33] Speaker 4: we start, but like it, I just think he really
[14:35] Speaker 4: endeared himself to his teammates very clearly, Michael Wilson being
[14:39] Speaker 4: one of them. Those guys are celebrating big time when
[14:45] Speaker 4: Kyler was when Kyler left the team, and then there
[14:48] Speaker 4: was sort of this this statement put out by the
[14:50] Speaker 4: team in the spring that Jacoby Brissette was going to
[14:53] Speaker 4: be their starter, and then they backed.
[14:54] Speaker 3: Off of it because of the contract negotiation.
[14:56] Speaker 4: But when that statement was initially put out, you're seeing
[14:59] Speaker 4: Instagram posts from teammates celebrating this like it is really
[15:03] Speaker 4: his teammates love him. And so if you're the organization
[15:06] Speaker 4: and you're trying to say, hey, this is the first
[15:09] Speaker 4: year under this new head coach, we're gonna give try
[15:11] Speaker 4: to give you guys a shot, even though secretly we're
[15:14] Speaker 4: setting up for whatever happens in twenty twenty seven for
[15:17] Speaker 4: the quarterback or.
[15:17] Speaker 1: Well, I'm going too many games.
[15:19] Speaker 4: They have to instill at least, you know, this sort
[15:23] Speaker 4: of confidence in the rest of the locker room, and
[15:26] Speaker 4: I think that's what some of this money is about.
[15:28] Speaker 2: That's a great point and I'm glad that they did
[15:31] Speaker 2: it so people can't accuse the Cardinals of being cheap,
[15:35] Speaker 2: which they have over the years.
[15:37] Speaker 1: Jeremiah love By.
[15:38] Speaker 2: The way getting all the RB one snaps early, so
[15:42] Speaker 2: that's good to hear. Let's fly through the rest of
[15:43] Speaker 2: this news and then we'll get going on this NFC
[15:46] Speaker 2: West preview pop list notables I'm going to just point
[15:49] Speaker 2: out from around the camps that have started. George Kittle
[15:53] Speaker 2: is still on the pup list, no surpriser. Michael Williams,
[15:56] Speaker 2: who was the first round edge for the forty nine ers,
[15:59] Speaker 2: is on the list, so he's still not fully recovered
[16:01] Speaker 2: from his knee injuries. Kyler Gordon, the defensive back for
[16:05] Speaker 2: the Bears who's seemingly always hurt, is hurt to start camp.
[16:09] Speaker 2: Tovandre Sweat, who the Jets traded for a big nose tackle,
[16:13] Speaker 2: is also on the publist. Some people that are full
[16:15] Speaker 2: go Quinnjohn Juggins not going to be on the publict again,
[16:19] Speaker 2: kind of kind of like Malik Neighbors. I do want
[16:21] Speaker 2: to see it, but there's been more positive signs in
[16:24] Speaker 2: terms of him practicing. Puka Nakua is not holding out
[16:28] Speaker 2: or doing anything like that. Both him and Alaric Jackson,
[16:30] Speaker 2: their left tackle who had off field issues and who
[16:33] Speaker 2: each could both be suspended by the NFL, are practicing
[16:37] Speaker 2: at Rams camp.
[16:38] Speaker 1: The Rams got going on.
[16:39] Speaker 2: Sunday as are Nick Bosa and Fred Warner at forty
[16:45] Speaker 2: nine ers camp. That's some real news. Like, when you
[16:47] Speaker 2: got those guys back, we'll talk about the NFC West.
[16:50] Speaker 2: The Panthers have just keep getting bad luck. Mike Jackson
[16:53] Speaker 2: and Rob Hunt, who's a big important guard, highly paid,
[16:57] Speaker 2: have been out for most of their camp so far
[16:59] Speaker 2: with back tightness. Doesn't seem that serious, but it's just
[17:01] Speaker 2: been a lot of bad Panthers news. The last remaining
[17:04] Speaker 2: rookie who was unsigned in the NFL.
[17:06] Speaker 3: Was Gabe Yakis.
[17:08] Speaker 2: Gabe Yakis strange situation there. It was a second round
[17:11] Speaker 2: pick by the Patriots who had some injuries that maybe
[17:14] Speaker 2: they didn't know about when they drafted him. Not what
[17:17] Speaker 2: you want, you do. Wonder if there's some conditions in
[17:20] Speaker 2: this contract. But he isn'to camp and we'll see if
[17:23] Speaker 2: and when he starts practicing. And I liked the news
[17:27] Speaker 2: that DeAndre Hopkins was at Patriots camp, possibly as a coach.
[17:32] Speaker 1: How about that?
[17:32] Speaker 7: Yeah?
[17:33] Speaker 1: I like that the world moves fast.
[17:35] Speaker 4: They were saying he might look into some front office
[17:37] Speaker 4: stuff too.
[17:37] Speaker 3: I love that.
[17:38] Speaker 4: I like when former players kind of explore around and
[17:41] Speaker 4: see where they can contribute to an organization.
[17:44] Speaker 2: We always do the happy trails to player X. I'm
[17:46] Speaker 2: going to wait a little bit on DeAndre Hopkins. Oh yeah,
[17:49] Speaker 2: but that's a potential Hall of Famer there, and one
[17:53] Speaker 2: of the players a kind of similar style, AJ Brown.
[17:55] Speaker 2: You know with the Patriots. The first ball of camp
[17:59] Speaker 2: was a deep all to AJ Brown, but he didn't
[18:02] Speaker 2: catch it.
[18:02] Speaker 4: Well, I was gonna say, these coordinator scripts, they want you.
[18:06] Speaker 2: As a bat them And now he apparently went up
[18:08] Speaker 2: for one hand, didn't make the catch, and I was
[18:11] Speaker 2: just thinking back to, like I distinctly remember his first
[18:14] Speaker 2: days in Eagles camp. He destroyed everyone, and I was like,
[18:18] Speaker 2: oh wow, that's happening right now with the Patriots. Before
[18:21] Speaker 2: we go to break, let's just listen to Sean McVay
[18:25] Speaker 2: on a possible Aaron Donald return.
[18:27] Speaker 8: He's going to go through what he's going through right now.
[18:30] Speaker 8: We'll see how his body's responding to some of the
[18:32] Speaker 8: training in the way that he puts himself through the
[18:34] Speaker 8: paces to know what it looks and feels like to
[18:37] Speaker 8: be ready to, you know, take on what the rigors
[18:39] Speaker 8: of an NFL season entail, and if he's feeling good
[18:42] Speaker 8: about that, you know. Then we'll move forward and what
[18:44] Speaker 8: those dates are, you know, I'll share with you guys,
[18:46] Speaker 8: want to have more information.
[18:48] Speaker 1: Oh that smile at the end, and the way he.
[18:50] Speaker 3: Said it no poker face.
[18:52] Speaker 2: It does not seem like Aaron Donald is even still deciding.
[18:55] Speaker 2: I guess there's a scenario where the working out goes
[18:59] Speaker 2: so poorly or he gets hurt.
[19:00] Speaker 1: Or something, but it's all but confirmed at this point.
[19:03] Speaker 3: I will tell you guys this.
[19:04] Speaker 4: I was there on site when he gave his press
[19:07] Speaker 4: conference and he was asked about the potential of Odell
[19:10] Speaker 4: Beckham Junior joining the team, and he gave a face
[19:13] Speaker 4: that was exactly like that. And then I was out
[19:16] Speaker 4: in the parking lot where I would do often do
[19:18] Speaker 4: my work because there were no at the old facility,
[19:20] Speaker 4: There were no places to go and make a phone call.
[19:23] Speaker 4: Got a tip that they were, in fact from outside
[19:26] Speaker 4: the building source they were in fact going to.
[19:29] Speaker 3: Bring in Odell Beckham Junior.
[19:32] Speaker 4: And it happened in such a sequential fashion where I
[19:35] Speaker 4: was like, this guy has no poker he really does?
[19:37] Speaker 3: Whatsoever?
[19:39] Speaker 2: Now will Aaron Donald be on the rams by the
[19:41] Speaker 2: time that NFL Daily goes there in a week and
[19:44] Speaker 2: a half. I don't think so. I don't think I
[19:46] Speaker 2: don't think it would be that soon. But I think
[19:48] Speaker 2: it's all but confirmed at this point. Let's take a
[19:51] Speaker 2: quick break. On the other side, we are going to
[19:53] Speaker 2: continue our division previews.
[19:56] Speaker 1: Yes, we've already talked about them a little bit. The Cardinals, the.
[19:59] Speaker 2: Rams, fending Super Bowl champions, and the forty nine ers back.
[20:04] Speaker 1: In a minute back on NFL Daily.
[20:14] Speaker 2: If you weren't with us on Friday's show, we debuted
[20:18] Speaker 2: our new format around the NFC West Division preview is
[20:23] Speaker 2: coming today.
[20:24] Speaker 1: We did the AFC West on Friday.
[20:27] Speaker 3: We got good reviews on theat.
[20:30] Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, that's good to know.
[20:31] Speaker 2: Here's the format, twelve minutes per team.
[20:36] Speaker 1: We got a bunch of different categories.
[20:37] Speaker 2: You will learn what those categories are in just a
[20:41] Speaker 2: minute as we go through them, but let's put twelve
[20:44] Speaker 2: minutes on the clock. We do it alphabetically, so we're
[20:46] Speaker 2: starting with the Cardinals. You know, if we had a
[20:49] Speaker 2: producer that it's like, well, don't you know, maybe do
[20:52] Speaker 2: the Cardinals, Like No, We're gonna stick with the alphabetical order.
[20:55] Speaker 2: We've got three Super Bowl contenders and the Arizona Cardinals
[20:59] Speaker 2: in this vision, and the first category here is what
[21:04] Speaker 2: is bringing us joy for your hometown team, the Arizona Cardinals.
[21:09] Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm gonna just hit it right back to you, Greg,
[21:11] Speaker 4: because I kind of talked about it already with Jacoby.
[21:14] Speaker 4: That whole contract that gave you. It was really amusing
[21:19] Speaker 4: to me. It was amusing and not in like a
[21:21] Speaker 4: negative way or like I wasn't making fun of the
[21:24] Speaker 4: Cardinals on this at all.
[21:25] Speaker 3: I think for organization and player it was the right
[21:28] Speaker 3: thing to do. It just made so much sense, But
[21:30] Speaker 3: it was hilarious.
[21:31] Speaker 4: Objectively, Yes, that it dragged out for that long, and
[21:35] Speaker 4: that was like the main storyline around the Cardinals, right.
[21:39] Speaker 1: I mean, it's like a little bit of making fun.
[21:41] Speaker 2: So I will, because I love ball, I will give
[21:45] Speaker 2: more of a answer here.
[21:48] Speaker 3: Shots fired.
[21:49] Speaker 1: Here's what's bringing me joy?
[21:50] Speaker 2: This skill position group, dear my love Trey McBride, Michael Wilson,
[21:58] Speaker 2: and then I'm gonna put a maybe Marvin Harrison Junior
[22:01] Speaker 2: and even a little Kendrick Bourne spilled sprinkled in. I
[22:06] Speaker 2: love that group, Like that's an explosive group. That's a
[22:09] Speaker 2: fun team to watch. If you took that skill position
[22:13] Speaker 2: group and you put them on the Panthers, like, I'd
[22:18] Speaker 2: feel better about them winning the division. For instance, if
[22:20] Speaker 2: you put that skill position group and put them on
[22:22] Speaker 2: the Packers, I'd be like, I think they're more of
[22:24] Speaker 2: a Super Bowl contender because they have that skill position group.
[22:29] Speaker 2: There are other elements to the entire team build that
[22:32] Speaker 2: obviously we're gonna have questions about, and quarterback is one
[22:36] Speaker 2: of them, and Jacoby Pressett in a new system, But
[22:38] Speaker 2: I think all those dudes are difference makers. And I'm
[22:41] Speaker 2: including Michael Wilson in that group. Like, Michael Wilson is
[22:44] Speaker 2: a dude. Trey McBride is the best tight end in
[22:46] Speaker 2: the NFL, Jeremiah Love is one of the best running
[22:49] Speaker 2: back prospects of the last ten years.
[22:51] Speaker 1: Like, it is an exciting group.
[22:52] Speaker 2: If Marvin Harrison is your two and Bourn's your three,
[22:55] Speaker 2: that's a good situation.
[22:57] Speaker 3: It is. It's layers too, which is what I really
[22:59] Speaker 3: like it.
[23:00] Speaker 4: And you know, there's questions about the offensive line and
[23:03] Speaker 4: how that group's going to look in terms of what
[23:05] Speaker 4: Jeremiah Love is actually going to be.
[23:06] Speaker 3: Able to do in their run game.
[23:08] Speaker 4: And then obviously you had to at least pay some
[23:11] Speaker 4: respectable amount of money to the guy who's going to
[23:14] Speaker 4: be throwing the football.
[23:16] Speaker 3: So, yes, you have to.
[23:17] Speaker 4: Make you do have talented skills, so you have to
[23:20] Speaker 4: make those guys happy. They are at least going to
[23:22] Speaker 4: spread the ball around and get targets. One thing Greg
[23:24] Speaker 4: that I think is kind of getting slept on is
[23:27] Speaker 4: Kendrick Boord, Mike and Mike Laflor Michaelafluor being the new
[23:30] Speaker 4: head coach of the Cardinals and who's designing their offensive system.
[23:33] Speaker 4: They're tight. Michaelafluor loves him. They have a history like this.
[23:38] Speaker 3: To me, this is a sneaky player to watch in
[23:40] Speaker 3: this offense.
[23:41] Speaker 2: So that would give them even more levels because Jeremiah
[23:44] Speaker 2: Love is a good pass catcher and it's going to
[23:47] Speaker 2: be explosive. I am buying all the Michael Wilson stock.
[23:50] Speaker 2: If I had to give one of the two receivers
[23:52] Speaker 2: a long term contract, it's Michael Wilson, not Marvin Harrison Junior.
[23:55] Speaker 2: I think Michael Wilson can be a top twenty receiver
[23:57] Speaker 2: in this league for a long time. I don't think
[23:59] Speaker 2: it was like you know, late catchup merchant, Like, no,
[24:03] Speaker 2: he was beating some tough coverage one on one. Uh,
[24:08] Speaker 2: it's a good group overall, and that actually it leads
[24:10] Speaker 2: me into my most important non quarterback.
[24:12] Speaker 1: So because it's all connected, I'm gonna.
[24:14] Speaker 2: Go Paris Johnson Junior, who's their left tackle and was
[24:18] Speaker 2: a high pick what four years ago and is steadily improved.
[24:21] Speaker 2: And it's a little bit symbolic of the rest of
[24:24] Speaker 2: the offensive line. But if they play as well as
[24:27] Speaker 2: they could, then you have these skilled players and a
[24:31] Speaker 2: pretty dynamic offensive line. Paris Johnson could be like a
[24:34] Speaker 2: top five left tackle if he improves a little bit.
[24:36] Speaker 2: You signed Isaac Sciamalo from Pittsburgh. You like your center
[24:41] Speaker 2: fro hole the right side of the line. More questions there,
[24:44] Speaker 2: But you did draft Chase Pisontas high in the second round,
[24:47] Speaker 2: so that's someone you're you're excited about, and it's like,
[24:50] Speaker 2: that's an offensive line with potential. So there's a lot
[24:52] Speaker 2: of if if ifs in the schedules, brutal, But if
[24:54] Speaker 2: that offensive line, if Paris Johnson becomes that kind of
[24:57] Speaker 2: dude plus skill position, you don't need a great quarterback
[25:00] Speaker 2: for that offense to be pretty good.
[25:01] Speaker 4: And look, this scheme we'll see right, but allegedly it
[25:05] Speaker 4: is supposed to make life a little bit easier on
[25:08] Speaker 4: the protections that you have up front on those offensive linemen.
[25:12] Speaker 4: And I feel like too, this is this is an
[25:15] Speaker 4: interesting somalow. I've been catching some some clips right coming
[25:19] Speaker 4: out of Cardinals camp early. It's early. This is file
[25:21] Speaker 4: it away under things that don't matter yet, umalow against
[25:24] Speaker 4: your guy Walter Nolan saw a couple of real positive
[25:27] Speaker 4: reps from Sumalo coming out of Cardinals camp, so that
[25:30] Speaker 4: this is this is an interesting group altogether. To me,
[25:33] Speaker 4: my most important player, it just has to be Trade McBride, honestly,
[25:38] Speaker 4: the non quarterback.
[25:38] Speaker 7: Yeah.
[25:39] Speaker 2: I said, you can't pick and you could pick a
[25:40] Speaker 2: different coach if you really wanted, but non head I'll
[25:43] Speaker 2: get to that.
[25:43] Speaker 1: We'll get to this scheme stuff.
[25:44] Speaker 4: But the the Trade McBride factor in this, in this offense,
[25:49] Speaker 4: it's gonna look a little bit different, I think, and
[25:51] Speaker 4: that I'll that'll come to some of my scheme stuff
[25:53] Speaker 4: I want to talk about.
[25:53] Speaker 3: But he he got paid.
[25:56] Speaker 4: He's one of the best tight ends, if not right now,
[25:58] Speaker 4: the best tight end we'll see when Tucker Craft comes back,
[26:00] Speaker 4: which is like one of the best tight ends in
[26:02] Speaker 4: the league, if not the best. He has gotten the
[26:04] Speaker 4: respect from his peers, and also he's starting to be
[26:08] Speaker 4: a little bit more vocal.
[26:09] Speaker 3: About the direction of the organization.
[26:11] Speaker 4: A couple of podcasts he did this offseason, he was
[26:14] Speaker 4: a little bit more vocal about we need to get
[26:16] Speaker 4: this thing right, We need to get this thing moving
[26:19] Speaker 4: and going, get some credibility, get some seriousness here in
[26:23] Speaker 4: this organization.
[26:23] Speaker 2: He's the guy right now because Kittle was hurt at
[26:25] Speaker 2: the end of last year, but I think even before
[26:27] Speaker 2: that there was separation. And when you combine the blocking,
[26:30] Speaker 2: the receiving, the down to down consistency, he's tight end
[26:34] Speaker 2: one right now in the NFL. Well, you said the
[26:37] Speaker 2: scheme stuff is related when it comes to McBride, let's
[26:39] Speaker 2: hear about it.
[26:40] Speaker 4: Yes, because this is not even a hot take, is
[26:44] Speaker 4: just this is just football, Greg, which I also love,
[26:48] Speaker 4: by the way, Greg, not.
[26:50] Speaker 2: As much because he just picked like a little funny
[26:52] Speaker 2: contract story as the thing that's bringing.
[26:54] Speaker 3: You to true that means that I like it less
[26:56] Speaker 3: than you.
[26:58] Speaker 4: This is the team that I think has a better
[27:00] Speaker 4: shot of actually playing thirteen personnel, actually copying what the
[27:04] Speaker 4: Rams did. Like every team trying to use their tight
[27:06] Speaker 4: ends a little bit more and load up on these
[27:09] Speaker 4: tight ends so they can build at least a twelve
[27:11] Speaker 4: personnel room. But everybody sort of had their eye on
[27:14] Speaker 4: that thirteen personnel well, Mike laflor who helped set that
[27:17] Speaker 4: in motion last season for the Rams, has a really
[27:21] Speaker 4: like sneaky underrated, high high upside, high ceiling tight ends room. Obviously,
[27:27] Speaker 4: Trey McBride is the headline here. Elijah Higgins has some
[27:31] Speaker 4: stuff to him seriously, really came along near the end
[27:34] Speaker 4: of last season. Is it more of a pass catcher
[27:36] Speaker 4: He's been in a blocking role, but definitely more of
[27:39] Speaker 4: like that mismatch pass catcher he was a former receiver
[27:42] Speaker 4: and tip ryman who was coming off the injury. Is
[27:45] Speaker 4: the guy who really activates the blocking surface and really
[27:49] Speaker 4: does a lot of that dirty work, but still also
[27:51] Speaker 4: can catch the ball very respectably. So this, to me,
[27:55] Speaker 4: what I think we're gonna see in camp for the
[27:56] Speaker 4: Cardinals is I think we're going to see Michaelafloor do
[27:59] Speaker 4: exactly what the d which is established the eleven personnel playbook,
[28:02] Speaker 4: because as you mentioned, they've got a respectable three deep
[28:06] Speaker 4: of those receivers where they can actually do that and
[28:09] Speaker 4: then translate that over into these thirteen personnel concepts again,
[28:14] Speaker 4: just like what the Rams did last season. And I
[28:16] Speaker 4: think of the teams that are wanting or hoping to
[28:19] Speaker 4: try to do something like this. It's very sneaky but
[28:23] Speaker 4: under the radar. But I think Michae Lafleur and this
[28:25] Speaker 4: team has actually got the personnel and the scheme to
[28:27] Speaker 4: do it.
[28:28] Speaker 2: Yeah, Michaelafler their new head coach. He's a huge question
[28:31] Speaker 2: like does he have the goods? We'll find out. He's
[28:33] Speaker 2: sort of the forgotten Lafleur brother, a guy who, when
[28:36] Speaker 2: you think about the people from the Shanahan mcveaghtreet like
[28:39] Speaker 2: it took him a while to get picked, including this offseason.
[28:42] Speaker 2: They were the ten team to hire a head coach.
[28:45] Speaker 2: He was not their first choice, so he has to
[28:47] Speaker 2: prove it. But schematically and with the players that he have,
[28:49] Speaker 2: it does make a lot of sense. This category, by
[28:52] Speaker 2: the way, is called scheme Dream. It's where we talk
[28:53] Speaker 2: some schematic stuff. I just want to point out the
[28:56] Speaker 2: defensive coordinator is still the same Nick Rollis. He did
[28:59] Speaker 2: some really weird stuff a couple of years ago, super
[29:02] Speaker 2: creative with Jonathan Gannon who was the head coach, and
[29:06] Speaker 2: everyone was like, Wow, that was pretty cool. They had
[29:08] Speaker 2: a lot of injuries, not a lot of talent. Last
[29:11] Speaker 2: year they had more talent. I don't think they were
[29:12] Speaker 2: expected to do as much weird stuff. Then they got
[29:14] Speaker 2: hurt all over again. It was less effective. I think
[29:17] Speaker 2: it was partly less effective because Buddhabaker was less effective,
[29:20] Speaker 2: and he's a big part of all that. Yeah, getting older,
[29:23] Speaker 2: so him getting better. They're pretty deep at edge. They
[29:27] Speaker 2: have Josh Sweat who's on the pup list right now,
[29:29] Speaker 2: and Xavin Collins and Baron Browning and bj os Alert
[29:32] Speaker 2: like guys that are decent, but it's not like the
[29:34] Speaker 2: most talented group. So just keeping an eye on how
[29:37] Speaker 2: creative Nick rallis and this Cardinals defense, which doesn't look
[29:41] Speaker 2: amazing on paper, is going to be. But you mentioned
[29:44] Speaker 2: Walter Nolan is a young defensive tackle that I really like.
[29:47] Speaker 3: Let's go to the things go wrong if.
[29:50] Speaker 4: Section, well, it's it really goes part and parcel with
[29:53] Speaker 4: what you're talking about with their defense. If they don't
[29:55] Speaker 4: look like a pro operation overall, First of all, this progress,
[29:58] Speaker 4: that's all they're asking for after such a bad season,
[30:02] Speaker 4: decimated by injuries. This was the number one team in
[30:05] Speaker 4: a jested games lost to injuries last season per FTN
[30:08] Speaker 4: and per the Elite FTN Almanag.
[30:11] Speaker 3: Which I've really enjoyed.
[30:12] Speaker 4: I've enjoyed the writing style of a lot of those
[30:14] Speaker 4: ride ups too, So shout.
[30:15] Speaker 2: Out to the second most injured teams in twenty five
[30:18] Speaker 2: years in.
[30:19] Speaker 4: Twenty five years since they created the stat, Like, it's
[30:22] Speaker 4: absolutely wild. They lost people. They lost players everywhere the defense.
[30:27] Speaker 4: They are getting back some of these really promising corners.
[30:30] Speaker 4: Garrett Williams, who played some slot for them last season,
[30:33] Speaker 4: is going to be back. Mac Wilson, the linebacker, is
[30:35] Speaker 4: going to be back. Walter Nolan, who we mentioned is
[30:37] Speaker 4: going to be back. Will Johnson was really banged up
[30:39] Speaker 4: on and off last season.
[30:41] Speaker 3: He's going to be back.
[30:41] Speaker 4: Sean Murphy Bunting, who may at this point be a
[30:44] Speaker 4: move player or maybe even a depth guy because of
[30:47] Speaker 4: how Garrett Williams was playing, you know, could come back.
[30:50] Speaker 4: This is going to be really really interesting to me
[30:53] Speaker 4: because these are all guys I like, these are all
[30:56] Speaker 4: players that I see potential in, and yet the well,
[31:00] Speaker 4: the coordinator is a huge question mark to me.
[31:02] Speaker 3: Still after some strong.
[31:03] Speaker 2: Start, Yeah, it's less about the coordinator. I think he's
[31:07] Speaker 2: fun and it's just it's the schedule. I mean, that's
[31:10] Speaker 2: the things go wrong if the schedule is actually as
[31:13] Speaker 2: hard as it looks. Sometimes schedules are predictable, sometimes they're not.
[31:17] Speaker 2: I think the Cardinals do not fit in these bottom
[31:20] Speaker 2: five or six teams in the NFL. I am more
[31:23] Speaker 2: like the projections that the f DAN Almanac had. They
[31:26] Speaker 2: actually in terms of just pure efficiency, had them as
[31:28] Speaker 2: the twenty third best team in the league. Whch doesn't
[31:29] Speaker 2: sound great, but it means you're better than eight or nineteen. Yeah,
[31:33] Speaker 2: I agree with that. Like I think you put them
[31:34] Speaker 2: in a in a bad division, they could come in
[31:36] Speaker 2: second place like the NFC South or some other, but
[31:39] Speaker 2: they are not in that division. Like they open with
[31:41] Speaker 2: at Chargers and then Seahawks forty nine ers, and like
[31:44] Speaker 2: can you find a way to avoid being zero and three?
[31:46] Speaker 2: And then it's on paper with this division and even
[31:50] Speaker 2: with some of the out of division schedule it is
[31:52] Speaker 2: just absolutely brutal. And then part and parcel that is
[31:56] Speaker 2: kind of like, all right, if we're winning too much,
[31:58] Speaker 2: like when do we pull the car set?
[32:00] Speaker 1: They could kind of tank.
[32:01] Speaker 2: By going to Carson Beck at some point, like if
[32:04] Speaker 2: they go to Carson Beck at week seven. I feel
[32:05] Speaker 2: like the season's got to feel over in week seven.
[32:08] Speaker 3: Hard and Parcel Huh, I don't know.
[32:09] Speaker 2: I said that, George h ceiling floor of the team.
[32:13] Speaker 2: You know, I just mentioned the twenty third team in DVA.
[32:16] Speaker 2: So with the schedule, if they play to their talent
[32:19] Speaker 2: and stay healthy, I still think they could scrape out
[32:21] Speaker 2: like six wins.
[32:22] Speaker 3: Yeah, that's my ceiling for them, sixty seven wins.
[32:25] Speaker 1: But with this schedule that's hard.
[32:26] Speaker 2: That's almost saying that in a bad division you might
[32:28] Speaker 2: be able to win eight or nine.
[32:29] Speaker 3: Yeah.
[32:30] Speaker 4: Well, that's my ceiling for them is six games, and
[32:32] Speaker 4: then I could see four that they could win on
[32:36] Speaker 4: their on their actual schedule as a you know, so
[32:38] Speaker 4: for me, four to six games is their spot, and
[32:41] Speaker 4: that's fine.
[32:42] Speaker 1: I feel like their floor is like two.
[32:44] Speaker 2: They could be the worst team in the NFL because
[32:46] Speaker 2: if they get hurt, if things go wrong again, and
[32:49] Speaker 2: I know we're not trying to think about injuries.
[32:50] Speaker 4: I don't think they will be they have I don't
[32:52] Speaker 4: think they have competence if not like elite talent at quarterback,
[32:56] Speaker 4: it's just competent. You're setting, You're just setting a stability factor,
[33:00] Speaker 4: and then I think this offense is.
[33:01] Speaker 3: Gonna be good.
[33:02] Speaker 2: It's like, you got a couple of games against the
[33:03] Speaker 2: Commanders and you know Saints and Giant's, like, you gotta
[33:07] Speaker 2: win those games. Yeah, you know the others, the others,
[33:11] Speaker 2: big big underdogs. Let's go to the Los Angeles Rams,
[33:17] Speaker 2: the Super Bowl favorites in the desert right now. And
[33:22] Speaker 2: that's part of what's bringing me joy about this team.
[33:25] Speaker 2: We can get to the defense like should be as
[33:27] Speaker 2: good as the offense, which is exciting. But to me,
[33:29] Speaker 2: the fact that we have a super team, that we
[33:31] Speaker 2: kind of got a boogeyman, that we got a team
[33:33] Speaker 2: that when they're in primetime or every day of the
[33:35] Speaker 2: week is kind of like the flashy team because of
[33:38] Speaker 2: the Miles Garrett trade in large part, but also because
[33:42] Speaker 2: of the other players. Pukinakua and you have the MVP
[33:44] Speaker 2: and and all the other moves you can get into.
[33:46] Speaker 1: I just like that.
[33:47] Speaker 2: I it's not because my family's RAMS fans, so that
[33:50] Speaker 2: that doesn't hurt, but like, I like that people will
[33:53] Speaker 2: be like going at them. Every Rams game is gonna
[33:57] Speaker 2: feel like a bigger game that I like.
[33:59] Speaker 4: Well, it's going to be similar to what we saw.
[34:02] Speaker 4: I don't even think it'll be as similar as what
[34:03] Speaker 4: we saw in twenty twenty one, because what we saw
[34:05] Speaker 4: in twenty two one was all this came in waves.
[34:07] Speaker 4: Everybody knew that Stafford and McVeigh was going to be solid,
[34:10] Speaker 4: but then they just kept adding players in waves. Now
[34:13] Speaker 4: everybody's got a full training camp to get their best
[34:16] Speaker 4: ready for that game on the schedule. And so for me,
[34:19] Speaker 4: what this sort of reminds me of is some of
[34:21] Speaker 4: that twenty eighteen stuff, some of that league rattling, concept
[34:25] Speaker 4: changing stuff when the collision of a good team with
[34:29] Speaker 4: a good defense or a good offense in this case,
[34:32] Speaker 4: clashes and collides against us perceived super team like this,
[34:36] Speaker 4: And that's for me, that's my joy is, like, what
[34:38] Speaker 4: are we gonna learn out of this season? Not just
[34:41] Speaker 4: from the Rams and how they're built. They're built like
[34:44] Speaker 4: a what if team, Like what if we just tried this?
[34:47] Speaker 4: People think people are talking with their friends in the
[34:49] Speaker 4: bar or whatever they're like, wouldn't it be cool if
[34:51] Speaker 4: a team just did this like Wool.
[34:53] Speaker 2: What if we added Miles Garrett to Byron Young, who's
[34:55] Speaker 2: a top twenty five young edge and Kobe Turner who's
[34:59] Speaker 2: a fifteen young defensive tackle, and Braden Fisk, and they
[35:03] Speaker 2: like Josiah Stewart, and what if we added Trent McDuffie
[35:06] Speaker 2: in the back end and his old teammate give him
[35:08] Speaker 2: a lot of money, and like they feel good about
[35:10] Speaker 2: every position.
[35:11] Speaker 1: I was trying to think of comps.
[35:12] Speaker 2: People have brought up the Eagles dream team with Namdi Osma,
[35:17] Speaker 2: which if you look back at the time, was more
[35:19] Speaker 2: of a media creation. It was like they added like Osama,
[35:22] Speaker 2: who is awesome, and like Vince Young as their backup
[35:24] Speaker 2: and a couple It wasn't It wasn't the same. Reminds
[35:27] Speaker 2: me a little more of just like peak Patriots when
[35:29] Speaker 2: they were rolling a little bit and just like, Okay,
[35:32] Speaker 2: that's the team that everyone's shooting for because they're just
[35:34] Speaker 2: playing that well, and yet like are they even favorites
[35:37] Speaker 2: in this division? That's that's for later. We're gonna predict it.
[35:39] Speaker 2: Let's go for the most important non quarterback give Yeah.
[35:42] Speaker 4: So I had a big number of factors to choose
[35:44] Speaker 4: from here, Yes, because I wanted to pick someone like
[35:47] Speaker 4: perhaps Kobe Turner, who couldn't finish that NFC Championship game
[35:51] Speaker 4: because of the injury and then really is going to
[35:53] Speaker 4: be counted on as the true knows, like that anchor
[35:56] Speaker 4: that lets Miles Garrett do whatever he wants to do.
[35:58] Speaker 4: Essentially on the edge, Warren McClendon, who's taking over for
[36:01] Speaker 4: Rob Havenstein at right tackle. Depth along their offensive line
[36:05] Speaker 4: is obviously going to be crucial.
[36:07] Speaker 3: I am hope.
[36:08] Speaker 4: I'm actually going to go with David Goone, a name
[36:10] Speaker 4: that Dave many people have not heard of, but he
[36:13] Speaker 4: is the quarterbacks coach, and this is the guy who
[36:17] Speaker 4: is actually going to be in charge of getting either
[36:20] Speaker 4: backup Stetson Bennett or backup rookie Ty Simpson ready to
[36:25] Speaker 4: back up MVP quarterback Matthew Stafford at thirty eight years old,
[36:30] Speaker 4: if anything happens to him, if that tackle depth isn't
[36:33] Speaker 4: what we think it's going to be, if Aleric Jackson,
[36:35] Speaker 4: the left tackle, misses time due to his legal situation,
[36:38] Speaker 4: if the league decides to suspend him, this is a
[36:42] Speaker 4: potential pivot point here collectively, if anything happens. I don't
[36:46] Speaker 4: want to assume anything will because he was great last season,
[36:49] Speaker 4: but if anything happens, backup quarterback is a huge question
[36:53] Speaker 4: mark for this team and that is David Gohon's job.
[36:55] Speaker 4: That is not Sean mcvay's job. Sean McVay famously is
[36:58] Speaker 4: not developing these quarterbacks if they are not the number
[37:01] Speaker 4: one quarterback behind the scenes. That is David Goone, who
[37:03] Speaker 4: is Sean mcvay's like number one guy. The coach he
[37:06] Speaker 4: has hoped to not lose the most over the last
[37:08] Speaker 4: couple of years. He is in charge, and camp reports
[37:12] Speaker 4: are saying so far he has been glued to Ty Simpson.
[37:16] Speaker 2: I love that choice, and I immediately searched for David
[37:20] Speaker 2: Goon's game blog because I was like.
[37:22] Speaker 3: Well, I'm going to get a phone call because oh,
[37:24] Speaker 3: you can't. Don't we keep him on the radar?
[37:26] Speaker 2: I was like, I think David Goones started some games
[37:30] Speaker 2: and it was the first year I covered the NFL
[37:33] Speaker 2: lefty long time ago. He averaged three point four yards
[37:39] Speaker 2: per attempt. That might be the lowest number I've ever seen.
[37:43] Speaker 2: I mean it was only for forty attempts. He struggled
[37:45] Speaker 2: in those two games for the Texans, but he's an
[37:49] Speaker 2: elite athlete compared to everyone else, you know, compared to
[37:54] Speaker 2: like ninety nine point you know.
[37:55] Speaker 1: Six percent of people have tried to play sports.
[37:57] Speaker 2: He made it to professional sports, but I just remembered
[37:59] Speaker 2: he's struggle in a really difficult to watch away one
[38:02] Speaker 2: hundred and thirty five yards combined and two starts.
[38:05] Speaker 1: You don't you don't see that too much. I chose Pina.
[38:08] Speaker 3: Mm hm, that's a good choice.
[38:12] Speaker 1: It's not. Yeah, no, it's not just because.
[38:16] Speaker 4: I guess you just don't great such as me. Yeah,
[38:18] Speaker 4: you just picked the obvious answer.
[38:20] Speaker 1: Well, they were a little thin, Like.
[38:25] Speaker 2: Pokin Akua is dealing with this civil suit, some allegations
[38:31] Speaker 2: from from a woman, and there are pictures of bite
[38:33] Speaker 2: marks out there, and he made some thunder hitted off
[38:36] Speaker 2: field stuff last season, and like that made you not
[38:40] Speaker 2: related to that. That was like made you question his
[38:42] Speaker 2: maturity a little bit. And yet you know he he
[38:45] Speaker 2: has the argument for maybe the best receiver in the NFL,
[38:48] Speaker 2: the most important and the reason I put him here
[38:50] Speaker 2: more than anything is not just that is that it's
[38:53] Speaker 2: a little thin after them.
[38:54] Speaker 1: Yes, DeVante Adams was not the.
[38:56] Speaker 2: Same last year, and I want I want to see
[38:57] Speaker 2: DeVante Adams maybe like either stop that client or improve.
[39:02] Speaker 2: I know the tight end group is great and we
[39:04] Speaker 2: can get into that with the scheme and everything, but
[39:06] Speaker 2: the third receiver is just not there, and so they
[39:09] Speaker 2: just they just need Puka to stay and be at
[39:12] Speaker 2: that level, yeah or else it it all gets a
[39:15] Speaker 2: little rickety if you're counting too much on DeVante Adams.
[39:18] Speaker 2: And then who do you think will be their third receiver?
[39:21] Speaker 4: I think Kunate Momfield first of all, could take a
[39:24] Speaker 4: step forward, needs to take a step forward.
[39:26] Speaker 2: A seventh round pick from a year ago and played
[39:28] Speaker 2: well for a seventh round.
[39:29] Speaker 3: Rookie played well.
[39:30] Speaker 4: And if you go back and you watch his tape
[39:31] Speaker 4: while he was at Pitt, they were doing a lot
[39:32] Speaker 4: of things similarly to what mcveigh's like former sort of
[39:35] Speaker 4: pure eleven personnel offense look like. And he really he
[39:39] Speaker 4: has the knack for like really understanding like where the
[39:41] Speaker 4: voids on the field.
[39:42] Speaker 3: Are that he needs to hit.
[39:43] Speaker 2: I mean, he was on the field in the moments
[39:46] Speaker 2: that decided whether they went to the super Bowl or now.
[39:48] Speaker 3: It was hard because he and it was tough, tough
[39:50] Speaker 3: moments for him too.
[39:52] Speaker 4: But this is a player who I know they're really
[39:54] Speaker 4: high on and who, like I said, absolutely has to
[39:57] Speaker 4: take a step forward. Jordan Whittington, maybe is that you know,
[40:00] Speaker 4: lateral receiver three, but he's going to be used a
[40:03] Speaker 4: lot as a blocker and sort of like elevating that
[40:05] Speaker 4: run game and getting that that you know, sort of
[40:09] Speaker 4: figured out if they want to stay in some of
[40:10] Speaker 4: these smaller personnels when they're run blocking.
[40:13] Speaker 3: So that's someone to look at too. But this is
[40:16] Speaker 3: this is a for me.
[40:17] Speaker 4: It goes into scheme dream with them Greg, which you know,
[40:21] Speaker 4: I know everybody's probably sick of me talking about thirteen
[40:23] Speaker 4: personnel tough cookies. I'm going to talk about it all year, guys,
[40:27] Speaker 4: But this is one of the stories of last season,
[40:30] Speaker 4: the three tight ends on the field and basically Sean
[40:32] Speaker 4: McVay taking his eleven personnel playbook and translating it directly
[40:36] Speaker 4: into what his tight ends, who all could catch the
[40:38] Speaker 4: ball and all could block, what would be able to
[40:41] Speaker 4: do using those same concepts. And it was really interesting
[40:45] Speaker 4: to me that they stayed with the two elite receivers
[40:49] Speaker 4: this year, and it begged the question for me, does
[40:51] Speaker 4: he now start to build in more twelve personnel, two
[40:54] Speaker 4: tight ends, two receivers, understanding the depth questions that he
[40:57] Speaker 4: does have and understanding where some of the skills sets are,
[41:00] Speaker 4: what they didn't have was a more natural fit into
[41:04] Speaker 4: twelve personnel. They could go eleven to thirteen in my mind,
[41:07] Speaker 4: because he already had an entire team understanding what that
[41:11] Speaker 4: eleven personnel look like. Three receivers, making them bigger going
[41:15] Speaker 4: into three tight ends playing very similar pass structure. So
[41:18] Speaker 4: for me, what if he builds out more twelve into camp.
[41:21] Speaker 3: We don't know. We have to see.
[41:22] Speaker 4: That gives them maybe like not player depth they that
[41:26] Speaker 4: they do need. But another answer, should anything happen to
[41:29] Speaker 4: any of the receivers.
[41:30] Speaker 2: And they have great depth that tight end, it's outrageous.
[41:33] Speaker 2: Kolby Parkinson has turned into a dude. Tyler Higbee has
[41:35] Speaker 2: been there forever. Might be his last year with the Rams.
[41:37] Speaker 1: We'll see.
[41:38] Speaker 2: But they have a second round pick and Terrence Ferguson
[41:40] Speaker 2: from a year ago who's very physically impressive and could
[41:43] Speaker 2: take a step up. They have a second round pick
[41:44] Speaker 2: this year in Max Clair. They have a guy in
[41:46] Speaker 2: Davis Allen who literally some games would play more than
[41:50] Speaker 2: DeVante Adams because they trusted him so much as a
[41:53] Speaker 2: blocker and they were playing so much thirteen personnel. And yes,
[41:56] Speaker 2: it's gotten talked about a lot this offseason. I don't
[41:59] Speaker 2: think by you, just by everyone, but I don't think
[42:01] Speaker 2: like I do. Think it's worth pointing out that they
[42:04] Speaker 2: did it more than like more than double any other
[42:07] Speaker 2: team in the league, more than probably any team in
[42:09] Speaker 2: NFL history, and the efficiency with which they did it,
[42:12] Speaker 2: like they were the best offense ever buy a lot
[42:14] Speaker 2: if you just isolate those plays. So it was like
[42:17] Speaker 2: that effective. It made that big of adherence. We have
[42:19] Speaker 2: to move on things go wrong for this super duper team.
[42:22] Speaker 3: Yeah, if well, we're not trying to factor in injuries here.
[42:26] Speaker 1: Not really now. Yeah, it feels like for me, yeah, I've.
[42:29] Speaker 4: Already presented the depth concerns that I have. Obviously those
[42:33] Speaker 4: still are a factor here in this in this category,
[42:36] Speaker 4: for me, it's sort of a much simpler question than that,
[42:39] Speaker 4: like what if it just doesn't work, Like what if
[42:44] Speaker 4: the vibes go bad or something. I have no proof
[42:47] Speaker 4: of believing that would be the case, other than if
[42:50] Speaker 4: like compounding injuries happen at one position group that's important
[42:54] Speaker 4: or more. This is like they did it in Waves
[42:57] Speaker 4: in twenty twenty one and it sort of kept the
[42:59] Speaker 4: energy rolling. This is interesting to me because it's like,
[43:03] Speaker 4: what's gonna be their thing that they do in November.
[43:05] Speaker 4: That's always the question with this team when they're contending team,
[43:09] Speaker 4: what's gonna be the new thing or the wrinkle they
[43:10] Speaker 4: add in November that sparks everybody up again. So for me,
[43:14] Speaker 4: it's like, Okay, all of this looks awesome and so
[43:17] Speaker 4: fun on paper, what if it just doesn't work?
[43:20] Speaker 1: Right?
[43:20] Speaker 2: I think the two routes, and I'm picking knits, would
[43:25] Speaker 2: be the defense is just good instead of great, Like
[43:28] Speaker 2: it looks pretty great on paper. Secondaries especially aren't predictable.
[43:32] Speaker 2: I think that goes to the like, what if it
[43:34] Speaker 2: doesn't work. McDuffie and Watson come in, they really trust
[43:36] Speaker 2: cam curl and Quentin Lake like it all makes sense,
[43:39] Speaker 2: but between them and the linebackers, maybe that is just like, oh,
[43:42] Speaker 2: it's just good not great. My answer though, is the
[43:44] Speaker 2: offensive line. You know, Alaric Jackson might be suspended, we'll see.
[43:49] Speaker 2: Like they played well last year. You mentioned McClendon at center,
[43:53] Speaker 2: it's Coleman Shelton and Ovula has been good when he's
[43:56] Speaker 2: been out there, but it's a little up and down.
[43:57] Speaker 2: I just feel like that's probably my biggest concern, that
[44:00] Speaker 2: that's not like a difference making offensive line. And then
[44:03] Speaker 2: I could throw this into our little Land Yaps section,
[44:06] Speaker 2: which is just like a little something extra if we've
[44:08] Speaker 2: got it, which is you know specialties.
[44:11] Speaker 4: Well, yeah, that they'd like that much like the Rams
[44:14] Speaker 4: we have not spoken about, right, I mean.
[44:17] Speaker 1: I probably cost them the Super Bowl last year. Over yeah,
[44:20] Speaker 1: I would say.
[44:21] Speaker 6: Yeah.
[44:21] Speaker 4: They hired new special teams coordinator Bubba van Trone, they
[44:24] Speaker 4: have Harrison MeVis as their kicker. Still big questions for
[44:27] Speaker 4: me in the return game for them, They're not an
[44:29] Speaker 4: aggressive return team. They started being a little more aggressive
[44:32] Speaker 4: with Jordan Winnington last year, which was great, but they
[44:34] Speaker 4: had some ball security issues that really cost them, and
[44:36] Speaker 4: then their return coverage was a huge problem for them
[44:40] Speaker 4: obviously in key moments last season and into the postseason.
[44:45] Speaker 3: So that's that's a huge question.
[44:46] Speaker 4: And my Land yap is Cliff Kingsbury's there, but I
[44:50] Speaker 4: don't Yeah, he's going to be doing much with the
[44:52] Speaker 4: quarterbacks specifically. I don't know why we keep pushing this
[44:54] Speaker 4: narrative that he's working with quarterbacks this. I think he's
[44:57] Speaker 4: I think there's going to be some some inter some
[45:00] Speaker 4: creative stuff they might try.
[45:01] Speaker 3: Well, I was gonna say oh, some spread with big
[45:04] Speaker 3: bodies like that is what I would be really curious about.
[45:07] Speaker 2: Seeing they played at the second fastest pace of any
[45:09] Speaker 2: team in the league last year.
[45:11] Speaker 1: Stafford's great at that.
[45:12] Speaker 2: So I'm really glad you mentioned Kingsbury because the things
[45:14] Speaker 2: that he does well tempo and then coming up with
[45:17] Speaker 2: like four or five plazy treat that's like, oh, that
[45:21] Speaker 2: was pretty cool, Like that's kind of a perfect role
[45:23] Speaker 2: for him.
[45:24] Speaker 3: Yes, in LA it's great. I agree.
[45:25] Speaker 4: And also, I can't be the only one who noticed
[45:28] Speaker 4: from the content that the RAMS social media team posted that.
[45:31] Speaker 3: The Immortal trailer is already at training camp. It's parked
[45:35] Speaker 3: right outside the door.
[45:36] Speaker 1: The trailer here, the Immortal Chamber.
[45:38] Speaker 3: The trailer that the silver Bullet trailer that is.
[45:40] Speaker 1: A Mortal from Amortal.
[45:42] Speaker 3: The chamber is parked right outside the freaking dorms.
[45:45] Speaker 2: The a Mortal actually came in what fourth and MVP
[45:48] Speaker 2: voting last year. It was like Stafford and then.
[45:50] Speaker 3: Well, I don't have a vote, but that's what I hear.
[45:52] Speaker 2: I'm working on it. We haven't gotten to the ceiling
[45:55] Speaker 2: floor obviously. The ceiling is is the Super Bowl? Yeah, yeah,
[46:00] Speaker 2: I think the floor. They are one of two teams.
[46:02] Speaker 2: I just would be stunned if they didn't make the playoffs.
[46:04] Speaker 2: It's it's hard in the NFL, like so to me,
[46:06] Speaker 2: the floor is it's a tough division and you're playing
[46:09] Speaker 2: on the road in the playoffs as a wild card team.
[46:11] Speaker 1: That's how I.
[46:13] Speaker 4: For my ceiling floor. I was curious, have you heard
[46:16] Speaker 4: of the phenomenon of the Tzara death Pants? No?
[46:19] Speaker 3: Okay, let me inform you about this. The Zara Death
[46:23] Speaker 3: Pants are a.
[46:24] Speaker 4: Very wide leg, flowy pair of Palazzo pants sold by Zara,
[46:28] Speaker 4: the clothing company, that are causing young women to trip
[46:32] Speaker 4: and fall in heinous fashion if they are not totally
[46:35] Speaker 4: focused on the legs of the pants and they're swishing.
[46:38] Speaker 4: Sort of reminded me of when I tripped over my
[46:40] Speaker 4: own pants at the combine and fell face.
[46:42] Speaker 1: Down right in front of you are a great physical comedian.
[46:45] Speaker 4: Right in front of another set. Really embarrassing moment. These
[46:49] Speaker 4: pants are stylish, and they're beautiful, and they got a
[46:51] Speaker 4: lot going for them, and they look great on paper.
[46:53] Speaker 3: But if you are not locked in, you're gonna each.
[46:55] Speaker 2: Okay that the expectations are a lot to deal with.
[46:59] Speaker 2: This is your te for McVeigh like these are the
[47:01] Speaker 2: good old days. They're in them right now. Sometimes you know,
[47:05] Speaker 2: it's been a fun build, like in Stafford two point zero.
[47:08] Speaker 2: If you think about it's been very orderly. Wildcard loss
[47:11] Speaker 2: in a surprise season, division round loss where they were
[47:14] Speaker 2: rounding into i think championship form right at the end.
[47:17] Speaker 2: And then last year where they're one of the best
[47:19] Speaker 2: two teams in the league but they lose in the
[47:21] Speaker 2: conference title Like now they are expected.
[47:24] Speaker 3: Sorry, death pant.
[47:25] Speaker 2: That was actually the only thing I have noticed. This
[47:27] Speaker 2: is a stupid point, But they're a lot like they're no,
[47:31] Speaker 2: you're those great go for it greg. Their losses have
[47:35] Speaker 2: been like perfectly distributed in the Sean McVay era. Okay,
[47:39] Speaker 2: when they've made the playoffs, they've lost in the wildcard
[47:42] Speaker 2: round twice, they've lost in the division round twice, they've
[47:46] Speaker 2: lost now in the conference championship game, you've lost in
[47:49] Speaker 2: the Super Bowl, and you've won the Super Bowl. If
[47:51] Speaker 2: you just sort of averaged it out, they've almost done
[47:53] Speaker 2: exactly what you would expect that each time. So maybe
[47:56] Speaker 2: maybe it's their time to go win another Super Bowl.
[47:58] Speaker 2: Let's take a break and let's come back with another team,
[48:03] Speaker 2: another pair of teams we think could win the Super
[48:05] Speaker 2: at least I think the fourth nine is good.
[48:07] Speaker 1: They're up next.
[48:19] Speaker 2: Back on NFL Daily. H's some big divisions right off
[48:25] Speaker 2: the top. We're continuing it on Wednesday. But have we
[48:29] Speaker 2: got AFC North? I think NFC North North. Okay, But
[48:33] Speaker 2: we'll have a show in between. More on that later,
[48:35] Speaker 2: that'll be with Nick Schubb. For now, we're talking about
[48:39] Speaker 2: a team in the San Francisco forty nine Ers who
[48:44] Speaker 2: are already practicing like the Rams, like the Seahawks. That's
[48:49] Speaker 2: giving me joy? What is giving you joy about this
[48:52] Speaker 2: forty nine ers?
[48:54] Speaker 4: Remembering that Mike Evans is a forty nine Ers, yes,
[48:56] Speaker 4: which I know is a sense of really sore point
[49:00] Speaker 4: for Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans, and I think that's totally
[49:03] Speaker 4: fair to feel your feelings on that. But watching him
[49:05] Speaker 4: walk into forty nine Ers camp via social media and
[49:07] Speaker 4: then some of the practice reports about him, just like
[49:10] Speaker 4: going up for catches already, and just how he just
[49:13] Speaker 4: looks like the receiver one there it to me. It
[49:16] Speaker 4: just makes so much sense to me. And I know
[49:18] Speaker 4: he's coming off of the collarbone injury.
[49:20] Speaker 3: I understand all of that.
[49:22] Speaker 4: But it just brings me joy that they've got a
[49:24] Speaker 4: bona fide wide receiver one and there's like lore to it,
[49:28] Speaker 4: and I just think it's going to be a fun
[49:30] Speaker 4: year for him.
[49:30] Speaker 8: Yeah.
[49:31] Speaker 2: The report that like Purty's first deep ball, which omens
[49:35] Speaker 2: favorite reportedly did not hit on almost at all and
[49:38] Speaker 2: practices last year, is to Mike Evans and he has
[49:41] Speaker 2: separation and he.
[49:42] Speaker 1: Makes the play.
[49:44] Speaker 3: Omens inside, I'm into it.
[49:47] Speaker 2: It's very similar to what's bringing me joy about the team,
[49:49] Speaker 2: which is just that they won't go away. Yeah, that
[49:51] Speaker 2: they've won twelve games in three the last four years
[49:54] Speaker 2: and here they are right back. Last year was supposed
[49:56] Speaker 2: to be a step back and it really wasn't. And
[49:59] Speaker 2: that the offseason, including Evans, gave me joy, Like I
[50:03] Speaker 2: just think Evans and then the Osa Odigie Zua trade
[50:06] Speaker 2: was just exactly what they needed for those just checking in,
[50:09] Speaker 2: you know, they traded a mid round pick, they got
[50:11] Speaker 2: these guys. Evans took way less money to play for
[50:14] Speaker 2: the forty nine and just because he wanted to, and
[50:16] Speaker 2: they got Odigi Zua for a low pick price, like
[50:19] Speaker 2: a third round pick, and he's exactly what they needed.
[50:23] Speaker 2: And they bring back Drake Greenlaw where he belongs, and
[50:26] Speaker 2: even some of the lottery kind of defensive back tickets
[50:29] Speaker 2: they bought Jack Jones Nate Hobbs like those makes sense
[50:32] Speaker 2: to meet Jack Jones in the middle already supposedly a
[50:35] Speaker 2: two interceptions like tipping passes and stuff at practice. So
[50:39] Speaker 2: I just think they had a really good offseason, considering
[50:42] Speaker 2: they were kind of limited by all these big salaries
[50:44] Speaker 2: at the top of their docket, including Trent Williams who
[50:48] Speaker 2: got a new deal. I think they really did well.
[50:51] Speaker 2: That leads me into my most important non quarterback, Nick Bosa. Okay,
[50:56] Speaker 2: just because he's one of those big salaries, and he
[51:00] Speaker 2: missed a lot of time in twenty twenty four too,
[51:03] Speaker 2: and then he missed almost all last year with the
[51:05] Speaker 2: ACL was the second time. And they just the way
[51:09] Speaker 2: they're built. I know DIGGI Zoo is going to help
[51:11] Speaker 2: in the middle, but he's like a second guy, you know,
[51:15] Speaker 2: like right now, you need four or five guys. I
[51:17] Speaker 2: just don't think they have enough. But they really don't
[51:21] Speaker 2: have enough if Nick Bosa isn't like capital Nick Bosa
[51:26] Speaker 2: one of the five best pass rushers.
[51:27] Speaker 1: In the NFL.
[51:29] Speaker 4: The way that they're going to do some of their fronts,
[51:32] Speaker 4: and reports out of training camp already have have shown
[51:36] Speaker 4: Raheem Morris mixing with some five man fronts too, and
[51:39] Speaker 4: so Mikel Williams at some point coming back into full
[51:43] Speaker 4: speed is going to be really important for them.
[51:45] Speaker 2: Yeah, the first round pick right now, they actually have
[51:48] Speaker 2: been using Romelo Height in their starting lineup, a third
[51:51] Speaker 2: round pick.
[51:51] Speaker 1: Which I like.
[51:52] Speaker 4: I like eventually as a little bit of an out
[51:54] Speaker 4: wider player if they're going to play some of these
[51:56] Speaker 4: wide five man fronts, because I like him as a
[51:58] Speaker 4: little bit more of a speed right purely off the
[52:01] Speaker 4: edge as a rusher, and that sort of goes into
[52:04] Speaker 4: some of the mix of players that they're gonna have
[52:06] Speaker 4: along this front. You're right, Nick Bosa has to be
[52:09] Speaker 4: outstanding for them in order for this to really come
[52:11] Speaker 4: to life, because you're just looking at when you play
[52:13] Speaker 4: odd fronds like this, you're looking at mathematical equations and
[52:16] Speaker 4: how you can be a plus two over someone else's
[52:18] Speaker 4: blocking plus one or plus one and a half if
[52:20] Speaker 4: they have a chip. So I really really like what
[52:23] Speaker 4: they're trying to do. Are they healthy enough to do it?
[52:25] Speaker 4: Which is why my most important non quarterback is their
[52:29] Speaker 4: medical staff. Okay, and I know that's a little on
[52:31] Speaker 4: the nose or tongue in cheek or whatever, but the
[52:33] Speaker 4: forty nine Ers had the fifth most adjusted games last
[52:35] Speaker 4: due to injuries in twenty twenty five per FTN Almanac.
[52:38] Speaker 4: It felt like more because of some of the players
[52:41] Speaker 4: who were injured. Fred Warner's coming back, which is practice.
[52:44] Speaker 4: That's another reason for joy overall. If you like football,
[52:47] Speaker 4: you like watching Fred Warner play football. He's practicing, and
[52:50] Speaker 4: I think he elevates even a maybe not as explosive
[52:54] Speaker 4: Dre Greenlaw, who had some flashes when he was healthy
[52:57] Speaker 4: and then has been dealing obviously with the injuries too.
[53:01] Speaker 4: George Kittle will obviously at some point be back. We're
[53:04] Speaker 4: not sure yet about the Australia game. Jake Tanjis would
[53:07] Speaker 4: back him up at that point. Played well last year,
[53:10] Speaker 4: got the contract. Nick Bosa, as you mentioned, Mike Evans,
[53:13] Speaker 4: like I mentioned, is coming off the broken collarbone. Rock
[53:15] Speaker 4: Perty was banged up through the year and missed games.
[53:17] Speaker 4: Ricky Pearsall was banged up and missed some time and
[53:20] Speaker 4: hasn't quite taken that next level yet. Christian McCaffrey is
[53:23] Speaker 4: thirty years old. Mike Evans is thirty three, Trent Williams
[53:26] Speaker 4: is what thirty eight, So you're reaching like the end
[53:29] Speaker 4: of this era and they just keep going. They're like,
[53:32] Speaker 4: you know, they just keep like respawning essentially, and this
[53:36] Speaker 4: medical staff, to me, it becomes the most important quarterback
[53:40] Speaker 4: in this organization.
[53:41] Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's been rough for a couple of seasons,
[53:43] Speaker 2: but that staff's been there for a long time and
[53:46] Speaker 2: it just feels like it's been bad luck.
[53:47] Speaker 1: But yeah, you may.
[53:48] Speaker 2: And it's not just the old player like Michael Williams,
[53:50] Speaker 2: the first round pick who's probably more of like a
[53:52] Speaker 2: run a run stuffer. They need to they need to
[53:55] Speaker 2: stay healthy. You're you're absolutely right. My scheme dream is
[53:58] Speaker 2: gonna be about what you mentioned with Raheem Morris, who
[54:01] Speaker 2: was great last year and he wasn't calling the plays
[54:04] Speaker 2: for the Falcons on defense that was Jeff Oulbrook. But
[54:07] Speaker 2: a creative defensive mind. You know they're going to be
[54:12] Speaker 2: I want to see what they do to change in general,
[54:16] Speaker 2: like what do you expect? Do you think they're going
[54:18] Speaker 2: to be as wild as a Falcons twenty twenty five defense,
[54:24] Speaker 2: because you do that in part when you don't have
[54:27] Speaker 2: all the horses and like I said, like I like
[54:30] Speaker 2: odg Azua and Bosa and everything, but it's it's relatively thin.
[54:34] Speaker 2: The defensive tackles have a lot to prove outside O
[54:36] Speaker 2: Digizua and the edges do two and like the secondary's fine,
[54:42] Speaker 2: but I think this team could use a little uh
[54:45] Speaker 2: Raheem Morris sprinkling in some creativity.
[54:47] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[54:47] Speaker 4: We've talked about this with a couple of other teams
[54:50] Speaker 4: in our past preview, the Raiders being one of them.
[54:53] Speaker 4: This is a much more talented defense than that, so
[54:55] Speaker 4: I don't want to compare them by any means one
[54:56] Speaker 4: to one here, but I think they're going to need
[54:58] Speaker 4: some scheme like you mentioned, and I think for Rahee
[55:01] Speaker 4: Morris again, mixing up with those odd fronts, those five
[55:04] Speaker 4: extra man fronts are going to look like mixing up
[55:07] Speaker 4: their secondary a lot, which I think is going to happen.
[55:11] Speaker 4: You know two players who really took a step forward
[55:13] Speaker 4: during their rookie seasons last year. One of them is
[55:15] Speaker 4: going to play up front at knows Alfred Collins for them,
[55:18] Speaker 4: and he was a factor at times and he is
[55:21] Speaker 4: expected to be that again. If you're going to play
[55:23] Speaker 4: those types of fronts, like it really does help to
[55:25] Speaker 4: have that anchor point where I call it sort of
[55:28] Speaker 4: the center of the solar system that everything else can
[55:30] Speaker 4: orbit and rotate in these different rush packages around that player.
[55:34] Speaker 4: And then upton Stout, who it was bumpy, Let's not
[55:38] Speaker 4: be you know, incorrect here, Like it was bumpy at
[55:40] Speaker 4: first as a rookie. He was thrown into it playing
[55:42] Speaker 4: right away, he's five foot nine, played a lot bigger
[55:45] Speaker 4: than he actually is, and then really through including through
[55:48] Speaker 4: the postseason, really really took another step forward. And so
[55:52] Speaker 4: when you've got Nate Hobbs who's dealing with injuries, and
[55:54] Speaker 4: Jack Jones, and then you've got like Diamond or Leonard
[55:58] Speaker 4: who you know should be should be held and playing better,
[56:01] Speaker 4: like it just it's like to me, they're going to
[56:04] Speaker 4: mix a lot of their defensive backfield. They're gonna make
[56:07] Speaker 4: things or try to make things as cloudy as possible
[56:09] Speaker 4: for the quarterbacks. It's almost like we hope that our
[56:12] Speaker 4: coverage sets the table a little bit for our rush,
[56:14] Speaker 4: and eventually our rush when healthy, comes together to help
[56:19] Speaker 4: the coverage.
[56:20] Speaker 3: Near the back stretch of the season, when teams are
[56:21] Speaker 3: going to be trying.
[56:22] Speaker 2: To throw long on projected starting players in the secondary
[56:25] Speaker 2: Ronardo Green, second round pick, Gyre Brown, third round pick,
[56:28] Speaker 2: Malik Mustaffa fourth round pick, Diamino or lador who's been
[56:31] Speaker 2: there for a while now, fifth round pick, Upton Stout,
[56:33] Speaker 2: third round pick, Marcus Siegle fifth round pick. They really
[56:36] Speaker 2: need some young guys to step up and be guys.
[56:40] Speaker 2: Barnwell did a or no Aaron Schotz did a ranking
[56:44] Speaker 2: of the best teams in terms of under twenty five talent.
[56:47] Speaker 2: He had the forty nine ers twenty seventh. I think
[56:50] Speaker 2: that's instructive, like they're just not a team. They need
[56:52] Speaker 2: some of these younger guys to get better, although a
[56:54] Speaker 2: lot of those guys already over twenty five. What do
[56:57] Speaker 2: you think Kyle's going to do while we're still in scheme?
[56:59] Speaker 2: Is that where you're looking something on offense?
[57:01] Speaker 4: Yeah, well I was looking at defense because they were
[57:03] Speaker 4: twenty seventh in defensive DVOA and to me that's the
[57:05] Speaker 4: biggest thing they were. What offensive DVOA was number two?
[57:09] Speaker 1: So I know Kyle doesn't like try to be as like, hey,
[57:12] Speaker 1: look at.
[57:13] Speaker 3: Me, and yet he just does what he does.
[57:15] Speaker 4: That's the thing is, like, you know, I think we've
[57:17] Speaker 4: been waiting for a long time, or we say we've
[57:20] Speaker 4: been waiting for a long time about Okay, well, when
[57:22] Speaker 4: does Christian McCaffrey take less carries and turn more into
[57:26] Speaker 4: this like respectral receiver.
[57:28] Speaker 3: They already they already.
[57:29] Speaker 4: Throw the ball to running backs on thirty percent thirty
[57:32] Speaker 4: three percent of their of their past plays anyway, So
[57:35] Speaker 4: that's like, I don't know how much you even want
[57:38] Speaker 4: to increase that because then it takes balance away elsewhere.
[57:41] Speaker 4: I think that, like it's again, you're gonna just see
[57:44] Speaker 4: these guys do what they do. You'll see wrinkles, you'll
[57:46] Speaker 4: see motion, different wrinkles. I hope you see more of
[57:49] Speaker 4: a mix at running back because I just think that's
[57:51] Speaker 4: more sustainable down the stretch. But really, what Kyle Shanahan
[57:55] Speaker 4: does that is so effective is he takes his elite
[57:59] Speaker 4: personnel who happened to be a mixture of personnel and
[58:03] Speaker 4: he moves them all around the field and it just
[58:05] Speaker 4: it has been the.
[58:06] Speaker 3: Bread and butter.
[58:06] Speaker 4: It is hard to defend the quarterback is playing excellent football.
[58:10] Speaker 4: When you have that combination, I don't think you need
[58:12] Speaker 4: to like think to overcomplicate it. I think you just
[58:16] Speaker 4: go do what you do and expect that those guys
[58:19] Speaker 4: will perform the way that you're used to.
[58:21] Speaker 2: I hate that McCaffrey had four hundred and thirteen touches
[58:24] Speaker 2: last year, the most in the NFL, the most he's
[58:26] Speaker 2: ever had in his career. I just don't think he
[58:28] Speaker 2: can expect the same season, which is why things go wrong.
[58:30] Speaker 2: If you they just look old, you know, Yeah, it's
[58:32] Speaker 2: just a common That's that was my I think the
[58:35] Speaker 2: roster solid. I really believe in Purty. We haven't talked
[58:38] Speaker 2: pretty here. We've talked about him before this offseason. I
[58:40] Speaker 2: think he's a top ten quarterback. But Trent Williams was
[58:43] Speaker 2: down a little bit last year, not much CMC could
[58:47] Speaker 2: he feel the impact of last year. Kitt Killy's a
[58:50] Speaker 2: pretty big deal at his age, you know. Mike Evans
[58:53] Speaker 2: I believe in, but he is thirty three years old,
[58:55] Speaker 2: Greenlaw Warner Bosa.
[58:57] Speaker 1: You know that.
[58:58] Speaker 2: Add it all up and like and the secondary could
[59:01] Speaker 2: could get fried a little bit in the back end.
[59:03] Speaker 2: So that that's to me that if things go wrong
[59:05] Speaker 2: with a very tough schedule, it goes for the entire division.
[59:08] Speaker 4: You know, I've talked about the defense a lot. That's
[59:10] Speaker 4: a big my if things go wrong. They were a
[59:13] Speaker 4: at times a ledweight. This this offense put some really
[59:17] Speaker 4: interesting things together with two different quarterbacks. Mac Jones played
[59:20] Speaker 4: really well. He's still the backup there to me. They've
[59:24] Speaker 4: reshaped their receivers room a little bit, which is really
[59:27] Speaker 4: interesting now featuring Christian Kirk, who was sort of.
[59:29] Speaker 3: In and out of practice.
[59:30] Speaker 1: He's already and it's going to miss some time.
[59:32] Speaker 2: I'm not stated while we were taping cap strain, which
[59:35] Speaker 2: is the worst early Yeah, so that's.
[59:37] Speaker 4: Terrible, and that kind of we were wondering even if
[59:40] Speaker 4: he was going to even make this roster because of
[59:41] Speaker 4: some of the other They still have DeMarcus Robinson on
[59:43] Speaker 4: the roster. Dejehn Stribbling is someone who you know, the
[59:46] Speaker 4: middle round pick, your second round pick. He was an
[59:49] Speaker 4: example of a team going very scheme dominant in their
[59:53] Speaker 4: evaluation and not looking at the consensus board and not
[59:56] Speaker 4: looking at all these things. They were literally taking a
[59:59] Speaker 4: scheme player and taking him where they wanted to take him.
[1:00:02] Speaker 2: And that wasn't like Brandon Nayuk. He kind of reminds
[1:00:05] Speaker 2: me of Brandon Nayuk when Ayuk was coming out.
[1:00:07] Speaker 4: Really interesting, really really interesting player to me. I'm curious
[1:00:10] Speaker 4: to see how he does. They are going to need
[1:00:12] Speaker 4: him to be a factor early on, and it's sort
[1:00:15] Speaker 4: of a rare thing for a rookie receiver to really
[1:00:17] Speaker 4: separate in this system. But if he can, if he
[1:00:19] Speaker 4: can block, if he can can just sort of be
[1:00:22] Speaker 4: fearless across the middle of the field. They got him
[1:00:25] Speaker 4: running drift routes already out there, which tells me, which
[1:00:28] Speaker 4: tells me something because that's a predominant scheme in that system,
[1:00:31] Speaker 4: or predominant concept in that system. I think he's an
[1:00:33] Speaker 4: interesting player to watch for me. You heard some buzz
[1:00:36] Speaker 4: about him after the fact.
[1:00:37] Speaker 1: They need they need some young players to step up.
[1:00:41] Speaker 2: He is high on the on the list of possibilities
[1:00:43] Speaker 2: floor ceiling as we wrap up, You know, they are
[1:00:47] Speaker 2: on my list of teams that can win the Super Bowl.
[1:00:49] Speaker 1: But this is not a big three to me.
[1:00:51] Speaker 2: It's a pretty big difference between the Rams Seahawks and
[1:00:54] Speaker 2: forty nine ers. So the floor is, you missed the playoffs.
[1:00:56] Speaker 2: It's a tough schedule and very likely, Like what do
[1:01:00] Speaker 2: I give their chances to win the division?
[1:01:01] Speaker 1: Let's say.
[1:01:03] Speaker 2: Fifteen to twenty percent max, Like, you know, compared to
[1:01:07] Speaker 2: the run in three. I mean no, see that's what
[1:01:09] Speaker 2: I'm saying. It's like more like one in six to me. Yeah, one,
[1:01:12] Speaker 2: And so that means they're all in the NFCS, right,
[1:01:14] Speaker 2: So that means you're playing road games in the playoffs.
[1:01:16] Speaker 2: Tough place to be.
[1:01:17] Speaker 4: Yeah, it's interesting to me they have one. They're one
[1:01:20] Speaker 4: of the highest floor teams. We saw what they drop
[1:01:24] Speaker 4: off to backup quarterback when things are going well. You know,
[1:01:28] Speaker 4: we saw that they're pretty solid. You know, they don't
[1:01:31] Speaker 4: have depth, a lot of depth on defense that I
[1:01:33] Speaker 4: feel confident in, but on offense, I feel confident that
[1:01:36] Speaker 4: this team, based on what we saw last year, is
[1:01:38] Speaker 4: going to find a way. So for me, this is
[1:01:40] Speaker 4: a super Bowl team at best, really really high floor,
[1:01:43] Speaker 4: even playoff team at their worst.
[1:01:45] Speaker 2: Okay, we got to start writing these down. You can't
[1:01:48] Speaker 2: put everyone in the playoffs.
[1:01:49] Speaker 3: But I hear you, oh you can't, weird, Well, we'll
[1:01:52] Speaker 3: do that right before the season.
[1:01:54] Speaker 2: The Seattle Seahawks will definitely be in the playoffs in
[1:01:57] Speaker 2: our projections. What is bringing I need joy about the
[1:02:02] Speaker 2: defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks.
[1:02:06] Speaker 3: I like their off season.
[1:02:07] Speaker 4: I like hearing you know, some of these guys kind
[1:02:10] Speaker 4: of go into off season mode and we get to
[1:02:12] Speaker 4: learn more about their personalities.
[1:02:14] Speaker 3: I like to hear them on podcasts.
[1:02:16] Speaker 4: I really got a really really like sort of beam
[1:02:20] Speaker 4: of joy listening to Grey's Abel on Chris Lung's podcast
[1:02:23] Speaker 4: the other day, just talking about what he learns from
[1:02:26] Speaker 4: other teams, what he learns from players. I think they've
[1:02:29] Speaker 4: got a real like student mentality on offense and defense
[1:02:32] Speaker 4: and special teams in that building coaching staff as well.
[1:02:36] Speaker 4: And that's something that really brings me joy, is just
[1:02:38] Speaker 4: like listening to him and them in general talk about
[1:02:41] Speaker 4: their process.
[1:02:41] Speaker 2: Yeah, because they're still like a new team. It's a
[1:02:44] Speaker 2: mix of young and old, but a lot of young
[1:02:46] Speaker 2: players like Gray's Abel. Let's listen to him on the
[1:02:49] Speaker 2: green Light podcast with Chris Long from Yo House Media.
[1:02:53] Speaker 7: Well, first off, Kobe Turners like my kryptonite right now
[1:02:56] Speaker 7: in the game of football. Like I don't know what
[1:02:58] Speaker 7: it is, He's just Scott. My number just works me
[1:03:02] Speaker 7: every single game. But it's so cool because, like like
[1:03:06] Speaker 7: I said, as much as you want to like hate
[1:03:08] Speaker 7: the Rams, like they're all really good dudes across the board,
[1:03:12] Speaker 7: and like Kobe for an instance, is like he's out
[1:03:16] Speaker 7: there and he just smiles, like he just plays the
[1:03:19] Speaker 7: game for the love of the game. He's what makes
[1:03:22] Speaker 7: the game fun to play against.
[1:03:23] Speaker 2: Defensive blindman Dable has a chance to be one of
[1:03:27] Speaker 2: the most dynamic you know, run blocker. His best reps
[1:03:32] Speaker 2: last year were just absolutely outrageous. This team kind of
[1:03:36] Speaker 2: like grays Abel. It's just like laying in the cut,
[1:03:38] Speaker 2: but it's like sneaky dynamic. That's what's bringing me joy
[1:03:41] Speaker 2: that we have a super duper power led by Sam Darnold,
[1:03:44] Speaker 2: like what in an average offensive line. Like I like
[1:03:47] Speaker 2: that different team builds can work, Like this is the
[1:03:51] Speaker 2: first defending champion and I went back through this century
[1:03:55] Speaker 2: that I was really thinking is like really led by
[1:03:58] Speaker 2: defense since the last Seahawks championship and then you have
[1:04:02] Speaker 2: to go back to the Bucks and Ravens.
[1:04:03] Speaker 1: It's just rare.
[1:04:04] Speaker 2: It's a different team build and it's not just like, hey,
[1:04:06] Speaker 2: they won one Super Bowl by the numbers like DVOA, Like, yeah,
[1:04:13] Speaker 2: that seems a little over its skis, but they had
[1:04:15] Speaker 2: them as one of the five best teams in the
[1:04:16] Speaker 2: last fifty years, Like they were that good. We had
[1:04:19] Speaker 2: two just completely dominant teams last year. One of them
[1:04:23] Speaker 2: was the Seahawks, and I just like the idea that
[1:04:29] Speaker 2: they kind of follow in the steps of their coach.
[1:04:32] Speaker 2: I think that's maybe like why they're a little laying
[1:04:35] Speaker 2: it really tim, but it's it's just an incredibly talented
[1:04:39] Speaker 2: defense and team in general. That's it's different than the
[1:04:42] Speaker 2: superpowers we've seen lately, which are all just offense, offense, offense, quarterback.
[1:04:46] Speaker 4: Yeah, they're a catalyst and that is probably the highest
[1:04:49] Speaker 4: compliment I could pay a team or like a team
[1:04:52] Speaker 4: build in general, and that they are also forcing people
[1:04:55] Speaker 4: to ask the question this offseason of our defense is
[1:05:00] Speaker 4: back in charge? Like do they have like the the
[1:05:03] Speaker 4: power sword back in their hand?
[1:05:05] Speaker 3: Right?
[1:05:05] Speaker 4: And I think that maybe it's the slightly different framing
[1:05:09] Speaker 4: of the question that's actually accurate. Is I think it's
[1:05:12] Speaker 4: more possible to build outlier teams that are led by
[1:05:16] Speaker 4: outlier defenses like this when the product of quarterback play
[1:05:21] Speaker 4: has really risen to about medium to very good in
[1:05:25] Speaker 4: the majority of you know quarterbacks who are starting full time.
[1:05:29] Speaker 4: So I think that that also helps it make it
[1:05:31] Speaker 4: possible you can focus your attention on really having this
[1:05:35] Speaker 4: identity like this. It is possible to build an outlier
[1:05:38] Speaker 4: defense that just like kicks doors down and just rex
[1:05:41] Speaker 4: people and we'll keep evolving. Like that's one thing. Defense
[1:05:44] Speaker 4: is hard to predict year over year. We talk about
[1:05:45] Speaker 4: this a lot. You talked about it with Aaron Shotts.
[1:05:47] Speaker 4: This is not a defense to me that I worry
[1:05:50] Speaker 4: about because they do reflect the head coach, and they
[1:05:54] Speaker 4: did not lose, you know, concerning levels of personnel, and
[1:05:58] Speaker 4: they have an identity. And even with nickhim and Worry
[1:06:01] Speaker 4: starting the year on pup which was out of nowhere,
[1:06:03] Speaker 4: the ankle surgery and all of that that he had
[1:06:06] Speaker 4: this offseason, I still think that this is a team
[1:06:09] Speaker 4: that just knows what it's about and has a philosophy
[1:06:12] Speaker 4: a teaching philosophy as well, and it's a really cool
[1:06:15] Speaker 4: to watch.
[1:06:15] Speaker 1: Could he be the most important non quarterback Emon Worry.
[1:06:18] Speaker 2: Because he does help unlock them, not really substituting and
[1:06:21] Speaker 2: changing on defense and McDonald, I don't know if it
[1:06:24] Speaker 2: was just because he was getting pushed by a reporter.
[1:06:25] Speaker 2: It was Greg Bell in Seattle, but he was very
[1:06:29] Speaker 2: noncommittal about Emon Worry not just being back for Week one,
[1:06:31] Speaker 2: but anytime. But it might have just been mcdonaldant not
[1:06:34] Speaker 2: wanting to answer the question, but I do wonder you know,
[1:06:37] Speaker 2: if they missed a lot of time, they would really
[1:06:39] Speaker 2: miss Nick Invatory.
[1:06:40] Speaker 1: I was thinking about him.
[1:06:41] Speaker 4: For most personnel neutritarizer, personnel neutralizer, what do you have?
[1:06:44] Speaker 4: I actually have je Jeri and Price on there. I
[1:06:47] Speaker 4: think that because they lost Kenneth Walker. The thing that
[1:06:50] Speaker 4: about running backs is, I know we don't like immediately
[1:06:53] Speaker 4: like gasp and clutch our pearls when running backs changed teams.
[1:06:56] Speaker 4: We did with Saquon Barkley again outliers. I'm not chasing
[1:06:59] Speaker 4: outliers here, chasing the mean, which is usually you can
[1:07:02] Speaker 4: get somebody else who can come in and affect the team.
[1:07:05] Speaker 4: The thing that does make me concerned and then also
[1:07:08] Speaker 4: really I'm curious about I'm not ruling this out at all,
[1:07:11] Speaker 4: just very curious about it, is that while Seattle had
[1:07:14] Speaker 4: the six best explosive play rate on offense last season,
[1:07:17] Speaker 4: and obviously a ton of that was Jackson Smith and Jigba,
[1:07:19] Speaker 4: who was phenomenal, they also got a lot of their
[1:07:23] Speaker 4: you know, tone setting and evening pace, evening explosives out
[1:07:27] Speaker 4: of Kenneth Walker in the run in the pass game,
[1:07:29] Speaker 4: So like I've always done explosive plays as ten plus
[1:07:32] Speaker 4: ten or more plus ten plus yards run or twenty
[1:07:36] Speaker 4: plus yards pass. And he had the sixth highest explosive
[1:07:40] Speaker 4: play rate among running backs who caught at least thirty
[1:07:42] Speaker 4: passes last season per next Gen. And he was, you know,
[1:07:46] Speaker 4: one of the more explosive play creating runners as well
[1:07:51] Speaker 4: in the NFL per next Gen. And so I think
[1:07:53] Speaker 4: that when you're looking for another place to get those
[1:07:56] Speaker 4: explosives from, and Seattle was a very explosive, dominant offense,
[1:08:01] Speaker 4: you're looking at the run game, you're looking at what
[1:08:03] Speaker 4: Kenjidarian price do. I think he's really really talented. So
[1:08:06] Speaker 4: I'm excited to see. But this is exactly where I'm
[1:08:09] Speaker 4: looking at, is how can we keep this offense moving?
[1:08:12] Speaker 4: We know the defense will sustain. How do we keep
[1:08:14] Speaker 4: this offense staying middle to great as they were all
[1:08:18] Speaker 4: last season?
[1:08:19] Speaker 2: And it was a very inconsistent offense, including in the playoffs,
[1:08:22] Speaker 2: Like it wasn't great in the Super Bowl for the
[1:08:25] Speaker 2: most part, it wasn't great in that forty nine ers game.
[1:08:27] Speaker 2: Like they weren't great down the stretch. They were up
[1:08:30] Speaker 2: and down. They were quite good the first half of
[1:08:33] Speaker 2: the season, and Donald's talked about that as he still
[1:08:35] Speaker 2: is like mad that he didn't play better in the
[1:08:37] Speaker 2: Super Bowls, like enjoy it, bro, But to your point, yeah,
[1:08:41] Speaker 2: Price didn't profile as like a heavy workload guy. They're
[1:08:44] Speaker 2: using him a lot in the passing game in the
[1:08:46] Speaker 2: early days of practice, but it's going to be him
[1:08:48] Speaker 2: and right now George Hallani is taking all the first
[1:08:50] Speaker 2: team reps and so it's going to be maybe Halani
[1:08:53] Speaker 2: and Price at the beginning of the season. Zach Sharbon
[1:08:55] Speaker 2: he's coming off a torn achilles JSN is my most important.
[1:09:00] Speaker 1: Nine quarterbacks well picked because like.
[1:09:04] Speaker 2: I really don't have any doubts about him, but he's
[1:09:06] Speaker 2: just he's gonna have to be justin Jefferson Jamar Chase
[1:09:10] Speaker 2: like year after year, Like if he just continues on
[1:09:13] Speaker 2: this pass, he's going to be a Hall of Famer.
[1:09:15] Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, the falloff is just big too.
[1:09:17] Speaker 2: Like Rashid Shaheed, I think in year two in this
[1:09:19] Speaker 2: system can can help out. And you know, we didn't
[1:09:23] Speaker 2: even mention they have a new offensive coordinator and Brian Fleury,
[1:09:25] Speaker 2: which is a little bit of a concern. Maybe maybe
[1:09:28] Speaker 2: that's part of your scheme dream here, but either way
[1:09:32] Speaker 2: with Cooper Cup and Shaheed, it's still a pretty big
[1:09:34] Speaker 2: fall off to like weapon two. So JSN just has
[1:09:36] Speaker 2: to be that, dude, what is your scheme dream choice?
[1:09:39] Speaker 4: Yeah, Well, something that we didn't mention enough, well, I
[1:09:43] Speaker 4: say we is in like the ecosystem of media in general,
[1:09:47] Speaker 4: was that how damn good their special teams was last season?
[1:09:50] Speaker 4: They were number two in special teams DVOA. They're coached
[1:09:53] Speaker 4: by Surprise A Harba. Jay Harbaugh is their special teams coordinator.
[1:09:59] Speaker 3: Here's what they do.
[1:10:00] Speaker 4: That is different though about it, and it's it's when
[1:10:04] Speaker 4: you have a defensive minded and also defensive play calling
[1:10:08] Speaker 4: head coach, as Mike McDonald, is your tendency as a
[1:10:12] Speaker 4: you're not in control at all of the offense, which
[1:10:14] Speaker 4: is where things may to me a big question mark
[1:10:17] Speaker 4: is a later part of the conversation. But you can use,
[1:10:21] Speaker 4: or you can decide to weaponize your special teams unit
[1:10:24] Speaker 4: in as like an extension of what you do on
[1:10:27] Speaker 4: defense and also use it as what you can control
[1:10:30] Speaker 4: as a defensive coordinator on offense.
[1:10:32] Speaker 3: That's exactly what they did.
[1:10:34] Speaker 4: It wasn't just that their their field goal unit was
[1:10:36] Speaker 4: great and Michael Dixon had what like ten touchbacks or
[1:10:39] Speaker 4: ten inside the twenty punts no touchbacks, which is incredible,
[1:10:42] Speaker 4: so consistent and flipping the field for them, but also
[1:10:45] Speaker 4: that they were like really aggressive in their returns, in
[1:10:49] Speaker 4: their coverage, in their field goal unit defense, they just
[1:10:52] Speaker 4: they they were foot on the gas the entire time.
[1:10:55] Speaker 4: And to me, that is clearly Mike McDonald and j
[1:10:57] Speaker 4: Harbaugh deciding to say, we're not just going to make
[1:11:00] Speaker 4: this a neutral phase of our team like most teams
[1:11:03] Speaker 4: in the NFL still do, especially after the kickoff rule changed.
[1:11:06] Speaker 4: What we're going to do is we're going to use
[1:11:09] Speaker 4: this as an extension of our best unit and our
[1:11:12] Speaker 4: best phases on the field, our explosive plays on offense.
[1:11:16] Speaker 4: So this is an extension the return game obviously an
[1:11:18] Speaker 4: extension of that, and then our aggression on defense.
[1:11:21] Speaker 3: And that's exactly what they did. That's exactly what this
[1:11:24] Speaker 3: special team is.
[1:11:25] Speaker 1: Well them a super Bowl.
[1:11:26] Speaker 3: It was incredible.
[1:11:27] Speaker 2: I mean, I don't think they win without It's hard
[1:11:28] Speaker 2: to be elite special teams year after year after year,
[1:11:31] Speaker 2: although some teams have pulled it off. We'll see if
[1:11:34] Speaker 2: the third Harbaugh can do it. I mentioned new offensive
[1:11:36] Speaker 2: coordinator Brian Florey, the tight ends coach from the forty
[1:11:40] Speaker 2: nine ers, make your rival a little worse. I'm not
[1:11:44] Speaker 2: as worried about him as you normally would be. It's
[1:11:46] Speaker 2: a third you know, coordinator in three years under Mike McDonald,
[1:11:49] Speaker 2: which isn't great because the rest of the staff, their
[1:11:51] Speaker 2: run game coordinator, their offensive line coach, they're all still
[1:11:55] Speaker 2: in place. Things go wrong if I think the offensive line,
[1:12:03] Speaker 2: like their improvement was a little overstated last year. And
[1:12:06] Speaker 2: I don't want to get too much into injuries, but
[1:12:08] Speaker 2: Charles Cross, you know, Abe Lucas, they've had injuries in
[1:12:10] Speaker 2: the past.
[1:12:11] Speaker 1: You know, they're a little weak in the middle.
[1:12:13] Speaker 2: With Anthony Bradford, like, they were an inconsistent offense, and
[1:12:15] Speaker 2: I think that was a reflection of the running game,
[1:12:17] Speaker 2: which was inconsistent, which was a reflection of the offensive
[1:12:20] Speaker 2: line for the most part.
[1:12:21] Speaker 1: Darnold a little bit, you know, has has highs and
[1:12:24] Speaker 1: lows two.
[1:12:25] Speaker 2: So to me, that's that's where this goes wrong, is
[1:12:29] Speaker 2: if the offensive line goes from like inconsistent to kind
[1:12:32] Speaker 2: of bad. You know, I think I think there's a
[1:12:34] Speaker 2: route that that happens with tough schedule and that you know,
[1:12:38] Speaker 2: you're if you're not the tenth offense in the league
[1:12:41] Speaker 2: like last if you're suddenly like the seventeenth, and then
[1:12:43] Speaker 2: it just it all gets harder for a defense to
[1:12:45] Speaker 2: carry you.
[1:12:46] Speaker 4: Yeah, I think variants is things go wrong if if
[1:12:49] Speaker 4: the variants, like you sort of have mentioned, dips too
[1:12:51] Speaker 4: low on one side of the ball. They were so
[1:12:54] Speaker 4: consistent in two of the three phases, defense and special
[1:12:57] Speaker 4: teams last year, particularly November onward when special teams really
[1:13:02] Speaker 4: took off for them with Rashid Shaheed on the team.
[1:13:05] Speaker 4: To me, if they're variant steps too low on offense,
[1:13:08] Speaker 4: that's when you start to stumble things compound. That's a
[1:13:10] Speaker 4: number of different factors. That could be offensive line that
[1:13:13] Speaker 4: could be, what does their run game look like? That
[1:13:15] Speaker 4: could be, you know, are the tight ends still playing
[1:13:17] Speaker 4: at this high level? That could be can they still
[1:13:19] Speaker 4: use all the personnel that they are who are there?
[1:13:22] Speaker 4: Can their receivers you know, Cooper Cup had a nice season,
[1:13:24] Speaker 4: certainly showed up in big spots down the stretch for them,
[1:13:27] Speaker 4: But can they can they continue to sustain behind JSN?
[1:13:31] Speaker 4: These are all things where if your variants it is high,
[1:13:35] Speaker 4: that's a concern to me. You know, you saw some
[1:13:37] Speaker 4: with the offense last year. I don't really have anything
[1:13:40] Speaker 4: else that I would be worried about with them.
[1:13:42] Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, look, they I guess the defense wasn't
[1:13:47] Speaker 2: always great. The Rams smoked them a couple of times,
[1:13:49] Speaker 2: you know, so that's that. I guess that's just a
[1:13:51] Speaker 2: very specific we have to beat the Rams and ultimately,
[1:13:55] Speaker 2: like our defense lost the battle two straight times at
[1:13:58] Speaker 2: the end of the season, they made the big plays
[1:14:00] Speaker 2: they won. I just think they just want to be better.
[1:14:02] Speaker 2: They don't want to be giving up thirty points a
[1:14:04] Speaker 2: game to the Rams. But yeah, it's hard to put calls.
[1:14:07] Speaker 3: We see something a little more bespoke from them in those.
[1:14:10] Speaker 2: And it won't be until late in the season. That's
[1:14:12] Speaker 2: part of the weird schedule.
[1:14:14] Speaker 1: I don't like it.
[1:14:15] Speaker 2: Seahawks Rams are playing two of the final three weeks
[1:14:20] Speaker 2: of the season, so stupid. I know, first games on Christmas.
[1:14:25] Speaker 4: Give me one in November, right, Yeah, I hate that
[1:14:30] Speaker 4: they don't love football. The schedulement.
[1:14:35] Speaker 1: Ceiling.
[1:14:36] Speaker 2: Yeah, Like, I just don't see a world where you
[1:14:38] Speaker 2: don't power rank these two teams, the Rams and the
[1:14:41] Speaker 2: Seahawks is the best two teams in the league. I
[1:14:43] Speaker 2: guess I'm not that creative going into the season. I
[1:14:45] Speaker 2: know it's going to change at some point. There will
[1:14:47] Speaker 2: be some week obviously where we don't believe that. But
[1:14:50] Speaker 2: right now roster schedule, even the biggest Darnold skeptics of
[1:14:55] Speaker 2: us have to admit he's fitting nice and comfortably and
[1:14:58] Speaker 2: then in a good middle of the NFL. So yeah,
[1:15:01] Speaker 2: the floor I think is is that, Yeah, you're playing
[1:15:05] Speaker 2: on the road in the in the playoffs because you
[1:15:07] Speaker 2: don't win this division that you only you know it's
[1:15:09] Speaker 2: a tough schedule. Overall, you win eleven games or something
[1:15:13] Speaker 2: like that, you know that you're not like a world beater.
[1:15:15] Speaker 4: Yeah, this is a repeat Super Bowl champion team at
[1:15:18] Speaker 4: their best, still a playoff team at their worst.
[1:15:21] Speaker 2: Okay, So now we get to the part though, where
[1:15:22] Speaker 2: you have to make a choice. I'm assuming and I
[1:15:25] Speaker 2: don't want to assume. Are you putting the forty nine
[1:15:27] Speaker 2: ers third and Cardinals fourth?
[1:15:29] Speaker 3: Yes?
[1:15:30] Speaker 1: I am too.
[1:15:32] Speaker 3: Crazy, crazy how that works. We're both like biting our nails.
[1:15:38] Speaker 1: I don't know, why do you think about it before?
[1:15:40] Speaker 1: Now it's July twenty seven. Why did I assign that?
[1:15:44] Speaker 7: I know?
[1:15:44] Speaker 1: Why did I assign this?
[1:15:45] Speaker 7: Now?
[1:15:46] Speaker 1: I want to wait until it's almost this season.
[1:15:49] Speaker 2: I'll go Rams in the regular season over the Seahawks.
[1:15:52] Speaker 1: That's my choice.
[1:15:54] Speaker 4: You if if the Rams, it's the Miles Garret trade.
[1:15:58] Speaker 4: To me, it's the quarterback and the Miles Garrett trade.
[1:16:01] Speaker 4: And like, let it be known Seahawks fans before you
[1:16:03] Speaker 4: come for me. I've been holding it down for Sam
[1:16:06] Speaker 4: Darnold on this particular podcast for quite some time, all.
[1:16:09] Speaker 3: Right, and I still am.
[1:16:11] Speaker 4: It is the trade for the best player in football
[1:16:13] Speaker 4: and a quarterback coming off the MVP season for me,
[1:16:16] Speaker 4: So I'd put the Rams at one.
[1:16:18] Speaker 3: It's tough, the Hawks at one. A ro Matthew Stuffers.
[1:16:23] Speaker 2: It's tough to repeat, but it's tough to be where
[1:16:25] Speaker 2: the Rams are at, too, which is like the highest
[1:16:28] Speaker 2: possible expectations and yet you know you're not coming off
[1:16:31] Speaker 2: that win.
[1:16:32] Speaker 1: That's that's tough. That's it for the NFC wes.
[1:16:36] Speaker 3: We did it, really messing with our cuticles on that one.
[1:16:40] Speaker 1: I know, I was like, did why did I? Why
[1:16:43] Speaker 1: did I assign in order?
[1:16:44] Speaker 3: Now you know how I feel, always subject to change.
[1:16:47] Speaker 1: We will be back on Tuesday. Hit that music.
[1:16:50] Speaker 2: Thank you to everyone who checked us out on the
[1:16:53] Speaker 2: Fast channel, NFL Channel will be on there a whole
[1:16:57] Speaker 2: lot more as the season gets going. And of course
[1:17:00] Speaker 2: thank you to everyone who subscribes give us a review
[1:17:03] Speaker 2: on YouTube.
[1:17:04] Speaker 1: We have a show on Tuesday with Nick Schuck, More
[1:17:08] Speaker 1: Camp News and at All Under twenty five team. We'll
[1:17:10] Speaker 1: see you that

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