# NFC South Preview with Trevor Sikkema

An episode of [NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/680904259), 10 Aug 2026, 1 h 02 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/7c8e571d-f41a-4bc8-8490-b4a2015d9293/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=deff018f-4b51-4501-937c-ae27003475d1

Gregg Rosenthal, Jourdan Rodrigue and Trevor Sikkema go around the NFC South for a team-by-team preview of the Falcons, Panthers, Saints and Buccaneers. The crew tells you which non-quarterback player on each team is the most important, what the biggest concern is for each team, discuss the ceiling and floor for each team and more! NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcasts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:04] Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, Where has Andre three thousand and
[0:08] Speaker 1: one said the South got something to say?
[0:10] Speaker 2: NFC South time here in.
[0:12] Speaker 1: The Chris Wesleyan podcast studio with my friend Jordan Rodrieg,
[0:15] Speaker 1: who once covered a team in the NFC South, the
[0:18] Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers, and from across the country an NFC South territory,
[0:23] Speaker 1: although he's an enemy territory because he's sneaky a Bucks fan,
[0:26] Speaker 1: but he lives in Panthers territory. It's Trevor Sikama, by
[0:29] Speaker 1: popular demand, already.
[0:30] Speaker 2: Back on the show. Welcome to Trevor.
[0:32] Speaker 3: Thank you, thank you, thank you.
[0:34] Speaker 4: Great to be back with you guys, Jordan, and very
[0:36] Speaker 4: excited to do podcasts here with you on this platform
[0:39] Speaker 4: as well. We've got all sorts of NFC South knowledge
[0:44] Speaker 4: here on this show, so this could be good.
[0:46] Speaker 3: I appreciate you guys having me back.
[0:47] Speaker 5: Yes, God help us.
[0:48] Speaker 1: You know I'm the only one here that well, actually
[0:51] Speaker 1: I don't know if that's true, but probably that had
[0:53] Speaker 1: season tickets to the two thousand New Orleans Saints quarterback
[0:57] Speaker 1: by Aaron Brooks.
[0:58] Speaker 2: When I was in college.
[0:59] Speaker 1: Wow. Gas, there like one of the most eight fun,
[1:03] Speaker 1: eight and eight teams ever. There could be a lot
[1:05] Speaker 1: of eight and nine type of teams in this division.
[1:07] Speaker 1: There were last year. We'll see We've done twelve minutes
[1:11] Speaker 1: per team for all of our division previews, so that's
[1:14] Speaker 1: what we're gonna do again. We have different categories that
[1:17] Speaker 1: we like to fill out. Will go alphabetical by city.
[1:20] Speaker 1: Let's get going Eric behind the Glass and we'll start
[1:24] Speaker 1: with the Atlanta Falcons. I'll get us going. Why not
[1:27] Speaker 1: because this part's quick? What's bringing us joy for the Falcons?
[1:32] Speaker 1: Like at first, I just thought, Man, it's confusion with
[1:35] Speaker 1: this team. What is this team? Why is this team?
[1:37] Speaker 1: But let's not make it complicated. Bijon Robinson is an artist.
[1:41] Speaker 1: I was thinking back to all the artists that have
[1:44] Speaker 1: played running back in the last twenty twenty five years.
[1:47] Speaker 1: I think Bijon Robinson has a chance to be the best.
[1:49] Speaker 1: It might be my very favorite to watch of all
[1:52] Speaker 1: those players. Fred Taylor's up there. There's a couple, but
[1:54] Speaker 1: he's right there and right in the middle of his prime.
[1:56] Speaker 1: So I'm not making it any deeper than that that
[1:58] Speaker 1: he's bringing me joy.
[1:59] Speaker 6: Yeah, he is in involved in my bringing me joy too,
[2:03] Speaker 6: because I've tried to almost like set a really firm boundary,
[2:06] Speaker 6: like with most of these NFC South teams, as being
[2:09] Speaker 6: in therapy might suggest to do to me when chaos strikes,
[2:13] Speaker 6: and this is a team where it is useless to
[2:17] Speaker 6: try to understand what it was what it's going to
[2:19] Speaker 6: be this year. The draft classes the last couple of years,
[2:23] Speaker 6: very few picks, spending capital on players who will not
[2:25] Speaker 6: play for them most likely, if not all of this year,
[2:28] Speaker 6: most of this year, and I just was starting to
[2:30] Speaker 6: overcomplicate it in my head. And really what simplified it
[2:32] Speaker 6: for me and brought me a lot of joy was
[2:34] Speaker 6: thinking about them extending their core, starting with Jean Robinson,
[2:38] Speaker 6: Drake London, Kyle Pitts, and Matthew bergeron this is what
[2:41] Speaker 6: we're looking at for the future. This is a data
[2:44] Speaker 6: gathering year, inclusive to the quarterbacks. To me with the Falcons,
[2:48] Speaker 6: and that kind of brought me joy. I don't have
[2:49] Speaker 6: to overthink the Falcons this year, and in fact, I'm
[2:52] Speaker 6: not going to do it.
[2:54] Speaker 4: I you know this what I'm going to say goes
[2:57] Speaker 4: along with Jon Robinson and that this is almost sort
[3:01] Speaker 4: of like the scheme Dream.
[3:01] Speaker 3: But I have another thing for the scheme Dream, which
[3:03] Speaker 3: we'll get to in a second.
[3:04] Speaker 4: But what brings me joy is the fact that this
[3:06] Speaker 4: offense is so much fun to watch when Jon Robinson
[3:09] Speaker 4: is the focal point.
[3:10] Speaker 3: Right, they paid him like the focal point. They use
[3:11] Speaker 3: them like a focal point.
[3:12] Speaker 4: I made a joke with some of the training camp
[3:14] Speaker 4: things that have happened over the last couple of weeks.
[3:17] Speaker 4: I wonder if Kevin STEFANSI is gonna go out to
[3:19] Speaker 4: be Jehn Robinson and c it feels about a five
[3:21] Speaker 4: hundred touch season this year. You know, I just you
[3:23] Speaker 4: gauge the interest how he feels about it, right, But
[3:26] Speaker 4: what I do love about this is Kevin Stefanski ran
[3:29] Speaker 4: the most outside zone runs with the Cleveland Browns over
[3:33] Speaker 4: the last couple of years, and if fits like a
[3:35] Speaker 4: glove with this Atlanta offensive line. This Atlanta offensive line
[3:39] Speaker 4: is built around the outside zone run games. So to me,
[3:42] Speaker 4: it was a scheme fit like a glove. So what
[3:44] Speaker 4: brings me joy is the fact that we have an
[3:46] Speaker 4: offensive minded head coach now that is paired with one
[3:49] Speaker 4: of the best artists out of the backfield in the
[3:51] Speaker 4: league in b Jon Robinson. So that is gonna give
[3:53] Speaker 4: me joy. And I think It's gonna be a great
[3:55] Speaker 4: year for Bijon.
[3:56] Speaker 2: It's all connected.
[3:57] Speaker 1: Like, my most important non quarterback is Bill Callahan, the
[4:00] Speaker 1: offensive line coach. And of course, you know we don't
[4:03] Speaker 1: count head coaches in this category two because Bill Callahan
[4:06] Speaker 1: has the reputation in the outside zone. Now you're talking
[4:08] Speaker 1: about Stefanski. What a great marriage. You have great continuity
[4:13] Speaker 1: on the offensive line. You know, you just signed Bergeron's
[4:16] Speaker 1: a young up and coming player, but you've had Linstrom
[4:18] Speaker 1: there forever, You've had Fisher there forever. Bill Callahan's coming
[4:21] Speaker 1: off two years where his magic did not really work
[4:23] Speaker 1: for him. Tennessee Titans fans do not view Bill Callahan
[4:26] Speaker 1: as like one of the great offensive line coaches right now.
[4:29] Speaker 2: So can he get his mojo back?
[4:30] Speaker 1: Because if he can, and that line then starts overachieving.
[4:35] Speaker 1: And the combination of Bijon and as you mentioned, Kevin
[4:37] Speaker 1: Stefanski in the outside zone, it all could hum in
[4:40] Speaker 1: a way that works. And I don't know about five
[4:42] Speaker 1: hundred touches. He's had three sixty five the last couple
[4:45] Speaker 1: of years, and so maybe maybe that cranks up to
[4:47] Speaker 1: four hundred.
[4:47] Speaker 2: I don't want to see too much more than that.
[4:49] Speaker 6: Listen, let's get crazy, right, because I think four hundred
[4:51] Speaker 6: plus is very much on the table for Jean Robinson
[4:54] Speaker 6: this year. Because Bill Callahan, first of all, is to
[4:57] Speaker 6: you guys's point is the outside zone coach. He's the
[5:00] Speaker 6: middle zone, outside zone coach. And what do smart teams
[5:04] Speaker 6: do but connect that directly to their screen game, into
[5:07] Speaker 6: their perimeter catch and run game. And that is something
[5:11] Speaker 6: where Jean Robinson I still think has incredibly untapped potential.
[5:14] Speaker 6: As productive as he was in those concepts last season,
[5:18] Speaker 6: I think it all connects together and also to the
[5:22] Speaker 6: scheme dream for me, which am I kind of crazy
[5:24] Speaker 6: to think that Tua is the perfect type of timing
[5:27] Speaker 6: distributor for that type of offense. I'm not trying to
[5:31] Speaker 6: over hype the Falcons here, let me be clear.
[5:33] Speaker 5: I started with.
[5:34] Speaker 6: Boundaries and I'm keeping up okay, But I really think
[5:37] Speaker 6: that when you look at the pieces and the philosophies
[5:39] Speaker 6: that all of these people bring together, and certainly the
[5:42] Speaker 6: type of outside zone and middle zone run handoff timing
[5:47] Speaker 6: that you need to adequately deploy in order to make
[5:49] Speaker 6: that sing, the timing that your offensive lineman need to
[5:52] Speaker 6: feel with the quarterback that Tua is very gifted at
[5:54] Speaker 6: when he's healthy. And then those the really quick sort
[5:58] Speaker 6: of trickeration handoff dump off passes.
[6:01] Speaker 5: I like all of this. That's a little bit of
[6:02] Speaker 5: a scheme dream for me too.
[6:04] Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm not saying that Stefanski is exactly like Mike McDaniel,
[6:08] Speaker 4: but like both of these guys wanted their run game
[6:10] Speaker 4: to get to the outside, whether it was those outside
[6:12] Speaker 4: zones or it was something to get into space. They
[6:15] Speaker 4: wanted space, they wanted speed. So Tua, I know, you know,
[6:18] Speaker 4: coming from his time in Miami, some people roll their
[6:20] Speaker 4: eyes and think he's got no chance to succeed when
[6:22] Speaker 4: he's in Atlanta. I do think this is a situation
[6:25] Speaker 4: that sets up decently well for sort of what he's
[6:27] Speaker 4: done well in the past with Miami, coming from an
[6:30] Speaker 4: offense that could be somewhat similar in philosophy there, Like
[6:33] Speaker 4: Jordan was saying, my most important non quarterback because I
[6:37] Speaker 4: flipped to the other side of the ball for scheme dream,
[6:39] Speaker 4: so I'll stay on offense. Talk about the most important
[6:42] Speaker 4: non quarterback, I do think it's Kyle Pitts because we
[6:45] Speaker 4: know what Jon Robinson is going to do for the
[6:47] Speaker 4: most part, we know what Drake London is going to do.
[6:49] Speaker 4: I'm excited about zacharyah Branch on this team, but let's
[6:52] Speaker 4: face it, he's still just a rookie. He's gonna give
[6:55] Speaker 4: you some splash plays here and there, but I don't
[6:56] Speaker 4: think it's his full season type of a thing. If
[6:58] Speaker 4: you really want to lock space in this offense to
[7:02] Speaker 4: those timing rounds like you were talking about, manipulate the
[7:05] Speaker 4: defense the way that two would be familiar for it,
[7:08] Speaker 4: or maybe Michael Pennix if he is the starting quarterback
[7:10] Speaker 4: for this team at any point in time, you kind
[7:12] Speaker 4: of have to get Kyle Pitts involved really really well.
[7:14] Speaker 4: I think we need to see another one thousand yard
[7:16] Speaker 4: year from Kyle Pitts if this offense is going to
[7:18] Speaker 4: be what it needs to be for this team to
[7:21] Speaker 4: be above five hundred. We'll talk about the defense in
[7:23] Speaker 4: the second and I know the ceiling and the floor
[7:24] Speaker 4: of the records, but if this team's going to have success,
[7:28] Speaker 4: it's going to come from the offensive side of the ball.
[7:30] Speaker 4: And I think when you look at the offense, there's
[7:32] Speaker 4: a lot of expected, there's a lot of like, Okay,
[7:35] Speaker 4: we think that they're going to do good here, we
[7:36] Speaker 4: think this guy's gonna do good year. The big question
[7:39] Speaker 4: mark they could really tip the scale one way or
[7:40] Speaker 4: the other to me is Kyle Pitts and how much
[7:43] Speaker 4: of an X factor he becomes.
[7:44] Speaker 1: Yeah, and if Zach Robinson, their former offensive coordinator, did
[7:47] Speaker 1: something well, I think it was scheme up Kyle Pitts.
[7:50] Speaker 1: When I watched those guys whore he was kind of
[7:52] Speaker 1: the primary guy late in the year. They did a
[7:53] Speaker 1: pretty good job. And to kind of close the to
[7:56] Speaker 1: a discussion on some level, at least for me, like
[7:58] Speaker 1: my things go wrong if it's just like this idea
[8:01] Speaker 1: that the pew pew pew, you know, point guard distributor
[8:04] Speaker 1: Stefanski to it all goes like well together, Like I
[8:07] Speaker 1: don't know, I haven't seen two it in a while
[8:09] Speaker 1: in a different system. Like if that doesn't fit, it
[8:11] Speaker 1: all falls apart. You mentioned defense, and that's where I
[8:15] Speaker 1: go with scheme dream is that Jeff Olbrick did an
[8:18] Speaker 1: incredible job along with Raheem Morris last year scheming up pressure,
[8:23] Speaker 1: making things very difficult for some of the best teams
[8:25] Speaker 1: in the league. It was because of their defense that
[8:27] Speaker 1: they beat the Bills and the Rams in some really
[8:30] Speaker 1: big time games. Now you don't have Jalen Walker. He's
[8:33] Speaker 1: the addresser out for the season. You have a very
[8:35] Speaker 1: veteran mix of young talent and veterans that are good
[8:39] Speaker 1: in the back end, good secondary lot of talent. Aj Terrell,
[8:42] Speaker 1: Xavier Watts, you know Jesse Bates, you have his brother,
[8:44] Speaker 1: Avianterrelle like, there are guys there. But man, I don't
[8:49] Speaker 1: know Trevor what you saw, what you're thinking defensively because Olbrioke,
[8:52] Speaker 1: I think they're close to their ceiling last year, him
[8:56] Speaker 1: and Raheem Morris and now like you're you're gonna be
[8:58] Speaker 1: without peer James Pierce because of a suspension. You're gonna
[9:01] Speaker 1: be without Jalen Walker. And man, you really need that
[9:04] Speaker 1: scheme to do extra work this year because I don't
[9:06] Speaker 1: think the players are quite there.
[9:08] Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean that's the I'll combine these two categories here.
[9:11] Speaker 4: This something goes wrong, if it's similar to what you
[9:13] Speaker 4: talked about, it's if somebody can't get after the quarterback.
[9:15] Speaker 3: Walker's got the torn acl.
[9:16] Speaker 4: We have no idea what James Pearce is going to
[9:18] Speaker 4: be in his availability this upcoming season. Let us not forget.
[9:21] Speaker 4: We'll give the Falcons credit. I'm glad that you did
[9:23] Speaker 4: with Jeff Ulbrick. They were second to the NFL in
[9:25] Speaker 4: team sacks last year, which I when I look that
[9:28] Speaker 4: up because I kind of wanted to go this way,
[9:30] Speaker 4: I was like, huh, I wonder how well they got
[9:32] Speaker 4: for the quarterback. I totally forgot that they finished second
[9:35] Speaker 4: in the NFL in total team sacks. But when you
[9:37] Speaker 4: look at the guys who got sacks for them, ten
[9:41] Speaker 4: and a half from James Pierce Junior, five and a
[9:42] Speaker 4: half from Jalen Walker, you're three and a half from
[9:45] Speaker 4: Kaiden nellis right. I mean like there's there's players like
[9:47] Speaker 4: Ruke Roro had three and a half as well. So
[9:49] Speaker 4: there's so many of those sacks that are either not
[9:53] Speaker 4: there already because of free agency and they're not there,
[9:55] Speaker 4: or it's just a massive unknown injury, potential suspension like
[9:59] Speaker 4: whatever it is. So there's so much unknown from that
[10:02] Speaker 4: sack total that they had the year before.
[10:04] Speaker 3: They have to be able to get after.
[10:05] Speaker 4: The quarterback, and I think the way that they're going
[10:07] Speaker 4: to need to do that is by dialing up the pressure,
[10:09] Speaker 4: mainly the bodies that they're going to have to throw
[10:11] Speaker 4: out the line of scrimmage. Now, I think that that's
[10:12] Speaker 4: a scheme dream for me because I love both of
[10:16] Speaker 4: their safeties. I know that Jesse Bates dealing with a
[10:19] Speaker 4: little bit of a back injury, but I'm a huge
[10:21] Speaker 4: Xavier Wats fan, and I want to see more single
[10:24] Speaker 4: high stuff with this team. When you look at the
[10:26] Speaker 4: Browns and know it was more Jim Schwartz than it
[10:28] Speaker 4: was Kevin Sefanski, but they ran the most cover one
[10:31] Speaker 4: in single high looks in the NFL over the last
[10:33] Speaker 4: couple of seasons. Let Xavier Watts play that single high
[10:36] Speaker 4: center fielder type of role and let Jesse Bates hunt
[10:39] Speaker 4: over the middle of the field. I think if you
[10:40] Speaker 4: do that, you're going to be able to be happy
[10:43] Speaker 4: with the results from those safeties because they've got the
[10:44] Speaker 4: skill sets to do it. But also you're going to
[10:46] Speaker 4: have those extra bodies to be able to throw at
[10:48] Speaker 4: the quarterback the way that you need to.
[10:50] Speaker 6: Now, it's great in theory, but I think looking at
[10:52] Speaker 6: the rest of the NFC South, I don't know if
[10:54] Speaker 6: they're going to be able to play single high very
[10:56] Speaker 6: much with some of the layered receivers we've got on
[10:58] Speaker 6: these other teams. But just debates is back probably hurts
[11:01] Speaker 6: from carrying the team or the potential of carrying the
[11:03] Speaker 6: defense this off season. That's exactly why things go wrong.
[11:06] Speaker 6: If who is pressuring the quarterback? How are they scheming
[11:09] Speaker 6: up pressure? What are they costing the rest of their
[11:11] Speaker 6: very very talented defensive backfield by the fact that they're
[11:16] Speaker 6: going to have to do rely on a lot of
[11:18] Speaker 6: scheme in order to get after opposing quarterbacks this year.
[11:21] Speaker 6: Jeff Ulbrich, he's made a lot with a little before.
[11:24] Speaker 6: There's no reason to think that he can't do it again.
[11:26] Speaker 6: But the thing that really is a more bigger picture
[11:29] Speaker 6: for me of things going wrong if is the fact
[11:32] Speaker 6: that they put in so many of these resources for
[11:35] Speaker 6: these edge rushers who to fix their problem, and they
[11:38] Speaker 6: did fix it, and then now it's yesterday's problem all
[11:41] Speaker 6: over again, and their draft picks were depleted, and they
[11:43] Speaker 6: could not be aggressive in their team building over the
[11:46] Speaker 6: last two years because of how many resources were going
[11:48] Speaker 6: toward trading up to get a second edge rusher to start,
[11:52] Speaker 6: And then you know guys that aren't even going to
[11:53] Speaker 6: be on the field for your second year, and you
[11:55] Speaker 6: can't pay your veterans who walk in that case.
[11:57] Speaker 1: They had a strange off season where you know, a
[11:59] Speaker 1: lot of the good players you mentioned, some of them
[12:01] Speaker 1: went away. David O Yamada is another guy who played
[12:03] Speaker 1: a lot for them, and they signed a lot of
[12:06] Speaker 1: depth guys. It was like a thing new gms tend
[12:08] Speaker 1: to do the first year, like let's sign a lot
[12:10] Speaker 1: of players who aren't necessarily going to start. But yeah,
[12:14] Speaker 1: it's not a lot of juice right now at the edge,
[12:17] Speaker 1: it's Samson Ebcom is still kicking around.
[12:20] Speaker 2: Is probably a starter for them.
[12:21] Speaker 1: My guy and Azizo Jalari's there, Cam Thomas, like Braylen Trace,
[12:26] Speaker 1: the guy they drafted a few years ago. I had
[12:28] Speaker 1: totally missed the fact that Brandon Dorles, a third year
[12:31] Speaker 1: Day three defensive tackle, now had a and a high
[12:34] Speaker 1: a and a half last year.
[12:36] Speaker 2: Okay, why is he always believe?
[12:38] Speaker 5: Yeah, that's Ricky Morris loved him.
[12:40] Speaker 1: I mean, if a second year player on a different
[12:43] Speaker 1: team at defensive tackle got eight and a half sacks,
[12:45] Speaker 1: they would be a much bigger star. All right, that
[12:49] Speaker 1: this is this is the Falcons. They're they're a confusing team.
[12:52] Speaker 1: Let's kind of bring it home here. What is your
[12:55] Speaker 1: ceiling and floor? You're trying to create boundaries. Jordan, what
[12:58] Speaker 1: is your boundaries for this team?
[13:00] Speaker 2: Move?
[13:00] Speaker 5: Well, it's for the NFC South in general. Greg. My
[13:02] Speaker 5: answer will be the same for Oh, that's a cop out.
[13:06] Speaker 2: You can't don't.
[13:07] Speaker 6: No, No, it is not. It's eight and nine or
[13:09] Speaker 6: nine and eight. That's what I'm saying. For the Atlanta Fountains.
[13:12] Speaker 2: The floor is so much lower for all these teams.
[13:15] Speaker 1: Maybe not the Bucks, we'll get to them, but all
[13:18] Speaker 1: these teams.
[13:19] Speaker 4: Yeah, my ceiling is my ceiling is nine and eight
[13:21] Speaker 4: for this team, but the floor is much lower. I
[13:24] Speaker 4: think the floor is like five and twelve for them.
[13:26] Speaker 3: But yeah, that's right as well.
[13:28] Speaker 1: That was the exact combination I believe I had was
[13:32] Speaker 1: nine and eight. I actually I think it could go
[13:35] Speaker 1: wrong enough that they have the number one overall pick,
[13:38] Speaker 1: that they're like the three win team, that they're the
[13:39] Speaker 1: worst team in the league.
[13:40] Speaker 2: I think it's I think it's out there.
[13:42] Speaker 1: I would put a and I'm a person who tries
[13:45] Speaker 1: to like just recognize the multiplicity of possibilities of every season,
[13:50] Speaker 1: and I think there's probably eight to ten teams I
[13:52] Speaker 1: would put on that list, but the Falcons are definitely
[13:54] Speaker 1: on that list.
[13:54] Speaker 6: Listen, the NFC South has and the Falcons certainly have
[13:59] Speaker 6: really confounded the mind before. Right, But if you have
[14:04] Speaker 6: skill guys that are this good, and you have an
[14:06] Speaker 6: offensive line that has tieh of a floor, I just
[14:11] Speaker 6: don't think you can be that bad.
[14:13] Speaker 5: I just don't.
[14:13] Speaker 6: Now.
[14:14] Speaker 2: Listen, I think there's an argument.
[14:15] Speaker 6: Falcons you have often had me in the first half.
[14:18] Speaker 6: I'm not gonna lie. So this this could go terribly
[14:22] Speaker 6: wrong for your girl, Jordan.
[14:24] Speaker 1: I was curious how how it would look like. I
[14:26] Speaker 1: didn't even know the Vegas odds until just now I
[14:28] Speaker 1: thought to look it up. The Falcons are the last
[14:31] Speaker 1: team in terms of over underwin total six and a
[14:33] Speaker 1: half wins right now, if you took eight, because you
[14:36] Speaker 1: said they're all going to get to eight, that would
[14:38] Speaker 1: be the over for three.
[14:39] Speaker 2: Of the teams in the division. So you're you're optimistic.
[14:42] Speaker 5: All right, Let's go to another My math is always flawless.
[14:45] Speaker 1: Another one of those. I will make you go one, two, three, four.
[14:48] Speaker 1: At the end, you're going to pick. We're going to
[14:50] Speaker 1: pick it.
[14:51] Speaker 5: What balance? No time about compromise, greg.
[14:53] Speaker 1: Because because last year, tie breakers are important. The Carolina Panthers.
[14:56] Speaker 4: Yeah, and if they tie. If they tie, she's got
[14:59] Speaker 4: to name the tiebreakers. What is it most field goals made?
[15:02] Speaker 4: You know, Well, that's the thing, time spent in the
[15:04] Speaker 4: opponents zone.
[15:06] Speaker 5: I like them better, you.
[15:07] Speaker 2: Know, right, because Carolina, we would think so much differently.
[15:13] Speaker 1: About them if they didn't get that tie breaker. If
[15:16] Speaker 1: let's say Atlanta, who also won the same amount of
[15:18] Speaker 1: games last year as Tampa and Carolina, even though they
[15:22] Speaker 1: were eliminated four weeks left in the season.
[15:24] Speaker 2: Never seen anything like that.
[15:26] Speaker 1: Then they won four straight, ended up tying for first,
[15:28] Speaker 1: and Carolina gets to go to the playoffs. But they
[15:31] Speaker 1: had the same record as Atlanta and Tampa eight wins.
[15:34] Speaker 1: Let's go to the Panthers. What is bringing you joy?
[15:37] Speaker 1: We'll start with Trevor on this one.
[15:40] Speaker 4: I think the new defensive editions brings me joy here
[15:43] Speaker 4: for the Carolina Panthers, this is one of the worst
[15:45] Speaker 4: teams in the NFL when it came to middle of
[15:47] Speaker 4: the field coverage last year.
[15:48] Speaker 3: Their linebacker unit just straight up was not good enough.
[15:51] Speaker 4: And you infused that with Devin Lloyd, who was one
[15:53] Speaker 4: of the best in the league last season and has
[15:55] Speaker 4: been throughout the course of his career. Going through his
[15:58] Speaker 4: rookie contract. I think just over all the new defensive
[16:01] Speaker 4: editions though, like what Jalen Phillips could be for Derek Brown,
[16:04] Speaker 4: I think he's going to be really huge for them.
[16:06] Speaker 4: But specifically, I just think that those two big new additions.
[16:09] Speaker 4: I love that Carolina just took the big swings.
[16:12] Speaker 2: I really do.
[16:12] Speaker 3: Like these were two of the biggest names in free agency.
[16:14] Speaker 4: I loved the Carolina came away with both of them,
[16:17] Speaker 4: and it's a good thing they did, honestly, Like with
[16:18] Speaker 4: s Gordon going down for the year and them just
[16:21] Speaker 4: being a little bit banged up already, like they're really
[16:23] Speaker 4: going to have to be on top of things on defense,
[16:25] Speaker 4: and I think that they really addressed their two biggest needs.
[16:27] Speaker 4: They've already got some good young guys in the secondary
[16:30] Speaker 4: who are either established or coming along, so you feel
[16:33] Speaker 4: good about it there, but that middle of the field
[16:35] Speaker 4: defense had to be so much better than it was
[16:38] Speaker 4: the year before. So what brings me joy about this
[16:40] Speaker 4: team is that they were aggressive in free agency. They
[16:42] Speaker 4: looked at the fact that they won the division. They said, no, no, no,
[16:45] Speaker 4: this wasn't luck to us. We didn't look at this
[16:47] Speaker 4: as oh Tampa Bay Blewett or anything like that, Like,
[16:49] Speaker 4: we won this division and they want to keep taking
[16:51] Speaker 4: steps forward. They want to win it again this year,
[16:53] Speaker 4: and I think they put their money where their mouth was.
[16:55] Speaker 4: So that's a joyous thing whenever a team could do.
[16:58] Speaker 2: Something like that.
[16:58] Speaker 5: I love that.
[16:59] Speaker 6: And let's stay on defense here for a minute, maybe
[17:02] Speaker 6: if it spans even across categories, because I love that
[17:05] Speaker 6: you pick this. I thought the blueprint, the outside corners
[17:08] Speaker 6: JC Horn and Mike Jackson played so well, as did
[17:12] Speaker 6: you know that secondary staff and Agiro Evro Jonathan Cooley
[17:15] Speaker 6: like got raised the floor of their safeties, I think,
[17:18] Speaker 6: and particularly in the deep part of the field. I'm
[17:21] Speaker 6: not talking about the intermediate middle, where they were kind
[17:23] Speaker 6: of a disaster, but the outside corners and sort of
[17:26] Speaker 6: that shell over the back of the defense was so solid,
[17:30] Speaker 6: and particularly those perimeter corners were so good, especially down
[17:33] Speaker 6: the back stretch of the season, that it actively like
[17:36] Speaker 6: shone a massive floodlight over everywhere else that they needed
[17:40] Speaker 6: to fix this defense in order to be more compatible
[17:43] Speaker 6: with the level of play they were getting out of
[17:45] Speaker 6: their corners. It was the run defense, like you said,
[17:48] Speaker 6: Trevor's the middle of the field. It was getting better
[17:50] Speaker 6: in the pass rush. My sort of hand in hand
[17:54] Speaker 6: with all of that which I loved that they did.
[17:56] Speaker 6: I agree with you is that things go wrong if right,
[17:59] Speaker 6: and skipping right to this, if this corners regress right,
[18:03] Speaker 6: because corner play is not always as sticky as we
[18:05] Speaker 6: would like it to be in terms of year over year,
[18:07] Speaker 6: and the variance there and the injuries being more of
[18:11] Speaker 6: a factor than even the major factor that we see
[18:14] Speaker 6: them to be already with Nick Gorton being hurt, and
[18:17] Speaker 6: if Devin Lloyd is not the player that he was
[18:19] Speaker 6: in Jacksonville, yea, you know, the lee Hunter. Their rookie
[18:22] Speaker 6: is going to be asked to do a lot against
[18:24] Speaker 6: the run early on, and Derek Brown needs to be
[18:26] Speaker 6: freed up to get that pass penetration and to affect
[18:29] Speaker 6: the run pocket as well, because a lot of teams
[18:31] Speaker 6: are going to run it right up the middle at
[18:33] Speaker 6: them or around the side that Nick Gorton previously was.
[18:36] Speaker 5: So I really feel like that is it's so.
[18:39] Speaker 6: Much hope and optimism, and I loved the plan that
[18:41] Speaker 6: they went about, and that's my things go wrong if
[18:44] Speaker 6: is if those guys, if the plan is not what
[18:47] Speaker 6: it what we all thought it would be because everybody
[18:49] Speaker 6: they brought in maybe is not what.
[18:51] Speaker 5: They thought they would be.
[18:52] Speaker 1: Well, that's what I had Lloyd as my most important
[18:54] Speaker 1: on quarterback. To me, he is kind of the skeleton
[18:57] Speaker 1: key that unlocks this I'm a big believer in Lloyd.
[19:00] Speaker 1: I think the come up started in twenty twenty four
[19:02] Speaker 1: with the Jaguars. He's a playmaker. He's aggressive, like a
[19:07] Speaker 1: small red flag. I don't know what's the color between,
[19:10] Speaker 1: you know, maybe an orange colors flag. That the Jaguars
[19:13] Speaker 1: were so disinterested in resigning him, really didn't even make
[19:17] Speaker 1: him an offer, and yet like if he makes it happen,
[19:20] Speaker 1: it can all work. They're trying to figure out the
[19:22] Speaker 1: other linebacker spot. And that is kind of what it was.
[19:25] Speaker 1: Very connected to what you said in terms of what's
[19:27] Speaker 1: bringing me joy of this team is just it's an
[19:30] Speaker 1: all vibes team. And they also did that like Dave
[19:33] Speaker 1: Canalis's you know hero in football is Pete Carroll and
[19:38] Speaker 1: he does He's done a great job of making them
[19:40] Speaker 1: greater than the sum of their parts and getting the
[19:42] Speaker 1: vibes and and the fact that it's year three of
[19:44] Speaker 1: this regime with the front office and him and that
[19:47] Speaker 1: they went for it and put their chips down.
[19:50] Speaker 2: Is why.
[19:50] Speaker 1: Yeah, to me, Lloyd is so important for their defense.
[19:53] Speaker 1: Who do you have as your most important non quarterback?
[19:56] Speaker 6: Yeah, Well, to me, it's the tackles, right because Taylor Moten,
[19:59] Speaker 6: even though he's working a little bit off to the side,
[20:02] Speaker 6: which is great, because he's dealing with the blood clots
[20:04] Speaker 6: issues and that was that's really scary. It was he
[20:07] Speaker 6: was describing it on social media as an embolism, so
[20:10] Speaker 6: in his lung and they what they like to do,
[20:13] Speaker 6: and Allie Connelly did a great job educating all of
[20:15] Speaker 6: us on this last season. If they want to continue
[20:18] Speaker 6: playing that spread out eleven personnel, the tackles have to
[20:21] Speaker 6: be able to move in space and really block isolation
[20:24] Speaker 6: like that in a way that's very athletic. And Monroe
[20:27] Speaker 6: Freeling coming in right away instead of competing for a
[20:30] Speaker 6: position their rookie first round pick, instead of competing for
[20:33] Speaker 6: a position, you know, on either side, specifically with she'd Walker.
[20:37] Speaker 5: Over on the left side.
[20:38] Speaker 6: Both of those guys are going to have to play immediately,
[20:41] Speaker 6: including Rashid Walker is gonna have to stay healthy until
[20:43] Speaker 6: ikeyakwan Wu can come back from his injury. And perhaps
[20:47] Speaker 6: compete with him on that side. It's going to be
[20:50] Speaker 6: so interesting to me. And with the joyfulness in my
[20:54] Speaker 6: opinion that Bryce Young has been approaching camp with and
[20:58] Speaker 6: the reports that he's just having a tastic camp, especially
[21:01] Speaker 6: more clarity in the receiver's room, those tackles become the
[21:04] Speaker 6: absolutely most important non quarterback particularly I think freeling becomes
[21:08] Speaker 6: the most important on quarterback on this year.
[21:10] Speaker 1: Yeah, like they that is my things go wrong if
[21:13] Speaker 1: like the O line feels a little bit like a
[21:15] Speaker 1: house of cards. They're counting a lot on Luke Fortner
[21:17] Speaker 1: at center, who you know, mixed reviews from his time
[21:20] Speaker 1: with the Saints. I know they were happy when he
[21:22] Speaker 1: filled in, but you have a lot of injury even
[21:24] Speaker 1: just looking at their injury important camp, like right now,
[21:27] Speaker 1: Damian Lewis is out, Robert Hunt is out. They the
[21:29] Speaker 1: whole point of this Panthers build, And this is where
[21:32] Speaker 1: I think the front office had to be disappointed with
[21:35] Speaker 1: parts of last year was they were supposed to be
[21:37] Speaker 1: like a tough team upfront that could run the ball,
[21:39] Speaker 1: and they're one of the worst running teams in the NFL,
[21:41] Speaker 1: and yet they're so run heavy, And that's part of
[21:44] Speaker 1: my scheme dream too.
[21:44] Speaker 2: It's all over the place here at Trevor.
[21:46] Speaker 1: I don't know what you think of what's best for Bryce,
[21:49] Speaker 1: but it's whether like, yeah, they will embrace like playing
[21:52] Speaker 1: a little more tempo, spreading it out, playing fast. It's
[21:55] Speaker 1: a crime to me. They were thirty first in pace
[21:58] Speaker 1: last year. They were one of the slowest teams in
[22:00] Speaker 1: the NFL. But they did start to play an empty
[22:03] Speaker 1: they did start to go to the RPOs. They were
[22:06] Speaker 1: a little more static, like kind of a Joe burrow
[22:08] Speaker 1: ish style by the end of the year. And I
[22:10] Speaker 1: think Bryce for the most part, rewarded them in the
[22:12] Speaker 1: big games. He prevented turnover worthy plays, he prevented sacks,
[22:16] Speaker 1: and I think that's the best Bryce. But like, does
[22:18] Speaker 1: canalist want to work that way? Does that work with
[22:20] Speaker 1: the entire rest of the offensive build?
[22:23] Speaker 3: Yeah? I agree with Jordan one hundred percent.
[22:26] Speaker 4: I think the mirror feeling is probably the most important
[22:30] Speaker 4: non quarterback for the exact reasons that she mentioned. You
[22:32] Speaker 4: have the injuries to both offensive tackles. Right now, this
[22:35] Speaker 4: is a rookie coming in and you're asking, and not
[22:38] Speaker 4: just a rookie.
[22:39] Speaker 3: He was a true junior when he came out.
[22:40] Speaker 4: So I mean, like he is a young player, one
[22:44] Speaker 4: year full time starter when he was at Georgia. So yeah,
[22:47] Speaker 4: he's got all the tools, but he might have to
[22:49] Speaker 4: be out there week one, you know, and so I
[22:51] Speaker 4: think that that's a tough ask for any rookie. So
[22:53] Speaker 4: I think he becomes really really important. I did like
[22:55] Speaker 4: the power run game from this team when they went
[22:57] Speaker 4: to it and when all those guys on the interior
[22:59] Speaker 4: were hell the last year. But it's got to continue, obviously,
[23:03] Speaker 4: So I think that that's, you know, the things go
[23:05] Speaker 4: wrong if the obvious one is with Bryce, right, like
[23:09] Speaker 4: if Bryce sort of is the same or a little
[23:12] Speaker 4: bit more up and down, like, it doesn't work, like
[23:13] Speaker 4: he really has to take that next step. But other
[23:15] Speaker 4: than that, I do think it's the offensive line. I
[23:17] Speaker 4: will note this just because I wanted to say it,
[23:19] Speaker 4: because Greg, you were talking about the Jags. I was
[23:25] Speaker 4: also very surprised at how little sort of they cared
[23:27] Speaker 4: about losing Devin Lloyd and like not making an offer
[23:30] Speaker 4: for him. Gladstone does come from the Rams, and the
[23:34] Speaker 4: Rams don't prioritize the linebacker at all whatsoever. I mean,
[23:38] Speaker 4: like they had undrafted free agent Omar Space start like
[23:42] Speaker 4: sixteen games for them, where we're just like nah, yeah, no,
[23:45] Speaker 4: you're good to go, and he was like, fine, you know,
[23:46] Speaker 4: like you they scouted them very well, But that's one
[23:49] Speaker 4: of those positions that like.
[23:50] Speaker 3: From that regime, I kind of wonder.
[23:52] Speaker 4: If they think that they can just out scout sort
[23:55] Speaker 4: of like the position a little bit. So maybe I'm
[23:58] Speaker 4: just saying this all of this to make myself feel
[24:00] Speaker 4: better about Devin Lloyd hitting the ground running, but I
[24:02] Speaker 4: have to Yeah, I have to cope a little bit here.
[24:04] Speaker 5: Yeah.
[24:04] Speaker 6: They that team famously did not prioritize linebackers and can
[24:08] Speaker 6: tell it became way too late and they had no
[24:12] Speaker 6: choice and then they paid one this year and everyone
[24:14] Speaker 6: was like, hang on, they did what now?
[24:16] Speaker 5: Because they haven't they hadn't be in so many years.
[24:19] Speaker 6: I love that point, and I think too the run
[24:22] Speaker 6: game in the pass game have to just feel like
[24:24] Speaker 6: a more complete outfit this year from this team. They
[24:26] Speaker 6: have to feel like they make better sense together. When
[24:29] Speaker 6: I mentioned clarity in the receiver's room, you know, I
[24:32] Speaker 6: love Ted McMillan and Jalen Coker as the headliners here.
[24:36] Speaker 6: I want to see more from Tommy trumble, you know,
[24:38] Speaker 6: very limited as a you know, as a pass catcher.
[24:41] Speaker 5: I think he has the ability.
[24:42] Speaker 6: There were a couple of moments watching him last year
[24:45] Speaker 6: where he's got wide open space all around him, and
[24:47] Speaker 6: I would like him to see him to see him
[24:49] Speaker 6: be a more viable option in this past game. And
[24:53] Speaker 6: Xavier Leget obviously we say we've said this every year
[24:55] Speaker 6: for the last couple of years, and I think every
[24:56] Speaker 6: year we hear a lot of positive things about him,
[24:59] Speaker 6: you know, kind of progressing in camp and ready to
[25:04] Speaker 6: really make an impact, and I want to see it.
[25:06] Speaker 5: I really want to see it.
[25:07] Speaker 6: And I think with Bryce, you know, we should know
[25:09] Speaker 6: Brad Idzick is going to be calling plays for the
[25:11] Speaker 6: first time here.
[25:12] Speaker 5: Well that's a big one instead of Dave Canalis.
[25:14] Speaker 6: And that is absolutely huge to me because of how
[25:17] Speaker 6: big of a year it is for Bryce Young specifically,
[25:20] Speaker 6: and the continued like development of clarity in all of
[25:24] Speaker 6: the players around him, basically saying, all right, Bryce, you
[25:27] Speaker 6: got your you got at least the three deeper receivers,
[25:29] Speaker 6: you got a tight end. This play caller is going
[25:33] Speaker 6: to try to set up stuff that you like and
[25:35] Speaker 6: show us what you got for me I'm a Bryce believer.
[25:39] Speaker 1: I have to see it, and I kind of like
[25:41] Speaker 1: that based on what I was talking about with Canalis.
[25:44] Speaker 1: Always felt like he's had a hard time maybe almost
[25:47] Speaker 1: fully committee into the Bryce style and he's gone back
[25:50] Speaker 1: and forth, and you know, I mentioned how they built
[25:51] Speaker 1: this team to be like a power rushing team and
[25:54] Speaker 1: down the stretch at least last season they were one
[25:56] Speaker 1: of the worst teams, and yet Canalis was so stubb
[26:00] Speaker 1: about it. They were I think second in the league
[26:02] Speaker 1: in just like percentage of running the ball. It's not
[26:05] Speaker 1: like they were leading like a ton of games and
[26:07] Speaker 1: like runs and neutral situations. It's all at the very top,
[26:10] Speaker 1: even though like they couldn't get it done. So maybe
[26:12] Speaker 1: maybe it'll be good for Bryce to have like a
[26:15] Speaker 1: different play caller on game day and canals and kind
[26:17] Speaker 1: of you just be the vibes and control the whole team,
[26:20] Speaker 1: because I think he's done a great job with that.
[26:22] Speaker 1: This I feel like I've come off a little negative
[26:24] Speaker 1: because I see the roster holes here, but they are
[26:27] Speaker 1: another team with a lot of variants. I already know
[26:30] Speaker 1: what the answer is for Jordan's you know, potential wins
[26:33] Speaker 1: and losses here at Trevor, where do you go for
[26:37] Speaker 1: like the ceiling and the floor of this team.
[26:40] Speaker 4: So the ceiling this is this is the most high
[26:42] Speaker 4: variance team to me in the division. Okay, I think
[26:46] Speaker 4: the ceiling is like ten and seven. Like, I think
[26:49] Speaker 4: that this team can get to double digit wins. I
[26:51] Speaker 4: think they could win the division. Again, they don't have
[26:53] Speaker 4: an international game, they have an early bye week, Like,
[26:56] Speaker 4: I think that the schedule is pretty decent for them.
[26:58] Speaker 4: But the floor is like, you know, again, if Bryce regresses,
[27:02] Speaker 4: if the offensive line takes a big step back, if
[27:04] Speaker 4: the receivers don't manifest, like, all of these things could
[27:06] Speaker 4: potentially happen. I think the floor is like four and thirteen. Like,
[27:09] Speaker 4: I think that that this team has a big variance
[27:12] Speaker 4: of where they could be and so I could see
[27:14] Speaker 4: a double digit win team, but I could also see
[27:16] Speaker 4: something like four or five wins with them.
[27:18] Speaker 6: Trevor, I wanted to ask you, you know, this front
[27:20] Speaker 6: office has restructured over the last couple of years, and
[27:24] Speaker 6: they think about things in terms of a lot of
[27:26] Speaker 6: the modern teams analytically driven. They're very progressive. They think
[27:29] Speaker 6: about resources, depreciation of resources. If this team is tracking
[27:35] Speaker 6: toward like like that floor that you mentioned. Do you
[27:37] Speaker 6: think they become big time trade market people?
[27:43] Speaker 3: So what do you trademarket people in terms of, like
[27:45] Speaker 3: I get.
[27:45] Speaker 6: Ahead of the deadline if they're trending poorly. Do you
[27:47] Speaker 6: think they say, you know what.
[27:50] Speaker 2: Look for our next quarterback? Yeah?
[27:51] Speaker 3: I actually I actually don't.
[27:55] Speaker 4: Like I think I don't disagree with anything that you said,
[27:58] Speaker 4: because I think you set it up exactly right. But
[28:01] Speaker 4: I kind of look at this team, and I look
[28:03] Speaker 4: at it not only from like the front office perspective,
[28:06] Speaker 4: but also like ownership perspective too, Like I think they're
[28:08] Speaker 4: coming off of.
[28:09] Speaker 3: A division win.
[28:10] Speaker 4: Oh yeah, like winning that division, and I just don't
[28:12] Speaker 4: see them being heavy sellers of the day unless it
[28:15] Speaker 4: goes catastrophically.
[28:16] Speaker 5: Run we're takin.
[28:19] Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I think almost all scenarios are just
[28:23] Speaker 4: kind of like, let's play the year out. From a
[28:26] Speaker 4: Canalist perspective, from a Brice perspective, from where we are
[28:29] Speaker 4: with our current roster perspective. I just think that they're
[28:32] Speaker 4: going to let it play out more than be major
[28:34] Speaker 4: sellers of the deadline they have.
[28:35] Speaker 6: It's going to be an interesting push and pull regardless
[28:38] Speaker 6: because if they finish where I think everybody here is
[28:41] Speaker 6: going to finish, which is about the same again, and
[28:43] Speaker 6: nobody's broken through yet, and especially this team is not
[28:46] Speaker 6: broken through yet. I'm very interested in what the internal
[28:49] Speaker 6: push and pull is going to be about. Hey, we're here,
[28:53] Speaker 6: we built this, We're back to being competitive, not just
[28:56] Speaker 6: on a roster level, but in terms of our organizational
[28:59] Speaker 6: infrastructure too, and scouting and all of that. How do
[29:01] Speaker 6: we push to the next one. I think that there's
[29:03] Speaker 6: gonna be some itchiness in there for sure.
[29:05] Speaker 1: Yeah, the the Bryce Young long term question is a
[29:08] Speaker 1: big one.
[29:09] Speaker 5: So we know you're you're I'm a Brice believer.
[29:11] Speaker 1: Any tickets, Susan, Oh my god, it could be Kenny
[29:17] Speaker 1: Pickketts season.
[29:18] Speaker 2: They do open with.
[29:19] Speaker 3: The no no, no, no, hold on. We watched we all
[29:21] Speaker 3: watched the Hall of Fame game. No Hanes King baby.
[29:24] Speaker 7: Yeah, like, if everything, if everything goes worst case scenarios
[29:29] Speaker 7: for the Carolina Panthers, at least we know no Brad
[29:33] Speaker 7: Idzick can click it up with Haines.
[29:35] Speaker 1: I Mean, here's the thing though, They that their floor
[29:38] Speaker 1: is yeah, picking number one overall again just because they're
[29:41] Speaker 1: the cursed injured team and we've tried to ignore injuries
[29:43] Speaker 1: when doing feeling for but man, it's spin a brutal
[29:47] Speaker 1: camp and I was going through it this morning too,
[29:49] Speaker 1: and it's like, I know, it's probably just a minor
[29:51] Speaker 1: camp injury, but it's like Damien Lewis is out and
[29:53] Speaker 1: Robert Hunt is out and for now at least, like
[29:55] Speaker 1: Derek Brown is out. And then you have this great
[29:58] Speaker 1: Haines Kang story and he got he hurts his hamstring
[30:01] Speaker 1: on the game winning play, and so it's like, is
[30:03] Speaker 1: this team just a little curse. They do have the
[30:05] Speaker 1: Falcons and Browns in their first three weeks, so those
[30:07] Speaker 1: are those are winnable road games, and they have a
[30:10] Speaker 1: very early buy to get off to a fast start. Okay,
[30:13] Speaker 1: that is the Panthers. We already did the Falcons. I
[30:18] Speaker 1: disagreed with just one thing that Trevor said about the
[30:22] Speaker 1: high variance team in this division. To me, the highest
[30:25] Speaker 1: variance team is coming up right after the break. Also,
[30:29] Speaker 1: we're giving rankings now for each of these shows.
[30:34] Speaker 2: I'm in last place right now.
[30:35] Speaker 1: Trevor and Jordan are tied right now for second, but
[30:39] Speaker 1: Trevor's dog is winning the show so far.
[30:42] Speaker 2: Back in a few.
[30:51] Speaker 1: Back on NFL Daily talked about the potential high variance team.
[30:56] Speaker 1: I think that's the New Orleans Saints, and it would
[30:59] Speaker 1: have been sad if we forgot them during our division
[31:02] Speaker 1: preview episode.
[31:03] Speaker 2: But Trevor, we had.
[31:04] Speaker 1: A bad case of doing thirty one out of thirty
[31:07] Speaker 1: two teams for different exercises this offseason, like twice we
[31:10] Speaker 1: forgot the Saints. So look, the Saints have over indexed
[31:16] Speaker 1: twice on this program. I want to talk about it
[31:19] Speaker 1: on this program.
[31:20] Speaker 2: If you go on you guys kid, Yeah, and once
[31:23] Speaker 2: was me, once was Jordan.
[31:24] Speaker 5: So you know, separate occasions.
[31:26] Speaker 1: Okay, it's amazing, it's pathetic, and it's also weird because
[31:31] Speaker 1: I if I went back and looked at the amount
[31:33] Speaker 1: of time we've spent talking about each team, Patriots are
[31:35] Speaker 1: probably number one, you know, Saints are probably number two.
[31:37] Speaker 1: You know, this is a team, Like I said, I
[31:40] Speaker 1: always have a soft spot for or a hate when
[31:43] Speaker 1: they're hatable, which they're no longer. With Kellen Moore and
[31:47] Speaker 1: Tyler Shuck. The deadis Allen Era was tough. But what's
[31:50] Speaker 1: bringing me joy is that Kellen Moore and Tyler Schuck
[31:53] Speaker 1: they just feel right for each other. They come in together,
[31:56] Speaker 1: they both grew up. I think together as a as
[31:59] Speaker 1: you know, as a head coach, and then certainly as
[32:02] Speaker 1: a rookie quarterback last year. And I'll get into why
[32:06] Speaker 1: I think they're so high variants. But this often, specifically
[32:10] Speaker 1: to me, is Boomer Buss. But if you had told
[32:12] Speaker 1: me a year ago there would be a world when
[32:14] Speaker 1: I'd go into this season and I would think, yeah,
[32:17] Speaker 1: I think there's a path to this being a top
[32:19] Speaker 1: eight to ten offense. Like what a crazy year it
[32:24] Speaker 1: has been for the Saints, So that that high hope,
[32:27] Speaker 1: that ceiling.
[32:27] Speaker 2: And I'll explain why I late you know that gets
[32:29] Speaker 2: me going.
[32:30] Speaker 6: I have to say, I think that their floor that
[32:33] Speaker 6: you're considering, or they're the bottom part of their variants,
[32:36] Speaker 6: is actually higher.
[32:37] Speaker 5: In my estimation.
[32:38] Speaker 1: It's mostly just they have over index and injured guys.
[32:41] Speaker 5: Sure, that's yeah, that's fair.
[32:43] Speaker 6: We were trying not to factor that in as much
[32:45] Speaker 6: in this exercise.
[32:46] Speaker 5: But for me, the thing that.
[32:48] Speaker 6: I could maybe still nitpick Tyler shuck Over. I loved
[32:51] Speaker 6: him in the draft. I gave you a lot of
[32:53] Speaker 6: hell for that, Greg, I know, but watching him play
[32:55] Speaker 6: last year at the end of last season was really fun.
[32:57] Speaker 6: He did take a lot of sacks. When he takes sex,
[33:00] Speaker 6: he just gets nailed for me, bringing me joy. And
[33:03] Speaker 6: also one of my most important non quarterback players on
[33:07] Speaker 6: this team is Travis Chen and I think that because
[33:11] Speaker 6: he can catch the ball as well as he can,
[33:14] Speaker 6: he's giving Tyler Schuck that middle distance. And when I
[33:17] Speaker 6: say middle distance, I'm not saying intermediate routes or anything
[33:20] Speaker 6: like that, but sort of that like step between throwing
[33:23] Speaker 6: the ball the hell down the field to one of
[33:25] Speaker 6: these great receivers and just dumping it down and saving
[33:29] Speaker 6: yourself and not holding onto the ball to take those sacks,
[33:32] Speaker 6: avoiding those negative plays in that facet, because I think
[33:34] Speaker 6: he can be incredibly efficient when you don't use when
[33:38] Speaker 6: you don't factor in the sacks, and that's what Travis
[33:40] Speaker 6: Hn to me is partially therefore, not just to stabilize
[33:43] Speaker 6: and give clarity to their run game, which could use
[33:46] Speaker 6: the help, but also in the passing game as that
[33:49] Speaker 6: as an outlet player who can mitigate pressure. He caught
[33:52] Speaker 6: the ball very well in Jacksonville last year and he
[33:54] Speaker 6: had six receiving touchdowns, So I really think that this
[33:57] Speaker 6: is a needed element, not just for Tyler Shuck to
[34:00] Speaker 6: continue his development, but also to like have a little
[34:03] Speaker 6: bit more of that like underneath engine power in this offense,
[34:07] Speaker 6: run and pass.
[34:09] Speaker 4: Well, we're gonna round out the entire offense here with
[34:11] Speaker 4: what brings me joy because it's krisol.
[34:13] Speaker 3: Lave and Jordan Tyson.
[34:14] Speaker 4: Like if you guys, you know, close your guys and
[34:16] Speaker 4: think about those social media graphics with those five, like
[34:19] Speaker 4: five people on it, that goes who's stopping this offense?
[34:22] Speaker 4: That's how I feel about Tyler Schuck, Kellen Moore, Travis
[34:26] Speaker 4: a Chan. But to me, Chris o'lave and Jordan Tyson
[34:30] Speaker 4: I think are just two unbelievably talented wide receivers that
[34:34] Speaker 4: put so much stress on the defense because Chris o'lave
[34:36] Speaker 4: at his best, Sure, there are some teams out there
[34:39] Speaker 4: in the NFL that have cornerbacks that can hang with
[34:41] Speaker 4: Chris Olave, But how many cornerbacks, how many teams in
[34:44] Speaker 4: the NFL have cornerbacks that can hang with Chris o'lave
[34:46] Speaker 4: and Jordan Tyson when he's performing as good as he
[34:49] Speaker 4: possibly can. I know he's been banged up throughout his
[34:51] Speaker 4: college career, and sert of durability has been an issue
[34:53] Speaker 4: for him up to this point, but when he is
[34:55] Speaker 4: fully healthy. We saw it at Arizona State and we've
[34:58] Speaker 4: already seen it through some training camp clips as well.
[35:00] Speaker 4: So this guy is so unbelievably tough to cover when
[35:03] Speaker 4: he gets those free releases, when he can put his
[35:05] Speaker 4: foot in the ground and change direction Like few wide
[35:07] Speaker 4: receivers I've seen over the last couple of years. He
[35:09] Speaker 4: was my top wide receiver in this draft. I hadn't
[35:11] Speaker 4: landed in a great spot and I just feel as
[35:13] Speaker 4: though Kellen Moore is going to absolutely cook with these guys.
[35:17] Speaker 4: So if they can stay healthy on the offensive side
[35:18] Speaker 4: of the ball, this is a This is an offense
[35:21] Speaker 4: that can carry you.
[35:22] Speaker 3: This is an offense that can carry you to double
[35:24] Speaker 3: digit wins.
[35:24] Speaker 4: I'm really really excited for it, and that combination specifically
[35:28] Speaker 4: brings me joy with this team.
[35:29] Speaker 1: Yeah, Tyson's my most important on quarterback because to me,
[35:34] Speaker 1: he knocks everyone down a peg in a great way
[35:36] Speaker 1: on the offense. I saw Nick Underhill, who I really
[35:40] Speaker 1: respect who covers the Saints, said like he could see
[35:43] Speaker 1: a scenario watching Tyson. And he's been healthy in camp,
[35:46] Speaker 1: which has been great to see. Like being the best
[35:48] Speaker 1: player on the team at some point this season, and
[35:52] Speaker 1: I agree, if there's a world where that happens. And
[35:55] Speaker 1: then Juwan Johnson and Vley and we talked about Barry
[35:58] Speaker 1: and Brown on our last show. It was just like,
[36:00] Speaker 1: you know, these depth pieces, these extra Alvin Kamara, I'm
[36:04] Speaker 1: never giving you up man, like he's still the third
[36:06] Speaker 1: down guy, Like he's gonna be there on passing downs.
[36:08] Speaker 1: And he's reportedly having a good camp, a little more motive,
[36:10] Speaker 1: like he could help knock all those guys down with
[36:13] Speaker 1: an offensive line that has some ceiling. And that's where
[36:16] Speaker 1: I get to the point of like, yeah, I think
[36:18] Speaker 1: that's like a top eight to ten offense.
[36:22] Speaker 2: Well, m'd be over my skis a little bit.
[36:25] Speaker 6: I mean, but the way that we've seen Tyler Schuck
[36:27] Speaker 6: throw the football and likes to throw the football and
[36:30] Speaker 6: trust his receivers he had last year already, I worry
[36:33] Speaker 6: a little bit. I'm curious, you know, I Trevor. I
[36:35] Speaker 6: know you do a lot of scouting of draft prospects,
[36:38] Speaker 6: and Jordan Tyson played enough in the slot to make
[36:41] Speaker 6: me really interested in what he can do as a
[36:43] Speaker 6: power slot at the NFL level. And the mismatches that
[36:47] Speaker 6: that that brings where that does concern me. Is Kellen
[36:50] Speaker 6: Moore like showed no regard for Devon Vele across the middle,
[36:53] Speaker 6: so like, I don't want him to be hit on
[36:56] Speaker 6: those right, I'd like him to stay healthy durability wise,
[36:59] Speaker 6: So I think good balance there probably.
[37:01] Speaker 1: To strike yeah suck. Yeah, was awesome over the intermediate
[37:04] Speaker 1: part of the field. He did not like he was
[37:06] Speaker 1: one of the least effective deep ball throwers in the league.
[37:08] Speaker 1: People watching SAMs can't said they're not even trying going
[37:11] Speaker 1: like deep down the field, So that is something to
[37:12] Speaker 1: watch that. It's been a lot shorter for scheme Dream.
[37:16] Speaker 1: I mean I wrote the same name I'm gonna do. Okay,
[37:19] Speaker 1: the biggest Brandon Staley fan, the.
[37:22] Speaker 5: Stalely Sons is back.
[37:24] Speaker 6: I was gonna say a bad word, but the Staley
[37:26] Speaker 6: Sons is back. Okay, here's the thing you guys have
[37:29] Speaker 6: to go. I know we're all fans of him here
[37:31] Speaker 6: on this show, but my friend Cody Alexander, Now I'm talking.
[37:34] Speaker 5: About Cody Olo.
[37:35] Speaker 6: Okay, Okay, are fans of him on this show? Go
[37:37] Speaker 6: read his piece in Match Quarters, where, in awesome detail,
[37:41] Speaker 6: he explains how Brandon Staley did something that very few
[37:45] Speaker 6: teams did regularly last season, especially with the increase of
[37:49] Speaker 6: heavy personnel twelve personnel and thirteen personnel, so either two
[37:52] Speaker 6: tight ends or three tight ends on the field last season.
[37:55] Speaker 6: That is going to continue to permeate across the league
[37:58] Speaker 6: this year. Brandon Saley played bait. He played in his
[38:01] Speaker 6: three to four base and he continued to have his
[38:03] Speaker 6: split field coverages behind it, meaning one coverage on one
[38:06] Speaker 6: side of the field and another coverage on the other
[38:08] Speaker 6: side of the field. And he basically said, you can
[38:11] Speaker 6: run against us in heavy personnel, you can pass against
[38:14] Speaker 6: us in heavy personnel. But because I can stay in
[38:17] Speaker 6: base and have heavier guys come stop the run, and
[38:20] Speaker 6: his linebackers that have really come along and some of
[38:23] Speaker 6: the big slots that he's been playing for, you know
[38:25] Speaker 6: at safety, and we also are going to continue to
[38:28] Speaker 6: keep my coverage is funky because his defense has always
[38:30] Speaker 6: been a coverage focused group. That is something that teams
[38:34] Speaker 6: are going to copy all across the league this year
[38:37] Speaker 6: because it worked. That defense went from number twenty eight
[38:41] Speaker 6: and DVA to start the year was about the middle
[38:44] Speaker 6: of the NFL. Halfway through the year, and then in
[38:46] Speaker 6: the last quarter of games ranked number three in Dvoa
[38:50] Speaker 6: defensively and finished in number thirteen. I'm high on this defense.
[38:54] Speaker 6: I'm high on the Chase Young assance as well. Jonas
[38:58] Speaker 6: Sinker was one of my guys last year year, justin
[39:00] Speaker 6: Reid being there, Koloid McKinstry. It's all to me, really
[39:04] Speaker 6: really high potential to continue to evolve the way that
[39:07] Speaker 6: they were last year, and really I think once again
[39:10] Speaker 6: teams seeing this and starting to copy again things that
[39:13] Speaker 6: this defensive coordinator is doing.
[39:16] Speaker 1: The only thing that concerns me with Staley is like Kenny,
[39:18] Speaker 1: stay a step ahead and continue to evolve. But they
[39:21] Speaker 1: did coach up the defense. Well do you think they
[39:23] Speaker 1: have the horses driver?
[39:25] Speaker 3: I think that's that's a big question, right.
[39:27] Speaker 4: Like, First of all, I love that Jordan brought up
[39:29] Speaker 4: Sanker because I thought he was excellent last year, asked
[39:31] Speaker 4: to do a lot of different things. I was a
[39:34] Speaker 4: pretty big fan of his when he was coming out.
[39:36] Speaker 4: I felt as though he was being a little bit
[39:37] Speaker 4: slept on in that safety class, and they used him
[39:40] Speaker 4: in a variety of different ways. He was playing very fast,
[39:43] Speaker 4: very confidently, and I love what they can do with
[39:46] Speaker 4: him in the nickel. I think that when you talk
[39:48] Speaker 4: about guys who can stay in base defense a lot
[39:50] Speaker 4: of times is because you have these players who can
[39:52] Speaker 4: play a couple of different roles, right like your base
[39:54] Speaker 4: could be you know, if you have you have a
[39:56] Speaker 4: slot defender that you love or a safety that you love,
[39:59] Speaker 4: like sometimes like they can actually play at that second
[40:01] Speaker 4: level since it's kind of like you're in base but
[40:03] Speaker 4: you have a little bit of speed there still, so
[40:06] Speaker 4: you have to have that versatility and kind of to
[40:08] Speaker 4: Greg's question about having the horses, that's my big question
[40:10] Speaker 4: of like things go wrong if with this team if
[40:13] Speaker 4: the defensive line can't be more disruptive. Now, they finished
[40:16] Speaker 4: last year eleventh in sacks, but just twenty sixth in
[40:20] Speaker 4: total pressure, So the consistency wasn't there for this team.
[40:24] Speaker 4: It's largely the same exact group. Brian berziz out, you're
[40:29] Speaker 4: plugging Christian Miller in you drat And I love Christian Miller,
[40:31] Speaker 4: but like the reason why I love Christian Miller is
[40:34] Speaker 4: he's a run defender. Like and I remember even in
[40:36] Speaker 4: a scouting report, a lot of people were like, well,
[40:37] Speaker 4: he's not the greatest pass rusher. I was like, I
[40:39] Speaker 4: don't care. He's a great run defender, but like for
[40:41] Speaker 4: this team specifically, they kind of need some one pass rushers.
[40:44] Speaker 4: So somebody's got to be able to get after the
[40:46] Speaker 4: quarterback and create that disruption consistently. Chase Young obviously had
[40:50] Speaker 4: that the renaissance. I can't remember the term that that
[40:54] Speaker 4: Jordan creatively used there for Chase.
[40:55] Speaker 5: Youong, we've been doing Siza, We've been doing son Okay.
[40:58] Speaker 1: There, we've had assance aside.
[41:04] Speaker 3: Okay, that one was good. That got me.
[41:05] Speaker 4: But somebody else has to get after the quarterback or
[41:08] Speaker 4: create consistent pressures outside of just Chase Young. So that
[41:11] Speaker 4: to me is is definitely the things go wrong if
[41:14] Speaker 4: for me it's on that defensive side of the point.
[41:16] Speaker 2: Yeah, like Cam Jordan has a hamstring injury.
[41:20] Speaker 1: By the time you guys hear this, maybe we'll have
[41:21] Speaker 1: more news on it. The tone Kellen Moore had sounded
[41:26] Speaker 1: to me like it was like a best case scenario,
[41:28] Speaker 1: we'll see him at the beginning of the regular season.
[41:31] Speaker 5: Ever changed his tone though, that's fair.
[41:33] Speaker 1: That's he also avoids answering questions he's he's grown up,
[41:36] Speaker 1: though I think I think he's getting better. He's a
[41:38] Speaker 1: little less like this is an older it's an older
[41:41] Speaker 1: we all grow up. Yeah, it's I helped that was.
[41:44] Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I don't I don't know how. I
[41:46] Speaker 4: don't know how strong a statement that was there. Technically
[41:48] Speaker 4: I get older every year.
[41:50] Speaker 6: You know.
[41:50] Speaker 1: I'm saying he looked uncomfortable being a head coach for
[41:54] Speaker 1: a while last year, and then I think he kind of,
[41:56] Speaker 1: you know, grew into his comfort in his own skin,
[41:59] Speaker 1: you know. I mean it was like uncomfortable to watch
[42:02] Speaker 1: those press conferences with Kellen Moore when they ask him
[42:04] Speaker 1: something and he doesn't want to lie, and then he
[42:06] Speaker 1: just like kind of fritzes out and it's just like
[42:08] Speaker 1: a screen of death. But as a human, like they
[42:11] Speaker 1: got it's very Mickey Loomis this offseason that they decided
[42:14] Speaker 1: to get younger at linebacker by getting rid of the
[42:17] Speaker 1: Mario Davis and then they get Kaden Ellis, right, so
[42:22] Speaker 1: like five years younger, but he's still thirty two, and
[42:25] Speaker 1: like Perci's gone, and I like Jonah Sanker, but if
[42:29] Speaker 1: he's you know, covering your guy one on one, which
[42:31] Speaker 1: you got to do sometime in the slot, and then
[42:34] Speaker 1: the secondary's okay. The past like it's a lot of okay,
[42:37] Speaker 1: and the scheme hopefully makes up for it, but I do.
[42:40] Speaker 2: Wonder if they have the more.
[42:41] Speaker 4: I understand why this is your biggest variance team listening
[42:45] Speaker 4: to you talk about the defense like that, because I'm
[42:47] Speaker 4: I'm high. I'm just higher on the defense than you are.
[42:50] Speaker 4: And I think that's why, Yeah, my ceiling floors.
[42:53] Speaker 5: I am too. I know you couldn't tell.
[42:54] Speaker 1: I know well to me, and to me, it's also
[42:57] Speaker 1: like Eric McCoy is either a Pro Bowl caliber center
[43:02] Speaker 1: or is what he actually has been, which is not available,
[43:05] Speaker 1: Like he hasn't been available for four years consistently, so
[43:08] Speaker 1: there's no real reason based on that to think he'll
[43:11] Speaker 1: be available. Caesar Ruiz is a guy who would not
[43:14] Speaker 1: be on the team if they hadn't given him a
[43:16] Speaker 1: regrettable contract. Fuaga and Banks could be one of the
[43:20] Speaker 1: best young tackle groups in the league. Fugaga has had
[43:22] Speaker 1: a lot of injuries, and then Olave and Tyson.
[43:25] Speaker 2: It's just a lot of variants. Even Shuck going back to.
[43:27] Speaker 1: His college, it just feels like ceiling floor, ceiling floor.
[43:31] Speaker 2: It's all over the place.
[43:32] Speaker 1: So to me, I think they could be as crazy
[43:34] Speaker 1: as like an eleven win team and the floor is Yeah,
[43:36] Speaker 1: they're back in last place, so as like a five
[43:39] Speaker 1: or six win team.
[43:40] Speaker 6: One last thing I want to say is that Greg,
[43:42] Speaker 6: you and I always talk about scheme meeting players and
[43:45] Speaker 6: players meeting scheme, and your point about can Brandon Staley
[43:48] Speaker 6: continue to stay ahead is absolutely a good one. My
[43:52] Speaker 6: theory and what I'll posit here is he already got ahead,
[43:55] Speaker 6: and because he has a player like Jona Sanker in
[43:58] Speaker 6: the slot the way that other teams are going to
[44:00] Speaker 6: try to deploy their their buffalo nickel, essentially this year,
[44:05] Speaker 6: he is already ahead and it's the players now that
[44:08] Speaker 6: bring it to life, and certainly with the coverage principles
[44:10] Speaker 6: as well. And I think that's why I'm a lot
[44:12] Speaker 6: higher on the I guess the variants are lack thereof
[44:15] Speaker 6: to me of this defense this year. You know my
[44:18] Speaker 6: ceiling and floor already, But I do think that this
[44:21] Speaker 6: is probably it's to me a sleeper best team in
[44:23] Speaker 6: the NFC South for me.
[44:25] Speaker 4: I have the ceiling at eleven and six and I
[44:28] Speaker 4: have the floor at eight and nine.
[44:29] Speaker 2: Like I just don't.
[44:31] Speaker 4: I don't see this team really failing now. Whether they
[44:34] Speaker 4: win the division or not, we'll see, But specifically when
[44:37] Speaker 4: you look at their schedule from week three to week ten. Okay,
[44:42] Speaker 4: there's seven games in between. Are there's seven weeks in
[44:44] Speaker 4: between there they're at home for five of those seven weeks,
[44:48] Speaker 4: one of them is an international game and the other
[44:50] Speaker 4: week is.
[44:51] Speaker 3: A bye week.
[44:52] Speaker 4: So yeah, that stretch could be huge for that team
[44:56] Speaker 4: if they nail it, if they if they go into
[44:58] Speaker 4: like week ten and they're and hear it.
[45:01] Speaker 3: I don't know, like six and two or something.
[45:03] Speaker 4: I don't know math all the top I have, but
[45:05] Speaker 4: like if they like look like juggernauts in the division,
[45:07] Speaker 4: that might be able to carry them through a tougher
[45:09] Speaker 4: second half of the season. But yeah, I think the
[45:12] Speaker 4: floor is pretty high for this team. I just have
[45:14] Speaker 4: a lot of faith in what Keltmore's.
[45:15] Speaker 2: I like the optimism. They are predicted.
[45:19] Speaker 1: You know that they're favored to be second place, but
[45:21] Speaker 1: the Bucks being in first. It's not a huge gap.
[45:24] Speaker 1: It's a division where like you would take the field
[45:27] Speaker 1: over any particular team, That's what the numbers are telling you.
[45:30] Speaker 1: So it's not a huge gap between the Bucks and
[45:31] Speaker 1: the Saints, or between the Saints and the Panthers. But
[45:34] Speaker 1: they are sort of expected the Saints to come in second,
[45:36] Speaker 1: which you know leaves the Bucks in an interesting time
[45:40] Speaker 1: in their development.
[45:41] Speaker 2: Like it's like.
[45:44] Speaker 1: A lot on them this year, and yet I do
[45:46] Speaker 1: think they have the most talent in the division. What's
[45:48] Speaker 1: bringing you joy about this team right now?
[45:50] Speaker 2: Jordan?
[45:50] Speaker 6: Chris Godwin back in the year two after the gruesome,
[45:54] Speaker 6: gruesome injury and subsequent recovery, Chris Godwin, Trevor, I'll loop
[45:59] Speaker 6: you in on this too, and I know you know
[46:01] Speaker 6: you're so knowledgeable about the Bucks in general. Chris Godwin's
[46:04] Speaker 6: probably about as my guy as a player has ever
[46:06] Speaker 6: been in the NFL.
[46:08] Speaker 5: He's the first player I ever watched.
[46:09] Speaker 6: Film with when I was covering college football, Like taught
[46:12] Speaker 6: me a lot Like he I want good things for
[46:14] Speaker 6: him and the fact that he is now putting more
[46:17] Speaker 6: distance behind him and his back without Mike Gevins here,
[46:21] Speaker 6: he should become the featured player. I also was the
[46:24] Speaker 6: co founder of the Emmica at boot Club and really
[46:27] Speaker 6: hoping for a bounce back from the end of the
[46:29] Speaker 6: season for him, maybe with less on his plate than
[46:32] Speaker 6: he had last season. I just think more clarity and
[46:34] Speaker 6: featured roles for these two guys that is bringing me joy.
[46:38] Speaker 6: I hope that Chris Godwin can get back to being
[46:40] Speaker 6: the f player in this offense. F you know, stands
[46:43] Speaker 6: for a lot of things, but to me also funnels
[46:45] Speaker 6: the entire offense through this guy. And I really really
[46:48] Speaker 6: feel like Chris Godwin at his best is capable of
[46:50] Speaker 6: doing it.
[46:51] Speaker 1: Yeah, even during last season it felt like he had
[46:53] Speaker 1: more juice. But by the end of it, but you're
[46:55] Speaker 1: absolutely right, like how important he is? What's bringing you
[46:57] Speaker 1: joy about this Bucks team? You're box Trevor be real.
[47:02] Speaker 4: Ruben Bain Junior number fifteen overall, how does this happen? Honestly,
[47:07] Speaker 4: this is what's bringing me joy because I'll be honest,
[47:11] Speaker 4: like there are some things to be happy about, sort
[47:13] Speaker 4: of like on the defensive side of the football. I'll
[47:15] Speaker 4: dig into some of these other ones in these different
[47:17] Speaker 4: categories that we talk about. But if you take Ruby
[47:20] Speaker 4: Bain Junior off of this team, I don't think it's
[47:23] Speaker 4: that scary, right, And you're talking about a team with
[47:26] Speaker 4: the defensive head coach and Todd Bowles, like it's all
[47:28] Speaker 4: about the defense needs to be up to a certain standard,
[47:30] Speaker 4: like they already could not get after the passer last year.
[47:33] Speaker 4: If they did not, I don't want to say this
[47:36] Speaker 4: like take away from the intel and the scouting department did,
[47:41] Speaker 4: but like if they don't luck into Ruben Bain Junior
[47:43] Speaker 4: in the middle of the draft, like I don't know
[47:45] Speaker 4: where this team would be when it comes to getting
[47:47] Speaker 4: after the passer and the outlook for it this upcoming year.
[47:50] Speaker 4: So to me, with him now on that defensive line,
[47:53] Speaker 4: you have so many different possibilities and that brings me
[47:57] Speaker 4: into sort of like a scheme dream if we're talking
[47:58] Speaker 4: about the defensive side of the ball, Like, well, I
[48:01] Speaker 4: guess I'll just rope all. My most important non quarterback
[48:05] Speaker 4: is Vitavea. You can't trade him. They're not going to
[48:07] Speaker 4: trade him, Like it's just it's not gonna happen without him.
[48:10] Speaker 4: None of this works because you have a smaller defensive
[48:13] Speaker 4: tackle in Klidjacansi, who you have to have more from
[48:16] Speaker 4: this year from an availability standpoint and just an overall.
[48:19] Speaker 3: Like he's got to take the next step type of
[48:21] Speaker 3: the standpoint.
[48:21] Speaker 4: You have obviously Ruben Bain Junior, who's a bigger defensive end,
[48:25] Speaker 4: but you kind of kick him a little bit inside outside.
[48:27] Speaker 4: He doesn't have that length that everybody talked about ad
[48:29] Speaker 4: nauseum throughout the draft. And then the sleeper is David Walker,
[48:32] Speaker 4: who is from Central Arkansas, a sack master when he
[48:35] Speaker 4: was in college who tore his acl.
[48:38] Speaker 3: Or here's achilles.
[48:39] Speaker 4: I can't remember exactly which one it was, but we
[48:40] Speaker 4: missed the entire year. Last year he's back and according
[48:43] Speaker 4: to all practice reports, he's tearing it up every single day.
[48:46] Speaker 4: I don't know if this is still a streak today,
[48:48] Speaker 4: but at one point he had a sack in nine
[48:50] Speaker 4: straight practices for them over the last week.
[48:52] Speaker 3: And a half.
[48:52] Speaker 4: So my scheme dream is getting to a point where
[48:55] Speaker 4: Todd Bowles loves to be creative and how he throws
[48:57] Speaker 4: pressure at you. Basically, the only one who has more
[49:00] Speaker 4: exotic blitzes and different types of blitzes is Brian Flores.
[49:03] Speaker 3: It's basically just.
[49:04] Speaker 4: The Vikings and the Bucks that have been one to
[49:06] Speaker 4: the last two or three years. So the scheme dream
[49:08] Speaker 4: is getting to a point where if you have Vitavea
[49:10] Speaker 4: in the middle and he's still the Vitavea that you
[49:12] Speaker 4: know him to be, you can have Yaya Diavi, David Walker,
[49:16] Speaker 4: Reuben Bain Junior, Colijah Cansi all on the field at
[49:18] Speaker 4: the same time and just tell them go. And I
[49:21] Speaker 4: just don't know many offensive lines in the league that
[49:24] Speaker 4: are able to handle that sort of chaos. So to me,
[49:27] Speaker 4: is setting this team up in whatever way you need
[49:30] Speaker 4: to to be able to have that sort of defensive
[49:33] Speaker 4: line unleashed on offensive lines throughout the season, because I
[49:36] Speaker 4: think a variety of that, but also those guys on
[49:38] Speaker 4: the field at the same time could make this defense
[49:41] Speaker 4: again a very i'll say mysterious, and I mean that
[49:44] Speaker 4: is a terrifying way if you're an offensive coordinator, type
[49:47] Speaker 4: of way that we didn't see over the last couple
[49:49] Speaker 4: of seasons.
[49:50] Speaker 1: Yeah, I think they could be dynamic on all three
[49:51] Speaker 1: levels of the defense. We'll see about linebacker with Josiah Trider,
[49:55] Speaker 1: but that was what's bringing me joy too, is like that.
[49:59] Speaker 1: I mean, is there a defensive line, especially at the
[50:02] Speaker 1: edge position, that you had like taken a like a
[50:04] Speaker 1: big barroom brawl over this group. I mean you throw
[50:08] Speaker 1: al Kaheim Mohammad and it's like the fourth or third guy.
[50:11] Speaker 1: I mean, this group is so much deeper and better
[50:14] Speaker 1: and I want to see the bulls asance that the
[50:16] Speaker 1: first time I've actually used sans in that way on
[50:20] Speaker 1: the round the NFL show was because of the Bulls
[50:22] Speaker 1: of sants with the Bucks. You know, he's coming back
[50:26] Speaker 1: from the Jets and he was the coordinator for the
[50:28] Speaker 1: Bucks and I just loved watching him. And it's been
[50:32] Speaker 1: a minute. I don't need to tell you this as
[50:34] Speaker 1: a Bucks fan, Trevor. Since they've had a difference making defense,
[50:38] Speaker 1: I went and looked at it. I couldn't believe it.
[50:39] Speaker 1: They've been averaged the last four years or five years.
[50:43] Speaker 1: The last time they had a top ten DVOA defense
[50:46] Speaker 1: was the last time they won the Super Bowl. Like
[50:49] Speaker 1: it's it's been a while, and yet I do I
[50:51] Speaker 1: think the ceiling of this defense is quite high. I'm
[50:54] Speaker 1: really excited to watch it. I think Bulls has the
[50:57] Speaker 1: right mix of players. So you did some you know,
[51:00] Speaker 1: most important on quarterback there with Vita Vea. Who do
[51:04] Speaker 1: you got for that category?
[51:05] Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm gonna be kind of the variance downer here, guys,
[51:08] Speaker 6: cause mine is also goes into like my scheme dream slash,
[51:13] Speaker 6: big question mark Zach Robinson is to me. And when
[51:16] Speaker 6: I say most important, I'm hoping for the Bucks, that
[51:19] Speaker 6: means it's a good thing. I don't know for sure
[51:21] Speaker 6: if that is a good thing. What I would really
[51:24] Speaker 6: like for Zach Robinson to do is call up his
[51:26] Speaker 6: buddy Liam Cohen and ask if he can borrow that
[51:29] Speaker 6: twenty twenty four Tampa Bay Buccaneers run game and see, hey,
[51:33] Speaker 6: I would really like to add more diversity in my
[51:36] Speaker 6: run game than I just showed with one of the
[51:39] Speaker 6: best players in football in Jon Robinson. In twenty twenty four.
[51:43] Speaker 6: Not only do the Bucks have a top five run
[51:45] Speaker 6: game and success rate, but the most important thing to
[51:48] Speaker 6: me was that they were They had really good inside
[51:51] Speaker 6: and outside run game balance, like their frequency rates. It
[51:54] Speaker 6: wasn't totally split evenly, but it was close enough to
[51:57] Speaker 6: where you don't really know. They're not giving you tells
[52:00] Speaker 6: directionally or conceptually which way they're going to go with this.
[52:03] Speaker 6: And then with all of that, they were third an
[52:05] Speaker 6: explosive run rate. So to me, those two things are
[52:09] Speaker 6: absolutely key to getting this entire offense back to what
[52:13] Speaker 6: we expect it to be, what its highest version of
[52:16] Speaker 6: itself will be. And to not put it all on
[52:19] Speaker 6: Baker Mayfield's arm, which as much as I love Baker
[52:22] Speaker 6: Mayfield and will stand by him on this show until
[52:25] Speaker 6: you put me in the ground.
[52:26] Speaker 5: Greg Baker, Ball, Keith Side rolling Bene. You cannot put it.
[52:32] Speaker 6: You cannot put it all on his arm. It is
[52:35] Speaker 6: too streaky of an arm to put it all on
[52:37] Speaker 6: his arm. And so for me, Zach Robinson is sort
[52:39] Speaker 6: of the metaphorical figure of all of that. But it's
[52:42] Speaker 6: a lot of different ideas and one.
[52:44] Speaker 1: I mean, he's the fourth coordinator for Baker in as
[52:46] Speaker 1: many years now. And Zach Robinson's also the you know,
[52:50] Speaker 1: the offensive coordinator he was with the Falcon So it's
[52:52] Speaker 1: you know, in the division he moves over. Didn't necessarily
[52:55] Speaker 1: think he was going to get a job he did.
[52:57] Speaker 1: They're talking about a lot of outside zone, as Jordan
[53:00] Speaker 1: was saying, like they're going to major in that. Do
[53:03] Speaker 1: they have a second tight end they can really trust
[53:05] Speaker 1: to execute all this? Did they play some like more
[53:08] Speaker 1: spread like they did with Atlanta last year? What are
[53:11] Speaker 1: you thinking about the Zach Robinson Baker marriage here, Trevor.
[53:15] Speaker 4: I mean, it's it's I think it could be fine,
[53:18] Speaker 4: Like I think like, I think it could be good.
[53:20] Speaker 1: Honest, the side too, I think it could be fine.
[53:23] Speaker 1: Is not what you want if you're a Bucks fan.
[53:25] Speaker 4: The problem The problem is is is exactly what Jordan
[53:29] Speaker 4: talked about. Mayfield's variance has gone with him throughout his
[53:33] Speaker 4: entire NFL career, and it was no greater than last year.
[53:38] Speaker 4: Through the first six weeks of this season, he was
[53:40] Speaker 4: an MVP candidate. We were talking about Baker Mayfield being
[53:43] Speaker 4: the front runner for m v P five and six
[53:45] Speaker 4: weeks into the season, they walked into Seattle and beat
[53:48] Speaker 4: the Seahawks, Right, I mean, like, this is this is
[53:51] Speaker 4: a team that was that was that was so good
[53:54] Speaker 4: at the beginning of the of the year. But then
[53:55] Speaker 4: at Pro Football Focus there was an an accuracy stat forquarterbacks,
[54:00] Speaker 4: uncatchable inaccurate passes. It was all accuracy was sort of
[54:04] Speaker 4: like divided into these four different categories, but the worst
[54:06] Speaker 4: of them was uncatchable inaccurate passes. So obviously you can
[54:10] Speaker 4: understand how bad a pass is to be categorized like that.
[54:14] Speaker 4: Baker led the NFL in uncatchable inaccurate passes in the
[54:18] Speaker 4: second half of the season.
[54:19] Speaker 2: He did.
[54:20] Speaker 4: So how do you go from being an MVP candidate
[54:23] Speaker 4: in the first six weeks of the year to quite
[54:25] Speaker 4: literally the most inaccurate, consistent starting quarterback in the league.
[54:29] Speaker 4: That's the thing is is the right offensive coordinator for
[54:32] Speaker 4: the Buccaneers is simply the one that has more good
[54:36] Speaker 4: Baker Mayfield than.
[54:37] Speaker 2: Bad and he's coaching the Jaguars right now.
[54:40] Speaker 4: Yeah, well he is, unfortunately, and he's the one who
[54:43] Speaker 4: was able to unlock that the most. And I think
[54:46] Speaker 4: Zach Robinson has the potential to be a good match
[54:49] Speaker 4: for Baker Mayfield. The big sigh is just because throughout
[54:52] Speaker 4: his entire career, Mayfield has been so up and down
[54:55] Speaker 4: outside of with one coach, and that coach is obviously,
[54:58] Speaker 4: like you mentioned, on the Jags now. So it's truly
[55:01] Speaker 4: a I don't know what it takes to the scheme,
[55:03] Speaker 4: I don't know what it takes to the tempo, whatever
[55:05] Speaker 4: it is. It's just getting in his ear and making
[55:08] Speaker 4: him the better version of Mayfield than the bad version
[55:11] Speaker 4: of Mayfield. And that's sort of as simply as I
[55:14] Speaker 4: could put it.
[55:14] Speaker 1: It is a lot went into that. Obviously, he was
[55:17] Speaker 1: hurt by the end of the year. The offensive line
[55:19] Speaker 1: was hurt, the receivers were hurt. There were reasons for it.
[55:21] Speaker 1: I don't think he ever was nearly as good as
[55:23] Speaker 1: an MVP can. I was making that argument because in
[55:25] Speaker 1: all those games, like he would struggle for three like
[55:27] Speaker 1: you got the variants in the game, and then he
[55:29] Speaker 1: turned it on at the end.
[55:31] Speaker 5: None of us was making the MVP argument, right.
[55:33] Speaker 1: I'm just saying, but like that was a big, a
[55:35] Speaker 1: big storyline and everything. But yeah, you just need a
[55:38] Speaker 1: bit of a steadier thing. And Baker's part of my
[55:40] Speaker 1: things go wrong. If it's just a team that's had
[55:43] Speaker 1: a lot of expectations, that's been at a certain point,
[55:46] Speaker 1: could they be a little bit of the opposite of
[55:48] Speaker 1: the Panthers here where the vibes go wrong because of
[55:52] Speaker 1: the expectations and the pressure, and that Vita Vea one
[55:56] Speaker 1: of the most important players on the team, Baker Mayfield
[55:59] Speaker 1: one of the most important players on the team.
[56:01] Speaker 2: You know, are in contract situations.
[56:03] Speaker 1: You have Cody Mak who's is important too, and ya
[56:05] Speaker 1: Yaddabi who are also in contract.
[56:07] Speaker 2: I'm making my free agency list.
[56:08] Speaker 1: There's a lot of bucks here at near the top
[56:10] Speaker 1: of that list league wide, and so I do think
[56:13] Speaker 1: there could be something ineffable, Jordan that just like sinks
[56:17] Speaker 1: this team a little bit, that that you couldn't really
[56:20] Speaker 1: put like they could be less than the sum of
[56:22] Speaker 1: their parts.
[56:22] Speaker 6: Potentially, you have the Saints as your highest variance team
[56:26] Speaker 6: here in this discussion today. To me, the Bucks are
[56:31] Speaker 6: because we saw it last year. Honestly. I mean we
[56:33] Speaker 6: saw steady improvement even from the Falcons, who were chaotic
[56:37] Speaker 6: at the beginning of the year. Their defense really carried
[56:39] Speaker 6: them down the stretch, and some of their skill guys
[56:41] Speaker 6: really stood out. Panthers seriously improved, especially through the back
[56:45] Speaker 6: half and into their little playoff run. The Saints improved,
[56:50] Speaker 6: the Bucks like cratered one minute. And so that for me,
[56:54] Speaker 6: you know, as much as I want to see the
[56:55] Speaker 6: Bucks be successful because I love this team, I love
[56:58] Speaker 6: how they're built. I trust this front office to draft
[57:00] Speaker 6: and develop. But man, the variance to me is off
[57:04] Speaker 6: the charts.
[57:05] Speaker 1: Yeah, I think they could be really good. You know,
[57:07] Speaker 1: we didn't have time to even like hit. They have
[57:09] Speaker 1: some really exciting young players. Jacob Parrish probably going to
[57:12] Speaker 1: play a little bit more on the outside, looked really good.
[57:14] Speaker 1: Kyanti Scott's like a fun rookie. It's sneaky even though
[57:17] Speaker 1: it's a win now type of team. They have a
[57:19] Speaker 1: lot of good young talent, and so that's why they
[57:21] Speaker 1: are my pick to win the division. I will put
[57:24] Speaker 1: their ceiling I put the Saints at eleven. Could the
[57:28] Speaker 1: Bucks get to twelve wins with this schedule?
[57:31] Speaker 5: That's going to hurt you to say it.
[57:33] Speaker 1: I think they are ceilings about the same actually as
[57:35] Speaker 1: the Saints, but I think they're the team that is
[57:37] Speaker 1: going to win the division.
[57:38] Speaker 2: At eleven, I have them as the much higher floor though.
[57:40] Speaker 1: I think they're like a an eight or nine win
[57:44] Speaker 1: to eleven wins.
[57:45] Speaker 6: Honest question, because I didn't look this up and I
[57:48] Speaker 6: should have win. The last time NFC South team was
[57:52] Speaker 6: an eleven win team, was it that.
[57:53] Speaker 5: Super Bowl year?
[57:55] Speaker 2: No?
[57:55] Speaker 1: Because they I think the the year after the Super
[57:59] Speaker 1: Bowl was actually their best teams, like the regular season,
[58:03] Speaker 1: so that would have been that would have been both
[58:04] Speaker 1: of those teams. Though, while eleven and thirteen, that's a
[58:07] Speaker 1: good point. The Bucks have not even though they won
[58:09] Speaker 1: all those divisions, they were not getting open pretty good.
[58:13] Speaker 1: What do you got, Trevor, Trevor, it's tough when it's
[58:16] Speaker 1: your team because sometimes you're harder on your own team.
[58:19] Speaker 2: But let's let's hear it.
[58:20] Speaker 4: No, I give them the same ceiling as the Saints.
[58:23] Speaker 4: It's eleven and six. I think I don't know if
[58:25] Speaker 4: they can get to twelve the floor, I have them
[58:26] Speaker 4: at six and eleven, and you're looking at a major
[58:29] Speaker 4: like Mayfield's gone, Bulls is gone, You're you're you're moving
[58:32] Speaker 4: on from some of those free agents like you probably mentioned.
[58:34] Speaker 4: But I will say this about the Bucks. Their schedule
[58:37] Speaker 4: does I think lend itself to them. If you want
[58:41] Speaker 4: to look at sort of who they're playing and when
[58:43] Speaker 4: they're playing it. I like Tampa schedule the most. They're
[58:45] Speaker 4: at Cincinnati to start the season, which objectively is flown
[58:48] Speaker 4: up against that Bengals team, but then they're at home
[58:51] Speaker 4: for three straight games in the months of September and
[58:54] Speaker 4: October when it is hot in Tampa Bay, let me
[58:58] Speaker 4: tell you, and they are playing up North team Cleveland,
[59:01] Speaker 4: up North team, Minnesota, up North team Green Bay. So
[59:05] Speaker 4: good like Minnesota and Green Bay obviously good teams, but
[59:07] Speaker 4: they're coming down. They're having to play Tampa in the
[59:09] Speaker 4: heat there to start the season, and then it's sort
[59:12] Speaker 4: of basically just away.
[59:13] Speaker 3: Game, home game, away game, home game.
[59:14] Speaker 4: For most of the rest of the season, and you
[59:16] Speaker 4: have a middle of the season by week in week ten,
[59:20] Speaker 4: you then get the Saints twice out of your last
[59:23] Speaker 4: four games of the season.
[59:25] Speaker 3: If you think New Orleans is going to be that team.
[59:27] Speaker 4: So, like, I just think if you're looking at X
[59:30] Speaker 4: factors here, like if it's close between all these teams,
[59:32] Speaker 4: the Saints, the Bucks, the Panthers, I think the schedule
[59:35] Speaker 4: lends itself to Tampa coming out on top because of
[59:37] Speaker 4: how things are shaking out.
[59:38] Speaker 2: I'm bumping out my ceiling for the Bucks. So let's go.
[59:40] Speaker 2: Let's go to twelve.
[59:42] Speaker 3: I agree seventeen to zero seems realistic.
[59:45] Speaker 1: There because in my heart I do believe it. I
[59:47] Speaker 1: do think there is a route and the schedule's not easy.
[59:50] Speaker 1: You get the AFC North out of division, you get
[59:53] Speaker 1: the Rams out of division late in the season too,
[59:56] Speaker 1: you get the NFC North, which is really balanced. So
[59:59] Speaker 1: my division prediction is Bucks one, Saints two, Panthers, three
[1:00:06] Speaker 1: Falcons four, which is pretty chalky.
[1:00:08] Speaker 2: What do you got, Trevor, got it? You gotta do it.
[1:00:12] Speaker 2: We're holding it, holding you to all right?
[1:00:14] Speaker 3: Bucks?
[1:00:14] Speaker 2: All right?
[1:00:14] Speaker 4: Bucks one, Saints two, Panthers, three Falcons.
[1:00:18] Speaker 6: I'm gonna pull an old Greg Rosenthal right here.
[1:00:23] Speaker 3: This could mean anything, right.
[1:00:25] Speaker 6: I'm gonna go Saints one. I'm gonna go Bucks two.
[1:00:29] Speaker 6: Sorry to my beloved Panthers. It's the I'm gonna go
[1:00:31] Speaker 6: Panthers three and Falcons four, but I'm gonna go. I'm
[1:00:34] Speaker 6: gonna zig when you guys zag and go Saints one.
[1:00:37] Speaker 2: Okay.
[1:00:38] Speaker 1: I thought, you know, if we did this a month
[1:00:39] Speaker 1: ago before the Vibes and maybe.
[1:00:41] Speaker 5: I would have picked Panthers.
[1:00:42] Speaker 1: I was gonna say, you might, you might have had
[1:00:44] Speaker 1: the Panthers one. I was feeling that vibe for you all.
[1:00:47] Speaker 1: Don't get too freaked out.
[1:00:48] Speaker 2: It's you know, omens get healthier.
[1:00:54] Speaker 1: A great sign is that, you know, the three of
[1:00:56] Speaker 1: us enjoy podcasting together.
[1:00:57] Speaker 2: I hope we can do this again sometimes.
[1:00:59] Speaker 1: Trevor, thank you great for double duty on the South Divisions.
[1:01:04] Speaker 2: And that's it for Trevor here.
[1:01:06] Speaker 1: But Jordan will be back with me on our next show,
[1:01:09] Speaker 1: which will be taped live from Chargers Camp on Tuesday.
[1:01:12] Speaker 1: Let's hit that music. Let's get out of here. We
[1:01:14] Speaker 1: got a busy week. Like I said, we'll do some
[1:01:16] Speaker 1: news from Chargers Camp. We'll do the Chargers and we
[1:01:20] Speaker 1: also have an interview a power Players episode with Nick Cayley,
[1:01:23] Speaker 1: the play caller for the Houston Texans, that is next
[1:01:27] Speaker 1: in the feed. Him and Jordan Great conversation. Please check
[1:01:30] Speaker 1: that out. The two of them are going to unlock
[1:01:32] Speaker 1: CJ Stroud together.
[1:01:33] Speaker 2: See you then

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