# Hall of Fame Locks, Players Suddenly Important at Work and the Preseason Begins!

An episode of [NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/680904259), 7 Aug 2026, 1 h 04 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/482d42e0-0ffd-47fa-aa73-b49f002166bd/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=deff018f-4b51-4501-937c-ae27003475d1

Gregg Rosenthal and Jourdan Rodrigue react to the 2026 Hall of Fame Class and game. Also, Gregg and Jourdan discuss Jahmyr Gibbs and Jonathan Taylor getting new contracts, Jalon Walker's injury, Stefon Diggs signing with the Commanders and take a look ahead at who currently in the NFL could make an easier case at a spot in the Hall of Fame than others. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcasts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:04] Speaker 1: Welcome to the NFL Daily, where we have a real
[0:07] Speaker 1: football game sort of to talk about tonight. I'm Greg
[0:11] Speaker 1: Rosenthal in Los Angeles talking to my friend across town,
[0:15] Speaker 1: Jordan Rodrigue, trying something a little different.
[0:19] Speaker 2: Thank you to everyone joining us on YouTube. Thank you
[0:21] Speaker 2: to everyone listening to us as a daily podcast. This
[0:24] Speaker 2: is our last one of the week. We're gonna hit
[0:27] Speaker 2: some camp news, Jordan. We're gonna talk some Hall of
[0:30] Speaker 2: Fame with a big Hall of Fame weekend coming up.
[0:34] Speaker 2: We're gonna talk about some people like yourself who have
[0:36] Speaker 2: become suddenly important at work. It's been important at work
[0:39] Speaker 2: for a little while. And we're gonna watch this Hall
[0:43] Speaker 2: of Fame game as it starts, because we just decided
[0:45] Speaker 2: why not have a little fun and watch along while
[0:49] Speaker 2: we're talking football. Thank you Jordan again live.
[0:53] Speaker 3: I know.
[0:53] Speaker 4: I'm so happy to be here.
[0:54] Speaker 3: I've got one eye on my on my TV and
[0:57] Speaker 3: I'm watching this intro and it's great. You see Al
[1:01] Speaker 3: and Chris and excuse me, Mike and Chris in the booth,
[1:04] Speaker 3: and you see the players Luke Keikley and Larry Fitzgerald
[1:08] Speaker 3: walking out to the field in front of these I'm stoked.
[1:11] Speaker 2: Greg.
[1:11] Speaker 4: I like the bottom crawl. That was a nice touch.
[1:13] Speaker 4: Football is back.
[1:15] Speaker 2: Yes, football has has been back a little bit, but
[1:18] Speaker 2: preseason football it's really back. And I do eat up
[1:22] Speaker 2: this first game of the year, and I'm looking forward
[1:24] Speaker 2: to watching the rest of it once we're off because
[1:27] Speaker 2: it's the NBC production, ye, And we had like Matt
[1:31] Speaker 2: Lafleur surprising Mike Laffler who has a live mike and
[1:35] Speaker 2: is just chatting with the studio before the game, and
[1:38] Speaker 2: you have all the Hall of famers around, and it's
[1:40] Speaker 2: just a good back to football vibe in a way
[1:44] Speaker 2: that you know, by the second or third week of
[1:46] Speaker 2: the preseason, we're just sick of preseason football. But tonight,
[1:49] Speaker 2: tonight is not about the football exactly. It's just sort
[1:52] Speaker 2: of about the circumstances.
[1:54] Speaker 4: Yes, the thought that counts again.
[1:56] Speaker 2: And we've only got on my college till the real
[1:58] Speaker 2: football starts, and so we're going to keep an eye
[2:01] Speaker 2: and if you are watching along live, we love you.
[2:04] Speaker 2: Put some questions in the in the chat and we'll
[2:06] Speaker 2: watch this game along with you and answer your questions
[2:09] Speaker 2: about the twenty twenty sixth season. But let's start with
[2:12] Speaker 2: a little bit of news. Let's let's line this up.
[2:14] Speaker 2: Let's do a little bit of news with the running backs.
[2:17] Speaker 2: Let's talk about some players related to the news that
[2:19] Speaker 2: are suddenly important at work, and then we'll get into
[2:23] Speaker 2: some Hall of Fame talk to wrap the show. We'll
[2:25] Speaker 2: be out of here in less than an hour now
[2:26] Speaker 2: I put it on on camera. It's a promise to you.
[2:29] Speaker 4: Yeah, how many times have you said that? Today? Greg?
[2:32] Speaker 2: More than more than I care to admit. Jamiir Gibbs
[2:36] Speaker 2: is under contract. They looked at the Bajon Robinson contract
[2:40] Speaker 2: and they'll they just said, I'll have one of those.
[2:42] Speaker 2: It is sixty seven point five million dollars over three years.
[2:46] Speaker 2: The deal is up to seventy five million dollars, so
[2:50] Speaker 2: he has some incentives in there. It's fifty one point
[2:52] Speaker 2: five million dollars guaranteed, and if you look at the
[2:55] Speaker 2: Bajon Robinson contract, it's essentially that plus a little extra
[3:02] Speaker 2: and that's about it. It's not too complicated. These running
[3:07] Speaker 2: back salaries annoy me a little bit, Jordan. They said
[3:12] Speaker 2: that they were going to reset the market. It's not
[3:14] Speaker 2: resetting the market when you just like go up a
[3:16] Speaker 2: million or two. To me, Actually, these two young men
[3:19] Speaker 2: who are so good in the top of the position
[3:21] Speaker 2: had a chance to just like go crazy and make
[3:23] Speaker 2: make their teams feel pain. I kind of wanted them
[3:25] Speaker 2: to make the teams feel pain.
[3:28] Speaker 3: Yes, And also sometimes when you say things, Greg like
[3:32] Speaker 3: it's not that hard to win an NFL game or two,
[3:36] Speaker 3: and in this case.
[3:38] Speaker 4: I really you know, it's only a million or two.
[3:40] Speaker 3: Sometimes when you say things, I just take a minute
[3:43] Speaker 3: and I think, you know what a world we are
[3:45] Speaker 3: in right now with football being back, of course, But yes,
[3:49] Speaker 3: I think that there was a lot of excitement a
[3:52] Speaker 3: couple of years ago about the running backs maybe coming
[3:56] Speaker 3: together and getting their agents involved and doing something like that.
[4:00] Speaker 3: I think that realistically, the teams flexed their collective muscle
[4:05] Speaker 3: a little bit as they are wont to do. And
[4:08] Speaker 3: and I'm always pro player like squeezing the corporation for
[4:12] Speaker 3: everything they've got, but I feel like this is it
[4:15] Speaker 3: was supposed to happen like this. Dan Campbell even said
[4:19] Speaker 3: he all but admitted like having Bijon Robinson done was
[4:22] Speaker 3: going to actually help the Lions get their contract with
[4:26] Speaker 3: Jamiir Gibbs done.
[4:27] Speaker 4: This was an expectation. Jamiir Gibbs one of the most
[4:29] Speaker 4: exciting players in football.
[4:31] Speaker 3: Love. I can't wait to see what he does with
[4:33] Speaker 3: this offense, which were pets and coordinating over there. This
[4:36] Speaker 3: is going to be fun and it was always going
[4:38] Speaker 3: to get done. I don't even think he was that
[4:40] Speaker 3: concerned about it. Didn't seem like it. So yeah, this
[4:42] Speaker 3: is pretty much what we all expected to have happen.
[4:45] Speaker 2: It is. My larger point was these two guys, and
[4:49] Speaker 2: I went and counted it up, are not among the
[4:51] Speaker 2: top one hundred players in average crazy.
[4:53] Speaker 4: Which is crazy to me. It's crazy to me.
[4:56] Speaker 2: Here here are some recent contracts of players making more
[4:59] Speaker 2: money per year year than these two running backs. Christian
[5:02] Speaker 2: Watson essentially he's been like a third receiver who's been
[5:06] Speaker 2: hurt a lot. Brian O'Neil, who is a very good
[5:09] Speaker 2: right tackle of the Minnesota Vikings, but is in his thirties.
[5:13] Speaker 2: This is like his third or fourth contract, maybe not
[5:16] Speaker 2: at his very peak, making more money than these guys.
[5:18] Speaker 2: Alec Pierce not only making more money, but like eight
[5:21] Speaker 2: million dollars a year more. Andrew Van Ginkel is making
[5:26] Speaker 2: more money than these two guys. So I just it's like,
[5:30] Speaker 2: you just can't tell me there's any world where these
[5:33] Speaker 2: players not only are just better, we know they're better.
[5:36] Speaker 2: They're going to be in like the top ten of
[5:38] Speaker 2: the overall player you know, when the top one hundred
[5:40] Speaker 2: comes out, but also they're more valuable, Like they just
[5:42] Speaker 2: are more valuable than those players. So it's a little
[5:45] Speaker 2: bit annoying how it open.
[5:46] Speaker 4: And I won't tell you that because they are.
[5:48] Speaker 3: They're incredibly valuable players, and they're not being paid accordingly.
[5:52] Speaker 4: That is that is a fact.
[5:53] Speaker 2: Yes, yes, Jonathan Taylor. I think he's being paid fairly.
[5:57] Speaker 2: He got thirty nine million dollars guarantee on a two year,
[6:01] Speaker 2: forty four million dollar extension, so that extension comes in
[6:04] Speaker 2: just below the Bajon and Gibs extensions. He had one
[6:07] Speaker 2: year left on his deal. I think once you peek
[6:09] Speaker 2: under the hood, this is essentially a two year deal
[6:13] Speaker 2: in terms of guaranteed money. So it rewards a veteran.
[6:17] Speaker 2: You know, there's a chance he's an aging guy who
[6:20] Speaker 2: counts on his speed that a year from now you're like, hmm,
[6:22] Speaker 2: we have a lot of guaranteed money left in Jonathan Taylor.
[6:25] Speaker 2: You're kind of paying for past performance. But considering everything
[6:28] Speaker 2: he's done, for the Colts that one extra year. I
[6:31] Speaker 2: don't have a problem with that. That's giving like a
[6:33] Speaker 2: little extra for a guy who's been great for their organization.
[6:36] Speaker 3: Well, and in terms of you know, it being the
[6:39] Speaker 3: essentially the amount of time that it is in totality
[6:43] Speaker 3: for the contract with the guarantees, it's just another sign
[6:47] Speaker 3: that points to me how important this year is for
[6:50] Speaker 3: the Colts, for the specifically the front office of the Colts.
[6:52] Speaker 4: And we've talked about this a bunch.
[6:53] Speaker 3: Greg, but I mean this this year for this team,
[6:57] Speaker 3: the moves that they've made, some of it with the
[6:59] Speaker 3: long term in mind, or longer term in mind at
[7:01] Speaker 3: least with Alec Pierce and Daniel Jones those extensions getting done.
[7:05] Speaker 3: I mean, this is not necessarily that. This is let's
[7:09] Speaker 3: try to go and push as hard as we can
[7:11] Speaker 3: this year and see where this offense can go and
[7:16] Speaker 3: what this will be. And I think that for a
[7:18] Speaker 3: franchise that has said very clearly it wants to be
[7:21] Speaker 3: bolder and really not be afraid to take risks, it
[7:24] Speaker 3: feels like a lot of these in tandem and conjunction
[7:27] Speaker 3: are essentially show us what you got this year, and
[7:32] Speaker 3: then we'll see after that sneaky.
[7:34] Speaker 2: One of the biggest win now teams in the NFL
[7:37] Speaker 2: and a very talented team. We previewed them this week
[7:41] Speaker 2: and I said they might be the highest variance team
[7:44] Speaker 2: in the entire NFL. I'm going to keep looking, but
[7:46] Speaker 2: right now I would agree with you previewed. I feel
[7:49] Speaker 2: like they could be either a two or a three seed,
[7:51] Speaker 2: or the season could go all wrong. So good on
[7:54] Speaker 2: the Colts forgetting that deal done. As we're taping, preseason
[7:59] Speaker 2: football has officially started. If you're listening on a podcast,
[8:03] Speaker 2: that is very pleasing. Yes, it is absolutely tidy happening. Okay,
[8:09] Speaker 2: so we got a comment here that that's pointing out
[8:12] Speaker 2: that Jordan and I we're on First Take this morning
[8:14] Speaker 2: looking good. Shout out to our our social crew and
[8:18] Speaker 2: NFL Daily, the producers who cut up that clip of
[8:21] Speaker 2: us talking to Sean McVeigh and apparently they used it
[8:25] Speaker 2: right away like first block of First Take today, so
[8:29] Speaker 2: it's our first Take debut. It was also on Get
[8:31] Speaker 2: Up on ESPN and our listener Jelly being here also
[8:36] Speaker 2: shouting out JRVP as always, So thank thank you everyone
[8:41] Speaker 2: watching right now. Yeah, that was probably the first and
[8:44] Speaker 2: you know, I hope it's different, but probably the last
[8:46] Speaker 2: time we'll ever be on First Take too. Let's talk
[8:50] Speaker 2: about some players suddenly important network. I thought about this, Jordan,
[8:53] Speaker 2: just because of some of the injuries this week that
[8:55] Speaker 2: we haven't had a chance to hit on the show.
[8:57] Speaker 2: Jalen Walker, the edge for the Falcons is the first
[9:01] Speaker 2: one that comes to mind. But also this game Hall
[9:04] Speaker 2: of Fame game that happens every year and suddenly places
[9:08] Speaker 2: players that are just trying to make the team on
[9:12] Speaker 2: a national audience. You know, like tens of millions of
[9:14] Speaker 2: people watch this game, Like more people will watch the
[9:17] Speaker 2: Hall of Fame game than almost all like the NBA
[9:19] Speaker 2: playoff games, and majorly, like people watch this game and suddenly,
[9:23] Speaker 2: like Carson Beck, for instance, who is starting this game,
[9:26] Speaker 2: and Kenny Pickett, who is at quarterback and just got
[9:29] Speaker 2: sacked on the first third down of the year.
[9:32] Speaker 4: I'm behind you, damn little rough.
[9:36] Speaker 2: It's okay, it's okay, It's all gonna be old anyways,
[9:38] Speaker 2: Kenny Pickett, you know, like Carson Beck's a guy man.
[9:41] Speaker 2: I didn't think he had an NFL future, for instance,
[9:44] Speaker 2: like as a potential starter, and the fact that he
[9:46] Speaker 2: got drafted by the Cardinals, was like, Oh, he's going
[9:50] Speaker 2: to get a chance to play this year. It all
[9:52] Speaker 2: depends on where you go. And oh, he's going to
[9:54] Speaker 2: be starting for tens of millions of people to be watching.
[9:57] Speaker 2: So maybe we'll talk about Beck in a second and
[10:00] Speaker 2: how he's doing. But Jalen Walker was the injury that
[10:02] Speaker 2: really bummed me out this week. It was confirmed since
[10:04] Speaker 2: we've last taped that he has a torn acl This
[10:08] Speaker 2: was a pass rush, a defense I had a lot
[10:10] Speaker 2: of questions about even before this injury. He was a
[10:12] Speaker 2: really exciting young player for them, I think one of
[10:15] Speaker 2: their most important players on the roster.
[10:17] Speaker 4: Yeah.
[10:18] Speaker 3: And if you think about this too from the Falcons perspective,
[10:21] Speaker 3: they've invested so much into this pass rush, into this
[10:26] Speaker 3: this edge group and the two first round picks, but
[10:28] Speaker 3: not just that, trading up as well, and now in
[10:32] Speaker 3: the space of six months, and inclusive to James Pierce Junior,
[10:37] Speaker 3: is very very very serious off the field stuff going.
[10:40] Speaker 4: It's still kind of ongoing.
[10:42] Speaker 3: And then this with Jalen Walker, a freak thing, a
[10:45] Speaker 3: horrible injury. This is tough because in the span of
[10:49] Speaker 3: six months, all of those all of that capital that
[10:51] Speaker 3: the team pushed in just for these two edge rushers
[10:54] Speaker 3: to make sure that they could try to sort of
[10:56] Speaker 3: maybe reset the foundation of this position and then get
[11:00] Speaker 3: rid of Grady Jarrett. So then their past rushing interior
[11:03] Speaker 3: guy like really saying we're going to restart our build
[11:06] Speaker 3: on this off excuse me, on this defensive line, and
[11:09] Speaker 3: now it's everything's up in the air for them all
[11:11] Speaker 3: over again.
[11:13] Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's really disappointing. And when you look at
[11:15] Speaker 2: their roster, the guys that are suddenly important at work,
[11:19] Speaker 2: I mean Samson ebicom.
[11:22] Speaker 4: Hey, now, don't hate on Samson Ebicon.
[11:25] Speaker 2: He's a journey rush.
[11:26] Speaker 4: Yeah, he's a journeyman.
[11:27] Speaker 2: Yes, o Jlari, who the last couple of seasons just
[11:33] Speaker 2: teams have given a shot at like he's potentially starting.
[11:36] Speaker 2: And then James Pierce, so you mentioned, who is expected
[11:38] Speaker 2: to be suspended for his domestic violence charges and arrest
[11:42] Speaker 2: that happened this offseason. They've been playing him with like
[11:46] Speaker 2: the third team at practice basically because they don't expect
[11:50] Speaker 2: him to be available early in the season. And I'm
[11:54] Speaker 2: just thinking this is rough. So also very important at
[11:57] Speaker 2: work is going to be Jeff and obviously he's overcoming
[12:02] Speaker 2: his own personal tragedy, but he has been back at practice,
[12:06] Speaker 2: and this is a team that's really going to need
[12:08] Speaker 2: to scheme up some you know, big time first downs
[12:14] Speaker 2: like Carson Beck just picked up on the ground for
[12:17] Speaker 2: the Arizona Cardinals. It's all happening here. Let's talk about
[12:21] Speaker 2: Stefan Diggs. He's helping to fix the Commander's receiver room.
[12:26] Speaker 2: This is a deal that's up to twelve million dollars.
[12:29] Speaker 2: He immediately becomes very important at work for a guy
[12:32] Speaker 2: that was not on a team a week ago. He
[12:35] Speaker 2: is clearly going to be the number two receiver for
[12:39] Speaker 2: a team that I thought was just absolutely screaming. And
[12:44] Speaker 2: you don't want to count on a guy that you
[12:45] Speaker 2: signed in the first week of August to be a
[12:48] Speaker 2: core player. I think Stefan Diggs needs to be a
[12:50] Speaker 2: core player for this offense to be good.
[12:52] Speaker 3: Well, yeah, because they got about a billion slot receivers
[12:54] Speaker 3: and Terry McLaurin. So this is now Stefan Diggs, who
[12:58] Speaker 3: obviously could play really well out of slot. He could
[12:59] Speaker 3: play this as well, which I think is is good.
[13:02] Speaker 3: But in this case he really does. His presence in
[13:05] Speaker 3: his addition to this roster really helps all the rest
[13:08] Speaker 3: of their you know, pass catching, you know, positions fall
[13:12] Speaker 3: into place with with Terry McLaurin obviously still being the
[13:14] Speaker 3: dominant person there, and so I think this makes a
[13:17] Speaker 3: lot of sense. You know, I don't know if this
[13:20] Speaker 3: was was Adam Peters waiting out to see if anything
[13:24] Speaker 3: was going to come up again with with Diggs and
[13:26] Speaker 3: some of the off season situations he's been in, or
[13:30] Speaker 3: you know, if this was just them, because I got
[13:33] Speaker 3: the impression that at the start of free agency and
[13:36] Speaker 3: then deep into free agency, including like into start a
[13:40] Speaker 3: training camp, that they were trying to avoid maybe continuing
[13:43] Speaker 3: to re sign maybe the more veteran players that you know,
[13:46] Speaker 3: we saw them really make an effort trying to get
[13:48] Speaker 3: younger on defense. Certainly thought he was trying to maybe
[13:51] Speaker 3: avoid that pattern again, but they didn't have the guys.
[13:55] Speaker 3: They just didn't in their in their room. And you
[13:57] Speaker 3: can probably tell very quickly into training camp where your
[14:00] Speaker 3: deficiency still are.
[14:02] Speaker 4: And also, uh, it just obviously.
[14:04] Speaker 3: Rules out the brand and I I mean we've known
[14:07] Speaker 3: for a while that is most likely being ruled out.
[14:09] Speaker 3: I mean it's not like it's been reported, but the
[14:12] Speaker 3: way that that's been going too, you know, it's really
[14:16] Speaker 3: makes a lot of puts a lot of things into
[14:18] Speaker 3: clarity for the commanders that were maybe a little more
[14:20] Speaker 3: up in the air.
[14:21] Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Brandon Ayuk's off season, in which through
[14:27] Speaker 2: his social media posts have shown a level of uncertainty,
[14:35] Speaker 2: I would put it that teams, I just didn't think
[14:37] Speaker 2: we're gonna want to deal with Frankly, and yeah, we
[14:41] Speaker 2: have a comment that every single forty nine er is
[14:43] Speaker 2: now suddenly important at work with twenty out of the
[14:46] Speaker 2: players injured.
[14:46] Speaker 4: Way, and didn't mean to.
[14:47] Speaker 3: Laugh at that very serious comment you were making. But
[14:50] Speaker 3: that's a really really good that's a good.
[14:51] Speaker 2: Yes, that's a good We're going to get to that
[14:54] Speaker 2: in a second. When it comes to Digs, like multiple
[14:59] Speaker 2: things can be true, the allegations against him from people
[15:04] Speaker 2: that have worked with him, you know, different next girlfriends,
[15:07] Speaker 2: like even even the video that popped up when he
[15:11] Speaker 2: first signed with the Patriots, Like, it's a lot and
[15:15] Speaker 2: it's not necessarily something right, Like, not necessarily something you
[15:20] Speaker 2: want to deal with. On the other hand, I actually
[15:23] Speaker 2: do believe everything that his Patriots teammates and coaches said too,
[15:27] Speaker 2: that like within that building when he was there, they
[15:29] Speaker 2: actually thought he was like a leader and they enjoyed
[15:32] Speaker 2: the experience and he made so many important catches. Good
[15:35] Speaker 2: football player, but even like better than right, Like I
[15:39] Speaker 2: saw some people thinking, well, why would you do this
[15:42] Speaker 2: over Ayuk? Like the Ayuk stuff like yeah, he's flaming out,
[15:45] Speaker 2: but he's younger. It's like I would if you just
[15:48] Speaker 2: stripped everything else away. I would take Stefan Diggs as
[15:50] Speaker 2: a football player right now over Brandon Ayuk, just because
[15:53] Speaker 2: of we haven't seen Ayuk in so long and Digs
[15:56] Speaker 2: like he was kind of awesome for them last year,
[15:58] Speaker 2: especially if he's in a number two role, which you
[16:00] Speaker 2: will be behind Terry McLaurin.
[16:02] Speaker 3: Well, that's a great situation for him too. He this
[16:05] Speaker 3: this offense is going under David Blow, their first time
[16:08] Speaker 3: play caller up there in former backup quarterback who might
[16:12] Speaker 3: have I don't know, has he ever played in this
[16:14] Speaker 3: game before.
[16:15] Speaker 4: I don't know.
[16:15] Speaker 2: It does feel like the Hall of Fame game would
[16:18] Speaker 2: be a David Blow.
[16:19] Speaker 3: I feel like that would be an extravaganza for him
[16:22] Speaker 3: and I. But but you know, it's going to be
[16:25] Speaker 3: a very much a Shanahan system type of offense. They're
[16:29] Speaker 3: going to distribute the ball the player who's in the
[16:31] Speaker 3: slot is going to be what they call an F.
[16:34] Speaker 3: When you're an eleven personnel, the F becomes more of
[16:37] Speaker 3: a decision making player, meaning where he's at in the
[16:40] Speaker 3: formation dictates some of the play strength and what the
[16:42] Speaker 3: concept is going to be.
[16:44] Speaker 4: And so that means that.
[16:45] Speaker 3: If that's stuff on Digs, Okay, fine, that's fine, that
[16:48] Speaker 3: it's a veteran player who is doing that for this
[16:50] Speaker 3: type of offense. And then also like he's going to
[16:54] Speaker 3: have volume. This is great for stef On Digg. Yeah,
[16:57] Speaker 3: like he's going to have volume. And Jaden Daniels who's
[16:59] Speaker 3: expected to bounce back in a big way this year.
[17:02] Speaker 3: I can't think of almost a better scenario to go
[17:04] Speaker 3: be the two.
[17:04] Speaker 2: Frankly, absolutely, And yet there is some thought what I'm
[17:08] Speaker 2: thinking through, like what they want to do on this offense.
[17:10] Speaker 2: There are two smaller wide receivers that aren't known for
[17:14] Speaker 2: their blocking and Terry McLaurin and Stephan Diggs. So how like,
[17:17] Speaker 2: you know, Terry mclaurin's not leaving the field, So how
[17:20] Speaker 2: flexible you know, is Dig's going to be? Like he
[17:22] Speaker 2: is not the guy that they're asking to dig.
[17:24] Speaker 4: That part of this system will probably not be there.
[17:27] Speaker 2: Yes, we are often punting in the Hall of Fame game.
[17:30] Speaker 2: Here two possessions in about dog five minutes. So getting
[17:34] Speaker 2: back to that forty nine Ers comment, and I see
[17:36] Speaker 2: another forty nine ers, you know fan in the chat
[17:38] Speaker 2: that's pointing out you know, only sixteen of the players
[17:40] Speaker 2: are now injured because a lot of it is, yes,
[17:42] Speaker 2: the day to day soreness, they're not serious injuries. But
[17:46] Speaker 2: I decided to choose Jordan Watkins as the guy who's
[17:50] Speaker 2: kind of suddenly important at work because yeah, most of
[17:53] Speaker 2: the injuries aren't that serious. Mike Evans is going to
[17:55] Speaker 2: be back quickly. Dejon Stribbling is one of the players
[17:58] Speaker 2: that returned that was really good new who on Thursday.
[18:01] Speaker 2: So his hamstring injury kept him out what four or
[18:03] Speaker 2: five six days? It wasn't that series, hope. The important
[18:06] Speaker 2: thing is that he just stays at at training camp
[18:09] Speaker 2: and practicing. Because Christian Kirk, you can't count on Christian Kirk,
[18:13] Speaker 2: So you're basically counting on Mike Evans and a rookie
[18:18] Speaker 2: project who's looked really good in Dejohn Stribbling as like
[18:21] Speaker 2: your top two guys. And then yeah, this kid Jordan Watkins,
[18:26] Speaker 2: who maybe, uh is gonna sound pretty good. Chris Forster,
[18:30] Speaker 2: by the way, is their guy that had the comment.
[18:34] Speaker 2: You know that they're very healthy despite having to play
[18:38] Speaker 2: you know, football on a day to day basis. We
[18:40] Speaker 2: actually have Chris Forster sound live here on a Thursday
[18:43] Speaker 2: night during training camp. You guys, anyware or you have
[18:47] Speaker 2: to make a decision whether they're gonna be healthy enough
[18:48] Speaker 2: for these joint practices.
[18:50] Speaker 5: Yeah, I think, I mean it seems like we're very healthy.
[18:52] Speaker 6: I don't.
[18:53] Speaker 5: I mean, we have injuries, we have things and bumps
[18:55] Speaker 5: and bruises, and guys are missing practices. It's yet to
[18:58] Speaker 5: come up and I've heard doesn't mean it hasn't been discussed.
[19:01] Speaker 5: But shoot, I think will be plenty is you have
[19:04] Speaker 5: too deep at every position you can practice. You know,
[19:06] Speaker 5: you can always adjust with the threes one two threes.
[19:09] Speaker 5: Threes are hard to stay healthy through the course of
[19:11] Speaker 5: training camp if you're if you're practicing football hard. You know,
[19:13] Speaker 5: if you're not practing football hard, you get through camp
[19:15] Speaker 5: easily without injuries and a couple of muscles here and there.
[19:17] Speaker 5: But if you're practicing hitting contact you know, style of
[19:21] Speaker 5: football whatever it is, so Yeah, that's not come up
[19:23] Speaker 5: at this point.
[19:26] Speaker 4: This is what he's saying. This is what he's actually saying.
[19:29] Speaker 3: We were never going to give our threes any snaps anyway,
[19:31] Speaker 3: So now they're going to be our two's and now
[19:33] Speaker 3: they're going to get reps.
[19:34] Speaker 2: That's what I say. It's not the threes that are
[19:37] Speaker 2: the problem. I'm worried about all the starters. Shout out
[19:41] Speaker 2: to Chris Forster. Talk about a guy who's made an
[19:43] Speaker 2: NFL comeback once suspended, fired from the Miami Dolphins. If
[19:49] Speaker 2: you know, you know, just google it. But a man
[19:52] Speaker 2: who I would have never guessed would have been in
[19:57] Speaker 2: the position to be kind of I've been acting interim
[20:00] Speaker 2: head coach for the forty nine ers, although it is
[20:03] Speaker 2: worth pointing out all the people there say Kyle Shanahan
[20:05] Speaker 2: is doing more and more each day.
[20:08] Speaker 3: Yeah, he was sort of this the start of the season.
[20:11] Speaker 3: Suddenly more important at work.
[20:13] Speaker 2: Guy, you know, yes, And like I said, you know,
[20:18] Speaker 2: good comeback from him. I'll be quick on this, but
[20:22] Speaker 2: I did want to say Stetson Bennett's right now very important. Network.
[20:26] Speaker 2: You mentioned how he's right now the clear backup for
[20:30] Speaker 2: the Rams. You know, they're not really rolling in ty
[20:32] Speaker 2: ty Simpson, and so he's because Matthew Stafford is not
[20:37] Speaker 2: practicing every other day. It's him against this really great
[20:40] Speaker 2: first team. And I made a quick rankings Jordan of
[20:44] Speaker 2: the worst training camp practices I've ever seen from a
[20:47] Speaker 2: quarterback offensive perspective. I'm sorry to do this. I know
[20:53] Speaker 2: you know I would go twenty twenty four. Were you
[20:58] Speaker 2: with me, Aiden O'Connell, Gardner Minshew for the Raiders, they
[21:03] Speaker 2: just could not get a pass completed. We went down
[21:06] Speaker 2: there for NFL Daily, that would be number three on
[21:09] Speaker 2: my list. Number two was our experience with the Rams.
[21:14] Speaker 2: It was just tough to watch. I think that ty Simpson,
[21:19] Speaker 2: like they just couldn't operate. The Offense's that's the one
[21:22] Speaker 2: where like it's a little bit cringe worthy to watch.
[21:24] Speaker 2: There was just like penalties and he you know, he's
[21:26] Speaker 2: super late and he's holding onto the ball and the
[21:28] Speaker 2: only thing that you could complete are checkdowns and just
[21:30] Speaker 2: like they were giving him hell, the defense was giving
[21:33] Speaker 2: that second team offensive line hell. And I know it's
[21:35] Speaker 2: not an easy spot, but like they just couldn't operate.
[21:38] Speaker 2: Stetson Bennett was more like normal struggles. He actually had,
[21:42] Speaker 2: you know, a handful of like decent throws, but he
[21:44] Speaker 2: had a couple crazy growner interceptions and near interceptions where
[21:48] Speaker 2: he got a little overhem. So that's number two on
[21:50] Speaker 2: my list. And then number one, I know people are
[21:52] Speaker 2: really curious about. This was the twenty nineteen colts I
[21:54] Speaker 2: believe twenty nineteen, twenty eighteen. It was Scott Tolzene versus
[21:59] Speaker 2: Steven Moore U versus p J. Walker for the first
[22:03] Speaker 2: and I think we counted three for twenty eight at
[22:06] Speaker 2: like a practice that I went through that that was
[22:08] Speaker 2: actually number one. So that was that was worse than
[22:10] Speaker 2: the rams, and so Stets and Bennett very important at work.
[22:13] Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say I've been to quite a few
[22:16] Speaker 3: of those practices, especially so far as training camps started.
[22:21] Speaker 3: It's interesting this was the first one, I think where
[22:24] Speaker 3: I've seen that Stafford's not in that Miles Garrett's actually
[22:27] Speaker 3: there and so obviously and he's been taking you know,
[22:31] Speaker 3: they're giving him a vet plan as well, and so
[22:34] Speaker 3: that was an interesting wrinkle to me because you know,
[22:37] Speaker 3: Kevin Dotson was was talking to us, you know, during
[22:40] Speaker 3: our show when we were there, and he was mentioning,
[22:44] Speaker 3: you know how much they still slide to Miles in practice,
[22:47] Speaker 3: even though he can't hit the quarterback and all of that.
[22:49] Speaker 3: So I think that probably was a wrinkle for Stets
[22:52] Speaker 3: and Bennett that was definitely probably new for him. The
[22:55] Speaker 3: other thing, though, I do want to point out, is that,
[22:57] Speaker 3: I mean, I've I watched sets and Bennett when he
[22:59] Speaker 3: first starts to playing football for the Rams, and I
[23:02] Speaker 3: just have to say, I'm really impressed with how far
[23:03] Speaker 3: he's come. Like I mean, you know, I know you
[23:07] Speaker 3: didn't see those practices, Greg, but my god, he's come
[23:11] Speaker 3: so far. And like he's looked really good for most
[23:14] Speaker 3: of training camp, Like he's when he's really running the
[23:18] Speaker 3: backups and doing the thing that you know he's going
[23:22] Speaker 3: to be doing either in the preseason or you hope
[23:24] Speaker 3: you know, not in the regular season. But he has
[23:27] Speaker 3: looked confident, He's showed command. It's not like he's out there,
[23:31] Speaker 3: you know, lighting up on go balls or anything, or
[23:33] Speaker 3: like those deep digs or anything like that, but he
[23:36] Speaker 3: is operating the offense. It is I will say, too
[23:39] Speaker 3: so much notably slower of a practice when Matthew Stafford
[23:43] Speaker 3: is not out there, just because in part I think
[23:46] Speaker 3: it's an extra check to make sure the everyone's getting
[23:50] Speaker 3: the right amount of work in including the defense and
[23:53] Speaker 3: the offense and your backup quarterback in a practice like that,
[23:57] Speaker 3: that's their job is to make sure that all other
[24:00] Speaker 3: what twenty one players are the ones that are actually
[24:03] Speaker 3: getting the work they need and you're just there to
[24:05] Speaker 3: distribute kind of a thing.
[24:07] Speaker 4: But it's it's it's slow. It's really really slow.
[24:10] Speaker 3: And the difference between when Stafford is out there playing
[24:14] Speaker 3: and throwing it around and the defense is still giving
[24:17] Speaker 3: them all they got and then this what we saw
[24:20] Speaker 3: is dramatic and that's it. That's just a fact. So
[24:23] Speaker 3: I'm interested to see how that continues. But I do
[24:25] Speaker 3: have to say, don't don't be too hard on Stetson
[24:28] Speaker 3: Bennett here, because you know your your day of data
[24:31] Speaker 3: versus you know, the four or five that I've seen
[24:34] Speaker 3: are couldn't have been more different.
[24:36] Speaker 2: I think, yeah, they said the last it was the
[24:38] Speaker 2: last couple of days, and I think one of them
[24:39] Speaker 2: was with Stafford. Was was the first ones that that
[24:42] Speaker 2: the defense is really just.
[24:43] Speaker 4: Like yeah there.
[24:44] Speaker 2: So the first you're Gonka Hookah. It was outrageous. Puka
[24:49] Speaker 2: pretty much caught everything, but Pooka had like two just
[24:52] Speaker 2: jaw dropping catches. No surprise there. Some other players suddenly
[24:57] Speaker 2: important network include Jayshn Barham of the Dallas Cowboys, who
[25:01] Speaker 2: I think is growing into a bigger role. But he
[25:04] Speaker 2: actually got banged up at practice on Thursday, so we'll
[25:07] Speaker 2: follow up with that. But he's a rookie, a third
[25:09] Speaker 2: round pick that I think is gonna matter for them.
[25:12] Speaker 2: A lot of punts so far in the Hall of
[25:14] Speaker 2: Fame game. We're not missing hey too much.
[25:17] Speaker 4: Big JJ Janssen pop you know.
[25:19] Speaker 2: Yes, JJ Janssen getting watched on a national stage. Appreciate
[25:26] Speaker 2: the questions. Three AFC South playoff teams this year. That
[25:30] Speaker 2: is from a Jags fan named Donovan. I think it's possible.
[25:34] Speaker 2: The out of division schedule for the AFC South is tough,
[25:37] Speaker 2: and if if you do that, you just have to
[25:40] Speaker 2: cross off, you know, multiple teams here or only one
[25:45] Speaker 2: of the following. If all three AFC South teams make it, okay, Jordan,
[25:50] Speaker 2: only one of the following teams. Let's say let's give
[25:54] Speaker 2: the AFC West to the Broncos, and let's give the
[25:56] Speaker 2: AFC East to the Bills, and let's give the AFC
[25:59] Speaker 2: Nor to the Ravens. Then only one of the following
[26:02] Speaker 2: teams can make the playoffs if all three teams go
[26:04] Speaker 2: from the AFC's on only one of these following teams
[26:07] Speaker 2: the Patriots, the Chargers, the Chiefs, the Steelers, the Bengals.
[26:15] Speaker 2: Like that, that's a long list. We're only one of
[26:18] Speaker 2: those teams. Did I say the Chargers. I don't even
[26:20] Speaker 2: know if I said the Chargers in there, so it's like, yeah,
[26:23] Speaker 2: it's possible. But man, the AFC is deep and loaded
[26:26] Speaker 2: and gonna be really fun to watch.
[26:28] Speaker 3: Jags fan Donovan five to two six one, congrats to you.
[26:32] Speaker 3: I saw John Shipley, who we love on the show.
[26:36] Speaker 3: John Shipley post today that this might be the most
[26:39] Speaker 3: the best team he's ever seen in training camp.
[26:41] Speaker 4: So that's pretty exciting. It's that time of year.
[26:45] Speaker 2: I love that. That's it when I'm watching like the
[26:48] Speaker 2: Hard Knocks clip so far and you know that forty
[26:50] Speaker 2: that Seahawks team coming.
[26:51] Speaker 3: Back, and just like I know, I feel like I
[26:53] Speaker 3: got to catch up on Hard Knocks. It seems like
[26:55] Speaker 3: it's actually good this year.
[26:57] Speaker 2: I've skipped it up for the most part for a
[26:58] Speaker 2: couple years because the found a little but they got
[27:00] Speaker 2: right into it this year, so I am recommending it highly.
[27:03] Speaker 2: That first episode was like the most exciting, really hardcore
[27:07] Speaker 2: football episode I've seen in a while, Like meetings, good access.
[27:10] Speaker 2: McDonald's interesting. They didn't waste any time off the field,
[27:13] Speaker 2: they just like started rolling. One of my takeaways is
[27:15] Speaker 2: a guy that's important at work is Jendarian Price, Like
[27:18] Speaker 2: who knows where he could have gotten drafted, but Mike
[27:20] Speaker 2: McDonald said, no one is covering him yet and even
[27:22] Speaker 2: just watching hard knocks like they are so high on him.
[27:25] Speaker 2: Some other players, there's injuries for the Bears in the secondary.
[27:28] Speaker 2: Kyler Gordon has not come back. Kobe Bryant at safety
[27:31] Speaker 2: is going to be out a while, so they've got
[27:32] Speaker 2: fill in's there, Jalen Jones, Cam Lewis. There's a guy,
[27:36] Speaker 2: Charles Demings who's been taking starters reps, who's a rookie
[27:40] Speaker 2: Day three pick for the Vikings, just someone to watch.
[27:42] Speaker 2: They're calling him Chuck d right now. He's playing really well.
[27:44] Speaker 2: We'll see if that's just a camp story or not.
[27:46] Speaker 2: But they've had some injuries. And then let's wrap this
[27:49] Speaker 2: in suddenly important at work segment talking Packers. You were
[27:53] Speaker 2: at the Packers, yes, and I wanted to throw in.
[27:56] Speaker 2: Baron Sorel is a name that not many people know,
[27:59] Speaker 2: but Michah Parky the other day, Yeah, Micah Parsons talked
[28:02] Speaker 2: him up as a guy that's really popping and could
[28:04] Speaker 2: be starting at edge for them. Lucas van Ness is
[28:08] Speaker 2: going to be another guy that is probably starting. Man,
[28:10] Speaker 2: they need help at the edge. So I point those
[28:13] Speaker 2: two guys out just to give you just some thoughts.
[28:16] Speaker 2: You were you were watching this team for a couple
[28:18] Speaker 2: of days and just didn't know if you had any
[28:20] Speaker 2: on the ground takeaways.
[28:22] Speaker 4: Yeah, totally.
[28:23] Speaker 3: I think that this pressure package early on is going
[28:26] Speaker 3: to be a large percentage dependent on the corners and
[28:31] Speaker 3: the safeties. And when I was at camp, there was
[28:33] Speaker 3: an injury and uh cis bent. Shoot, first name is
[28:39] Speaker 3: escaping me right now, but C I s s is
[28:41] Speaker 3: his last name?
[28:42] Speaker 4: Sis.
[28:43] Speaker 3: And Brandon Yes, I was going to say Benjamin, but
[28:46] Speaker 3: that's Saint Juice. Yeah, say yeah. He he was like,
[28:50] Speaker 3: he looked great, he looked awesome. He was filling in
[28:53] Speaker 3: the thing with this Packers defense is that it's safeties
[28:56] Speaker 3: group is you know Evan Williams, Xavier McKinney and Javan Bullard.
[29:00] Speaker 3: It's like one of the best in the NFL, and
[29:02] Speaker 3: I'd stand on that, and I do stand on that.
[29:04] Speaker 3: And watching them play in Jonathan Gannon's scheme as it
[29:07] Speaker 3: really lifted off the ground and out of the install
[29:10] Speaker 3: portions because they put pads on for the first time.
[29:13] Speaker 4: When I was out there, it just was cool.
[29:15] Speaker 3: Love.
[29:16] Speaker 4: I love safety play.
[29:17] Speaker 3: I think it's magical when when it looks good and
[29:19] Speaker 3: you're standing behind the defense, you can watch them all
[29:22] Speaker 3: orbit around each other in a system like this.
[29:25] Speaker 4: I think it's awesome.
[29:25] Speaker 3: And I think Jovon Bullard is going to be a
[29:28] Speaker 3: player who is involved in a lot of these pressure
[29:30] Speaker 3: packages because they're going to be so scheme dependent without
[29:33] Speaker 3: Micah Parsons there. And as I said in my athletic article,
[29:37] Speaker 3: I do think this will be two different defenses with
[29:39] Speaker 3: like a ven diagram in the middle. Oh hey, that's
[29:42] Speaker 3: so nice of you guys to put my article up
[29:44] Speaker 3: on the screen. That's cool, Thank you for doing that. Yeah,
[29:47] Speaker 3: it really is going to be a two sort of
[29:51] Speaker 3: a two systems.
[29:52] Speaker 2: You guys. You know who's putting it up. It's it's
[29:54] Speaker 2: our producer, Riic Robitz. He's got a name.
[29:56] Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you, Eric. Well, I know he doesn't like
[29:59] Speaker 3: to always on the show, So I appreciate that. Eric,
[30:01] Speaker 3: that's really nice of you. It's you know, at least
[30:05] Speaker 3: someone on the show is nice, you know. No, But
[30:08] Speaker 3: I think it was really interesting to watch because what
[30:12] Speaker 3: I'm watching here obviously Michael Parsons is not on the field,
[30:16] Speaker 3: so I'm watching what I think the first few weeks
[30:18] Speaker 3: of this defense is going to be, and it is
[30:20] Speaker 3: very blitz heavy. It is very design and scheme heavy.
[30:25] Speaker 3: It's the combination of three safety looks which they're going
[30:28] Speaker 3: to really really amplify this year, and a lot of
[30:32] Speaker 3: big safety in the nickel position. I was talking to
[30:35] Speaker 3: Matt Lafleur about this, and he was very adamant that
[30:37] Speaker 3: they just call it a nickel. They will not call
[30:39] Speaker 3: it a star because he doesn't like, you know, to get.
[30:42] Speaker 4: Too crazy with it.
[30:42] Speaker 3: But yeah, that is what a player like Jovon Bullard,
[30:46] Speaker 3: but then also X and Evan Williams can rotate into
[30:49] Speaker 3: that position too. There's a lot of pressure designed in
[30:52] Speaker 3: that way that is not super characteristic of Jonathan Gannon
[30:56] Speaker 3: in previous stops, but something that he's shown the ability
[31:00] Speaker 3: to do and especially kind of pick his spots in
[31:03] Speaker 3: a cool way, and he did that a lot with
[31:04] Speaker 3: Buddha Baker. And I think I could tell this story
[31:07] Speaker 3: now that a couple of days have passed, but like
[31:09] Speaker 3: sky Moore's on this team, and sky Moore's actually looks
[31:12] Speaker 3: pretty solid, and I think he's going to be there
[31:14] Speaker 3: a lot of their like motions and sweeps player and
[31:17] Speaker 3: and I think he could factor in for this for
[31:20] Speaker 3: this offense in that way, with Matthew Golden playing more
[31:23] Speaker 3: of a pure sort of X and Z position which
[31:27] Speaker 3: transfers pretty equally in this offense. And sky Moore was
[31:32] Speaker 3: talking to one of the backup receivers who thought he
[31:35] Speaker 3: had space on a play when it was it was
[31:38] Speaker 3: twos versus one's defense. He thought he had space on
[31:41] Speaker 3: a play into the flat, and all of a sudden,
[31:44] Speaker 3: Javon Bullard's there and sky Moore pulls this guy aside.
[31:46] Speaker 3: He's talking to him on the sideline and he's like,
[31:49] Speaker 3: that's exactly what JG did with Buddha Baker. Man, they
[31:53] Speaker 3: want you to think that he's flipping. He's flipping his
[31:55] Speaker 3: hips around, he doesn't see you coming in the flat,
[31:57] Speaker 3: he's baiting the flat. He really wants you to think
[31:59] Speaker 3: that you have it and you don't have it, just
[32:01] Speaker 3: don't don't think that you have it because you don't.
[32:04] Speaker 3: And so for me, it's sort of got the synapses
[32:06] Speaker 3: firing right of, like this could be really cool what
[32:09] Speaker 3: Jonathan Gannon does with these safeties early on it and
[32:11] Speaker 3: they're counting on it, because I was not super impressed
[32:14] Speaker 3: with the pure edge rusher, with the pure rush the
[32:18] Speaker 3: interior defensive line. They got in their hands on some passes,
[32:21] Speaker 3: which I think was cool and then obviously was sorel
[32:24] Speaker 3: there was a pick six, but it also is like,
[32:27] Speaker 3: you know, they they know that they're gonna have to
[32:30] Speaker 3: count on a lot of this scheme and a lot
[32:31] Speaker 3: of this extra design pressure until Michael Parsons comes back,
[32:35] Speaker 3: and that's just kind of the way it's gonna have
[32:37] Speaker 3: to be. But then I think a lot of those
[32:38] Speaker 3: elements work when Mike Parsons is on the field, because
[32:41] Speaker 3: they were also experimenting with Edge Cooper out there sort
[32:44] Speaker 3: of their stand up extra rusher as well, and he's
[32:47] Speaker 3: you know, he's a linebacker and and seeing what he
[32:50] Speaker 3: can do in tandem with some of these extra safeties.
[32:52] Speaker 3: Looks I don't know if you're I don't know if
[32:54] Speaker 3: we're texting me right now, Greg, I'm just rambling.
[32:57] Speaker 2: Kind of like the show out for a second, but
[33:01] Speaker 2: which is very hard to do.
[33:02] Speaker 4: You, I don't know if you were just texting me
[33:04] Speaker 4: shut up.
[33:04] Speaker 2: Just another prompt for everyone to come come join us. No,
[33:09] Speaker 2: Jonathan Gannon. And that's it's all really well said that,
[33:12] Speaker 2: like the safeties, the scheme is going to have to
[33:14] Speaker 2: make up for a lack of talent. So Jonathan Gann,
[33:16] Speaker 2: who's the new Packers defensive coordinator. He's been important the
[33:20] Speaker 2: whole time. He's not suddenly important, but he might be
[33:24] Speaker 2: even more important. It sounds crazy to say, but I
[33:27] Speaker 2: don't think they have any more talent without Michael Parsons
[33:30] Speaker 2: on the Packers defense than the Cardinals defense had a
[33:34] Speaker 2: year ago. I got some breaking news though. As we're talking.
[33:38] Speaker 2: Carson Beck is dotting people going up and down the field.
[33:43] Speaker 2: We have like a potential Hall of Fame game MVP
[33:47] Speaker 2: performance long throw thirty five yards to to Jalen Brooks.
[33:51] Speaker 2: You know, another like third and long into into tight
[33:55] Speaker 2: coverage where he catches a contested pass. They you know,
[33:58] Speaker 2: they pick up a third down, they get to the
[33:59] Speaker 2: goal line. A very grown man I'm going to get
[34:02] Speaker 2: the fan base way too excited about my rookie quarterback
[34:06] Speaker 2: performance here so far in the first quarter on a
[34:08] Speaker 2: drive by Carson Beck, shout out to him forgiving everyone
[34:11] Speaker 2: a little bit of entertainment. Okay, let's break up the
[34:15] Speaker 2: rest of the show this way, Jordan. We'll do a
[34:18] Speaker 2: little bit of news, we'll fly through that, and then
[34:21] Speaker 2: we'll talk about just some like Hall of Fame thoughts
[34:24] Speaker 2: as we enter Hall of Fame weekend, like what current
[34:27] Speaker 2: players could possibly make it. Maybe some thoughts about the
[34:30] Speaker 2: guys that are in there now. There was a Bears player,
[34:33] Speaker 2: Braxton Jones, their left tackle, who was carted off on Thursday,
[34:37] Speaker 2: who's really important for them. It does not sound like
[34:40] Speaker 2: it's going to be serious, but sometimes when they say that,
[34:42] Speaker 2: it's still a multiple week injuries. So we'll keep an
[34:46] Speaker 2: eye on that. Kuran Ama Getji is their next guy up,
[34:50] Speaker 2: who was kind of an afterthought as a late round pick.
[34:52] Speaker 2: It was hurt last year, next up at left tackle
[34:54] Speaker 2: for them, so that's really important to watch. Darnell right
[34:57] Speaker 2: since we last tape, signed a four year, one hundred
[35:00] Speaker 2: and sixteen million dollar extension. Darnold Wright is freaking awesome.
[35:04] Speaker 2: He's a mauler. He got ninety three million dollars guaranteed.
[35:09] Speaker 2: I think he's worth a lot. But this is again
[35:11] Speaker 2: thorw of what I was getting at. He gets ninety
[35:12] Speaker 2: He gets almost double the amount of guarantees as Bajon
[35:15] Speaker 2: Robinson in Twmer Gibs. So just like, let's equal it
[35:17] Speaker 2: out a little bit. But he has been a terrific
[35:20] Speaker 2: development story and another player who's really benefited from Ben
[35:23] Speaker 2: Johnson landing there because he's a perfect fit for their system.
[35:27] Speaker 2: All right, it's time for the offseason ride along, presented
[35:30] Speaker 2: by Toyota. I love it. What a camp battle Jordan
[35:33] Speaker 2: has just decided. They just quickly just announced like a
[35:37] Speaker 2: week and a half in Oh. Actually, Tyler Geyiton for
[35:39] Speaker 2: the Cowboys is playing awesome and there's not going to
[35:42] Speaker 2: be a battle. It's over. Tyler Goyton is your left tackle.
[35:45] Speaker 2: We're keeping all our Tyler's in their original spot. Tyler
[35:49] Speaker 2: Booker right guard, Tyler Smith left guard, Tyler Goeyiton left tackle.
[35:53] Speaker 2: The Tylers are intact and they're not changing positions for
[35:56] Speaker 2: twenty twenty six. In early camp Battle decided cross that
[36:00] Speaker 2: one off.
[36:01] Speaker 3: The Tylers are intact I think has got to be
[36:04] Speaker 3: a drop or some sort of Cowboys slogan that we
[36:07] Speaker 3: use all year. You know, it's it's basically like the
[36:10] Speaker 3: way I mean I heard some of you know, they
[36:12] Speaker 3: were talking about it in with media and all that stuff,
[36:15] Speaker 3: and basically exactly how all of the tylers predicted that
[36:19] Speaker 3: this would turn out is exactly how it turned out.
[36:21] Speaker 3: So you know, no more, no more confusion do you
[36:25] Speaker 3: start getting that offense going.
[36:26] Speaker 2: I like it, and uh, I like Brian Schottenheimer as
[36:30] Speaker 2: a coach. I think he doesn't like mess around too
[36:32] Speaker 2: much or like the media games of it all. It's
[36:34] Speaker 2: like if the if the battle's over, just I have
[36:36] Speaker 2: to say it.
[36:37] Speaker 3: I think that I will look really, really good by
[36:40] Speaker 3: the end of this year for my Brian Schottenheimer coach
[36:43] Speaker 3: draft selection, where a lot of our listeners were like
[36:48] Speaker 3: you know, or probably not our listeners. I like to
[36:51] Speaker 3: think our listeners are like ride with us. But so
[36:53] Speaker 3: you know, when when graphics are shared out on social
[36:56] Speaker 3: media or whatever and the people are like, oh my go,
[36:59] Speaker 3: that was a quick are you kidding me?
[37:01] Speaker 2: Eric? Disagreement can still be love, but yes, we meet
[37:05] Speaker 2: you and Ali Connelly drafted are coaches.
[37:09] Speaker 4: And at fourteen, I think he's.
[37:10] Speaker 2: Low too high at all. I love that. I think
[37:13] Speaker 2: that's great.
[37:14] Speaker 4: And if it's not too high, someone else should have
[37:17] Speaker 4: picked him. You know it was me.
[37:19] Speaker 2: Well, I still like my picks there. Look, if we're
[37:22] Speaker 2: patting ourselves on the back for you know, takes that
[37:25] Speaker 2: age well, which is we're known to do on this show.
[37:27] Speaker 2: Immediately after hiring Brian Schottenheimer, I said, I think he
[37:31] Speaker 2: could be better as a head coach than he is
[37:33] Speaker 2: as a Coordinator's let's see.
[37:35] Speaker 4: You're right, Greg, your takes are always the best takes.
[37:38] Speaker 2: Good point. Henry Toto is the linebacker for the Texans
[37:42] Speaker 2: who signed a two year, sixteen million dollar extension. It's
[37:45] Speaker 2: fine hard to find linebackers you like. So that is
[37:47] Speaker 2: their fourth defensive kind of core piece that they've re
[37:51] Speaker 2: signed this offseason. Both linebackers. I'll say, you're in tote.
[37:55] Speaker 2: So if Damiko Ryans loves you and you're a linebacker,
[37:58] Speaker 2: why not keep him? And then both edgey got extensions
[38:01] Speaker 2: this offseason too, Will Anderson a multi year extension and
[38:04] Speaker 2: then Daniel Hunter got one year. Jalen Wattle for the
[38:07] Speaker 2: Broncos a little bit of concern that he left practice
[38:11] Speaker 2: with like a pulled muscle. They say it's going to
[38:12] Speaker 2: be four to five days, so no panic there. Jalen
[38:16] Speaker 2: McMillan for the Bucks, who's a key receiver. We're going
[38:18] Speaker 2: to keep an eye on that one because the way
[38:20] Speaker 2: Todd Bowles spoke about him and Jalen McMillan is their
[38:23] Speaker 2: third receiver, it sounds like it might be some time
[38:25] Speaker 2: before he's back. We will see Kenyan Sadik, the first
[38:28] Speaker 2: round pick of the Jets at tight end. He's going
[38:30] Speaker 2: to be out at least a couple weeks, which is
[38:33] Speaker 2: bad news and good news. Chauncey Gardner Johnson is already
[38:36] Speaker 2: back on the field. We've been in camp so long, Jordan.
[38:38] Speaker 2: We're now getting guys returning, which is great. We're getting
[38:41] Speaker 2: good news that Rashid Rice is now in team drills.
[38:43] Speaker 2: And then finally, what a relief, the Chiefs took g
[38:48] Speaker 2: Eha off Arrowhead Stadium. I don't even know if you
[38:52] Speaker 2: knew that was the sponsor name. They still are like
[38:54] Speaker 2: the sponsor, but like no one ever called it that.
[38:56] Speaker 2: So now it's not going to be an iesore when
[38:59] Speaker 2: they have the CBA Chiefs games. That you have to
[39:01] Speaker 2: hear in an ear sore too. I don't know if
[39:04] Speaker 2: that's a word, but jim nance would have to be.
[39:06] Speaker 2: We're here at GJA at Arrowhead Stadium. That's gone. We're
[39:10] Speaker 2: just back to Arrowhead Stadium.
[39:11] Speaker 3: I actually never knew either what the correct ap style was, Like,
[39:15] Speaker 3: is it a guest an acronym?
[39:18] Speaker 4: Do you say it like a word? I don't know.
[39:20] Speaker 4: We don't need to know anymore. It's fine, we don't
[39:22] Speaker 4: need to care anymore.
[39:23] Speaker 2: It doesn't matter. That was the off season ride along
[39:26] Speaker 2: presented by Toyota because when people are the destination, your
[39:30] Speaker 2: ride is important. Learn more at Toyota dot com and
[39:33] Speaker 2: find the vehicle that fits your people. Okay, we're here.
[39:37] Speaker 2: It's Hall of Fame Game weekend. If you're joining us live,
[39:41] Speaker 2: you're watching like Drew Brees getting interviewed. I love this
[39:44] Speaker 2: NBC tradition that they end up talking to all the
[39:47] Speaker 2: Hall of famers at some point and they're all.
[39:49] Speaker 4: Kind of teary, which is nice.
[39:51] Speaker 2: Yeah, it's great. They had Larry Fitzgerald in the pregame.
[39:54] Speaker 2: This is an awesome class. Every Hall of Fame class
[39:59] Speaker 2: they deserve to be the It's great. But some years
[40:01] Speaker 2: just have a little more pop, and I like the
[40:03] Speaker 2: diversity of this class in terms of the different types
[40:05] Speaker 2: of players. You have Drew Brees, who, along with Fitzgerald,
[40:09] Speaker 2: to me like defines his team in a way that
[40:14] Speaker 2: is really special. I mean, Breeze is another level of that,
[40:19] Speaker 2: just because of the history of the Saints in what
[40:22] Speaker 2: he helped at that time in New Orleans history, but
[40:26] Speaker 2: also just being as freaking amazing as he is. So
[40:29] Speaker 2: there's Drew Brees, There's Larry Fitzgerald, who really represents that
[40:32] Speaker 2: for the Cardinals of just like individual greatness for that
[40:36] Speaker 2: team and meaning so much. The consistency you have like
[40:38] Speaker 2: the Veterans Committee guy in Roger Craig who gets his
[40:42] Speaker 2: just due, and a guy who is kind of a
[40:44] Speaker 2: preview of the types of running backs that were gonna
[40:47] Speaker 2: be great pass catchers to come in the league. You
[40:49] Speaker 2: have Luke Keikley with the Panthers, who pure brilliance, the
[40:52] Speaker 2: second youngest guy ever to get into the Hall of
[40:54] Speaker 2: Fame because his career ended so short, but it was
[40:56] Speaker 2: at the very tippity top you knew he was a
[40:58] Speaker 2: Hall of Famer, like three or four, four years in,
[41:00] Speaker 2: We're going to get to some of those guys. And
[41:02] Speaker 2: then Adam Bennettieri, who I thought was interesting, had an
[41:05] Speaker 2: interview I didn't know this with NBC. Chose Carle ers
[41:10] Speaker 2: Gordon as his presenter, which is fascinating because you know,
[41:13] Speaker 2: the daughter of Jim Irsay. And he said it was
[41:17] Speaker 2: an easy decision for him, Ticky, even though he said
[41:21] Speaker 2: he loved both organizations, he loved his experience with the
[41:23] Speaker 2: Patriots and the cult. I'm taking that just a little
[41:26] Speaker 2: bit as a slight to the Patriots, But what he
[41:28] Speaker 2: said was it was really all about his love for
[41:32] Speaker 2: Jim Ersay and what Jim Mercy meant to him and
[41:34] Speaker 2: his family. He still lives in Indianapolis, and and it
[41:37] Speaker 2: is easy to forget. Look, it's the all time, you know, scorer,
[41:39] Speaker 2: that so much of that was with Indianapolis. He's a
[41:42] Speaker 2: super Bowl champion with Indianapolis. And you know, I'll just
[41:47] Speaker 2: throw it to you, that's a it's a really you know,
[41:49] Speaker 2: cool honor that that he's bestowing upon carly ers Gordon
[41:54] Speaker 2: and just like a really great class And we'll have
[41:56] Speaker 2: some thoughts on Sunday at about their speeches and everything
[41:59] Speaker 2: and reflect the little deeper on them. Then that We're
[42:01] Speaker 2: not going to do that too much here, but that's
[42:03] Speaker 2: a cool moment out of in a tiery.
[42:05] Speaker 3: Yes, I think so too. I know I'm often the
[42:09] Speaker 3: big feelings person on this show, but I think that
[42:12] Speaker 3: this is this is just one of those that made
[42:15] Speaker 3: my heart smile, honestly, because it was There's a history,
[42:20] Speaker 3: there's a really rich tradition and a history of players
[42:23] Speaker 3: who identified jim Irsay as somebody who they wanted very
[42:26] Speaker 3: much involved in their Hall of Fame process because of
[42:29] Speaker 3: how close he was with players. And as I know
[42:34] Speaker 3: our listeners know, and I know you know, Greg, like
[42:36] Speaker 3: I spent a lot of time in Indianapolis last year
[42:39] Speaker 3: trying to get to know what carly Er Say Gordon
[42:42] Speaker 3: was all about in a future I wrote for The Athletic,
[42:44] Speaker 3: and the thing that just came through over and over
[42:48] Speaker 3: and over again in a genuinely authentic way was the
[42:52] Speaker 3: level of care and consideration and attention to life detail
[42:58] Speaker 3: and true earnest consideration for the players that carle Or
[43:03] Speaker 3: Gordon and her sisters and Kaylin Jackson who is on
[43:06] Speaker 3: site there working with her, that they have. And so
[43:09] Speaker 3: I think for me, this is a two sided thing
[43:12] Speaker 3: from Adam Ventitieri in a very very cool gesture with
[43:15] Speaker 3: multiple layers to it, which is I think the Patriots
[43:18] Speaker 3: thing is notable too. That is one thing I am
[43:20] Speaker 3: hashtag noticing, but also the Adam Vanieri paying tribute to
[43:27] Speaker 3: Jim Orsay by doing this, but then but then also
[43:31] Speaker 3: saying you are carrying this part of his legacy forward
[43:35] Speaker 3: by specifically choosing Carly or sa Gordon to do this.
[43:38] Speaker 3: I think is it's powerful, It really is.
[43:42] Speaker 2: It's badass. And yeah, look it makes sense on a
[43:45] Speaker 2: human level that the Patriots at that time did not
[43:48] Speaker 2: want to pay him like top tier money. Yeah, and
[43:52] Speaker 2: the Colts did, and it was some of the best
[43:54] Speaker 2: money that they ever spent. And the Patriots drafted it
[43:56] Speaker 2: is replacement and all that, and he ends up staying there.
[43:58] Speaker 2: And so we'll get into some of these guys more
[44:02] Speaker 2: after the induction ceremony on Sunday. We are going live
[44:06] Speaker 2: Sunday evening. It's going to be five pm Pacific, eight
[44:10] Speaker 2: pm Eastern. We are going to do some early winners
[44:13] Speaker 2: and losers, big takeaways from training camp, and they will
[44:16] Speaker 2: also hit the Hall of Fame news. But I wanted
[44:18] Speaker 2: to just do like kind of a speed round of
[44:21] Speaker 2: a reaction to current players that could be Hall of
[44:25] Speaker 2: Famers someday that it's going to be really cool. And
[44:27] Speaker 2: I'm starting to see that because I've covered the league
[44:29] Speaker 2: so long, Jordan that like players now that I covered
[44:32] Speaker 2: from the beginning or close to it, Like Drew Brees,
[44:36] Speaker 2: I was covering him quote unquote, you know Roote a
[44:39] Speaker 2: world when he was still on the Chargers, when he
[44:41] Speaker 2: had that huge comeback season to play better and then
[44:44] Speaker 2: he heard his shoulder and like writing posts about like
[44:47] Speaker 2: no one wanted to sign him and all that, and
[44:48] Speaker 2: here he is all those years later. So I was thinking, like,
[44:51] Speaker 2: who are we going to be talking about in similar ways?
[44:53] Speaker 2: And I'm going to do it framed with the help
[44:56] Speaker 2: of our friend Bill Barnwell, he had an article on
[44:59] Speaker 2: ESPN dot com and he categorized all the players that
[45:03] Speaker 2: he thought were worthy of these categories in the NFL
[45:06] Speaker 2: in a bunch of different buckets. Guys that were already
[45:09] Speaker 2: in the Hall of Fame, Guys that were on the CUSP,
[45:11] Speaker 2: guys that had to keep it up but they're kind
[45:13] Speaker 2: of on track, Guys that had some work to do,
[45:15] Speaker 2: and then guys he just thought like, aren't going to
[45:17] Speaker 2: make it so I'm going to go through these and
[45:19] Speaker 2: just ones that stuck out to me the most. Let's
[45:23] Speaker 2: start with Stafford. I don't want to spend too much
[45:24] Speaker 2: time on Stafford, but he put Stafford as totally in
[45:27] Speaker 2: which actually surprised me because I do feel like Stafford
[45:30] Speaker 2: is going to be one of those guys if nothing
[45:32] Speaker 2: more happened from here, like that was great, like that
[45:36] Speaker 2: that people would nitpick, including me, the rest of his career,
[45:40] Speaker 2: where I don't think you could look at too many
[45:43] Speaker 2: seasons that he would be in the top five quarterbacks
[45:45] Speaker 2: in the league, like maybe three four Max, and like
[45:47] Speaker 2: those guys have had to wait, like guys that haven't
[45:49] Speaker 2: had the many All Pros or Pro Bowls, and he
[45:52] Speaker 2: hasn't until last year. But Bill makes a good point
[45:54] Speaker 2: like that voters might not get too much more complicated
[45:58] Speaker 2: than he want to Suit Bowl and then he won
[46:01] Speaker 2: an MVP, and like, are we really got to keep
[46:04] Speaker 2: that guy out? Even if you know naysayers like me
[46:08] Speaker 2: are like yeah, But during like most of his career,
[46:10] Speaker 2: Tony Romo was like a better quarterback than Matthew Stafford
[46:12] Speaker 2: and Philip Rivers. Guys like that who are definitely guys
[46:15] Speaker 2: that are going to have to wait if they even
[46:16] Speaker 2: ever do get in.
[46:18] Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I really disagree with you on this one. Yeah,
[46:21] Speaker 4: I know you're shocked.
[46:22] Speaker 2: I wanted to bring it up.
[46:23] Speaker 3: Yeah, I saw you put him first in the rundown also,
[46:27] Speaker 3: so I know you're totally shocked by my response.
[46:29] Speaker 4: I agree with Bill.
[46:30] Speaker 3: I think I don't think this is one that's going
[46:32] Speaker 3: to be complicated. I think that I know we don't
[46:35] Speaker 3: often talk about like the age factor when we're thinking
[46:38] Speaker 3: about Hall of Fame and all of that, But to
[46:39] Speaker 3: do the things he did and the arm talent only
[46:42] Speaker 3: getting better and better as he ages, I think that's significant.
[46:46] Speaker 3: I think that we don't He will represent the last
[46:49] Speaker 3: of a certain era as well of you know quarterbacks
[46:54] Speaker 3: that just that the last versions of these quarterbacks that
[46:57] Speaker 3: played you know, all at the same time, Rivers the Mannings.
[47:01] Speaker 3: You know, it's like he's he's he's of a different
[47:04] Speaker 3: generation than a lot of the really exciting quarterbacks that
[47:07] Speaker 3: are coming up. I think the poetry of that voters
[47:10] Speaker 3: will be into as well. And I think that you know,
[47:13] Speaker 3: this is a this is a guy who I do
[47:14] Speaker 3: already think is a gold jacket and I that's when
[47:17] Speaker 3: I when I even when I go back and I
[47:19] Speaker 3: am sick in the head, and so yes, I have
[47:21] Speaker 3: gone back. And even when I go back and I
[47:23] Speaker 3: watch some of the early the early seasons, I'm like,
[47:26] Speaker 3: how did this guy?
[47:27] Speaker 4: And I know why? Nobody needs to explain this to me.
[47:29] Speaker 4: I I know how and why I'm.
[47:31] Speaker 3: Sitting there thinking like, how did most people never watch
[47:34] Speaker 3: this guy?
[47:35] Speaker 2: You know?
[47:36] Speaker 3: And it just and it's it's just remarkable, and the
[47:38] Speaker 3: fact that it's getting better.
[47:39] Speaker 4: I mean to me, it's a no brainer to me.
[47:42] Speaker 2: To me, I I at least feel that I can
[47:44] Speaker 2: have an informed opinion because I was assigned by myself
[47:48] Speaker 2: essentially to watch every single.
[47:49] Speaker 3: Game because you watched it live and not not having
[47:52] Speaker 3: to go back and like rent me every week.
[47:55] Speaker 2: And to me, he was so up and down during
[47:58] Speaker 2: the weeks. But it actually reminds me of your Cardinals
[48:02] Speaker 2: hero here, Kurt Warner, when he had that run with
[48:04] Speaker 2: the Cardinals. I remember saying in a similar exercise at
[48:07] Speaker 2: the time, you know what, I think, this is actually
[48:09] Speaker 2: going to spike the football and he's going to make
[48:11] Speaker 2: the Hall of Fame. This is the type of thing
[48:13] Speaker 2: that changes it. And at the time, the thought was
[48:15] Speaker 2: like Kurt Warner did not have a long enough peak,
[48:17] Speaker 2: he did not have a long enough career, like he
[48:18] Speaker 2: probably isn't going to make the Hall of Fame, and
[48:20] Speaker 2: he did have to wait whatever it was a handful
[48:22] Speaker 2: of years, but not that long, and he did make it.
[48:24] Speaker 2: And so Stafford is kind of at that level, maybe
[48:27] Speaker 2: even a little higher. We have some important breaking news
[48:31] Speaker 2: sound to play for you. We have the first touchdown
[48:35] Speaker 2: of the NFL twenty twenty six season preseason season.
[48:40] Speaker 6: Let's go Eric and Carson Beck on his second drive
[48:44] Speaker 6: here with the Cardinals, Chris six for six seventy two
[48:46] Speaker 6: yards and he's taking it from the shadow of their
[48:49] Speaker 6: own goalpost to the one yard long goals.
[48:51] Speaker 5: Well plays already and really in total control of this offense.
[48:57] Speaker 6: A couple of receivers wine one comes back to run
[49:02] Speaker 6: corner to the end zone and the first touchdown for
[49:05] Speaker 6: the NFL season.
[49:12] Speaker 3: Okay, I mean that was really oppressing.
[49:17] Speaker 4: Michae Lafleur too, his first as a head coach. That's cool, Okay,
[49:23] Speaker 4: is so freaking back.
[49:25] Speaker 2: Corey Kiner, a person I was definitely familiar with until
[49:29] Speaker 2: five seconds ago. With the first touchdown of the season,
[49:34] Speaker 2: and you know what, Kenny Pickett doesn't take that, you know,
[49:36] Speaker 2: lying down, He drives him right back down the field
[49:39] Speaker 2: on a ten play drive to answer. We've got all
[49:41] Speaker 2: sorts of action in the Hall of Fame game, Kenny
[49:44] Speaker 2: Pickett's eight for eleven and AJ Dillon, who I did
[49:47] Speaker 2: know was on the Panthers and fighting for a roster spot,
[49:51] Speaker 2: possibly with Trevor Etn who was like a mid round pick,
[49:54] Speaker 2: the brother of Travis Etchien. I guess we're going now
[49:58] Speaker 2: with with both, with both the it's not just you
[50:02] Speaker 2: know Trevor that that changed.
[50:03] Speaker 4: This is so exciting.
[50:04] Speaker 2: Okay, this is fun. Okay, I'll rattle through the other
[50:08] Speaker 2: guys he had in that I just thought were interesting.
[50:11] Speaker 2: It doesn't mean I disagree, agree or anything, but I
[50:13] Speaker 2: just thought, you know, fans might find that interesting. Christian
[50:16] Speaker 2: McCaffrey he had in. Yeah, the more I think about,
[50:19] Speaker 2: I think that's probably right that he's already in because
[50:22] Speaker 2: because the peaks are so high, like three different seasons
[50:25] Speaker 2: where he's the absolute best, and so he'd have my
[50:27] Speaker 2: vote as well. Chris Jones like he's in, which I
[50:30] Speaker 2: just think throughout his career, I'm not sure people thought
[50:32] Speaker 2: of him as like, yeah, he's going to get in
[50:34] Speaker 2: early into the Hall of Fame. Khalil Mack, I think
[50:37] Speaker 2: has built up the resume to make it. Quentin Nelson
[50:40] Speaker 2: is a guy the all pros are just undeniable. He
[50:43] Speaker 2: is a Hall of Famer. Lamar Jackson is in. Like
[50:45] Speaker 2: if Matthew Stafford's in, of course Lamar Jackson just it
[50:48] Speaker 2: is weird to think about at this point, but like,
[50:50] Speaker 2: of course Lamar Jackson is in in, Derrick Henry is in.
[50:54] Speaker 2: Don't really have any quibbles with any of those. I
[50:57] Speaker 2: just like it's interesting to think about those players. Let's
[50:59] Speaker 2: go to the on the CUSP list, which to me
[51:01] Speaker 2: is just as interesting. He had George Kittle and Fred
[51:05] Speaker 2: Warner at the top of this list, and I thought
[51:07] Speaker 2: about those two guys quickly, and I thought, I think
[51:10] Speaker 2: Kittle's in actually already when I went through it, and
[51:13] Speaker 2: Fred Warner, I think it's on the CUSP is perfect,
[51:16] Speaker 2: but it is fun to think about Fred Warner. Basically,
[51:18] Speaker 2: if a guy is either the best at his position
[51:22] Speaker 2: or like second, like pretty definitively for at least three
[51:28] Speaker 2: year period, like a three to four year period, like
[51:31] Speaker 2: you generally make the Hall of Fame and those two
[51:33] Speaker 2: guys would qualify on those groundstaes.
[51:35] Speaker 3: Well, then why would Fred Warner still be on the cusp? Then?
[51:40] Speaker 2: Yeah, I probably because when I went looked through it,
[51:43] Speaker 2: like there's only so many healthy seasons. But you're right,
[51:46] Speaker 2: like he right now he's going to achieve more, but
[51:50] Speaker 2: he is coming off of an injury. He right now
[51:52] Speaker 2: if for some reason it didn't happen for him, his
[51:55] Speaker 2: peak I don't think has been as good as Patrick willis.
[51:57] Speaker 2: And so then he just turns out to be one
[51:59] Speaker 2: of those guys that might end up waiting like six seven,
[52:02] Speaker 2: eight years but gets in. So it depends how you
[52:04] Speaker 2: want to like interpret on the cusp. Is that's on
[52:07] Speaker 2: the cusp, then that's sort of on the cusp, you know,
[52:10] Speaker 2: not the guy that's like getting rubbers stamped right away.
[52:13] Speaker 2: He just needs to be healthier. Justin Jefferson, to me,
[52:16] Speaker 2: he's in already. He put him on the cusp like
[52:18] Speaker 2: I would just stamp him. It sounds crazy to say,
[52:20] Speaker 2: but it's like, yeah, a guy with that many all
[52:21] Speaker 2: pros at this point, like he's in the ones that
[52:24] Speaker 2: I found fascinating. He put Buddha Baker on the cusp.
[52:28] Speaker 2: I think that's a stretch like ball Knower's love Him
[52:30] Speaker 2: Love Buddha Baker. I don't know if he has that
[52:33] Speaker 2: great a chance. Daniel Hunter, to me was an interesting
[52:35] Speaker 2: guy to think about. Cam Hayward and Jalen Ramsey, he
[52:38] Speaker 2: also put on the cusp. Jalen Ramsey to me is
[52:40] Speaker 2: a little bit like the defensive back CMC. I kind
[52:43] Speaker 2: of think he's in because the three pop up seasons
[52:46] Speaker 2: that he had were so extraordinary, even if it wasn't
[52:49] Speaker 2: as consistent as some other like all time greats. And
[52:52] Speaker 2: I think cam Hayward is in too, So those were
[52:54] Speaker 2: the ones I just want to shout out on the cusps.
[52:58] Speaker 3: Yeah, I've already said, I've said, I already think Ramsey's
[53:01] Speaker 3: a Hall of Famer. I think cam Hayward's got, you know,
[53:03] Speaker 3: as good of a shot as Kittle and Warner, and
[53:06] Speaker 3: you think they're you know, they're in eventually.
[53:08] Speaker 2: I think I think cam Hayward is in two And
[53:10] Speaker 2: it's easy for us to be like, Okay, they're all in,
[53:12] Speaker 2: but then you get to like the vote. And that's
[53:14] Speaker 2: why I say some people are out, and that's why
[53:16] Speaker 2: I try to be careful I've really studied and watched
[53:18] Speaker 2: this over the years, and like Ramsey and Hayward seem
[53:22] Speaker 2: like guys that are going to get in if they
[53:24] Speaker 2: don't do that much more like in their fourth year
[53:27] Speaker 2: and their third year, in their fifth year, but they
[53:29] Speaker 2: will definitely get in. We have a hot take here
[53:31] Speaker 2: from Dwayne and Yeah, as we're wrapping up any any
[53:33] Speaker 2: final questions, Brandon Aubrey's already earned the jacket. The only
[53:37] Speaker 2: question is how quickly he will eventually get it. I
[53:40] Speaker 2: disagree with that, but he's on his way. He's on
[53:42] Speaker 2: his way. Kickers, it's a it's a tough road. How
[53:45] Speaker 2: many kickers are in the Hall of Fame? Two? Three?
[53:49] Speaker 3: Is it?
[53:49] Speaker 2: Sten Rude, Uh, Morton Anderson and at Vinitary.
[53:54] Speaker 4: I think going to be three.
[53:56] Speaker 2: I think there's about to be three.
[53:58] Speaker 6: Tough.
[53:59] Speaker 2: Carson, by the way, just absolutely lighting it up. It's official.
[54:06] Speaker 2: It's a quarterback battle and absolutely fantastic touchdown pass to
[54:12] Speaker 2: I think it's semi jeko. Uh love it, yeah, Bojoko.
[54:19] Speaker 2: In all seriousness, it's just the first time of four
[54:23] Speaker 2: times that Carson Beck is likely to play in the preseason.
[54:26] Speaker 2: But with rookie quarterbacks, they're playing against the version of
[54:32] Speaker 2: the quarterback that they're battling against in how they play
[54:36] Speaker 2: in the regular season. So right now, this version of
[54:39] Speaker 2: Carson Beck is battling against whatever Jacoby Brissette is doing
[54:43] Speaker 2: in like Week five, and that might be pretty intrigued
[54:47] Speaker 2: intriguing for Mike LeFleur.
[54:50] Speaker 3: We got a question, I got some I got some
[54:52] Speaker 3: confidence in Jacoby.
[54:53] Speaker 2: Were said, Okay, we got a question Carson Beck QB one.
[54:57] Speaker 2: When what is your answer to that one?
[55:00] Speaker 4: Well, you just said what you think? I mean, I
[55:02] Speaker 4: think you.
[55:02] Speaker 3: Know, I think you probably unless Jacoby Brissett, like really
[55:08] Speaker 3: really tanks it. Like, I think you've got to roll
[55:11] Speaker 3: with Jacoby Brissett. You paid him, and it's not like
[55:14] Speaker 3: you're trying.
[55:15] Speaker 4: I don't know. I just I think Jacob.
[55:17] Speaker 3: I'm probably higher on Jacoby Brissett as a distributor.
[55:20] Speaker 2: Of the ball than I love Jacob.
[55:22] Speaker 3: Then I know you're high on him too. I'm just saying, then,
[55:24] Speaker 3: I think consensus. What they are looking for here is
[55:29] Speaker 3: developing Carson Beck in the sort of security of what
[55:32] Speaker 3: this is right now, and also distributing the football around
[55:37] Speaker 3: to the many great skill players, the one who's going
[55:39] Speaker 3: to be able to distribute the ball around is Jacoby Brissett.
[55:42] Speaker 2: Bye week is Week fourteen and then they finish, so
[55:45] Speaker 2: they have the last bye week possible and they finished.
[55:47] Speaker 2: It's Saints Raiders forty nine ers. To me, that is
[55:51] Speaker 2: the latest possible answer to QB one. Carson Beck. Yeah,
[55:55] Speaker 2: I think it's harder for first time head coaches to
[55:59] Speaker 2: stick to that. So let's say Jakobe actually plays pretty well,
[56:03] Speaker 2: then I'm gonna I'm gonna go week twelve and a
[56:06] Speaker 2: half as my over under Hall of Fame on the
[56:09] Speaker 2: CUSP we handled. He also had some players that they
[56:13] Speaker 2: just got to keep it up and keep going. He
[56:14] Speaker 2: writes down Joe Toney, which I just thought it was
[56:16] Speaker 2: an interesting want to think about. I think Joe Toney
[56:18] Speaker 2: has a really strong chance to make the Hall of
[56:20] Speaker 2: Fame already. He could retire right now, and I think
[56:23] Speaker 2: he'll have like a case that at some point maybe
[56:26] Speaker 2: gets him in. Just winning titles with multiple teams all pros,
[56:31] Speaker 2: with multiple teams popping up late in his career. I
[56:33] Speaker 2: think he's got a chance. I like that he Bill
[56:36] Speaker 2: Barnwell put the Lions four pack of young players on
[56:39] Speaker 2: this keep it up. It's crazy to think about it's possible.
[56:42] Speaker 2: Right now, Jordan, the Lions are starting four Hall of
[56:46] Speaker 2: Famers in the middle of their prime. I'm on Ross,
[56:48] Speaker 2: Saint Brown, Jamiir Gibbs, Panay Sewell, and Aiden Hutchinson, which
[56:53] Speaker 2: at first I was like, whoa, Bill, that's a little crazy,
[56:57] Speaker 2: But the way they've started their careers, if they go
[57:00] Speaker 2: on a normal trajectory of players their age who have
[57:03] Speaker 2: made all pros that early and establish a baseline of
[57:05] Speaker 2: consistency that they have, it's actually not that crazy. Gibbs
[57:09] Speaker 2: probably has like the most to do, and they all
[57:11] Speaker 2: have a lot to do, but it's not that crazy.
[57:14] Speaker 2: We could be watching a team with four Hall of Famers.
[57:16] Speaker 2: They should be winning a lot of games that they
[57:17] Speaker 2: got four Hall of Famers in the middle of their prime.
[57:20] Speaker 3: My favorite thing is that you're saying that Fred Warner
[57:23] Speaker 3: is on the cusp because he might just have to wait,
[57:25] Speaker 3: and then you're like, yes, but we should definitely wait
[57:28] Speaker 3: for all of these guys to do this much more
[57:30] Speaker 3: in their career, and then they're definitely making that no,
[57:33] Speaker 3: So I think friend careers.
[57:34] Speaker 2: But they've already almost matched Warner with some of their peaks.
[57:38] Speaker 4: Right, I think that.
[57:41] Speaker 3: This quad Fecta is placed exactly in the right place,
[57:45] Speaker 3: and I love the idea here on this I think
[57:47] Speaker 3: it's great.
[57:48] Speaker 2: That's what I mean. Keep it up beings, you have
[57:49] Speaker 2: a ways to go, but it's cool to think about
[57:51] Speaker 2: them on that track. Kyle Hamilton was the other guy
[57:54] Speaker 2: that stuck out to me. It was just like, oh yeah,
[57:55] Speaker 2: that guy could be a Hall of Famer someday. He
[57:57] Speaker 2: had AJ Brown in the Work to Do, which hurt
[58:00] Speaker 2: my feelings because that's a long way to go. I
[58:04] Speaker 2: would put it at the keep it Up. I feel
[58:06] Speaker 2: like A. J. Brown has been a top five wide
[58:10] Speaker 2: receiver for long enough for most of his career that
[58:13] Speaker 2: I think he has a really strong chance. And then
[58:15] Speaker 2: missing out he has Cooper Cup and Derwin James. Just
[58:18] Speaker 2: like no Cooper Cup probably when you dig down like
[58:23] Speaker 2: it hasn't been consistent enough at the highest of levels,
[58:27] Speaker 2: but he'll get a lot of credit for that twenty
[58:29] Speaker 2: twenty one season, and then Derwin James I absolutely think
[58:31] Speaker 2: should be at a higher list. I think he has
[58:34] Speaker 2: a real chance. I would put him closer to like
[58:37] Speaker 2: Work to Do or Keep it Up, So just bumping
[58:39] Speaker 2: them up a little, a little level, but good job
[58:41] Speaker 2: by Bill Barnbough. There's a lot of work that goes
[58:42] Speaker 2: into that, and I'm just pointing out the ones that
[58:45] Speaker 2: I thought were kind of conversation starters and interesting.
[58:48] Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, I think Cooper is going to have a
[58:50] Speaker 3: good argument when it comes time for it, because I
[58:53] Speaker 3: understand there's a huge backlog of receivers and it gets
[58:55] Speaker 3: tougher every year, and I think about like the Tory
[58:57] Speaker 3: Holts of the world, who I think should be in,
[58:59] Speaker 3: but the logistics of what the hall is right now
[59:02] Speaker 3: and the backlog of players. But I think when you
[59:05] Speaker 3: think about I would have put him and keep it up.
[59:07] Speaker 4: I know that's.
[59:08] Speaker 3: Crazy because of his age, although he's not really that
[59:10] Speaker 3: much older. I don't think that aj Brown, but obviously
[59:13] Speaker 3: there's a so I think that he could go and
[59:17] Speaker 3: keep it up because it's like people really forgot that
[59:21] Speaker 3: Triple Crown season that quickly. First of all, I mean
[59:24] Speaker 3: that was he was a best receiver we'd seen in
[59:26] Speaker 3: a while in football that season. And I think he'll
[59:29] Speaker 3: have a compelling case because of the two Super Bowls
[59:32] Speaker 3: as well. People will will argue on his behalf for that,
[59:35] Speaker 3: and then I think you'll have an argument too for
[59:37] Speaker 3: all the things he did and has done away from
[59:39] Speaker 3: the ball that helped usher in a new way that
[59:43] Speaker 3: we're looking at football in this era. So I'm not
[59:46] Speaker 3: necessarily making this argument. I'm just giving people some material
[59:50] Speaker 3: when they do make the argument. But I think that
[59:52] Speaker 3: that's I think he will have a very like a
[59:54] Speaker 3: truly fascinating argument when it does come time.
[59:57] Speaker 2: He feels like a guy that will be brought up
[59:58] Speaker 2: by the Veterans Committee someday after when he's like seventy
[1:00:02] Speaker 2: years old, which is really weird to think about, as
[1:00:03] Speaker 2: we're talking about as one of those guys that strikes
[1:00:06] Speaker 2: out for fifteen years and then you bring up because
[1:00:08] Speaker 2: the high was so high, but the numbers are tough
[1:00:12] Speaker 2: to ignore, which is only two seasons over one thousand yards,
[1:00:15] Speaker 2: one Pro Bowl, which was that magical season, one All Pro,
[1:00:19] Speaker 2: and so's it's like a really great player, like a
[1:00:23] Speaker 2: Rams Ring of Honor guy for sure, and a guy
[1:00:27] Speaker 2: that might be tough to put in over those Tory Holts,
[1:00:31] Speaker 2: over those Derwin James, over those A. J. Brown types
[1:00:34] Speaker 2: of players. All Right, we totally went over an hour.
[1:00:38] Speaker 2: You were right, I owe you. I don't know, bottled water,
[1:00:43] Speaker 2: I owe you a free apple from the NFL snack,
[1:00:47] Speaker 2: I mean the NFL. You can say what you want
[1:00:50] Speaker 2: about the NFL. The snacks at the NFL offices are
[1:00:53] Speaker 2: outrageous and they're everywhere, and they're plentiful. We love them,
[1:00:56] Speaker 2: including the fresh fruit. Because we're not trying to finish
[1:01:03] Speaker 2: the show now in double digits, our producer Eric Roberts
[1:01:05] Speaker 2: is begging to finish this show with a Carson Beck
[1:01:10] Speaker 2: back to back highlights sequence. Let's listen to the big bomb,
[1:01:15] Speaker 2: Carson Beck's big arm center stage at the Hall of
[1:01:19] Speaker 2: Fame game. Beck shutout. I hit that that was outrageous,
[1:01:35] Speaker 2: moves his feet a little bit in the pocket as
[1:01:37] Speaker 2: the pressures coming left, delivers it at the perfect time.
[1:01:40] Speaker 2: Hits Brooks in stride. Who's by the way, three catches
[1:01:44] Speaker 2: for ninety nine yards already we have two strong candidates
[1:01:48] Speaker 2: between Jalen Brooks former Cowboy, Is that right? Yeah? Former Cowboy.
[1:01:54] Speaker 2: Preseason MVP is not necessarily a fair award. A lot
[1:01:59] Speaker 2: comes down to how many games do you play? They
[1:02:01] Speaker 2: get an extra game in Arizona, and are you in
[1:02:04] Speaker 2: big time spots like NBC Carson Beck and Jalen Brooks
[1:02:08] Speaker 2: delivery but the big time hit after he gets the catch.
[1:02:13] Speaker 2: Football is totally back, including this dime by Beck following
[1:02:17] Speaker 2: that up Carson.
[1:02:19] Speaker 6: Banking the Cards Beans on the five. We'll say touchdown,
[1:02:26] Speaker 6: Tilly say, I'll go receiver of Stanford and Beck with
[1:02:30] Speaker 6: a nice touch Cardinals show down the field at school.
[1:02:34] Speaker 2: When you're making goal line fades work the hardest play
[1:02:37] Speaker 2: in football, you know you know something's happening. I'm in.
[1:02:40] Speaker 2: I'm in on Carson Beck being like the next Mike Lennon.
[1:02:42] Speaker 3: Let's mark it down one, one, one and a half
[1:02:47] Speaker 3: or one in a third quarters into the very first
[1:02:50] Speaker 3: preseason game of the NFL season against the Panthers third
[1:02:54] Speaker 3: string defense, Greg Rosenthal is all the way in on
[1:02:59] Speaker 3: Carson Beck.
[1:03:00] Speaker 2: I'm not all the way, but it is fun. It's
[1:03:02] Speaker 2: fun to watch.
[1:03:03] Speaker 4: I love it, and this is making me all. This
[1:03:05] Speaker 4: makes me really happy. The NBC. When you get on NBC,
[1:03:08] Speaker 4: you get sick graphics. By the way, Yes, i'd be
[1:03:11] Speaker 4: pretty loving. Yeah, you get the whole thing. It's great.
[1:03:14] Speaker 2: That out to my buddy Matt Casey producing his first
[1:03:17] Speaker 2: Football Night in America of the season. Oh tonight, and
[1:03:21] Speaker 2: yes they're going back and forth. It is now a
[1:03:24] Speaker 2: couple of touchdowns a piece. We're not going to hang
[1:03:25] Speaker 2: and watch this game, but we h the rest of it.
[1:03:28] Speaker 2: I'm going to watch it offline. Jordan. We do exist offline,
[1:03:31] Speaker 2: and you're going to be traveling around, but you're going
[1:03:34] Speaker 2: to be on our show as well. Coming up. As
[1:03:36] Speaker 2: I mentioned earlier, we are going to do a Sunday
[1:03:41] Speaker 2: night show. This is going to be more about the
[1:03:43] Speaker 2: whole league. We're gonna dig deep into all the notes,
[1:03:46] Speaker 2: all the work that you don't want to do as
[1:03:48] Speaker 2: fans of who's winning, who's losing in training camp. Just
[1:03:52] Speaker 2: like players that are getting more playing time players who
[1:03:55] Speaker 2: are not, there are wins and losses in training camp.
[1:03:57] Speaker 2: I don't know if you knew that, Jordan. He's laughing.
[1:04:00] Speaker 3: We're going to go exactly as long as I predicted
[1:04:02] Speaker 3: we would go.
[1:04:04] Speaker 2: Eight o'clock Eastern, five o'clock Pacific. That's Sunday Night. Thank
[1:04:07] Speaker 2: you for everyone for joining us this week. It was
[1:04:10] Speaker 2: really fun with the Rams and tonight of course, with
[1:04:13] Speaker 2: the Hall of Fame game, we got to end the
[1:04:14] Speaker 2: show the same way. Football's back

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