Welcome to the All 32 NFL Podcast w/ Mike Giardi and Will Parkinson! Mike and Will recap the Patriots vs Panthers and Lions vs Giants preseason game. They also preview the NFC west.
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Checkout the video version of the podcast at www.youtube.com/@PatriotsPressPass
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SportsTranscript
00:00It is caught! Touchdown!
00:04The New England Patriots select Drake May.
00:08He's got the ball! And that's the ballgame!
00:13Welcome in to the All 32 podcast. Mike Giardi, Will Parkinson, episode number three.
00:19Will, just gonna give you a quick update on my day. I think there's a dead mouse in my garage. I can't find it.
00:24It stinks. And my dog's paw is the size of a balloon. He's gotta go to the vet.
00:29So I am killing hell. Oh, by the way, I've already rewatched the Patriots preseason game, which was pretty wretched.
00:35So I'm having a day. How about you?
00:37Yeah, I've gotten into arguments with Giants fans over how open Malik Nabors was.
00:42I've had my dog try to bite my foot off. I am very much in the mood for a tequila.
00:47That'll have to wait till we're after. We're done here.
00:52We're gonna do some NFC West. It's very similar to NFC West. We'll try to keep it efficient this time.
00:58More importantly, obviously, I want to start with what was on the field last night.
01:01We'll get to Juju Smith-Schuster as well. Obviously, you know, Mike kind of referenced it and his legs kind of going and leading to some drops throughout camp.
01:09Drake May makes his debut last night. The Giants also took on the Lions.
01:12But I want to get started with Drake May. What were your thoughts?
01:15Before you do it, before you do it, before you do it.
01:17I'm already jumping.
01:18Hey, no, so we're excited. This is what you say. We want to keep it a little tighter than last time.
01:23But we're so excited to be doing this and be doing it together that we get a little ahead of ourselves.
01:27But this show, the All 32 Pod, brought to you by Prize Picks, the exclusive daily fantasy partner of CLNS Media Network.
01:34And game time, best tickets, best prices to get you in to see any event you want to see.
01:39I use them. You use them. Everybody should use them because they're that good.
01:42All right, well, now where are we going?
01:44We're going to Drake May. We're going to start with the top three overall pick.
01:49New England Patriots, obviously future, hopefully franchise quarterback for their sake.
01:53You were in the building last night. You've been at camp.
01:55We've been talking a lot about how he's progressed throughout camp.
01:58We obviously talked a lot about Brandon Ayuk of interest and how you might not have gotten to England yet with the uncertainty.
02:03Whether May is obviously become what I think obviously Patriots fans hope.
02:08What were your thoughts on May? And only playing one series, which I think was one of the biggest takeaways.
02:13What are we doing was my first response to it.
02:16You know, he comes out. It's a seven play, six to count.
02:19There was a penalty as well. You know, through three passes, a screen, a check down,
02:24essentially where there was already heat off the right side.
02:27He kind of made reference to the fact that he thought he could have maybe looked further downfield.
02:30But it took Calvin Anderson. Was it?
02:33No, it was a core for excuse me to score for his plan. Right. Tackle got beat.
02:36And it was I mean, he got hit when he threw the ball. So not taken to the ground.
02:40But it was I think he made the right decision there.
02:42Had the one ball sale on him that was down the field to Jalen Rieger and the hook curl zone about 12, 15 yards down the field.
02:49Got both hands on it. So, you know, would have been a nice catch in those conditions.
02:53It was raining. But, you know, ball sailed on him just a little bit.
02:57But I just I don't quite I don't quite understand the point.
03:01I think we talked about this coming into the draft. We've talked about it since.
03:05He needs work. He needs more reps. He needs more experience.
03:08You know, just two years in college, his senior year of high school.
03:11He didn't play because of covid, you know, through 900 plus passes at North Carolina,
03:16which is a fair amount. But there there obviously have been some footwork issues.
03:19There's some mechanical issues that need to be cleaned up. He's just 21 years old.
03:23And I said to myself, like, you know, let's see three, four series from the very least,
03:29because he needs it. And he hasn't gotten a lot of work, if really any,
03:32with the number one offensive line and the number one unit during training camp.
03:36And I figured, all right, like maybe we'll give him a little bit, but he'll also get to twos.
03:39And Carolina wasn't playing anybody. I think he had 31 guys that were scratched in the game.
03:44And to get one series, like, what do you get out of it? OK, got his feet wet.
03:48But what are the teaching points from that? What do you get from the tape?
03:51And it it concerns me because forget about this being a competition,
03:56which we told you it hasn't really been for the majority here of the summer
04:00or for the entirety of the summer. But like he's that far behind or you're that concerned
04:06about fragility in front of him and his own fragility that you can't get him more reps.
04:12And like, look at mess it up. I said beforehand, I wrote like it's not going to be perfect, right?
04:17I'm not expecting it to be perfect. We saw C.J. Stroud's first preseason game
04:21because it was in New England and it looked pretty wretched. C.J. Stroud ended up going
04:25to have one of the best years a rookie quarterback has ever had.
04:28I'm not saying Drake's going to do that, but like you've got to let him play a little bit.
04:31They didn't let him play. And now they've got joint practices with the Eagles this week.
04:36Well, it's one joint practice because that's the new trend here because they don't want to have more fights.
04:40But I wonder on Thursday night when preseason game number two goes,
04:45if they're not going to play the first offensive line more than a couple series,
04:49if that's the same thing for him, he's just not going to play it on.
04:52And again, I question the wisdom of that because he needs to grow.
04:56Yeah, there's a couple of things there, and I'll keep it short on me just because, again,
05:00like you hit on pretty much a lot of what I was going to talk about.
05:02I was rambling.
05:03Yeah, no, I rambled quite a bit on a lot of stuff last time.
05:08But I think like two or three and get seven plays.
05:12Obviously, it's better than going three and out.
05:14And, you know, obviously going through the game, they warm up in Gillette and be able to kind of acclimate himself.
05:19Like all those things are totally fair. I just felt like one series to me.
05:22Yeah, they went down, scored.
05:24They went down, scored a touchdown. You feel really good.
05:26Like, wow, awesome. Let's get it out, you know, keep it there.
05:30I would have understood a little bit more.
05:31It felt like that was a good opportunity to three series there.
05:35You know, then, you know, preseason game number two, do you give him a quarter quarter and a half preseason game?
05:40Number three, he's at a half or whatever it may be.
05:43Obviously, pretty clearly, Jacoby is going to start the year.
05:45And that's why I felt like it's not as if and I know we use a lot of Jets and Patriots examples here.
05:50But like Zach Wilson played, you know, a couple series, two or three series that a quarter, then a half, et cetera.
05:56But the Jets had to be careful with him because he was there was no other quarterback on the roster for them to play when he was drafted.
06:01This is the Patriots have a lot of quarterbacks in that room.
06:05Some was starting experience. Some obviously are rookies, which one we'll get to.
06:08But I just felt like, yeah, like, I don't know.
06:11There's not much to take away just because he didn't get all that many opportunities to either even throw them.
06:15It's not like he came out. We're in seventh straight pass. Right.
06:18You know, so I I'd like to see especially these guys that need work.
06:22And if we're going to go back to this model of veteran, sit the young guy, generally speaking, you got to give him reps in the preseason.
06:30That's where they're going to get their game reps from, especially early on.
06:32And I just don't understand. Only six, seven plays for him next week.
06:36It should it should be a lot more next time to your point.
06:39Mac Jones in his rookie year. And again, when Mac came out, the bill on him was obviously not super athletic, doesn't have this big arm.
06:45But of the quarterbacks that were in that draft, five were drafted in the first round, I believe he was the most pro ready.
06:51He's from 19 passes in his first preseason game.
06:54And I think it was 16 in the next one.
06:56Mike, you know, they had a joint practice situation with the Giants where Cam Newton had to enter COVID protocols because he left to go to another state to see a doctor.
07:06And that wasn't cleared. And then Mac just completely took the job.
07:09Then, you know, two days of of pretty intense practices with the Giants and got a crap ton of reps.
07:14And you're like, OK, we thought he was better. He is better. He's going to play.
07:18Obviously, that sort of spiraled out of control in years two and three.
07:21But like, May's not at the same point. But how do you get him to that point?
07:26Well, you get him to that point by playing him. And it's just I feel like they're going slow to be safe.
07:32And at some point you're going to have to rip the bandaid off and just let him do it.
07:35And what better time to rip the bandaid off than now?
07:37So, yeah, he took long in college.
07:41It's not like he had this perfect college career. He's not used to it.
07:43Right. I mean, their their team, which is one of the reasons why he fell out of favor with some people in the league,
07:49just in terms of questions about, you know, much better two years ago than he was the past year.
07:53Like the offense changed. The surrounding town around him was vastly inferior to what it was a year prior.
08:00And there was no real answer. So the answer was, Drake, just go make a play.
08:04And so he got in some bad habits. Fine. But like you got to let him. Same thing.
08:09He's got bad habits. You're trying to fix them. Maybe don't try to fix them all at once, too.
08:12I wonder, like, if maybe they're just putting too much on his plate.
08:15Like, hey, we want to change your your your release here on some of the shorter passes.
08:20We want to work on your footwork. We want you thinking about this and the other thing,
08:23which is one of the reasons I was excited to see him play in the sense that like, OK, just let it rip.
08:27Like once you get out there and it starts flying for real.
08:30Yeah, you're you're being coached to do a certain thing, but sometimes the instinct takes over.
08:34I wanted to see that because he's promised us that he's playmaker.
08:37You and I have watched the tape in college. We know he's a playmaker.
08:40We don't get to see that here. And we didn't get to see it because, again,
08:43he got seven snaps, six of them that counted.
08:45And then Joe Milton is given afforded an opportunity where, you know, it's later.
08:50It's against the guys that aren't going to make the team.
08:52They're going to be working at Lowe's or driving for an Amazon truck.
08:54No, don't disrespect those things. But it's like that's where those guys are headed.
08:58This is their football journey is about to end in a month.
09:01And but he he got leash and he got to run around and he got to make plays.
09:05And it was the most predictable thing ever that Joe Milton at six foot five,
09:08240 pounds with a cannon for an arm and a four or five forty speed was going to go
09:13make some plays. And he did. He he ended up essentially stealing the show,
09:18which look, like I said, I would have been nice to see may afforded the same
09:23opportunity just to sort of get some of that rust off to get some of that
09:27playmaking vibe going and to get some confidence going forward.
09:31Yeah, look, I think Joe Milton's a guy that, you know,
09:34NFL Twitter is going to be infatuated with.
09:36You know, the preseason clips. He is the ultimate pro day preseason,
09:41all star game type of guy. The one the one issue I sense with with Milton,
09:45I think the accuracy and the inconsistency and honestly,
09:48the lateral movement with Joe Milton's always been an issue.
09:51So did anything in the change last night? No, of course not.
09:55But the one thing I am excited to see with Milton going forward is like,
09:58can he establish himself as a high ceiling, low floor backup?
10:04If any last name is any indication, maybe that's the case,
10:07but I don't want to get too excited about it again.
10:10The touchdown play is nice. The scramble is nice.
10:13He's at best the third string quarterback of Bailey's happy at, you know,
10:17for the rest of the year. And then you go from there. So it's nice.
10:20It's exciting.
10:21I just feel like everyone always reacts to a lot of this stuff.
10:25And to me, the best reaction is like, glad I'm good.
10:28I'm glad Joe Milton has the athletic ability that we all saw, you know,
10:32at points. But again, to get overly excited about this and think, oh,
10:36but the Patriots had a gem. Like let's saw some Joe Milton's a stud.
10:40Let's temper the expectations, my friends.
10:43And Mayo said it post game. He said like, you know,
10:47it was really good to see him run around out there. It was, you know,
10:50confidence booster for him for sure. But he said, let's not forget.
10:53This is just one piece of the larger puzzle.
10:56You have to string together days over and over and over again.
11:00You have to continue to improve. And I will say the one thing,
11:03and I wrote about it in our weekend notes,
11:05call it Boston sports journal is the one thing that got me intrigued was I
11:09haven't felt like I've seen him play quarterback since he's been here.
11:13They've sort of they're giving him more of the read option stuff than Drake
11:16may or any other quarterbacks are running when he's in there.
11:19He's obviously not got a ton of reps, especially as camp has gone along,
11:22you know, certainly refining percent and giving me a good amount of practice
11:27reps. But the touchdown pass was a show of quarterback play where again,
11:33he froze the safety with his eyes. They had two stick routes,
11:36two double moves on the outside. He looked through the stick route,
11:39saw that Jaquay Johnson was Jackson.
11:41Rather was running free down the sidelines and threw a perfect ball.
11:44He, I mean, he was wide open.
11:45I don't know what the corner was thinking there with the way they were
11:48playing coverage to begin with, but like that was at least a, okay,
11:51it's in your bag. But now this has been his,
11:55the talk about him all along, right? Okay. We,
11:57we see moments where he looks like, oh wow,
12:01but you have to consistently do it.
12:02And he hasn't consistently proven in six years in college that he is a thinking
12:07man's quarterback at that point. Not to say it's not in there. I think again,
12:10we saw a point now build off it. Joe Milton,
12:13you mentioned the Juju Smith Schuster thing. I mean, dude, it was inevitable.
12:18Can't run, can't run. And because of that, he started dropping passes like,
12:22yeah, they're eating a fair amount of money here,
12:24but they're one of the teams that have the most amount of gap space.
12:27So it's, it,
12:28it's not certainly something that's going to ruin them doing anything if they
12:31want to during the course of the year.
12:33Yeah. Look, I think the only thing really touched on Juju,
12:36we can touch on the lines, you know, giants quickly, but the only thing with Juju,
12:40it's, it's, it sucks, man.
12:41Like he's the guy who started,
12:42had this great start to his career at a really great college career.
12:45And it was really important for the Chiefs a couple of years ago, but, you know,
12:48he was coming over to new England, you know,
12:50kind of a lot of people were confused why his market wasn't bigger coming,
12:53you know, coming from the Chiefs. And we find, we find out, you know,
12:56pretty quickly here is the knees, the knees are, are pretty shot.
13:00And it's got, you know, and it's unfortunate. You feel bad for him.
13:04He's still somewhat of a young dude. He's 27 years old, right?
13:07It's like, he's been, he feels like he's been in the league forever,
13:09but at the end of the day, like the Patriots probably said,
13:12he's just going to have to take, he's going to end up taking reps from guys.
13:15We need to get real development out of, and we'll take the cap it.
13:18This is what happens when you're in a situation and he wasn't going to play a
13:21lot. And if you're Juju, Hey,
13:23maybe you get a chance to go back to Kansas city and you know,
13:25your wide receiver five there,
13:27but like my homes trust you to make some plays at once in a while down the
13:30stretch. So unfortunately it didn't work out for both sides,
13:34but it felt like Juju's body's kind of just failed in the last couple of
13:38years. And it's obviously unfortunate, but yeah, I don't,
13:41I guess there's not too much to add there.
13:44Yeah, I was going to go ahead. Go ahead.
13:46No, I was going to say we can transition to Giants, Lions quickly.
13:49There's not too much to talk about there,
13:51but there's a few things I want to quickly highlight.
13:53Yeah. I think the big thing, and you know,
13:54obviously I was at the game last night with the Patriots in Carolina,
13:57so I'm not watching the Giants game, but I'm following Giants,
14:00Twitter and Malik neighbors as he has been since the moment he walked in the
14:05door, there has been a very popular man.
14:08And there's a lot of oohing and aahing about what he was.
14:11I think I saw a tweet early from one of the Giants,
14:13be reporters like he's been open twice downfield and they haven't thrown it to
14:16him. What is your,
14:18I know you went back and kind of took a look at it.
14:21What did you read on Malik neighbors and what happened last night?
14:25Yeah, there's a couple of things just kind of quick hitters from that game.
14:29Tommy DeVito is getting a lot of praise. He was a big,
14:32he's a big name last year and he still won eight of 15.
14:34It's not like he didn't blow the doors off.
14:36Anybody WFN today said he should be the starter is what it is.
14:40Drew Locke really struggled and ended up getting hurt.
14:42But he's a guy that, you know,
14:44they probably thought like DeVito is a popular name here and always kind of be
14:47that Mike way type of cold hero. You know,
14:49Bailey's happy at points last year where they're not happy to start her in the
14:52backup. So he's popular until they play.
14:54So not too much there in terms of the Lions.
14:57No one really have a consequence. I would say played.
15:00I didn't hook her, got his first action. We got to see,
15:02which was really nice.
15:03He's a guy actually out of Tennessee who teams really did like coming out.
15:07And so he'll be an interesting one to follow.
15:09And he, can he learn behind golf and potentially develop, you know,
15:12with the, with the bad knee injury there.
15:14Eric Gray made one of the nastiest moves.
15:16You'll see that you hit for a touchdown was beautiful score twice.
15:20Other than that, there wasn't too much.
15:21You got some Allen Robinson reps in the preseason week one, which he might be.
15:26Yeah.
15:27He's on the juju track. Unfortunately, other than that, not too much.
15:32You mentioned neighbors.
15:34Look, I think he's extremely dynamic.
15:36I think he's going to be awesome as a rookie.
15:38There's going to be some electrifying moments.
15:39We're going to get some forms of, you know,
15:42young Odell in terms of just this captivating a fan base of a team that.
15:46Who knows how good they're going to be.
15:48The giants are probably more likely. They're not going to be bad,
15:50but if there's a chance, they can end up being somewhat competitive.
15:53The two plays that they looked at Nate Tyson, a great breakdown.
15:57So if you don't follow Nate, I'm sure people do, but if they don't,
15:59Nate's awesome, you know, take, shoot him a follow.
16:02If not did a breakdown of just like to kind of cover two hole shots that
16:06safety standing right there.
16:07And if they get thrown that ball and DeVito doesn't exactly have, you know,
16:11this big arm in a drew lock, like drew locks, got a big arm in a sense,
16:14but you could hold NFL Malik neighbors, leaving on a stretcher in those.
16:18And this isn't Madden.
16:19And there's some plays where he's going to look open where he's really not.
16:23And then there's plays where he's not going to look open.
16:25He's going to make this insane place. So I don't look at it as a bad thing for
16:28neighbors. I love the confidence day one, walk it in his first game.
16:32He's running in basically a route to kind of take the defense and take,
16:36take guys out of the defense and he's calling for the ball.
16:38Like that's awesome. In a sense, I do just wonder.
16:42And again, I don't even think it's necessarily a negative, but it's week three.
16:47The giants are Owen too.
16:49He's not gotten quite the amount of targets. He wants Daniel Jones.
16:52There's rufflings and papers, et cetera. How does he,
16:55how does Daniel Jones handle just kind of bleak neighbors and,
16:59and what he's going to be wanting in terms of demanding the football.
17:01I love it, but at the same time,
17:03just something to keep in a little bit of an eye on. Yeah.
17:05I say the same thing with how Brian Dable is going to handle it.
17:07And you, and you saw in the behind the scenes stuff, you know,
17:10when they did the hard knocks, which I thought was outstanding, the,
17:14you know, like you're a dog, but how do you deal with losing?
17:16How do you deal with not getting the ball? And he's like, I, it's not,
17:19you know, that's not easy for me. It's not easy for a lot of those guys.
17:23He thinks he's the best guy on the field and that's great to have that
17:25confidence. And, and he,
17:26he could very well be one of those guys on a regular basis,
17:29but you have to be able to sort of fit into the team structure and make it
17:33work, especially when you don't have a resume yet,
17:37your resume is in college. This is a different league.
17:39It's a whole different setup. And yeah, it's,
17:42it's not getting the quarterback keeping Daniel Jones rolling with Daniel.
17:47All right. We got on the weapon.
17:48Now Daniel's got to manage the weapon and so does Brian Dable so that they
17:52get the best out of them,
17:53but also don't allow him to sort of become a problem.
17:58Because I think, look,
17:59I think Brian seats probably a little bit hot this year just based on how last
18:02year when, even though two years ago,
18:04he's coach of the year and they're in the playoffs and won a playoff game.
18:07So that, that's just.
18:08You mean the Dak and Bill Belichick led giants next year is not what you're
18:12looking forward to?
18:13Well, you may be, I mean, we have a feeling that's if Belichick doesn't end up
18:17in Philadelphia,
18:18where there's that great story at ESPN about the relationship between Nick
18:22Sirianni and Jalen Hurts and how they kind of let Sirianni twist in the wind
18:25while they considered Belichick the final,
18:28the week after the season ended.
18:30And then of course you had Jalen Hurts calling Wink Martindale before the
18:33playoff game saying, how'd you guys defend us?
18:35What are we not doing?
18:36You're not running the ball.
18:37I'm not worried about you guys running.
18:39Yeah, that, that was something.
18:41All right.
18:42Let's take a quick break,
18:43come back and then we're going to get to the NFC West.
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20:00We're back.
20:01GRD Parkinson,
20:02all 32 podcast episode three NFC West preview.
20:06And we're going to start with the big dogs, right?
20:08The team that was within a whisker of winning a Superbowl yet again,
20:12Kyle Shanahan,
20:13San Francisco 49ers 12 and five last year,
20:16number one in offensive DVO.
20:19A even with Brock Purdy,
20:21although now I think we can see Brock pretty,
20:23pretty good for that system.
20:24Fourth overall in defensive DVO.
20:26A I want to actually start on the defensive side.
20:29Well,
20:30because they lost some talent,
20:31including some beef inside with Eric Armstead,
20:33who I know was hurt last year points,
20:35but gave them 500 plus snaps.
20:37And I think he had 30 something pressures,
20:39like some really productive snaps.
20:42They're trying to go with like a by committee,
20:44if you will,
20:45gross mottos,
20:46Malik Collins,
20:47Leonard Floyd coming off the edge,
20:48just sort of make up for some of the absence of Armstead.
20:51And then Drake Greenlaw,
20:52of course,
20:53toward the Achilles in the Superbowl track.
20:54I mean,
20:55that was ridiculous that that happened.
20:57He's expecting me back at some point this year,
20:59but you have to wonder if he'll be the same guy,
21:01at least in year one,
21:02as he was before the injury.
21:04Did they lose too much?
21:05Cause it doesn't feel like they have a ton of beef on the inside to sort
21:08of be stout.
21:09And they're going to be some teams Seattle,
21:11for instance,
21:12that will want to try to shove the ball down their throat.
21:14Yeah.
21:15Look,
21:16I think you look at San Fran,
21:17if the defensive side of all,
21:18obviously,
21:19you know,
21:20the change of defensive coordinator,
21:21you look at,
21:22yeah,
21:23you look at,
21:24you know,
21:25bringing Devondra Campbell in to try to,
21:26you know,
21:27kind of help a little bit.
21:28And you,
21:29you know,
21:30again,
21:31at the Hargrave signing,
21:32obviously Nick Bosa with a full camp,
21:33does he go back to kind of defensive player of the year level?
21:35I still think to myself,
21:36like who Funga off of,
21:38you know,
21:39off of the injury,
21:40is he going to be ready week one?
21:41He's still on pop.
21:42So I feels like that's unlikely.
21:43I don't know.
21:44I just,
21:45you know,
21:46I look at this Niner's defense.
21:47I think they're going to be really good.
21:48Do I think they've gone through a couple of different evolutions here?
21:51And you still have the best linebacker in football.
21:53You still have arguably the best edge rusher in football.
21:55Who Funga is at,
21:57you know,
21:58an all pro level safety when he's healthy,
21:59but outside corner still feels like they could be better.
22:03I think you can attack them a little bit on the outside.
22:06I think down the spine,
22:08as you mentioned,
22:09interior wise,
22:10it felt like a lot of last year,
22:12the Niner's defense was awesome,
22:14but at points,
22:15and we saw this a little bit in the Superbowl and the playoff run,
22:18they weren't really getting to the quarterback as much as you felt like
22:20they should have been with the amount of names,
22:22whether it be Bosa,
22:23Armstead,
22:24Hargrave,
22:25Chase Young,
22:26all these different guys.
22:27It felt like,
22:28man,
22:29they only had one sack today.
22:30Like that's weird.
22:31Like I,
22:32you know,
22:33so they're still awesome.
22:34I still think this defense is going to be really good and competitive.
22:35Obviously I'm going to tease it now,
22:36but like,
22:37I think they may be in a little situation where there's still very much a
22:40playoff team,
22:41but I don't,
22:42I don't feel like this division is such a clear cut,
22:44just the Niner's division.
22:46And again,
22:47I think this defense will probably more like the seventh or eighth best unit
22:50in the league,
22:51which is still awesome.
22:52And when I talk about the Jets,
22:53I'm going to say very similar things in terms of,
22:55have they gone through a little bit of an evolution where they're going to
22:57be really good,
22:58but not like this elite shutdown,
23:00number one defense in the league.
23:02So yeah,
23:03good group still some real serious star power,
23:05obviously.
23:06They have two guys that could be defensive player of the year.
23:08Right.
23:10I just don't know that they're a hundred percent going to be like the,
23:12as good of a unit because Devontae Campbell still have a lot enough left
23:16there to replace Greenlaw.
23:17I don't know.
23:18So I feel good about the Niner's defense.
23:20I don't feel quite as great as I probably did going into last year or
23:24years past.
23:25I think that the Sorenson change is a big one because it gives someone that
23:28Kyle Shanahan believes in.
23:30And they hired Steve Wilkes last year.
23:31Wilkes had done a great job as the interim head coach in Carolina.
23:34A lot of people thought he should have gotten the job.
23:36You can argue based on the way the season went,
23:37maybe he should have gotten the job.
23:39But in San Francisco,
23:40there was a clashing and it happened early and it happened often.
23:44Shanahan overruled him at times, which, you know,
23:47for a guy who's usually buried his head in a play sheet,
23:49that was a little unusual.
23:51But again,
23:52that was his first year with Wilkes.
23:53Wilkes ends up being a lot of people feel like he was the fall guy,
23:56but look, if you're,
23:57if you're not aligned and you have a team that's built in with now,
24:01you better find someone you're aligned with because you're again,
24:03trying to get that defense back.
24:05He felt like, even though the, as I mentioned,
24:07fourth and DVO way that they should have been better,
24:09that they should have been getting to the quarterback more.
24:11Sorenson will bring a different style and certainly one that Shanahan,
24:14I think will help approve.
24:16And there'll be less of that on the offensive side of the ball.
24:19We talked about the last episode.
24:21You got Trent Williams or two episodes ago,
24:23Trent Williams is still holding out playing golf.
24:25When you're ready to seriously pay me the most money for a left tackle
24:28that's ever happened.
24:29I'm ready to sign.
24:30I imagine that will get done before the season starts.
24:33And then you have the brand and Iuke situation where he remains holding in
24:38and they remain getting, well, they did not remain.
24:41They're more and more frustrated with him.
24:43And obviously as we've heard the last week, they've shopped him.
24:46And thus far, nothing has been agreed upon with anybody.
24:49Patriots of course,
24:50dropping out of the competition when I basically said you're not any good.
24:54And I don't want to go play for your quarterback there either.
24:56So aside from that, I'm assuming they get Williams on the field.
25:01Williams on the field.
25:02I don't know what's going to happen with Iuke,
25:04but they drafted Ricky Pearsall in the first round, which surprised some people.
25:07Not me, loved him, said he should have been a first round pick.
25:09He was.
25:10Been dealing with a little bit of a hamstring here in camp.
25:13And then Jacob Cowling, the little guy from Arizona.
25:15So they brought a lot of speed to that position.
25:17Cowling's a 4-4 guy.
25:20Trying to unlock some different pieces.
25:22Got Debo back.
25:23You got Kittle back.
25:24Kittle coming off a pretty healthy, pretty good year for him.
25:28Where do you see the offense going?
25:30Christian McCaffrey, I'll add that.
25:31McCaffrey with a calf issue.
25:33Not going to play in the preseason.
25:35Expected to be okay for week one.
25:37Eh, running back with a calf issue.
25:39A little bit of a concern.
25:40But where do you think the offense goes from here?
25:42Yeah, there's a couple different things.
25:44Obviously, you know, the biggest news, they lose Sam Darnton.
25:46No, I'm just kidding.
25:48Like, I think the offensive line should still be good.
25:50Again, I think you're going to need Dominic Pooney or, you know,
25:54of the like to play right away.
25:56I liked Pooney a lot coming out.
25:58You need Trent Williams to be Trent Williams and play a full year.
26:01It's going to be more of a group effort and Kyle scheming stuff up to kind
26:04of protect him against any holes there.
26:06They lose Mike McGlinchey, obviously.
26:07Again, McGlinchey struggled in the Super Bowl and struggled at other points.
26:10But, you know, he's still a guy with tackling and whatnot and got paid big money.
26:14Their weapons are still great without, you know, without Iuke.
26:18But I do think he's their best pass catcher.
26:20As much as Kittle's this kind of jack-of-all-trades really awesome player
26:23and you use Jack and McCaffrey, you can use him in the pass game
26:26and then obviously Debo.
26:28And, you know, Piercewall, as you mentioned, I do think, you know,
26:31to some extent, regardless of what you think, like Iuke,
26:33last year I think 37th in targets, first in, you know, yards per target.
26:37Like he was extremely efficient.
26:40He is an elite level separator.
26:43Part of me thinks there's like a small world in which this does eventually
26:46get ironed out and he could end up back in San Fran.
26:48We've just seen John Lynch is a contract terrorist when it comes to leaving
26:54until the last second.
26:55And he's gotten all these done.
26:58It seems like the holdups potentially with Iuke over in the Steelers,
27:02maybe over like this fourth or fifth round pick, it depends on who you ask.
27:05It's like is it they want a two and a four and a player and do the Steelers
27:09want to give that up, et cetera?
27:12We'll see with him.
27:13I think you needed Purdy to take one more jump here.
27:16I know he's taken a big leap and this isn't a beat up on Brock Purdy show
27:19at all, but I thought there were some concerning signs at points last year
27:23in the playoffs.
27:24And it's like you want to have him take just one more step, right?
27:27Where like, hey, if we lose IU, can Purdy create three or four more plays
27:31with Pearsall, get on the same page with him?
27:34I loved Ricky Pearsall.
27:35I just think he hasn't really done much yet because he's been hurt
27:38or inactive and things like that.
27:40And I really think the biggest key to this Niners team and whether they win
27:4412 or 13 games or they're like a 10-win team, which is kind of more
27:47and more I'm leaning of that like it's a weird example,
27:50but that those Rams teams and like 2003, 2004,
27:53where went through some transition, the offense identity changed
27:57a little bit.
27:58They started to lose some pieces,
27:59but they still had the core group that was amazing that went to those,
28:02you know, two Super Bowls and whatever.
28:04They kind of became more of like, what are they going to lean on?
28:06And if Debo Samuel is somewhat close to prime Debo,
28:11they're going to be really damn hard to stop.
28:13And if Debo is missing eight games, nine games,
28:16now you're asking George Kittle to be like an eight,
28:1810 target a game guy and you have to lean on McCaffrey.
28:21They got some good injury luck last year and the years.
28:23So I'm just slightly worried.
28:25Like do they regress a little bit?
28:27And are they like more of like a 10 or 11 win team, which is still awesome.
28:30There'll still be a playoff team.
28:31I think they're going to be really hard to beat.
28:33Yeah, really dangerous.
28:34But are they more of like the fifth seed in the NFC because they just have some
28:38unfortunate injury luck and things like that.
28:40That's kind of where I'm,
28:41I'm leaning a little bit more than 13 wins home field, et cetera.
28:45I think not having IUC is far more damaging than some other people think.
28:49I think you brought up some good numbers here.
28:51And I think I've, I've been saying this wherever I've appeared on.
28:54When things weren't working with the offense, you know,
28:57Shannon's the genius and the offense, it doesn't always work.
28:59And when it doesn't always work and on third and eight,
29:01what were they doing?
29:02They were dialing up by you get open against man.
29:05And, and he would, and he would make a playoff.
29:07And he's, he's difficult to bring down.
29:09Like that's a really good player.
29:11Some people are fighting back the notion that he's a top 10 receiver.
29:14I say he is.
29:15And I think it's pretty easy.
29:17I wonder here too.
29:20And I, I think I've talked about this, about the idea that like,
29:22has it not happened yet too?
29:24Just because maybe he just not totally sure he wants to go.
29:28Like someone's in his ear saying, okay, man, you can go to Pittsburgh.
29:31You may like Justin Fields, but like Justin Fields.
29:36You watch Justin Fields.
29:37Yeah.
29:38You know, it's like same thing.
29:39Like Cleveland, like, yeah.
29:40Okay.
29:41Deshaun four years ago.
29:42Yeah.
29:43And again, then there's also the, he's always been a West coast guy.
29:47Do you want to live in middle America in the rust belt?
29:50Like, I don't know.
29:51I wonder if he's there.
29:52Second thoughts there.
29:53And he's just hoping that the 49ers sweeten the offer a little bit.
29:56I think the initial word was their offer was around 26 million a year.
30:00In terms of AAV, you know,
30:02obviously the guaranteed money's more important than the AAV.
30:06And maybe he's just hoping that everything comes up a little bit.
30:09Does it come up to 28?
30:11And then we're in a happy place.
30:12And two years from now,
30:13I'll be bitching again about my contract and we can rework it then again as
30:16well.
30:17If you still like me and I still like you.
30:18All right, let's move on to Arizona four and 13 last year,
30:22but a frisky four and 13, right?
30:24A lot.
30:25They kind of bought into Jonathan Gannon in year one.
30:27Now they were 29th in DVOA,
30:29which sort of mirrors the foreign 13 record a 32nd defensively in DVOA.
30:35They're scheduled this year, by the way, just out of it.
30:38They have the AFC East and the NFC North.
30:40Their schedule is brutal.
30:41Obviously in the division we think is better,
30:43more competitive than it's been.
30:45So that is a,
30:46that is a challenge for Gannon and for that team.
30:50I think the fascinating part about this team is the offensive side.
30:53They draft Marvin Harrison early.
30:55It's pretty clear.
30:56That's the guy we want.
30:57We're going to stay.
30:58We're not moving this pick for a boatload.
31:00He immediately comes in.
31:01He's their best wide receiver,
31:03but this is a team last year ran 13 personnel more than anybody in the
31:07league.
31:08They draft tip rhyme in the,
31:10the tight end from Illinois in the sixth round is 270 something pounds,
31:13but a freak athlete.
31:14So you got Ryman and then Trey McBride.
31:17It was to me,
31:18one of the breakout guys of last year,
31:19like you're wondering about trade.
31:20No.
31:21And he became a high volume target and he became an incredibly reliable
31:24target.
31:25And it was,
31:26they pushed the ball with him down the field.
31:27This was in the Everton Ingram,
31:28you know,
31:29five yards in the flat.
31:30No,
31:31no,
31:32this was,
31:33they opened it up for him.
31:34So I'm curious how Harrison's addition impacts McBride,
31:36because I think McBride made a case to be one of the best young pass
31:39catchers at tight end in the league.
31:41And I actually think that now that Harrison's there,
31:43I wonder if he gets as many targets,
31:45as many looks in the areas of the field that he did last year and what
31:48sort of impact that has on the offense as a whole.
31:50Yeah.
31:51Look,
31:52they they're exciting offensively in terms of a nice core there with
31:54Harrison jr.
31:55You know,
31:56I like Michael Wilson a lot coming out,
31:58even Zach Paschal,
31:59et cetera,
32:00as a Jones,
32:01Greg Dorcher,
32:02Mike McKagan and jets legend.
32:03Yes.
32:04You know,
32:05obviously,
32:06you know,
32:07McBride,
32:08as you mentioned,
32:09you know,
32:10James Connor,
32:11Trey Benson,
32:12you know,
32:13Michael Carter,
32:14formerly the jets as well.
32:15Like they got a lot of DJ doubt.
32:16They have a lot of guys.
32:17I think this entire season for the Cardinals comes down to one thing.
32:20And one thing only,
32:21and it's,
32:22it's Tyler Murray,
32:23your quarterback going forward.
32:24And I think there's signs last year that Kyle is still in there.
32:27But.
32:30I don't know if it's in there as consistently as you want it to be for
32:33the amount of money you're paying him.
32:34And I,
32:35again,
32:36I know the money Reimer still brought up a really good point.
32:38And I don't want to steal this point.
32:39So I want to make sure I give him credit.
32:40Not that I'm sure he's listening,
32:41but.
32:44Are the Cardinals as a T organization that's traditionally does not spend
32:47a ton of money because they're spending so much money on Tyler.
32:50Does it give them more of a leash with,
32:52you know,
32:53if he's not good this year,
32:54do they just try to run it back again?
32:56Do they cut bait earlier than they would?
32:58Because,
32:59you know,
33:00it just,
33:01it'll be interesting to see what his kind of leash looks like this year.
33:03Yeah.
33:04Yeah.
33:05Yeah.
33:06Yeah.
33:07Yeah.
33:08Again,
33:09I thought this team was frisky at points last year and I thought there was
33:11moments where you're like,
33:12all right,
33:13maybe there's a little something here and this roster is not great,
33:15but they're getting a lot of pieces out of it.
33:16They've upgraded.
33:17Obviously.
33:18I just,
33:19it comes down to is Kyler,
33:20the guy like,
33:21you know,
33:22Marvin Harrison,
33:23like is going to be a really good player and whether he's the 20th best
33:25receiver,
33:26the fourth best receiver this year in the league.
33:27Like I have no idea.
33:28It's probably pretty dependent on how Kyler Murray does.
33:29Like.
33:30In theory.
33:31They should have a franchise left tackle and Paris Johnson.
33:33They should have a franchise receiver and Marvin Harrison and they should
33:36have Kyler Murray.
33:37Right.
33:38So they have like three of the six most important things you need in an
33:40organization to be good.
33:41You know,
33:42I just think you leave this whole season comes down new and it's not that
33:45I don't want to spend a ton of time on the Cardinals.
33:47I just feel like it's really,
33:48it's pretty basic.
33:49It's like they have a franchise tight end potentially.
33:51Like there's a lot of,
33:52there's some different things to get optimistic.
33:54Do you have the coach?
33:55Do you have the quarterback?
33:56And I frankly don't know the answer to either question.
33:58Yeah.
33:59And,
34:00and I'll throw in a offense coordinator.
34:02Drew Petzig is one of the hot names that,
34:04you know,
34:05he did a really nice job last year.
34:06And I think if he does a really nice job this year,
34:08he's probably a head coach the following season.
34:10But you mentioned Kyler and it does,
34:12it comes down to him.
34:13And I think the,
34:14the interesting thing is,
34:15so you look at him last year,
34:16especially in the second half of the season,
34:17came back second out versus Philadelphia,
34:1913 of 14,
34:20like moving,
34:21making plays like,
34:23Ooh,
34:24that's the Kyler that was in the running for MVP,
34:26whatever that was three years ago.
34:28Here's the problem.
34:29We haven't really seen that guy.
34:31He,
34:32he,
34:33he hasn't been consistent.
34:34He's not as dynamic anymore.
34:35Like he was.
34:36And look,
34:37part of that is maybe why he got hurt.
34:38Right.
34:39But like,
34:40he was a dynamic runner of the football thick,
34:41strong guy,
34:42like capable of running around,
34:43buy an extra time,
34:44stand there,
34:45take a hit,
34:46make a play.
34:47And he hasn't been that guy since the,
34:49whatever it was,
34:50a nine and three start in what could have been an MVP season for him
34:53before he got hurt.
34:54And now it's like,
34:56this is kind of why he's one of the reasons why I'm a heightest at the
34:58position too.
34:59I just wonder the,
35:00the size of the quarterback,
35:01the beating that you take in the league,
35:03having to depend on your legs as much as he does.
35:06And now we're seeing maybe a little,
35:08like he probably still runs a four,
35:09four.
35:10I'm not like,
35:11but like a little less explosion or a little bit less willing to do it
35:13changes who he is as a player.
35:15And I don't know that he's an accurate enough passer at this juncture to
35:20be okay with that.
35:21Right.
35:22It was like the Russell Wilson thing.
35:23I want to win from the pocket.
35:24Well,
35:25what made you special would help you win a super bowl.
35:27What helped you get to another one was the ability to make plays through
35:30their legs.
35:31And when your legs started to go,
35:32when you didn't want to do it anymore,
35:34because you just,
35:35you want to play until you're 40 something,
35:36which I'm not saying Kyler does,
35:38but that was like Russell's thing.
35:39He became less of a player.
35:41And now we haven't seen that guy for like,
35:43he's not coming back.
35:44And I just wonder with Kyler,
35:46he's still young enough,
35:47but like,
35:48is that the best of Kyler Murray already gone?
35:51And like you said,
35:52they're paying them a lot of money.
35:53They're not notoriously a,
35:56an organization that throws out money.
35:58Like I could totally see them in like,
36:00well,
36:01it was the,
36:02it was Scanlon's fault or it's Pat's fault.
36:04And no,
36:05he's coming back next year and like fix it.
36:07You know?
36:08Yeah.
36:09The one thing with Kyler,
36:10the one thing with Kyler,
36:11we talked about,
36:12you know,
36:13Herbert a little bit in this way of these guys that come in and they're
36:14really good right away.
36:15And you know,
36:16what's the next step.
36:17And obviously Herbert and Kyler are very different situations,
36:19but the one thing I worry a little bit about with,
36:22you know,
36:23with Kyler,
36:24it's just a lot of the questions I felt like when he got extended,
36:28there was obviously the infamous,
36:30how much film you have to watch,
36:32extra study time and stuff.
36:33And again,
36:34I don't want to beat up on him because I'm not in that building.
36:36And I couldn't tell you for a fact,
36:38whether he's really studying a lot or he's not,
36:39or he works out really hard in the off season or doesn't.
36:41I will tell you his best ever season was probably his rookie year.
36:45And if it wasn't his rookie year,
36:46it was his second year in 2020 during the COVID years.
36:49I know he was,
36:50they were good in 2021,
36:51but it fell apart near the end,
36:54obviously with the,
36:55with the D hop stuff and whatever.
36:56And then 2022 was pretty,
36:59pretty average at best.
37:01And he,
37:02everything was down numbers wise.
37:03Then 2023,
37:04again,
37:05coming back from the knee completion percentages,
37:07you know,
37:08by far the lowest it's been since,
37:10since his rookie year touchdown interceptions.
37:14It's kind of,
37:15he's not always been at two touchdown to an interception type of guy
37:17like the numbers don't totally like the Herbert numbers.
37:21We talked about last,
37:22you know,
37:23last episode,
37:24we're beating up on them a little bit for last year and stuff.
37:26Two or three years ago,
37:28he's done for 5,000 yards,
37:2940 touchdowns.
37:30Kyler's best year was 24 touchdowns,
37:3210 picks,
37:333,700 yards.
37:34Good year,
37:35really good year.
37:36You know,
37:37if you're a Jets fan or Pat's fan right now,
37:38you'd take that,
37:39you know,
37:40those numbers in a heartbeat or the Raiders or,
37:41you know,
37:42any of these teams,
37:43I just,
37:44Kyler's a big money quarterback and he's going to be judged on that.
37:46I think again,
37:47this year is Gannon,
37:48Tyler,
37:49some of these guys.
37:50And if you,
37:51if you don't get answers there,
37:52I think you'll leave really frustrated as a Cardinals fan.
37:54If you leave this year,
37:55as a Cardinals fan saying,
37:56Hey,
37:57we were six and 11,
37:58but like Tyler looks much more like the guy and one or two more pieces in
38:01the offensive line.
38:02One or two piece on that defense.
38:03The Niners are going to regress in 2025 and the Rams Stafford's old.
38:08And he's,
38:09he's over the hill and like,
38:10Hey man,
38:11Seattle doesn't have a quarterback.
38:12We're going to,
38:13we're going to go for this division similar to a couple of years ago.
38:15You feel much better than dude.
38:17We don't have a quarterback,
38:18right?
38:19We don't have a head coach who wants this job like that.
38:22You just,
38:23you don't want to,
38:24you don't want to be leaving the year like that.
38:25So I,
38:26and I know it's simplistic,
38:27but they're one of the few teams where it's truly,
38:29do we have the quarterback?
38:30Do we have the coach?
38:31Yes or no.
38:32Getting on the excitement and went up to a hundred dollars cash with
38:34prospects.
38:35You can earn,
38:36turn $10 into a thousand while watching team USA rack up the gold medals
38:38this summer.
38:39You can make prospect lineups of players across basketball,
38:41soccer,
38:42tennis,
38:43golf,
38:44basketball,
38:45basketball,
38:46basketball,
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40:15They have a team that is
40:16really, really good.
40:17This is a team,
40:18and they're a team that
40:19is going to win
40:20something.
40:21And their defense
40:22was pretty good
40:23last year,
40:24even though the
40:25numbers don't
40:26indicate necessarily.
40:27But how do you
40:28make up for that
40:29loss?
40:30They draft
40:31Jarrod Verse
40:32and Branden Fisk
40:33in the first
40:34two rounds,
40:35like both
40:36those guys.
40:37Fisk,
40:38obviously,
40:39I think you
40:40on the show when we do these previews.
40:41I think the Rams are winning the division,
40:43and I think they are.
40:46Mark it down.
40:46Yeah, what time is that?
40:4840, 42.
40:50I think they're winning the division.
40:51I think they're a team that is going
40:53to be right up there competing for the NFC title.
40:57I just think that last year was such a preview.
40:59That playoff game, and there's reasons
41:01to be concerned about the Rams, no doubt.
41:03Like you mentioned, no Aaron Donald.
41:05Frankly, McVay in some of these big games,
41:07there's some true concern there.
41:09I know he went on Barstow PMT, and he told Big Cat
41:14to shut the F up about the whole punting thing and kicking
41:17and all that stuff.
41:17That's all great, but no defense in the league
41:21has been able to and will be able to, I think,
41:23consistently shut down a team with Puka, Cooper
41:26Cup, Kyron Williams.
41:29That's a legit trio that could go up there
41:32with any trio in the league, and they've
41:33got one of the top six or seven quarterbacks,
41:36top three or four offensive minds in the league.
41:39And we don't talk enough about, they've really
41:42invested in this offensive line.
41:43And I mean, three starters are out right now,
41:45and again, the Rams are going to come down
41:47to health of the quarterback and health of this offense.
41:50Because at the end of the day, that's
41:51what's driven them when they've been really good,
41:53winning a title, going to NFC title games.
41:55That's what's happened.
41:55And when guys get hurt, obviously,
41:57we've seen it can crater with any team.
41:59But Steve Ophelia was awesome.
42:02They've added so much to this offensive line
42:05that Kevin Dotz, et cetera.
42:07It feels like if they keep Stafford up right,
42:10they could go 35, 40 points a game with anybody.
42:13And maybe they won't get to that level.
42:14But they could be the best offense in the league
42:16from that perspective.
42:18Defensively, they have these nice core young pieces.
42:21It's going to be by committee.
42:22The one thing I am concerned about, as you mentioned,
42:25no Raheem Morris on top of no Aaron Donald.
42:28And Raheem Morris is a guy that got a lot of positive reviews.
42:32He obviously goes down, and we'll
42:33talk about him with the Atlanta job.
42:36But the Rams got the AFC East.
42:38And what do those games look like?
42:40I have Jets Rams circled on my calendar
42:43right before Christmas.
42:44Is that two teams competing for division titles?
42:47So they should be really awesome.
42:50I think them and the Niners are the class of this division.
42:53I think they're two of the four or five best
42:54teams in the conference.
42:55I just feel like they beat up on each other.
42:58And that's why sometimes the records don't look as pretty.
43:01But that Lions game sticks with me.
43:03It feels like they were a year early with this group.
43:08And they probably should have won that game.
43:10And that's in Detroit, in this hostile environment.
43:12You're like, damn, man.
43:14Another year of puka, like with McVay.
43:16And all of a sudden, Cooper Cup really playing.
43:17And Kyron, fresh legs.
43:19And Stafford fully healthy without 700 elbow injuries,
43:23whatever.
43:25I just really like them on paper.
43:26They're exciting.
43:27And I think they're going to be really fun to watch
43:29at a minimum this year.
43:30It's interesting, right?
43:31Because they're like a big 11 personnel team.
43:33They didn't really necessarily add a third receiver.
43:36You know, sort of by committee.
43:38DeMarcus Robinson showed some things to them last year.
43:41Maybe he's that third guy.
43:42But they figure with Cooper Cup and Nakua,
43:44if they're on the field at the same time,
43:45which they weren't a ton last year,
43:47then we're in a pretty good place to begin with.
43:50What I would say that's interesting to me,
43:52and you sort of mentioned it,
43:54like leaning more into being a physical football team.
43:57And they do it with the offensive line,
43:58the way they reshaped it,
43:59and how massive they are in the interior, right?
44:01Bunch of 330, 40-pound dudes.
44:03Yeah, don't they feel like a little similar to Kansas City,
44:05where they were like,
44:06we are going to be really, really physical
44:09in the interior better than anybody in the league?
44:11Yeah, again, this is sort of like the evolution
44:13of McVay as a coach and the way he drew offense.
44:16And so they go sign Colby Parkinson in free agency,
44:19three years, 22 million at tight end,
44:21which is more money than you would give someone
44:23who you're just like, oh, well, Higby's hurt.
44:25He'll be back some point during the year.
44:27I don't think you're going to that extent with Parkinson,
44:29unless you're thinking to yourself,
44:32we're going to do a lot of too tight end stuff.
44:34When Higby comes back,
44:35you're going to see those two guys, Cooper and Nakua,
44:39and then let's, you know, like, all right,
44:41now how will teams adapt to us and bring that physicality?
44:44And like Detroit's an obvious team where, you know,
44:46we're going to bite your kneecaps,
44:47the grit, the whole thing.
44:48Like they want to play physical football with you.
44:51And I think the Rams kind of saying, all right,
44:53maybe we're a little bit overmatched in that department,
44:55or maybe we're a little bit light in that department
44:57and we're not going to be light going forward.
44:59So like, to me, they're a fascinating study
45:01on how they evolve offensively here with McVay.
45:05You know, Nick Caley, who should have been the,
45:07probably should have been the offensive coordinator
45:09in New England.
45:09They didn't, they didn't want to pay him.
45:11He stays out there.
45:12He's the tight ends coach there.
45:13Like there's, they're bringing some juice there.
45:16It's a great story in the athletic about sort of that vibe
45:19that they've got going there
45:20in the tight end room in particular.
45:21And just, they're,
45:23they're going to be an interesting team to watch.
45:24And I, I will say defensively, you know,
45:26they're, they are really young,
45:28but then they add a guy.
45:29There's talent there.
45:30Yeah, they add a Cam Curl.
45:31I was just going to say Cam Curl.
45:32Tredavious White, which look,
45:33Tredavious has been like three years, four years, right?
45:35He's had a ton of injuries, a lot of bad luck,
45:37but like, that's a flyer.
45:38The way they structured his contract,
45:40which you look at it and go,
45:41oh, they're paying him how much?
45:42Dude, he's got to pretty much play to get the money.
45:44So Darius Williams,
45:47who I think is a really good cover corner,
45:48like they brought in some good pieces
45:50to add to the young core.
45:52I mean, that draft last year, they just hammered the draft.
45:54Now, if they can add that and then verse,
45:57and it's Braden Fiske.
45:58I always want to throw the N in there
45:59instead of Brandon Fiske.
46:00Braden Fiske in the interior.
46:03I don't know that, you know, like again,
46:05to me that looks like a team that
46:07their defense is better than it appeared last year.
46:10And I think at points they were good last year,
46:12but I think it should take a step forward this year.
46:14Yeah, they're better as a unit this year.
46:16They just don't have Aaron Donald.
46:19I just, the one thing you wonder with the Rams,
46:22and I think we feel this way about it,
46:24a bunch of different teams.
46:25It's like, I don't know.
46:28Yeah, I just look at them and I feel like
46:30there's a few teams that at the deadline
46:32we know are going to be willing to spend.
46:34If the Rams are feeling like they're one piece away,
46:36we've seen them go get Jalen Ramsey.
46:38We've seen them, you know,
46:40offer multiple ones for Brian Burns
46:41and we've seen them do a lot of these things.
46:43They started out seven and three
46:45and they're like six and whatever, six and two,
46:47whatever the numbers add up to.
46:49And player X is on the market, you know,
46:51Matt Judon doesn't get moved
46:53and all of a sudden Matt Judon's there.
46:54And it's like Matt Judon for a two,
46:55take it or leave it.
46:56He's going to play out the year.
46:58And they're like, hey man,
46:59we had Matt Judon in his defense
47:00and we feel like we can go win the conference.
47:02They'll go do it.
47:03So that's, I just want to mention that
47:05because I think there's very few teams in the league
47:06that kind of feel like they've shown their hand.
47:10They'll do it.
47:10The Rams are very much one of them.
47:12Just something to keep their eye on.
47:13And it's a great point.
47:14Like, you know, Sean's relationship with Belichick.
47:17Like there's, that was a Belichick thing
47:18for all those years.
47:19Like, oh, Aqib Talib?
47:21Our cornerbacks aren't very good.
47:23We'll give up two fours for Aqib Talib.
47:24Turns out to be, you know,
47:25a really good deal that pushes that defense forward.
47:27So I like teams that are willing to invest in season
47:31and be aggressive.
47:33Now you, you predicted the Rams
47:35and I kind of went out of order.
47:36The Rams were supposed to be the last team here.
47:38I jumped the gun.
47:39Seattle's the other team in this division, nine and eight.
47:42Middle of the road DVOA team, 16th overall,
47:4512th offensively, 28th defensively.
47:47Moving on from the legend that is Pete Carroll.
47:50That was the same 24 hour period
47:52where Nick Saban retires,
47:54Bill Belichick and the Patriots mutually parted.
47:58Funny, ha ha.
47:59So they're, they've been a little bit of a team in limbo
48:02and they hire Mike McDonald.
48:04So you go from one of the oldest coaches,
48:06if not the oldest coach in the league,
48:07to one of the youngest,
48:08if not the youngest coach in the league.
48:09I forget the numbers now, but he is there
48:14because Sean McVay is in the division
48:16and Kyle Shanahan is in the division.
48:18And okay, how do we beat those teams?
48:21Well, you either join them offensively and go that route,
48:24or you find the guy who did an incredible job
48:27with Baltimore last year against teams like this
48:29and schemes like this, including the 49ers,
48:32including the Dolphins, and you hire him
48:34and you say, it's yours.
48:35Now he doesn't have all his personnel yet.
48:38They were a big body team in Baltimore.
48:40I think I read somewhere that defensive line
48:42on average is 32 pounds lighter across the board
48:46than what he had in Baltimore, that he has in Seattle.
48:48But also maybe there's going to be,
48:49take a little time to get his imprint
48:51on the team in that regard.
48:53Or maybe he says, I like what we've got here
48:56and I'll make it work because he's very adaptable.
49:00And I am fascinated that we get that matchup,
49:03that coaching matchup, it's a little nerdy,
49:05but the McVay-Shanahan versus the McDonald defense
49:08four times a year is pretty intriguing.
49:10And you're intrigued by what the Rams are going to do.
49:14I'm really fascinated by how this plays out.
49:16They, to me, are the most interesting team in the division
49:19because I think this guy's really bright
49:22and I think he has a chance to shake things up there
49:24where maybe it had gotten a little stale
49:26and now he's coming in with a new attitude
49:28and a new defense and let's go, let's see it.
49:31Yeah, I like Seattle a lot.
49:32Like if you told me there's three AFC East
49:34and three NFC West playoff teams, would not be shocked.
49:39I think this division and the way Seattle season
49:42will kind of look is, what Gino do you get?
49:46And I don't mean that Gino was bad by any means last year.
49:49And no, I like Gino a lot.
49:51Like I'm not, this has nothing to do with like,
49:53not saying he's not good,
49:54but he's not in the elite tier in my opinion.
49:57And it's just what quarterback play you're going to get
49:59because objectively, you probably have the third
50:03or fourth best quarterback in the division
50:04and he's still comparable.
50:05He can get you to the playoffs and we've seen it.
50:07I just, you wonder what that's going to look like
50:09because the talent on the offensive side of the ball is good.
50:12Obviously, as we know in DK and Locke is getting up there,
50:15can still give you something.
50:16He is JSN going to take that next step.
50:20And then in Kenneth Walker, I don't love the tight end room.
50:23I think it's fine.
50:25I think Noah Fann and Pharaoh Brown
50:26are kind of are who they are.
50:27They're fine.
50:30Offensive line is a little concerning to me.
50:32I think it's been concerning for a while.
50:34They obviously have the two tackles and cross and Lucas
50:36and they've added back George Fann
50:37and Lincoln Thomas and Jets legends.
50:40They signed Connor Williams,
50:41which I really do like his assigning.
50:42But again, he's a guy coming off an injury.
50:44There's just a lot of I need to see it.
50:46I need a question marks on the offensive line.
50:48And then defensively,
50:49you mentioned from just a pure scheme perspective,
50:52they should be awesome,
50:53like they should just be really good,
50:54really well coached, really well disciplined.
50:56It might take four, six, eight weeks,
50:58but that last, you know, the back half of the year,
51:00we should start to see this defense really fly around.
51:03The cornerback play should be awesome,
51:05you know, with Witherspoon.
51:06I think Tariq Woolin's a guy who I'm really intrigued by
51:10because rookie year, very feast or famine was awesome.
51:14And there was the sauce versus Woolin debates
51:15and who's better and these different things.
51:18Tariq Woolin got benched last year.
51:20And, you know, you just wonder, like,
51:25did the league kind of,
51:25did the league maybe figure him out a little bit
51:27and say like, hey,
51:28this guy's going to try to jump every single route.
51:30This is who he is.
51:30He's a long, fast corner, but X, Y, and Z.
51:33I'm just curious what that's going to look like
51:35because Witherspoon showed a ton obviously as a rookie,
51:38you know, Julian Love got the big extension,
51:40a guy that, you know, showed well, you know,
51:41they've made some investments
51:42in like Leonard Williams again,
51:44and Shannon Nwosu, and I just, do they get enough?
51:47You know, obviously Byron Murphy now,
51:48but I just wonder, like,
51:51can this defense be good enough
51:52to keep them in a lot of games and then say,
51:54hey, DK, like, you know,
51:56I just, I think back to that Cowboys-Seahawks game
51:58last year where it was like,
51:59they could move the ball at ease
52:01and it's like the defense couldn't stop anybody.
52:03And now the defense should stop people.
52:05Can they stay healthy up front and protect Geno?
52:07They could be competitive.
52:08I think they're probably still a nine win team,
52:12and then next year they're a team where like,
52:13again, one or two additions here or there,
52:16Mike McDonald in year two,
52:17do they take the 11 win leap?
52:19I kind of just feel like it's Rams, Niners, Seahawks,
52:23and then a big gap, and then the Cardinals right now.
52:25Yeah, and Geno's been a little nicked up in camp, sore.
52:27You know, they traded for Sam Howell.
52:30His body just feels like it's gotten beat up
52:31the last couple of years a little bit.
52:33It's a lot of nicks and bruises
52:34that kind of keep him out a little bit longer
52:36than you would expect.
52:36Yeah, and I mean, he's been around a long time.
52:38Like, didn't play-
52:39Geno's 34, 33.
52:40I know, yeah, it happens.
52:43Trust me, it happens quick.
52:46You know what I wrote down about them just as I was,
52:48and Ryan Grubb, by the way, the offensive coordinator
52:50who comes over from the University of Washington.
52:53You watched college football the last couple of years.
52:54Watching, and granted, they had Pennix,
52:57and why am I drawing a blank on my guy, Romeo,
53:01Roma Dunzey, like Jalen Polk.
53:06So they had great talent,
53:08but the scheme was so varied and just cool to watch.
53:11And like, so I'm interested to see
53:13how does he sprinkle that in as well?
53:15Because it's different than what you're used to.
53:18It's he's not, I don't know that he falls under any tree.
53:20It might be his own tree.
53:21But what I wrote down for them
53:23when I was looking at the defense in particular
53:24is like what Mike likes to do, right?
53:27And it's all about confusion.
53:28You know, like, what are they in?
53:30What are they doing?
53:32How are they doing it?
53:33How do they even get there?
53:34And then will they do it again?
53:35And like, that was the thing.
53:36Like, they went from Wink Martindale,
53:38who blitzes everybody coming off the bus,
53:39to McDonald, right, who,
53:41I think they were like 20-something percent, 22%,
53:43which, you know, Wink was up around 40%.
53:47Simulated pressures though all over the joint
53:48and like just playing games
53:50and like quarterbacks didn't trust what they saw
53:52and leads to mistakes, uncertainty.
53:55You wait that half second,
53:56I got a pass breakup instead of a completion.
53:59You don't get the touchdown
54:00because you don't throw it on, whatever it is,
54:02like, even if he doesn't have the exact talent
54:06that he wants there yet,
54:08if he has smart players,
54:10they should be able to do some of that
54:12and sort of mask the deficiencies talent-wise.
54:15You know, entirely new linebackers essentially, right?
54:18Jerome Baker, Terrell Dotson
54:19are the two guys they brought in, in free agency.
54:22You mentioned drafting Byron Murphy
54:23who's probably gonna move around on the offensive line.
54:26I mean, on the defensive line a little bit.
54:28And Weatherspoon is one of my,
54:31Weatherspoon is one of my favorite,
54:32like I want him and Gonzalez.
54:35I like both of them coming out.
54:36I thought the physicality of Weatherspoon
54:38was obviously something that Gonzalez
54:40doesn't have in his game and won't.
54:43And you saw that,
54:43they lined him up in a bunch of different places
54:45and he was just, when he got rolling,
54:47he was just awesome to watch, physical, physical guy.
54:50So I love the aggression that we're gonna see there.
54:54And I just am gonna enjoy watching quarterbacks,
54:57including guys who, you know,
54:59have Shanahan and McVay coaching them up,
55:01being like, what the hell just happened?
55:03I threw that ball there and what?
55:05My guy, he was double covered?
55:07How'd that happen?
55:08Like that's, I'm really intrigued to see
55:10if McDonald can carry over the success
55:12in Baltimore to Seattle.
55:14Yeah, I just think, I wanted one more point
55:16on the Gino thing, you know,
55:18completion percentage dropped over 5% last year,
55:21missed two games, but obviously 700 less yards,
55:2310 less touchdowns,
55:24pretty much the same amount of interceptions.
55:26Yards per attempt were down, yards per game,
55:28quarterback rating, QBR, you know, sacks were down,
55:32but so I just, you just wonder,
55:35can Gino get back to a little bit more of the guy
55:37that got them to nine and eight than, you know,
55:39when they were, you know, last year,
55:41I think he's a starter, he was seven and eight,
55:42I believe, or eight and seven as a starter last year,
55:45nine and eight the year before.
55:46So yeah, can they get more 2022 than 2023, Gino?
55:51Stay healthy and solid-ish upfront on the offensive line
55:55and then let McDonald, as you mentioned,
55:57do what he's gonna do.
55:58He's one of the most talented minds right now in football
56:01and it's gonna be really cool, you know, looking at,
56:04as you mentioned, McVay and McVay and Kyle,
56:07you know, getting four times a year against McDonald.
56:09And then, you know, we'll get to see a bunch
56:11of other cool matchups and McDaniels versus, you know,
56:14McDonald at one point this year, we'll get to see,
56:17you know, Josh Hound up against that defense amongst others.
56:19So it'll, this division will be awesome as it usually is.
56:22I think it's, I guess, ending with this,
56:25I just think it's a division that,
56:28we talked about the AFCs like this,
56:29who is going to slip up, you know,
56:32against Arizona in a sense,
56:34and who's gonna drop that random game, you know,
56:36at Arizona week 15.
56:37And it's like, geez, man, like you couldn't lose that game.
56:41That could be the difference of the division.
56:42One note, just to make quickly,
56:44Sean Payton just announced Jared Stidham will start
56:47this weekend, you know, for the Broncos
56:49and Bo Nix will start the following week.
56:53Not great news for our boy, Zach Wilson,
56:54but that's just some quarterback news
56:56that we talked about on last episode.
56:58Zach feels like he's destined to be on the practice squad,
57:00which, you know, again, if that's-
57:02CFL baby, CFL.
57:03If that's how you have to rebuild it
57:04or if that's how you have to be around for 10 years,
57:06it's not a bad living to make.
57:09Stidham has obviously been around for quite a bit now
57:11as pretty much primarily just the backup guy.
57:14All right, that's gonna wrap up this edition
57:15of the All 32 Pod.
57:17Will with the big call.
57:19It's the Rams trumping the 49ers.
57:22I would say Seattle three, Arizona four,
57:25but I would still have San Francisco ahead of the Rams
57:27in this division,
57:29but this is gonna be a fun division to watch.
57:32We will be back again next week.
57:33Again, we're still sort of ironing out our schedule.
57:36We're sort of morphing it here
57:38as we go through training camps and games on Thursdays
57:41and those sorts of things,
57:42but I think eventually it'll be a Monday, Friday thing
57:45during the regular season.
57:47We appreciate those of you who have liked,
57:49subscribed and left reviews.
57:51Tell your friends to do the same thing.
57:53If you haven't done that yet and you've listened
57:54and you made it to this point, please do it again.
57:57We really appreciate it.
57:58Allows this thing to grow the way we want it to
58:00and to bring it to you in the best way possible.
58:03So thank you for joining us.
58:05We will see you again next week.
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