NFL Kickoff: Starting QB Decisions Loom for Two Teams

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00:00NFL kickoff is one week from Thursday and most teams in the

00:07National Football League have announced who their starting

00:09quarterback is going to be. It feels like there's two teams

00:12left that have yet to make that final determination unless

00:15there's a story we haven't heard of yet. Let's bring in Jacob

00:17Kamaker to see if we can get to the bottom of the final two.

00:20Jacob, do you think that's fair? Do you think Pittsburgh,

00:22New England, are those the two teams at this point? I think we

00:26are making an assumption on both at this point, but we don't

00:28have anything official, right? No, neither team has officially

00:33named their starter. We kind of think we know which direction

00:36both teams are going in, but you know, we've been known to

00:39see curveballs in the past. I know a handful of years ago

00:42when Cam Newton was with the Patriots, everyone thought he

00:45was going to be named the starter and Mack Jones was put

00:48ahead of him. So you never know. Sometimes coaches have a

00:51last-minute change apart, but until we hear the answers in

00:54Pittsburgh and New England, we're going to wonder, are they

00:57going to stick to their original plan? Are they going to

00:59go with maybe the flashier, more exciting option? Yeah, and

01:03it's interesting. We'll start with Pittsburgh because Mike

01:06Tomlin could have very easily put this to rest and say that

01:10you know, Russell Wilson is the starting quarterback and the

01:13fact that he hasn't done it tells you just how close this

01:15is. I mean, to me, that's the story here is that we're probably

01:18going to hear, I'm going to guess Jacob tomorrow or today

01:22that Russell's named the starter and he goes into the season

01:25as the starter, but make no mistake about it. I think Jacob

01:29Justin Fields going to play this year and I think the leash

01:32on Russ is probably as short as any quarterback in the NFL.

01:38I agree with you there. I think Russell Wilson will probably

01:41be named the starter. Mike Tomlin has been adamant throughout

01:44this whole process that his plan was always to start Russell

01:47Wilson after signing him in free agency to that minimum

01:51contract. The plan was we're going to start Russell Wilson

01:54this year. I thought trading for Justin Fields to back him

01:57up was a smart move because now you have two quarterbacks who

02:00if they can one live up to his potential and the other regain

02:04the form. He wants showed as a Super Bowl winning quarterback.

02:07You figure one of those guys might pan out and if not, you

02:10have to draft someone to replace them, but I thought both

02:13were good gambles, but the Steelers offense in the

02:15preseason really was not very good until that last game where

02:20both of them kind of had their flashes. I think the telling

02:23thing is Russell Wilson played one series in that finale

02:26against Detroit. He completed two passes both George Pickens

02:29on a touchdown drive came out of the game after that Justin

02:33Fields played three drives led one touchdown drive, but had

02:36a botched snap at one point. So I think Mike Tomlin is going

02:40to look at hey Russell Wilson led that clean drive. I think

02:43that separates him enough to give him the starting job, but

02:47I think you're right that the leash is going to be pretty

02:49short and if Russell Wilson doesn't look good Steelers fans

02:52pretty quickly are going to be calling for Justin Fields

02:55because of his scrambling ability.

02:57Yeah, and I will give Tomlin some credit. He usually does

03:00not have that quick hook. It's easy. So I don't think it'll

03:02be like immediately but two games, maybe three games will

03:06be the most for me.

03:07Okay. So Gerard Mayo last night final preseason game said

03:11that Jacoby Brissette the plan all along was for him to come

03:14out even though he was hurt and that you know, he's the

03:17starting quarterback and then this morning he went on a radio

03:20show Jacob saying that Drake May has clearly outplayed

03:23Jacoby Brissette. So I you know, I don't know which way

03:25they're going to go here.

03:27It seems to me that Drake May is the starter.

03:30The guys here we were talking about this before Jacob and

03:33my point was is that I do think that that's going to end

03:35up happening. But Jacoby Brissette Jacob as you know is

03:39a beloved player and a leader in the NFL for a long time.

03:43And so from a respect point of view, I think that that's

03:45probably what's going on right now as they're figuring out

03:47the right way to do this. But when you're so, you know,

03:50loved by your teammates and you're running the quarterback

03:52room, it's really hard all of a sudden just to go another

03:54direction. I'm going to guess they will. I don't know if

03:57it's going to be tomorrow or the next day, but a little

03:59bit people probably saying Craig, what are you crazy?

04:02It's Jacoby Brissette, but that's the way I view it.

04:05I view this, you know, quarterbacks like this.

04:08They just want to make sure the right way is handled.

04:11I think you have a good point there and I've kind of been

04:13in the camp all along that has thought Jacoby Brissette

04:16is going to open the season as a starter and I still think

04:20even despite what Mayo has said about Drake May and despite

04:24May really performing well and getting better as the preseason

04:27goes along. I think Brissette is going to open the season

04:30as a starter and I think there's a very specific reason

04:33for this and it has everything to do with the supporting

04:35cast around him. The Patriots offensive line is a mess

04:38right now and it will get better when David Andrews is

04:41putting the game, but they've got guys playing out of

04:44position because they want Vardarian Lowe. I think to be

04:47their left tackle, but when he's out, what they've had to

04:50do is move Chooks Okorafor from right tackle to left tackle

04:53move Michael NU from right guard to right tackle. Cole

04:57Strange is out. Sidney So has hurt his ankle in this last

05:01game and he exited the game in a walking boot. So we don't

05:04know if he's healthy. So this offensive line could be

05:07extremely problematic. So I think Gerard Mayo might be

05:10saying, yeah, may might give us the best chance of winning,

05:12but we have to be sure he can be protected well enough

05:16or he's going to turn into another Mac Jones or David

05:19Carr or someone of that ilk where you just don't want to

05:22stunt his development. So I think between that and the

05:25respect that you mentioned that Brissette has is a long-term

05:28veteran. I think he's going to be the starter at the beginning

05:31of the season. And then if the Patriots struggle in the first

05:34three to four games, then I think they make the switch

05:37when the offensive line is a little healthier and has more

05:39continuity. But this one's going to be fascinating to watch

05:42because Mayo is kind of flip-flopped on his opinion in

05:45the last 24 hours. So really could go either way. Yeah, fair

05:49points by you on the offensive line to you. Don't want to

05:51see your quarterback killed in the first couple of weeks.

05:54So the odds to win the rookie of the year have significantly

05:57shifted in the last week or so since the preseason with

06:00Jaden Daniels playing as well as he has. He's moved up to

06:03six to one to win the rookie of the year. We know he's going

06:05to be the starter. We knew that all along, but he's looked

06:07really good Jacob and so has Bo Nix. So he's moved up to 11

06:10to one and now this morning on FanDuel, Drake May is up to

06:1314 to one to win the rookie of the year. So look, Caleb

06:16Williams is the favorite. He was a top pick in the draft,

06:19but I'm here to tell you even Harrison. I think that this

06:23is a wide open contest. If I'm making a bet today, I'm not

06:25betting Caleb Williams. I wouldn't bet him at those odds

06:29either. I really like the idea of backing Jaden Daniels

06:32because you're getting six to one odds on a guy who's going

06:35to be an elite scrambler at the NFL level. We know he has

06:38arm talent and can make any throw too, but often you see

06:41the guys who are electric playmakers with their legs kind

06:45of become better players at the pro level quicker because

06:48they can be a dual threat quarterback. Williams is great

06:50on the move too, but I mean if you're talking about this

06:54competition now, I think it's more of a coin flip than these

06:57odds suggest. So give me Daniels all day.

07:00Yeah. No, I agree. I think it's going to be a fun competition

07:02this year and it may come down to the end Jacob. Great to see

07:05you catch up with you and we'll do it again soon and talk

07:07about the first week of the NFL season. Thanks for coming

07:09on. Thanks Greg. Take care.

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