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00:00Yes, I needed it. He's back, baby.
00:03Chaski, Spadoni, man, this is going to be us, like, what,
00:06every single week here for up until Super Bowl Sunday, I hope.
00:10Hopefully it's at Levi's Stadium, too, Baldy,
00:12so he'd be coming out here to talk some Niners in the Super Bowl.
00:15Come on, it starts today against the Broncos, right?
00:18I think so.
00:20I mean, you always have to have a beginning,
00:22and so it's got to start somewhere, somehow.
00:25And who knows?
00:26Maybe we're going to find some new stars with the 49ers at this point.
00:30You know, Baldy, I was kind of waxing poetically today.
00:32I don't know if you know this, but today's 8-7,
00:34and in honor of 87, Dwight Clark, the 49ers do a big charitable donation,
00:39and they do a bunch of fundraising,
00:41and we just remember the individual that was.
00:43And I don't know if I've ever asked you, like,
00:45if you've ever had any run-ins, you know, when Dwight was alive,
00:49but I was waxing poetically about how the NFL gives us these stories.
00:54This guy was someone who barely had a college career at Clemson
00:58and was found because the quarterback needed someone to throw to
01:01because he was going to be a first-round pick back in the day.
01:04And Bill Walsh takes him in the 10th round.
01:07And it's very similar to the Brock story, the Brock Purdy story,
01:10but it also, he had the charisma of a George Kittle at that time,
01:14and he just made the most of it.
01:15And I feel like the sport of football gives us these kinds of stories.
01:20Not that the other sports don't, but, like, Steph Curry was underrated.
01:24He was the seventh overall pick, you know?
01:26And football, Fred Warner drafted in the third round,
01:29has as much God-given talent as anyone.
01:32George Kittle, fifth-round pick, as much talent as anyone.
01:34The greatest quarterback ever, Tom Brady, sixth-round pick.
01:37Brock Purdy just signed a mega deal.
01:39He was the last pick in the draft.
01:41There's something special about football that provides these stories.
01:45I just, I can't put my finger on why it is.
01:50Joe, you're missing the Dwight Clark story here.
01:54You're missing the whole thing.
01:55Everything you said is true.
01:57Dwight Clark came out, listen, I was at Duke when Dwight Clark was at Clemson.
02:02He's a little bit older than me, probably a couple years ago.
02:04Yeah.
02:05Joe, I'm a 21-year-old kid.
02:07Dwight Clark is coming out of Clemson.
02:10He's dating Miss Universe.
02:13He's dating Miss Universe.
02:15I don't care about the cast.
02:17Look up Miss Universe to what she looked like.
02:20To a 21-year-old guy, he was a god.
02:23I don't care less if his hands were like feet, Joe.
02:27He's dating Miss Universe.
02:29He, swag, forget it.
02:31Like you walk in the locker room and he's got his arm around Miss Universe.
02:36Oh, that's great.
02:36That was the greatest, that's the greatest story of all time right there.
02:40I love it.
02:41But, no, look, when I came into the league in 1982, that was the year after the catch.
02:48The Cowboys get knocked off and there's Dwight Clark in the back of the end zone with Everson
02:53Walls who led the league in interceptions, got his hand in the air, and it goes right past
02:58his fingertip.
02:59And history is made.
03:01So, when I came into the league the next year, Tom Landry, the coach of the Cowboys, like,
03:06you know, we're one catch away, one drive away from going to a Super Bowl.
03:11I mean, he said his goal in 1982, my rookie year, this is going to be the toughest camp
03:17any of you are ever going to go through.
03:18We have to get tougher.
03:20We're not going to look.
03:21So, my introduction to the NFL was the result of the Dwight Clark catch, which was, this
03:28is going to be the toughest camp any of you.
03:29That was his speech.
03:31When we first, this is going to be the toughest camp you've ever been to.
03:34We have got to get tougher.
03:35We've got to be able to get the 49ers or anybody else off the field in the final drive, regardless
03:40of who's throwing it and who's catching it.
03:42We've got to make that play and stop that drive.
03:46Brian Baldinger joining us here on the River Island's guest line, 95-7 the game.
03:50NFL insider and Baldy breakdowns.
03:52It's just, you know football's back when Brian Baldinger is on the airwaves.
03:56I have an ear to ear smile.
03:56Four weeks away from the start of the NFL regular season.
04:00Four weeks from today on Thursday night.
04:02Football can't freaking wait.
04:04And it really does start today, Baldy, at joint practices.
04:07Shasky and I are going to be there right after the show ends.
04:09We're going to go over to Levi's Stadium, and it's going to be Bo Nix.
04:12It's going to be Sean Payton.
04:13It's going to be Pat Sertan.
04:14I don't know if we'll see Dre Greenlaw.
04:16He's nursing his injury, obviously, former Niner, Talano Hufanga.
04:20Why are joint practices so important, though, Baldy?
04:25If you could explain to the audience, because it does feel like it's overtaken the importance level
04:29when it comes to, like, preseason football, where we really don't see any of the ones.
04:34Well, I mean, so you need a combination of the two.
04:38You need the games for the young players for a chance to compete and show what they can do.
04:43Like, I was a free agent.
04:44I needed games, all right?
04:46Maybe Randy White, who was an all-pro defensive tackle, he could, you know.
04:50So, you need a combination.
04:51And the joint practices, look, I just finished going to see 14 teams in 13 days, all right?
04:59I mean, I just literally got off a plane from Minnesota, was with the Vikings yesterday.
05:03Almost every single team I visited had scrimmages planned, all right?
05:07So, this is really the new era right now.
05:10And when we cut down to two preseason games, it's going to make the importance of scrimmages even more.
05:16One, the coaches can control the amount of, you know, the tempo, the contact.
05:22It's going to be contact, you need contact.
05:24You can't evaluate offensive linemen or running backs without assimilated real game conditions.
05:32Because you've got to see if running backs have any vision.
05:35Offensive linemen, you've got to see if they can move big bodies, if they have anything.
05:39And defensive linemen as well.
05:41And so, it's really important for the trenches and for running backs, I believe, to go out there and compete
05:47and show what you can do against other players.
05:50And, you know, you've got to do it with your pads and your helmet and the whole thing.
05:54You've got to assimilate games.
05:55So, it's really important, these practices.
05:58And then, look, the coaches can't control it.
06:02Like, when I was with the Cowboys, we used scrimmages Raiders every year.
06:05And it was just a massive brawl.
06:06It was kind of fun.
06:09It was kind of fun for me.
06:11But to be honest with you, like, if it gets to those type of heated things,
06:15it really works against what it's all about.
06:21So, I think going up against the Broncos today, I mean, that was as good a defensive front as it was in football last year.
06:28Every single offensive lineman, you know, going up against Nick Benito or Zach Allen or, you know,
06:34I mean, D.J. Jones that you know is from San Francisco.
06:38I mean, he's a really good football player.
06:39Johnson Franklin Myers is a great player.
06:42You're going to get good one-on-one work against that defensive front.
06:47So, Baldy, if you and I were to walk out onto that field today, all right,
06:50and I know there's different periods and there's going to be different things going on,
06:53what would be the first player that you would want to put your eyes on and why?
07:01Honestly, I would want to go watch Trent Williams just to see.
07:05He's 37.
07:06You know, he's had some injuries here.
07:09I want to see if Trent Williams is still Trent Williams.
07:12They need him to be.
07:14So, that's the first guy.
07:15I know what Trent Williams is like in one-on-ones.
07:18I've watched him for years since his beginning days in Washington.
07:21I know how dominant he can be in that environment.
07:25I'd like to see if he's still that dominant right now against a guy like Zach Allen or Nick Benito today.
07:31Talking with Brian Baldinger here on the River Islands guest line.
07:34Spadoni and Shasky, we are coming to you live from Laughing Monk Brewing down here in Sunnyvale,
07:38ahead of joint practices between the 49ers and Broncos.
07:41I should say practice because, Paul, I don't know if you heard Kyle Shanahan say,
07:45he's like, yeah, we just limited it to one practice this year.
07:47Because I've found in the past when we have two, second day it's just all brawls, as you mentioned.
07:52If we don't get anything done, obviously.
07:55But what's the, you know, the player you're looking at?
07:57But what's the matchup that you're looking at potentially between the ones of the Broncos and the Niners?
08:03I'm looking at, you know, is this, like, the most slept-on DPOI we've seen?
08:07Because maybe he's just a secondary player.
08:09But Pat Sertan, I mean, what an incredible player.
08:12Like, I'm looking at him today.
08:14Is he going to bait Brock Purdy?
08:15Is he going to bait any of these receivers?
08:17Ricky Pearsall, all of a sudden, you know, Juwan Jennings dealing with a calf injury, Baldy.
08:21I don't know what to make of that.
08:22Is he holding in?
08:23Is it the calf?
08:24Kyle Shanahan doesn't really know, it sounds like, when he's talking to the media.
08:27But this is an opportunity for Ricky Pearsall to, I think, shine today.
08:32Well, I mean, first of all, Patrick Sertan is just one of those people that wakes up with a smile on his face every day.
08:41He's just a very positive guy.
08:43And he loves a challenge.
08:46So, Ricky Pearsall against, you know, the defensive player of the year, Sertan, is a great matchup.
08:51Ricky Pearsall against Jaday Barron, who might have been the best corner in this draft, is a great matchup.
08:57I mean, you want to see his route running.
08:59You want to see his ability to separate.
09:01He has a chance, you know, with Ayuk on the shelf and Juwan Jennings here, you know, on the shelf, like, to go out there and shine and show why he was number one draft pick.
09:11Like, I thought when he came out last year, I thought him and Ladd McConkie were very similar.
09:18He was actually my comp.
09:20And you saw what Ladd McConkie did for the Chargers last year.
09:23Like, he was a stud.
09:24I watched him warm up last Thursday night in Canton.
09:29I was at the Hall of Fame game.
09:30And all the Chargers and Lions warmed up.
09:33And I watched Ladd McConkie just run routes and warm up.
09:37And it was fun to watch.
09:38And I thought Ricky Pearsall could be all of that.
09:41So, I want to see that today.
09:43What should I be looking for from CMC?
09:46I mean, he played only in the three games last year.
09:49And I just, I don't know what to make of CMC right now.
09:54I don't know if anyone knows what to make.
09:56So, what should I be looking for today, Baldi?
10:01You're right, Joe.
10:03I mean, he had 50 carries last year after basically being the best player in the league the year before.
10:10We talked about it.
10:11I don't know if you're going to be able to see.
10:13I mean, I watched him warm up before the Green Bay game last year.
10:17And he looked fine.
10:18But he wasn't fine.
10:20You know, he looked like he was the same guy warming up all of the drills that he does.
10:24And all the things he puts himself through.
10:27You know, I thought he missed a hole last year, the week before Green Bay.
10:31And I put it on tape.
10:33And Christian was like, he came up to me.
10:36And he's like, he watches this stuff.
10:38He's like, man, I missed that, Baldi.
10:40You're right.
10:40He goes, I should have done this.
10:42And so, is he right?
10:44You know, I was talking to Aaron Jones yesterday for the Minnesota Vikings.
10:48And the thing about Aaron and Christian together, they both came out the same year.
10:53All right?
10:53He came out 2017.
10:57Those guys have tremendous vision.
10:59It's their greatest strength.
11:00They don't miss holes.
11:02I don't know how they do it.
11:04But Aaron Jones, these guys are going in their ninth year now.
11:07I don't know if you could tell in a scrimmage situation if Christian is going to hit every hole.
11:14If he's going to hit it like, you know, Superman, you know, with his cape on.
11:18I don't know if he is that guy yet or not.
11:21I don't know if he knows that.
11:23Because usually, most guys don't recognize either the loss of step or anything else until they do.
11:32I played with Eric Dickerson.
11:33I didn't know he lost a step, but he lost a step after an injury in 1989.
11:39He wasn't the same guy the last few years of his career.
11:42So, I'm not sure what we're going to be able to make out of it right now.
11:45Well, okay, so we were actually having a conversation about, like, losing a step, just in general.
11:50And I think of guys like Kevin Falk, who stayed in the league forever and were very, very, very productive.
11:56Now, there's a big drop-off from what CMC was in 2023 to a Kevin Falk, third down back type of a guy.
12:02But do you think he's the kind of guy, if he did lose a step, who can make the adjustment
12:08and still be the important cog that we know that he is for this team?
12:12Because I feel like so much rides on him in this offense.
12:17Well, he's still going to be able to catch the ball.
12:19He's still going to be able to run his option routes.
12:21He's still going to be really good at all that stuff.
12:25I saw Derrick Henry last week.
12:28And, you know, he's in his 10th year in this league,
12:30and he has more carries than any other running back in this league right now
12:33over those 10-year period of time.
12:35And I don't believe he's lost any speed.
12:38I mean, he's just an alien.
12:38He hasn't suffered the injuries that other backs have suffered.
12:44And so, you know, Christian has had, you know, his body has worn down.
12:49I mean, that's what all of that inflammation he had last year is a result of.
12:55Did he shake that all off?
12:57I mean, I don't know if you can lose a step.
13:02Because we've seen Dalvin Cook lose a step, and he wasn't very good,
13:05and he went to a couple different teams, and he's out of the league.
13:07I mean, there's just so many hits that any of these guys have in them.
13:11And you just don't know when the drop-off is going to happen.
13:14Because I have a feeling it's going to be pretty severe.
13:1850 carries isn't, you know, isn't much of a sample.
13:22Let's see.
13:23I think we've got to get into the season, Joe,
13:25before we realize what he is or what he isn't at this point.
13:29Previewing the 49ers' upcoming season,
13:31Brian Baldinger here on The Morning Girl.
13:33Spadoni and Shasky coming to you live from Laughing Among Brewing here in Sunnyvale.
13:36Well, Baldy, we've had all these question marks right now,
13:38and we haven't even bring up maybe the biggest one.
13:40Brock Purdy is the quarterback, right?
13:42And any other team, it feels like, contender.
13:44It always starts with the quarterback.
13:46For Brock, for whatever reason, ever since he's gotten his contract, Baldy,
13:50it's been kind of all quiet when it comes to the chatter around him,
13:53the expectations around him.
13:55Seems like maybe we're sleeping on Brock a little bit,
13:57but I'm not going to ask you about that right now.
13:59I'm going to ask you, what's the next step for Brock Purdy in his game,
14:04in his evolution as a quarterback?
14:05This is a guy that came in as a, basically, the third quarterback.
14:10Lance goes down.
14:11Garoppolo goes down.
14:11Gets all the way to the NFC Championship game.
14:13Obviously hurts his elbow.
14:15The rest was history there.
14:16Comes back, right?
14:17Still gets down a little bit.
14:18Oh, it's a Darnold versus him.
14:20Gets to the Super Bowl and is an overtime period away from winning said Super Bowl.
14:25Then, kind of comes back down to earth a little bit last year.
14:28Not everything's right around him.
14:29There was a lot of different drama and elements.
14:31Didn't have a horrible year, but didn't have an MVP kind of caliber season
14:34they had the year prior.
14:36Now we're in this third full season, potentially, Baldy.
14:39What's the next evolution for Brock Purdy here to take that next step as a quarterback?
14:46It's just to be as consistent as possible.
14:49I mean, you know, you go around this league right now,
14:52and you talk to Lamar, Josh Allen.
14:53Like, they've got the MVPs.
14:56They've got the hardware from that.
14:57But they all want a Super Bowl.
14:58They've got to play bigger and better in big games.
15:01And so, really, the question becomes, and it's like Joe Burrow as well.
15:05I mean, the question is, give your team a chance to win it all every year.
15:09That means to play at the highest and most elite level.
15:13That means making everybody else better around you.
15:16And how you do that is you convert your third downs.
15:19You finish in the red zone, in the end zone.
15:21Like, those kind of things.
15:24You look at the years that some of these guys had last year.
15:26Baker Mayfield had one of the top ten seasons of all time.
15:3041 touchdowns over 4,500 yards.
15:33Only nine other quarterbacks in the history have done it.
15:36But he didn't win a Super Bowl.
15:37He got beat in the playoffs.
15:39All right?
15:39He fumbled a snap in the fourth quarter, you know, against the Rams.
15:42And didn't get that opportunity.
15:43But for Brock at this point, he's paid to be in that same company of all the guys I just mentioned.
15:53Okay?
15:54Burrow, Josh, Lamar, you know, obviously Patrick is Patrick.
15:59But he's paid to be in that category.
16:02They paid Trevor Lawrence to be in that category.
16:04He hasn't done it yet.
16:05But, like, the evolution is to be in that top echelon of quarterbacks every year and giving your team a chance to win every year and to get to the playoffs every year.
16:18That's what he's paid to do.
16:20And that's the evolution.
16:22That's what the expectations are.
16:25Baldy, I re-watched all the games.
16:27I mean, I'm a sick person.
16:29Listen, I just, I have a sickness.
16:31No, but, like, you know, I wanted to get myself right, right, for this year.
16:34And I'm thinking, all my notes, especially early in the year, 22, 59, and 30, just getting abused.
16:41I'm talking about Devondre Campbell, George Odom at safety, and Isaac Yedom.
16:44Their personnel was so bad.
16:46And up front, I couldn't even make notes because there was no one other than Bosa that was doing anything.
16:52They have so many young players on defense right now, and there's so many moving parts.
16:56How should I view today and the beginning part of this season for this young unit that is really new?
17:05I mean, there's so many fresh young faces.
17:07The first-rounder, Mikel Williams.
17:09What would your approach be as a fan if you go today or you're just watching the first couple weeks of the season?
17:16Well, it's, look, I mean, last year the Rams drafted Brayden Fisk, and they drafted Jared Burse in the first and second round.
17:25And they hit on both of them.
17:27They hit on the two guys the year before in Kobe Turner and Byron Young.
17:31They have struck over.
17:32They've got an immediate return on investment immediately.
17:37Now, most defensive linemen take a year.
17:40You almost need a redshirt year for most linemen to figure it out before they really turn the corner.
17:46But they don't have a year to wait.
17:48Like, they need one of these three guys, whether it's Collins, whether, you know, it's Williams, whether it's Wes.
17:54They need at least one of these guys to pop right now.
17:58And then if they can get, you know, two of these guys by midseason to look like veterans, like they'll have struck gold.
18:07Salah will be doing his job.
18:08You know, they will have drafted well and done their job.
18:16I remember seeing John Lynch at the Senior Bowl this year, and I knew it was a talented defensive line group.
18:22We all did.
18:23Vrabel saw.
18:24I saw.
18:25We all, Tomlin saw.
18:26And they all drafted defensive linemen because this was a rare group.
18:32Well, let's just see if they got the right guys because there's going to be a couple of these guys from this class that are going to make a name for themselves this year.
18:41Let's just see if the 49ers got at least one, if not two.
18:46And if they hit on three of them this year, they're going to be in good shape up front.
18:49So, in saying what you just said, and you kind of get my feel, I'm having a hard time understanding where this team is hierarchy-wise in the NFC
18:59and how to predict what they're going to look like this year.
19:02I'm very up in the air.
19:03Where do you place them heading into the year in the NFC right now?
19:10I have the Rams up front right now.
19:15Up front.
19:15We'll see what Stafford looks like.
19:17I mean, you know, this condition of his right now doesn't sound good.
19:21But there was a month to go before the season.
19:23So, I don't think there's cause for concern.
19:26But there is the fact that he's not practicing.
19:29But I think the Rams, because of the way they drafted and developed and rebuilt on the fly,
19:35I think the Rams are a little bit above.
19:38But, you know, Seattle won 10 games last year.
19:42They've got Mike McDonald is, you know, it takes a year to figure that defense out.
19:46They should be better as a group.
19:49But they did win 10 games.
19:51And so, I feel like the 49ers in Seattle are right there.
19:54And I'm not putting Arizona that much further behind.
19:57They've added a lot of defensive components that were necessary.
20:02But they're very well coached.
20:04They've got a good defensive coordinator that teams have a hard time figuring out.
20:09The 49ers did last year against them.
20:11They get home.
20:13I've seen it too many.
20:14Nick Raelis is really talented.
20:16I like him a lot.
20:17So, I feel like the 49ers are right there at around the 10-win mark.
20:23And if this, but, you know, at some point, Joe, this is what's going to happen.
20:28This thing is either going to come together and click, and you're going to see a good team.
20:33Or it's just going to be an up-and-down season.
20:36And you're going to go, you know, they're not the same 49ers that we saw for three years.
20:41So, but I don't know, and teams that come together, you know, you just can feel it.
20:47The camaraderie, the chemistry, how they win games, you're not questioning the coach on Monday or Sunday night.
20:55Like, you, that's going to happen.
20:57It's either going to happen at some point, or it's not going to happen.
21:00You're going to go, boy, that was a lousy year.
21:02Well, it brings me to my next question, Baldy, as Brian Baldinger has been great with us right here on the River Island's guest line.
21:08Spadoni and Shasky live from Laughing Monk Brewing in Sunnyvale.
21:11Baldy, like, how big of a year is this for Kyle Shanahan?
21:14It does feel like this is kind of a crossroads of a season because the last thing anyone wants is back-to-back years of sub-500 football,
21:23non-playoff appearances after you come off, you know, a couple Super Bowl things.
21:26You're right there to win it, but it could close right like that, a window, right?
21:31How massive a year is this for the head coach, Kyle Shanahan?
21:35I think it's big because, look, this offense that he runs, and, you know, it's not like it's new.
21:44It's not like people don't understand the motions and the shifts and the creativity that we once gave Kyle a ton of credit for
21:51because it was innovative.
21:54But, you know, what they're doing now, a lot of teams are doing, and a lot of teams have copied it,
22:00and they're putting their spin on it.
22:02And so I don't think you can count on just, okay, great play calling, great scheme to get guys open,
22:10to move the football.
22:11Like, you need more than that in this business right now.
22:14That's why the running game is so important and leaning on the run game.
22:19And it's not just wide zone.
22:20It's just everything.
22:23Teams that are running the football right now are winning.
22:26Philadelphia ran it 725 times last year, the third most in NFL history.
22:32You know, Detroit, Baltimore.
22:34Like, these teams are running it 55% of the time, just in between 55% to 60% of the time.
22:42It's – I feel like there's a shift.
22:45And so the 49ers can be involved in that because they have been able to run it.
22:49And that's why your first question, Joe, about, you know, Christian McCaffrey is so important.
22:55Like, being able to finish games running it, finishing on third – you know, completing third downs,
23:01finishing it in the run zone, finishing it from the two-yard line.
23:05That's why the Eagles, with this push-push, was so important.
23:09They held on to the ball.
23:11They finished drives.
23:12They finished – you know, they scored rushing touchdowns.
23:15Like, this is – these defenses are so good right now and so talented that in these match-up zones
23:22that teams are doing, like, these windows are small, like, they're sitting on top of these routes.
23:27Like, you better find a way to run the football right now to be successful.
23:31Baldy, we are so up against it.
23:33What is one thing that Robert Sala brings to the table very quickly?
23:38He brings juice.
23:40Like, he's back where he belongs as defense coordinator.
23:43And the guys are going to play it fast and play at a high tempo, and they need that
23:47because last year was dreadful to watch.
23:50You're the best.
23:51There it is.
23:51I love you, buddy.
23:52I miss you.
23:53Baldy, we appreciate it.
23:54Yes, every single week going forward for four weeks away from the start of the NFL season,
23:58and it's going to come before you know it.
24:00Baldy, greatly appreciate your time, man.
24:02All right, guys.
24:03Yep, I look forward to talking to you every week now.
24:05You bet.
24:05See you soon.
24:06There he goes.
24:07That's Baldy here, courtesy of River Islands.
24:10Now it's time for the injury report.
24:13God, so many things I want to chew.
24:26God, so many things I want to chew.
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