Pats' Linebackers Depth Projection | Patriots Daily

  • 2 months ago
On today's episode of Patriots Daily, CLNS Media’s Taylor Kyles and Mike Kadlick take a look at New England’s linebacker room and determine sleepers, surprise cuts, trade candidates, and much more!


00:00 - Intro
3:04 - Depth and versatility of off-ball linebackers
4:36 - Impact of Matthew Judon
6:00 - Jahlani Tavai's Rise
7:16 - Anfernee Jennings Impact
9:36 - Oshane Ximines Potential
11:23 - PrizePicks
14:41 -Raekwon McMillan's Future
16:20 - Long-term rebuild strategy
17:34 - Judon's future with Patriots
20:00 - GameTime
22:06 - Potential roster players
23:36 - Final grade for linebackers
26:24 - Preview of upcoming positions


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Transcript
00:00What's going on everyone? Taylor Kyles and Mike Kadlik here for CLNS coming at you with
00:15another episode of Pat's Daily brought to you by our good friends at PrizePix and GameTime.
00:20Today we're coming at you with another position preview. This time we are talking about
00:24linebackers. Alright now this is probably kind of like defensive line one of the deepest position
00:30groups also because few of these guys qualify also as defensive linemen but with the Patriots
00:34here they move all over the place so there's a little bit of ambiguity there. So Mike we already
00:39dug into safeties and special teams last week. Let the people know what you think overall about
00:44the Patriots linebacker position heading into training. Yeah we kind of talked about it a
00:48little bit with the safeties where there's not much to worry about on the defensive side of
00:52the football with the Patriots. We think safety is probably their best room and in my opinion
00:56linebackers probably number two. There's two real like you know solid guys down the middle. We talk
01:03about Jawan Bentley who you know seventh year in the league. I think he's gonna he was a fourth
01:07time captain last year going on his fifth this year in all likelihood. So a guy who's under
01:12contract has notched 100 tackles in each of the last three seasons. Had a career high in sacks
01:17last year with four and a half so he seems to almost be getting better with age. He was a guy
01:21who early on his career he was kind of you know I thought anyway from at first as a fan and then
01:26starting to cover the team. Someone who could have been like a fringe roster player early on
01:31who's just developed into like a really solid linebacker down the middle. So you know a guy
01:36that you know a guy that the Patriots linebacker can really hang their hat on and Bentley and then
01:40Jelani Tavai who I'll go on my soapbox on Tavai in a minute when we get to it. But like you know
01:46signs his contract this year. We talked about a guy who's just gotten better and better every step
01:49of the way with the Patriots. So he's another guy who is inked now for another three years
01:54who is solid for them. When you get to those you know you talk about a defensive lineman-ish players
02:00the outside linebackers the edge rushers right. I have them looped in as linebackers you know your
02:05Uche's and Matthew Judon and Anferty Jennings. But the one real question mark right here and again
02:10we'll talk about it later on too is Matthew Judon his his contract situation his standing with the
02:14team but they re-signed Uche they re-signed Jennings Uche to a one-year deal Jennings to a
02:19three-year deal and those guys have been you know solid contributors over the last couple seasons.
02:24Uche dipped a little bit last year but had a really good 2022 so we'll see what he can bring
02:28in the new scheme. And Jennings man he's a guy too who he's been on my fringe cut list you know
02:35roster projections you know 53 54th player the last couple seasons. He was inactive in week one
02:40last year a healthy scratch and then he turns out to be you know really one of the better players
02:45on the defense. So this room is only looking up also Raekwon McMillan Sione Takitaki was a
02:51a guy who was brought in this year and then it's kind of rounded out with some of the practice
02:54squad candidates and you know your Steel Chambers and Joe Giles Harris and guys like that. But top
02:59down one of the best position groups on the team for sure. Yeah especially those off-ball linebackers
03:04I feel like that is one of the deepest spots on the Patriots roster especially considering you
03:09know they usually play Juwan Bentley and Jelani Tavay on those early down defenses and honestly I
03:14think they're one of the most underrated duos at that position in football. I agree. Take on line
03:20offensive linemen they can also make the miss they know what they're supposed to do in coverage.
03:23Jelani Tavay over the past couple years has really stood out in coverage gotten his hands on a few
03:28passes with his instincts in his range and they're not the fastest guys obviously but I think people
03:33underrate how important it is to just be smart and be able to diagnose quickly at linebacker
03:38because you can run a 4-3 but if you don't know where you're going you can't beat guys
03:42to the spot or you end up taking false steps that makes you slow no matter what and these
03:47guys are consistently around the ball. Huge reason the Patriots had an elite run defense last year
03:52and then behind them Sione Takitaki again we were pretty excited about that one when he signed.
03:56Yeah player that's going to blow you away necessarily and obviously you'd expect him
04:00to be more of a rotational backup kind of guy but still a really solid player who gives you that
04:04Takitaki type I'm sorry that Jelani Tavay kind of versatility yeah I'm Rick Hornick Mill and
04:10somebody who also will get into him a little bit more later on but a guy who was I think is their
04:15most athletic inside linebacker by a couple of now especially with Mac Wilson no longer on the
04:21team and the Patriots clearly value him whether it's as a special team or rotational player
04:25because he's gotten hurt with season-ending injuries before the season twice since signing
04:29with the Patriots and they made sure to keep him around both times and then like you mentioned
04:32with that outside linebacker spot obviously Matthew Judon we already did a podcast where we
04:38touched on the whole contract situation so check that out on CLNS media or Patriots Press Pass on
04:43YouTube if you want to know more but obviously if he's on the team that gives you a huge boost
04:47because he's someone you know what you're going to get out of him playmaker a vocal leader Anthony
04:51Jennings breakout season last year one of the best run defenders in football really excited to see
04:56what he does probably going to cut into some of Judon's early down snaps and like you mentioned
05:00you hope Joshua Uche can return to form I'll say O'Shane Jimenez a guy who they signed kind of
05:05after free agency and really died down someone I think could be a sneaky contributor for this team
05:09in a dark horse to make the roster as a special teamer and rotational piece but without further
05:14ado let's get into some of these categories so we'll start with sleepers who are the Patriots
05:19fans not talking about enough heading into 2024. So before I get into mine I kind of want to add
05:27something to what you just said and he's a sleeper also in my book uh is Seoni Takitaki
05:31because we didn't see him much at all in the offseason program so I think when he was signed
05:36it was oh he's an L.A. Wolf guy from Cleveland they loved him you know you talk about he had
05:40like a rave review about him in his press conference and then it's like oh this could be a
05:44really solid contributor then we haven't seen him in the offseason program so I think the talk about
05:48him has kind of fizzled off and I think he could be a really solid piece once this defense uh you
05:52know once he gets healthy and once the defense kind of all comes together through the training
05:55camp in the regular season but my sleeper is Jelani Tavai and it's kind of uh an indictment
06:01on myself I think and we've talked about it on the podcast we talked about it when we did our um
06:06our reaction podcast when he signed his contract but Tavai is a guy who I really was not a fan of
06:12um when he first got here he they signed him off I think it was off Detroit's practice squad in 2021
06:18he played the rest of the season and then 2022 look it was from my eyes and I think a lot of
06:23other people's eyes he just didn't look great in camp he looked slow he looked um like just slow
06:30reaction time but then slow physically and I just you know I kept saying I kept talking about it
06:34with Barth on our podcast that I don't think he's going to make the team and Barth kept telling me
06:38listen to Bill Belichick listen to Bill Belichick he doesn't lie he's saying he's going to be a part
06:43of the team and he was and he made the team I didn't like it he had an okay 2022 and then last
06:49year in 2023 he really started to shine and we talked about it too before but that sort of that
06:54slowness I think it had to do with understanding the defense and understanding you know what he
06:59has to react to and he just has a knack now to find the football both in in coverage and as a
07:04run defender um he let's see I have some stats in front of me he was second on the Patriots in
07:09tackles last season career high 110 he had highs and tackles for loss with five and he also had
07:14two interceptions so look I'm done sleeping on Tavai um and maybe um I say who we're sleeping on
07:20maybe it was me sleeping on him for so long and I think kind of I'm late to the party I'm late to
07:25the Tavai train but I'm really excited for what he can bring uh this season getting his money um
07:30new year more more comfortability in the in the defense rather than what they want to do so
07:35I think it's time to give this guy his flowers um again I think I might maybe too I may be too late
07:40but uh Tavai's a really good player and I'm excited to see what he can do this year
07:44and in your defense I think I read someone who covers Detroit mentioned that he lost weight
07:48since he was on the Lions so that probably has something to do with it and even Jelani mentioned
07:53while speaking to us last year that being with the Patriots has made him a better player so
07:57really awesome to see him have a huge career rebound yeah I don't know I think it's fair to
08:02say he lived up second round pick is a linebacker a guy who plays a ton of snaps for you he's
08:06productive plays a lot of different roles literally on those every down kind of packages
08:10like their nickel and their base he's almost well he looked like it yeah he looked like a bust at
08:15the beginning like you said he was a second round pick and I said they signed him off the Detroit
08:19practice squad but now that I'm thinking about it I'm pretty sure he was cut by Detroit after his
08:23second season after a second training camp and then the Patriots ended up bringing him in so
08:27a guy who looked like a bust early and now is starting to live back up to that second round
08:32talent yeah so I'm kind of going to split this one a little bit just because I feel like it's
08:37two guys that deserve to be mentioned one is Anthony Jennings like I said I feel like no one
08:42ever talks about him and it's partially because he's one defender it's not sexy but being able
08:46to have someone who makes the kind of impact he did where it's not necessarily like a Devon
08:50Galichow where you know he's eating space and you don't really see his impact as much in the stats
08:55unless you really do some digging Anthony Jennings was getting stops at a regular rate also like
09:00tackles for loss making those kind of plays that put you behind on second down that sets the
09:05defense up for success because that's when you get to dictate what you want to do what kind of
09:09coverages and personnel you want to play with so I think Anthony Jennings is someone who deserves a
09:13lot more credit because he's also as I kind of mentioned earlier going to be cutting into Matthew
09:18Judon snaps on first downs because you have Jelani to buy on that one side of the uh you know when
09:23they're five man fronts is an outside linebacker usually it's going to be Jennings because you
09:27paid him he's a young guy you want to make sure you're getting that value and giving him an
09:31ability to affect the game as a run defender uh so he's my first the second is O'Shane Jimenez
09:36again we didn't really talk about him a whole lot once he signed and it made sense it was really
09:41late in the process it kind of seemed like he was just a camp body but one he has experience with
09:45Drew Wilkins which is huge I think they worked together for two seasons um under Wink when he
09:49was the defensive coordinator for New York he played a lot more in 2022 than 2023 but in that
09:542022 tape you saw a really good run defender so at least someone who can contribute on early downs
10:00I think he's got a little something as a pass rusher as well kind of had some flashes with
10:04like cross chops and things like that more than you'd get from like an Anthony Jennings let's say
10:09um and he can play off the line of scrimmage as well and he seems like someone who is off a lot
10:14of people's rosters I had him on and that's because I think between the versatility in terms of
10:18alignment and what his role is going to be he's someone that not he's just a dark horse to make
10:23the roster potentially be someone who works his way into the rotation so especially if something
10:28happens with Matthew Judon and they can't figure something out I would not sleep on his ability to
10:32make the team Judon will be the key there I think but also like you mentioned you already said I was
10:37going to add to it but you mentioned it the familiarity with Drew Wilkins and like what
10:40they want to do at the outside linebacker position if you know you know Wilkins comes in he works with
10:45Covington and they figure out kind of how they want to scheme it up and he knows oh I can use
10:49O'Shane for this and he can do this and he understands what we're going to do that brings
10:52so much more to the table it's something we'll talk about later on when we do tight ends but like
10:56Austin Hooper with Alex Van Pelt Jacoby Brissett with Alex Van Pelt having that familiarity with
11:01what you want to run I think can really help because you look it's it's July 25th or July 11th
11:06right now camp starts the 25th you have to get a roster in you know a little a little over a month
11:11later there's not a lot of time to pick things up so I think that's huge I think that's a good point
11:15as to what makes him NS asleep all right we got much more to talk about but first quick word for
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12:29all right buddy surprise cut candidates I feel like this is another position group where there's
12:33not a whole lot of candidates so this one's kind of easy who you got so I'm going Raekwon McMillan
12:40and I don't know if it's a necessarily a surprise because he's a guy that we don't really talk
12:46about but I think his standing on the roster and what they've done with him since they signed him
12:52on that that infamous 2021 signing spree the Patriots went on with you know your Kendrick
12:57Borns and Hunter Henry's and Raekwon McMillan was kind of looped into that a guy who was
13:01a second round pick out of Alabama he played with Miami for a couple seasons
13:05and then he comes up here and it was like oh they're you know they're they're getting a
13:08solid linebacker and then he tears his ACL and he misses a whole season and then he plays I think
13:13it was I have it written down he played 250 snaps in 2022 a lot of special teams reps there and then
13:20going into last season uh he tore his achilles and was out for the year again but through all of that
13:25they kept him around and there's all these um I guess these stories about like Gerard Mayo and
13:31Steve Belichick how those guys used to always grind film even when Mayo was hurt and he was
13:35always in the building that was kind of Raekwon McMillan last year they've talked about it Steve
13:39Belichick mentioned him a lot of his teammates mentioned him as a guy who was almost a de facto
13:44coach and was in the in the film room and he wasn't just by the wayside while he was on IR he
13:48was really involved so that being said I think they they appreciate what they have in McMillan
13:54on the roster somebody who is clearly a quick learner and can you know regurgitate that kind
13:59of stuff um and what they like they liked what he had on special teams in 2022 but at the end of the
14:04day if you're a 28 year old linebacker who's already missed two full seasons because of injury
14:09and you don't show out in these next six seven weeks like I just mentioned it's kind of hard
14:14to envision them giving you a roster spot again it's easy to put a guy on IR because it doesn't
14:19waste a roster spot and you can just give them you know free rehab and free food and free training and
14:24stuff where when it's a 53 man roster it's so much different so I think McMillan has to really show
14:30out from July 25th on in order to make the team and it it's a surprise cut because of how how much
14:36they you know how much they've invested in him already but I also I could see him missing the
14:40roster when it's all said and done. Yeah I totally agree when you look at Juwan Bentley, Jelani Tavai
14:45and Sealy Takitaki they're pretty much roster locks and then no one else really in that group
14:49in terms of the off-ball guys uh would you expect to even make the roster then Judon, Jennings,
14:56they're gonna be there and Jimenez no one's expecting anyway so Rayquan McMillan definitely
15:00makes the most sense. I like him as like your fourth linebacker again he is the most athletic
15:05guy now again another serious injury you never know how somebody's gonna bounce back there is
15:09that to take into consideration right he's a smart guy he had so much athleticism even if he takes a
15:13step back he's still probably you know one of your faster guys one of your rangier guys he did have
15:19some issues in 2022 I remember in terms of his discipline and instincts like he kind of got
15:24pulled out of plays every once in a while but he did have some impact plays as well so you're
15:28hoping maybe being off the field hurts but another year of experience and at least like looking at
15:34schemes and things like that maybe that helps I don't know um but yeah if he gets cut I wouldn't
15:38be shocked although I do like him as a potential fourth linebacker on the team all right that was
15:42easy now let's go to trade candidates I'm sure everyone's gonna be absolutely stunned by your
15:49that's how I started the the segment in my article isn't it obvious it's obviously Matthew
15:53Judon I mean look it's he's all over social media he's posting the spongebob beams he's
15:58saying that he doesn't think he's gonna get extended like that it seems like there's a
16:02little bit of writing on the wall here with what's gonna happen with Matthew Judon now
16:06we talked about it when we spoke with Claudia during our mailbag and we kind of hit on this but
16:11in my opinion if Judon isn't in your plans past this season then you should just cut your losses
16:17and trade them like if you want to extend them and you want to be a part of the long-term rebuild
16:22keep them around sign them but don't just give him a pay bump this year just for him to walk
16:27again and get nothing for him right like it's like you're paying more money 2024 I keep saying
16:31it with a caveat but it doesn't really matter this is a team building for 2025 and beyond
16:37so if you can get you know draft capital for him to continue this rebuild and not have to give him
16:43instead an extra pay bump and limit your salary this year just for him to leave in 2024 or after
16:472024 I think you try and move on from him he's a guy who's coming off injury now granted he's
16:53healthy and he's he's been working out and he was a sort of a half walkthrough participant during the
16:58offseason program I don't think that was due to injury I think that was due to the contract
17:01situation and he's been vocal he wants he wants a new deal Henry McKenna reported it the other day
17:07and so look I just I love Judon he's he's a good guy to have in the locker room he's a fun
17:14um you know he's a fun presence and he's a really good football player but at the end of the day
17:19I just don't see his value in the the course of this new Patriots or even rebuild I think with
17:25the contract situation and you could kind of maybe spin him off to a super bowl contender
17:29and let him go get his is uh his trophy so that's the reason I don't really think there's any other
17:34trade candidate in the room either so Matthew Judon is the obvious one that I think realistically
17:39could be moved by the end of this yeah I mean that makes a lot of sense and this discussion
17:44really just comes down to the business versus what we'd like to see like I don't think anybody's
17:49saying like yeah I mean actually no there are some people that are saying and I think it's
17:52ridiculous but yeah I don't think anybody wants to get rid of Judon in terms of like the the
17:57on-field leader the playmaker and all that but there is also the business side that you have to
18:01understand I'm not gonna beat this one over the head yeah we all want to see Judon come back he's
18:06one of the only every down difference makers they have in that defensive front but at the end of the
18:11day injury age the fact that his role isn't going to be as expansive as it probably was in previous
18:17seasons the writing's kind of on the wall if things break down like you'll understand why it happened
18:23and maybe why the team doesn't want to match him you know where he wants to be but also you know
18:29I do wonder what his value is to other teams I've been saying that I don't think you're going to get
18:33you know great compensation even though compensation at all is still good yeah it's
18:38just it's going to be fascinating to see how this gets worked out I feel like the team will try to
18:42really try to meet him halfway I don't think it's going to be like a gotcha we don't know what's
18:46going on behind the scenes right like gotcha is going to have a much harder time getting what he
18:50wants than will judan but yeah man it's it's we'll see well I look at I look at it from a player's
18:58and a coach's perspective and not the not really the business side of football like just product
19:03on the field obviously the teammates judan himself and like I guess the coaches obviously
19:10you're going to want matthew judan around because like you said he is a great player
19:13he hasn't really been hurt all that much during his time in new england obviously last year was
19:17you know a different story but when he's on the field he's played well so they're going to want
19:21him to win games but again when you look at what they have to do front office wise and what you
19:25know the decisions elliot wolf has to make salary cap wise and um with just building for the future
19:33again I I'm kind of beating beating it over the head too but 2024 doesn't really matter I don't
19:38think I think they need to look farther than that so if you could gain a fourth round pick in 2025
19:43or 2026 that might be better off than having judan in having 15 sacks this year and in a season that
19:50you're not really expecting much to really happen so same page brother all right yeah we're gonna
19:55get to our grades and who's in and out on mike's roster projections but first quick words from our
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21:21lowest price guaranteed all right buddy rock the projection time who is in and who is out among the
21:27patriots linebacking already so i got seven backers making the team and it's joan bentley
21:32anthony jennings i do have matthew judan on here for now um rayquan mcmillan i do have him sneak
21:38on the roster despite i think him being a surprise cut and then sioni takitaki jelani
21:42sabai and josh uche so it's it's pretty chalky no real surprises there um even though i think judan
21:48could be traded and i wouldn't be surprised if mcmillan's cut for now these are the guys i have
21:52and then off the roster uh practice squad candidates in steel chambers christian ellis
21:57joe giles harris rookie john trey hunter and o'shane jimenez um if when things happen with
22:05judan and mcmillan and there's you know you're looking for those 52nd 53rd players i think
22:09jimenez has um an opportunity to make the team and i think christian ellis does as well potentially
22:14as a special teamer we'll see how that happens and how it plays out during camp and how you know
22:18they figure out their kickoffs and kickoff returns and things like that but uh for now that's what i
22:22have it's those seven players i pretty much have the same thing except i had o'shane jimenez making
22:28it another guy from queens actually we're from around the same area so nice gotta show him some
22:32love but also professionally i do think what he brings in terms of versatility reliability against
22:37the run really being able to do off again on the ball off the ball uh being able to contribute on
22:42every down if you need him to and the special teams ability i feel like that's enough that he
22:46really does have a shot at making this roster but outside of that yeah i feel like this one's pretty
22:50straight cut that's the only one where i feel like people might teeter honestly i don't think
22:54people are teetering i think i'm the only one who thinks o'shane's gonna make the roster but i will
22:58stand on that business until i am proven wrong uh then steve chambers is a guy who i think has
23:03a real shot at making the practice squad um john trey hunter also ej snyder the bootleg football
23:08podcast he was high on him as well a really athletic guy kind of fits the mold of in the
23:13pre-draft process they were looking at a lot of undersized but really fast linebackers yeah and
23:18john trey hunter kind of fits that mold so those are two guys to watch uh yeah christian ellis more
23:23of a pure special teamer i just i don't see how he makes the roster with so many like talented
23:28players you can contribute on their side of the ball and on special teams joe giles harris
23:31practice squad guy you know i don't think there's a whole lot of mystery there either all right final
23:36grade for this position what'd you give them yeah i'm going a minus right now i think even if they
23:40do end up parting ways with matthew matthew judon this is still a room that's set up for a ton of
23:45success um i think they can even get themselves to you know in a uh towards mid-season if if
23:51tavai has takes that another leap that we think he will and if josh who's taking it back to form um
23:57he talked about it i think you asked him about it you know in the off-season program when we
24:00spoke with them how what happened last year compared to the year before and he just said
24:04that the way they used me and he hopes that um being here in a you know a different similar but
24:09different scheme with uh what covington and they want to do with the you know being more aggressive
24:13and stuff if they can find a better way to use them that he can also um improve upon his 2023 so
24:19if those two guys make leaps i think they can be an a uh right now just with the mysteries
24:24surrounding uh judan situation and everything else i still go a minus but it's the second
24:28strongest room on the team outside of safety for sure i'll give it an a just because i'm giving
24:33them the benefit of the doubt like we don't know like judan is still coming to practice i think
24:37it's more fresh to say he won't be on the roster than he will and i also think the fact that he
24:41can be more of a not really a role player i think that's maybe putting it laying it on a little bit
24:45too thick but the fact that there will be more of a rotation to keep him fresh i really like that
24:50joshua uche another guy i'm going to give the benefit of the doubt just because it wasn't even
24:54bad last season really if you look at the numbers and the film he wasn't terrible it was just the
24:58gap lane integrity that was one thing i'd really like to see him work on and you could see that he
25:03wasn't really able to do what he did best a lot of the time because he had so many contained
25:07responsibilities so i think that he really can get back to his form where he can be guys outside
25:12and inside last year was really just inside he wasn't able to really uh threaten the edge as
25:17much as i think he should uh be able to anthony jennings like i said i really love him and i
25:21love the depth both on the edge and inside i really think that this team stacks up well again
25:26jawan bentley and jelani to buy one of the most underrated linebacking duos and you know people
25:31don't really talk about linebackers as an impact position but when you look at all the best
25:35defenses in the nfl you're rarely if ever going to find one that doesn't have at least one very
25:41good to elite linebacker like those are the playmakers on your defense i think luke keighley
25:45is even obviously has some position bias but i think he's even mentioned that you know you need
25:50a great linebacker to have a great defense because you know the defensive line does their thing and
25:54they create the disruption but the linebackers are the ones who a lot of the time stop plays
25:58from getting worse it also can get everybody you know in the right they're the leader of the
26:02defense they're the center they're the green dot guys they're the ones who you know make the whole
26:06the whole thing run so even if it's if it's sometimes more mental than physical like it's
26:10such an important position and i think you're right it's it's underrated in terms of uh in terms of
26:15again how important they are to the team yeah especially in this patriot scheme where they're
26:18asked to do so many things you actually have guys they can't execute it so yeah that's going to be
26:22an eight for me now done with linebackers let the people know what they can look forward to
26:26next week all right we're uh we're going to hit the tight ends we have four positions remaining
26:31we have tight ends uh wide receivers cornerbacks and then quarterbacks quarterbacks is going to be
26:37uh the week of training camp just the monday before um and then we'll hit everything else
26:40next week so i think uh i don't know when this podcast is going to post but we'll have tight
26:44ends up on friday we'll hit the other two uh the week before camp and then quarterbacks after that
26:48so tight ends look forward to next as we round this thing out taylor we only have one full week
26:53left until patriots training camp starts can you believe it i can't believe it but honestly i'm
26:57excited i've been in the house too long i need to get out on the fields and watch an actual football
27:03looking forward to it buddy so uh thank you all for watching as always now until we get to the
27:08next positions remaining take care of yourselves take care of each other we'll see you next time
27:12peace y'all

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