Welcome to the All 32 NFL Podcast w/ Mike Giardi and Will Parkinson! Mike and Will discuss Drake Maye's lack of starting reps and then preview the AFC South!
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00It is caught! Touchdown!
00:00:04The New England Patriots select Drake May.
00:00:08He's got the ball! And that's the ballgame!
00:00:13Welcome back once again to the All 32 Pod. Mike Ciardi, Will Parkinson with you.
00:00:17Excited to be here as always. Big week of football last week. A big one coming.
00:00:21Like, we're in it now. I mean, we're definitely in it.
00:00:25You're starting to get that pattern. Like, okay, practice, play, practice, play.
00:00:29You're getting into that mode now where you feel football season is here
00:00:33and we're this close to regular season games.
00:00:35Yeah, I'm excited to hop into this episode. It's going to be loaded, jam-packed,
00:00:39full of some of the holdouts we've touched on in the past that have heightened
00:00:43some big-time injuries, some rookie quarterback debuts,
00:00:47and obviously we're going to get into the AFC South in an extremely exciting division
00:00:50that in years past might have been overlooked a little bit,
00:00:53but we have plenty to talk about with that division, Mike.
00:00:56Yeah, no question. As always, this show is brought to you by PrizePix,
00:00:59the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the CLNS Media Network.
00:01:04And game time, best tickets, best prices to get you in to see any event
00:01:07that you want to see. And look, at this time of year, whether preseason games,
00:01:11regular season games, we've got baseball heat, not getting close to the playoffs,
00:01:15and before we know it, it's going to be hockey season and the NBA as well.
00:01:19So we're definitely chock-full right now, and game time can certainly help you out
00:01:24in that regard. Let's start where, as you mentioned, rookie quarterbacks,
00:01:28and obviously the wide variety of approaches to each one of these guys,
00:01:33but what it looked like their first time out there.
00:01:35Why don't we just start with the first pick, Caleb Williams.
00:01:38Didn't play a ton. He looks good. And if you're watching the hard knocks
00:01:43now that's in the preseason with the Bears, they're tailoring everything to him.
00:01:48It's exactly the way you should go about your business
00:01:52with a potential franchise quarterback you pick number one.
00:01:55Yeah, look, I don't want to – there's not too much to break down from Caleb.
00:01:58I think he did a lot of things we expect. I know the viral throw.
00:02:01Caleb, better than anybody or better than almost anybody we've seen in a long time,
00:02:06coming out of college and the way some of the throws he made,
00:02:08very shortstop, second baseman-like throws with a rocket arm,
00:02:12and made it one of those Caleb Williams-like throws.
00:02:16I know we kind of – Mahomes and Rodgers and these other guys,
00:02:18we kind of compare them to in a lot of ways.
00:02:21But Caleb compares himself to Rodgers and a lot of people,
00:02:24obviously in our line of work, have compared him to Mahomes.
00:02:27I don't want to get – I don't want to make too much of it.
00:02:29I just – I think we will talk about it in the NFC North episode.
00:02:32I think if the Bears can get – leave 2024 and Caleb Williams leave 2024 saying,
00:02:37wow, maybe he has a stride rookie year, maybe he doesn't.
00:02:40Maybe he's good, not great. Who knows?
00:02:43But he's off to a good start. I think hard knocks is reflected well.
00:02:46And I think getting out in the preseason, getting his feet wet a little bit,
00:02:49the Bears, again, had the four preseason games.
00:02:51So I think positive returns on where we're at with Caleb.
00:02:54And again, the expectations are really high.
00:02:56But he's going to – I think he'll be able to live up to a lot of those.
00:03:00The Bears haven't had, what, a 4,000-year pass or franchise history.
00:03:02I think he'll be okay.
00:03:04Yeah, ever. I mean, that franchise has been an absolute debacle
00:03:07when it comes to quarterbacks.
00:03:09Then Jaden Daniels in Washington, and look, he's in the same boat
00:03:12as Caleb Williams. They are – this is your offense, dude.
00:03:15We're going to do what we can to prop you up because you are –
00:03:19Williams is the number one pick. Daniels is the number two pick.
00:03:22Obviously coming off a phenomenal year at LSU.
00:03:25And again, he looks the part.
00:03:27I'm always a little bit concerned about some of the running stuff
00:03:30and maybe exposing himself to hits as he did when he was at LSU.
00:03:33You do that here, it could be lights out for you.
00:03:36But he looks very comfortable in what they're trying to do right now.
00:03:39And it's a pretty good supporting cast.
00:03:41Yeah, again, it's hard to make too much of it right.
00:03:43I think he struggled a lot during joint practice with the Jets
00:03:46against the Jets 1s a lot.
00:03:49And that's natural. That's going to happen.
00:03:51I think that's a welcome to the NFL moment.
00:03:53That's one of the best defenses in the league.
00:03:55And bad weather, the whole nine yards.
00:03:57So he made two or three awesome plays, I thought, in his debut.
00:04:01He had this beautiful throw down the sideline.
00:04:03Could not have thrown it any better.
00:04:05That's what he did well in college.
00:04:07Again, similar to what Caleb – like, Jayden's calling card.
00:04:09Like, being able to run the ball, throwing these gorgeous deep balls
00:04:12softly down the sideline.
00:04:13Those were both awesome.
00:04:15He also missed a couple.
00:04:17And, you know, he'd love to have those back and things like that.
00:04:20Again, he was facing a mostly third-string Jets defense.
00:04:22So, again, don't want to make too much of it.
00:04:24But glad he was able to get in the end zone.
00:04:26Glad he was able to connect and collect on one of those big plays.
00:04:29And, you know, now you take it from here.
00:04:31Again, Jayden Daniels is going to be in a situation where, like,
00:04:34just keep taking those steps forward similar to Caleb.
00:04:36Lean on what you do really well.
00:04:38Have those be your calling cards.
00:04:39And then, you know, kind of some of the short and intermediate stuff,
00:04:41you know, they'll be able to figure out as time –
00:04:43there's going to be some growing pains.
00:04:44Yeah, for sure.
00:04:45Both of those teams.
00:04:46Different expectations.
00:04:47Washington specifically, I think, is definitely at least a year away.
00:04:51But should be competitive at least in year one.
00:04:53Dan Quinn will get those guys playing hard on the defensive side of the ball.
00:04:56So, should put them in a decent situation to succeed.
00:04:59Yeah, there's no question about that.
00:05:00Then we come to Foxboro where Drake may get off to a nice – a fast just start.
00:05:07A fast start, if you will, in the joint practice against the Eagles.
00:05:10But then it was a complete debacle thereafter.
00:05:13I mean, look, just in general, the Eagles outclassed the Patriots.
00:05:17I've already referenced this.
00:05:18There was a joint practice years ago between the Patriots
00:05:21and then there were the Redskins at the time in Richmond, Virginia.
00:05:24And it was the Brady-Belichick, like, you know, height of their powers.
00:05:27And the Patriots put on a clinic in front of Gruden-Griffin.
00:05:32That whole group.
00:05:33Kirk Cousins was there.
00:05:34I remember after the practice was over in which the Patriots thoroughly dominated,
00:05:38Patriots offense was so dissatisfied with how they played.
00:05:41Again, they dominated that they went on a separate field with just Brady
00:05:45and the ones and they ran plays.
00:05:48And the guys were walking off for Washington being like,
00:05:51oh, so that's how you – that's what it takes.
00:05:54Of course, Washington never got there, but that's what this was.
00:05:58Philly doesn't have the same resume as the Patriots did with Brady there,
00:06:01but obviously a very good team, a team that should be in the mix this year.
00:06:04And they thoroughly outclassed the Patriots.
00:06:06And, you know, May, it's interesting because I think after the spring,
00:06:11I thought that he made good progress and I thought to myself,
00:06:14he could make a run at this sometime this summer, Jacoby Brissett.
00:06:18And now I'm at the point where after the last three or four practices
00:06:21in the joint practice where I think he's behind where they thought he would be,
00:06:27I think he is not ready for primetime.
00:06:31And I think they're telling you he's not ready for primetime.
00:06:34I don't know what they're going to do for reps.
00:06:36You know, we're recording this on Wednesday.
00:06:38Patriots play Thursday against Philly.
00:06:40I get the sense he's – I know he's going to play more than he did.
00:06:44He only got six official snaps in the first preseason game,
00:06:47but I'm not sure how much more because I don't know that they feel like
00:06:51he's necessarily in a good place with the offense,
00:06:55with all the stuff that they asked him to change.
00:06:57And that's, to me, the real root of this.
00:06:59I think they're trying to fix too much.
00:07:02I think they should have said we're dealing with your footwork
00:07:04and then, you know, at some point we'll deal with what we think
00:07:07is a bit of a release problem on some of the shorter throws.
00:07:10I think they put so much in his head between that and learning a new offense
00:07:14and also trying to kind of reign him in,
00:07:16which yet another thing that doesn't make sense to me when you've got
00:07:19a good athlete who makes plays off schedule and likes to make plays.
00:07:22As he said, it's part of who he is.
00:07:24And they're trying to say stay right there and just read that out.
00:07:27I don't know that this is a great start to the Drake Mayer against 21.
00:07:31By no means am I saying this is a bust or anything like that.
00:07:34Who the hell would know?
00:07:36He's certainly got a ton of talent, but it's raw,
00:07:39and you're seeing that right now.
00:07:41And Elliott Wolfe said to us back at draft time or maybe right before
00:07:45the draft, you know, can you support a rookie quarterback at number three?
00:07:49And he's like, I don't know where this narrative is coming from.
00:07:51Like, yes, we can support that.
00:07:53We have enough around him to support it.
00:07:55Well, their offensive line has been so bad to this point, Will.
00:07:59Feels like they can't support it.
00:08:01So they're trying to do all these things with him mechanically,
00:08:03trying to learn a new offense.
00:08:05And then, oh, by the way, they can't protect it.
00:08:07His last four dropbacks, it was a fumbled snap and three sacks.
00:08:10Patriots quarterbacks, depending on who you –
00:08:15the stat trackers on these things had as many as 15 sacks yesterday
00:08:19between he and Brissette.
00:08:21Yeah, the one thing that comes to mind is Zach Wilson's rookie year,
00:08:25and I'm not saying he's going to be Zach Wilson at all.
00:08:28I'm just saying the Jets went to Green Bay, Zach Wilson's rookie year,
00:08:32and, you know, obviously we're in the numbers.
00:08:34Carl Lawson tearing his Achilles after his big summer.
00:08:36But the Jets were obviously one of the worst teams in the league.
00:08:38They ended up picking fourth overall the next year.
00:08:40They only won four games.
00:08:43The Jets went into Green Bay against – this is, you know, Peek Rogers,
00:08:47second-generation Peek Rogers.
00:08:49You know, in 2021 he obviously went on to win the MVP again that year.
00:08:52They won 13 games.
00:08:53We know the whole story.
00:08:54They ended up losing to San Francisco in the playoffs.
00:08:56But the Jets went out there and it was like, oh, they look pretty spunky.
00:09:00Zach's had some moments, some growing pains.
00:09:02Let's see what it looks like.
00:09:03And, like, it was awful.
00:09:05The Jets then go out on the field, and Zach looked awesome in the preseason game.
00:09:08So I'm very curious to see game time comes in.
00:09:11A lot of Philly starters not playing.
00:09:13Some, you know, very bland coverages.
00:09:15What does Drake May build on?
00:09:16Build on that.
00:09:17JJ McCarthy's in an interesting situation.
00:09:20There's two big things here.
00:09:21Obviously the news comes out yesterday.
00:09:22He's got the meniscus surgery coming up.
00:09:24We don't know if it's going to be a trim or a full repair.
00:09:26Obviously that means either four to six weeks, similar, again,
00:09:30to what Zach Wilson experienced a couple years ago.
00:09:32Or is it a full repair?
00:09:33You know, which is obviously many months.
00:09:35We'll see on that.
00:09:36Obviously a couple of things here.
00:09:39I thought Sam Darnold and McCarthy both played really well.
00:09:41I thought Sam Darnold made some throws.
00:09:46And this is why people were so high on him coming out of his rookie year.
00:09:50I thought JJ McCarthy played really well.
00:09:52I thought he made a lot of big time throws.
00:09:53He made some throws out to the left, which we all know is not his forte.
00:09:57I thought, you know, the interception obviously was rough and whatever,
00:10:00but growing pains.
00:10:01I thought getting him the proper amount of reps in a game and something
00:10:05that you talked a lot about, Drake May,
00:10:06and we talked a lot about in the last episode of like,
00:10:08this is what JJ McCarthy needed.
00:10:10He's a developmental quarterback.
00:10:11As much as he was this win now game manager type in college,
00:10:14he needs the reps.
00:10:16And as much as preseason,
00:10:17I know is not real life and the joint practices and practice is probably a
00:10:21better indication of who you, you know, who you are.
00:10:23I thought it was really good to see him out there.
00:10:26Now it's extremely disappointing.
00:10:27I don't think he was going to start the year anyways.
00:10:29So I don't think if it's just a, you know, if it's just a trim, right.
00:10:33I don't think it hurts him too much.
00:10:35That said, I do think of all the quarterbacks in this class,
00:10:38I wonder if like,
00:10:39that's the one situation where like him getting hurt is like the worst case
00:10:43scenario in terms of his rookie year.
00:10:44Just because he's a guy again, who needs reps.
00:10:47He would have played a lot in these last two preseason games,
00:10:49a lot in the joint practices, a lot of practice reps, et cetera,
00:10:52the regular season, you know, practice is not the same.
00:10:55If you're not a starter, you basically just kind of irrelevant.
00:10:58You know, during the season,
00:10:59you're getting mental reps more than anything.
00:11:01So again, I just, I feel for JJ McCarthy.
00:11:03Cause I feel like really strong start. He struggled early in camp.
00:11:05He started to build on it a lot and you know,
00:11:07him and Donald really both have looked pretty good from anyone you ask it in
00:11:11Minnesota.
00:11:12So yeah, that, that was just the shame yesterday to see that come out.
00:11:15And I really hope it's just the trim and not a tear because I think again,
00:11:18really high ceiling for McCarthy, whatever you think of them,
00:11:20but that was disappointing obviously to.
00:11:25Yeah. We're talking about what,
00:11:26like four weeks for a trim versus an extensive period of time there.
00:11:32If it's a, if it's a real repair, you know, in fact,
00:11:35could cost them the entire season.
00:11:36So that would be a big issue for them.
00:11:40Michael Penix on the other hand, and we shouldn't be surprised by this,
00:11:43right? Like just kind of ready to go.
00:11:46And they're going to have some interesting conversations.
00:11:49I would imagine in Atlanta, as the season goes on,
00:11:51if Kirk doesn't live up Kirk cousins,
00:11:53doesn't live up to his end of the bargain. Cause I don't know,
00:11:57maybe from a strictly from a amount of time played the offense,
00:12:02the style that they ran kind of maybe the most ready to go of any of the
00:12:07quarterbacks, just in terms of drop them in there.
00:12:09And he can probably do this now, what his ceiling is. I don't know.
00:12:12I think he's got a high floor, the ceiling.
00:12:14It could be right where the floor is like he could be this. And that,
00:12:17that's really all it ends up being, but he's, he's an interesting guy.
00:12:21It's obviously we've talked about the,
00:12:23the idea that selection didn't make a lot of sense to a lot of people.
00:12:26They've tried to explain it away.
00:12:29I still don't quite understand the explanation why you would give Kirk all
00:12:33that money and then draft the kid at eight,
00:12:35when you're really paying Kirk to play for two years.
00:12:38Penix is in the developmental project. He's sort of more of a,
00:12:41probably should start now. So that, that, that is an interesting one to me.
00:12:44And then of course there's Bo Nix, right? Who much like McCarthy, dude,
00:12:49here's the ball, go run out and go play. He didn't start last week.
00:12:52He's supposed to start week two.
00:12:53Like he's going to get a ton of reps and the job is there.
00:12:57It's between him and Stidham and not Zach Wilson. You know,
00:13:01the job is there for him and he looked pretty comfortable in week one.
00:13:04Yeah. I thought he made a lot of, he's a guy again,
00:13:07who you expected to play well, right.
00:13:09And the aspect of I played a ton in college, as we know, a lot of starts,
00:13:13a lot of experience. This offense should be a lot of,
00:13:16as you mentioned last week when we did the AFC West,
00:13:19this timing rhythm kind of older Drew Brees type where like get the ball out
00:13:23shorter depth of target. You know,
00:13:26got to get the ball in the playmaker's hands, but he looked good.
00:13:28But he looked good. And honestly,
00:13:30it feels like Caleb's going to start Jane Daniels is going to start.
00:13:35I feel like he's the third that ends up starting.
00:13:37I feel like early on in the year, obviously I,
00:13:39I think Brissette and Darnold will win those jobs and Kirk cousins, you know,
00:13:43obviously in different varying situations, injuries, not,
00:13:47I do think Nick's is again,
00:13:49I think you kind of know what Stidham is and I think he's a quality backup and
00:13:52a guy that could spot start for you if needed.
00:13:55But I think the Broncos invested 12th overall pick knowing they needed so much
00:13:58other help on the roster. They still went with the quarterback there.
00:14:01And it just feels like he he's,
00:14:03he's adequate and he's whatever he's acquainted himself nicely with in his
00:14:08first game. Again, he's got to build on it.
00:14:10He's going to start week two or week three, I guess,
00:14:12technically the preseason, but you know,
00:14:14I think he's on the inside track now do to win that job.
00:14:17And I think he should, I think, again, we, we talked about it last week.
00:14:21Can the Broncos leave going, we have our quarterback.
00:14:23If we build enough around him,
00:14:25can he be our Jimmy G on the Niners and we build the whole rest of the roster
00:14:28up and we're good enough to go try to compete. We'll see. But you know,
00:14:31he obviously had a nice start, you know, to his, to his NFL preseason career.
00:14:35Yeah. And as we talked about that roster is a little,
00:14:37it's a little wonky at this point. Let's move on. We, we mentioned a big injury.
00:14:41That's the McCarthy one. And we'll see how that all shakes out,
00:14:46but let's get down to the,
00:14:47the off the field stuff that continues to happen here.
00:14:49And I want to start with you because the big news this week is the disconnect
00:14:54between the jets and Hassan Redick who remains holding out.
00:15:00And it sounds like, I don't know,
00:15:02it doesn't feel like this thing's ending anytime soon.
00:15:05Yeah. Look, there, there's a,
00:15:06there's a bunch of we unpacked it on that first episode in terms of kind of
00:15:09where both sides are coming from. Again,
00:15:10the jets wanted to see Redick go out and prove it. You know, he's,
00:15:13he was not their asset. They traded for him. That sounds like file accounts.
00:15:16That sounds like file accounts.
00:15:17They made some type of offer before the trade.
00:15:19It was a low offer based on any reporting done from the Redick side and from
00:15:24the jet side, they felt like it was, you know, first offer,
00:15:26obviously nothing was done. He told the jet seat report.
00:15:29He obviously has not run day 22 of the whole data.
00:15:32So we're recording this and it'll go to day 23 for sure. And he's law
00:15:41to just, there's a lot there. And, you know,
00:15:44I think the biggest thing with Redick is again,
00:15:47it's gotten ugly now this trade request was very much the last ditch of,
00:15:52Hey, I want to try to get some, you know, some leverage back here,
00:15:55some type of way to force the jets hand a bit.
00:15:58The jets fan base is seemingly reacted the opposite way and just kind of
00:16:01dumping all over Redick, which is what I kind of understand. And, you know,
00:16:05Zach Rosenblatt of the athletic mentioned it, I believe Wednesday of last week,
00:16:10Hey, Redick's putting a lot of pressure on himself to come out and perform
00:16:12right away. The fan base will get on quickly.
00:16:15Roger said he's going to reach out to Redick. They've spoken, I guess,
00:16:18at some level, but he,
00:16:19he said he's going to try to get him involved and get him here.
00:16:21Robert solid and old brick and I've said all the right things.
00:16:24It's just gotten very ugly. And it's,
00:16:27there's a lot of other things and we'll get to a couple of the other holdouts
00:16:29and hold ends again that continue to fester themselves.
00:16:33This one's just brutal because like the jets are not going to be able to shake
00:16:36that wall jets narrative until they win games.
00:16:40And the Jesper and Redick side of things, like he wants to get paid,
00:16:42but also he's not adequate at him.
00:16:44He's not really looking great in this situation either.
00:16:47I think it's not ideal for a player that hasn't, you know, I don't know.
00:16:50It's just, it's, it's a rough look. So again, it should get done.
00:16:54I would assume soon there's a lot of pressure, but at the same time,
00:16:58if you're Redick, like,
00:17:00why not push this thing as far as you possibly can,
00:17:02you've already dug yourself in with millions and fines, you know,
00:17:06the fan base already is, you know, turning against you.
00:17:08The last thing I'll say on this is this narrative.
00:17:10The jets don't need Hassan Redick.
00:17:12And this does this dates fully back to the Briceoff situation.
00:17:15They didn't need to trade them, extend them multiple different times.
00:17:18They lose him. They trade John Franklin Myers. It turned into a disaster.
00:17:21He got new leverage.
00:17:22I don't know if Redick's asking for more than any team would ever, you know,
00:17:26any team would have any interest in offering him, but the jets need him.
00:17:29He is a guy that takes them from a playoff team to a,
00:17:34if he plays anything like 2022, we're probably going to the title.
00:17:39Like that's how good he was in 2022. And honestly,
00:17:42the last four years and it's just defense is very good. Very, very good.
00:17:45I still think it's a top five unit or top six unit without Redick.
00:17:48It could be the best unit in the league if Redick's firing on all cylinders.
00:17:51So they got to get this done and done soon because it's not only a bad look
00:17:54right now on both sides,
00:17:56but the jets have a lot of extensions that are coming up in the next 24 months.
00:17:59Sauce, Garrett Wilson, Brees Hall, Michael Carter, Tyler Conklin.
00:18:02There's a lot, Elijah Barrett Tucker. There's a lot there.
00:18:05This young core setting a precedent the way they're at now is just,
00:18:10it's not a great look.
00:18:11And I'd like to see that get cleaned up because otherwise all reports have been
00:18:14great at a jets camp. This is the one dark cloud hanging over them.
00:18:16Well, and as we've seen now too, guys are willing.
00:18:19And you mentioned the young core and having to deal with those guys sooner
00:18:24rather than later,
00:18:25we're seeing now a lot of the young core guys around the league are drawing a
00:18:29line in the sand a year earlier than they normally would.
00:18:32Jamar Chase being the latest, right? Jamar Chase is,
00:18:35he didn't show up for camp the other day. Again,
00:18:37this recording this on Wednesday,
00:18:39Zach Taylor continues to say this as a day-to-day thing. And we have a plan.
00:18:43I think the plan is clear. Jamar Chase wants to get paid until he gets paid.
00:18:46He's not going out in the field, which is his right to do,
00:18:48even though I know he signed the contract, but there's, there's,
00:18:51there's about a hundred million at play.
00:18:53I'd say he's, I'd say he's earned his, uh, his. Yeah. Yeah. It's.
00:18:56And definitely. And, and look,
00:18:58the Justin Jefferson with the 87 million guaranteed,
00:19:01I think has sort of set the bar for CD lamb.
00:19:04And we've had the odd back and forth between Jerry Jones and lamb about we
00:19:08don't have any urgency. And then all we do, we really want them here.
00:19:11We need them that whole thing. But lamb is saying the same thing.
00:19:14Well, show me the Justin Jefferson money. Like that's what Jamar is saying.
00:19:18Show me the Justin Jefferson money. And we're, that's all good.
00:19:21I'll be right there. You know, I'll sign it.
00:19:23I'll be out in the practice field that afternoon. Um,
00:19:25until that gets done though, you know,
00:19:28you're in this holding pattern in both teams, obviously talking about Dallas.
00:19:33If they don't have CD lamb,
00:19:34I know they're pumping up some receivers in training camp right now,
00:19:37but CD lamb changes their offense, uh, ditto for Jamar chase,
00:19:41as good as T Higgins is T Higgins is not Jamar chase.
00:19:45Very few guys are Jamar chase.
00:19:47So both those teams kind of in a holding pattern with that. Um,
00:19:50we might as well stay with Brandon Iuke. And now, you know,
00:19:53the reporting on that thing has gone back and forth too. Right.
00:19:55And we've had, you know,
00:19:56I have the IU kind of shouting out at Tom Pellicero for a report that the
00:20:01Niners are re-engaging and, you know, they're in the media every day.
00:20:05And the Niners are certainly in the media every day.
00:20:07They do a very good job of getting their point across, uh,
00:20:11with the various outlets. Uh, now reports are,
00:20:14maybe they're close to a deal, but the Steelers are still waiting.
00:20:17The Steelers still think they have a chance here.
00:20:19I still feel like all along Iuke, I mean, he wants the money,
00:20:23but I think he realizes San Francisco is the best place to be like, yeah.
00:20:27Pittsburgh has questions about quarterback,
00:20:29has questions across the roster. San Francisco is built to win.
00:20:33Now you win a Superbowl and you get your money, you know,
00:20:36then you set yourself up for potential hall of fame type career.
00:20:38Yeah. It just, the IU thing, you know, look,
00:20:41I think it's either he's a Niner he's going to play under for the Steelers.
00:20:44I think that's pretty much solidified.
00:20:46Now those are the two teams again, I think he makes the Steelers better.
00:20:49I don't think that the Steelers are by any means a full on contender,
00:20:53unless Justin Fields or Russell Wilson turn into the guys they were either
00:20:56drafted or looked like 10 years ago. Um, I think it does change the Niners.
00:21:01I think it hurts the Niners more than it helps the Steelers, you know,
00:21:04in the present term, again, the Steelers in point in 12 months, if they have,
00:21:07they go and get, you know,
00:21:09some elite quarterback and that's on the market and they become that team.
00:21:13Maybe it's a different conversation.
00:21:15Yeah. You think is,
00:21:16is a bit weird only from the San Francisco point of view of whether you look at
00:21:20some of the rumor deals, you know, is it a two and a four and a five?
00:21:24Is it a two and a five and Amari Cooper? Is there a two and a five in Judon?
00:21:27Is it a two and a four from the Steelers? Whatever it is, right?
00:21:30Like there'll be a million different ways you could look at it.
00:21:33It just feels like now the Niners picking up draft capital for 25.
00:21:37Like if they were going to move them, it almost feels like if you're a Niners fan,
00:21:40like, damn, why couldn't we have moved them right before the draft?
00:21:43And then one of the, you know,
00:21:44kind of thing with are you extremely interesting is what this money,
00:21:47what the money ends up looking like.
00:21:48It seems like the Patriots offered upwards of $32 million a year and an
00:21:52average annual value.
00:21:54It seems like the Niners were in the 25 or $26 million range.
00:21:58If you believe the reporting there,
00:22:00you've seen some stuff that Steelers might be in more that 28,
00:22:03$29 million range. So honestly, nowhere close to where the Patriots were.
00:22:07You just wonder, is that 2 million or $3 million enough to say, Hey,
00:22:11I'm going to, I want to go to Pittsburgh. We'll see if it gets done.
00:22:16I'm sure now it'll get done in 20 minutes and we'll have to rerecord a pod,
00:22:20but yeah, the IU thing. And again, no update on Trent Williams,
00:22:23no update on CeeDee Lamb, Jamar Chase is out.
00:22:26Tiger kill is 50 minutes late for practice yesterday.
00:22:28Not sure why that wasn't covered more in depth.
00:22:30I'm not sure what happened there. But yeah, it's been a,
00:22:33I'd say been a crazy two days now of, you know,
00:22:36Judon's back at practice,
00:22:37but still wants out of new England badly or wants a new deal.
00:22:40He's very active on social media.
00:22:42So not only are these players and teams very active in terms of the reporting,
00:22:48they're both very active in getting their side of the story out here.
00:22:51It's been kind of a wild week of holdouts and hold ins, you know,
00:22:55over, you know, just the 36 hour, 48 hour period.
00:22:58Yeah. Before we turn the page to the AFC South,
00:23:01you mentioned Judon and he was a beast on the practice field and the joint
00:23:04practices against the Eagles.
00:23:06And it's sort of been a roller coaster with him because obviously you had the,
00:23:12you had the event a couple of weeks ago where, you know,
00:23:15he makes a public spectacle of it all. Doesn't, it's not at practice the next day.
00:23:20We've talked to him since one time and it's, you know,
00:23:23he's still in that same place. Like, look, I said,
00:23:26I'd play for this contract even though I don't want to,
00:23:28but I didn't say anything about practice. Well,
00:23:30now all of a sudden he's been practicing and he's practicing hard and
00:23:32practicing. Well, the first time this happened, I thought, Oh,
00:23:36maybe they're getting. And then I was told, no, they're not getting close.
00:23:40It's the same thing. And I just come back to the,
00:23:44this is the thing I can't get past.
00:23:46Elliot Wolf has been essentially in charge since January.
00:23:49You've had seven plus months to figure this out and you haven't figured it out
00:23:55and you haven't figured it out cause you're not close. So what are you doing?
00:23:59What is either get there or get something close to Jim that he finally bends and
00:24:04says, yeah, that's acceptable to me or get out, make the trade.
00:24:09They've talked about it, you know,
00:24:11that they don't know how many wins they're going to have this year.
00:24:13There's been some references already to 2025,
00:24:16like in not even like intentional, like start talking.
00:24:19And then next year slips into the conversation. Then it's like,
00:24:22let me reel that back in. I didn't mean to say that,
00:24:24but you do mean to say that. Cause you know,
00:24:26it's going to take a little while and you mentioned it on the last pot.
00:24:31The timelines don't match when you hope to be good again.
00:24:35He's going to be 33 years old, you know, 34 years old, whatever it is.
00:24:40It makes no sense to commit to that.
00:24:42So I still think they're going to get,
00:24:45at some point they're going to just wise up and they're going to move on.
00:24:48And maybe that's another situation where you wait for someone to have an injury
00:24:52or somebody who I mentioned Chicago last time and Booker,
00:24:55actually their rookie has gotten off to a nice start,
00:24:57but like they look at it and say, we're ready where we can,
00:25:00we can be a playoff team. We just don't have that other guy.
00:25:04Go get that other guy. But I would imagine with the same thing,
00:25:07he's still going to want his money, at least for this year.
00:25:10Like I'm not paying for 6.5.
00:25:11So you're going to have to figure that out too,
00:25:13before the deal gets finalized.
00:25:15Yeah. One guy who did get paid Jeremiah,
00:25:17Uso Coromoa of the Browns, you know, a hybrid linebacker safety you know,
00:25:22the Browns now Brad Spielberger formerly of PFF you know,
00:25:27obviously one of the, one of the biggest geniuses working with,
00:25:33players making at least $10 million a year,
00:25:35which is tied with the Eagles for the most or breaking their ties. Sorry.
00:25:39They have now the most in the NFL three years, 39 million,
00:25:42about 25 million guaranteed. So, you know,
00:25:44obviously an added two years there. And in addition to this year, great player,
00:25:48you know, part of what it was one of,
00:25:50if not the best defenses in the league last year, probably,
00:25:53I would say probably their second or third best player on that defense,
00:25:56him and Denzel Ward. So loved him coming out.
00:25:59I know there were some questions around kind of position flexibility and what
00:26:02he's going to do and some kind of health related stuff,
00:26:05but he's able to stay healthy.
00:26:06He's been a dynamite player in the NFL and it's nice to see the Browns doing
00:26:10something that again,
00:26:11we've mentioned with the jets and these other different teams you'd like to see
00:26:13them do is paying their young guys ahead of time, get,
00:26:16getting some of these deals done.
00:26:17Even looking back at the miles Garrett deal,
00:26:19like that almost seems cheap at this point,
00:26:22similar to what Kansas city did with my homes.
00:26:23And I know they're all different spots, but you know, that's to me,
00:26:26it looked like the way to get, you know,
00:26:28the Browns have had some interesting contracts, obviously,
00:26:30mainly their quarterback, but this is one of those no brainers.
00:26:34JFK is a main stalwart of your defense. It's a well-valued deal.
00:26:39And I think this is, that's the path forward for you know,
00:26:43we finally got one deal done.
00:26:44Now let's see what happens with some of these other ones.
00:26:46I did his pro day, just a quick story.
00:26:48I did his pro day at Notre Dame and Frank Reich was there.
00:26:53I think Frank was still in Indianapolis. I whatever my Tom,
00:26:57there were several head coaches,
00:26:58but after he did some pass covering drills, cause again,
00:27:01trying to show that flexibility, like, could he, is he a safety?
00:27:03Is he a linebacker?
00:27:05He ran over and shook Tomlin's hand. And I asked him in the interview,
00:27:09I said, Hey, what'd you say to Tomlin? And he goes, come get me.
00:27:12That's what I told him. Pittsburgh didn't come get him. Cleveland did.
00:27:16Cleveland's pretty happy about it. As you mentioned, they paid him.
00:27:19All right, we're going to take a quick break so we can pay the bills.
00:27:21We're going to come back and preview the AFC sell.
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00:29:03All right, time to take a look at the AFC South, which kind of was a bloodbath last year.
00:29:08Like if you look, everybody was tightly bunched together.
00:29:11The Titans ended up the bottom fell out for them.
00:29:14But for a while there, they were in the mix as well.
00:29:16Just four games between the four teams.
00:29:19And it's interesting because I think the team that was most active in the offseason is the team that you
00:29:26and I think are definitively the last place team in this division.
00:29:30And that's the Tennessee Titans 6-11 last year.
00:29:34And then, of course, a major overhaul.
00:29:36They fire Mike Vrabel after like within six weeks or two months of saying the owner saying,
00:29:43no, no, no, he like we want him here for the long term.
00:29:46They fire him.
00:29:47There was some talk that when he went to see the Patriots,
00:29:49as he was inducted into the Patriot Hall of Fame,
00:29:51and some conversations that happened there bothered Amy Strunk, the owner.
00:29:56There's other conversations about just sort of how the back part of the season went
00:29:59and how willful and strong a personality Vrabel is that she said, we can't do this.
00:30:04So she decided to fire Vrabel, picked Rand Carthon, the GM.
00:30:08Carthon hired Brian Callion to be their new head coach.
00:30:11Callion, of course, the offensive coordinator in Cincinnati and did a great job there.
00:30:15However, didn't call the plays.
00:30:18Zach Taylor, the head coach, called all the plays.
00:30:21Callion now coming to Tennessee and said he will call the plays
00:30:25and maybe the best part of this entire transaction,
00:30:28and I think Brian's a good young coach, but we'll see with this roster,
00:30:31is that he got to bring his dad, Bill Callion, along, left Cleveland,
00:30:35joined his son in Tennessee, and we know, you know,
00:30:37as good a line coach as there ever was, ever is, has been, whatever.
00:30:42But they're a team that just, and think about what they did in the offseason, Will.
00:30:46Ton of money on Calvin Ridley out of nowhere.
00:30:49There was supposedly the Patriots and the Jags,
00:30:51and they come in and blow everybody out of the water.
00:30:53It's essentially a two-year deal, but $50 million guaranteed.
00:30:58Then they can do whatever they want after that.
00:31:01LeJarius Sneed, they make the deal there, pay him a ton of money.
00:31:04Signed Tyler Boyd, who's, you know, on the back end, but as their slot guy,
00:31:09they obviously already brought in DeAndre Hopkins last year, paid him big money,
00:31:14signed Lloyd Cushenberry to a big contract.
00:31:16Like, they've thrown a ton of money at their problems,
00:31:19except I don't know that it's enough to move them off the 6-11 total
00:31:23that they were last year.
00:31:25Yeah, like the Titans are a weird one, because if you look at the defense,
00:31:31big-time names, right?
00:31:33You see, you know, you see Jeffrey Simmons, who's franchise stalwart,
00:31:36awesome, you know, awesome player.
00:31:38Harold Landry's obviously, you know, a guy that's had some really nice moments
00:31:41in the NFL.
00:31:42LeJarius Sneed, who was one of the best corners in the league.
00:31:45I love McCreary, come out of college.
00:31:47Obviously, he has not been the same player, but, you know,
00:31:49they signed Quandre Diggs, Amadi Hooker.
00:31:51Jamal Adams?
00:31:53Jamal Adams.
00:31:54Shadobi Awuzieh.
00:31:55Like, they draft Jarvis Brownlee, who I really like.
00:31:57They draft Devandre Sweat, who, you know, is an incredible player.
00:32:00We'll see if he's able to play three downs or stay healthy or whatever.
00:32:04You know, on the offensive side of the football, like Hopkins, Boyd,
00:32:07you know, and Ridley, it's a pretty formidable unit.
00:32:10Obviously, you would have liked that trio about four years ago.
00:32:13Yeah.
00:32:14More so than now, and, you know, obviously Hopkins has the injury.
00:32:16We'll see with Ridley, you know, second full year back,
00:32:19some of the drops go away.
00:32:20Does he look a little bit more like the player?
00:32:22I thought he had some nice moments last year.
00:32:24He did.
00:32:25He also had a ton of drops and really struggled in the first half.
00:32:27The second half of the year got much better.
00:32:29Their use – the Jacks have those uses of him was bizarre.
00:32:31It was bizarre.
00:32:32You got to move him a little bit.
00:32:33Don't just line him up at X and say that's where you're going to be.
00:32:36You have to utilize him in different ways.
00:32:38And Boyd's obviously a solid player.
00:32:39They obviously lose Derrick Henry.
00:32:41That's kind of the biggest thing is Tony Pollard, second year back,
00:32:44you know, from the injury.
00:32:45Does he look a little bit more like the player?
00:32:46You know, we kind of all thought he was trending towards being.
00:32:49Offensive line-wise, J.C. Latham, unfortunately, lifts off of practice today.
00:32:52We'll see the update there, but, you know, Latham, you know,
00:32:55under Bill Callahan and, you know, as he mentioned,
00:32:58kind of brings in that Bengals, you know, kind of offensive scheme there.
00:33:01Obviously, Boyd obviously is familiar.
00:33:02They bring in Cushenberry.
00:33:03I thought that was a nice signing.
00:33:04Skowronski in year three.
00:33:05Like, you know, there's a lot.
00:33:07Year two, I apologize.
00:33:08There's a lot there that on paper you say, like, all right, like game to game,
00:33:12you got a shot pretty much against anybody.
00:33:15The thing that, again, and I've said this about probably five of the eight teams
00:33:19we've done so far, unfortunately, is like the Titans leaving, you know, 2024.
00:33:24I think the expectation is probably seven or eight wins, it feels like.
00:33:28And you get to sneak to nine in the playoffs if the AFC is weaker.
00:33:31Can you not follow the bottom fallout and be a five-win team
00:33:34and everyone getting hurt and stuff like that?
00:33:36You know, it comes down to Will Levis.
00:33:38And, you know, Mayo commercials aside and things,
00:33:41I thought Levis had some really nice moments last year.
00:33:43And I also thought he had some moments where, like,
00:33:45the guy that the reason he fell in the draft, it was, like,
00:33:47kind of the same kind of same crap.
00:33:49So, the arm look is awesome.
00:33:51We know he's got a big arm.
00:33:52We know he's athletic.
00:33:53We know he's a big macho, you know, tough guy, you know,
00:33:56got different types of quarterbacks.
00:33:58Which endeared the hell out of him to his former coach.
00:34:00Yeah.
00:34:01And to that locker room.
00:34:02The locker room loves him.
00:34:03But to your point, is he good enough?
00:34:06Is he good enough?
00:34:07And this is a division that has – is one of the most exciting
00:34:10quarterback divisions, I think, if not the most exciting,
00:34:13going into 24 of Stroud year two, Richardson year two,
00:34:17Levis year two, and then Trevor Lawrence, who just got paid,
00:34:20which we'll get to in a moment.
00:34:21But it's just an interesting division.
00:34:23And I think – do I think the Titans are going to be bad?
00:34:27No.
00:34:28I think the Titans are going to lose a lot of games 23-16 or, you know,
00:34:3327-20 and things like that.
00:34:35They're probably a team that I think will be, again, in a lot of games.
00:34:37But we've already seen, you know, injuries start to happen, you know,
00:34:40with D-hop and different things.
00:34:42Traylon Burks is obviously – seems like – I mean,
00:34:44I'd be shocked if he's even – if he's not moved at some point.
00:34:47We're in the –
00:34:48Very concerned category.
00:34:50Yes, the close to bust category at this point.
00:34:52Yeah.
00:34:53So, I just – the Titans are just a team that I think is very interesting,
00:34:56but they don't have one of the first-round top 10 quarterbacks.
00:34:59So, that's not really as much of the conversation.
00:35:01But, yeah, I think they're going to be competitive.
00:35:04I just think that they're probably a year away.
00:35:07And my worry is a lot of the roster is instant fix.
00:35:11And I don't – it's just a weird timeline.
00:35:15It feels like, hey, man, like Hopkins, Boyd, Ridley, Tony Pollard.
00:35:21Tony Pollard.
00:35:22Yeah.
00:35:23Quantri Diggs and Jamal Adams.
00:35:25Jamal Adams and Quantri Diggs, like 2022 season, you're like, whoa, man,
00:35:29like this team might win the division.
00:35:31Now it's like, hey, man, can they win eight games?
00:35:33So, yeah, I'm just – I'm not super high on the Titans.
00:35:35Again, not super low.
00:35:36I'm not expecting them to be a top-five team picking the draft again.
00:35:40Again, they get – Levis looks good and J.C. Latham looks awesome.
00:35:44And they get some – you know, Cymatric Sweats, you know,
00:35:46goes back to the player he was as an All-American 12 months ago.
00:35:49You're like, oh, all right.
00:35:50I like where this team's headed.
00:35:52But there is a very real possibility J.C. Latham is the high floor,
00:35:56low ceiling guy.
00:35:57You know, Levis is – kind of feels like a high ceiling, low floor guy as well.
00:36:02Like there's just – there's a little concern for me of like this thing could
00:36:06be a potential disaster.
00:36:08But it might be better than expected.
00:36:10I'm kind of indifferent on the Titans personally.
00:36:12Yeah.
00:36:13I mean, I'm going to be real interested to follow this.
00:36:15I spent a lot of time with them over the – in my previous lifetime
00:36:19at the NFL Network.
00:36:20And, you know, Vrabel obviously loomed over that entire organization
00:36:23but did such a good job of making them incredibly competitive week in
00:36:28and week out and built a sort of brand of the toughness of the kind of player
00:36:31that he wanted there.
00:36:32Wow.
00:36:33This – so we're going to – J.J. McCarthy is out for the 2024 season.
00:36:37Well, there you go.
00:36:39So –
00:36:40Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off.
00:36:41No, no, no, no.
00:36:44Yeah, no.
00:36:45So let me just say this quickly.
00:36:46I'll say this very quickly about Carthon, what they're building now.
00:36:50It seems like nothing like what they did with Vrabel,
00:36:53and I'm not really sure what the identity of the football team is supposed to be.
00:36:58They had a clear identity under Vrabel.
00:37:00Now it seems it's very scattershot.
00:37:02And when it comes to Levis, I spent a lot of time watching them
00:37:05because I kind of like them coming out of college.
00:37:08And as I watched his stuff back from last year, you know,
00:37:11you mentioned he had his movements – moments rather.
00:37:14But, like, he in the pocket was kind of a disaster.
00:37:19He wanted to throw deep all the time,
00:37:21yet they didn't have the offensive line to protect him.
00:37:26A lot of short stuff, nothing in between.
00:37:28So it was deep or dump off, and that sort of middle of the field,
00:37:32that sort of 10 to 15-yard, 20-yard range, he didn't throw the ball there.
00:37:37And I don't know if that's how they designed it.
00:37:40I mean, I certainly saw, as I'm watching, I saw routes in those areas,
00:37:43whether they were the first or second reads, I don't know.
00:37:46But he didn't go there.
00:37:48And I don't – his pocket presence,
00:37:50which was a real concern coming out of Kentucky, I thought was awful.
00:37:53And I think it's why he took a lot of hits and took a lot of sacks.
00:37:56So that's – there's a lot riding on him.
00:38:00And, look, the one thing you can say is, unlike some of these other teams,
00:38:05they decided we're going to give him a lot of offensive skill players.
00:38:10That's a pretty good receiver room, even if it's an old receiver room.
00:38:13And see if he's got it.
00:38:15And maybe he doesn't, or maybe he does, and then you realize
00:38:17that's the guy we're going to build around for the next five to ten years.
00:38:20But that's very interesting.
00:38:22Will, you love in the summertime – I know you – you love to go to Yankees games.
00:38:25I'm not going to hold it against you.
00:38:27It's a nice park, the team I can live without.
00:38:29But whatever, you're that guy.
00:38:31Who do you use?
00:38:33Do you use anybody in particular when you need your tickets
00:38:35and you want to find that best seat?
00:38:37Maybe the day of, you're like, oh, man, I got time.
00:38:39I got to go to a game.
00:38:40It's beautiful out.
00:38:41Me and the girl, we're going to go to the game.
00:38:43No, for me right now, it's GameTime app.
00:38:45It's incredibly easy to use, incredibly efficient.
00:38:49You find some of the best seats and some of the best deals on the market
00:38:52for whether you're going to Yankees, Red Sox, or any type of sport.
00:38:56Yeah, it's funny.
00:38:57My daughter keeps saying, when are we going to a game?
00:38:58When are we going to a game?
00:38:59I'm like, well, let me get the app.
00:39:00We put the app.
00:39:01We go, bam, we're done.
00:39:02It's so simple.
00:39:03It's so easy.
00:39:04The interface is just fantastic.
00:39:05You want to use that GameTime.co.
00:39:09Last-minute deals.
00:39:10Save up to 60% off buying last-minute for sports, concerts, comedy,
00:39:14theater, whatever you need.
00:39:16GameTime's got it.
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00:39:20Download the GameTime app, create an account,
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00:39:31Download the GameTime app today.
00:39:33Last-minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed.
00:39:35You want to jump in quickly on the McCarthy thing?
00:39:38Yeah, I mentioned it before, and we don't need to get too much more on it.
00:39:42This sucks.
00:39:43It's unfortunate.
00:39:45I think he had a successful surgery from all reports.
00:39:50He had a full meniscus tear.
00:39:52Full meniscus tear.
00:39:55Again, I want to just reiterate what I said earlier.
00:39:57I think the biggest thing for McCarthy this year was quarterback-friendly
00:40:01coach, quarterback-friendly offense, talent, et cetera.
00:40:04He always felt like Darnold would probably play the first six to eight,
00:40:07maybe ten games this year.
00:40:08But McCarthy losing an entire year just stinks.
00:40:12I just think from a development perspective.
00:40:14Now you're not even practicing.
00:40:15Now this is like a full –
00:40:17It becomes a lost year, yeah.
00:40:20It's a lost year, and it's a guy who needed to develop.
00:40:22So it's a shame for the Vikings.
00:40:23It's a shame for him.
00:40:24I think the Vikings – again, maybe I'm wrong here,
00:40:27but I think they were kind of all in on like this is a bridge year.
00:40:30Can we either figure out McCarthy or do we find Argeno Smith
00:40:34and Sam Darnold or whatever?
00:40:35Now it's all in on Sam, and I hope he does well.
00:40:39Sam's probably my biggest miss ever in a draft.
00:40:42So it's just a shame for JJ, and I just –
00:40:45I was hoping maybe four to six weeks he's back practicing week three.
00:40:49Now it's unfortunate.
00:40:51That's an injury that's very popular, obviously.
00:40:54It's not anything that we don't see –
00:40:56people see in their day-to-day lives too.
00:40:58But it's always a surgery, and you always worry just how quickly
00:41:01does he come back, the confidence in the knee.
00:41:03So shame for McCarthy and Vikings fans as a whole.
00:41:06Yeah, it's a bummer because I definitely think at some point
00:41:09we were going to see him this year, certainly not at the start,
00:41:11but definitely down the road.
00:41:15The idea of him building chemistry with Justin Jefferson, who's only 25,
00:41:18and Jordan Addison, who obviously had a terrific rookie year last year.
00:41:23Yeah, it's unfortunate.
00:41:26And now you wonder for the Vikings, bridge year this year,
00:41:30maybe next year becomes a bridge year too because you've got to figure out
00:41:33if McCarthy can do this or not.
00:41:36All right, let's move on.
00:41:38As you say, we're a little indifferent about the Titans.
00:41:40Like I said, I am curious about what the hell the plan is there.
00:41:43The roster build is odd.
00:41:45But Jacksonville, I think you and I both feel like is the third-best team
00:41:48in this division, and that's not a knock because they'll be in the mix
00:41:52for a playoff spot.
00:41:53They were 9-8 last year.
00:41:55They were 10th overall in DVOA, 10th on defense, 18th on offense.
00:41:59And I guess that's where I would start, Will.
00:42:01And the question I wrote for myself is, does this offense, not the quarterback,
00:42:07does this offense low-key suck?
00:42:11Okay?
00:42:12Doug Peterson got a ton of credit for coming in, being an adult in the room
00:42:17after the Urban Meyer thing, settling down.
00:42:19I mean, what was it?
00:42:20Just a complete wasted year for Trevor Lawrence.
00:42:22His rookie year was a complete disaster.
00:42:24With Urban in charge and did a nice job of sort of getting him on track.
00:42:29But as you watch this offense and the way he likes to play offense,
00:42:32I feel like there are not a ton of answers in his offense.
00:42:37And for someone who was a quarterback for a long time in this league
00:42:41and for someone who coached under guys like Andy Reid,
00:42:44he's from the Andy tree, right?
00:42:46I don't love the design of their offense.
00:42:49I don't love the makeup of their offense.
00:42:52And then when you think about what they did in the offseason,
00:42:56they drafted Brian Thomas in the first round.
00:42:58I like Brian Thomas.
00:42:59I think Brian Thomas has a chance to be a really good player for them.
00:43:02Long, fast, outside receiver.
00:43:05Did great work with Jaden Daniels at LSU.
00:43:08They gave Gabe Davis a ton of money.
00:43:11Gabe Davis replaces Zay Jones with a cut.
00:43:15Cut or trade, whatever.
00:43:16It doesn't matter.
00:43:17He's not there anymore.
00:43:18Gabe Davis has never really gone to that next place.
00:43:22And he was in an offense that was hoping that he would get to the next place
00:43:25in Buffalo and playing with a guy, Josh Allen, who liked him a lot.
00:43:29I mean, the Bills, they had some cap issues, obviously.
00:43:32Couldn't resign everybody,
00:43:33but they made absolutely zero effort to retain Gabe Davis's services.
00:43:37And then to shore up their offensive line,
00:43:39which has been a problem for Trevor Lawrence,
00:43:42a big signing is Mitch Morse.
00:43:44And again, Mitch Morse is an incredibly intelligent player.
00:43:48He's still got some juice left in the tank.
00:43:51He's not Mitch Morse all pro, but he could solidify things for them.
00:43:56But again, it's like, is that enough?
00:43:58I don't think that's enough for what they've done.
00:44:01And I just think, again, it'll all fall on Lawrence.
00:44:04They'll look at Lawrence.
00:44:05They just gave him the big extension and people will say he sucks.
00:44:08I just don't think they have enough answers for him.
00:44:11And I don't think they do enough stuff to highlight his athleticism.
00:44:15I mean, I think he's a dynamic athlete, not Lamar Jackson dynamic,
00:44:19Kyler Murray dynamic, but he's a damn good athlete.
00:44:22Let him do some of that stuff.
00:44:24They haven't.
00:44:25And I think it's kind of showed.
00:44:26I think he's sort of, I don't want to say he's stagnated,
00:44:29but he's not become the guy that we thought he was going to be.
00:44:32And I guess my final point on that would be,
00:44:35it kind of feels eerily similar to what the Colts did with Andrew Luck.
00:44:40And when you think about it, luck came out,
00:44:43best quarterback prospect since who knows what.
00:44:46And then when Lawrence came out seven, eight years later,
00:44:48what were we saying?
00:44:49Well, it's the best quarterback prospect since luck.
00:44:52And luck did a nice job of elevating the Colts,
00:44:55but never had enough around him and certainly not enough in front of him.
00:44:58The offensive line was always a problem there and he got hurt
00:45:01and he got hurt again and he got hurt again and then said,
00:45:04I can't do this anymore and stepped off the treadmill.
00:45:06Lawrence has been hurt quite a bit now.
00:45:08Last year really impacted him multiple injuries.
00:45:11And I just wonder, are they doing enough?
00:45:14Like the Colts just didn't do enough.
00:45:16And then we're going to look back on this five years from now,
00:45:1810 years from now and say, how did they screw that up?
00:45:21How did they screw up Trevor Lawrence?
00:45:22Because he was too good to screw up.
00:45:24Yeah.
00:45:25The Jaguars are just a weird one where like,
00:45:27I feel like last year everyone was expecting, again,
00:45:29we talked about this with Herbert and I have this weird, not weird theory,
00:45:33but if the Chargers win that game, instead of blowing that big lead,
00:45:37are we talking about Trevor Lawrence in a very, oh man,
00:45:41the four picks and the, what a bad home playoff loss.
00:45:44You lost to the Chargers and the whole thing.
00:45:46And then we talk about the opposite.
00:45:49Oh, Trevor won a playoff game and they almost beat Mahomes when he had,
00:45:52you know, on the, on the ankle and the whole thing.
00:45:54And it's like, yeah, they lost 24, 17.
00:45:56It was 24, 10, most of the game.
00:45:58They couldn't beat an unhealthy Mahomes.
00:46:00They paid Josh Pallant, Josh Huntsdown.
00:46:02I apologize.
00:46:03And, you know, he's awesome.
00:46:04He's Panda.
00:46:05He's turned into an even better,
00:46:07probably than the player anyone could have expected.
00:46:08They trade for Eric Armstead, who I think is a good player.
00:46:12I think the name carries a little bit more weight than the numbers and
00:46:15production may suggest, but he's obviously still a very good player.
00:46:19Give him a bunch of money.
00:46:20You know, Aloy Afulkan, Alokan is awesome.
00:46:24The defense should be pretty good.
00:46:26I think the defense is in a pretty good spot where I don't know if they're a
00:46:30top five or top 10 unit, but they're at least league average,
00:46:33if not a little bit better.
00:46:36Offensively, you know, Sheriff was a big sign a couple of years ago.
00:46:39Miss Morris, they gave Arizona or Cleveland a bunch of money.
00:46:43And he was second half of last year.
00:46:45Cleveland was bad.
00:46:47He was bad.
00:46:48It was worth it.
00:46:49It was worth the gamble.
00:46:50Well, so, you know, and actually just to interject,
00:46:53their offensive line right now as constructed,
00:46:57guys are either being paid top 15 money at the position or were drafted in the
00:47:02first round.
00:47:03Like that's the investment that they have in there, but it feels like.
00:47:06They haven't necessarily got the right guys.
00:47:08Mis-evaluation, mis-allocation of funds or whatever you want to say that,
00:47:12yeah, they haven't gotten the right guys.
00:47:13Yeah.
00:47:14And then at the receiver spot, you mentioned it.
00:47:16Brian Thomas, I liked a lot.
00:47:18I haven't seen a single tweet or a single thing about Brian Thomas the
00:47:22entire summer.
00:47:23Like I don't, I don't.
00:47:24There are only like three people that cover the Jaguars.
00:47:27Yeah.
00:47:28So it's a little.
00:47:29God love them.
00:47:30I love them all.
00:47:31It's like, it's, it's a small market.
00:47:32It's a small market.
00:47:33It's just been a little bit of weird.
00:47:34I just haven't seen too much, you know, Brian Thomas hype,
00:47:38which usually these guys get hyped up, you know,
00:47:40one way or another when they're rookies.
00:47:41So it'd be interesting to see if they get in games.
00:47:43They have some nice fringe guys, right?
00:47:45Gabe Davis is a wide receiver, two and a half, three.
00:47:47You'd feel better about than as a, you know, it's a true too.
00:47:50Christian Kirk, same thing.
00:47:51Evan Ingram, obviously.
00:47:53And Travis said ETN, like both good players.
00:47:56And I think in different respects have been, you know, good players.
00:47:59I just think this team just like screams middle of the pack.
00:48:01I just think they're like an eight or nine or, you know,
00:48:04Lawrence is awesome next year.
00:48:05They're a 10 win team.
00:48:06Lawrence is fine and a good player.
00:48:08They're probably an eight or nine win team.
00:48:09And like Doug, he's a good coach.
00:48:11I don't think he's like the best coach in the league.
00:48:13I think he's not by no means anywhere near the bottom.
00:48:16He's just, he's good.
00:48:17He is who he is.
00:48:18He kind of seems like when he gets to places,
00:48:20they have a really big jump early on and then it starts to fade a bit.
00:48:23You know,
00:48:24it's obviously not two spots where it's kind of seen a similar thing,
00:48:27a little different.
00:48:28Obviously the Jackson win the title,
00:48:29but kind of kind of get out of favor quickly and Philly there.
00:48:32And like I said, I just, they just scream like they're good.
00:48:36They're fine.
00:48:37Like they're a team that could beat anybody and frankly lose to anybody.
00:48:41And we saw that last year.
00:48:42So yeah, I, I think Titan,
00:48:44the Titans are pushing for the, to get to that Jags third spot.
00:48:47And I just,
00:48:48I feel like there's a lot more with Indian Houston than there is with
00:48:51Jacksonville. I don't, I know.
00:48:52Again, I, we could see this leap from Trevor Lawrence this year.
00:48:55He stays healthy.
00:48:56You know, they get really good product.
00:48:57They get the good Gabe Davis and you know,
00:48:59and they lost Calvin Ridley, but Brian Thomas steps in and Hey,
00:49:03this different dynamic dynamism and defense is a top 10 unit.
00:49:07And Doug P figures out and they went 10 or 11 games.
00:49:09I just lean towards like, they're kind of feel like a 500 team,
00:49:12a little above 500.
00:49:13And they're one of those teams that for all the hype 12 months ago,
00:49:18it's now all with the Texans and kind of feel like people are just
00:49:22forgetting about the Jags, whether there'll be right or wrong.
00:49:24We'll see. But I, I don't,
00:49:26I just, I feel that feel eight or nine wins. I don't, I don't, again,
00:49:30that's, that's kind of where I'm landing with them.
00:49:31I keep coming back to, I don't see that ceiling, you know, being as high as,
00:49:35you know, maybe others do.
00:49:36Yeah. I, I, again,
00:49:37I I'm a little lower on Peterson as a coach than you and not that you're
00:49:40shouting him as something great.
00:49:42I wonder if this year and being that sort of tread water, eight, nine,
00:49:47nine and 18, if they don't look at it and say, okay, thank you.
00:49:51We appreciate you taking us out of the dark days of urban Meyer.
00:49:54But now we've got to go find somebody who maybe aligns a little bit more
00:49:59with, with what Trevor is about,
00:50:01what we think Trevor can be about and that's what the decision they make and,
00:50:04and move on.
00:50:08Now we go to the interesting part of this because there's a team we're about
00:50:11to talk about right now that is getting a ton of buzz nationally.
00:50:15And I got to tell you initially, well, I was riding. I was a little bit on it.
00:50:19I was like, oh, I could get on that. I could get on that train.
00:50:22And the more I've dug into it, I'm not, I'm not going there,
00:50:26but I think you are. That's the Indianapolis Colts quickly last year,
00:50:30nine and eight with Gardner Minshew,
00:50:32essentially playing quarterback for a better part of the season,
00:50:3420th and DVO a 13th offensively 20th defensively.
00:50:40And to me, and this is sort of a similar conversation we had about a lot of
00:50:45these teams, the quarterback, do you,
00:50:48will Parkinson believe in Anthony Richardson who is getting a ton of love?
00:50:55We haven't really seen very much of Anthony Richardson as an NFL quarterback
00:50:59and he's entering year two.
00:51:01Yeah. The Colts. I'm,
00:51:03I I'm really struggling with this division on whether I go Colts or Texans. I,
00:51:07I felt like I wanted to go Colts for a while because I felt like last year
00:51:10Shane Steichen really impressed me. Like I felt really good.
00:51:13And I felt like even more impressive to me was how bad Philly became without
00:51:18Shane Steichen and how much Jalen Hurts injured or not did not look like the
00:51:21same player. Sirianni didn't look like the same coach,
00:51:25even the production outside of guys other than AJ Brown was not the same.
00:51:27It was like even the offensive line, I know they lost in pieces or got older,
00:51:30et cetera. Like even they didn't look as good. So I was like, damn,
00:51:33like Shane Steichen really must've been that guy.
00:51:37And then you look and like, they were really smoky last year. You know,
00:51:40obviously you got some great, you know,
00:51:42a great year out of Zaire Franklin and you know, these guys and you know,
00:51:46DeForest Buckner is still there. The defense has got,
00:51:48the defense isn't great to be honest. Like I,
00:51:50I feel like they're kind of a by committee group. You know,
00:51:52they're good at linebacker. The spine of that defense is good outside.
00:51:55I don't feel particularly awesome. I mean, Kenny Moore is a great player.
00:51:59Like there's no doubt. And things like that.
00:52:02The reason I think to be high on the Colts is with the,
00:52:06with the, with Gardner Minshew, with all the quarterback issues,
00:52:09and in division last year, that was good.
00:52:12They should very much have beaten that Texans team.
00:52:14Like whether one drop away and you know,
00:52:17the offensive line returned to being really good. And it was like, Hey,
00:52:21Quinn Nelson had that one year where it was like, see, does that happen anymore?
00:52:25Yeah. And then he's awesome again. And you know,
00:52:27you just like to look at that group and you feel really good. And you know,
00:52:30Jonathan Taylor last year to hold out and he wasn't the same player.
00:52:32Like you expect him to be much more of the Jonathan Taylor from two years ago.
00:52:36I think Pittman's awesome.
00:52:38Al Pierce feels like he's going to take a step.
00:52:39A.B. Mitchell is a really interesting one. I think this team,
00:52:44if they win the division, we'll be talking about, wow,
00:52:45Richardson made that leap and he, you know, or he just played frankly,
00:52:49cause he missed pretty much all of last year. You know? And I, again, I don't,
00:52:53you know, Joe Flacco maybe has some juice,
00:52:55who knows if he misses a game or two,
00:52:57but I think the athleticism of Richardson is what excites you. Can they be,
00:53:01can he be like, you know,
00:53:03he's all the running and the big arm and all this stuff. And you know,
00:53:06Pittman's obviously a great possession receiver.
00:53:08A.D. Mitchell is as polarizing as a receiver prospect.
00:53:12I talked to some people around the Colts around draft time.
00:53:15They took A.D. Mitchell and they were like, we couldn't believe we got him.
00:53:18Like he, this guy was, we wanted this guy. This guy fits what we have.
00:53:21Him, Pierce and Pittman should be this great trio.
00:53:24And then you talk to other teams and they're like,
00:53:26wouldn't have taken that dude in the seventh round, let alone in the first round.
00:53:30So it's just an interesting one.
00:53:32I just think that it's very easy to take the Colts as the division winners and
00:53:36say, Hey, Houston overachieved last year.
00:53:38Indy's going to get this bump from Richardson and they have a great coach and
00:53:42all this different stuff. But then you really look deeper and you're like,
00:53:45they might really be the second team. So I'm,
00:53:47I'm now going to change on the fly here. The more I talk through the Colts,
00:53:52the more I get concerned, but on the, like the face of it,
00:53:55I want them and I think they're going to be good.
00:53:57I just don't know how good they're going to be.
00:53:59And it feels like maybe they're a wild card team more so than a division
00:54:03winner.
00:54:04I mean, just with Richardson. And again,
00:54:07I think when you saw him last year in the preseason and then the limited time
00:54:12we got to see him in the regular season,
00:54:15the thing that plagued him and concerned people at the university of Florida was
00:54:18sort of the scattershot accuracy and the accuracy looked a lot better in the pro
00:54:22game. That said,
00:54:24he threw for 144 yards per game before he got hurt again, didn't play.
00:54:28There's the sample size is very small, 36 yards on average,
00:54:32running the football. He doesn't scramble to run, which I give him credit for.
00:54:36I think a lot of those guys that are those sort of freak athletes,
00:54:38like the easy thing to do would just be to like, Oh,
00:54:41I'm not going to wait this out.
00:54:42I'm just going to put it under my arm and I'm better,
00:54:44a better athlete than 95% of the guys on the field.
00:54:47And I'm just going to go make people miss.
00:54:50Obviously the, the problem with that is,
00:54:51is you're the most important guy on the field and we can't expose you to
00:54:55getting too many hits because it does add up. I will say his, you know,
00:55:00the shoulder injury was kind of freaky last year that cost him,
00:55:03the ended up costing him a season. Even the, even the concussion,
00:55:06he tried to tuck, duck and roll in the end zone and he hit his head on the turf
00:55:10and the tuck, tuck and roll, like trying to protect himself. And he,
00:55:15it unfortunate. Right. But he's got to take a massive leap.
00:55:19Mitchell is sort of the X factor in here because obviously with the arm and the
00:55:23skillset that Richardson possesses,
00:55:27they were hoping Pierce was going to be the explosive outside guy that hasn't
00:55:30happened yet. Mitchell brings a certain different element,
00:55:35a little bit more pure speed there. And, but it's obviously still a big guy,
00:55:38big target. If they can somehow incorporate that in their game,
00:55:41that'll loosen things up for Pittman underneath. And I mean,
00:55:43that's where he does his work,
00:55:45but give him maybe a little bit more room or maybe a little bit more space in
00:55:49there to run after catch.
00:55:52A lot of times he's catching the ball and he's going down cause they're just
00:55:54two guys hawking him.
00:55:56Well, he might be in situations where if they can get someone on the outside
00:55:59playing better,
00:56:00that that loosens things up for him and gives them a little bit more run.
00:56:02Cause I think he's a better athlete. Look, he got paid.
00:56:05He got paid for a reason. He's a good player,
00:56:07but I think there might be another level for him.
00:56:09The last thing I wanted to mention about these guys is for as good as
00:56:12Steichen is,
00:56:14I have never been a fan of Gus Bradley's defenses.
00:56:18They are the classic. We do what we do.
00:56:21And there is a split. Yeah. And there's, you kind of,
00:56:26they never really bottom out. Like I think there is a,
00:56:29they did when he was in Jacksonville, but he wasn't cut out to be a head coach.
00:56:31But just in terms of as a coordinator,
00:56:33like there's a certain level of quality of play you get from his teams,
00:56:37but I never feel like they go to the next place. And then when you look at,
00:56:41I think their secondary is a little bit weak, especially a corner.
00:56:43What did they do? They didn't add anybody.
00:56:46They're just kind of rolling with what they had. You know,
00:56:48they were interested in Sneed.
00:56:49They didn't pull the trigger on that deal because Chris Ballard doesn't tend
00:56:52to like to make these sorts of big deals.
00:56:54He's a big draft and develop guy.
00:56:56And he feels to me like he's skated a little bit here,
00:56:59maybe with some of his approach to building this thing.
00:57:03And then Samson Ekubom,
00:57:05who had not enough sacks last year blew out his Achilles right at the start of
00:57:08camp. So that's a big loss. I mean, he was,
00:57:12he was a good player for them last year.
00:57:14Quiddy Pei has been on up and up.
00:57:16They drafted Latu in the first round from UCLA. By all accounts,
00:57:19he's looked very good.
00:57:20I was going to say everything you hear is he's been a demon during camp.
00:57:23Just the big problem there is the medicals, right?
00:57:25It's the reason why he was at, he, based on his, his tape,
00:57:29he's a top 10 player. Like just his production,
00:57:32his overall tape has polished a pass rusher.
00:57:35Not even as like he was by far and away the most polished pass rusher,
00:57:39the best one in this draft,
00:57:41but the injuries led some teams to pull him off the board completely.
00:57:45They roll the dice on this. If it hits, it's great.
00:57:47Cause he, he, he's certainly a good player.
00:57:49I just wonder how long can he be a good player for this team?
00:57:52And so they might have some bodies to fill that spot, but I just,
00:57:56I wonder about the overall construction of their team.
00:58:00And I do, I fear the team that every,
00:58:03maybe from covering this for a million years,
00:58:05when the hype train gets rolling like this for a team before the season starts,
00:58:10I have this tendency to be like, eh, I don't know. I don't know.
00:58:14It feels like we've, we've decided that we're going to be the smart people.
00:58:16And this is a team we're going to pick to be better than you think.
00:58:19And then when we get into it, you're like, you know,
00:58:20the flaws that we knew they had that we decided to overlook because of the
00:58:25potential of this player, that player, this thing, that thing,
00:58:28they usually come to fruition. So, um,
00:58:32See, I feel, I agree with you, but I feel like I, I agree in a sense,
00:58:38because I feel like this with the Texans and the Colts.
00:58:41And I think for different reasons, I think the Colts, as I mentioned,
00:58:43like I contemplated, I might pick them for the division, right?
00:58:46I think that's probably maybe a step too far.
00:58:48Maybe I'll end up being right in the end,
00:58:49but the Texans are a team where I feel like we've jumped to they're right
00:58:53behind Kansas city. They're neck and neck of Kansas city.
00:58:56They're already better than, you know,
00:58:58Buffalo and Miami and the jets and they're definitely better than the Bangles
00:59:01and the Ravens and the Steelers. Like I'm not there with the Texans. I'm,
00:59:06I think they're the class of the division.
00:59:08I think it'd be a big time disappointment if they didn't win the division.
00:59:11I think that Stroud in 2023 was awesome. I think he was,
00:59:16he was awesome based on the expectations, because I think again,
00:59:19it was the second pick. There was the, you know, stupid, you know,
00:59:22wonder like test stuff and all that different,
00:59:25those different types of things.
00:59:28They did beat Joe Flack on the Browns at home in the playoffs by a lot.
00:59:31And then kind of got steamrolled by the Ravens.
00:59:33It was closer than it really probably was. And they overachieved, but I don't
00:59:37know.
00:59:38I watched the Texans in person last year with a couple of injuries after tank
00:59:40that went down and like CJ strapped it for 80 yards and they got steamrolled
00:59:43by Zach Wilson really badly.
00:59:45And so I just worry a little bit with the Texans are,
00:59:49we jumped a little too far into like they're one of the contenders in the
00:59:54AFC. I expect them to probably be likely the three seed.
00:59:57It's not the four seed in the AFC. Like I think they're going to be a good team.
01:00:01And I think they have potential. If Stroud takes that true,
01:00:05I'm a legit top five guy. And like, this is not just a 10 game,
01:00:0912 game stretch. Like I'm awesome.
01:00:11And digs is at least some of what he's been the last five years and tank does
01:00:15stays healthy and tonsil stays the same. And you know,
01:00:19all those different things. And D'Amico's defense is as good as it's supposed to
01:00:22be. And Will Anderson, second year jump. And Daniel Hunter, like on,
01:00:26on paper, this team is awesome. Like there is no question.
01:00:29And I'm not debating that they're not going to be like,
01:00:31they're going to be a playoff team and they're going to be really damn good.
01:00:34I just, we jumped, are they like everyone's sexy Buffalo bills,
01:00:382021 pick, like see, they're any better than Kansas city. And it's like,
01:00:42how did you jump? Right. How did you get there?
01:00:47Yeah, I think it's a little, yeah, no, I think it's a great point. And I,
01:00:52it's different when no one expects anything of you and no one expected
01:00:56anything of Houston. The preseason Stroud wasn't great in the preseason.
01:01:00In fact, I saw him that first week and you're like, Ooh,
01:01:03he's got a ways to go. Well,
01:01:05it turned out he had one of the best rookie seasons a quarterback's had in
01:01:08some time. Yeah.
01:01:09People mentioned in the same breath with Dan Marino through like 48 touchdown
01:01:13passes back in the day, which still outrageous for a league.
01:01:17It wasn't as advanced throwing the football than as they are now by far.
01:01:23But now they're going to be a team that everybody circles and not teams are
01:01:26going to put guys are going to put a little extra into CJ Stroud and Nico
01:01:30Collins. Oh, these are the, these are the guys. Well, I want,
01:01:36I'm the guy. So, you know, like I'm going to have,
01:01:38I need to have my best game today to prove to you, I'm going to be on there.
01:01:41You know, now all of a sudden they're a national TV team.
01:01:43They weren't that last year, right?
01:01:45They're getting big time spotlight shown on them and they're going to get,
01:01:51you just get that little extra. I mean, all those years, you know,
01:01:54it like in the league Patriots, all those years, like that game,
01:01:58that Patriots game you play, it doesn't matter who you're playing.
01:02:00Like when the jets stunk, that's a big game for the jets, you know, like,
01:02:04Oh, you know, we, we can be Brady. If we can be Brady, you know,
01:02:07like the program turned in the right direction. Oh, if I pick off Brady,
01:02:10if I lock up Julian Edelman, Wes Welker, Randy Moss, like,
01:02:13what does that do for me? You know, like,
01:02:15how do people start viewing me as a player?
01:02:17So I think they're going to get a lot of that and it'll challenge Tomiko
01:02:21Ryan. And I think he's a, he's a really bright guy.
01:02:23I think you saw that last year. I think he's obviously from all accounts,
01:02:27a terrific leader and Nick Casario willing to bet on his leadership trading
01:02:33for digs who,
01:02:34despite being incredibly targeted over the last two years was constantly
01:02:39unhappy.
01:02:40And then they sort of did phase them out late last season in terms of the
01:02:43offense, but willing to bring him in here, rip up the deal of one year,
01:02:47make good. So digs is going to want to touch us.
01:02:49Niko Collins may be the number one tank Dell actually may be their best
01:02:53receiver tank was freaking awesome. And he's,
01:02:56I think he's a terrific player, just same thing.
01:02:58He's going to have to stay healthy. He's not the biggest guy.
01:03:01So is what's,
01:03:02what's going to happen then when digs has a game where he's not targeted,
01:03:05he always talks about the idea of like, Oh, I just want to win.
01:03:08Well,
01:03:09you're probably going to win some games there where you're not even remotely a
01:03:13part of the offense. You know, you're, you're an afterthought.
01:03:15I think if you watch tape of the bills last year,
01:03:19he still gets open. He's still like, he's still got that game.
01:03:24He just doesn't do it all the time. And is that an attitude thing?
01:03:27Or is that like, Hey,
01:03:28my body is starting to break down a little bit and I need to conserve my
01:03:32energy. And I know I'm not getting the ball in this place.
01:03:34So you're not getting it. Like, I'm not giving you the effort.
01:03:37And then that leads to like, dude, you got to throw a block there.
01:03:39You got to, you know, you got, we need to clear this out for the tight end.
01:03:43Whatever. I'm not getting the ball. What do I care?
01:03:45So he'll be challenged I think in that regard.
01:03:47And I think CJ will be challenged to like,
01:03:49everybody points to him as the guy and the leader.
01:03:52He's also still the young guy, you know? So, okay, kid,
01:03:56you've done it for 12 games.
01:03:59Your resume isn't as long as mine. And there, I think, I, I suspect Joe Mixon,
01:04:03another guy like Joe Mixon can be a little salty.
01:04:07They traded for him and they gave him a contract,
01:04:09which I don't quite get the contract thing. I think Nick might've.
01:04:11Yeah, I did understand that.
01:04:13Hey, come here. We'll, we'll take care of you this year.
01:04:15We'll give you a bump this year and then go out and earn it. No,
01:04:18they gave him some more money. So same thing.
01:04:21Maybe that security makes him a happier guy,
01:04:23but he's also been a little bit of a volatile character over the course of his
01:04:27career. So I think.
01:04:28I want to hit on Stingley quickly.
01:04:30Yeah, shoot. No, no, no. Go there. I was going to.
01:04:32We talk a lot about sauce and rightfully so.
01:04:34I think sauce has objectively been better,
01:04:36but Stingley is a guy who teams loved obviously again,
01:04:40probably the best freshman season we've ever seen from a corner.
01:04:42And he obviously fell apart from injuries.
01:04:54And I just feel like with Stingley.
01:05:00It's like a big step.
01:05:04Of, you know, coming out of the draft, like this defense should be.
01:05:09At worst, just really just good.
01:05:11And like Stingley is the guy who can make that all pro level leap.
01:05:13So I think he was quietly really awesome last year.
01:05:16And I'm curious to see what that looks like again in year three.
01:05:19I just, as you mentioned,
01:05:20it sounds like I was kind of hating on them a little bit.
01:05:23I just,
01:05:24I want to see a little bit more before I think they're in that Kansas
01:05:27City.
01:05:28Yeah, they were, they were 10 and seven last year.
01:05:30Wasn't they didn't, they weren't 13 and four.
01:05:32Like the, the bills took out a good leap that year when people started
01:05:36to be like, oh, this is the year. Well, no, at your point,
01:05:39you still got to beat the big dogs and they hadn't beaten the big dogs in
01:05:42the big moment.
01:05:43The Texas is going to have to do that.
01:05:44Like it's slow with the head coach next year.
01:05:46Like one more year. He probably is. If they regress, he's probably not.
01:05:50I just, I don't know your plan.
01:05:52By the way, quickly on him, he did not have a,
01:05:55his playoff performance as a play caller was poor.
01:05:59So just something to kind of like throw into the mix,
01:06:02like Baltimore exposed them a little bit.
01:06:04Now what's his calendar to what they did because other teams will copycat
01:06:07that.
01:06:08Yeah. I feel like kind of just wrapping this division up.
01:06:10Like I feel like Houston is going to win the division,
01:06:12probably 11 win team.
01:06:14Maybe he gets 12 astroud really takes that leap probably more than 11
01:06:17category.
01:06:18I think they've gotten better for sure. But again,
01:06:21first place schedule versus the fourth place.
01:06:23Very different prime time. As you mentioned,
01:06:25I think the Colts are a borderline playoff team.
01:06:27I think they need Richardson to be healthy.
01:06:29I think they need some other guys to stay healthy and take some jobs.
01:06:32They need something at 80 Mitchell, these different things,
01:06:34but they could be a wildcard team, a spunky team in the AFC.
01:06:38I think Jacksonville misses.
01:06:41I think they're probably around 500, eight, nine,
01:06:43nine and eight type of team.
01:06:44And I think Tennessee is probably around a six win team again.
01:06:47It's all just,
01:06:48this division comes down to four quarterbacks who are all whatever,
01:06:51what 25 and under Houston probably feels the best right now.
01:06:55But maybe in, you know,
01:06:57in six months we think Indy feels the best or we think Jacksonville feels
01:07:00the best again. Maybe it's shoot, maybe it's Tennessee,
01:07:03but there's a lot of young coaches, a lot of young quarterbacks.
01:07:07It's a competitive division.
01:07:09I just think this Houston's the class of this and,
01:07:11and it's going to be probably Indian Jacksonville fighting for two in
01:07:14Tennessee kind of picking up the rear there and number four, unfortunately.
01:07:18Yeah. Tennessee has the potential, as you mentioned,
01:07:21like I don't think they're going to be, I don't think they should.
01:07:24Well, look at Brian Callahan can't coach and they have some disastrous
01:07:27injuries, anything's possible,
01:07:29but like, I don't think they're going to be a disaster.
01:07:31I just, the roster construction is so odd to me.
01:07:34And I think they're going to run into that. They're already, as you mentioned,
01:07:37they're already running into it with the Hopkins injury, you know,
01:07:40four to six weeks with the knee and it just, okay.
01:07:43You got some older guys.
01:07:44This is kind of what happens to these guys at that point with a lot of miles on
01:07:48their body. All right. That's going to wrap it up.
01:07:50I think for this one,
01:07:51we'll be back on Friday after some more preseason games we'll get.
01:07:55Hopefully me personally, as I'll be at Foxboro for Patriots and Eagles,
01:08:00I'll get more to write about than just six Drake May snaps. You know,
01:08:03they're promising more snaps knowing them.
01:08:05That means he's going to get two series and 12 snaps. So, you know, who knows?
01:08:10But certainly for Patriot fans who follow this process,
01:08:15it'd be nice to see a little juice from the quarterback because he's looked a
01:08:19little lost and a little, little behind the eight ball here.
01:08:23Especially this last week,
01:08:24it'd be nice to get some positivity out of that just so you don't feel like we
01:08:28might not see it. Yeah. I mean, look,
01:08:31the conversation has come up quite a bit this week about the idea that like
01:08:35forget about the notion of him playing halfway through the year or in December,
01:08:40you might see him not play a real game until 2025 and that's not what you want.
01:08:46No, no. You want to, I mean,
01:08:47I still am a believer in getting the guy some real life experience and
01:08:52understanding speed scheme, the whole thing.
01:08:56But it feels like they are treading very carefully with their young quarterback.
01:09:01And, you know, look,
01:09:02I understand some of the guys that were here last year and the last couple saw
01:09:05what happened to Mac Jones and say, we don't want to do the same thing to our
01:09:08guy, but this guy has a lot more physical talent than that kid ever did in Mac
01:09:12Jones. So that is going to do it for the all 32 pod as always, please.
01:09:17Well, first of all, thank you for listening, watching, consuming this,
01:09:20however you are like to subscribe and reviews. We feed off the reviews,
01:09:24give us some reviews, bumps us more into circulation. It's a whole thing.
01:09:27It's a whole process.
01:09:28Will knows it as the pod master with 900 pods that he does,
01:09:33but we're joining us and we'll be back at it.
01:09:36We'll be back at it again on Friday.