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Turf Talk
Trevor Lawrence's Journey & AFC West Analysis
Ready to uncover the roller-coaster journey of Trevor Lawrence with the Jacksonville Jaguars? Join us as we explore Lawrence’s breakout sophomore season that led to a playoff appearance and his tumultuous third year marred by injuries and inconsistent support. We compare his trajectory to Daniel Jones and delve into the implications of rising quarterback contracts on Lawrence's future value.
Next, we shift gears to dissect the NFL Draft and team roster moves. From landing Hollywood Brown to enhancing the offense with Rasheed Rice and Xavier Worthy, we cover the strategic acquisitions and draft picks designed to bolster the run-blocking line for Patrick Mahomes. Discover how these moves are aimed at overcoming division rivals and paving the way for a potential third consecutive championship.
Lastly, we delve into the Raiders' defensive resurgence under Antonio Pierce and the unexpected draft choices that have stirred up excitement. With a spotlight on the Chargers’ new head coach John Harbaugh and the Broncos' controversial free agency moves, we provide a comprehensive breakdown of the AFC West division rankings. Tune in for an in-depth discussion that promises insightful analysis and intriguing revelations about the future of your favorite teams.
what's up everybody? It is time we are here. It's time to talk some football. It's turf talk. I'm scott shouse. I'm sitting here with dewey vance. What's up, bro?
Speaker 2:not much, man, it's been a minute. I feel like, uh, not too long, but I feel like you know it's been a while yeah, I've gotten caught up in some stuff. We got a little conflicting schedules, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, as some of you know, I'm trying to go for the sportscasting biz. I just got caught up in school. A lot of you guys that do listen do know that. So it's just been a busy schedule the last week or week and some change for us. But we're here last week or week and some change for us, but, um, we're here, um, not a lot has gone, gone down in the last week or so that that we've talked, uh, talked about this um, uh, the the trevor lawrence deal yeah, that's yeah.
Speaker 1:Trevor lawrence, that's a questionable one. I like it, I, I, I like it. I think me personally, for he's got he's, he's gotten paid off of what he's done in Clemson For me. I do Don't get wrong, I do like Trevor Lawrence. I had Trevor Lawrence taking a jump next year.
Speaker 2:That sophomore season in the NFL year two was pretty incredible, I would say. Brought him to the playoffs. They were down 24-0 against Chiefs excuse me, chargers in the wild card. He drove them back in the wild card. I want to say they gave Kansas City a close game too.
Speaker 1:I'm more concerned about what happened in year three, though, when they were playing the Bengals and they had the opportunity to be the number one seed in the AFC, and they only. From that point on, they only won one more game for the rest of the year. It kind of fell apart. The offense wasn't doing anything much outside of Travis Etienne Calvin Ridley. He cracked 1,000 yards but had some pretty bad drops in the end zone. They did have a. It was like a two-minute comp of just receivers just dropping.
Speaker 2:Yeah, evan Ingram had some drops yeah.
Speaker 1:Zay Jones had some drops, but he's not there.
Speaker 2:That defense doesn't have a lot of playmakers outside of Josh Allen. They were one of the worst teams in sacks last year. I mean there's a lot of Gave up a lot of yards.
Speaker 1:They did have a lot of takeaways, but they wasn't able to do much with it on the offensive side of the ball.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I mean there were times where they struggled. And well, trevor bowled injuries last year too, I know he had a lot. He had the ankle injury and he was still trying to run the football when he was hurt too.
Speaker 1:I didn't see a whole lot up until that, though, before he got hurt. There wasn't a whole lot to show for it before he got hurt.
Speaker 2:That's valid. That's valid, I mean a lot of new parts to that offense last year I mean their right tackle moved on to Kansas City. They added in Calvin Ridley. Finally, after being on the roster for a year without playing, they added in Calvin Ridley.
Speaker 1:finally, after being on the roster for a year without playing, I mean now you just got to show me you're worth the same money that Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurd. So now, coming this upcoming season, trevor Lawrence has a lot to prove to me that he is worth that kind of money.
Speaker 2:I mean, like we said, his sophomore year or his year two. He played like a top 10 quarterback at the time and I mean he obviously regressed last year.
Speaker 1:I love that we're only talking about his sophomore year, because his rookie year just doesn't count.
Speaker 2:No, yeah, it's not valid. And here's the thing and I want to address this because I've seen a lot of little graphics and stuff and it compares him to Daniel Jones and all this stuff. And like someone asked me and they're like because Jones and all this stuff. And like someone asked me and they're like because they know I'm a big Trevor Lawrence guy, and they're like, oh well, daniel Jones, the same numbers are the same guy. And like they kind of chuckled and this and that, like what's up with your boy? This and that. And I was just like. I literally just looked at him straight in his face and was like bro, just use your eyeballs, bro.
Speaker 1:Like toss out the numbers and just show me what's going on, and you can obviously see. Trevor Lawrence is better than Daniel Jones. He's had offensive field. You know player personnel woes. He's having a lot of drop passes, he's had a lot of issues and whatnot. He at least makes flashes and shows that he can throw the ball. Daniel Jones doesn't.
Speaker 2:I was about to say, and I'm not going to say Daniel Jones has the best supporting cast because he doesn't. He doesn't have the best supporting cast, he doesn't do a damn thing to try to make plays and try to make the best of it, because even when the Jags were bad and they didn't have a lot of offensive firepower, you at least saw potential with Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 1:Andrew Luck didn't have the best supporting cast outside of an old Reggie Wayne, and TY Hilton was good for a 30-yard pass. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't do much else besides that he went to an AFC championship game.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was fat. Yeah, absolutely. But yeah, I think I mean well, also, a lot of people are kind of stuck on the money and I think the I mean every offseason it's just increasing. Next year maybe not next year, but two years from now, someone's going to have the biggest contract ever, so it's going to work out to where it's like okay, trevor's probably worth it. How do we look at Pat's contract?
Speaker 1:CJ Stroud is going to be.
Speaker 2:CJ Stroud and Jordan Love.
Speaker 1:Stroud and Love, especially with the Packers and their whole contract situation. They want to make sure it's a perfect situation and Jordan Love has even expressed that he is willing to wait to be able to reset. If I have to wait one more year, I'm banking on myself. I want to reset the market.
Speaker 2:If Anthony turns out to work out, he might get a good deal. Justin Herbert is still going to probably eventually get a second deal.
Speaker 1:Unfortunately, Dallas is looking to extend Dak.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Dak and it's looking that Dak. They're prioritizing Dak right now over CeeDee Lamb and Michael Parsons, which I think is not the right move.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, no, not the right move. Your best player on the team is 11. And then second player on the team is 88. So I mean, and that's a good football team too, but those are clear cut. Yeah, that's.
Speaker 1:That's the guy on your offense and that's the guy on your defense. Like you need to lock those guys down before you lock up now. I don't think dac is terrible. No, I don't think he's great, I think I think his see, dak is one of those quarterbacks where I think his ceiling is top five, but his floor is like bottom ten bottom seven, I don't think.
Speaker 2:I think his floor is like maybe 15. I don't know Dak, I mean bro, was second MVP last year.
Speaker 1:I mean, I guess yeah, because if you go down bottom 10, you're talking about Daniel Jones I'd say maybe yeah.
Speaker 2:I'd say you're talking about Daniel Jones.
Speaker 1:Maybe yeah, 15 to 20, because I've seen that.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:O'Connell. I think I'd have AO O'Connell for Daniel Jones. I'm just taking any young.
Speaker 2:No, I was just spreading the bottom 10.
Speaker 1:I think I would take any young rookie quarterback right now over Daniel Jones, just because they have. I feel like rookies just have more upside and more time to develop than what he's got.
Speaker 2:I don't know man, maybe a Daniel Jones with Devontae Adams, I don't know. He might look a little better. I'm not going to sit here and say he's going to look great, but he might have that.
Speaker 1:I can see that Devontae Adams driving him crazy. Yeah, I can see that.
Speaker 2:But anyway, yeah, anyway. Anyway, we're here, we're not a rabbit hole, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're going down the wrong path here. We're here to talk some AFC West football, yes sir, and we're going to start off with, like how we love to do when we have our division breakdowns.
Speaker 2:We're going to start with the division champs, the reigning two-time or back-to-back Super Bowl champs, looking to be the first team to 3P in NFL history? Yeah, in the Super Bowl era yeah, yeah, in the Super Bowl era. Yeah, that's crazy. No team has ever done it, which is crazy. Even thinking about back in the Super Bowl era yeah, that's crazy. No team has ever done it, which is crazy even thinking about back in the 50s.
Speaker 1:Yeah, especially when I'm thinking, especially when you think, like with the Joe Montana and the Detroit Aikman, you know it just never happened before, so it's that'll be. You know, we just had I just had a buddy of mine. Just ask me, literally, I think, yesterday. Is it fair to compare Patrick Mahomes to Tom Brady? Right now, can you hold a candle?
Speaker 1:I'm like absolutely yeah, yeah absolutely I'm like bro, from what he's done in only the five years that he's been a six years that he's been a starter, he's only made it to the AFC championship game and lost. That's their worst season.
Speaker 2:Your worst season. Yeah, and you won MVP. Yeah, and you won MVP. Yeah and you won MVP.
Speaker 1:He's got three rings. He's turned into an organization that was dog water. Before he got there, they hadn't won a Super Bowl in 50 years, and that's just another one of those situations.
Speaker 2:Like I said with the Daniel Jones, Trevor Lawrence, Just use your eyeballs Like come on, there's just some. He just does shit on the field that no one else can do.
Speaker 1:It's not going to take seven Super Bowl rings before the first guys that want to say seven ring. I'm not arguing seven ring because you know, that's the first thing that's going to come out of people's mouth. It's not going to take seven rings for Patrick Mahomes to pass Tom.
Speaker 2:Brady. It's not going to take seven rings for Patrick Mahomes to pass Tom Brady. No, it's not. No, it's not.
Speaker 1:No, it shouldn't. No, it shouldn't, because especially sports in period is a team sport, especially football.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So to be able to? Because, first and foremost, he didn't have the defenses that Tom Brady had. No, tom Brady had, you know, best defenses in the league at the time.
Speaker 2:Tom Brady won a Super Bowl, throwing 18 touchdowns. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Patrick Mahomes might do that in An injury year where he's missed four or five games.
Speaker 2:I mean that's 18 touchdowns, that's eight games. For Patrick Mahomes, that's eight or nine games, maybe ten if he struggles.
Speaker 1:And see, my thing is if he struggles, and see, my thing is if he does get five rings. To me he's been to eight or nine Super Bowls.
Speaker 2:Yeah, at least.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, I'm going to say at least, because he's lost one. So I'm going to say at least, if he ends his career with five rings, he's been to at least seven.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and no telling how many more MVPs he's going to win. And he's going to win, yeah, and he's probably going to pass Peyton, or at least get close. I mean, he already has more MVPs than Tom. I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 1:Tom had two, I think.
Speaker 2:Tom has two. Yeah, tom has two, pat has two.
Speaker 1:Pat has two. He needs one more to pass Tom Peyton's up there with Aaron Rodgers. Yeah, peyton has five. Peyton's got the most Of all time Five. That's crazy. Yeah, five is crazy. And then second I want to say Is Brett Favre.
Speaker 2:And then Aaron, I think Aaron, aaron's got four. Yeah, cool, because Aaron won Like back to back.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then he won, won that that one year After a Super Bowl year. I think he won one At some point point another one, yeah, but uh, yeah, let's, let's, let's break down the uh this, uh, 2024, uh.
Speaker 1:Kansas city chiefs team see, when I think of, when I think of uh, off-season moves and off-season issues, the first thing that comes to my mind is rashid rice yeah they have got. He has gotten into um himself a little bit of a pickle. We still don't know what the suspension's going to be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they still haven't announced it.
Speaker 1:We still don't know if they're going to. Let everybody be known, give him eight. Let everybody know we're not messing around, or they could throw the book at him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the heavy rucks situation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then they'd just be like you know, we're not messing around with this, you're going to be the example that, yeah.
Speaker 2:And not saying they're going to ban him right, but like a season suspension could be.
Speaker 1:No, a season suspension is definitely, I feel like, is on the table. Yeah, it's not far off. Yeah, it's not out of the question.
Speaker 2:I think it's probably someone will if they have a little room has probably been like oh, maybe we should. Henry Ruggs, that whole incident just happened, so maybe we should give him eight, we'll give him eight games.
Speaker 1:and then, I think, the next guy, maybe he might get Dean with the book. Yeah.
Speaker 2:They addressed the wide receiver position pretty well, though in free agency.
Speaker 1:They did. They brought in Hollywood Brown, a speed wide receiver, to already with a fast offense, which is a fast-paced offense, which I feel like what they were trying to make it into. Yeah, you know, they got you know Rasheed Rice, Because when Rice is on the field, dude, he makes so many people miss.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, and then he's so good at like just like catching a screen and just like breaking tackles.
Speaker 1:See, but that was his bread and butter. Last year they ran a lot of screen plays with him.
Speaker 2:I was really looking forward to them opening up the playbook and him taking that next step in his development and being just more than just a screen guy yeah well honestly, kai reminds me of a faster Debo, like, not maybe of a faster Debo, not maybe as a player running back, but as in, I'm going to catch his screen and there might be a guy in front of me but I'm going to somehow gain seven yards Because he's strong.
Speaker 2:I noticed that he was on my fantasy team so I noticed it a lot. He had a lot of production in yards after the catch on just the simplest plays, just making plays. So if he gets suspended it's going to be Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy, and I think Xavier Worthy is going to probably get a lot of those targets. So I mean he's going to be. He might be in the running for rookie of the year, offense rookie of the year. I mean it would probably be outweighed because quarterbacks I mean he's going to be. He might be in the running for rookie of the year, offensive rookie of the year. I mean probably it would probably be outweighed because quarterbacks, you know, touch the ball. Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels are going to touch the ball literally every play.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but with that being said, a wide receiver has won two out of the last three years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah so.
Speaker 1:Jamar Chase, Garrett Wilson, and then last year it was CJ.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but also this quarterback class is at least known to be kind of the resurrection of the last couple quarterback classes, not really being the greatest.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the last few classes haven't been the greatest.
Speaker 2:Last year's class was kind of a lot of potential class.
Speaker 1:The last few classes we didn't really have a clear cut. Number one A lot of people even thought that really have a clear cut number one. A lot of people didn't. A lot of people even thought that Stroud might have went number one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because Bryce had the size, and then Stroud didn't necessarily have the wow factor. And then the Ohio State thing. I don't think the NFL team has factored that in, but he didn't really have anything that crazily wowed you. And then obviously you had Anthony, who was like an NBA draft pick, like a lot of potential high ceiling, didn't have the greatest production, but so this, yeah, this draft class, might you know? Then you have to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is Caleb Williams. He's one of those, Trevor, so it'll be hard for him to win Rookie of the Year is what I'm saying, but he has a if Rasheed Rice, especially if Rasheed Rice gets suspended, which not preying on Bro's downfall by any means, but it could really help Xavier Worthy a lot, yeah, and um, another draft pick. I like that they made. Well, they ended up trading up and I'm gonna butcher this guy's name and I'm really really sorry Kingsley Sumatia, a tackle from BYU. Anyway, they're one of the worst run-blocking teams in football, at least rating-wise. Funny enough, they're the best pass off and passing block offensive line, but they're one of the worst. They're like bottom two in run blocking.
Speaker 1:So this is a guy who they traded up for they also had one of their tackles that led to leading penalties yeah, they had Taylor that led to leading penalties.
Speaker 2:They really hurt him a lot. So this is a guy who will probably compete for the right side immediately. I mean, they don't really have a lot of experience on the right side either, so it will be pretty interesting to see who goes out there week one protecting the franchise next year. Look, going for a third P. It's really kind of unusual that you're going for a three P and you have offensive line issues. But when you have Patrick Mahomes you can kind of live with those maybe.
Speaker 1:And then See but I wouldn't even necessarily say it's offensive line issues they just, yeah, he does hold a lot, but they still had two all pros on that offensive line, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Creed Humphries is a dog. Yeah, creed Humphries is a beast, and so is Joe Tooney. Yeah, joe Tooney, yeah. Their interior is incredible. Their inside is amazing.
Speaker 1:It's their tackles that are questionable, so it's not like they got a bad offensive line.
Speaker 2:No, no, Just average, Just average. Well, they try to run the ball outside a lot. That's why you see all this inside. Pacheco runs all the physicality and now that you're in the division with you got Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa, Christian Wilkins is coming in with Max Crosby. You're going to want to protect this. You're going to want to protect Patrick Mahomes. So I like the pick. I like the pick. I mean, it was their second round pick. They had to trade up only one spot to get them, so obviously they really liked them.
Speaker 1:Rumors were having that they were trying to trade up with us to take the tackle that we got.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know yeah. So it obviously showed that they were eager to kind of fill that void in that position.
Speaker 1:But we're not like Buffalo. We didn't want to give Patrick Mahomes a reason to stand up. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then they drafted a really interesting tight end, jared Wiley. Although this tight end room's loaded, he's 260-pound tight end. We'll probably use most of his blocking tight end, but that's an interesting weapon to a team that kind of needed wide receivers. And now you have four tight ends. I mean three who have a lot of experience with Noah Gray, obviously, travis Kelsey, and then they add Irv Smith Jr this offseason from the Bengals. I mean yeah, but that's the third tight end, yeah. And then you have Wiley. I mean they might run some interesting sets this year.
Speaker 1:Real quick with that comment on the Bills and the trading down. I love what the Bills Did when they drafted my boy, keon, and yeah, I'm going to go ahead and say it right here I think Keon Coleman is going to be better than.
Speaker 2:Xavier Worth, I was about to say when you said that I was like that's a good move, though I was like I like the.
Speaker 1:I did like what they did there. They drafted who I thought they were going to take with the 30th pick. I love Keon Coleman, liking FSU. I think he's going to be the steal of the draft. With that being said, that's fair. So go on. Sorry about that, I just had to double back on that.
Speaker 2:No, you're good. I pretty much wrapped up. The Chiefs draft A lot of them. They drafted a lot of depth guys.
Speaker 1:I'm not really going to get into a lot. Yeah, because I mean Super Bowl champ. What do you mean? You're a back-to-back Super Bowl champ. You don't need a home run pick in a draft anymore.
Speaker 2:No, yeah, yeah, you need to feel you need.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're a back-to-back Super Bowl champ. You know you're a champ. You're already a championship caliber roster. The sky's the limit when you've got Mahone boy back there.
Speaker 2:Let down to where I lost a lot of money when I went there on vacation, but yeah one of the more interesting teams Kind of finished kind of hot last year.
Speaker 1:I'm really excited to talk about these guys too. Man, I'm raw dude because I loved. I think they finally got their head coach signing right because they hoed Steve, sorry. Rich Bisacci, yeah, I think he got hoed, yeah, and he was in a really bad situation when he took over, they hoed.
Speaker 1:Rich Bisacci. I think he got hoed. He was in a really bad situation when he took over. As we talked about the Henry Ruggs thing, we had the John Gruden scandals where he was going through his. That was supposed to be a dumpster fire season for the Raiders A throwaway, yes. They could have been bottom three, bottom five, yeah, and it wouldn't have been. It would have been justified. But here's my thing they made the playoffs, they made the freaking playoffs.
Speaker 2:They were one play away from beating the team that ended up going to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1:Yes, If I'm going to be quite honest, yes, they were one, Arguably Well. The thing is, I think they were playing for overtime. I don't think they would have played. I don't think they would have went to that two-point conversion. I think they would have played for overtime, but nonetheless yes, but even in overtime, you never know. They were in the situation to end their own playoff drought. It had been 15-some-odd years. I don't think the Raiders have won a playoff game since that 2002 season.
Speaker 2:Yeah, since the Super Bowl. Well, Super Bowl at Tampa Bay.
Speaker 1:Was that the last year? I thought what about the?
Speaker 2:the tuck rule. No, that was, that was the year Was. That was that okay, okay, the next year. They won the Super Bowl, so regardless.
Speaker 1:So regardless, point proven.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah 22 years.
Speaker 1:I was four years old.
Speaker 2:Yeah, actually, I was three years old, I hadn't even turned four yet, yeah see.
Speaker 1:So Dewey was still in diapers when they won and Scotty Boy was just starting school. I was in the first grade learning how to color inside the damn lines the last time they won a playoff game. So they were there and I love what they did with the head coach Immediately. You could tell almost immediately a difference when they switched over from Josh McDumbass to Antonio Pierce.
Speaker 2:So glad he never went to my culture.
Speaker 1:That might have been the greatest back out, the greatest thing. The one thing I want to touch base on I didn't like how he did a lot of his staff, because a lot of Frank Wright's staff that season wasn't people that he brought in.
Speaker 2:That was Josh McGann. He brought his own guys in and then he said no.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and those guys had already signed if he hadn't. So they moved a lot of family, people moved their families, their kids, and then he backed out. So but anyways, so they from a team that hasn't had they're in a Derek Carr tenure didn't have a middle tier defense let alone. You know, it was always bottom 10. Bottom 10, bottom five. Yeah that Raiders defense has been consistently bad for the better course of the decade.
Speaker 2:I mean outside of Max Crosby. I mean John Abrams kind of just kept knocking himself out of games. Didn't really pan out. Jerrion Conley got in trouble. They've kind of whipped on a lot of defensive draft picks.
Speaker 1:Damon Arnett.
Speaker 2:Damon Arnett yeah yeah, they've whippediffed on a lot.
Speaker 1:At one point them guys had a lot of old cyclic Bengals players. I remember at one point they had Reggie Nelson, I think maybe Leon Hall was there. Yeah, I want to say Iloca, I'm not on top of my head. There was a lot of our old guys that went to the Raiders and it was just like Rocky Alcine. I'm like, hey, there's a lot of our old guys that went to the. Raiders, and it was just like.
Speaker 1:Rock y'all scene they even had our old Paul Gunther even went there, yeah, even left us to go with Hugh Jackson.
Speaker 2:I can't remember the last time the Raiders defense was actually kind of good. Prime Charles Woodson, yeah, I mean, I don't know, probably not that far, but I mean maybe we just talked about it.
Speaker 1:It's been better the last decade.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I imagine at some point in time their defense was I don't know.
Speaker 1:We're here to talk about that. We're here to talk about what they did now. And what they did was they gave Christian Wilkins four years, $110 million, with almost $85 million of it guaranteed.
Speaker 2:Got Max Crosby a counterpart. Yes, I like it.
Speaker 1:And speaking of Max Crosby, they gave him a pay raise. He's now going to earn an extra $6 million just for this upcoming season. They didn't take any more deals. They didn't add anything. Mark Davis did right by his guy, by the guy that's made their defense. Whenever they need a play, he can at least make it. We're going to do Byron.
Speaker 2:Here you go. Hopefully last year's first round pick, Tyree Wilson, can kind of come to his own off the edge. Maybe having Christian Wilkins will help him out.
Speaker 1:One guy that you can keep an eye out for. Listen to this Malcolm Koontz. Fourth year player, third round pick from Buffalo College Last year kind of not really broke out but kind of showed that he could take that next step up as a third-round pick when he had eight sacks and three forced fumbles. So they got a young defense on the rise, they got a defensive line that might be a force to be reckoned with and you're going to need that when you're in a division with Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is maybe why the Chiefs were so eager to draft a tackle.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and Antonio Pierce, who's already a defensive-minded head coach, and again, as soon as he took over in midseason, you can immediately tell a difference with this Raiders team. That's all the locker room was talking about. Devontae Adams was talking about I'm ready to run through a wall through this man right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, max Crosby wasn't willing to resize deal. Yeah, he said, if you guys don't bring this man back.
Speaker 1:I'm out. I want traded. I don't care Like. I'm done with this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was. Yeah, so just shows how bottom that locker room was to their coach. I mean, they even beat the Chiefs on Christmas and nobody had him.
Speaker 1:Oh, he spoiled a lot of people's parlays on that one. Yeah, nobody had him, and that right there to me that was a statement going into next season. Yeah, absolutely To me. That's what won him the job, because that was a win.
Speaker 2:You didn't have to get Exactly, you didn't have to. Everyone could have it's Christmas, bro.
Speaker 1:You could have tanked for, yeah, you could have tanked to try to get a Michael Penix. You said to hell with that. No, yeah, nah, and I love his mindset Nah, they need to get one thing straight. They got to play us. Yeah, I love that mindset. Y'all need to start being worried when y'all play us. He said we here, baby Black and silver.
Speaker 2:It almost reminds me of kind of like how I said about the Arizona Cardinals they weren't the best, like I could tell they bought into Jonathan Gannon, that team wanted to, even though they could kind of, you know, I mean they probably honestly, they probably don't think mentally like we're not going to match up this team, but like we all knew that you know they're playing these teams, they're playing the Rams, like okay, they're not going to really match up.
Speaker 1:But no, they give it their all. Let's get on the line, boy.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, like, just like, that kind of energy and that's infectious, exactly, especially when it comes from the helm.
Speaker 1:Dude. Yeah, it spreads like wildfire.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Like maybe defensive coaches might be back, Like, who knows, Maybe they might be making a comeback. Let's see how Jonathan Gannon does this year. Let's see how Antonio Pierce does this year. Like they have a very interesting draft, to say the least. I mean especially from top pick, which I mean some people were kind of said their biggest need was tackle or corner, which they've struggled at corner for the last couple years.
Speaker 1:I will say they definitely zigged where a lot of people thought they were going to zag.
Speaker 2:You say that yeah.
Speaker 1:I thought they could have even went tackle, maybe add another piece to the defense. They could have even taken another receiver to add up with Devontae.
Speaker 2:Adams. Some people maybe thought they might even take a quarterback if he had been available, but I don't think that happened.
Speaker 1:I think if Penix was there, that's where he was going.
Speaker 2:That's where I think so too. Or obviously they had the Jane Daniel, but Jane Daniel wasn't making it to no 10.
Speaker 1:Yeah, jane, daniel wasn't making it past. I mean, yeah, we all know the all know, we all know the first quarterbacks. We just didn't know where two and three were going to go, I think.
Speaker 2:I think with this one they took the best pillar available. I know they drafted last year drafted Michael Mayer who showed a lot of potential as a rookie last year, had some really good games. But this is a team that struggles at pass catcher and you could potentially.
Speaker 1:and again, they have issues with blocking and with their offensive line, and now you've got a guy that can do both.
Speaker 2:Yeah, do both and you can stretch the field. You can run a lot too tight.
Speaker 1:You've got two guys that can do both really, so you can leave a guy back there and leave the other one Go down the seam, go down the middle.
Speaker 2:Yeah, go down the scene, go down the middle, see him here lining both that line. You know, devante out wide Brock Bauer's kind in the slot and then.
Speaker 2:Michael Mayer, tied in like you could, or vice, for you know, however you want to do it. I mean I I don't necessarily see anything, I see. I see where people are like, okay, what the what the heck? But at the same time, like you, took the best player available. A team that needed a lot of players had some decent holes to fill. I think this was possibly the best route they could have went. Especially, maybe I don't know if they tried to trade the pick. I imagine they may have tried to trade up, maybe tried to trade down. Yeah, they 100%.
Speaker 1:was trying to trade up, yeah that was confirmed.
Speaker 2:They were tried to trade up, maybe tried to trade down. Yeah, they 100% was trying to trade up. Yeah, that was confirmed, they were trying to trade up. But I don't know, maybe once they realized they had 10, they were like, let's just take the best player available. And everyone was probably like, yeah, they were probably comfortable with that because that was probably the sure best bet of a pro.
Speaker 1:I feel like the asking price was a picks, because hell, what did Ryan Pohl say when they wanted to move up from one? It's going to cost you at least this year and next year's first round pick, and that's just the starting price. We ain't even got into the nitty gritty yet. That's like you know. It's off the bat, bare minimum I'm going to need this year's first and second and next year's probably first and second.
Speaker 2:They also did address their offensive line with their next two picks, which I really like. They drafted Jackson Powers Johnson, who was a lot of people's favorite interior offensive lineman going this draft. Guy plays guard and center, but they drafted him to play guard and he was last year's Remington Award winner, which is the best center in the nation, and he's probably going to start day one, I imagine, or at least be in competition. Their offensive line isn't very strong, I mean, outside of Colin Milliner, and he's kind of struggled a little bit too to stay healthy.
Speaker 1:And they lost a guy to the Giants Jermaine I can't think of his last name right now they lost a guy. Yeah to the, but go on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then they also drafted Delmar Glaze From Maryland tackle, who played Both left and right. I don't think he'll start immediately, but the dude has a six or no, not six foot, that's not very good A seven foot wingspan so, and he made 32 starts in college. So a guy who's had a lot of experience, long reach, perfect to play tackle, and on a team that really needed a tackle in the first round that we thought they were going to address that route, they went and at least addressed it later in the draft with a guy who could be a developmental guy.
Speaker 1:So Jermaine Illuminor. Okay, yeah, jermaine Illuminor is the guy that they lost. I couldn't think of his last name, yet he went to the Giants, so they did lose their other starting tackle, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then a guy who I watched a little bit come late in December because that's when they start to really air FCS football Dylan Lubey, lubey or Lubey, but this guy's really dynamic, I don't know how to pronounce his name but he's really dynamic. An FCS all-purpose, all-american, averaged, 31.1 yards per kick return, 11.3 on punt returns. Had a touchdown on both his kick turning and punt returner. Can run out the backfield. 749 rushing Rushing yards With 9 touchdowns, 68 catches and like 7 touchdowns. So he's, he's just a guy that Get the, give me the ball and watch what I do. So I and I'm not necessarily Thinking he's going to make An impact on running back Immediately, maybe. Maybe now With Josh Jacobs, he might.
Speaker 1:He might see. There is going to be an opening, because the only competition there is Alexander Maddison oh you're forgetting my boy?
Speaker 2:You're forgetting my boy, don't ever. Just my boy, zemir White. I was just going to say yeah, zemir.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to say Zemir.
Speaker 2:White is still there.
Speaker 1:I like Zemir White. When he came into the league I thought he was going to Come on, man, you know, I thought Zemir White, I thought he was going to take his job, dude.
Speaker 2:You remember when Josh Jacobs blew up, he played the Hall of Fame game two years ago, dude, and then led the league in rushing that season too, which was crazy. Which, I mean might be a knock on Josh McDaniels as a coach. But yes, I think he's immediately probably going to be their kick returner at least, or a par returner Turner. They'll probably try to get the ball in his hands. And then one of their last picks they drafted an intriguing, a really intriguing prospect, trey Taylor from Air Force Safety, the first ever defensive back drafted from a Naval Academy. Yeah so, and also last year's Throppa winner, which goes to the best defensive back in the country, and also he's Ed's Throppa winner, which goes to best defensive back in the country, and also he's Ed Reed's little cousin.
Speaker 1:So I mean yeah, so it's in his dina.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and obviously Air Force guy probably super disciplined Got to be. Yeah, got to have the work ethic of someone who's just I bet he is disciplined.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, like you said, he just came from the Air Force and he's Ed Reed's cousin Exactly. He's probably had the he's probably. How many Ray Lewis speeches do you think that young man's had? Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:So at 6'2", 13, got good size, obviously throw forward last year, has good production Last season had three picks, 74 tackles and a blocked kick on special teams. So this guy can contribute multitude of ways. I'm not sure if he'll necessarily see the field a lot as a safety immediately, but he'll see the field. I think. I think in some sort of facet of the way. I think he I think in some sort of fast. Either way, I think he'll get a lot of reps in the preseason and get a chance to show out. So it should be yeah, it should be an interesting pick. I'm really rooting for the guy coming out of Naval Academy. That's a pretty cool story.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's not. Again, it's not really often you hear a guy playing in the NFL from a Naval Academy, let alone being drafted. So I think that's pretty. Yeah, that's pretty rare. Yeah, and I love hearing stories like that. Yeah, stories like that are like that's like the best there.
Speaker 1:Um, I think that might be wrapping up for, uh, for the Vegas. Yeah, um, let's take it up over here to LA. Um, for me, it's easy to talk about who they lost rather than who they signed. That's fair, because they lost their entire offense besides their quarterback. Yeah, they lost Mike Williams or Sean Slater. Yeah, yeah, they got Ray Sean Slater still there. Yeah, so they lost Austin Eckler, who just came out recently and said a lot of the reason why he knew he wasn't going to work out why he left LA is because they want somebody that and we know how hardball it is in running the ball yeah, they want somebody that he can give the ball to 25 times, 30 times a game somebody that he can give the ball to 25 times, 30 times a game and I'm a real big running back advocate.
Speaker 2:but if he was a guy who was real vocal about wanting the bag, you're going to have to get the ball 25 times a game. Sometimes You're going to have to be a Jonathan Taylor kind of back and you're going to have to carry the load if you want the bag. I mean your usage rate's going to be high.
Speaker 1:See, but it sounds like to me I don't think it's necessarily for him for the bag, I think he's more for the long run.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know I'm just talking about from his previous comments years ago. That's all I'm saying, not now. I understand what he's saying now. He's realized he realized he's not. I'm not a 25 attempt kind of guy like some people.
Speaker 1:I mean he's tried to. He's always worked best in a split situation.
Speaker 2:Well, people need to realize in the NFL a lot. Most NFL running backs aren't 25 touch kind of guys. No, absolutely not, there's only a handful. I mean especially the last couple years. I mean ETN's kind of showing he can be that CMC, john Derek.
Speaker 1:Alvin Kamara gets the workload but he's showing he can't be on the field.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he hasn't, saquon can, but I'll give Saquon. I know the on the field thing, but I'm going to give Saquon a pass because that team was just not. He didn thing. But I'm going to give Saquon a pass because that team was just not and I've seen him carry them to the playoffs.
Speaker 1:Maybe he could have withstood it if they had something else outside of it. He ran them to the playoffs. Yeah, exactly. I've seen him with Derek Henry, with the Titans? Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:And that's probably. That's a short list of guys that I think are capable of that. That's about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's not. I mean Rashad White showed that he could do it last year.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:They also lost Mike, and you know we talk about Mike Williams, who was off injured, A big one that I think that's going to hurt really good is they also lost Gerald Everett? Yeah, that should be it.
Speaker 2:And is, they've also lost.
Speaker 1:Gerald Everett. Yeah, that should be it. And then made a really questionable move to me. So riddle me this, riddle me that. Batman, how do you go to your best offensive player, your most consistent offensive player, the last seven, eight years, Eight years?
Speaker 2:sure.
Speaker 1:He's coming off his best season as a pro Now. Granted, he almost has been in the league and he is coming off his best season as a pro. And we've already seen even young guys like AJ AJ Brown and Jamar Chase already have seasons like that, Not to take any of it.
Speaker 2:But, that being said, he's been a pro bowler before. Yes, he has. He's been a pro bowler before? Yes, he has.
Speaker 1:He's been a pro bowler before. I think he made what? Four straight pro bowls, yeah, arguably, you know, when he was one of the best route runners, if not the best route runner in the league. So that's my thing is you go to your best player and you ask Most 15 catch games in NFL history by the way, yes, yes, and ask him to take a pay cut.
Speaker 1:He says no, so then you trade him For a fourth round pick, yes, and you help make Ryan Poles look like the greatest mind and the greatest GM in football right now, which, depending on how this season goes, he might need. Yeah, bears make the playoffs, I don't care if they get knocked out in round one. You did it Best GM at football right now.
Speaker 2:I do think the Chargers did at least bring in one of the best coaches in all of football, regardless Pro college. I think they brought in one of the best football guys. At least they brought in. I think they're at least going in the right direction.
Speaker 1:At least they went from Brandon Staley to.
Speaker 2:John Harbaugh. Well and like. The thing I look at is like and it's kind of like in college more of, but like in the NFL, he's kind of maybe weaving out the guys who don't really necessarily fit his scheme, because even when he was in San Francisco he didn't bring in a bunch of free agents. He developed through the draft. He drafted Colin Kaepernick. He kind of took the guys on his roster. Vernon Davis blew up once he got there. Michael Crouchy looked like he was on his way out the door before he got there. Delaney Walker, alex Smith he drafted Alden Smith to help out. Frank Gore was Frank Gore. Frank Gore was already established.
Speaker 1:Other than that, justin Gore was Frank Gore, frank Gore was Frank Gore.
Speaker 2:Yeah, frank Gore was already established, but other than that they didn't really have and Justin Smith was still, but other than that they didn't really have.
Speaker 1:Justin Smith. They still had Patrick Willis and LeBron Bowman.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but they weren't winning games. He turned that team into a winning team. I think give Harbaugh some time and get him situated with Herbert. I think Herbert's finally got a coach now. I love their first round pick.
Speaker 1:They didn't really. They brought in a bunch of one-year guys. I mean, they brought in Bradley Bosman from Carolina.
Speaker 1:They didn't. But Carolina didn't bring him back for a reason. They gave up 65 sacks last year. But I mean that's a unit thing. I mean, yeah, that is a unit thing, but there's a reason they didn't bring him back. You know what I'm saying? And it was only a one-year deal. They brought in Denzel Perryman from Houston. They re-signed Elohi Gilman. They brought in Puna Ford from Buffalo. Randall O'Heen Gilman, they brought in Puna Ford from Buffalo. One thing I really thought was kind of questioning is that they did go get a guy that they could probably give the ball to 25 times a game. But here's my biggest thing they went and got JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards and they both have injury history. Yeah, although Dobbins now Edwards was shy of 1,000 yards last year, 1,000 on purpose.
Speaker 2:He ended with 990 all purpose, but he had 13 touchdowns on the ground, yeah, I mean, and what they're trying to do with the offensive line. At least they're trying to improve it. So I think you know, maybe they'll look to, like you said, harbaugh's a running style coach. Maybe they'll use a little thunder and lightning with Gus Edwards and JK Dobbins. And they still have Josh Kelly.
Speaker 2:I think, yeah, so Josh Kelly. So I mean I don't know. I kind of I mean it's going to be, it's going to take some time, because they had a lot of bad. They had some bad contracts. They had a lot. Yeah, they had a lot of dead cap from them bringing on.
Speaker 1:Khalil Mack, khalil Mack, and they paid Joey Bosa. Oh JC.
Speaker 2:Jackson, jc Jackson. Yeah, so that was like the. Yeah, so the dude's not even on the team anymore.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they traded him after he was hurt. He got hurt year one. He didn't pan out last year, then he was, and then he got hit. I think he was only there for two years, wasn't he?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then they traded him and I'm pretty sure he got cut from New England, I think, at one point yeah, he got cut this past, while he got cut a couple months ago. Yeah. So I mean I don't know, I think they got thin out that roster a little bit. I love the Joe Alt pick, though.
Speaker 1:I mean that was like such a hardball pick too. Yeah, the Joe Alt pick.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they drafted and they brought in Bradley Bosman. They're trying to help out Herbert and I think Carbaugh understands that. This team, I mean they have some pieces around. You know they kind of lack wide receiver. I mean a lot of people thought they might take a Malik neighbor or a Romandouzie somewhere in that nature maybe. But I think they took what a lot of people thought was kind of like the Raiders at the time. The most sure pro. A lot of people think Joel was probably the most sure bet player in the draft. A lot of the day at left tackle he's got to swing over the right tackle because obviously of Sean Slater. But I like to pick a lot. I think that's going to be a good one. And then they drafted they did address because nobody on the roster has over 800 receiving yards in a season. I mean I know they drafted Quinton Johnson last year and he bowed, injuries, had a lot of bad play Bad drops, Bad drops.
Speaker 1:He really had an opportunity to come in Because even when Keenan Allen got hurt, he had an opportunity to come in and try to be that guy. Show why he was a first-round pick. He didn't really. He didn't really. Yeah, I wasted a pretty decent. I wasted like an eighth-round, ninth-round pick on him last year. I thought he was going to be a thing. I'm going to give him a benefit.
Speaker 2:I'll say rookie Rose came from TCU which didn't have the best quarterback play, didn't really come from that great of a pass-heavy offense. Most of his yards were on big catches. So I'm going to give him that fit down and say he's got a little adjustment. But they drafted Ladd McConkie from Georgia who a lot of people thought maybe went a little higher than expected slightly, but one of the best route runners in the draft Probably would be like a security blanket for Herbert. A lot of short yard catches, a lot, a lot, a lot of nice, nice, uh, probably play from the slot a little bit maybe, I imagine. But I like that pick a lot. It might even be their number one this year, which I mean is a bad sign.
Speaker 1:I mean it's there.
Speaker 2:It's a bad sign potentially for their team's success if he's their number one. I mean, I don't know, with the blowup of rookie wide receivers it might be something, but that's a wide receiver room that still needs to kind of work.
Speaker 1:I'm just waiting to see which one it's going to be. That's going to be the one that blows up out of this class, because it's either going to be. Is Marvin Harrison going to pan out? I mean, I think he will. I think he's going to be just fine.
Speaker 2:Especially, he's got Kyler. Yeah, he didn't walk into a questionable quarterback situation, he didn't walk into a military.
Speaker 1:I'm just waiting to see if one of these guys in the buzz is just going to be a guy like you know where's this year's Puka Nakua is what I'm trying to say.
Speaker 2:I'm just worried about only what I'm really concerned about Well, Thomas in New Orleans. And then I'm also really concerned. I'm also really concerned. I'm kind of concerned for neighbors in New York because of quarterback issues. But yeah, it should be interesting to see which wide receiver really blows up this year.
Speaker 2:They drafted Junior Colson. He drafted his Michigan guy, the leading tackler on last year's national championship team. They lost Kemp Marie, cut Eric Kendricks, I mean, and, like you said, they brought in Denzel Perryman and then they also brought in Troy Dye. But other than that, I mean those are all new guys so they're all wearing the system too. So he's going to walk in there with. He might have a little favoritism having the head coach be his head coach from college. I mean there might be a reason Harbaugh drafted him. Maybe he wants him to be the leader of the defense just like he was on the national championship team. Should be pretty interesting. And then they drafted Justin Abogi, the all SEC selection. That defense tackle had seven sacks From the defense tackle spot. They lost Sebastian Joseph Day, Austin Johnson. They're both gone. So I mean they're needing a new guy To plug in the middle To go along Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa On the outside, and that's it I mean Khalil Mack stayed, joey Bosa on the outside, and that's if either one of them guys can stay.
Speaker 1:I mean Khalil Mack stayed healthy, but as if Joey Bosa can stay healthy, so you might end up going into that edge spot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly. And then one of the probably more popular people in the NFL draft of the more popular people in the NFL draft they drafted, brendan Rice from USC. Played his first two seasons at Colorado but then, when Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams decided to go to USC, he decided to take his talents over to USC too and his first year at USC kind of inconsistent on the field. But last year was Caleb's number one wide receiver and had 12 touchdown catches and a nice vertical threat. Seven of his 12 touchdown catches were on vertical routes, so should be a deep threat, kind of fell in the draft.
Speaker 2:A lot of people, I mean it wasn't really highly projected, but a lot of people thought at least he'd go in the draft. A lot of people, I mean it wasn't really highly projected but a lot of people thought at least he'd go to six rounds, probably, maybe, maybe, maybe low fifth. So and then, uh, his dad actually said, uh, he's gonna be uh, not not in control necessarily, but he's gonna be, he's gonna be making sure yeah, he gets, he's taking the proper methods to get the work in, because his dad was pissed that he got drafted in the seventh round.
Speaker 1:He's like, yeah, this is he fell that low and it was. He got the call while he was at his best friend's funeral.
Speaker 1:Yeah, did you see that? Yeah, so I believe his best friend was killed in a car crash and he was at his best friend's funeral when he got that phone call. Oh wow, and his charter was on his list. He was at his best friend's funeral when he got that phone call. Oh wow, and you know, chargers was on his list. He was excited. He's ready to go. I think he's ready to I'm not going to say live up to his dad's hype, because I think he wants to make his own legacy. To hell with this Jerry Rice thing, to hell with trying to. You know they're going. He's going to try to stomp out his own legacy. He's going to try to stomp out his own legacy because, we're going to be honest, his numbers ain't going to be touched.
Speaker 2:Well, I honestly don't think a lot of people expect a lot from him, so I think he's maybe trying to just succeed expectations of what people thought of him. He's not just daddy's son.
Speaker 1:He's going to go up there and put he's going to show you.
Speaker 2:He's his daddy's son.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, the apple ain't far from the tree in this one.
Speaker 2:This ain't just a legacy pick. Yeah, exactly. So now we're, let's go to the Rocky Mountains of old Denver, broncos. Those are really a.
Speaker 1:We're going to talk about a guy who the head coach?
Speaker 2:You're not a big fan of this guy. We're going to talk about a guy who the head coach. You're not a big fan of this guy. I mean I'm kind of a fan. I mean I just really really don't like how. I just have a problem with how he did the New Orleans Saints and even though it's a team that beat my team in the Super Bowl and all that, and he was the head coach, but he left them in probably one of the worst caps and they're still struggling from it. He signed Taysom Hill that big deal. Signed Mike Thomas.
Speaker 1:Signed out, at least when you signed out with Kamara and Mike Thomas. That was the core of your offense right there, because we knew Drew Brees was going to be retiring soon. At least you were trying to lock down the core of your guys.
Speaker 2:But soon At least. You were trying to lock down the core of your guys, but I kept telling everyone and their freaking grandma that Taysom Hill was not starting. I love Taysom Hill. I love the play style. I love Swiss Army Knives, guys who can do it all, but he's not a starting quarterback.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was never a starting quarterback. Where did you even get that from, I don't? I mean, I just feel like when the tough got going and he realized he didn't have Drew Brees at quarterback, and that was, and Michael Thomas was starting to flip. You know, that didn't work out too well and it wasn't looking too hot. I think he just kind of jumped ship and I'm taking, I'm going to take some time, and it's not to only take a year off and then go immediately back to coaching. I was just kind of like you just did that to avoid having to deal with all that Like. However, if you took five years off, three years off, you literally just like nah.
Speaker 1:And then they had to trade for you. And then they had the tampering thing where he was in talks with Miami.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and the Broncos had to trade for you for the Saints. Yeah, you were trying to link up with Tom talks with Miami. Yeah, yeah, and the Broncos had the trade for you from the Saints.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you were trying to link up with Tom Brady in.
Speaker 2:Miami. Yeah, like it's almost to where. It's like, okay, I understand coaches need a great quarterback, I understand that, but it's just like you weren't willing to go find your own, like go develop one, you know, like I don't know, it's just interesting to me. But anyway, on to this team, the coaches. Yeah, I have my feelings about the coach, but so here's what my issue is here.
Speaker 1:Well, not even my issue with they're actually do have an issue with the free agency. They didn't do a damn thing they didn't have. I don't think they had a whole lot of cap Got rid damn thing they didn't have. I don't think they had a whole lot of cap because of the they didn't have a whole lot of cap. They're getting smacked with dead cap because of the Russell Wilson deal, randy Gregory deal yeah, the Randy Gregory deal. They cut Justin Simmons. I think all of his guaranteed money was gone by that time, but there was just some bad contracts.
Speaker 2:At one point they wasted the years of a really good defense when Peyton retired and they're wasting the prime years of Corlin Sutton and they shipped off Jerry Judy At one point.
Speaker 1:We just feel like they were just one quarterback away from being right back there with championship caliber contenders you still had. When Peyton retired man, you still had a lot of the no contenders you still had, because even when Peyton retired man, you still had a lot of the no-fly zone, you still had a key to lead. And then a year or two later, you draft this hot rookie, you know, justin Simmons. You have Vaughn. You still have prime Vaughn, even though he battled some injuries, but you still have Vaughn. Bradley Chubb yeah, bradley Chubb was still there. That's how that you felt a little bad there.
Speaker 2:I mean, they had the offensive weapons Demarius Thomas, still there RIP.
Speaker 1:Yeah, even when they had Cortland Sutton we mentioned Jerry Judy Emmanuel Sanders they still had a nice team, they were just one.
Speaker 2:They drafted Pax and Lynch Didn't even throw 1,000 yards in the NFL First-round pick. That's crazy. Yeah, I mean they whiffed on. I mean as much as we say they hit on a lot of things. They whiffed on the important, I guess the important position quarterback. They whiffed on that. Drew Locke didn't pan out.
Speaker 1:I will say that Drew Locke did get hurt his rookie year, but even though, as I say, he didn't really pan out which are the issues. Teddy was, they did a one-year thing with Teddy.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, teddy and Drew Locke, back and forth. That wasn't, that was a weird season.
Speaker 1:The Brock Osweiler contract set you back because you paid him for what they didn't pay Brock. No, that was Houston that paid him. Yeah, he went back to Brock. That was Houston that paid him. That's my fault.
Speaker 2:Maybe in hindsight they probably did a good thing. They dodged that, but he eventually came back, which was kind of funny.
Speaker 1:It wasn't in hindsight. They did dodge and pull it on that, yeah, they did. The free agency. So here's my thing right here. So they brought in Josh Reynolds. They re-signed Lil Jordan Humphrey.
Speaker 2:I like the brand Josh Reynolds, even though that was a big part. Him and Jared Goff had that wavelength.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so this year Josh Reynolds will be catching a pass from a quarterback not named Jared Goff for the first time in his NFL career. Crazy, so again. So the guy Lil Jordan Humphrey. And here's where it gets interesting. They bring in, they have Will Lutz, they re-sign Adam Trotman, and then they sign. And then they brought in former defensive tackle from Malcolm Roach, but you can't guess where he's from. Malcolm Roach, yes, yeah, from the. He's from Malcolm Roach, yes, from the Saints, yeah from the Saints?
Speaker 1:Yes, so are you trying to recreate your Saints team here You're bringing in? I got three former Saints right here just off that they re-signed Brandon Jones three years. They re-signed their fullback too, Michael Burton, which you don't see a whole lot of fullbacks on NFL teams anymore.
Speaker 2:I can only count of which means they might look to run the ball a little more. I mean, hopefully Javante Williams is finally recovered from the ACL.
Speaker 1:He's not even guaranteed a roster spot. From what I know, a lot of people are looking at Jaleel McLaughlin might be the starting running back for the year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's true. I think he'll make the roster at least, because I mean they're going to get at least—unless he has a really bad camp Samadji Pirine left us because he wanted more of an opportunity.
Speaker 1:He wanted to try to be a starting running back and look how that's panned out. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I'm telling you, it has to be where he was at most, but anyway, who are you telling You're preaching to the choir, sonny Ain't?
Speaker 1:none of these two running backs in the Bengals backfield is in the same talent bracket as Joe Mixon. Oh no, I'm not even telling you this, but we might be talking. Decided on our next one.
Speaker 2:The draft to the. I mean, which was kind of I mean out of the quarterbacks in the first round.
Speaker 1:We kind of knew that's who they were going to end up with.
Speaker 2:They kind of had to. They were like you got to take them or take something else, and they were like all right, well, let's bring in the quarterback who's a little older Well, actually not that old, he's actually just as old as the quarterback who's a little older Well, actually not that old, he's actually just as old as the quarterback that we just traded for.
Speaker 1:See, it's crazy. I don't like I get it where you guys try to talk about it. They're trying to act like he's Stetson Bendel. He is not Stetson, oh he played against. No, no, no oh he played against Justin Herbert. Justin Herbert's been in the league for five, yeah, but that was his freshman year. He was 18 years old. Yeah, that was a freshman year, but that was freshman playing senior. You know there's a four-year gap right there if you play all four years and not everybody leaves as soon as they're eligible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that adds up. I mean, give Bo Nix one extra year, that adds up to that. So I mean, no, I'm not saying he's old, I was just saying like he's got a lot of experience in this.
Speaker 1:No, he's older than your average guy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's.
Speaker 1:Anthony Richardson was only because Anthony Richardson was like what 22? He was 20. He's 21. 21, yeah, so he's a little older than your average quarterback that came out so.
Speaker 2:I kind of like Bo Nix. I mean he has good weapons. I mean Joe Burrow was older than him when he came out to draft. Yeah, joe Burrow. I mean, yeah, we've seen older quarterbacks, so like it's not that.
Speaker 1:But see, sometimes that experience helps go into the NFL.
Speaker 2:I think he's up there with the most starts ever in college football, most wins ever in college football. He's up there in passing yards stats.
Speaker 1:I mean. So he's. I do think his transition to Oregon helped his draft, because if he would have stayed at Auburn, I don't think he would have been a first-round pick.
Speaker 2:No well, Auburn's not a pass. They're not good yeah, they're not good at coaching. They're known for their linebackers anyway, linebackers, yeah, defense and yeah they stuff. They're known for the ugly positions For him to go Oregon and get into a vertical offense where he's throwing and a lot of those throws. A lot of people say they're scripted, but he still has to make those throws. He's still the guy out there signing.
Speaker 1:They might be designed throws, but he could also over or undercut it.
Speaker 2:He's a good rhythm thrower, pretty decent athlete, not the biggest arm, but he can get the ball downfield. I like bo nicks. I like bo nicks to to denver. It's just gonna be a really weird situation, I feel like, because they traded for zach wilson I know a lot of people are gonna have a lot to say about this and zach wilson didn't do, you know, do anything in New York. This and that I mean that was a really rough situation for obviously any quarterback who took a snap in New York the last three seasons, exactly.
Speaker 1:The last three seasons. It's been rough in New York for the last decade for a quarterback, that's taken. Christian Hackenberg just came out and said that he blames New York. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not.
Speaker 2:I never took an.
Speaker 1:NFL snap Me personally. I'm not hearing that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's for you to be a second round pick and never work your way to a snap.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm not hearing none of that, because you could have went somewhere else, maybe it lost it, maybe it, you know, messed with his confidence. But I'm not hearing none of that right now.
Speaker 2:But so I mean it's intriguing. And then, well, they're the same age. Zach Wilson's been in the league for. This is where the but while Zach Wilson's been struggling in the NFL, bo Nix has been over there building his confidence up in the NFL. This and that It'll be really interesting to see how they split reps. I want to see how they'll go about splitting reps. Who's are they going to split time with the ones who's they? Are they going to split time with the ones they still have? Jarrett Stem, who hasn't played awful, when he's gotten in the games, I don't think he's going to be answered by any means. I think they'll probably go with one of the younger guys to start. But just a really interesting situation. It would be really weird to see how they go about it.
Speaker 2:I was almost kind of shocked when they traded for Zach Wilson at at some point. I know he's a utah kid though, so he's from the area, so I don't know. It should be just a weird situation to be in, especially if you're if you're bo nicks, you just got drafted there. You're like, oh, you look at the roster. You're like, oh, we have a quarterback who's exactly the same age as me was drafted higher than than I was, who a lot of people, at least coming in the draft, had a lot more Coming in the NFL. If you put tape on, I'm like, okay, zach Wilson's probably going to be better than Bo Nix. So I don't know, it should just be intriguing.
Speaker 2:But on to the other picks. I could talk about that all day. They drafted Jonah Ellis, past rusher out of Utah, which I really like this pick Because the Denver Broncos they can kind of get after their quarterback but they don't have a guy. Ever since they lost Bradley Chubb and Von Miller, they've never had a guy who can, who's the alpha? They haven't had a 10 tech guyack guy since Von Miller in 2018. So that's six years ago, and so this is a guy who I think could potentially get into rotation early. Didn't participate in the combine or the pro day because he had a shoulder injury, but had 12 sacks last year.
Speaker 2:And another fun fact his dad, luther Ellis, actually finished his NFL career with the Denver Broncos back in the mid-2000s. So that's just another interesting fact. And then I really do like this pick. They drafted his boy, bo Nix's boy boy, Trey Franklin, out of Oregon, blazing speed 4-4-1, broke a bunch of records at Oregon, obviously, like I said, his favorite target college camera. So maybe that that kind of gave me my answer that I asked earlier. Maybe they are trying to, maybe they're like, all right, this is gonna be Nix's show and then, with them losing Jerry Judy, they add Josh Reynolds, obviously stuff Cortland Sutton and I don't know what's the Tim Patrick situation. Is Tim Patrick even still?
Speaker 1:I think he's still under contract. I think he's just got injuries. I think Tim Patrick is still there.
Speaker 2:So, with all that going on, he has a chance to immediately play. They're probably going to show up in camp. They're going to probably show that chemistry a little bit. And then, last but not least, out of this draft, my favorite, probably my favorite running back or not actually, no, my favorite running back in this draft is Braylon Allen, one of my favorite running backs. Saw him a lot watching him on tv on saturdays. Audrick estimate uh, almost six foot 225, not the fastest back, doesn't have breakaway speed, but he's good at everything he can. He can I. I watch a lot of narrow game football just because they're on primetime nbc every saturday so he can block. Can physical runner, obviously with size, can bull run over people, can make guys kind of miss a little bit and break some tackles. Shoji can catch the ball when given the opportunity. He just doesn't really have that breakaway speed that's missing or that can kind of like.
Speaker 1:Struggle to hit that next gear.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Shoji's hitting that next gear. Yeah, struggle's hitting that next gear. But other than that, I mean one of the more complete backs in the draft and he fell into the fifth round because the running back market just wasn't the same this year. So I think, a guy that could potentially, like you said earlier, all those kind of controversial situations at running back, they don't know who's done it they have three guys who could be the lead guy I'm really curious who could make some noise in that and Audrick Estime, who was a star at Notre Dame, could eventually use that versatility. And maybe, you know, they may not need a breakaway speed guy necessarily. They just need a guy who can get yards consistently and a guy who's available.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because that's been the biggest thing. They haven't had anybody that's been available. The best ability is availability, absolutely yeah. And where they thought Javonte Williams was going to break out because he had a stellar rookie year, he showed a lot of flashes, william.
Speaker 2:Jared's ACL and then he tore his ACL the second year. He has a nice physical back. I know that's kind of tough, but yeah, I think he'll probably get a lot of shine during the preseason and get an opportunity to maybe make some noise in that backfield. So how do you have this division finishing out?
Speaker 1:I think it's going to be easier for us to start. Let's mix it up. Instead of going from four to one, we might as well just go from one to four, because we know who's going to win the damn division Start from the bottom, okay. So we're going to start from one to four. So it's obviously the Chiefs are going to win this division.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Chiefs could have cut, so barring.
Speaker 1:you know, god forbid a Patrick Mahomes injury, a season-ending Mahomes injury they're going to win this division.
Speaker 2:Even then, they still might. I mean, who do they got back Carson Wentz. Carson Wentz, miami Men's might be able to go up there and win you a couple games. They might not be in top 10.
Speaker 1:Carson Wentz, byron Mims, might be able to go up there and win you a couple games. I mean they might not be in top ten. No, no, I think with Andy Reid he might still be able to make Carson Wentz.
Speaker 2:I'm not talking about starting the whole season, I just feel like going.
Speaker 1:I'm talking about if he has Week one.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I'm talking like about midseason injury dude.
Speaker 1:They might be 8-2 by the time he gets himself hurt, so he got bottom. So from the bottom Denver.
Speaker 2:That's what I'm saying for me too. Give me Denver Broncos. I just don't think that team I mean even without Barton injury they just have so many, so much controversy going on that I don't think quarterback necessarily is going to be. Quarterback plays are going to be too great this year. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Sean Payton has something in store. Their running back's inconsistencies, their offensive line isn't too sharp.
Speaker 1:Their defense is questionable at best.
Speaker 2:Yeah, defense questionable at best. Yeah, defense questionable at best.
Speaker 1:So and this is why I have my number two pick with the Raiders is because their defense is not questionable. Yeah, as a matter of fact, the only thing you're going to question about that defense is how big of a step are they going to take for next year? Well, corner, I kind of question a little bit, but other than, that yeah, but if this pass rush pans out like you think, it's going to the DBs, it's going to be a lot easier.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's going to be a lot. It's going to make them guys' job a lot easier.
Speaker 2:So, at three, got the Chargers yes, I got the Bolts. At three and Got the Chargers yes, I got the Bolts at three and I think they might win a lot of games that they shouldn't, just because I think Harbaugh's that style of coach. Like they might be able to get out a couple ugly wins, maybe in the year, or maybe that offense just looks a lot better than what we're all thinking in our heads right now, because I mean, we thought San Francisco was going to take some time and he made Alex Smith a Pro Bowl quarterback in a year and the year prior Alex Smith was split in time with Troy Smith. So, yeah, so that goes to show you, I mean, Harbaugh's a good coach. So I think they might. Yeah, I think they'll squeeze in that third, probably. Obviously, we've got second-handster Raiders. Only thing I question about them, which we really didn't harp on, is their quarterback situation.
Speaker 1:Which if they can get just relatively, you know, decent, if they can get Jacksonville Gardner-Menshew play, they'll be fine.
Speaker 2:If they can get Indianapolis Colt Gardner-Menshew play, they'll probably be all right. I mean yeah, I think. I mean yeah, I think I mean well, who's say he's going to start though? Because apparently I mean I read that going into the season, aiden O'Connell's QB won.
Speaker 1:He is. There is expected to be a QB battle with Gardner Minshew and Aiden O'Connell during training camp and preseason.
Speaker 2:Yeah, antonio Pierce said going into camp, though Aiden O'Connell earned his spot to be QB1. So it'll be interesting to see how Gardner-Mitchell, you know, goes in there and fights for a job. I'm not sure. I mean I want to give Aiden O'Connell a chance though. So I mean he shows flashes there should have been a game.
Speaker 1:He should have started in that Bears game.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, absolutely. Brian Hoyer had no business playing in that game.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Brian Hoyer had no business playing in that game. They should have started Aiden O'Connell. Yeah, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just yeah, brian.
Speaker 1:Maybe Devontae Adams would have helped me beat Taylor that week.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's a I think they might push for 500. I guess you can't finish 500 anymore, but they might be around there. I guess you can't finish 500 anymore, but they might be around there.
Speaker 1:I can see them finishing at 9-8.
Speaker 2:9-8. All they need is a quarterback 8-9 or the other. I think I could see them finishing at all they need is a quarterback. I mean quarterback play.
Speaker 1:Because, if what next year's quarterback class they could end up with Shador, because he's probably not going to.
Speaker 2:That's a conversation for another day. Do you want to? I mean, I love Shador's game, but do you want to end up with Shador at this point? I don't know. Put your phone down, young man.
Speaker 1:Yep, there you have it. Tune in next week. We only have two divisions left. We have the North and the South. We saved the best divisions for last. Well, I guess in Dewey's case it's just division, not the two that aren't on. But beat, beat best division of football.
Speaker 2:I've heard you guys say this so much in the past year. Y'all can flex it for now, but y'all used to be garbage Outside of the Baltimore Ravens and the Steelers.
Speaker 1:What's his use? What's his use to?
Speaker 2:you.
Speaker 1:I'm just saying I'm talking about now at 8.52 pm, wednesday, june 26, 2024.
Speaker 2:And I'm going to say this at this time too Every dog has their day.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm. Yeah, the Colts had theirs.
Speaker 2:Alright, we had our decade.
Speaker 1:We're not a dog, though. Oh no, we get the 20s, we get the 2020s.
Speaker 2:We'll see. We'll see if y'all get anywhere.
Speaker 1:But that's it, we're going to wrap up. Yeah, so these next division, these next couple weeks of division breakdown, they're going to get real, real interesting. Yes, sir, see you.
