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Turf Talk
AFC South Power Shift: Trades, Roster Upgrades, and Season Predictions
What if you could foresee the rise and fall of NFL dynasties? In our latest episode of Turf Talk, we start with a heartfelt reflection on the life of Kyrie Jackson, whose journey from high school star to an NFL hopeful was tragically cut short. We then dissect the ripple effects of Brandon Aiyuk's trade request from the San Francisco 49ers, considering which teams might benefit from landing this talented receiver and how his departure could shift the balance of power in the league.
Next, we break down the Houston Texans' offseason strategy, spotlighting their aggressive acquisitions, including Joe Mixon and Stephon Diggs. We analyze how these moves, paired with savvy contract restructures and a reinforced offensive line, could catapult the Texans to dominance in the AFC South. Simultaneously, we dive into the Jacksonville Jaguars' roster upgrades, including Trevor Lawrence's performance and contract extension, and how the addition of Gabe Davis and Mitch Morse could transform their offensive dynamics.
The episode continues with a thorough analysis of the Tennessee Titans' and Indianapolis Colts' roster changes. Under new head coach Brian Callahan, the Titans have added key players like Calvin Ridley and Tony Pollard, aiming to rejuvenate their lineup. Meanwhile, the Colts have focused on re-signing crucial talent and addressing their defensive challenges. We wrap up with our AFC South rankings and a bold prediction on the Texans' potential to repeat as division champions. Tune in for insights and predictions that could reshape your understanding of the upcoming NFL season!
What it do, baby. Welcome back to another episode of Turf Talk. I'm your host, dewey Vance, here with my co-host, my compadre, my man, scott Schaus. Scott, how we doing today, brother.
Speaker 2:Doing pretty good man. It was a beautiful day, man, Just a good day to be outside. It wasn't cold weather in the slightest, but it was just a gorgeous day. It's one of the good things about being around here in Kentucky. We got some good scenery on days like this it was nice being in old greater Cincinnati.
Speaker 1:It was a nice crisp day today. But before we start our AFC South breakdown and get into our weekly news, we'd like to pay our condolences to the family and friends of Kyrie Jackson, the former Oregon football player and uh, this year's fourth round pick by the Minnesota Vikings. Unfortunately lost his life in a car accident a few weeks prior and, um, we touched on Kyrie a little bit about what he brings to the table on the field, but we didn't really touch on his journey necessarily at all, and it's a really interesting one. He started out, he graduated high school in 2017, went off to college, actually came back due to homesickness, gave up on football, was working at a grocery store actually tried out or was on the verge of becoming a professional 2K player.
Speaker 2:Said he was in his house for six straight months, lied to his friends, said that he was still in school, didn't have the goal to be able to speak to his friends and let them know that he gave up on his dream and decided to, you know, carry on.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And ultimately, like he yeah, like Scott says decided to eventually get back to football and enrolled at Fort Scott Community College, which ultimately he played really well and got a scholarship to Alabama and made his first ever college start, or division one college start, in the national championship game against Georgia. Due to other reasons, the following season he left the team and transferred to Oregon, blew up that year, blew up his last year at Oregon and, funny enough, as highly talented as he was in the draft boards, Kyrie Jackson wasn't sure if he was even going to get drafted. So that's just yeah, that's yeah.
Speaker 2:And it's a bad. It's horrible too because he was a young kid, lost his life in a tragic accident and he had opportunity to flourish and you say we talked about. He was one of your guys that you was interested in, it was one of the draft picks that you pointed out and we had mentioned he's had opportunity to flourish. The Minnesota secondary was very subpar, was underwhelming last year. They have a great defensive coordinator with Brian Flores one of my favorite personal coordinators right now.
Speaker 1:We were expecting a lot of big things from Kyrie. It's really unfortunate that these things transpired Like we said, our condolences go out to his friends, teammates, family, etc. Yeah, I know that's a tough situation. Getting into other news, this week brandon iuk has officially for about the second or third time officially, I guess, I mean officially, you know all, he requested a trade.
Speaker 2:And then agents like well, you know, oh, he requested a trade. And then agents like well, you know, no, he didn't, but he did, but he didn't. But then now it is now official, official.
Speaker 1:He has requested out. Yeah, he has requested out after not getting what he feels like he is valued in the market from other teams. Getting that contract extension. Well, and it's good to note that I mean George Kittle got his extension. They paid Christian McCaffrey. Debo last year also requested a trade. So maybe he's just trying to use a little leverage. Maybe took a little advice from Debo.
Speaker 2:Another thing, another person that was just in this situation, that didn't really stand out to a whole lot, you know, just a few years ago, was Robbie Gold. Yeah, remember Robbie Gold just had the same situation where he requested a trade, he wanted paid, you know, top-notch kicker money, and he ultimately got what he, you know, deserved. At the time I forgot, yeah, even he yeah even he got his money.
Speaker 2:So I think, San Fran, you know they will. He's the best receiver they've got. This is actually pretty controversial, I wouldn't say controversial, talking to that hat earlier today but if you ask me, who their best wide receiver is right now? Yeah, I'm taking. If I need a wide receiver and I'm starting a team and I need to X, I'm taking Brandon Aiyuk.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if I'm taking. Yeah, he's a better, better watch Debo.
Speaker 2:Samuel, I would say, is a better football player. I think he can do more for a football team. You know he can line up in the backfield. He's one hell of a guy to try to bring down when he's in open space.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's a good blocker too. He's nice. He brings a lot more physical run after the catch. But if it comes to route running and catching the ball.
Speaker 2:I need a catch. Yeah, brandon, he can contest the ball better. Yeah, he can run more routes and better routes.
Speaker 1:I mean there's a reason the guy was a first-round pick. Yeah, yeah, he's uber talented, but it's interesting to see where he goes. A lot of people, a lot of suitors, are going around the league. I know New.
Speaker 2:England reportedly immediately picked up the phone and John Lynch didn't entertain it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Another interesting one to me is the Chargers. Yeah, I think the Chargers would be. I mean, I know they just drafted McConkie out of Georgia.
Speaker 2:But that would be yeah, but that gives them that doesn't give them a call. That gives a lot less pressure off of Quentin Johnston and McConkie.
Speaker 1:But if you ask these guys, these guys are ready to go right now to hell with the pressure. If you ask these guys, these guys are ready to go right now to prove that, especially Quentin Johnson, because he had a miserably.
Speaker 2:I had him as one of my top rookies, going into one of my surprise rookies and he didn't pan out.
Speaker 1:I wasn't too high on his rookie year just because, coming out of TCU he didn't really play in that much of a pass-heavy offense and he had not a lot of catches but a lot of big plays. I knew it was going to probably take him maybe a little longer. Especially going in there with you had a Keenan Allen, you had Michael Williams, and all of a sudden you're thrust in a situation Everyone else is kind of like, oh, go out there and ball out. But it's like, oh shit, I wasn't expecting this. When I got drafted, I knew we had Keenan. I knew we had Mike Williams. Week six we have neither of them. Boys Like, oh dang, like I'm the guy now, like he was probably trying to more weigh his turn, so to speak, and now he's yeah, now, now, now it's a big year for him.
Speaker 2:I expect big things from this year, though I will say that I think Because he's wanting top-notch receiver money and they're being reluctant to pay him top-notch receiver money because a lot of people look at it as it's the same deal as Brock Purdy You're in a good system, but to me he's what makes that system.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I do think, brand, I use a big part of that offense.
Speaker 2:yeah, like I do think you take, you, take him out, you know. Now you're asking more of debo and I, and if debo needs to, he can, he can step up, he's a thousand yard wide receiver. You know um 1400 yards of scrimmage because he had what 300 or 400 yards of rushing his one big blow-up year. So Debo can do it. But when you've got a guy that the system is set up for the team itself. It's set up for Brock Purdy to succeed. It's set up for them to just win football games.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean every team, ideally.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but it's Kyle Shanahan. A lot of people knock him because he hasn't been able to win the Big Shebang, but he's an offensive genius.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I mean, we've seen what he was able to do with running backs before he got Christian McCaffrey.
Speaker 1:He's really good when everything's on script and everything is working. I mean, we've seen when it's not working or when I mean the stats show, when they're trailing half his records, abysmal. So I mean he's good at game playing. I feel like in-game adjustments maybe not so much, but I mean he's good at game playing. I feel like in-game adjustments maybe not so much, but I mean, who am I to say I'm not an NFL coach? So? But that's just from my view.
Speaker 2:Hey, but that's what we're here for.
Speaker 1:That's what I'm here for. He has it.
Speaker 2:See, yeah, this is where I like that's what they do, but that's what we do to talk about it.
Speaker 1:This is where, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, anyways, other than that, other than the IU thing. T Higgins again. I guess he's officially, officially playing on the tag, but again, we all kind of seen that coming.
Speaker 1:You need to watch Hard Knocks, but you need to catch up. We're going to talk about that. Yeah, and receivers hey.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a bunch of them. Oh yeah, there is Tomorrow college football drafts too. Oh man, I've been stuck on the telly brother oh man Shout out to Jacob Gideon too for making that yeah.
Speaker 1:Hopefully he'll be a future guest, potentially Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:So now we're going to go on to what we came here for the last part of division breakdown 8 of 8, and we're going to finish off with an up-and-coming division. Like we talked about, there's a bunch of young guys in this division, some young teams on the rise. Every team, each team in this division has a quarterback that they have drafted within the last four drafts. They don't have a quarterback that's been in the league five plus years, four years. Trevor's going into year four.
Speaker 2:They have four guys that are in their prime, ready to make a statement, ready to make a statement, One particularly who was able to knock the Ohio State quarterback. He kind of killed that one last year. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Our guy yeah, you put that to bed. Our guy, now my rival, yeah.
Speaker 2:CJ Stroud and we're going to start off like we like to do with division breakdown. Let's start off with the reigning division champs. Let's get it. The AFC South, the Houston Texans and these guys only got better. They were one of the most active teams of free agency. They made a bunch of splash signings, splash trades, including jumping on the opportunity to call Cincinnati before they made the cut for Joe Mixon official and give up a seventh-round pick for a top-ten running back in the NFL, which is blasphemous, but that's about what he's going for. That's the running back market.
Speaker 1:Because one thing that you know they even talked about it on Hard Knocks.
Speaker 2:What's the point in franchise tagging? Saquon to tag and trade to potentially what get?
Speaker 1:a fifth-round pick or a seventh-round pick Unless you're top five-ish. You're not. Unless you're in the conversation of like CMC Saquon JT.
Speaker 2:You know who I think is going to get the next big paycheck? It's going to be Brees Hall.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think, yeah, I think Brees Hall is going to get a paycheck.
Speaker 2:He's going to get a nice check when he gets one.
Speaker 1:Another guy, your boy ETN.
Speaker 2:I mean we're going to probably talk about him. Yeah, we're going to talk about him, yeah.
Speaker 1:I think he'll be a guy who's going to get paid in the future too.
Speaker 2:So the Joe, the Joe Mixon trade.
Speaker 1:That obviously opens up the play action, the running game because we've seen what Mixon was able to do behind an underperforming offensive line. Nice save right there. Yeah, the Texans are a really good tackle too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I was just going to say they have one of the best ranked tackles in the league with Titus Howard and Larry Thompson who, in my opinion, is the second best left tackle in the league behind Trent Williams. Yeah, yeah, absolutely yeah, without a doubt.
Speaker 1:You know this is going to be. This might be a big year for Mixon.
Speaker 2:This might be a big year for Mixon Another guy that they was able to go get for a steal, in a sense, because they was able to get a second-round pick for Stephon Diggs in 2025. But we all know it's not because of any talent why it was a steal. It's because of his mouth.
Speaker 1:Yeah, not because of any talent. Why they was a steal, it's because of his mouth. Yeah, yeah, a lot of clashing with Josh Allen on the sidelines, a lot of those.
Speaker 2:Apparently it got off to a week. One got off to a hot start.
Speaker 1:Apparently, after that Jets game they got into an argument. I mean I don't know, I don't know about behind closed doors, but I mean I've seen it on the field and it looked like there was a lot of tension between them very often, especially when Diggs wasn't getting the ball and it started to—the ball kind of started to not go in his favor. It started going to guys like Gabe Davis and Shakir.
Speaker 2:Shakir is one that you know. We talked about in the last one that I think could be really.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, and they got Dalton Kincaid and James Cook stepped up last year. So I mean it kind of became like a thing where it was like I mean I wouldn't say he's declining Massively, I wouldn't say that. But I don't think.
Speaker 2:I don't think he's going to Houston Necessarily be the number one wide receiver if he is not for long they got Nico Collins and they have Tank Dell on the rise and he's only there on a one year deal. He was able to restructure his contract yeah, exactly they restructure his deal.
Speaker 1:They're probably telling him you're on kind of a short leash here, there's not a whole lot of room.
Speaker 2:Just to be real about it, if you want somewhere for the long run and you want to finish out your career, you better have to change your mindset here in the next three years. You're going to have to take a back seat, man, because these boys are five years younger.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you're not going to be able to blow up on CJ Stroud because that's that's our guy.
Speaker 2:That's everyone's guy. I'm a right one. I like CJ Stroud. The same way, you wouldn't be able to blow up on Josh Allen like that.
Speaker 1:He's the guy, yeah exactly, yeah, and the public loves CJ Stroud, yeah.
Speaker 2:And now, the ceiling for this offense right now is Super Bowl caliber. Yeah, and they have.
Speaker 1:Dalton Schultz too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was just getting ready to say. And then you have Dalton Schultz as a security blanket. He helped save my fantasy team last year. He has a nice little waiver wire pickup. Yeah, dropped him. And then they even got even better on the defense. They got the best edge rusher in free agency this year with Daniil Hunter, who they signed on a two year contract in 48, he got 49 million guaranteed and 48 of it yeah that one hurts.
Speaker 1:Indy almost got it. Indy was in the talks with him which might alter our draft, which we'll touch on later.
Speaker 2:So Danilo Hunter? So $49 million, $48 million guaranteed, so he only has $1 million not guaranteed.
Speaker 1:I mean he's the premier pass rusher in the league. He's been the premier pass rusher for half a decade.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, Then you have a win. He got Danilo Autry, who's on his third AFC South team. Welcome back, buddy Yep. Welcome back. Aziz Alshir also stays in the AFC South as he went from Tennessee to Houston on a three-year $34 million deal TF from Tennessee to Houston for a three-year $34 million deal.
Speaker 2:And here's an interesting thing he used to play under D'Amico Ryans at San Fran when Ryans was the linebackers coach, so there's a lot of familiarity there. Brought in one of his boys yes, he did, and then, excuse me, they brought in CJ Henderson. They retained Noah Brown on that one-year deal, so there's that other, so there's that fourth option right there. So this and he was solid as it was. So now you add Diggs to this already to a stacked young team that's already, you know, won this division and it's full of explosive plays, and now they can just they add more to that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now they. I mean they already had a solid running game last year with Devin Singletary. So I mean, and you're?
Speaker 2:And now to me.
Speaker 1:and now you're adding Joe Mixon, because Singletary's not there, no more, he's in New York so now you're adding for me it's Thunder and Thunder because Damian Pierce is still going to give you that ground and pound and he kind of took a backseat towards the end of last year, devin Sinoteri starts having some really good football games and they started using Pierce more as a returner and just kind of getting the ball in his hand opportunities and I think he'll have a bounce back here, looking more towards like his old self this coming season, even with a Joe Mixon coming in the backfield.
Speaker 2:Again they brought in, so Noah Brown on a one-year deal.
Speaker 1:Again.
Speaker 2:CJ Henderson and another piece that they went out of the defense. They brought in Jeff Okuda for a one-year deal and then, to top it all off, they paid one of their guys, nico Collins, three-year, $72.75 million extension.
Speaker 1:Which I mean shows that he's still looking for him to be the number one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's there for the stretch. And I mean you got Tank Dell on rookie deal. Odd man out is Diggs and again he's going to be somewhere else.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean I think Diggs will at least see. I mean this year might be a big year for him because Tank Dell's coming off an ACL injury and being a smaller, speedier wide receiver, I think it might. I'm not sure, smaller, speedier wide receiver, I think it might. I'm not sure He'll be ready week one, most likely. But it'll probably take him a little bit to look like what he was going to look like, at least at that point last year. Nah, they paid Nico Collins. That's a Unfortunately. That's a really nice young team. They got a really nice young coach. This is going to be a good division.
Speaker 2:A lethal team for a while. Hopefully they don't try to mess this up, because they once had a young team that was on the rise.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but they had the wrong coach. Yeah, they had the wrong coach at that time, but they had the wrong coach. Yeah, they had the wrong coach at that time. And this year their draft it wasn't the most like. They didn't get a bunch of big names, but they got a lot of depth and they got a lot of guys who could potentially be starters.
Speaker 1:They got Kamari LeSister from the corner from Georgia and, like you just said, I know they brought in Jeff Okuda and CJ Henderson, both former first-rounders. So I mean he's not going to start right away but it seems like he may be a guy. I mean they drafted him in the second round, so it seems like he might be a guy. They can sit there and learn from those guys and develop and potentially maybe be a partner to go coexist with Derek Steenly on the opposite side, so it can be a tandem. And then they drafted Blake Fisher, the tackle out of Notre Dame who a lot of teams wanted, and he's going to get drafted there. Obviously, like you mentioned before too, they got two really good tackles but both of them at one point were hurt last year. So if that repeats itself, blake Fisher I mean they drafted insurance policies all around. They drafted Kalen Bullock from USC.
Speaker 2:Which is pretty much all they needed to do at this point, because they was able to. They traded away the one first-round pick that they had and it was, I think it was Cleveland's still that they had and they traded that back. So it shows that they was comfortable with not, they don't have a whole bunch of needs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like a yeah Exactly.
Speaker 2:Insurance policy and death pieces is all they need.
Speaker 1:A draft pick. I do like they drafted Kalem Bullock from USC Dude's, a ball hawk. He had nine interceptions the last three seasons from the safety spot and this is a team that doesn't. I mean, they have a good corner in Derek Stingley, but they're not known for forcing turnovers like that, so maybe he can come in there and be eventually, you know. And not to mention. Also not to mention, Jimmy Ward finished his season on IR last year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so one of the only good things about that USC defense.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, the only thing good out of the USC defense. They drafted Cade Stover. I mean, they're stocked at tight end right now. They have Dalton Schultz and Brevin Jordan too, both under contract. But, like I said, these are all guys who have potential and can be death pieces and a really intriguing prospect. I like too I watched a little bit of this past year Jamal Hill, linebacker of Oregon. He's a linebacker, wins a 4-4-1. So I mean he's immediately going to at least play special teams and it should be interesting to see how they use his speed to impact the game. Yeah, so not the craziest, not the sexiest draft by any means, but a pretty solid draft if you look at it from a football perspective.
Speaker 2:Probably the best young team in the league right now. Yeah, one of them, yeah.
Speaker 1:We're going to get to maybe the best young team up and coming. We're going to get there. Yeah, we're going to get there.
Speaker 2:We're going to get there. I've already said it once and I'd say it again. I'll say it again, just in case anyone forgot that I said it. I'm taking Jordan Love over to CJ Stroud, just in case you guys forgot that. I said it. Okay. Okay, interesting, cj, what Jordan Love is doing is he's got the youngest team in the NFL and he showed out in that divisional game, led them to the playoffs. Last year was his rookie year, yeah, and then almost beat San Fran.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:With no true X. There are some guys I like to develop Dobbs Watson, jalen Reed yeah, but no true number one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but no, true number one.
Speaker 2:You're not here to talk about that. That's another conversation for maybe after we're done with this division Right now, we'll get into some quarterback rankings.
Speaker 1:Preseason games and we'll get up to there. But let's talk about a team who kind of took a step back majorly compared to what they did a year ago winning the wild card. Obviously, we just talked about franchise quarterback just signed a new contract Trevor Lawrenson and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Speaker 2:Big payday, A lot of people didn't think that he really did much to deserve it, me being one of them. I did like I love what he did his sophomore year, the big comeback, which I had them winning that game anyway. From the get-go I had them winning that game and not in that kind of fashion, but they did it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then I mean I kind of put an asterisk towards his rookie year and then last year I mean I'm not going to give him excuses because teams have injuries and you've got to play, you've got to ball out. I mean you had to adjust to having Calvin Ridley.
Speaker 2:but To me that shouldn't have been too much of a harder. Hard of adjustment, because that's another weapon. You know it's not like you got to adjust with a new center, yeah Well, it's not like that's a new receiver that you get. You know that's another weapon.
Speaker 1:It's not like. It's like you're adjusting and you guys were a struggling team last year. No, you guys were a good offense and you guys added another better piece, so it was kind of weird seeing them kind of the defense is still very questionable and it still does have some question marks on it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but also we got to mention that Trevor did battle a lot of injuries and played through a lot of injuries and continued to and didn't change his style of play through the injuries. So I mean he showed a lot of toughness last year and stayed in there when at times I was questioning if he should be in the game.
Speaker 2:But he signed the biggest contract for, especially for any Jags player, but five years for $275 million. His plan is, you know he did it at a team-friendly S to set it up because he's going to play out his rookie contract.
Speaker 2:His contract, his base salary for this year was $1.055 million for 2024. For 2025, that's where his fifth-year option will be picked up. That's where he's guaranteed another $25.67 million, and then the big contract extension starts in 26. And also came with a $37.5 million signing bonus, tied for the highest paid player with my boy, joe Scheiste.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think I mean I always. You know how I was on Trevor. When he came out of college I said that's Peyton Manning.
Speaker 2:You were the only few players I've ever heard Dewey compare to Peyton Manning.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's Peyton Manning. I saw some players Even last year in NFL's draft.
Speaker 2:Funny story guys in our last year in NFL's draft. Funny story guys In our last year's fantasy draft when we were sitting there in our backyard. We have a draft party every year. I remember about a round or two before I planned on taking a quarterback. I remember Dewey asking who all doesn't have a quarterback. I was the one that takes them Me and Dewey don't take quarterbacks very early. Then the next round comes up. The sixth round comes and it's funny. Dewey says I'm taking young Peyton and everybody at the draft looked at him like he had three heads and I was the only one that knew who he was talking about. My head perked up. I'm like you, son of a. So just like how high he's been on him since high school, really yeah.
Speaker 1:So I'm a big Trevor Lawrence guy. I think he'll turn around, Hopefully not in Jacksonville.
Speaker 2:As we talked about the defense had question marks going in. They did help address that when they brought in Eric Armstead on a three-year $51 million deal. It finally gives Josh Allen some much-needed help on the defensive line. Outside of him. There has been no pass rush for Jacksonville. No, yeah, and like and I mean Trevon Walker's still looking like he's still developing into. I mean again, I thought I thought they should have drafted Aiden Hutchinson in that for round one pick one.
Speaker 1:That's who that that for me personally, but at the time he was, he's a younger kid you know it looked like you know. Yeah, he still had a lot of potential.
Speaker 2:I mean he which is which is what we're talking about. That was an nba pick yeah, yeah, it was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he played well last year, though he really, he really, uh, he really improved from from year one. What I mean? He had double digit sacks. I want to say he had 10 sacks. Um, I want to say he had 10 sacks. I want to say, yeah, he had 10 sacks, 10 sacks last year, so he had a good year. So, yeah, it should be interesting to see what that defensive front looks like, yeah, again, nba picks.
Speaker 2:I sustain what I've seen. Yeah, Again, we were talking about where Gabe Davis is. Gabe Davis ended up in Jacksonville. They lost Calvin Ridley but then they brought in Gabe Davis for three years, $393 million, $39 million, $11 million up front and he's not the only bill to. When we broke down the AFCEs, we talked that they lost a bunch of their players and Mitch Morse followed Gabe Davis to Jacksonville and that's going to, you know, hopefully, help out with the offensive line, trevor Lawrence. He's been getting hit. The run game was inconsistent last year Now, when the run game was going, it was running. The run game was run gaming when it was running. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, so when ETN was, getting he was getting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, especially with all the defense, the defenses in the division are kind of getting a little tougher. I mean the Colts got that defensive line the Houston Texans are coming up with Will Anderson Tennessee has always had a good defensive line that Houston Texans are coming up with Will Anderson. Tennessee's always had a good defensive line. Yeah, and the Titans, I mean they had quite a few pieces to the coverage unit, so I hope the defensive line for Tennessee will get into that later.
Speaker 2:And that also means because that's bringing in Mitch Morris, because what that means for Luke Fortner is not good. It's struggling center third-year center 31st and pass block win rate amongst starting centers. That's where I just mentioned that the offensive line has been an issue, especially up front. Yeah, and then they also Ezra Cleveland, who they got midseason last year. He only started five games for the Jags. They liked enough what they saw out of him to give him a three-year extension for a little bit under $10 million a year $9.25 million. One more guy I do like that they brought in is Darnell Savage. They brought him in on a three-year contract to help with the secondary and then, to top it all off, they lost I'm trying to put this nicely the sex offender. They lost the sex offender with Brandon McManus and they brought in kicker Joey Sly. Jesus.
Speaker 1:Christ, jesus Christ, jesus Christ. Oh my gosh, I'm trying to put this nicely.
Speaker 2:There's no nice way to put that See yeah, I feel like I could have worded that. I kept it as PG as possible. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and they also brought in Ronald Darby to help out that back of the defense too. I mean, with them being super thin at corner, he kind of slots in the start, yeah, he kind of slots in the start opposite Because they lost.
Speaker 2:Darius Williams, and there's another sick that they lost and Darnell Savage usually plays in nickel.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I mean he's looking to probably start and let's touch on their draft a little bit After. Like you said, after bringing in Gabe Davis, they already have Christian Kirk sign him to that big contract. A couple years ago they signed him and Ingram to a pretty big deal With their first-round pick. They bring in Brian Thomas, lsu wide receiver.
Speaker 2:Wide receiver U my first-round pick for blow-up is who I had as the most significant first-round pick and it's huge because a lot of people have him could say that, not a whole lot say that he could be better, but you know, as a pro, malik Davis was clearly the better receiver right there, but these guys as a tandem broke the numbers that Jefferson and Chase put up at LSU.
Speaker 1:Yeah, with Jaden Daniels.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, these guys. Both of these guys could come in and be immediate impact guys. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean at 6'3" he's an elite 50-50 ball guy. Like I said, 6'3" can run a 4'3". That's elite speed at that size.
Speaker 2:So you got a guy that's 50-50 ball and he can burn you off the line.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So he's got to immediately be a deep threat to offense, and on a team that threw the least amount of fade routes last year in the NFL. So he'll for sure be a target, because 10 out of 17 of his touchdown catches were on fade or go routes. So he's going to, they're going to go yard a little bit more.
Speaker 2:They're going to go and Keylaw can throw it. He can dial the launch codes up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so he's going to line up opposite side of Gabe Davis and they're pushing Kirk in the slot and they'll move every hangar kind of changes around. He'll move in the slot outside. He's kind of more of a receiver than a tight end. So, yeah, it should be really interesting how they use him this year. I think he'll get used a lot. I mean, he might be one of the best, I mean he might put up some of the best numbers for a rookie receiver this year.
Speaker 1:He might put up better numbers than a dunesier. He might put up better numbers than this kind of player.
Speaker 2:Well, I think he's going to put up off the bat. He's going to put off the bat, he's going to put up better numbers in a dunes day, because he's going to have more opportunity.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm just saying. And then, uh, I mean because of a dunes they fell down, fell down that low, yeah, yeah. I mean I'm a dunes day, probably going to get more opportunities than Malik Nabors. And with Kyler's health issues, if he doesn't hold up, who knows how much Marvin Harrison Jr is going to get targets, so he might end up having the biggest rookie year of this draft. He has for sure the most. I mean guarantee at quarterback. I'd say At least proven-wise can stay healthy and perform.
Speaker 2:At least proven wise can stay healthy and perform one guy that I would argue over there, who, and you know who I'm Keon Coleman.
Speaker 1:Oh, oh well, yeah, yeah, I was thinking like who got drafted before him. But yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I was about to say, you know, oh, okay. So any of the guys that got taken before him, I'll say like first, no, okay, okay, I see what you're saying.
Speaker 2:No, I see what you're saying now. Yeah, any of the guys that got taken before him. Yeah, he's in more of a for sure quarterback he's in the safest bet for a quarterback situation. Obviously, him and Caleb Williams are going to be the future. Yeah, you know, dynamic duo in Chicago, but in the short term, yeah, I see what you're saying now. Okay, yeah, I was like oh. At first I thought you said, out of all the rookie wide receivers, his quarterback situation was for sure. I see what you're saying now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I see there's other wide receivers who are in better situations.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, I see what you're saying now, but carry on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so I mean elite 50-50 ball guy. So he's immediately going to be a deep threat to the offense. So it should be really intriguing. They drafted another guy, another LSU guy actually, who I was really intrigued about and I kind of I mean he didn't really I kind of maybe if he slipped in the later rounds maybe it would be a nice future replacement for Big Grove for our team. Maybe if he slipped in the later rounds maybe it would be a nice future replacement for Big Grove for our team.
Speaker 1:But Mason Smith, 6'5", 305-pounder, can play both defensive and can play in D tackle and for his size he gets in the backfield and he has a super high ceiling. Unfortunately last year he didn't really have the best Senior season, which kind of hurt his draft stock. He had a back infection so he kind of fell down the draft a little bit. But Definitely a guy who Will probably slide in the rotation a little bit After they cut their starting nose tackle Last year. Can't pronounce his name, I'm not even going to try, I butcher that. So it should be a. They cut their starting nose tackle last year. Can't pronounce his name, I'm not even going to try, I butcher that. But yeah, so it should be a cheap pick.
Speaker 1:They drafted Jaron Campbell or Jaron Jones, I'm sorry Out of Florida State. He's mainly a slot corner and I know, like I said earlier, they brought in Ronald Darby and they have Tyson Campbell and they also brought in Darnell Savage, so he probably won't start immediately at nickel, but he's a dime guy and a really intriguing stag. My favorite thing is, like I always say, shutdown corners, don't. You know, they may not get crazy interceptions, but they don't allow touchdowns and in the past two years of college football he has not allowed touchdowns. So it should be pretty interesting. I mean obviously very physical play style from playing inside the nickel, which is what they really need on a team that kind of really lacked playmaking on the back end last year. So it should be pretty interesting to see how he fits in that team. Should see him a lot in the preseason. Oh, okay, this is an interesting guy.
Speaker 1:They drafted another LSU kid, jordan Jefferson. Not to get mixed up with Justin Jefferson's brother, former quarterback Jordan. Lsu quarterback, jordan Jefferson. This is LSU defensive tackle, jordan Jefferson, 6'4", 317. Showed off crazy strength at the combine Bench doing 34 reps on bench. That's a lot of reps, yeah, that's a lot of reps.
Speaker 1:And they really went after. So it really showed that they really kind of, after they made the Brian Thomas pick, they really went after defense. And then this is a really interesting pick, keelan Robinson, texas, running back. So this is back-to-back years where we've seen two Texas running. I mean, usually we may not see two backs from the same school unless you're Alabama usually consecutive years or Georgia. We saw back-to-back years where two Texas running backs got drafted.
Speaker 1:And Keelan Robinson is maybe not a known guy like Roshon Johnson was, who was in the backfield B-john last year, only having 796 career total yards rushing and 333 yards through the air to long ago, the 11 total touchdowns in his entire career.
Speaker 1:But with the new NFL, with the new NFL kickoff rules and him averaging 23.6 yards per return, that turns them into a really valuable asset on any team now. So like yeah, and and he also covers kicks in college too. So at 5'8", 191, he's a very physical player and it should be really interesting to see how they use him. They spent a fifth-round pick on him for a guy who his running back stats are equivalent to probably a really good season from a running I mean, I'd say that's a really good season, but for your career. I mean, it should be interesting to see how they use them. Maybe maybe we'll play a little bit in the slot and there's a smaller athlete. So yeah, these new cook-off rules, it's got. We're going to see a lot of next coming years as long as this new kickoff rules a thing we're going to see a lot of guys get drafted specifically just to return kicks now.
Speaker 2:I mean before it was never really up for debate, but with the new kickoff rules it automatically makes Devin Hester the greatest kick returner ever.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah yeah, it was never really much of a debate before, but it's solidified now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, Because imagine him in his or even prime Cordero.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, exactly yeah, prime Cordero. And then, last but not least, they drafted Cam Little out of Arkansas, one of three kickers on the roster you mentioned earlier. They had Joey Sly, they also had Riley Patterson after they cut Brandon McManus loose regarding the situation, but being drafted as a six-round pick, as a kicker, he'll most likely come into camp with a top dog with a kicking job most likely, most likely his job to lose, even though he's going against veterans. I mean, you may know from experience, but you usually don't cut a kicker, you draft that high. So yeah, let's just yeah. So it should be pretty interesting, especially on a team that really struggled in the kicking game last year. Yeah, so yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:To touch on that man. I love McPherson, but we never should have had the kicking woes that we should have had. Nah, yeah, that made me. That was one of the most. One of the most things that Marlon Lewis had done to piss me off was draft a kicker and then put him on the practice squad His first game as an Eagle. He kicked a 60 yard game, winning field goal His first game.
Speaker 1:Yep, that's the guy we drafted yeah, that guy a couple weeks ago In mean green, Just last week he was in drafted yeah, that guy a couple weeks ago In Maine Green.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was wearing a Bengals jersey a couple weeks ago. Yeah, you know, just last week he was in stripes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Go on. Oh that's it. Yeah, that's funny.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you opened up, yeah, you touched on a nerve there.
Speaker 1:Let's go to Nashville with this Down south Nashville, Tennessee.
Speaker 2:I went down to the playoff game when we played the Tennessee Titans. I had never been to Nashville before. Nashville was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:You know, yeah, yeah, dude, I had never been to Nashville.
Speaker 2:We had a blast in. Nashville and the people down there. They were so nice, Even the Titans, they were so nice. Even the Titans fans were so nice. It wasn't hostile like you would see in Bengals fans or you go to Philly.
Speaker 2:Southern hospitality, brother. Yeah, I really felt some Southern hospitality. But I will say this when they kicked that ball off, the football fans came out. The Southern hospitality was gone. When they put the ball, oh dude, but I loved every minute of it. Every bar we went down to, you know, we had talked to some guys, everybody. Oh, we're rooting for, we're going to be rooting for whoever wins this game, and you know pretty much, so are we. You know, I like, I want to see it. We like seeing teams that have never won before. But you know, we like seeing teams that have never won before. But you know, this team, it means. A lot of us went to the Tennessee Titans and it starts with new head coach and former Bengals offensive coordinator, brian Callahan. And one of the first things Brian Callahan did was he went and got him a number one Well, a younger number one, not saying D-Hop is not a number one because, hey, I don't care, I'm done with D-Hop slander.
Speaker 2:If he can still be that guy, 100% he can still be that guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He can complain about your quarterbacks all you want. I feel that. But here you can't say complain about your quarterbacks all you want. You know, I feel that, but here you can't say anything about your reading about, especially last year you chose this. You didn't want to take a pay cut to play with Josh Allen or Kansas City because they didn't have the cheese to pay you what you wanted. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:And you refused to take a pay cut. Yeah. So yeah with the whole. In regards to him tweeting about no offense to my quarterbacks yeah, but in regards to him tweeting about no offense to my quarterbacks, yeah, like you said, you couldn't help you play up in Houston, you got Kyler and you couldn't really help. I mean, you couldn't help your situation in Arizona but you chose to go to Tennessee, bro, knowing the situation.
Speaker 2:But so they went and got him. They gave him Calvin Ridley four years $92 million. They went and got Tony Pollard for a three-year $24 million. And I like the signing because Pollard has shown that he can be more explosive in shorter dosages and I like Tajay Spears as the guy I think it's going to be. I think they're going to. Both guys are going to get a lot of work, but I think it's going to tilt a little bit more towards Tajay Spears.
Speaker 1:Tajay Spears looked really good when he was in there spelling for Derrick Henry.
Speaker 2:I'll tell you what he's the only granted. Derrick Henry is getting old for a running back, but the only running back that I've seen cut into, you know, ever since he's became King Henry. Yeah, yeah, I mean only running back. I've seen even sliver into his workload.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'd say, because I mean yeah, derek Henry first started out cutting away at DeMarco Murray's workload.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and because no one before you was getting guys that was getting you know a carry here and there. Tajay Spears was getting like on some games five to seven carries.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which is really good.
Speaker 2:Which is a lot for a running back too behind Derrick Henry.
Speaker 1:Yeah, especially behind Derrick Henry. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I think it's been three straight years or since he's been hurt. He's led the league in rushing attempts. Yeah, so, and they brought in to help. Sure, in the offensive line. They brought in center Lloyd Cushenberry from the Denver Broncos. More for depth, though, because he's only started 26 games. Oh, no, he's only 26, and he has started 57 out of his 65 games. So I read my notes wrong there. No, you didn't. Yeah, followed up on my notes. So they bring in a young guy who's started some games and he's only allowed two sacks and 16 total pressures in his last two seasons. That's insane. Yeah, yeah, so they're bringing in to help with the offensive line. That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they brought back Nick Folk. They also brought back Nick Aquini Westbrook, and another bangle that they was able to drag along with them was Tyler Boyd, and I was really hurt about that, just as hurt as the Tyler Boyd as I was Joe Mixon. I loved that, actually. No, I was probably more upset about the Mixon pick Because I knew Boyd was gone. I didn't think Mixon was going to go, especially for the last couple of years, and then to bring in another guy to help trade for LeJarius Sneed, to help for the other side because they traded for LeJarius Sneed to help. Trade for LeJarrius Sneed to help. For the other side, because they traded for LeJarrius Sneed to help guard teams number ones. He's their starting CB1. For a Titans secondary, that's been bad for the last few years, real bad. Yeah, they've been able to stop the run, but if you're going to beat this team, all you got to do is just say hey, go long.
Speaker 1:A lot of late-game miscues the last couple years because of that back-and-forth defense.
Speaker 2:So to be able to bring in one of the top corners in last year's, they only allowed one receiving touchdown on the entire season and it didn't come until the postseason. So through 17 games I think 16 games I don't think he played week 17 or week 18.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't think he played week 17 or 18. Yeah, so week 18.
Speaker 2:So out of 16 games, no touchdowns. And then they brought in Chidobe Awuzie a three-year $25.5 million with 17 of that guaranteed. It took him some time to come back from his ACL. I'd look at last year as a rehab season for him, coming off the ACL injury the year before and he didn't do that bad for coming off of an ACL injury, if you ask me. He did get burnt a couple times, but you live with that and you expect that especially, you tend to come back and you lose a step after it.
Speaker 2:for a limitation of time, yeah.
Speaker 1:Especially lower body injuries.
Speaker 2:One of the biggest signings, I think and it's not even from a player personnel is that they Brian brought his pops with him. He brought Papa Callahan and Papa Callahan is looking to fix this offensive line. He's going to make a bunch of average guys look good. Papa Callahan is the best offensive line coach in the NFL. Bill Callahan is his name. For those of you who don't know, papa Bill.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it should be interesting, especially on a team that struggled the last couple years with the offensive line play. I mean last two years, Ever since really yeah, about two years ago, Since Taylor LeJuan.
Speaker 2:Yeah, since Taylor LeJuan started getting hurt.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when Taylor LeJuan got hurt like three years ago. Ever since then they've kind of fallen off and people like to say Derek Henry had a down year in the snap but he's running behind a bad offensive line.
Speaker 2:He ran behind one of the worst run-blocking offensive lines in the league and still ended with 1,100 yards. And what 13 touchdowns.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which, yeah, which kind of keys right into their offensive line. Woes their first-round pick which again an NBA pick. Yeah, I mean JC Latham. Yeah, well, especially because I was playing right tackle in college, he's probably going to. You're probably getting drafted to play left. If you're getting drafted that high and that offense line is very bad, he's probably going to get thrown and play left immediately. So I mean it's kind of an NBA pick. But yeah, he's developing live reps. He's going to start immediately most likely. They have a lot of draft picks.
Speaker 2:I thought it was a spot where you could try to potentially trade down after Joe Ault was gone. I thought that was high to take later.
Speaker 1:Potentially. I thought so too, A lot of people did. Could he work out, yeah?
Speaker 2:He was one of the best tackles in the draft. He was probably I think he was ranked number three. I think it was Alt Fashanu and right there you know. Then Marius Mims was right in that same conversation.
Speaker 1:And, like we harped on earlier, they didn't have a lot of picks. So you kind of thought maybe they'd just kind of trade and kind of just gather maybe two or three more picks, try to get more assets.
Speaker 2:Yeah, try to get more assets.
Speaker 1:But they ultimately, like we've harped on, we just went through a lot of guys. They addressed a lot of their main issues in free agency and their main issue left was offensive line. So maybe, yeah, they took the best player available. They just went ahead and took who they thought would be the best fit for a team and I I can't really knock them for that and I I think, uh, yeah, like I said, he's gonna be immediate starter.
Speaker 2:So we're gonna probably see in the next two or three years of broken play again, like you know, you know, yeah, it is best player available, but maybe it might not be that much of a reach because, like I just harped on, you know, papa Callahan, yeah, exactly yeah, Papa Callahan is going to get him together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're going to develop these guys, if he needs to play left tackle, papa Callahan is going to get him together, yeah, and he's going to show him how to transition from the right side to the left side, yeah we'll see.
Speaker 1:I mean, I know, yeah, I know it's. You're literally standing the opposite direction of what you've been doing the past three years, which is going to be hard as hell, probably Because you're already facing edge rushers, and that's why we're united because you've got to go up.
Speaker 2:We just talked about this. Afc South defense is only getting Better. You're going to have to stop Daniil Hunter twice a game.
Speaker 1:Twice a year you have to go against DeForest Buckner. Quiddie Paye, Grover Stewart Josh.
Speaker 2:Allen, a lot of these guys we're talking about. This is Liatu Latu. That's coming up though.
Speaker 1:And then they draft, though yeah, and then yeah, they draft JC Latham. They draft one of my favorite defensive linemen in the draft Tavondre Sweat.
Speaker 2:Another Sweat. Don't mean to cut you off here, but breaking news here we're going to have some. It's ironic that we're talking about the AFC South right here, but Jaguars filed $66.6 million lawsuit against former employee who stole $22 million, and it was the guy that had taken, got hold of a credit card. It was making all them bets on the DraftKings and Fandles.
Speaker 2:It was an employee that had gotten hold of a company credit card and was making Fandle bets. And the Jags are suing this guy to get their money back. Fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of fedutory duty and civil theft I know, I just butchered that word, you know, I just butchered that word, you know. Hey, piss off. Amit Patel pleaded guilty to wire fraud and illegal money transactions in December, where he was sentenced to six years and six months in federal prison in order to pay full restitution of $22.22 million back to the Jacksonville Jaguars. So not only did they throw the book at him, they threw the whole library at him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, bro, it's going to be, he's going to be.
Speaker 2:Like the scene on SpongeBob where Patrick picked up the spider and smashed him with the. That's what they did. Yeah, they beat him, yeah, but that's they beat him yeah. That's crazy. I'm sorry yeah.
Speaker 1:Uh, breaking news though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love, I was waiting on, I was, I was, I was hoping something like this would happen while we were recording. Yeah, we could talk about something breaking, and that's AFC South represent.
Speaker 1:So, hey, let's let's roll with it. And then, uh yeah, so so back, uh, back to tavandre sweat, uh, yes a guy, a guy that I, that I was uh big on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a lot of people, a lot of big people were big on that a lot of people were big on this big guy uh yeah, this big guy, let's talk about his 40.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Six foot five 366. Just massive, I mean that's insane. That's insane.
Speaker 2:Right around a five. I want to say he had like a five something 40, a five 340.
Speaker 1:He ran a 52740. I want to say 5-2. I want to make sure I was just accurate. Yeah, 527-40. I won't say 5-2. I wanted to make sure I was just accurate. Yeah, 527-40. At 6'5", 366 pounds. This guy's a freak and the speed translates because this past year he had eight tackles for a loss to go at two sacks.
Speaker 2:So I mean the speed translates very very well and that's huge comparing to who he was lined up next to with Byron Murphy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, who was a first-round pick. Yeah, exactly yeah. And then they have, like you said, they brought in Sebastian Joseph Day to kind of fill in that role for the time being, but this is going to be I think he's going to be a dude that they want to plug in the middle and come in year two, maybe even middle of year one. I mean they drafted him that high for a reason. They didn't, like I said, they didn't have many picks but they made. They made some really good picks.
Speaker 1:Another pick I'm going to talk about is Cedric Gray and and linebacker. I really like him out. He they after losing the, after losing a starting linebacker to Jacksonville, he's going to immediately play and they really don't have another solid starter outside of Kendrick Murray or Kenneth Murray I'm sorry, I combined their names a little bit yeah, so the only really legit linebacker they have right now is Kenneth Murray, and so I think this guy's got a big chance In the last two years at UNC. He had 265 total tackles, six sacks and three interceptions, all from the inside linebacker spot. So he's doing it all from the inside linebacker spot, he's getting after the quarterback, he's creating interceptions, he's a tackling machine and he played that big program at North Carolina.
Speaker 1:So I mean he's got it and they don't have a lot of depth, so he might be a surprise guy. He might be a every couple years. We do have a Logan Wilson, a Shaq Leonard kind of guy, like someone who really breaks out. I mean he's kind of in the perfect position to be a guy who breaks out. They add all the corners, they got some decent guys on the defensive line. You're playing with a freak athlete like Kenneth Murray, who I think might finally come into his own finally after being in LA. Yeah, cedric Gray out of UNC, I think that might be one of the steals of the draft.
Speaker 2:Interesting, interesting, yeah. So, um, sorry about that. Um, yeah, it's going to be an interesting race to see, if it would not necessarily interesting race to see if how, how well this Titans team can go from being down bad bottom 17, to see how fast. Brian Callahan can turn this team around.
Speaker 1:If he can, yeah, if he can. I think this is going to be tough.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it doesn't happen a whole lot after year one. It doesn't happen a whole lot after year one, but I think that's about to wrap it up down there for Nashville.
Speaker 1:On to our last team.
Speaker 2:The future AFC South champs my, the last team that we're going to break down. O of division break down. Last team of the last division the Indianapolis Colts. Yes sir, yes sir, yes sir. The last division, the Indianapolis Colts. Yes sir, yes sir, yes sir.
Speaker 1:Highlighted by the Michael Pittman three-year $70 million deal Kind of took him. I think he probably should have got paid a little more, if I'm going to be honest with you. But I'll gladly especially with the market about to increase I'll gladly have him take this team-friendly deal for right now, because we're going to have to pay some of these guys in the future.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because there is no fifth-year option, this contract's going in now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, exactly yeah. So you sector on picks, those contracts go on now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's nice to that's kind of team friendly, at least for See, but outside well, not even outside of that you guys didn't do anything in free agency to bring in any help. You guys brought back everybody that you guys had. You guys brought back Zaire Franklin, for three years $31.26 million. You brought back Kenny Moore, slot corner, three years $30 million. Grover Stewart three years $39 million. And there was also another one, tyquan Lewis, that you brought back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we brought back Julian Blackman eventually after kind of seeing how that was going to work out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Julian Blackman after going from a lot of vids where a lot of people, including me, thought he was going to go to San Fran. Yeah, because I thought once he went to San Fran I didn't think he would. I thought once he visited, I didn't think he was going to leave.
Speaker 1:No, yeah, I didn't think he was going to leave. No, yeah, I didn't either. I thought it was a wrap, especially after the injury to Tufunga last year at the end of the year. So I thought maybe he was only really big outside of Percy McBride. We brought in Joe Flacco.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's another guy, joe Flacco for $8.7 million, with about half of that guaranteed, and it's an insurance policy for Anthony Richardson, who has mistimed in college. There was five games that he started. There was only one game that he didn't get knocked out of. Yeah, so the durability issues are there and me personally I don't know how you felt, but I know you saw the video of his windmill dunk, hanging on the back of the rim.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you saw that or not. Get off the basketball court, Okay.
Speaker 2:I was about to say I thought the same thing. If I was Chris Pollard, I'd be texting him. Hey, don't do that again. If I'm Shane Stuyton, hey don't do that again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if I'm shane styton, hey, don't, don't do that again. Don't hang on the rim like that. I don't necessarily think it's um. Yeah, yeah, get the fuck out.
Speaker 2:You look, it's one thing you forget you if you're getting on there shooting around, yeah, get some shots up. You didn't need, you didn't need to hang on the rim like that and back off what you're in which you're coming back, and it was reported just uh three or four weeks he was having shoulder soreness.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but, like I talked about, still, as of right now, still the youngest starting quarterback in the NFL. Even with Caleb and all this rookie class the whole rookie class started this year Anthony Richardson is still the youngest quarterback in the NFL. But I don't necessarily think it's like injury issues. I think it's kind of like how Joe Burrow was, at least, starting out. You just got to learn how to protect yourself.
Speaker 2:And yeah, you got to learn how to slide. Yeah, because you got to slide more.
Speaker 1:You might be the biggest guy, but these guys have tackled guys a few hundred times.
Speaker 2:Yeah to them, you're just a bigger piece of meat, You're just a bigger target. Yeah, that's all it is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they've tackled Josh Allen before They've tackled Cam Newton, yeah, like. So I don't think it's necessarily him, I don't think it's necessarily physically. He just gets hurt all the time. I think it's just learning how to protect yourself, because all those plays I mean he got hurt running in the end zone for a touchdown on that one big play where he took that big hit A lot of these are easily avoidable. So if he can just avoid those injuries I mean I think we were a playoff team last year I mean CJ Stroud wants to kind of say he runs in AFC South but you're 0-1 versus Anthony Richardson. There he is whooping you in the first quarter but you don't play defense. Yeah, anthony Richardson can stay healthy.
Speaker 2:That was a hot fantasy start for me because I started him that year and it was thank God for them two rushing touchdowns early on because he helped me win my matchup that week. Yeah, and he's a big, big touchdown factor If he can get his, if he can learn how to go through his progressions and get his mechanics down. God, the sky's the limit. You know you'd be able to get your. You'd be able to get that, get your throwing down because he only had a sub, a sub like 52% completion percentage.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it wasn't very high.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it wasn't, maybe 52, 57.
Speaker 1:Maybe I might be cutting it a little bit. I think it was closer to 57.
Speaker 2:57, yeah, yeah, so 57 completion percentage. His longest pass on the year was a 50-yard screen pass to Michael Pittman pass on the year was a 50-yard screen pass to Michael Pittman but Anthony Richardson never. But Jonathan Richardson never took a handoff from Anthony Richardson.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Jonathan Taylor.
Speaker 2:So I think a lot of those rushing plays that are coming in there, I think his is he going to run the ball a lot, yeah, yeah. But Jonathan Taylor back there, maybe not as much as a lot of people would think.
Speaker 1:And our defense wasn't necessarily as consistent as it got to at the later part of the year, especially our defensive front. Shaquille Leonard was in and out the lineup. Zyra Franklin, in the middle of the year, really took a big step forward as to being a Pro Bowl linebacker and, like you mentioned earlier, he never played with Jonathan Taylor. He went out there. We didn't expect Zach Moss to initially probably do what Zach Moss did, even with our offensive line. We probably didn't expect that Zach Moss played really good football last year.
Speaker 1:But now we have our best player back, who missed the first, who every single, I mean Didn't come back until Anthony was gone, yeah, or out for a season. So that's gonna look really scary when we get to Third and two. Or At the goal line you got two, you got that's 500 pounds in the backfield, almost that's 500 pounds between two dudes in the backfield. That's crazy, yeah, yeah. So I mean it should be really intriguing to see how see what we do, uh, and, and obviously I love our draft this year, our draft this year. We killed our draft. I think so, and a lot of other people think so too, and I guess we'll get right into that.
Speaker 2:You guys were the first team to select a defensive player because, as you mentioned, the defense wasn't as consistent. No, yeah, and there wasn't a pick, a defensive pick, until pick 16, and it was the Indianapolis Colts and they selected. Yeah, we selected.
Speaker 1:Liatu Latu out of UCLA pass rusher, which I thought we were going to go corner for sure he's one of the second.
Speaker 2:I think he's the second, if not, he's one of the favorites to win defensive rookie of the year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly yeah, and a lot of people viewed him as the best pure pass rusher.
Speaker 2:But like I, said I thought we were going to take corner.
Speaker 1:I thought Dallas Turner was on the board.
Speaker 2:I thought that's where you guys were going to go was Dallas Turner.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but this guy was kind of the consensus as the best pure pass rusher in this draft and a lot of reasons he fell was because, well, all the defense players fell.
Speaker 1:But a lot of reasons he wasn't so high on a lot of people's boards was because of the injury history he had. For a little bit he retired and then he came back and had a really big year last year, the past two years actually, at UCLA, and we really, instead of kind of picking at our weakness, we kind of did an Indianapolis Colts thing and we viewed us the best player available and add it to what is our strength. And now what was a rotation of Sam Sam Bookham, quiddy pay, grover Stewart yeah, we're going to have, we're going to have all the forest Buckner. We're going to have a five man rotation of Taekwon Lewis. We're going to have there's going to be six defense linemen playing in a single game, like it's got. We're going to be able to throw a lot at you and that kind of takes away the injury concerns a little bit from them, because the wear and tear won't be there necessarily as quickly.
Speaker 2:Vision where these guys have young quarterbacks and you can look at a guy like Will Levis. If he can look to sit upright and if they can keep him upright, he's got a cannon for an arm and now he's got a wide receiver core that consists of Dehop, calvin Redley, tyler Boyd you keep him upright. It's going to be some problems and Tyler Boyd's going to come in and he's going to do exactly, I think, what was asked of him to do in Cincinnati when he was a solid number three behind Higgins and Chase. Now you're behind Ridley and Dehop. Yeah, you know it's.
Speaker 1:And this pick really makes a lot of sense too when you look at, like you said, from that kind of source. The Titans already have a bad offensive line, so we're kind of going to attack their weakness. The Texans are really good at tackle but their interior line Is very suspect. And then the Jaguars, since losing Taylor to the Chiefs, have kind of been really inconsistent. They were really inconsistent last year At offensive line. So we're kind of and we were a top five team in sacks last year. So I really do like just applying the pressure of what we did and kind of just crossing and teasing dot in our eyes and like a lot of people want us to take a playmaker, which ultimately we got our playmaker in the second round, so it really didn't matter with our first-round pick and we got the Lombardi. I mean All-American, this guy's proven that he can.
Speaker 2:Which at first was apparently a you know quote-unquote controversial pick, with AD Mitchell apparently having off-the-field issues, and Chris Ballard shut that down.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, because like and no, he has every validation too. Because, like, for years and years and it's been going on for decades really, and it's honestly like it's really kind of high school-y, like all these GMs will go out and like kind of, oh, he airing me bad this and that like, oh, I don't know, Like, and we don't like. At this point you don't know if you're one trying to say it to discourage other teams so he can kind of slide, like maybe that was a rumor beforehand and now you're kind of trying to reiterate it and kind of push down, double down on it, so making other teams kind of wear away from them, teams kind of wear away from him, and like it's just like go ahead and put a name, like, like chris said, put a name on it like if you're gonna say, if you're gonna have the audacity to say this about somebody, go ahead and say I said it like, don't, don't do it, because I mean in the normal draft this guy's a first round wide receiver. I mean I mean I don't think necessarily the—I mean because we draft him pretty high. So I don't think necessarily the whole off-the-field issues really affected his draft side necessarily.
Speaker 1:But I feel like whoever did that attempted to and this is a guy who's a first-round wide receiver 4'3", 4'40" can run the entire route. Tree 40 can run the entire route. Tree Arguably was a better route runner than his counterpart, xavier Worthy. Xavier Worthy has obviously the wheels, yeah, has the burners, but this is a guy who can potentially be our number two wide receiver. I guess number three, I don't know because I think Josh Downs is going to take a big step this year, especially if he's healthy this year. So I really do think that this is going to be an interesting receiving court. I think and I might be biased, but it's giving me some shades of the mid-2000s I think this could be one of the better receiving quarters in the league if we can keep this group I mean you have Alec Pierce on the back end of that four like as your fourth potentially.
Speaker 2:Potentially if he doesn't show that he can take that next step up, or he might even have a roster spot soon if he declines. Yeah but I think I like him Because you guys have drafted wide receiver kind of heavy, not necessarily in the first round but in the later rounds throughout the draft.
Speaker 2:So what's to say they don't bring in? You know they can bring in a practice squad guy to help fill in that fourth spot, or even use more of a Jelani Woods to try to help with that fill in some of that, or even use more of a Jelani Woods to try to help with that fill and some of that. Yeah, but Because, as of right now, because Josh Downs had hands, had sticky hands last year, yeah, yeah. He didn't drop. I don't think he dropped a pass that went his way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's him staying healthy, yeah, so him staying healthy.
Speaker 2:You got the big AD Mitchell.
Speaker 1:You got big. You know your guys is off. You guys got big at receiver. I'll give Alec this he made plays when Anthony was there. He made plays. He dropped that one ball in the preseason. Everyone wants to throw. I was throwing a fit about two. I think he made some plays with Anthony. I'm going to give him a benefit of doubt. His year two. We had that whole quarterback.
Speaker 1:Jeff Saturday was head coach and that was his second year in the NFL. So I mean I still laugh at that. Yeah, I mean I don't. I still cringe at that. I love Jeff Saturday and I cringe at that, yeah, but yeah, so, yeah, yeah, I think Alec Pierce can still make some noise at the YRC response. It's just a matter of if he's going to get the opportunity to, especially if we're a run-heavy team. I mean we don't really do a lot for YRC looks as it is, but he can still rotate in, who knows? So on to our next pick, matt Goncalves, listed as a tackle but can play all over the offensive line, 6'6", 317 pounds. With the injuries we've had, tackle and guard the last few years, kind of in and out rotation. We've got Braden out of the lineup. In and out of the lineup, bernard Raymond has stepped up the last year or last year's left tackle, becoming underratedly one of the best left tackles in the game.
Speaker 2:People don't want to talk about him. I was just getting ready to say when healthy he could be a potential top five, top seven tackle.
Speaker 1:But emphasis on when healthy. So we draft this guy who can play all over the offense line. Like I said, big kid has a lot of starts so yeah, it should be pretty interesting to see if he can kind of fill in the role wherever it kind of needs to be, just kind of be a Swiss Army knife on the offensive line. Another guy who I like, with Ryan Kelly getting old, is Tanner Bottolini out of Wisconsin, and that's a running school, I mean. Came right where Johnson came from.
Speaker 2:That's where JT came from.
Speaker 1:Yeah, came from where JT came from. He liked to get physical, run the ball. So I think eventually he could be a guy that takes over for Ryan Kelly eventually. And then I'm going to get to my two favorite picks. Sorry for you guys to forget Anthony Gold wires here from Oregon State I just talked about previously with the running back from Texas for the kicker turn rules. He's another guy, a little more productive in college, had an average 16 yards per catch this past season playing in a more pro-style offense at Oregon State with DJ Ugalele at quarterback and playing more of a run-heavy kind of style. But he's a guy who can get loose on any single play and I know, like we mentioned, all our receivers we had. So he's going to have to overcome a lot if he's going to want to play wide receiver on this team, unless barring injury or something like that. But he had two kick return touchdowns back in 2000, or punt return touchdowns back in 2022. So this is a guy who we can immediately put in as a punt returner, especially last year, because last year Isaiah Rogers was slated to be our punt returner and then we brought in Isaiah McKenzie. Isaiah McKenzie eventually got suspended, so that eventually. You know we haven't had a consistent punt returner guy in quite some time since young Isaiah Rogers was on his like second year he was consistently returning punts for us. So I like this pick a lot. So and then my probably my favorite pick, I will say I watched him a lot, oddly. I mean I watched a lot of Missouri football, weirdly enough in the past couple of years, I guess always on TV.
Speaker 1:Jalen Charlie's linebacker safety For a team that when we use a lot of coverage linebackers we run a lot of the nickel. So we run a lot of two linebacker sets. I really love this pick and he's a tweener guy. We kind of use tweeners, especially with running nickel, a lot. So he's going to be playing in the box a lot, a guy that had three sacks past two seasons, five interceptions, so he can kind of do it all and I mean the main thing he's going to be doing for us is coverage. So he's really athletic and he can do that. So it should be really interesting to see how we use him this next year.
Speaker 2:Oh sorry, on to our rankings for the AFC South, for me, for the bottom of the division, you've got to go Nashville, I'm going Tennessee. Tennessee is going to be again. They struggled on their defense. I don't think it's going to be a big jump from Europe.
Speaker 1:I do see improvement, not enough for me personally, for them to see to make a fight. I thought I was worried when you were talking about Tennessee. I was like bro, you think you? Think you're going to be kind of nice. I was like I don't think so. I was like not yet.
Speaker 2:They're going to finish fourth in this division. I think they're going to be improvement, but not enough to battle for this, not enough to be able to hang with T-Law Richardson or.
Speaker 1:Stroud, that's fair. I got him finishing fourth too, you got third. This is where it might get a little tricky.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for me, this is where it's going to get a little tricky For me. I got Indianapolis right now finishing third. It's going to get a little tricky for me. I got Indianapolis right now finishing third Not a sense to anything down. You guys didn't. Again, the free agency wasn't. You guys didn't really do a whole lot, but you guys stayed in-house, which is big. It's not like you guys signed. You guys didn't let anybody big walk. Yeah, so nobody was the issue. But for me, I got to see Anthony Richardson stay healthy and I got to be able to see him be able to consistently sling the rock. Okay, Because if he can consistently sling the rock, then they can win this division. Okay, that's fair. Okay, Because if he can consistently sling the rock, then they can win this division. Okay, that's fair.
Speaker 1:Okay. Third, I got Jacksonville. I know we recently harped on all the kind of the veterans they had on the back end and Trevor Lawrence coming back and they had Gabe Davis, who kind of disappears at times, and I do like the Brian Thomas pick, but I'm still really concerned about the offensive line. I think they potentially put they tried to put a bandaid on the back end of that defense and they got a lot of guys who are kind of like Ronald Darby's kind of past his prime. They just got, I mean, darnell Savage is still young so I mean he might be, but he's a former first-round pick. I mean kind of hasn't worked out necessarily had a really good, strong rookie year though, but so I kind of I have them at third. And then See now.
Speaker 2:Now for me I have Jacksonville finishing second. Okay, because we at least know what we're going to get with Trevor Lawrence. I was big on Brian Thomas. Yeah, you know where he fell in. You know he's got probably one of the which could potentially be the best receiver in this draft class, because you know a lot of people think it's going to be Marvin, but nobody thought Justin Jefferson was going to be the best out of his draft class. Yes, so we can roll with that. I really like the Eric Armstead pick up because it's going to be more opportunity for him to flourish Again if he can stay healthy. It's going to give Jacksonville a nice pass rush Again to compliment Josh Allen and Trayvon Walker, and we at least know what we have with Trevor.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's fair.
Speaker 2:Trevor can sling the rock and then to win this division. It sounds like me and you both have again the Houston Texans. I don't have the Texans to win the division.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:Okay, so we haven't finished our rankings yet.
Speaker 1:Second, I have Houston Texans.
Speaker 2:Okay, so two go ahead Okay.
Speaker 1:Go ahead with your piece. I think, outside of Derek Sting stingley, that back in the defense they draft. They brought in, like I said, two first, two former first round picks. There's a reason those former first round picks have getting been getting moved around like they're undrafted free agents. Um, I think that back in that defense is very, not very strong. Um, I still am concerned about the consistency of the running game inside the middle, especially if your tackles get hurt. But that's just too hypothetical. And then I do think I'm really concerned about the health of Tank Dell coming back. I think he's going to be a big piece in their future and I think I mean if he comes back and he's healthy, I think they might be legit.
Speaker 1:But I'm real concerned about the back end of that defense.
Speaker 2:The back end of the defense yeah, but when you have a strong front you can compliment for the back end, which I think they're going to. Yeah, Because they already had a nice. They already drafted, you know the Will Anderson from last year. And then not only did you get the best pass rusher in that draft, you turn around and you get the best pass rusher in free agency. And then add another complimentary piece with Danico Autry yeah, and the health of Tank Dell is going to be a concern, but for me you don't have to worry about that this year, because that's why you brought Noah Brown back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I don't think Noah Brown is going to do what Tank Dell is doing.
Speaker 2:No, he's not going to do what Tank Dell is doing, but no, he made the big plays that was asked for him to do. He carved us up when they played.
Speaker 1:When they played us, he went for. He went for like one 30. I think, and then, um, big deep threat receiver Go ahead. So why so kind of like?
Speaker 1:What you said about the defense line is why I have personally the Indianapolis Colts is number one with the struggles on each team's defense offensive line. Um, and necessarily I know you said the whole proven thing of the whole Anthony Richardson thing. Everything else on that team is proven. We've proven we're a top five pass rusher. We drafted the best pass rusher in the draft to act.
Speaker 1:This could be potentially the best defensive line unit in the NFL this coming year. Not necessarily the most name, but when it comes to productivity, throwing in guys and they're going at it. They could be like the Dallas Cowboys were last year. They could be a bunch of guys that can just get after it. We have Zyra Franklin, a linebacker, who showed last year after Shaquille Larratt left, that he can be one of the best linebackers in the NFL too. We got Kenny Moore.
Speaker 1:I am concerned a little bit about the back end of that defense, but I like Juju Brinson year two. Jalen Jones in the seventh round pick showed some flashes and then we brought back Julian Blackman, and then obviously I mean we will. I think we will win the division. Last year. Not even about that. If Jonathan Taylor plays the first four games, I think we would have won the division last year. If Jonathan Taylor plays the first four games, I think we would win the division. Yeah, I think we would win the division. And I know the whole Anthony Richardson prove it thing and the whole throwing the ball downfield. But he's going to get more comfortable and we're going to open up the offense and, like I said, he's going to have 28 back there to hand the ball off to. And now we got AD Mitchell too. I love our draft and I think we have the outside proven quarterback.
Speaker 2:It's going to be the same thing that I said about the Bears, the proven quarterback. I could see you guys jump Because it was tough for me to sit there, and the next time you ask me I could very well have to my two and three flip-flop. I'm going to go back and forth on this. I sat there for a second Even before going into this. I sat there looking at my notes. Where am I going to? I almost put them at two for this. It's going to be a close race.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's going to be a real close division. I mean it's going to be, I mean Because, besides that, they got everything else.
Speaker 2:that's there. Yeah, I would like to see you know, I got to see the big, I got to see, you know, josh Downs, if he can take that, he can take the next step, next step up.
Speaker 1:But I think you guys got a home run with Steig then. Yeah, I think so for sure too. I mean, if, maybe, if Tyler I mean I'm not going to blame him for dropping that pass, but if Gardner Minshew throws a better ball, I think I don't everyone blames that catch. But that was not a very good throw. For throwing it to a dude who's running full speed two feet away from you, that is not a very good throw.
Speaker 2:I think it's kind of like just point fingers at this point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I was going to say it's point fingers.
Speaker 2:It was a bad throw, but it still hit his hand the ball was wobbly, but it still smacked him in his midst.
Speaker 1:I was going to say it wasn't a good throw, but I was going to say I'm not going to say Rose shouldn't have caught the ball.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he got, yeah it hit him in the mittens.
Speaker 1:Well, if it was a good throw and broke, I think he might have scored on that play. Because there was no one near him, because I thought they were running the ball until backfield and I was like, wait, what's going on? Because I was like why doesn't he know Zach Moss? Why doesn't he know Jonathan Taylor? I'm not the head coach. It looked like it was going to work to perfection.
Speaker 2:It almost did.
Speaker 1:Like I said, we were a couple plays away from making the wild card as it was. That was without our starting quarterback and our starting running back, missing four games.
Speaker 2:So you know I'd love to see the Colts win this division.
Speaker 1:I like the Indianapolis Colts, win the AFC South. Yeah, that's who I got.
Speaker 2:All right. So for me it's barring a sophomore slump or any significant injuries. I just think the Texans are just too loaded right now.
Speaker 1:CJ Shaw missed games too last year. People forget, yeah, he had a concussion, but he missed a game, and I don't think he didn't play that last game. No, never mind, the last game was a division winner.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he had some rookie woes, but no yeah, yeah. Barring sophomore slump or any offensive line injuries or injury to himself. I got the Houston Texans repeating as division champs. Oh, that's fair.
Speaker 1:That's valid. I am at that.
Speaker 2:Looking although looking for the Colts to take a jump up when we go to do our quarterback rankings of going into. We'll dive more into that. Yes, sir, yeah, but that's it for us on Turf Talk. We'll be seeing you guys. Peace out.
