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Speaker 1: It's time to get inside the Giants Huddle on Giants

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Speaker 1: dot Com. We go here, we go on the Giants Bubble.

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Speaker 1: Let him in there, Let's go. Part of the Giants

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Speaker 1: Podcast Network.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the latest edition of the Giants Huddle Podcast.

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Speaker 2: I'm Lance Meadow. We are continuing our exploration of the

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty three draft class, and today we're focusing on

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Speaker 2: the team's fifth round pick, one hundred and seventy second overall,

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Speaker 2: Oklahoma running back Eric Gray and to get more into

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Speaker 2: Gray and what he'll bring to the Giants. We are

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Speaker 2: joined by Sooner's running backs coach and former NFL running

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Speaker 2: back who's very familiar with the NFC East he played

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Speaker 2: in the league for seven seasons, and that is none

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Speaker 2: other than DeMarco Murray. Tomorco greatly appreciate the time. Hopepol

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Speaker 2: as well, has everything on your end.

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Speaker 1: It's great dispensing up on the road. Just got through recruiting,

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Speaker 1: so back in the office now and I'm getting ready

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Speaker 1: for some camp. So it's going well.

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Speaker 2: The football clock, as you can attest to, never slows

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Speaker 2: down and doesn't stop for anybody. It's cyclical, so we

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Speaker 2: can all relate to that and clearly looking forward to

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Speaker 2: get your inside on Eric Gray. I want to start

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Speaker 2: with what he talked about when he met the media

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Speaker 2: once he was drafted, and he talked about how you

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Speaker 2: were a heavy influence as to why he decided to

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Speaker 2: branswer from Tennessee to Oklahoma because he really wanted to

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Speaker 2: be exposed to somebody like yourself who had a wealth

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Speaker 2: of experience at this position on the NFL level. What

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Speaker 2: were the conversations you had with him as he was

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Speaker 2: contemplating what he wanted to do after playing two years

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Speaker 2: at Tennessee.

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Speaker 1: I'm just that having a chance to come here and

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Speaker 1: learn from a guy who's been where he's trying to get.

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Speaker 1: And you know, Eric, Eric's just the first day I

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Speaker 1: spoke with him. He's always had a pro mentality. He's

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Speaker 1: always been very mature, always been an extremely hardworking kid

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Speaker 1: with a great mindset. So for me, just trying to

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Speaker 1: find tune some things here and there for him, but

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Speaker 1: more importantly, just letting him know that, hey man, you're

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Speaker 1: gonna be coast hard, You're gonna be coast the right way,

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Speaker 1: and you know, when you do get to that next level,

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Speaker 1: you know verbally you know you're going to be at

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Speaker 1: expoke that same language. You know, one or two years here,

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Speaker 1: you know, however long it takes you to you know,

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Speaker 1: obviously transition to the next level. But Eric's been a great,

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Speaker 1: great person to work with, a tremendous athlete for us,

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Speaker 1: great leader for me, but also you know, a guy

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Speaker 1: that I knew every day coming to this building. He

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Speaker 1: was one guy I never had to worry about.

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Speaker 2: Well, speaking of transition, he made quite the jump from

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty one to twenty twenty two, and of course

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Speaker 2: that was a reflection of usage. What clicked de marco

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Speaker 2: for Eric this past season that he had over thirteen

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Speaker 2: hundred yards rushing and he really made the most of

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Speaker 2: his additional carries.

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Speaker 1: I think, just been okay with those dirty runs, you know,

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Speaker 1: those two three four yard ruins that you know sometimes

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Speaker 1: you need those to set up the big ones. And

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Speaker 1: for him, you know, he was able to boke up

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Speaker 1: a little bit more, but understanding that hey, all four,

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Speaker 1: get your head down and again be physical and then

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Speaker 1: add on another yard or two rather than jump cutting

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Speaker 1: and losing a yard or maybe not getting you know,

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Speaker 1: those exurs. But Eric has always been a guy that

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Speaker 1: you know, he can see the field. As a coach,

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Speaker 1: you always appreciate a guy that you can talk to

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Speaker 1: in the classroom where you can tell him more detail,

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Speaker 1: and then he goes out there and does it that

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Speaker 1: same second, that same play. And he's always been a

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Speaker 1: guy like that since he stepped on campus for me.

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Speaker 1: And you know again, I think he ran extremely hard

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Speaker 1: between the tackles and he had the opportunities that he

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Speaker 1: had this pastor that he didn't have two years ago.

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Speaker 2: Well, how big of a jump is it. I mean,

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Speaker 2: you've been in backfields throughout your professional career where you

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Speaker 2: shared the wealth and you've also been the workhorse. We're

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Speaker 2: talking about a player that goes from seventy eight carries

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Speaker 2: in twenty twenty one to two hundred and thirteen this

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Speaker 2: past season. How do you think he handled that? And

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Speaker 2: what type of adjustment does a running back have to

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Speaker 2: go through when the workload increases like that?

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Speaker 1: He and will he always tell guys, I mean, he's

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Speaker 1: a pro on and off the field as a teammates,

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Speaker 1: as a players, truly, a pro doesn't doesn't get phased

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Speaker 1: by by getting coach hard, doesn't get phased by something

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Speaker 1: that goes bad along the lines of the game. Or

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Speaker 1: if he makes a bad play, he doesn't get phased.

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Speaker 1: He has a short, short, short, short mindset, whether it's

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Speaker 1: good bat or ugly. You know, as as a professional,

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Speaker 1: you want to have that that mindset that hey, good batter, ugly,

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Speaker 1: move on to the next player as fast as you

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Speaker 1: can and try to be the best player you can

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Speaker 1: as each and every play. And for Eric Gray, obviously

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Speaker 1: having seventy eight to two hundred and thirteen carries, you know,

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Speaker 1: obviously as a competitor, you little you know, disappointed at times.

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Speaker 1: But he never stopped working. He never complained, He never

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Speaker 1: questioned his own ability, he never questioned us as as

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Speaker 1: a as a coach or staff. But all he did

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Speaker 1: was just go back to work, saw the one or

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Speaker 1: two little things that he needed to improve on, and

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Speaker 1: he just kept putting his head down, kept gradually improving.

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Speaker 1: And again you talk about a veteruran guy who's extremely mature,

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Speaker 1: who's extremely unselfish, and again it's infectious because of this

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Speaker 1: personality and his work at the I mean, I've only

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Speaker 1: been doing this for going on my fifth year, I guess,

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Speaker 1: but there hasn't been a running back that I've had

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Speaker 1: that it's worked harder than Eric Gray, you know, day

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Speaker 1: in and day out, twelve months out of the year.

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Speaker 2: Earlier, you were talking about accepting some of the dirty

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Speaker 2: runs so that it pays off in the long run

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Speaker 2: with the big runs. What does that come down to

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Speaker 2: in terms of what you were preaching to him. Is

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Speaker 2: that a matter of patience and just saying, hey, everything

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Speaker 2: doesn't need to be a home run, It doesn't have

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Speaker 2: to be flashy. If you stick with the game plan,

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Speaker 2: ultimately you'll reap the rewards. What is that process like

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Speaker 2: going through it with him?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's just, you know, one, it's wearing

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Speaker 1: the defense down, wearing the defense down, you know, being

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Speaker 1: a physical runner between those tackles and letting them, you know,

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Speaker 1: fail and impose your will on those guys early on.

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Speaker 1: Then a by third or fourth quarter, all right, they're

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Speaker 1: looking for that same physicality. But then that's when you

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Speaker 1: incorporate with Eric Gray has those jump cuts, those abilities

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Speaker 1: to make guys miss in one on one opportunities in space,

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Speaker 1: And I've always prestatus and running back here, Let's let's

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Speaker 1: impose our will on them early and often, let them

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Speaker 1: know it's gonna be held of a day alone day,

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Speaker 1: but more importantly, this game has to be played behind

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Speaker 1: your past. It has to be played and the trenches

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Speaker 1: has to be played, you know, physical, especially at my position.

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Speaker 1: Our position in the running back failed, but again Eric

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Speaker 1: was able to again add some weight. Feel more comfortable about, Hey,

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Speaker 1: I'm fine with the three, four or five yard run.

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Speaker 1: And even though this is college, everybody's not, you know,

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Speaker 1: getting those six seven yards per carriers at all times.

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Speaker 1: But again it's great to have that too. But you know,

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Speaker 1: uh NFL part of me, I'm like, hey, y'all, run,

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Speaker 1: that's a that's the hell of the run. Five do

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Speaker 1: our run. I'll take it any day of the week. So,

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Speaker 1: you know, I think it's just obviously you know, it's

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Speaker 1: a little different when it comes to that, but you know,

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Speaker 1: I think it's mindset changed to where hey, I'm okay

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Speaker 1: with again imposing my will early on and then setting

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Speaker 1: them up, you know in that second half and the

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Speaker 1: third or fourth quarter to make guys miss.

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Speaker 2: You mentioned that I'm putting more weight on his frame.

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Speaker 2: He's about five to ten, a little over two hundred pounds.

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Speaker 2: Do you see him continuing to have the ability to

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Speaker 2: add even more or is he at the point where

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Speaker 2: you think this is the ideal size for him to

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Speaker 2: play at the NFL level.

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Speaker 1: No, I think he's definitely gonna get stronger, faster. I

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Speaker 1: think they're still you know, I would say he doesn't

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Speaker 1: need a bunch of more weight. I think, you know,

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Speaker 1: just looking at him and understanding what he he will

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Speaker 1: be at that level. I mean, he's gonna be in

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Speaker 1: every down back before it's all said and done. He's

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Speaker 1: a guy that can office catch, who made tremendous leaps

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Speaker 1: in this pass protection skills, and again his ability to

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Speaker 1: run rounds oide of the backfield will be second to none.

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Speaker 1: And I think the Giants with what they got with Saquan,

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Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be a great matchup, you know.

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Speaker 1: But I think another four to six pounds for him,

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Speaker 1: I think it'd be great because he's physically strong. But

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Speaker 1: again he'll he'll naturally get more stronger and more flexible

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Speaker 1: and things of that nature at that level. But I think,

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Speaker 1: you know, he still definitely has room to you know,

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Speaker 1: carry some more weight, put some more weight muscle on.

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Speaker 2: Margo. I'm glad you brought up the other facets of

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Speaker 2: what it takes to playing or running back, and that

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Speaker 2: is obviously catching the ball of the backfield and passed protection.

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Speaker 2: Let's start with his production as a receiver, because it's

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Speaker 2: the efficiency to me that jumps out. He had forty targets,

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Speaker 2: thirty three catches on that zero drops, and if you

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Speaker 2: watch his film, he did some damage yardage after the catch.

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Speaker 2: What type of a leap did you see him make

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Speaker 2: in terms of specifically as a receiver within the confines

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Speaker 2: of this Oklahoma offense.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, he was. He was always a really good receiver.

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Speaker 1: I think just for us, we asked him to do

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Speaker 1: much more this passier than we did a year ago.

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Speaker 1: You know, if there's every time I'm game planning and

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Speaker 1: implementing routes for the running backs, I'm always thinking of

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Speaker 1: number zero, He's the first guy that comes to mind

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Speaker 1: because it's such a great matchup and we know that, hey,

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Speaker 1: one hundred percent of the time, we're going to have

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Speaker 1: the upper hand just because of his ability, whether it's

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Speaker 1: an intermediate route or long route, we trust them just

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Speaker 1: as much as we trust received running the post or

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Speaker 1: dig coming out of the backfield. That's just the type

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Speaker 1: of hands that he has, that's the type of setup

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Speaker 1: that he has, that's the type of versatility that we

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Speaker 1: saw him have day in and day out, you know.

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Speaker 1: But again, Eric is he's gonna make a lot more

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Speaker 1: money than he did on Saturdays than the Sundays in

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Speaker 1: the NFL, because again, they're going to ask him to

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Speaker 1: do a little bit more than what we did on

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Speaker 1: the third down level, but red zone level, and I

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Speaker 1: think he's going to be great.

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Speaker 2: And then the other thing that you were alluding to

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Speaker 2: is past protection. You know this very well. If you

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Speaker 2: want to stay on the field on third down what

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Speaker 2: you just talked about, you have to be willing to

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Speaker 2: get down and dirty, as I like to say, in

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Speaker 2: the trenches and be able to protect your quarterback. And

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Speaker 2: that's something that I relate to in basketball. On defense,

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Speaker 2: the player has to DeMarco have the desire to want

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Speaker 2: to do that. You can teach that and preach that,

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Speaker 2: as you know, but they have to want to do that.

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Speaker 2: How much passion does he have for pass protection and

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Speaker 2: how much has he really applied the fundamentals that you've

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Speaker 2: been emphasizing over the last two years.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, he's a student of the game and every facet

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Speaker 1: of the game, good bad, good parts of bad parts,

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Speaker 1: the hard parts. He wants all of it. That that's

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Speaker 1: his mindset. He wants to be a great player. He

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Speaker 1: wants to stay on the field. I love the selfish

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Speaker 1: guy that doesn't want to come off the field, and uh,

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Speaker 1: he has something of that in him, but not in

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Speaker 1: a in a an a bad teammate way, but a

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Speaker 1: way that, hey, I know, good things will happen when

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Speaker 1: I'm on the field, whether it's in the throw game

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Speaker 1: or the run game or the protection game. And I

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Speaker 1: mean he's that type of player. But he's very technical.

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Speaker 1: We we we videoed all of our obviously individual drills

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Speaker 1: and things of that nature in our one on one matchups,

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Speaker 1: and we worked on it. You know, during the season,

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Speaker 1: we're working on it once a week and it's full go,

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Speaker 1: full live. And again, you don't get good at something

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Speaker 1: unless you rep it, you know, at a higher high level.

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Speaker 1: And you know, he was a guy that constantly jumped

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Speaker 1: back company's front. You know, whether he made the mistake

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Speaker 1: or he did it right, let me get one more

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Speaker 1: rep just to you know, find twos and things. But again,

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Speaker 1: he's a guy that he's always been that way, a

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Speaker 1: great leader, great worker, and again, you guys are really privileged.

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Speaker 2: To have him we're talking with DeMarco Murray, former NFL

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Speaker 2: running back Oklahoma running backs coach worked closely obviously with

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Speaker 2: Giants fifth round pick Eric Gray. It's interesting, DeMarco, he

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Speaker 2: had three different offensive coordinators in four years, clearly spent

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Speaker 2: the first two at Tennessee, and life of the NFL,

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Speaker 2: as you know, comes at you fast, you can't expect

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Speaker 2: everything to stay the same. I'm curious how beneficial do

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Speaker 2: you think that was that he's been exposed to various

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Speaker 2: different offenses and maybe the silver lining is he's had

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Speaker 2: some stability at his positional coach with you the last

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Speaker 2: two years.

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Speaker 1: I think it's been great. Eric Gray. Again, you talk

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Speaker 1: about a kid who's savvy, who's extremely sharp and smart.

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Speaker 1: He came in and learned the old system within a month,

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Speaker 1: he came in and learned this new system, which we

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Speaker 1: learned together. He actually learned it a little a little

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Speaker 1: faster than I learned it. But that's just the kind

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Speaker 1: of kid that he is. He's a he's an extremely

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Speaker 1: smart kid, extremely extremely smart and again gonna he's gonna

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Speaker 1: know the play, but inside out, he's gonna know what

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Speaker 1: the quarterback has. He's you know, the offensive lineman has,

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Speaker 1: He's gonna know what the receivers has. So again, that's

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Speaker 1: how I was, That's how I want my guys to be.

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Speaker 1: Not only know your position, but know everyone else's position

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Speaker 1: as well, and again have a high football like you.

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Speaker 2: On a related note to that, it's interesting because Jeff Levy,

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Speaker 2: your offensive coordinator, he has this up tempo offense. There's RPOs.

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Speaker 2: If I'm not saying that you've been DeMarco studying the Giants,

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Speaker 2: but Daniel Jones is a very mobile quarterback. He's very

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Speaker 2: much involved in the run game. How much do you

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Speaker 2: think what you've run at Oklahoma over the last season

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Speaker 2: with Dylan Gabriel your quarterback and him being involved in

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Speaker 2: the run game maybe makes for a very smooth transition

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Speaker 2: to what Eric is going to be exposed to working

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Speaker 2: alongside Daniel Jones and his Giants offense.

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Speaker 1: Well, yeah, I think it's a great situation for Eric.

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Speaker 1: I think he'll be at a succeed in it early

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Speaker 1: and often because of obviously hadn't been here and come

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Speaker 1: from a system such as But again, obviously Dame's a

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Speaker 1: really good quarterback, runs the ball extremely well for a quarterback,

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Speaker 1: So obviously we get out of extra, you know, element

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Speaker 1: to the run game, whether it's a quarterback run game

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Speaker 1: or obviously with Aeric being the lead blocker. He's done

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Speaker 1: that here. So again, I think they're going to find

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Speaker 1: situations to where they're able to use Eric in a

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Speaker 1: great situation as far as receiving the ball out of

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Speaker 1: the backfield, being a lead blocker, or obviously running the ball.

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Speaker 1: But I think the transition will be a little easier

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Speaker 1: for Eric because of obviously his history here.

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Speaker 2: Speaking of usage, I don't believe he had much exposure

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Speaker 2: to special teams at Oklahoma, and it's understandable he was

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Speaker 2: one of your main backs. But as he moves to

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Speaker 2: the NFL level and you're playing with Saquon Barkley, who

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Speaker 2: you mentioned, so it may not be as many opportunities

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Speaker 2: on offense. Where do you see him maybe fitting in

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Speaker 2: at all as a special team or whether it be

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Speaker 2: in the return game or some other facet Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Again, if he wasn't the starter here, he would have

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Speaker 1: definitely been on special teams, but obviously, being a starter,

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Speaker 1: you want to limit that as much as you can.

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Speaker 1: But I work with returners, so he was back there

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Speaker 1: with me every single day with kick return and pump

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Speaker 1: return for emergency situations, if we needed to play to

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Speaker 1: be made, he was going to be the guy that

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Speaker 1: we're asking to go back there, no matter if if

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Speaker 1: he's warmed or cold or anything like that. But I

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Speaker 1: think he's a guy that's hungry. I think he's a

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Speaker 1: guy that has a lot of juice, has a lot

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Speaker 1: of speed, physical player. I think he can run off

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Speaker 1: on kickoff as well run down on kickoff. But again

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Speaker 1: I think in the return game especially, I think he's

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Speaker 1: gonna make a lot of money there.

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Speaker 2: Demarc will before I let you go, and I certainly

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Speaker 2: appreciate the time of the insight. As I mentioned, I

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Speaker 2: want to bring this conversation full circle. You have a

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Speaker 2: lot of history in the NFC East. I'm not saying

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Speaker 2: things are identical to when you last played with the

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Speaker 2: Cowboys and the Eagles, but the fact that Eric Gray

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Speaker 2: is coming to that vision. Have you shared any war

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Speaker 2: stories about the toughness of the NFC East and its reputation.

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Speaker 1: Uh, just be just be ready, man's that's I think

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Speaker 1: is one of the hardest divisions involved, fun division, extremely

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Speaker 1: competitive division and again four for really really you know

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Speaker 1: story franchises that all have great ownership. But again, better

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Speaker 1: buckle it up every week man in that division.

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Speaker 2: Well said, and you know that firsthand. He is Oklahoma

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Speaker 2: running backs coach Tomarco Murray former NFL running back to Marco.

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Speaker 2: Can't thank you, know greatly, appreciate the time of the

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Speaker 2: inside and best of luck at Oklahoma this upcoming season.

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Speaker 1: Definitely appreciate you guys, good luck, Thank you absolutely.

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Speaker 2: This is the latest edition of the Giant Total podcast,

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Speaker 2: which you could find on giants dot com, the mobile app,

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Speaker 2: and your favorite podcast platform.