WEBVTT - Happy Half Hour Episode 149: Double Up 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:03.400 This week on a Happy half Hour. 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:08.600 The way this thing's set up, seeing them double up 0:00:08.640 --> 0:00:11.400 on pass rushers, seeing them double up on defensive tackles 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:13.600 makes a lot of sense because that's where the biggest 0:00:13.600 --> 0:00:16.120 need is. I mean, even Dave Canalis said it yesterday. 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:19.479 Stopping the run is the priority. Two hundred rushing yards 0:00:19.480 --> 0:00:22.000 a game allowed over the last nine games. 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:25.560 That's the cow. 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:31.000 It's time for the Happy Half Hour, presented by Southern Star, 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:37.360 an official bourbon of the Carolina Panthers. Here are your hosts, 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:39.800 Darren Gant and Cassidy Hill. 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:47.080 Hello, friends, and welcome to a very special edition of 0:00:47.120 --> 0:00:51.000 the Happy Half Hour. Very special because we are, of course, 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:55.880 at Combine in Indianapolis. Love indian Love Indianapolis. It's just 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:59.400 like Charlotte, except with worse weather and better basketball. Other 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:02.640 than that, everything about this place is awesome and we 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:03.200 love it here. 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:06.640 Yes, it's so much fun. It's what do people call it? 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:07.880 NFL spring break? 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:08.520 All right? 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:10.560 That makes it sound a little more debauchery than it 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:11.080 really is. 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:15.160 Although there's some debauching going on out there in them streets. 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:16.319 Yeah, that's what happens. 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:21.120 And hateful gossip take over after midnight and uh, didn't someone. 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:23.560 Get on to you yesterday for being self rightous? 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:27.679 Yeah, condescending and self righteous because I didn't poison my mind, body, 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:30.480 in spirit the way some of y'all did. Uh Not? 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:32.160 I always having Bible study. I don't know what you're 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:32.600 talking about. 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:35.319 Yeah, it's uh, there's there's a lot of Bible study 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:39.040 going on here this week. No, it is in all seriousness. 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:42.000 This is the NFL's trade show. This is where everybody 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:45.120 comes together. It's a convention. All the coaches, all the scouts, 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:47.440 and all the players in this year's draft class are 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:52.560 here right now. So it's a big old intelligence gathering operation. 0:01:52.880 --> 0:01:56.320 It's a big old, you know, festival of all things football. 0:01:56.320 --> 0:01:58.720 The on field workouts get all the attention later in 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:00.880 the week. That's the better television as an inventory. But 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:04.600 really the important stuff that happens here is the medical 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:08.080 profiles that the players go through, and the meetings with teams. 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:11.280 Between and between the meetings with teams for the prospects. 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:14.280 I mean, you've got a free agency window opening here soon, 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:16.840 and you've got teams figuring out their own free agency. 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:19.160 This is kind of I mean, to quote Hamilton, this 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:21.560 is the room where it happened pretty much all week, 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:24.600 no doubt. A lot of what happens in the next 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:28.639 Each football year is decided kind of in Indianapolis each year. 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:30.360 And I will ride out at the top of this 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:33.120 podcast address one of my pet peeves in life. Oh 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:36.079 can't wait for when the players are up on podiums. 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:39.440 They're on podiums, but behind electrons. Remember, but they are 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:41.760 on a parium. They are on a podium. A podium 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:44.359 is a thing you are upon. Electron is a thing 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:47.520 you are behind. That's the easiest way to remember it. 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:50.079 But when the players are up on the podiums, people 0:02:50.120 --> 0:02:52.519 will ask them. The reporters from all over the place 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:55.800 are here, and reporters will say, have you met with 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:58.120 the Lions today? Have you met with the Buccaneers today? 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:02.280 If you're a first round prospect, you meet with everybody, right, 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:06.600 So the process of elimination that occurs, Well, you had 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:09.160 an informal meeting with the packers, but not a formal 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:12.080 media What does it mean? It doesn't mean anything, and 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:15.560 stop asking that question, reporters. My God and. 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:18.840 Darren Dant's school of journalism. 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:21.600 There is a saint among us, justin Rogers of the 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:24.720 Detroit News is walking around this morning wearing a sweatshirt 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:29.520 that says, have you talked to Team I cover? That's hilarious, 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:33.080 It's amazing. I documented it on the Twitter earlier today. 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:37.480 He is a god of journalism today and I salute him. 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:40.800 But I mean it is silly because here's the secret. 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:43.080 You know who, The Carolina Panthers are going to talk 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:47.760 to a whole bunch of defensive players. That's who, because 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:49.760 that's what they need the most. Because that's what Dan 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:51.680 Morgan said they needed the most yesterday. 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:54.600 Yeah, I mean, he wasn't shy about it. He didn't 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:56.200 dance away from it. He said, you know, I think 0:03:56.200 --> 0:03:58.600 it's pretty obvious the defensive side of the ball is 0:03:58.600 --> 0:03:59.720 where we're gonna have to put a lot of our 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:02.360 folks right in both free agency and the draft. And 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:04.360 you know that was kind of the offense at this 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:07.280 point last year. We saw them fill the holes. We 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:11.600 saw the step that was taken by focusing on those areas, 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:15.640 especially the offensive line. And you know, Dan said, you're 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:18.240 gonna have to still win this league in the in 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:20.680 the trenches, like on the lines, and the same way 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.000 they addressed the offensive line that last year. That's what 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:25.600 they're going to do the front seven this year. Luckily 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:28.359 for them, this draft plays right into their hands. Sure, 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:31.040 one of the deeper front seven classes I can remember 0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:31.320 in a. 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:33.680 While, it really is. And when there's a lot of 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:36.560 pass rushers and when there's a lot of interior defensive linemen, 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:40.320 you know, that's going to get their attention through it. 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:43.960 And I think there's a decent chance, you know, without 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:46.400 getting too deep into draft strategy, that they're going to 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:49.240 take a couple of them. You know, we'll see free 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:52.200 agency is going to inform that, you know, once that 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:55.000 starts in two weeks from today, I guess, yeah, two 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:59.160 weeks from today. Free agency begins in earnest, you know, 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:02.080 and even two days prior to that the negotiation period 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:06.560 where we'll kind of know without knowing, that'll inform some 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:08.880 of the draft plans. But the way this thing's set up, 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:11.320 seeing them double up on pass rushers, seeing them double 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:14.039 up on defensive tackles makes a lot of sense because 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:16.000 that's where the biggest need is. I mean, even Dave 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:20.560 Canalis said it yesterday, stopping the run is the priority. Well, yeah, 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:24.440 you averaged two hundred yards a game, two hundred rushing 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:27.360 yards a game allowed over the last nine games, and 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:30.359 over two hundred rushing yards allowed in each of the 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:33.039 last six. So yeah, of course that's a problem, and 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:34.240 it's got to stop. 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:35.760 The addressed I'm sorry. You've got to be able to 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:38.080 stop the run to even rush the passer anyway. Yeah, 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:40.600 those two things go hand in hand, their part and 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:43.239 parcel together. Yep, you can't do one, You're not gonna 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:45.000 for sure not going to be able to do the second. 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:48.359 And that's why it's so vital to find these guys 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:50.920 that can kind of shuffle around. I mean, you look 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:53.520 at a guy like Jalen Walker, who can He's technically 0:05:53.600 --> 0:05:56.120 listed as a linebacker. I don't know what he is. 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:58.480 I don't think he knows what he is either, But 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:00.560 you've got you find guys like that that can kind 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:02.640 of move around. I mean, you're not gonna put Jaalen 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:04.320 Walker with a hand in the ground as a defensive 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:07.760 tackle position, but you've got guys that can move around 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:10.080 that front seven and that can help you both stop 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:11.920 the run and rush the pass or because you've got 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:13.560 to be able to do both of those things to win. 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:16.120 I mean, the Eagles were a perfect blueprint for that 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:16.560 this year. 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:18.440 Yeah, I love the way to hancel. Like I didn't 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:20.080 need to see the Eagles in the Super Bowl to 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:23.240 know that we needed to do this. So yeah, as 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:27.480 it pretends to Jalen Walker and his not being you know, 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:32.800 well defined, because we've seen a recent example of a 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.800 similar type of player. I mean it's kind of Frankie Luvu. 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:40.120 And Frankie was the high energy guy who brought it 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:42.800 from wherever he happened to be. He's standing up, he's 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:45.159 coming off the edge, He's doing a lot of different things. 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:47.279 You know, I think Walker's got a little bit of 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:49.520 that in him. But we'll have time to get into 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:52.120 the particulars of all these guys over the next month 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:54.200 and a half, two months, you know, as we go 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:56.440 through this process. But we were just walking that room 0:06:56.440 --> 0:06:59.320 this morning where they were doing interviews, and it's left 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:04.200 and right, and you know, here's Michael Williams, Here's you know, 0:07:04.279 --> 0:07:07.760 here's James Peers from Charlotte's Chambers High you know a state. 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:10.360 Stay tuned to Panthers dot com to read more about 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:14.400 James later on today. A lot of them, Abdul Carter, 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:18.520 all of them, Mike Green, it's an incredibly deep class, 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:21.640 you know, and the chances of coming out of the 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:24.000 eighth pick with one of them are decent. You know, 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:26.080 we don't know who it's going to be, or that 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:29.680 they're absolutely going to use a first round pick on 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:32.520 that particular position. It just makes a lot of sense 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:35.400 considering their need and wear this draft stacks. 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:37.600 Up, and you can also, I don't want to get 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:39.320 too deep into this because I don't want people to 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:41.040 think this is what's going to happen. It's just something. 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:46.160 Do you still consider they've got enough draft capital enter 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:49.400 in a right spot and knowing the positions they need 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:52.679 with the deep class to possibly still move around, no doubt. 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:55.040 And we saw last year Dan Morgan is happy to 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:57.400 move around if he feels like he's going to get 0:07:57.400 --> 0:07:59.680 a better deal. And so when you're sitting there at 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:02.240 number and you're looking at how deep this past Rusher 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:06.560 class is, Dan said on Tuesday that he had not 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:10.400 necessarily had any conversations yet about giving up that spot, 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:12.800 but I wouldn't be surprised if those conversations happened. 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:14.840 And I feel like I should raise my hand and 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:17.720 say the opinions of the Happy Half do not reflect 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:21.480 those of Perasti only and do not reflect the opinions 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:23.440 of Dan Morgan, Brandt Tillis or the rest of the 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:27.360 Carolina Panthers front office. This is just us talking. But 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:30.680 the other thing that makes you think they might do that, 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:33.199 they have done that. I mean, if you look back 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:36.080 to last year's draft and moving you know, out of 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:38.920 thirty nine to get the second round pick this year, 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:41.800 back then moving back up to take Jonathan Brooks. I mean, 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:44.520 it's just they've shown that they're willing to go up 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:46.920 and down the board, So I think it's reasonable to 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.280 expect that could happen again this year when they're sitting 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:51.600 there with nine total picks, eight in the first five rounds. 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:53.280 Yeah, I mean that's a good spot to be in. 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:55.640 You can kind of choose your own destiny, like choose 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:57.440 your own ending. Do you ever play those games growing 0:08:57.520 --> 0:08:58.320 up a little bit? 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:01.880 Yeah? Like the book Aquaria. It was actually a little 0:09:01.920 --> 0:09:04.520 paperback book and you would flip from page forty eight 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:07.320 to one sixty two. Yeah, you don't. Why did you 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:11.679 go behind that door? It was a terrible idea at 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:14.240 any rate. Now, we we spent a lot of yesterday 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:18.240 with Dave Canalis and Dan Morgan and he obviously, as 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:20.720 we said, Dan talked a lot about the defense. The 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:24.080 other thing that stood out to me is how casually 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:27.960 Dan talks about the offensive line and keeping it the 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:30.760 way he has it right now. I mean, he just 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:33.200 very casually said, yeah, we want to bring back Austin 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:35.600 Corbett and k Mays to play center. And that was 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:39.040 kind of an open question, you know, going into these 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:42.160 last two weeks prior to free agency, but he very 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.319 casually said, yeah, we want to keep both those guys. 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:46.680 The question about Taylor Moten and his thirty one million 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:49.080 dollar cap number came up, and he's like, yeah, we're good, 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:51.400 we can handle that number. We want Taylor to be here. 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:54.680 Somebody asked him about Ikey Akwanu and what do you 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:57.240 do contractually with him? Knowing he's they've got to make 0:09:57.280 --> 0:09:59.439 a decision on a fifty year option. He said, we're 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:01.640 going to try to extended before we get to that point, 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:05.040 and it's just like very casually, very matter of fact, 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:09.080 and that's just how Dan Morgan talks. But they know 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:12.360 they've found something in that offensive line. It became part 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:15.760 of the personality of the team last year enabled Bryce 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:18.000 to flourish in the second half of the season, and 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:19.600 they're going to make sure they hang on to that. 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:21.600 They're going to make sure that strength stays strong. 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:24.000 And you know, I guess this is the case with 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:26.240 every position, every unit, but you really see it with 0:10:26.280 --> 0:10:29.960 the offensive line is how much that unit is predicated 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:34.760 on chemistry. And if you don't have a left tackle 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:37.160 and a left guard that know how the other moves, 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:40.320 that's what leaves holes wide open to call sacks. Ye, 0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:42.640 and you've got a unit that knows each other, and 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:44.600 that knows each other well enough that you know if 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:46.560 someone gets hurt or someone else has to go in, 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:49.199 they're still fine, right, and you don't break that up 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:51.840 because that's I mean, again to Dan's point, that's where 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:52.920 you can win or lose a game. 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:54.520 No now, and it takes more than five of them. 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:56.960 And that's why you know, he kind of mentioned Austin 0:10:57.040 --> 0:11:00.640 and Kate as a unit almost because Austin started first 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:03.160 five games before he tears his bicips. Caid comes in, 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:06.120 you know, brings him back off the Giants practice squad 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:09.000 because there wasn't room for Cad Mays. And in September, 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:12.160 that's how deep the Carolina Panthers offensive line was when's 0:11:12.200 --> 0:11:14.480 the last time we said that, right? And he ends 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:16.559 up Caid ends up starting the last eight games of 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:19.240 the year. So they've got a bunch of people who 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:21.520 can play a lot of roles. Chandlers of Allahs stepped 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:24.160 in and started a couple of games on both sides 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:27.000 last year when guys were missing, So they've got a 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:29.599 good group of people. Brady Christiansen's a free agent. I 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:32.600 think the anticipation is Brady's gonna go look around and 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:37.160 somebody's probably gonna find him starting caliber money to be 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:39.400 a starting caliber player. I mean, he was sort of 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:42.920 that sixth man last year. He's got great versatility. He 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:45.559 could play left tackle, he started at guard before and 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:48.400 was playing a decent center for a couple of weeks 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:51.520 there in between, until you know, somebody else got hurt 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:53.360 and he had to win. Icky got hurt, he had 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:56.240 to kick back out the left tackle. So I think 0:11:56.280 --> 0:11:58.640 Brady might have played his way out of Charlotte in 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:01.640 some senses, but they've talked about being open to bringing 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:04.360 him back. That one's going to be when the market dictates, 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:08.080 but it's gonna be a few of those. Yeah, there's 0:12:08.120 --> 0:12:11.400 gonna be a couple of those. So yeah, speaking of guys, 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:13.960 Dan was amazingly. 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:14.800 Awfully open about Yeah. 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:17.480 I mean he he all but said, yeah, Johnny Hecker 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:20.160 loved to have you back, kicker. Eddie's going to test 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:23.400 the market and we're actively looking for a kicker, So 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:25.960 I think you can kind of read between the lines 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:28.600 on that one pretty easily. But you know, if there's 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:30.800 going to be a new kicker in here and Johnny 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:33.520 is back, then that new kicker comes in with the 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:36.720 benefit of a veteran long snapper and JJ Janssen. Perhaps 0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:37.720 you saw cart Talk. 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:42.400 I did. I saw and it was a nice little 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:46.280 crossover episode with Ask the Old Guy. The highly anticipated 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:48.000 cart Talk episode was how I Saw It Work. 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:50.880 Yeah, highly anticipated couse we've been talking about doing this 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:53.520 for two years and we just got around to it. 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:56.520 But it was cool and uh, but having JJ and 0:12:56.600 --> 0:13:00.439 Johnny will be a good security zone for any new 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:02.840 kicker who walks in, because not having to worry about 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:05.280 to snap the hold makes his job easier. All he's 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:06.400 got to do is kick JJ. 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:09.240 And Johnny also just sounds like a great buddy cop movie. 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:12.400 And that well it really is. Yeah, I mean they 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:16.199 really are. They went in depth, and we we alluded 0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:17.920 to this on cart talk the other day, but I 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:20.440 wrote about a thousand words section of a mail bag 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:23.520 a couple of years ago about their process for determining 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:28.199 coin flip decisions. And they would go out ninety minutes 0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:31.680 before kickoff and flip a snack waffle that they eat 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:34.920 for energy before the game. That their brand has not 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:37.280 paid us for this plug, so I will not describe 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:40.679 it any further, but they would flip the snack waffle. 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:43.360 If it landed tails, they would call tales. And they 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:44.680 won six in a row that way. 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:45.280 Wow. 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:48.040 Yeah, so it was pretty impressive. But I said it 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:51.199 was like a Paul Harvey bit the rest of the story. Yeah, 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:52.800 is that a reference? You understand? 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:54.520 And that's the rest you do? 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:58.000 Good for you, hey, an old person reference that Castiy gets. 0:13:58.000 --> 0:14:01.760 I'm feeling better about this already. But yeah, they went 0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:04.360 through the whole thing. And you know, you wrote a 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:07.840 story too about the anticipation a lot of people have 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:11.320 about Wide Receiver being high on the shopping list this year. 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:13.920 But Dave Canalis said, maybe not right. 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:16.160 I mean, they're not necessarily in a position where it 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:18.720 has to be. It's one of those where if there's 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:22.440 a guy there that's great and you've got maybe some 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:24.760 of your other stuff taken care of, then yeah, you 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:30.000 I don't know if that's their first priority. It sounds 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:32.320 like defense is going to be that first priority, no doubt. 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:34.080 I mean again, if you're sitting there at eight and 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:36.320 you've got a guy like I think it's the McMillan 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:41.160 kid or maybe, but they don't have to have one. 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:45.240 And I think people see that the Deontay Johnson trade 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:47.680 as oh well, now there's a hole open for a 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:51.360 number one receiver. And that's because you look at you know, 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:54.240 Loget kind of went through some of those rookie growing pains. 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:58.400 That's just part of it. Whatever happened his rookie year 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:00.280 is only going to make him better his second year. 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:03.480 You have a return of Adam Theling, which is huge. 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:04.000 You know. 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:07.000 I think Dan called him old reliable yesterday, which I 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:08.600 really want on a T shirt. I want it to 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:12.520 look like a Yellowstone Old Faithful like poster, like an 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:15.760 old travel poster, but instead of a park ranger, it's 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:16.520 Adam Thielen. 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:19.560 That's yeah, somebody, it would have to be a park 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:22.560 ranger with a ball cap on backwards and a cup 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:26.200 of coffee and maybe no shoes on. That's how Adam 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:27.560 wanders around the stadium allent. 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:31.760 But having feeling back that's huge. You know, Like I said, 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:33.480 you're gonna see a lot of these guys kind of 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:37.200 take a step forward. You got something for nothing out 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:39.920 of Jayalen Cocher and you know, so that kind of 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:42.240 takes care of a lot of stuff too. It's one 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:44.720 of those again, you never want to turn down a 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:48.120 dynamic wide receiver and Dan basically said that on Tuesday 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:49.600 as well. You know, if there's a guy in free 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:52.080 agency or a guy in the draft that we really 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:54.720 like and it's available, then we're never going to say 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:58.200 no to that. But it's not Yeah, you know, like 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:00.000 you said, it's not the highest number on the show. 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:03.240 Yeah, those elite wide receivers that are out there going 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:06.120 for twenty five and thirty million bucks a year, I 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:08.480 don't think that's the market they're shopping in. 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:11.360 Yeah. Now, And this is also not a wide receiver 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:14.000 year necessarily in the draft. You know, this is not 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:16.960 one of those years where you're getting a Justin Jefferson 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:19.880 and Jamar Chase and guys like that coming out, so 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:23.200 you can afford to kind of say, Okay, that's going 0:16:23.240 --> 0:16:25.320 to be on the back burner of our priority right now. 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:27.480 One of the interesting things to me about that whole 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:31.520 position is we've come full circle because when Bryce Young 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:34.320 was drafted, one of the talking points was, this guy's 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:37.080 such a good distributor, he's so smart with the ball. 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:41.240 He doesn't demand elite wide receiver talent around him, even 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:45.280 though he had it at Alabama to be successful. And 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:48.640 you know, at the end of the twenty twenty three season, 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:52.200 a lot of people thought, well, yay does yeah, and 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:54.680 so they trade for Deontae Johnson, and that looked okay 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:57.680 for a minute in training camp, then not so much 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:00.360 to beginning the regular season. Then Bryce gets benched and 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:03.480 then by the time Bryce gets back in, Deontay's gone 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:06.240 and he's out there throwing to and I say this 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:10.800 with respect, Okay, all of these guys are professionals, but 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:14.440 he's throwing to old Adam Thieling. He's throwing to old 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:16.840 David Moore, who was a seventh round pick and at 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:19.119 one point was the only drafted player they had on 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:21.800 the field at that position. He's throwing to an undrafted 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:24.840 rookie in Jalen Coker, and he's throwing to Xavier League 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:27.000 in and out of the lineup with some injuries coming 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:30.199 down the second half of the season. So Bryce was 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:34.240 fulfilling that prophecy from twenty twenty three of he don't 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:36.720 have to have that grade of guys to make an 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:39.440 offense work. Now, will it help? And at some point 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:41.920 in the evolution of an offense, would it be great 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:45.360 to have one of those guys? Sure? I think specifically 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:47.800 they need somebody who can run. They need somebody who 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:51.040 can get down the field a little bit. You know. 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:54.360 Ted Ginn was the example during the twenty ten Panthers 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:57.080 teams of just straight line speed, go get it, fetch 0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:00.359 and sometimes Ted caught it. Sometimes he did and when 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:03.880 he did it was a big play. And having somebody 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:06.400 with that kind of straight line speed is absolutely in need. 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:08.359 But I don't think you've got to spend thirty million 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:09.880 bucks to get that kind of player. 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:13.200 Right And you don't necessarily need it right now either, 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:16.479 because I mean, as Bryce continues to evolve and kind 0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:18.720 of show what he can do, defenses are going to 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:21.159 start playing him differently. I mean, did he face a 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:23.840 two high safety look at any point this year really 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:27.400 not consistently. That's gonna change over the next year or two, 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:30.800 and that's when that need becomes a little bit more prevalent. 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:33.440 But right now, what you need is a pass rusher. 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:36.639 And so it's like, do you spend your pass rusher 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.040 money on a wide receiver that's not your biggest need, 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:40.800 right I don't think that's smart football. 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:43.520 Yeah, you need a pass rusher. You need a Derek 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:45.920 Brown size somebody to go with the Derek Brown size, 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:48.000 somebody who's rehabit and working out back. 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:51.320 At the stadium right now as we speak, so moving around, 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:53.359 not on a scooter anymore, exactly. 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:56.600