Speaker 1: You're listening to the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network.
Speaker 2: This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. Back to throw to
Speaker 2: a looking clips about.
Speaker 3: A wide Olphen touchdown time, Rick cal uncolievable? Just blue
Speaker 3: bye for a second time.
Speaker 2: You knew where he was going right away.
Speaker 3: I want to hit that man.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna help you.
Speaker 3: Someone will keep on your man away Wattle Wadle to
Speaker 3: a shotgun, back to throw, looking at them.
Speaker 2: Up myers touchdown?
Speaker 3: Man, it's Waddle his sixth touchdown.
Speaker 4: Pat, how's the King?
Speaker 3: Drive Time with Travis Wingfield begins. Now let me check
Speaker 3: your pulse if you're not for what is up? Golf
Speaker 3: fans and welcome to the Drive Time podcast, part of
Speaker 3: the Miami Dolphins podcast Network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 3: How's it going everybody? We are officially into the summer
Speaker 3: months now, and that means more preview content coming your
Speaker 3: way to the AFC West is up.
Speaker 4: Today.
Speaker 3: We're gonna talk Chiefs, Broncos, Raiders and Chargers with Matt
Speaker 3: McMullen from Chiefs dot Com. Plus we're also gonna hear
Speaker 3: from one of my favorite people on the team, my
Speaker 3: favorite interviews, Toshaun Elliott New Dolphins safety. We'll walk and
Speaker 3: talk with him all of that much more from the
Speaker 3: Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Trading Complex. This
Speaker 3: is the Drive Time Podcast.
Speaker 4: J Jeff.
Speaker 3: Let's go ahead and get to my chat with Dolphins
Speaker 3: safety Toshaun Elliott. What's up, guys. Travis Wingfield here again
Speaker 3: for another edition of one hundred Yards with me. Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 3: New Dolphin safety Deshaun Elliott. Go ahead and make way
Speaker 3: down the field here and talk some life and some football.
Speaker 3: So you get here in South Florida. First question, I
Speaker 3: always asking you, guy, why the Fins? Why did you
Speaker 3: choose to come down here to Miami.
Speaker 4: I felt like it was a great scheme fit for
Speaker 4: me overall.
Speaker 1: Does I mean, I know the championship being a that
Speaker 1: everyone wants to breed here, and I know Christian, I
Speaker 1: know a lot of guys on the team. It just
Speaker 1: they want to be winners, they want to be great.
Speaker 1: So I feel like it was a great spot for
Speaker 1: me and also just it was it for me my
Speaker 1: first couple of years in the league.
Speaker 4: I've been a lot of goomy.
Speaker 1: Places, cold city, so coming down here waking up every
Speaker 1: day and just seeing the sun out and.
Speaker 4: Just knowing that, hey, I have a small saw my
Speaker 4: face going to work just felt good. Yeah, I'm okay
Speaker 4: with that from Texas for sure.
Speaker 3: So you mentioned the scheme here, talked to U about
Speaker 3: vic Fangio of what you think his defense can do
Speaker 3: for your game.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, vixmand being a coach since the Civil
Speaker 1: War times, so I'm sure over time he's learned a lot.
Speaker 1: And I mean it, I feel like this defense is
Speaker 1: a safety let defense. So I just feel like being
Speaker 1: here and playing with Javon, playing Brandon, I.
Speaker 4: Think that all of our games together would be great.
Speaker 3: So you drop a joke there, are you the funniest
Speaker 3: guy on the team? That's not who is?
Speaker 1: Arguably I'm going to go top three. I'm definitely top three.
Speaker 4: It's me.
Speaker 1: I think WADA's pretty funny, which is crazy because I
Speaker 1: didn't think he was funny my first met him.
Speaker 4: But he's actually pretty funny.
Speaker 1: And then let me see, Jamon's not Fun's just kind
Speaker 1: of sort of weird. He's good on social deal, he's
Speaker 1: great on social media. Oh, Christian, he's a character. Oh
Speaker 1: my god, he's Oh my god, it's crazy. How funny
Speaker 1: that he first came.
Speaker 3: In the league, did the chest bump with Roger Goodell
Speaker 3: on the stage.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you did do that.
Speaker 1: And then he's a year before or that same year
Speaker 1: as when he did the splits when.
Speaker 4: They won the championship. That was crazy. I didn't know
Speaker 4: what he had going on there. The first time I
Speaker 4: met him, I said, brother, what was that? He said?
Speaker 4: But I was just excited, So fifteen crazy.
Speaker 3: It's crazy. So I mentioned this year before it came
Speaker 3: on here. One thing that presses me about you is
Speaker 3: how you play it through hair on fire one hundred
Speaker 3: miles an hour at all times. And I'm always curious.
Speaker 3: That has to be like how you live your entire
Speaker 3: life right fast paced all times.
Speaker 4: The thing is is like.
Speaker 1: I put one hundred and ten percent effort in everything
Speaker 1: I do. Usually off the field, I'm not as like
Speaker 1: you don't want to see me. When I'm on the field,
Speaker 1: I'm not as nice. I'm a very cool, colmon collected, happy,
Speaker 1: go lucky, funny guy when I'm off the field. But
Speaker 1: when my mom on the field, I'm trying to rip
Speaker 1: your head off.
Speaker 4: She's my language. Guys. I'm sorry I forgot about the
Speaker 4: cursing thing, but I like it. Yeah. I love ball, man,
Speaker 4: I just love ball. I love playing for my teammates.
Speaker 4: I love playing for my guys.
Speaker 1: And once they see it, Once this team sees how
Speaker 1: much I love them, They'll win a rally with me
Speaker 1: and play play the same way.
Speaker 3: So yeah, speaking that, I know, you know brand Jones
Speaker 3: going back to your college days. Anybody else you kind
Speaker 3: of hit it off with so far.
Speaker 1: I know Chubb as well because me and Chub I
Speaker 1: met him at the College Football Awards all last year
Speaker 1: in college together, and I met I met Jalen Phillips,
Speaker 1: du Brandon and then hal Javon and Varon from Dallas
Speaker 1: Song A couple of those guys, Jayalen, me.
Speaker 4: And Jyalen have the same agent.
Speaker 1: Honestly, this was the first time where I have came
Speaker 1: to a team and I've already known so many players
Speaker 1: on the team.
Speaker 4: It's crazy. I've already had so many friends on this team.
Speaker 4: I've never seen this before.
Speaker 3: It's like almost an exclusively ordered in Texas backfield.
Speaker 4: You guess exactly. It's crazy Dolphin Safety, thank you, brother,
Speaker 4: thanks for having me.
Speaker 3: Like I said, he never disappoints to Sean Elliott. There
Speaker 3: he goes let's go ahead and take our first break
Speaker 3: and get right into the AFC West preview on the
Speaker 3: other side with Matt McMullen from Chiefs dot Com. That's
Speaker 3: next your host, Travis Wingfield Draft Time Podcast, brought to
Speaker 3: you by Auto Nation and please help me and welcoming
Speaker 3: in our guest today from the Cheese. He's a senior
Speaker 3: team reporter for the defending World champions Matt McMullen. Matt,
Speaker 3: how are we doing? Man? Was my Andy Reid impression
Speaker 3: terrible or really bad?
Speaker 4: Now?
Speaker 5: That was pretty good. It did a good job with that, Travis.
Speaker 5: I appreciate having me on, man. This should be a
Speaker 5: lot of fun. Our ring ceremony was last night, So
Speaker 5: I'm a little bit tired, but I am here bright
Speaker 5: and early just for you to talk some AFC West football.
Speaker 3: Yeah, rub it in, rub it in. So we talked
Speaker 3: about winning a championship, man, Like, That's one of the
Speaker 3: things I first wanted to ask you here because I
Speaker 3: like picture being in the press box at a Super
Speaker 3: Bowl and like seeing the Dolphins, you know, ahead when
Speaker 3: the clock hit triple zeros, and I'm not sure I
Speaker 3: can really even imagine that SCENARIOO, So can you maybe
Speaker 3: helped me live vicariously through you. What was that like
Speaker 3: last year for you covering a super Bowl winning team?
Speaker 2: It was unbelievable. It is really the best way to
Speaker 2: put it.
Speaker 4: So.
Speaker 2: I grew up a Chiefs fan.
Speaker 5: I grew up in Kansas City, have been rooting for
Speaker 5: the Chiefs my entire life, and I just so happened
Speaker 5: to get a job here. When you work in sports,
Speaker 5: as you know, you never really plan on working for
Speaker 5: your favorite team, and sometimes it just works out. And
Speaker 5: for me, yeah, this is my job. But I come
Speaker 5: in here every day and can't believe I get to
Speaker 5: do this, and not only to work for my favorite team,
Speaker 5: but to see my favorite team win the Super Bowl,
Speaker 5: to go on the field afterward and to see the
Speaker 5: confetti flying and to congratulate the guys, and to really
Speaker 5: feel a part of it. I really can't describe it
Speaker 5: because I feel like I'm dreaming half the time. I
Speaker 5: grew up watching the Chiefs, and the Chiefs were at
Speaker 5: times competitive but never came close to being a Super
Speaker 5: Bowl contender. So the fact that my tenure with the
Speaker 5: team coincides with this unbelievable run that we're on has
Speaker 5: just been so much fun and to be at the
Speaker 5: ring ceremony last night to put the ring on. I
Speaker 5: had my ring from twenty nineteen on already, so I
Speaker 5: was rocking two rings last night, just walking around to
Speaker 5: share it with my coworkers and the players and the
Speaker 5: coaches and everybody is just so special. So it's awesome.
Speaker 5: And I do not take it for granted, that's for sure.
Speaker 5: And I think I actually value the one that we
Speaker 5: just won even more than the one in twenty nineteen,
Speaker 5: because twenty nineteen, it all happened so fast, you know,
Speaker 5: you couldn't believe it, and before you know it, we
Speaker 5: won the Super Bowl and it was amazing, and I
Speaker 5: didn't really have a lot of time to process it.
Speaker 5: This most recent one, I think I had a better
Speaker 5: appreciation for how difficult it is to get there and
Speaker 5: to basically have the same scenario we had last year
Speaker 5: where we lost to the Bengals in the AFC title Game.
Speaker 5: To beat them this time around at home and then
Speaker 5: to go win it was pretty satisfying. So it was
Speaker 5: amazing and hopefully we can get some more here in
Speaker 5: the years to come.
Speaker 3: I was going to say I have a fieling with
Speaker 3: that quarterback and that coach, you guys will be right
Speaker 3: back in that mix for this season and years to
Speaker 3: come as well. There, so good looking up for you,
Speaker 3: looking forward to that game over in Germany. And we'll
Speaker 3: get to the Chiefs here and just once second, we'll
Speaker 3: go ahead and kick it off with them for our
Speaker 3: four team AFC West Divisional preview here. But I want
Speaker 3: to go ahead and first start with just the thirty
Speaker 3: thousand foot bird's eye view of the AFC because going
Speaker 3: into last year, Matt, and this is this is why
Speaker 3: I love doing these these you know, deep dives on
Speaker 3: these divisions, on these other teams across the league, because
Speaker 3: we all have these expectations for teams every year. You
Speaker 3: think you know what's gonna happen, but the truth is
Speaker 3: you never do. And you know, you have to kind
Speaker 3: of appreciate the Chiefs for being this consummate, you know,
Speaker 3: consistent winner they have been for so long. Because the
Speaker 3: Broncos were supposed to be an upstart last year and
Speaker 3: it just didn't work out that way. The Raiders, coming
Speaker 3: off a playoff Berth kind of reverted back to you know,
Speaker 3: a down season, and the Chargers you know, got back
Speaker 3: into the playoffs. But I think they had higher expectations
Speaker 3: than a first round exit last year. Give us your
Speaker 3: twenty twenty three birds eye view of this division top storylines.
Speaker 3: What you're looking forward to the most year in the
Speaker 3: AFC West this season?
Speaker 5: Well, the Chiefs have won this division seven consecutive years,
Speaker 5: and I think if you're looking at it from the outside,
Speaker 5: you might think the Chiefs just owned the division. It's easy,
Speaker 5: but it's not. And even when teams have down seasons,
Speaker 5: divisional opponents know each other so well that these games
Speaker 5: are always difficult. And the Chiefs have won so many
Speaker 5: games against their division during this run of success that
Speaker 5: they've had. I'm looking it up right now as we speak,
Speaker 5: and the Patrick Mahomes era, these divisional games, they're always close,
Speaker 5: but the Chiefs typically find a way to win them,
Speaker 5: and they have the number for you right now. The
Speaker 5: Chiefs are twenty six and four against the AFC West
Speaker 5: since twenty eighteen, which is when Mahomes became the starter.
Speaker 5: One of those games Mahomes didn't play, it was when
Speaker 5: the Chiefs had already locked up the division in twenty twenty,
Speaker 5: So essentially they are twenty six and three against AFC
Speaker 5: West opponents. Since twenty eighteen. Frequently close games, but they
Speaker 5: find a way to pull them out. Coach Read is
Speaker 5: so good at this at preparing the guys for these
Speaker 5: divisional matchups. They actually work on divisional opponents during OTAs,
Speaker 5: so in May and in June they have entire practices
Speaker 5: that are dedicated to divisional opponents to go through the
Speaker 5: basics and establish the muscle memory and the mental side
Speaker 5: of things so that when they get to these games
Speaker 5: during the season, it's not new information. So the Chiefs
Speaker 5: take these games so seriously. It is not easy to
Speaker 5: win seven consecutive division titles, and they're going to try
Speaker 5: to get an eighth consecutive division title here this upcoming season.
Speaker 5: But these other teams in the division are getting pretty
Speaker 5: tired of the Chiefs, as we all know, and they're
Speaker 5: going to give their best shot, so it won't be easy.
Speaker 5: I believe the Chiefs can do it and can win
Speaker 5: an eighth consecutive division title, but the Chargers are obviously
Speaker 5: a very talented team. The Raiders are going through a
Speaker 5: bit of a transition right now. But Jimmy Garoppolo has
Speaker 5: been to a Super Bowl, as Chiefs fans know, so
Speaker 5: we know he can play quarterback for the Raiders if
Speaker 5: he's healthy, and the Broncos I believe will be better
Speaker 5: with Sean Payton. So it'll be tough, but I believe
Speaker 5: the Chiefs can do it.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I almost think the Broncos are more intriguing this
Speaker 3: year just because of the fact of we hadn't seen
Speaker 3: a year like that from Russell Wilson. How he bounces
Speaker 3: back is of utmost intrigued to me. But I want
Speaker 3: to go back to the hometown team there, your Kansas
Speaker 3: City Chiefs. The Dolphins will technically play a road game
Speaker 3: at Kansas City, but it will be in Germany in
Speaker 3: week number nine, Sunday, November the fifth, at nine to
Speaker 3: thirty am here in the East our kickoff time for
Speaker 3: US East and eight thirty for you guys out there
Speaker 3: in the Central time zone. But let's talk about this
Speaker 3: Chiefs team in their offseason, because you know, I look
Speaker 3: at how this team gets built, and it's funny because
Speaker 3: it's a lot of ways. The Dolphins offense has been
Speaker 3: built around the strengths of to a tongue of by lower.
Speaker 3: I should say that it has been and that the
Speaker 3: Chiefs have almost done the same thing here with Mahomes
Speaker 3: in the sense of, you know, to what they want
Speaker 3: to maximize run after catch and the ability to really
Speaker 3: maximize his ballplacement, accuracy and decision making. And for Mahomes,
Speaker 3: they really do a good job of complimenting his playmaking
Speaker 3: skill set. I'm curious kind of just to get your
Speaker 3: take on that, because I'm looking at an offensive line
Speaker 3: that has an argument for the best in the NFL.
Speaker 3: You obviously have the best tied end in the NFL,
Speaker 3: but the receiver position was an area they thought we
Speaker 3: can really kind of, you know, scale back here. And
Speaker 3: obviously we get the beneficiary of that with Tyreek Kill
Speaker 3: coming here and having a career season, But just kind
Speaker 3: of want to hear your take on how they built
Speaker 3: this offense around Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 5: And I'll mention too before I get into that, that
Speaker 5: I actually was in Germany a few weeks ago to
Speaker 5: do some advanced marketing for the Chiefs. The atmosphere in
Speaker 5: Frankfurt's going to be incredible, so I think Dolphins fan
Speaker 5: should be excited about it too. It's going to be
Speaker 5: so much fun. The German fans are so into football
Speaker 5: and it's going to be amazing. So I can't wait.
Speaker 5: But to answer your question, the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes
Speaker 5: went through a bit of a evolution over the last
Speaker 5: three seasons, where early in his career in two HAS eighteen,
Speaker 5: two HAS nineteen, and early twenty twenty, it was about
Speaker 5: the big play primarily, and Dolphins fans know all about
Speaker 5: Tyreek Hill. Now he did a lot of that in
Speaker 5: Kansas City as well, utilizing Patrick Mahomes's big arm. But
Speaker 5: in twenty twenty one and last season, the Chiefs transitioned
Speaker 5: to a bit more of a dynamic, varied offensive attack
Speaker 5: where there were multiple receivers who could beat you. And
Speaker 5: maybe there's not one clear cut number one guy outside
Speaker 5: of Travis Kelce in the receiver room last year or
Speaker 5: this year, but there's four or five guys that can
Speaker 5: all be really good, effective, solid players. And that's kind
Speaker 5: of what the Chiefs are going to roll into this
Speaker 5: season with as well, where you have Travis Kelsey is
Speaker 5: the main target in this offense, but then several receivers
Speaker 5: who are all talented, who can all make a big play.
Speaker 5: And maybe in the past in twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen
Speaker 5: and in twenty twenty the defense kind of knew all right,
Speaker 5: it's going to most likely be Travis Kelce or Tyreek Hill.
Speaker 5: But now at the Chiefs offense, it's going to be
Speaker 5: Travis Kelce or maybe Sky Moore, maybe Mark Weis, Veldez Scantling,
Speaker 5: maybe Rashi Rice, maybe Justin Watson, maybe Kadarius Tony. It's
Speaker 5: a whole bunch of guys that you can rely on
Speaker 5: to make plays. And Mahomes also evolved his game where
Speaker 5: he's not relying on just one or two players. He's
Speaker 5: comfortable spreading the football all over the place and frankly
Speaker 5: taking what the defense gives him on occasion. So his
Speaker 5: evolution as a quarterback. He was already so good early
Speaker 5: in his career, but he's only gotten better. And really
Speaker 5: that was the next step for him, I think, is
Speaker 5: just trusting everyone in the offense, and the offense has
Speaker 5: been built around him in that way where there's so
Speaker 5: many people he can attack defenses with.
Speaker 3: It certainly is a benefit to have a quarterback of
Speaker 3: that caliber that you can kind of reshape your offense
Speaker 3: in different ways, and he still finds ways to have success.
Speaker 3: And I'm such a big fan of his, not just
Speaker 3: for the playmaking that I think stands out so much.
Speaker 3: And you know, I joked with one of my previous
Speaker 3: guests on one of these divisional preview podcasts about how
Speaker 3: that that diving Madden throw, Like, what are we doing
Speaker 3: this with this Aden game? Where he's diving and throwing
Speaker 3: footballs when he doesn't have to do that. It just
Speaker 3: to me is like a signal of looking for the
Speaker 3: wrong things at quarterback because Mahomes is so alien like
Speaker 3: in that way that we have this expectation of guys
Speaker 3: doing that all the time. It's like, No, Mahomes is
Speaker 3: great at that for sure. What makes him so special
Speaker 3: is that he does win from the pocket as a
Speaker 3: processor and really just picks defenses apart. And he's grown
Speaker 3: so much in that regard. So it's been cool to
Speaker 3: watch As a fan from Afar always appreciated Mahomes his
Speaker 3: game and the Chiefs team in general. So I just
Speaker 3: love watching it. Who doesn't. I mean, it's peak football.
Speaker 3: So that's been cool to watch. But so we know
Speaker 3: about the offense, we know about the offensive line that
Speaker 3: you know, Trey Smith and Creed Humphrey are two of
Speaker 3: my favorite guys coming out that year. They both go
Speaker 3: to the Chiefs and you know, being home run picks
Speaker 3: for him. But I want to hear your take on
Speaker 3: this defense and kind of how this has been put
Speaker 3: together because we know about Ris Jones is good for
Speaker 3: double digit sacks every single year. Big Charles Amenahue fan.
Speaker 3: They go first round this year with Fau. I'm not
Speaker 3: going to try to pronounce the name right now on
Speaker 3: the spot that you guys got there in the first round.
Speaker 3: Pretty fun linebacker corps, a defensive backfield that last year
Speaker 3: had one of my guys at Washington State Cougar jump
Speaker 3: up with some big plays there in Jalen Watson. Yeah,
Speaker 3: just kind of want to get your take on the defense,
Speaker 3: how it's constructed, and how it kind of compiments that offense,
Speaker 3: because I think that's one of the things the Chiefs
Speaker 3: do well is they compment their entire team offense and defense.
Speaker 5: Sure well from a national perspective because Patrick Mahomes and
Speaker 5: Travis Kelcey and the Chiefs offense is so annually awesome.
Speaker 5: The defense doesn't get talked about a lot, but I
Speaker 5: really think they should, especially this season. Now they have
Speaker 5: to go out and do it. Football isn't one on paper,
Speaker 5: but I truly believe this defense has what it takes
Speaker 5: to be the best defense Mahomes has had since he's
Speaker 5: been the Chiefs quarterback, which is an exciting prospect considering
Speaker 5: he's already won two rings and is a few seasons
Speaker 5: here as a starting quarterback. The thing with the Chiefs
Speaker 5: defense right now is last year they invested a ton
Speaker 5: of draft capital into infusing some youth into this group,
Speaker 5: and the guys made a ton of plays and really
Speaker 5: grew up quickly. I believe thirteen rookies played for the
Speaker 5: Chiefs in the Super Bowl, and a bunch of those
Speaker 5: guys were on defense, particularly in the secondary. Guys like
Speaker 5: Joshua Williams, who's a fourth round pick. He's a corner
Speaker 5: for the Chiefs. He mentioned Jalen Watson, a seventh round
Speaker 5: pick that it had interceptions in both the AFC Title
Speaker 5: Game and the divisional round game against the Jags. Brian
Speaker 5: Cook is a safety at A Cincinnati who's a second
Speaker 5: round pick. George carloftis at A Purdue, was our first
Speaker 5: round pick last year, one of them a defensive end,
Speaker 5: and then Trent McDuffie, a corner, another first round pick
Speaker 5: last year. I believe the Tyreek hiltrade led to one
Speaker 5: of those guys. He's a corner from Washington. So the
Speaker 5: Chiefs infused all this youth into their defense. Those guys
Speaker 5: made plays last year, and now they've had a chance
Speaker 5: to go through a full offseason program and get comfortable
Speaker 5: within the Chiefs defense, and I only think they're going
Speaker 5: to get better. So I really believe from a depth perspective,
Speaker 5: in a talent perspective, this has a chance to be
Speaker 5: the best Chiefs defense in a long time. And considering
Speaker 5: how successful the team has been already and how good
Speaker 5: we feel about the offense, that's certainly pretty exciting for
Speaker 5: Chiefs fans.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was gonna say a scary thought for the
Speaker 3: rest of the AFC West, which we'll get too here
Speaker 3: in just one second. A couple of more key acquisitions
Speaker 3: there for the Chiefs. Juwan Taylor obviously replaces Orlando Brown
Speaker 3: Junior on the offensive line. I mentioned Charles Amena who
Speaker 3: get him back. Drew Trank will I think is a
Speaker 3: really underrated acquisition there the linebacker corp. And then Mike
Speaker 3: Edwards as well. So we talk about, you know, trouble
Speaker 3: for the rest of the AFC West. Heere, let's go
Speaker 3: ahead and pivot to. You know, I've had this like
Speaker 3: love hate relationship with the Chargers over my entire life
Speaker 3: because back when they had like Phil Rivers, I always
Speaker 3: was a big Chargers fan. I know you probably hate
Speaker 3: hearing that. They always just kind of drafted guys I
Speaker 3: liked and signed guys I liked, and we're just kind
Speaker 3: of like my second team there for a long time,
Speaker 3: especially when they got Chris Chambers back in two thousand
Speaker 3: and seven for a trade with the Miami Dolphins. But
Speaker 3: now I don't really feel that same way, even though
Speaker 3: you know, I loved Derwin James, and you know, Joey
Speaker 3: Bose is a hell of a player on offense. They
Speaker 3: got a bunch of players, and Austin Ecker was a
Speaker 3: guy that I like. But I think, would you still
Speaker 3: consider the Chargers the biggest threat to the Chiefs right
Speaker 3: now in the AFC West?
Speaker 2: Right now?
Speaker 5: I would From a talent perspective, they're very talented. They've
Speaker 5: really been there with the Chiefs in a lot of
Speaker 5: these games in recent seasons. Frankly, some of my favorite
Speaker 5: regular season memories in recent years are our wins over
Speaker 5: the Chargers. I think about the one in twenty twenty
Speaker 5: one where Travis Kelce I think it was overtime scored
Speaker 5: to beat the Chargers on a big play. Maybe it
Speaker 5: wasn't overtime, but late in the fourth quarter. And then
Speaker 5: last year essentially the same thing happened where the Chargers
Speaker 5: scored with like two minutes left, Mahomes and the offense
Speaker 5: got the ball back with just a couple of plays
Speaker 5: left to try to get the win, and we scored
Speaker 5: to beat the Chargers and really lock up the division
Speaker 5: in late November. We always have great battles against those guys.
Speaker 5: Justin Herbert, I think is one of the best quarterbacks
Speaker 5: in the NFL, one of the best young quarterbacks for
Speaker 5: sure in the NFL. And they have so much talent
Speaker 5: on that team that right now, just based on what
Speaker 5: they've done and based on their roster and how it's constructed,
Speaker 5: I would say that they are probably the biggest threat
Speaker 5: to the Chiefs. But fortunately, I think the Chiefs at
Speaker 5: this point know what it takes as well to beat them,
Speaker 5: So it's always going to be a battle against the Chargers.
Speaker 5: But to answer your question, yeah, I think right now
Speaker 5: the Chargers would be that main contender trying to beat
Speaker 5: the Chiefs.
Speaker 3: To me, there's two big storylines to look at with
Speaker 3: this Chargers team. Really I think three actually because and
Speaker 3: again going back to Philip Rivers, the health was always
Speaker 3: an issue for that Chargers team. Every single year. It
Speaker 3: seemed like in training camp they would lose three or
Speaker 3: four starters and it was like, come on, where's the
Speaker 3: football gods helping these guys out a little bit here
Speaker 3: every single August. So that's one that I'm curious about
Speaker 3: because last year they got hit by the injury buck again.
Speaker 3: Rashaun Slaterer missed a big chunk of the season, so
Speaker 3: did Joey Bosa, the aforementioned pass rusher, and Derwin James
Speaker 3: as well, but also overcoming a twenty seven point collapse
Speaker 3: in the playoffs. And then Brandon Staley and you know,
Speaker 3: originally his first year being the fourth down analytics guy
Speaker 3: that would go for it all the time, which you know,
Speaker 3: it's just basically being informed that numbers or the numbers
Speaker 3: that he gets inform him for his decisions. So I
Speaker 3: get a little bit testy when I hear these analytics
Speaker 3: community like it was a bad decision to trust analytics there.
Speaker 3: I think it's great, but I'm curious to hear your
Speaker 3: perspective on brand Staley's approach to coaching, and then I
Speaker 3: guess we'll go to other parts later, the playoff collapse
Speaker 3: last year and then the health of the team, But
Speaker 3: first your take on brand Staley and how they approached
Speaker 3: this thing with the charges of being so aggressive on
Speaker 3: those fourth downs.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that was kind of his thing in his first season,
Speaker 5: and I think everyone kind of got enamored with it.
Speaker 5: I think he went a bit back toward the median
Speaker 5: this past year, and it's tough because you can't make
Speaker 5: everyone happy, and I think the heavy analytics community was like,
Speaker 5: what are you doing? And then the people that maybe
Speaker 5: didn't want him going for the fourth bounds, but then
Speaker 5: when it wasn't working out so much this past year,
Speaker 5: all of a sudden, when maybe he would punt, they're like, wait,
Speaker 5: I thought you're the fourth bound guy. Kind of interesting,
Speaker 5: But you know, he knows his team, and I trust
Speaker 5: head coaches in the NFL that they know their team,
Speaker 5: they know the situations that they're in, and I'm sure
Speaker 5: that he was making the best decisions he felt for
Speaker 5: his team at the time. But what's going to be
Speaker 5: interesting for the Chargers this year is how do they
Speaker 5: respond to that playoff loss? And particularly for Justin Herbert,
Speaker 5: one thing that I think, as Chiefs fans we are
Speaker 5: so fortunate to have witnessed is that Patrick Mahomes, very
Speaker 5: early in his career won a Super Bowl. So there's
Speaker 5: not the monkey on his back. There's not the oh,
Speaker 5: we can't win in the playoffs or like Peyton Manning
Speaker 5: had that for a long time. Right Justin Herbert as
Speaker 5: a young quarterback, I think we all agree he's one
Speaker 5: of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. But for a
Speaker 5: while now, until he wins a playoff game and can
Speaker 5: get the Chargers far in the playoffs, those things.
Speaker 2: Are going to hang over his head.
Speaker 5: And I'm just very curious from a competitive standpoint, how
Speaker 5: does he respond to that? And we're going to learn
Speaker 5: a lot about Herbert and Brandon Staley from a coaching
Speaker 5: perspective as well. How does he respond to that playoff loss.
Speaker 5: We're going to learn a lot about those guys this season.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think there's something to that too. I mean,
Speaker 3: a couple of years ago, they had that really devastating
Speaker 3: loss of the Houston Texans on a team that was not
Speaker 3: very good that season. In the Chargers. I got blown
Speaker 3: out by him there in a game that essentially would
Speaker 3: have put him into the postseason and cost him to
Speaker 3: a birth in the playoffs late in that twenty twenty
Speaker 3: one season. Then, obviously, last year's second half of the
Speaker 3: offense and defense was not one to write home about.
Speaker 3: I just look at this off season though they didn't
Speaker 3: really do a whole lot. They weren't very active. They
Speaker 3: brought back Trey Pipkins and Morgan Fox. They did get
Speaker 3: Eric Kendricks. I'm curious your take on their off season
Speaker 3: here as you look at this team. I don't know
Speaker 3: when you all play those guys first, but obviously you
Speaker 3: have a feel for, you know, what they're doing offensively
Speaker 3: and defensively as a team in general. They go out
Speaker 3: and they get Quinton Johnson in the first round. Just
Speaker 3: kind of curious to your take on their offseason where
Speaker 3: they got better in your estimation.
Speaker 5: Well, just from my perspective, and of course I'm not
Speaker 5: in the weeds with the Chargers every single day, but
Speaker 5: from my perspective, it seems to me like they are
Speaker 5: trying to have kind of one last run with their
Speaker 5: current core of guys like Keenan Allen, who's getting up
Speaker 5: there in age, Austin Eckler, Mike Williams, than defensively Joey Bosa,
Speaker 5: Khalil Mack. They've had this core together for a while
Speaker 5: now and we can all agree it's a lot of
Speaker 5: really good players. But eventually you can't pay everyone, and
Speaker 5: particularly with Justin Herbert's contract coming up here, I'm assuming
Speaker 5: maybe next offseason at the earliest, the Chargers are going
Speaker 5: to have to make some very tough decisions. And my
Speaker 5: perception is this is their chance this season to really
Speaker 5: go for it with this corps of players before they
Speaker 5: have to readjust a little bit. And that's just life
Speaker 5: in the NFL. I mean, the Chiefs went through that
Speaker 5: with Tyreek when we traded him to Miami, where you
Speaker 5: just can't afford to pay everyone, and as you evolve
Speaker 5: as a team, you have to keep adjusting, keep retooling
Speaker 5: the roster. And that time, frankly, might be coming for
Speaker 5: the Chargers here soon where they have to say goodbye
Speaker 5: to some players that have been there.
Speaker 2: For a while.
Speaker 5: So for me, this offseason for them was kind of
Speaker 5: about keeping that corps intact. They shuffled some money around.
Speaker 5: I think Quentin Johnston's a very nice player to add
Speaker 5: to their offensive arsenal. But again, I think it's more
Speaker 5: about keeping their group together to kind of make one
Speaker 5: last run at it with this squad.
Speaker 2: It was kind of the theme of their offseason.
Speaker 3: And before that quarterback track comes up, right, because like
Speaker 3: you mentioned, you can't pay everybody. Once that quarterback salary hits,
Speaker 3: starts to get a little bit tighter on the screws
Speaker 3: around the rest of the roster as well. You mentioned
Speaker 3: Quentin Johnson. I think to me, like Jalen guit In
Speaker 3: such an important part of that offense because of the
Speaker 3: speed element he offers and him missing so much time
Speaker 3: last year like Herbert's you know, yards per attempt went
Speaker 3: way down last year. So something to keep an eye
Speaker 3: on there. And just for our tracking purposes, Week number
Speaker 3: one Dolphins at Chargers, So Chiefs fans will be Dolphins
Speaker 3: fans in week one for a four to twenty five
Speaker 3: kickoff on September tenth out there at SOFI Stadium. Let's
Speaker 3: go ahead and take our last break here of the
Speaker 3: podcast right here, and come back on the other side.
Speaker 3: Talk some Raiders, talk some Broncos. That's next. Matt McMullen,
Speaker 3: my host or my guest today, your host Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 3: the Draft Time podcast, brought to you by Auto Nation,
Speaker 3: rounding out the AFC West here on our summer NFL
Speaker 3: twenty twenty three season preview. My guest today is Matt
Speaker 3: McMullen from Chiefs dot Com, talking all things AFC West.
Speaker 3: We let off with the Chiefs and Chargers. We're gonna
Speaker 3: go ahead and conclude here with the Broncos and the
Speaker 3: Raiders out in Life Vegas. Let's go ahead and start
Speaker 3: in Denver, who is one of the most intriguing teams
Speaker 3: in the entire National Football League. To me, Matt, because
Speaker 3: I think we all expected a double digit win postseason
Speaker 3: birth type of team last year. It didn't go that
Speaker 3: way at all. Big time struggle for the one and
Speaker 3: done head coach and Nathaniel Hackett trying to get the
Speaker 3: most out of Russell Wilson. So I think it starts there, right,
Speaker 3: Russell Wilson, his resurgence, Sean Payton's arrival as an, you know,
Speaker 3: an opponent of this team, a division rival of this team.
Speaker 3: How did you view the addition of Sean Payton? What
Speaker 3: do you think it does for Russell Wilson's career and
Speaker 3: looking to get back on track for him.
Speaker 5: Well, full transparency. I mentioned that I'm a lifelong Chiefs fan,
Speaker 5: which is true, but my wife is from Boulder, Colorado.
Speaker 4: Let's co.
Speaker 2: All right. Well, I've converted her.
Speaker 5: Over the last several years here because we started dating
Speaker 5: in twenty seventeen and the Chiefs have been beaten the
Speaker 5: Broncos every single time.
Speaker 2: Since we've been dating, which is just nuts.
Speaker 5: But my father in law is a huge Broncos fan,
Speaker 5: so I do have kind of an insider on the Broncos.
Speaker 5: It gives me his thoughts on Denver quite often. Weird
Speaker 5: season for them last year, and I think what it
Speaker 5: really said is that winning in the NFL is difficult
Speaker 5: and it's not Madden, and you can't just put players
Speaker 5: together on a team and it works all of a sudden.
Speaker 5: Winning is hard and it takes a lot to win
Speaker 5: in the NFL.
Speaker 2: The Broncos have a very talented roster.
Speaker 5: I think we all agree on that, and Russell Wilson
Speaker 5: is probably a future Pro Football Hall of Famer. But
Speaker 5: if a few bounces don't go your way, if the
Speaker 5: cohesion isn't there immediately, if the head coach isn't the
Speaker 5: best fit right away, then quickly things can go poorly,
Speaker 5: and that's what happened for the Broncos last season, coupled
Speaker 5: with some injuries. I certainly expect them to be better
Speaker 5: this season because they are talented and Sean Payton is
Speaker 5: a proven winner, a super Bowl champion. I don't know
Speaker 5: necessarily what their season looks like. Kind of like you said,
Speaker 5: they're very intriguing because they're a bit of an enigma.
Speaker 5: I'm not really sure what to expect from them, but
Speaker 5: one thing I do know is they will be better
Speaker 5: just because they are too talented and they have too
Speaker 5: much experience on that roster, and Sean Payton is too
Speaker 5: much of a winner in the NFL for them to
Speaker 5: not be better. Does that translate to the playoffs? I
Speaker 5: don't know, but I do think the Broncos will be
Speaker 5: better this season.
Speaker 3: Now. I'm always curious see how that you know, the
Speaker 3: you mentioned Hall of Fame, like Sean Payton's got to
Speaker 3: have his name right in that ring as well. And
Speaker 3: for a guy to you know, leave a team, take
Speaker 3: some time away and come back, I'm always curious see
Speaker 3: how those guys respawd with their second go round. We
Speaker 3: kind of have a similar version of that with Vic
Speaker 3: Fangi here coaching the defense, and speaking of the Broncos,
Speaker 3: the former Broncos head coach there. I like what they
Speaker 3: did on the offensive line this offseason, going out and
Speaker 3: getting Mike McGlinchey and Ben Powers. That was a big
Speaker 3: issue last year, and I think for Russell Wilson, you know,
Speaker 3: the scramble ability is great, but as you get into
Speaker 3: your thirties sometimes that kind of deteriorates a little bit.
Speaker 3: And the pressure he faced last year was immense with
Speaker 3: you know, just they had injuries up front, the offensive
Speaker 3: line had a tough time getting all those great pass
Speaker 3: rushers in the AFC West Bloc. So I think there
Speaker 3: should be improvement there. But on defense, man, Like, I'm
Speaker 3: curious to hear your perspective on the defense, because regardless
Speaker 3: over the years, they just seem to like stay good,
Speaker 3: no matter like who's coaching or who's there, you know,
Speaker 3: personnel wise. I don't know what it is, something in
Speaker 3: the water out in Denver probably, but they just look
Speaker 3: good on paper again here because so many guys, especially
Speaker 3: in that back end, I mean, Justin Simmons and Patrick
Speaker 3: startan the second. You know Dolphins fans know him well.
Speaker 3: His father was a long time stud here in Miami.
Speaker 3: Just curious to your perspective when you go into a
Speaker 3: game against the Broncos, because for the Chiefs like that
Speaker 3: Broncos defense is good, but the Chiefs don't seem to care.
Speaker 3: They seem to find their way to score points anyway.
Speaker 3: But when you go into those games against the Broncos,
Speaker 3: well you're looking out on that defensive side of the football.
Speaker 5: Yeah, their defense is really good, and it's really good
Speaker 5: every single season. You mentioned the secondary, that's really the
Speaker 5: strength of this group, but their pass rush I think
Speaker 5: will be solid as well. They dealt with so many
Speaker 5: injuries last year where their defense as good as it was,
Speaker 5: and it was a top five scoring defense in the NFL,
Speaker 5: I believe for most of the season. I think it
Speaker 5: has a chance to be maybe not better, but right
Speaker 5: there once again this season because they're going to have
Speaker 5: some guys back healthy. Former Chief Frank Clark is a
Speaker 5: Denver Bronco now Randy Gregory will likely be healthy this season.
Speaker 5: So I think their defense has a chance to be really,
Speaker 5: really good. This is where its Chiefs fans, we're fortunate
Speaker 5: that we have Patrick Mahomes because he's like a cheap
Speaker 5: code out there no matter how good a defense is,
Speaker 5: but their defense deserves a lot of respect. And that's
Speaker 5: where if their offense can just be a little bit better,
Speaker 5: this Broncos team can really, I think improve quite a
Speaker 5: bit this upcoming season because their offense just struggled so
Speaker 5: much last year. I think they scored more than sixteen
Speaker 5: points only three or four times. It doesn't matter how
Speaker 5: good your defense is. If your offense just can't score points,
Speaker 5: it's very difficult to win. So that's where if Sean
Speaker 5: Payton can get the Broncos offense going just a little
Speaker 5: bit more, if they can score average twenty two to
Speaker 5: twenty three points of games the middle of the pack,
Speaker 5: their defense is good enough where they can be a
Speaker 5: winning football team and maybe a playoff football team. So
Speaker 5: that's I think the defense is the constant. I think
Speaker 5: we all kind of know the defense is going to
Speaker 5: be good because it's good every year. Well will the
Speaker 5: offense be able to turn the page and be what
Speaker 5: maybe we thought it could have been last year.
Speaker 3: I also like the addition of Zach Allen on that
Speaker 3: defensive line as well, from the Arizona mccardinals should be
Speaker 3: a good get for them up front. And then I
Speaker 3: just look at this receiver corps and like you talk
Speaker 3: about the offense and the struggles, it doesn't make sense
Speaker 3: on paper that they would struggle so much. I mean,
Speaker 3: Garrett Bowles is a good player. He missed most of
Speaker 3: the year on the offensive line last year, but he's
Speaker 3: a really good player. Mentioned mcglincheyan powers, they join a
Speaker 3: guy like you know, Lloyd Cushion Barry is a high
Speaker 3: draft pick, Quinn Minor. It's really kind of you know,
Speaker 3: stold everyone's heart at the Senior Bowl. The big belly
Speaker 3: exposed a couple of years ago. He's on that front.
Speaker 3: But the receiver corps, Matt like, it's pretty damn good
Speaker 3: man like Courtland something's a good player. I think Jerry
Speaker 3: Judy has high end wide receiver. One potential if you
Speaker 3: ever realized, is that kJ Hamiller is a good player.
Speaker 3: Marquez Callaway like, you come in this this you know
Speaker 3: play in the Broncos. You have lots of weapons that
Speaker 3: can tend with on that offense. And if Russell Wilson
Speaker 3: can get right, I think they could do what you're
Speaker 3: talking about and get twenty two points, twenty three points
Speaker 3: per game, don't you think that?
Speaker 5: Yeah, and don't forget about Greg Dolsic that tight end
Speaker 5: of UCLA really athletic, exciting player at tight end. We've
Speaker 5: seen kind of like a revolution at tight end in
Speaker 5: the NFL over the last five or six years. You guys,
Speaker 5: of course had Mike Koseki for a while, you know
Speaker 5: what I'm talking about. And the she said Travis Kelce,
Speaker 5: Greg Dolza has a chance to be that upper echelon
Speaker 5: kind of tight end in this league. Is just a
Speaker 5: great athlete, kind of like a hybrid receiver tight end
Speaker 5: kind of player. So Russell Wilson has weapons everywhere. And
Speaker 5: that's the big question is can Sean Payton kind of
Speaker 5: correct Russell Wilson and get him back to what he
Speaker 5: was when he was in Seattle winning playoff games? And
Speaker 5: we'll see that is the answer to the Broncos season
Speaker 5: because everything else is really there for them. So that's
Speaker 5: the question we'll see if Sean Payton can do it.
Speaker 5: From a chief's perspective, I certainly hope that they don't
Speaker 5: find too much success, right, but the talent is certainly
Speaker 5: there and the experiences there, So we'll have to see
Speaker 5: how it plays out.
Speaker 3: Well, you guys will go from being Dolphins fans in
Speaker 3: week one to Dolphins fans in week three. Is the
Speaker 3: Broncos traveled down here for our home opener week number three,
Speaker 3: son day, September twenty fourth, for a one o'clock kickoffs,
Speaker 3: so hopefully they get it figured out. It doesn't happen
Speaker 3: by a week three for those Denver Broncos. Let's go
Speaker 3: ahead and conclude here, Matt with the Las Vegas Raiders,
Speaker 3: who you know you talk about on paper, you mentioned
Speaker 3: that early in the podcast, how the games have to
Speaker 3: get played and all that. Right now, on paper, you
Speaker 3: look at the Raiders and you think like this is
Speaker 3: the team that is looking up at the other three
Speaker 3: in the division just because of what's happened. You know,
Speaker 3: in the off season, you lose Derek Carr, goes out
Speaker 3: to New Orleans. Jimmy g comes in, but there's talk
Speaker 3: about like maybe he's not healthy. You had a surgery
Speaker 3: this offseason. If it's not Jimmy g, it is going
Speaker 3: to be Brian Hoyer's the backup. Is that a place
Speaker 3: where maybe Carson Wentz could wind up like I'm curious
Speaker 3: what you think about the quarterback position there in Las
Speaker 3: Vegas because to me and I had, you know, Trevor
Speaker 3: Sikama on for the NFC South and we talked about
Speaker 3: how I think Derek Carr has been underrated for a
Speaker 3: long time. To say goodbye to a quarterback like that
Speaker 3: and now have a question mark, what do you think
Speaker 3: is the Chiefs you know, fan and some of the
Speaker 3: covers of Chiefs with this Raiders quarterback situation that right
Speaker 3: now it's kind of up in the air.
Speaker 5: It's interesting because for the first time in a long
Speaker 5: time in my tenure here for sure, because Derek Carr
Speaker 5: arrived in Oakland and in Las Vegas in fifteen twenty sixteen.
Speaker 5: It's strange him not being there anymore because he was
Speaker 5: the constant. He was always the stable, solid, you know
Speaker 5: what you're gonna get kind of quarterback. I think Derek
Speaker 5: Carr was underrated. He gave the Chiefs some trouble. Sometimes
Speaker 5: we look back at the twenty twenty season. The Chiefs
Speaker 5: lost to the Chargers in Week seventeen, but Chad Henney
Speaker 5: started none of the Chiefs starters play that doesn't really count.
Speaker 5: The only other game the Chiefs lost in the regular
Speaker 5: season that year was to the Raiders at home in
Speaker 5: Week five. It doesn't really make sense when you look
Speaker 5: back at it, because the Raiders didn't even make the
Speaker 5: playoffs that season. But the Raiders with Derek Carr were
Speaker 5: just consistently competitive. You really never had to worry about
Speaker 5: are they just going to lay an egg? It never
Speaker 5: really happened, and when they decided to move on from him,
Speaker 5: it did surprise me. Now I get they just wanted
Speaker 5: to turn the page and kind of move on with
Speaker 5: their franchise and find their next guy, But we don't
Speaker 5: really know who that next guy is at the time.
Speaker 5: Being Jimmy Garoppolo, like I mentioned earlier, is a solid player.
Speaker 5: He's been to a Super Bowl, he's been to NFC
Speaker 5: Championship games. But he's also getting up there in age.
Speaker 5: Is Jimmy the quarterback of the future for the Raiders.
Speaker 5: He kind of feels more like a he's there for
Speaker 5: three or four years kind of guy. And with the
Speaker 5: questions about his health this summer, is he going to
Speaker 5: be ready for Week one? I don't know the answers
Speaker 5: to those questions, so we'll see. Of course, he's reunited
Speaker 5: with his former offensive coordinator from New England in Las
Speaker 5: Vegas now, so there's that synergy there. But for the
Speaker 5: first time in a long time, I really don't know
Speaker 5: what to expect from the Raiders offensively, and for years
Speaker 5: now we all kind of knew what to expect. So
Speaker 5: it's a strange thing breaking down this Raiders offense. But
Speaker 5: they have good players. Josh Jacobs is a heck of
Speaker 5: a player at running back, DeVante Adams is a top
Speaker 5: five receiver in the NFL, and Hunter Renfro is a
Speaker 5: very good, underrated player at wide receiver two. So they
Speaker 5: have weapons, But is the quarterback situation. Is that confusion
Speaker 5: going to hold them back?
Speaker 2: We'll see.
Speaker 3: That's where I was gonna go. Is the weapons. Also
Speaker 3: talk about Jacoby Myers, who was a good player up
Speaker 3: here for the Patriots play against the Dolphins twice a
Speaker 3: year for so long. I think he's a great number
Speaker 3: two to kind of round in that role between Adams
Speaker 3: and Renfro there. So if Jimmy g is good to go,
Speaker 3: we know he can play at a higher level. And
Speaker 3: if that's the case, this offense, to me, would have
Speaker 3: a chance to be one of the better offenses in
Speaker 3: the NFL. We'll find out about the defense here in
Speaker 3: a second, but I just think, you know, looking at that,
Speaker 3: it's so interesting because you mentioned Josh McDaniels. Jimmy g
Speaker 3: started his career there with the Patriots, and he played
Speaker 3: really well, albeit in a very short sample size the
Speaker 3: year that he filled in for Tom Brady for a
Speaker 3: couple of games and actually got injured. But then he
Speaker 3: goes to San Francisco and plays in a different system
Speaker 3: under Kyle Shanahan that you know, I thought accentuated his
Speaker 3: shrinks there as well. So now he goes back to
Speaker 3: the old offense. I'm just really curious see how he
Speaker 3: adapts to, you know, going back to an offense that
Speaker 3: he was good in but wasn't really where he made
Speaker 3: his name in the NFL playing in that Shanahan offense
Speaker 3: in San Francisco. So we talk about the offense there,
Speaker 3: let's go over to the defensive side of the full. Well,
Speaker 3: it was not good last year. They really struggled to
Speaker 3: get off the field just to you know, limit points
Speaker 3: in that end. But a pretty busy offseason back there,
Speaker 3: going out and getting Marcus Epps Brandon face on. They
Speaker 3: went out and got let's see a lot offensive guys
Speaker 3: here too, Jacobe Myers, OJ Howard on offense. But as
Speaker 3: you look at this defense, because you mentioned, you know,
Speaker 3: a lot of those Chiefs and Raiders games kind of
Speaker 3: go shot for shot and lots of point tolls in
Speaker 3: the past. You're looking at more shootouts this year for
Speaker 3: this Raiders defense because they added some pieces. But I
Speaker 3: think still a little bit ways to go there on
Speaker 3: that Raider of defense.
Speaker 5: Well, I respect their pass rush a lot because Max
Speaker 5: Crosby is a top five pass rusher in the NFL,
Speaker 5: such a good player, relentless kind of player. Chandler Jones
Speaker 5: wasn't quite what they expected when they signed him last offseason,
Speaker 5: but he's still Chandler Jones. And they added Tyree Wilson
Speaker 5: in the draft out of Texas Tech. He kind of
Speaker 5: slid down to them in the first round, and I
Speaker 5: think he was one of the best picks of the
Speaker 5: first round for any team. And it pains me to
Speaker 5: say that about the Raiders. So their pass rush is
Speaker 5: legitimate and I think will be one of the better
Speaker 5: pass rushes in the NFL, and that helps everyone else
Speaker 5: at the second level and at the third level of
Speaker 5: their defense. So I'm curious to see if their pass
Speaker 5: rush can be as good as it is on paper
Speaker 5: this season. It was really good at times last year,
Speaker 5: but despite the presence of all these great players, Max
Speaker 5: Crosby was kind of carrying the load. If Chandler Jones
Speaker 5: and if Tyree Wilson can kind of help with that,
Speaker 5: if they can be impact players this season for the Raiders,
Speaker 5: their defense has a chance to be competitive. But it
Speaker 5: really hinges on the guys that they've invested in, because
Speaker 5: Max Crosby can't do it all by himself.
Speaker 3: New defensive coordinator there that we know well here in Miami,
Speaker 3: Patrick Graham joins there as well, trying to get that
Speaker 3: defense heading in the right direction, and I scheme change
Speaker 3: for them should I think help as well. So good
Speaker 3: stuff there, Matt. I think that pretty much covers the
Speaker 3: entire AFC West here. The Dolphins will play the Raiders
Speaker 3: here week eleven Sunday, remember the nineteenth to one o'clock
Speaker 3: kickoff here at hard Rock Stadium. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 3: finish with the podcast. What we have for all these
Speaker 3: divisional previews with our superlatives. And I told you before
Speaker 3: we came on that some of the guys have picked
Speaker 3: their entire squad for the most part, and rightfully.
Speaker 4: So.
Speaker 3: You know, fran Duffy gave us almost all Eagles in
Speaker 3: the NFC East, and I think that's totally fair. The
Speaker 3: defending NFC champions. We're now talking about the end defending
Speaker 3: NFL champions and the Kansas City Chiefs, So it's only
Speaker 3: fair we talk about that and have the idea that
Speaker 3: you might go that direction. But quarterback, who is the
Speaker 3: best quarterback here? It's a silly question in the AFC West.
Speaker 5: Matt, Yeah, you know what I'm going to say is
Speaker 5: Patrick Mahomes. I believe Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback
Speaker 5: in the NFL, and rightfully. So what's nuts is the
Speaker 5: guy's not even twenty eight years old yet. And I
Speaker 5: don't think it's me being a homer to say that
Speaker 5: he has a real shot at being one of the
Speaker 5: greatest to ever play the game when it's all said
Speaker 5: and done. It's frankly incredible what he's done in his
Speaker 5: young career. He's only played eighty career regular season football games,
Speaker 5: and he is the most passing yards, the most passing touchdowns,
Speaker 5: the highest passer rating, and the most completions of any
Speaker 5: quarterback through eighty career regular season games in NFL history.
Speaker 2: That's one thing.
Speaker 5: Like a lot of guys have great stats and it
Speaker 5: doesn't always translate to wins, but Patrick also has. He's
Speaker 5: epic incredible postseason wins. He has two Super Bowl championships,
Speaker 5: two Super Bowl MVPs, and he's the first player since
Speaker 5: Kurt Warner in nineteen ninety nine to win Super Bowl
Speaker 5: MVP and NFL MVP in the same season, doing so
Speaker 5: this past year, I frankly cannot believe he's our quarterback.
Speaker 5: At times, I don't know how we as Chiefs fans,
Speaker 5: got this lucky. But to answer your question, I believe
Speaker 5: he is the best quarterback in the AFC West.
Speaker 3: I don't think you even have to say one of
Speaker 3: the best of all time. I think he's trending in
Speaker 3: the direction to be the guy right now. Just when
Speaker 3: you look at him, I mean that the eyeball test,
Speaker 3: right he is, unlike Anthony we've seen before, the best
Speaker 3: non quarterback player on offense in the division. Receivers, running backs,
Speaker 3: tight ends, offensive line. Who do you got, I've.
Speaker 2: Got Travis Kelcey. I know I'm the Chiefs guy.
Speaker 5: And I'll give it to the Chiefs here, but I
Speaker 5: truly believe that Travis Kelcey is not just the greatest
Speaker 5: tight end of all time. And that's saying a lot
Speaker 5: because we have Tony Gonzalez here in Kansas City as well,
Speaker 5: and I love Tony Gonzalez. I really believe Travis Kelsey
Speaker 5: is the greatest tight end to ever play the game.
Speaker 5: And he's also one of the greatest pass catchers to
Speaker 5: ever play the game. And because he's a tight end,
Speaker 5: I think at times we kind of pigeonhole him into well,
Speaker 5: he's the greatest tight end. We don't talk about him
Speaker 5: as a pass catcher. But the guy has seven consecutive
Speaker 5: one thousand yard seasons. Mike Evans is the only guy
Speaker 5: in the NFL to do that currently as well.
Speaker 2: Think about that. That's unbelievable.
Speaker 5: So many great players out there that they just get
Speaker 5: hurt or they have a year where it just wasn't
Speaker 5: the ball wasn't coming to him, or it wasn't their
Speaker 5: best season. Travis Kelcey, knock onwood consistently every single year
Speaker 5: is going to give you one thousand yards, eight or
Speaker 5: more touchdowns, and it's just unbelievable how he's gotten better
Speaker 5: with age. I really think that Kelsey and my homes
Speaker 5: are going to go down as like a Montana Rice
Speaker 5: kind of well. And the fact that we are watching
Speaker 5: them live and particularly for Chiefs fans, is just hard
Speaker 5: to believe. So Travis Kelce for me, is the best
Speaker 5: non quarterback in this division because I really believe he's
Speaker 5: one of the top five pass catchers overall regardless of
Speaker 5: position in the league.
Speaker 3: Every year you go to the final statistics page, it's
Speaker 3: wide receiver, wide receiver, wide receiver, Travis Kelce, then wide receiver,
Speaker 3: like it's just he's the only tight end there. Every
Speaker 3: single year. It's always fun to see that he definitely
Speaker 3: has changed that position for the better going forward. This
Speaker 3: is the one spot I think we might go away
Speaker 3: from the Chiefs, but I wouldn't blame you, because there's
Speaker 3: a player on the Chiefs that I think fits this
Speaker 3: category as well. But I think every team has a
Speaker 3: guy that might fit here. The best defensive player in
Speaker 3: the AFC West.
Speaker 2: Is well, that's a tougher one.
Speaker 5: You're right, because the AFC West has some great defensive players.
Speaker 5: I could say Max Crosby, who talked about earlier on
Speaker 5: the Raiders. I could say a number of players on
Speaker 5: the Chargers, those being like Joey Bosa or Derwin James.
Speaker 5: And the Broncos have some great players as well that
Speaker 5: we talked about, like Patsertan the second I'm gonna go
Speaker 5: with my guy, though, I'm gonna go with Chris Jones
Speaker 5: just because of his production meeting the moment as well.
Speaker 5: This past season, he had fifteen and a half sacks,
Speaker 5: so doing as a defensive tackle his nuts. He's not
Speaker 5: playing off the edge a whole lot. He does sometimes,
Speaker 5: but he's primarily a defensive tackle, and he racks up
Speaker 5: fifteen and a half sacks. His pressure totals are right
Speaker 5: up there with some of the best defensive ends in
Speaker 5: the NFL. But also how he came up with huge
Speaker 5: plays in the biggest of moments last year is what
Speaker 5: kind of pushes him over the top for me. Particularly
Speaker 5: the AFC title game. All the national media wanted to
Speaker 5: talk about how he had never gotten a postseason sack
Speaker 5: going into that game, and he not only gets a sack,
Speaker 5: he gets two on Joe Burrow, including the biggest defensive
Speaker 5: play of the game when the Bengals have the ball
Speaker 5: with forty five seconds left, it's third down, and if
Speaker 5: they get thirty or so yards, maybe they have a
Speaker 5: shot at a game winning field goal. In Chris Sacks,
Speaker 5: Joe Burrow, Chiefs get the ball back and go win
Speaker 5: the game. Just like I said with Patrick, when you
Speaker 5: have the stats and you have the big plays and
Speaker 5: the big moments, that's what really does it for me,
Speaker 5: because that's rare in the NFL that both of those things.
Speaker 5: So my answer, yes, I'm a Chief Homer, but my
Speaker 5: answer is Chris Jones, I'm.
Speaker 3: Going to for go the last question herecu I know
Speaker 3: the answer. The division champion in the AFC West. We're
Speaker 3: both going to pick the same team. I think a
Speaker 3: lot of folks are going to pick them to go
Speaker 3: back to the big Game again this year. So Chiefs,
Speaker 3: I think we can both agree, are the favorites right
Speaker 3: now to win the AFC West. Agree.
Speaker 5: I agree. I'm a strong believer in the fact that
Speaker 5: they got to go do it. I really am a
Speaker 5: disciple of what coach Reid preaches here, where every year
Speaker 5: is a new year. Doesn't matter what you did the
Speaker 5: previous year or in the Chiefs case, the previous seven years.
Speaker 5: Every season is new, and the Chiefs are the hunted.
Speaker 5: Everyone wants to take down the Chiefs. The good news
Speaker 5: is for Chiefs fans that our guys understand that they
Speaker 5: understand that the other teams in the AFC West are
Speaker 5: tired of looking up at Kansas City. But we have
Speaker 5: what it takes to keep winning this division for years
Speaker 5: to come. So it's not a given. We don't play
Speaker 5: football on paper, but right now I believe the Chiefs
Speaker 5: have what it takes to win this division.
Speaker 3: Well, before we get that all kicked off, you enjoy
Speaker 3: your ring ceremony last night. The office is empty today,
Speaker 3: you said, So why don't you go ahead and tell
Speaker 3: us what's coming down the pike this summer on Chiefs
Speaker 3: dot com. What do you work on yourself? Matt, just
Speaker 3: kind of give us your summer content plan here.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Well, like you said, it kind of shuts down here
Speaker 5: for a while. Our mandatory mini camp just wrapped up,
Speaker 5: so we won't hear from the players or have any
Speaker 5: practices until training camp kicks off in late July. But
Speaker 5: if you're interested in the Chiefs and you want to
Speaker 5: know kind of what this roster is going to look like,
Speaker 5: I'll have a whole bunch of articles on Chiefs dot
Speaker 5: Com over the next several weeks looking at position breakdowns,
Speaker 5: and we're not just talking about the big guys like
Speaker 5: Mahomes and Kelsey. I'm going to be talking about the
Speaker 5: undrafted free agents I have a shot at making this team,
Speaker 5: so keep an eye out for those. And also our
Speaker 5: radio voice. I believe that the best in the history
Speaker 5: of the NFL to ever be a radio voice, Mitchell
Speaker 5: This him and I have a podcast called Defending the Kingdom.
Speaker 5: We'll have that probably biweekly here over the next month
Speaker 5: or so, just breaking down position groups and what to
Speaker 5: expect from this Chief's team as they look to defend
Speaker 5: their title, but also looking to get away a little
Speaker 5: bit in the weeks to come before we really hit
Speaker 5: the grind here in just a few weeks.
Speaker 3: Yeah, come down here and put your feet in the
Speaker 3: sand for a couple of weeks here. Matt. You've certainly
Speaker 3: earned it with a long year, like you talked about,
Speaker 3: going all over the Super Bowl makes for a long
Speaker 3: season there and the drafting Kansas City as well, so
Speaker 3: busy times for the Chiefs. Matt. I appreciate your time today. Man,
Speaker 3: You've really helped us out a ton. Thank you so much,
Speaker 3: and enjoy your summer off man.
Speaker 5: Thanks Travis, really appreciate it, really enjoy and love your stuff.
Speaker 5: And I'll see you in Germany in November.
Speaker 3: Yeah, sir, sounds good. Thank you Matt, and away he
Speaker 3: goes big. Thanks to my guest today, Matt McMullen. Yeah,
Speaker 3: we'll see about that.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I think it would be a whole family trip to
Speaker 3: go out to Germany for the week. So about to
Speaker 3: fly actually today, I fly out this evening with my wife,
Speaker 3: my two children back to the West Coast, and I
Speaker 3: am not looking forward to a six hour flight with
Speaker 3: a six month old and a three year old. So
Speaker 3: keep us in your tea's and p's on that flight
Speaker 3: back to Seattle. In the meantime, it's going to be
Speaker 3: my time.
Speaker 2: You all.
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Speaker 3: Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next time. Finn's up, Carolina
Speaker 3: and camera and Daddy just coming home me