Speaker 1: Welcome to the favorites of the podcast. Part of the
Speaker 1: Volume Podcast Network item Chad Meulman of The Action Network.
Speaker 1: Let's get right to it. We're going to bring in
Speaker 1: my cost my companion, Mike cam Padre, my BFF Professional Better,
Speaker 1: Simon Hunter et O Simon.
Speaker 2: More Football Chat. Let's get to her brother.
Speaker 1: This week across the nation, Simon. NFL teams commence a
Speaker 1: decades old right of summer, the return of training camp.
Speaker 1: We've talked about quarterbacks on this show recently, playoff teams
Speaker 1: we think will populate the NFL postseason fantasy moves, and
Speaker 1: today you and I were going to talk about the
Speaker 1: biggest questions and issues we hope to see resolved by
Speaker 1: the end of training gamp. But we can't do it alone.
Speaker 1: To do this, we are welcoming on one of our oldest, dearest,
Speaker 1: most respected friends in the business, the original original og,
Speaker 1: host of the Action Network podcast and the Big Bets
Speaker 1: on Campus podcasts for the Action Network, the Prime Minister
Speaker 1: of Degenerate Nation. Not going to sleep again until April. Folks.
Speaker 1: Welcome back, Stucky, Yo.
Speaker 3: What's going on? Thanks for having me, guys, Good to
Speaker 3: see you again. Good to be talking football.
Speaker 2: Again.
Speaker 3: Just recorded the kickoff episode for Big Bets on Campus
Speaker 3: college Football. It's just an overwhelming it's just starting out.
Speaker 3: It's an overwhelming kind I'm like, I have all these
Speaker 3: college football teams, and then I'm like, then I said,
Speaker 3: aside time for NFL. And then I'm like, wait, am
Speaker 3: I forgetting this about? Have I looked into this? And
Speaker 3: there's just not enough that you can know this time
Speaker 3: of the year. But it's still the calm before the storm.
Speaker 3: It's only you're going to get crazier. So trying to
Speaker 3: still find some quiet time when I can. But yeah,
Speaker 3: it'll be here before we know it.
Speaker 2: Can't wait.
Speaker 4: The National Football League originated in the nineteen twenties in
Speaker 4: rural America, then moved to the cities to flourish and prosper,
Speaker 4: but each summer the game relives its heritage. Tiny college
Speaker 4: towns across the country witnessed the first bloom of the
Speaker 4: NFL season, and coaches welcomed back familiar faces.
Speaker 1: First question the Dallas Cowboys, who I think will make
Speaker 1: the playoffs. I think they could contend for the conference.
Speaker 1: I'm doing that in spite of their running back situation,
Speaker 1: in spite of a curious hire to put it as
Speaker 1: delicately as possible, in Brian Schottenheimer running an NFL team stock,
Speaker 1: what do you think of questions being answered and will
Speaker 1: we see questions answered during training camp regarding the Cowboys,
Speaker 1: their running back situation and Brian Schottenheimer as a coach.
Speaker 3: Yeah, not a fan of the higher just a curious
Speaker 3: off season a recent few years. Curious tole Dak looks
Speaker 3: that'll definitely be worth keeping an eye on. But I'm
Speaker 3: not a fan of either Javonte Williams or Miles Standers.
Speaker 3: I think they've proven that. I mean, maybe you get
Speaker 3: a bump from Javonte Williams, but the fact that he
Speaker 3: wasn't able to do anything in that Denver backfield, and
Speaker 3: just relatively speaking to others too, that it's not like
Speaker 3: they were other all pro running backs in the backfield
Speaker 3: kind of troubling. So I think it's important that they
Speaker 3: get something from their rookies, MafA indor Blue. So yeah,
Speaker 3: that's something I think worth paying attention to. Now. Seanneimer
Speaker 3: made some curious comments just about the learning curve of
Speaker 3: the running backs and how the you know, the veterans
Speaker 3: have the advantage, So maybe he's not going to give
Speaker 3: them a fair shake. But I think in order for
Speaker 3: them to have the best, you know, to reach their ceiling,
Speaker 3: to have the best possible offense, it's one or both
Speaker 3: of those rookies have to give them something. Whether it's
Speaker 3: you know, blue and passing downs. If it's more MafA early,
Speaker 3: I don't know if they're going to get that real shot,
Speaker 3: but it's definitely something worth keeping an eye on.
Speaker 1: Simon. We don't like the Brian Schottenheimer higher, We don't
Speaker 1: like the running back situation. I don't know that that
Speaker 1: matters in terms of how we're thinking about betting the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: What could you see? What would you like to see
Speaker 1: during training camp to make you feel better about the
Speaker 1: position we're taking on them.
Speaker 2: I don't totally Brian are the My thing with Brian is,
Speaker 2: like we've talked about, it just felt like so out
Speaker 2: of left field, where you know, we talk analagem. If
Speaker 2: they could have got vable, why would you not go
Speaker 2: to get Rabele Like Jerry Jones has got the money,
Speaker 2: he can outbid these other owners. But yeah, it's it's
Speaker 2: an interesting move, but at the same time, it's an
Speaker 2: offense that Dak's comfortable and that's what's the key.
Speaker 3: To me.
Speaker 2: It's like, okay, at least know the offense won't change
Speaker 2: that much. You know, Miles Sanders looks like he's in
Speaker 2: the best ship of his life. We see that this
Speaker 2: time of year, people will post those type of things.
Speaker 3: Everyone's always in the best shapely.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no idea, because it's like Miles's issue is not
Speaker 2: being in incredible shape of being jacked. It's staying healthy
Speaker 2: and on the field and you know, hitting the right holes.
Speaker 2: So it's there's still to me to make questions at
Speaker 2: their running back position that yeah, I'm hoping to find
Speaker 2: out more, but we really won't know until the bullets
Speaker 2: start flying. And to me out the gate, the fact
Speaker 2: that they're going to Philadelphia, I love it for this team
Speaker 2: because it's such a tone setter for the rest of
Speaker 2: their season. If they can go in there pull up
Speaker 2: that upset. Not that not just the confidence I'll give
Speaker 2: to the team, but Brian himself, that's a huge deal.
Speaker 2: So I don't know how much I'll learn in training
Speaker 2: camp here, but that week one, I really do feel
Speaker 2: like it sets the tone for this Dallas team for
Speaker 2: the rest season. They get blown out, man, did they
Speaker 2: have a rough road ahead of them because the season
Speaker 2: just keeps getting harder and harder as it goes along.
Speaker 2: For Dallas here they should.
Speaker 3: Hire they should have hire Dion like it's already a circuit.
Speaker 3: It's a circus there. Just just embraced the full circus.
Speaker 3: I mean they brought Pickens in, which fits with the circus.
Speaker 2: That theme.
Speaker 3: We'll see if he's like bought in. That's another thing
Speaker 3: to keep an eye. You probably won't know that until
Speaker 3: until games. But that's something like how bought in his
Speaker 3: piket's going to be because it's gonna have some opportunities
Speaker 3: opposite of lamb. But uh, it's cowboys are always It's
Speaker 3: a circus is down there right now?
Speaker 1: Another circus follows him everywhere he goes. Aaron Rodgers to
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers. Chris Raybond has written about this for
Speaker 1: six years. The slow descent into mediocrity of Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: and the amount of attention that he gets and the
Speaker 1: amount of expectations that follow because of what kind of
Speaker 1: career he's had versus how he has actually performed are
Speaker 1: not in concert. Simon, give me your take on the Steelers.
Speaker 1: What do we think we will see in training camp
Speaker 1: to make you feel good because I know you like
Speaker 1: the Steelers to make the playoffs.
Speaker 2: Yeah. For me, what I'm looking for them training camp
Speaker 2: is just you want to hear everything's all good with him,
Speaker 2: that Arthur Smith offense, that he's comfortable in it. And
Speaker 2: we need TJ in camp. Right, that's the big deal
Speaker 2: for the Steelers. This camp is just is there no
Speaker 2: distractions everyone in there? Because I know I get where
Speaker 2: Chris was coming from, but he was a little early, right,
Speaker 2: he won a couple MVPs because they did Draftward and eleven.
Speaker 2: It sparked a new fire under Rogers. We've seen that
Speaker 2: spark with him and he did feel that doubt last
Speaker 2: year and he realized that Achilles, it's a lot different
Speaker 2: coming back from that injury in your early thirties late
Speaker 2: twenties than it is in your forties. So to me,
Speaker 2: we saw that second half he was so much better
Speaker 2: than he was early. He's especially pushing off that leg.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I just nine and eight with that team.
Speaker 2: It just it feels right right that just another year
Speaker 2: where Tomlin somehow gets them to nine or ten wins,
Speaker 2: and you know that's we know the deal it's an
Speaker 2: aging team. This feels like the last run for this
Speaker 2: corps and it's gonna be a rebuild mode for the
Speaker 2: next three four years for this Pittsburgh franchise.
Speaker 3: Stuck.
Speaker 1: Where are you on Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers right now?
Speaker 3: I don't think anyone really knows, like what level you're
Speaker 3: gonna get? That's yeah, I think it's it. Seven brings
Speaker 3: up a good point. Does he embrace the Arthur Smith
Speaker 3: offense and he's kind of just doing his own thing
Speaker 3: and he gets rid of the ball so quick. I'm
Speaker 3: curious to watch the offensive line there too, though, But
Speaker 3: I think he's could potentially be an upgrade for what
Speaker 3: they have had in recent years. Effort tour since Big
Speaker 3: Ben has left. But how much of last year was
Speaker 3: the injury and how much was it his age? And
Speaker 3: then there's another year, so how much more will his
Speaker 3: age impact versus him being another year free clear up
Speaker 3: the injury that I don't think anyone knows. So it's
Speaker 3: definitely one to keep an eye on. Yeah, the Steelers,
Speaker 3: I mean they run at Tomlin's on how does it
Speaker 3: keep happening? But Voodoo I don't know. I mean the
Speaker 3: Steelers since two thousand and eight, they're sixty two and seven.
Speaker 3: When they win the turnover battle, they win like ninety
Speaker 3: percent of their games. The rest of the NFL when
Speaker 3: they win the turnover batle it's like seventy ish percent.
Speaker 3: Since twenty nineteen, after Big Ben left, they're plus fifty
Speaker 3: turnover margin. They're the only team that has a positive
Speaker 3: turnover margin every single season. The Chiefs, for example, a
Speaker 3: team you think of usually good. They're plus ten over
Speaker 3: that same span. The Steelers in one possession games, they're
Speaker 3: forty three twenty and one since twenty nineteen. This is
Speaker 3: what they do. They win all the close games. They
Speaker 3: win the turnover battle. That's where I think Rogers fifths
Speaker 3: well Sky one of the lowest interception rates in NFL
Speaker 3: history to turn the ball over, which is good. I mean,
Speaker 3: the only team better on one such gets steals in
Speaker 3: nineteen the Chiefs. They just passed the Steelers because they
Speaker 3: went what eleven and zero one session games last year.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I don't know. I think it's wait and
Speaker 3: C mode until we get into the live games. But
Speaker 3: uh yeah, it feels like the Steelers are just inevitably
Speaker 3: going to be nine and eight for eternity where they
Speaker 3: need to not be for like one year. They need
Speaker 3: to they need to find their solution at quarterback, which
Speaker 3: they haven't done since big Enough. I mean, like their
Speaker 3: long term solution their franchise quarterback, and they need to
Speaker 3: have just I think eventually they need to have a
Speaker 3: bad year or get to it really lucky and take
Speaker 3: a stab at a quarterback. I mean, the Ravens got
Speaker 3: Lamar at thirty one.
Speaker 2: That's going to say that that's what Pittsburgh's paying for
Speaker 2: that miss on Lamar like he was so Pittsburgh. The
Speaker 2: fact that the Ravens do what they do, they came in,
Speaker 2: they got them at the end of that first I
Speaker 2: just I feel like it's it just changed the scope
Speaker 2: with that division for the next ten fifteen years. Like
Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh Tomlin apparently loved them, the GM didn't. There
Speaker 2: comes a Raven swooping down take them. I just that
Speaker 2: whole storyline to me is so magical, where you just
Speaker 2: see how the two franchisees have gone. One team always
Speaker 2: think they're going to super Bowl, the other teams happy
Speaker 2: to get nine and eight. So it's crazy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, go ahead, step I was just gonna say,
Speaker 3: I've been the Ravens have won a Super Bowl since
Speaker 3: it's twelve either, But I mean they feel they're so
Speaker 3: much closer. But like, if I'm a Steelers fans, you
Speaker 3: could argue both sides, like are you just tired of this?
Speaker 3: Like Tomlin? He's so good at what he does, but
Speaker 3: are you just tired of the tom and speaking tired?
Speaker 3: They don't want to playoff game in what eight years?
Speaker 3: But like, then again, you're always Sundays, You're like in
Speaker 3: the mix, right, So because Sunday, who wants to go
Speaker 3: through two years where you're not in the mix. So,
Speaker 3: but it just feels like they just need to they
Speaker 3: need a reset to get back into that mix. Now
Speaker 3: maybe this is the time, right, Like I don't know,
Speaker 3: but this this does feel like the last Serrah, or
Speaker 3: it should be.
Speaker 4: There's glory in the legends of this hard muscle life,
Speaker 4: and there's poetry in each season made of sweat and stripe,
Speaker 4: But now is the time to work and strain of
Speaker 4: a sport that tests the spirit and challenges the brain.
Speaker 1: There are four quarterback situations. They're not even controversies, they're
Speaker 1: just what is the worst of a bad situation? The Saints,
Speaker 1: who might have the worst quarterback room in NFL history.
Speaker 1: They're basically deciding between a twenty five year old second
Speaker 1: round pick who's a rookie and a not that much
Speaker 1: younger sixth round pick, second year player who performed terribly
Speaker 1: last year in their quarterback room. The Giants drafted a
Speaker 1: quarterback high in Jackson Dart in the first round, but
Speaker 1: really they signed Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston to be
Speaker 1: the starting quarterback this year. The Browns, we all know
Speaker 1: what they did with Dylan Gabriel, dr Sanders, but Joe
Speaker 1: Flacco might be the starting quarterback. And then in Indy
Speaker 1: we've got Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson Simon. Of those
Speaker 1: four situations, rank them for me from worst to less worst.
Speaker 2: All it depends what we're looking for, you Like, just
Speaker 2: this season, I guess, yeah, Saints probably are gonna be
Speaker 2: the worst team, and you know they're they're in a
Speaker 2: nice spot though. They if this kid starts he shows nothing,
Speaker 2: Like you know, Rosen, you get the number one pick,
Speaker 2: you just take another quarterback, You just keep shooting the shot.
Speaker 2: So the Saints, if this kid's absolutely terrible, great, like
Speaker 2: they that whole their car thing, just put them in
Speaker 2: the hole of holes. So I think everything is kind
Speaker 2: of graver for them. But yeah, do I think will
Speaker 2: be the worstest here. Of course, giants right there with him.
Speaker 2: It's I mean, I know they're gonna do. They'll probably
Speaker 2: start the VET. I hope Dark comes in. He's just
Speaker 2: lights up in camp, right, I mean, he has so
Speaker 2: much to work on. Just I mean, it's brutal because
Speaker 2: it's they're in the probably the toughest division in NFC.
Speaker 2: But just throw them to the wolves. Just see what
Speaker 2: the kids made up. We see time and time again
Speaker 2: either these kids can swim or they sink. And to
Speaker 2: me they another late first round pick. Let's see what
Speaker 2: Dart has. Yeah, the the Browns. I put them below
Speaker 2: the Colts just for this upcoming year because of what
Speaker 2: you talked about chat. It's like, is it Flacco does
Speaker 2: he lose out to Shador? Does somehow Gabriel beat him out?
Speaker 2: Like it's just so many unknowns that like they are
Speaker 2: a team that I'm excited to watch them in the
Speaker 2: training camp because they're going to be, in my mind
Speaker 2: playing all those guys a lot, and they'll be fun
Speaker 2: to bet on or bet against depending on how bad
Speaker 2: these quarterbacks are. But yeah, that's the unknown. There is
Speaker 2: insane where you know, the Colts of all these guys,
Speaker 2: all these bad teams. We joked about it, there's a
Speaker 2: world where the Colts can win their division. Like if
Speaker 2: Daniel Jones comes in to this situation and makes it work,
Speaker 2: it could happen. Like we've seen him when he's right,
Speaker 2: when he can run the ball, he's pretty talented. When
Speaker 2: he does zero time like he's had with the Giants,
Speaker 2: burning that awful offensive line, he was terrible. So you know,
Speaker 2: it's it's tough. But to me, I don't know how
Speaker 2: Anthony Richardon beats out Daniel Jones if he's not healthy,
Speaker 2: he's not practicing this upcoming training camp. So I just
Speaker 2: feel like it's gonna be Daniels job to lose. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I guess I'll have a right in the order you
Speaker 2: put it in there, Chad Saints, Giants, Brown's Colts stuck.
Speaker 1: Which one of these are UNI paid most attention to.
Speaker 1: I mean, you think will have the biggest impact on
Speaker 1: how you bet this season, both futures and during the
Speaker 1: regular season.
Speaker 3: The Steelers going nine and eight and Daniel Jones. We're
Speaker 3: gonna be talking about those two things forever. I mean,
Speaker 3: the Colts have to start Richards. I mean, we're seeing
Speaker 3: his health. I don't know if they will, but see,
Speaker 3: obviously it depends on his health. And that's something to
Speaker 3: keep an eye for trading camp. But like you gotta
Speaker 3: find out what you have with your high draftic like
Speaker 3: Daniel Jones is going to win you a Super Bowl, Like,
Speaker 3: you just got to find out and then figure out
Speaker 3: if you got to pivot off there. By the way,
Speaker 3: this is not the Saint's sonat the worst quarterback room
Speaker 3: of all time. There's been some bad ones. Maybe it'll
Speaker 3: end up any way, but at least there's some on
Speaker 3: sertainty with Chuck. But I'll just I'll throw out a
Speaker 3: couple just for fun. Danny Knell the ninety seven Giants
Speaker 3: took over for Dave Brown. He averaged one hundred and
Speaker 3: five yards per game over like ten games. The two
Speaker 3: thousand Chiefs two thousand and seven Chiefs, it was a
Speaker 3: hard knocks team. If you want to go back and
Speaker 3: watch a bad Hard Knocks Brody Croyle versus Damon Heward.
Speaker 3: That was the quarterbacks that year. Two thousand and one
Speaker 3: Panthers you met. You mentioned Chuck's age.
Speaker 2: Chad.
Speaker 3: The two thousand and one Panthers went one in fifteen.
Speaker 3: Chris Winky was their quarterback. He was thirty as a rookie.
Speaker 3: I think you had to leve. I got to remember
Speaker 3: that eleven touchdowns, nineteen interceptions they went one in fifteen,
Speaker 3: and then you've got to get a Browns team in there.
Speaker 3: Two thousand Browns, Tim Couch and Doug Peterson. I think
Speaker 3: Spurgeon win started the game. They combined nine touchdowns, nine
Speaker 3: and nineteen interceptions. That's as bad as it gets. But
Speaker 3: I will say from a wind totals perspective, it's something
Speaker 3: you want to keep an eye on, or at least
Speaker 3: just be cognizant of. With the Giants, it's like I
Speaker 3: think they're gonna start RUSS, but then they have a
Speaker 3: really hard schedule. So if it goes downhill, but I
Speaker 3: don't know, with like Dabo on his job, but I
Speaker 3: don't know if they are, they then like, all right,
Speaker 3: let's just throw the kid out there, right, and then
Speaker 3: you could end up losing more games. Your floor goes down.
Speaker 3: So with these low win totals, that's something to keep
Speaker 3: in mind. NFL teams don't tank. Every once in a
Speaker 3: while you have a team and the Bucks came out
Speaker 3: they did this one year and like a week eighteen,
Speaker 3: you really want to lose for a draft pick. And
Speaker 3: even then teams mess themselves up all the time. Giants
Speaker 3: did it last year. They don't tank, but you could
Speaker 3: just make decisions to Like the Browns, for example, very
Speaker 3: low win total. I think they're gonna start Flaco. I
Speaker 3: think he's the best option right now. But if the
Speaker 3: brown season goes downhill, is a team that probably wants
Speaker 3: to get a high draft pick. Again, I don't know,
Speaker 3: but then they traded for two quarterbacks and draft the
Speaker 3: two quarterbacks. But then you might just throw the kids
Speaker 3: in there and see what you got, and then it
Speaker 3: could be really bad, go from bad to worse. So yeah,
Speaker 3: keeping an eye on all of them. But the most
Speaker 3: interesting to me is is probably the cults. I just
Speaker 3: as far as campus concerned, I want to see, like
Speaker 3: where Richardson's at, how healthy he is, and what happens
Speaker 3: with that situation. But like it's definitely something to keep
Speaker 3: an eye with. The wind totals like that, something that
Speaker 3: I'm afraid of with the Browns, Like I showed a
Speaker 3: little value and they're over But like I'm like, who
Speaker 3: knows what ends up happening with these quarterbacks and then
Speaker 3: their decision if they're sitting at three and ten or
Speaker 3: four and ten, what they do in the last couple
Speaker 3: of games. It's it's definitely something to keep in mind.
Speaker 1: Well, look, we're talking about quarterbacks, and we're talking about
Speaker 1: what they're going to look like in training camp. Obviously,
Speaker 1: there has been a huge discussion about Ben Johnson joining
Speaker 1: the Bears. Stuck you just talked about, you know, July
Speaker 1: is the best shape of your life. He's going to
Speaker 1: be a team leader season. How do you separate this?
Speaker 1: We see Caleb, we see Ben Johnson. What can we
Speaker 1: possibly learn during training camp as an avid fan and
Speaker 1: a season better and a veteran camp watcher who in
Speaker 1: takes this information for real value? What will you see?
Speaker 1: What would you like to see that won't just be hyperbole?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean a lot of it is, first of all,
Speaker 3: like interceptions and something like camps and can be a
Speaker 3: good thing like this is when you're like starting to
Speaker 3: figure out things that people overreact to that. But with Caleb,
Speaker 3: it's going to come down to does he understand and
Speaker 3: he's he willing to understand the structure and the logic
Speaker 3: of the offense and make those easy throw the quick
Speaker 3: reads going through his progressions instead of you know, he's
Speaker 3: got to take fewer negative plays.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 3: The offensive line is going to help with that. I mean,
Speaker 3: I think they're probably the most improved offensive line in
Speaker 3: the NFL. One of the reasons I'm pretty high on
Speaker 3: the Bears for like maybe the first time since like
Speaker 3: the two thousands. His deep ball is something that I
Speaker 3: want to watch, Like just the deep ball numbers, accuracy,
Speaker 3: and that comes down to the footwork which needs to
Speaker 3: be worked on the trust of the offensive line, and
Speaker 3: but it's really there's eliminating those negative plays. Like you
Speaker 3: still want him to have some of that improvisation, which
Speaker 3: is what you know made him great in college, and
Speaker 3: you don't want to take that all away, but just
Speaker 3: like fully understanding the offense, improving some of that footwork,
Speaker 3: and then just really buying in and a lot of
Speaker 3: that is just what you kind of have to infer
Speaker 3: from some of the things you watch and read, and
Speaker 3: you can't You're not going to figure it all out
Speaker 3: in camp and some of it's just going to be
Speaker 3: like and there's gonna be a learning curve it So
Speaker 3: we have to expect with Caleb and this new offense,
Speaker 3: you're not going to learn at all this during camp.
Speaker 3: But that's definitely what I'm keeping my eye on. Deep balls,
Speaker 3: the footwork, the timing, and then just some of the
Speaker 3: things I'm hearing. I think there's a lot of potential
Speaker 3: there and a lot of it's going to fall on
Speaker 3: Caleb because they've they've put everything around them. But give them,
Speaker 3: Ben Johnson, they went out, they got the offensive line.
Speaker 3: Now you have the weapons on the outside. Now there's
Speaker 3: really no more excuses. It's time to put up a
Speaker 3: shut up for Caleb.
Speaker 1: Simon. What do you need to see or hear? I
Speaker 1: know you don't like the Bears to make the playoffs,
Speaker 1: but what do you need to see or hear to
Speaker 1: give you indication there will be success in Chicago with
Speaker 1: this duo.
Speaker 2: Honestly, you really just wanted to see that he's picking
Speaker 2: up the Offensecaleb like that. That's all that matters. Because
Speaker 2: I told you this this year feels like it's a
Speaker 2: year for or both of them to grow, right, It's
Speaker 2: his first year coaching and Ben Johnson. It's Caleb's first
Speaker 2: year and real offense with a real head coach that's
Speaker 2: gonna have him watch film and go over film with him.
Speaker 2: Like it's going to be exactly what he wants and
Speaker 2: he needs, right he wants to be pushed to the
Speaker 2: highest level. So yeah, for me, there's gonna it's gonna
Speaker 2: be tough because it's gonna be so much it's just
Speaker 2: gonna be roses. Like your whole Chicago right now is
Speaker 2: just so happy and in love with what they have.
Speaker 2: It's gonna be tough to have a real beat writer
Speaker 2: give real opinions on what's happening. But if Caleb's just
Speaker 2: doing awful back to back days and camp and it's
Speaker 2: still happening towards the beginning of the season, that's a
Speaker 2: big deal. You want to see you know, early early
Speaker 2: day struggles, no problem, right, I always say up until
Speaker 2: August about twenty fifth, I don't really mind if quarterbacks
Speaker 2: like Stuck you're talking about, they're throwing picks, if they're
Speaker 2: if they're pushing the envelope because they're not tuning up
Speaker 2: for the season. Once after that, once they're starting to
Speaker 2: get ready for week one and the upcoming season. To me,
Speaker 2: that's when it's becoming a problem because that really is
Speaker 2: the off and so they're going to run for those
Speaker 2: upcoming games. So that's that's a team where the Bears.
Speaker 2: I won't be too checking in on them too much
Speaker 2: early on, but before the season I'm going to be
Speaker 2: reading a lot of what their be writers are saying
Speaker 2: about how he's looking in the offense and if he's
Speaker 2: grown throughout you know, August in this offense. So yeah,
Speaker 2: it's a it's a big deal chat this upcoming season
Speaker 2: are Kailer Williams.
Speaker 3: Sometimes no interceptions can be worse than like than a
Speaker 3: lot in like camp and in early days like you're
Speaker 3: not you're not taking risks, you're not kind of pushing
Speaker 3: the envelope and figuring things out and trying to make
Speaker 3: throws and seeing like but the deep ball is really
Speaker 3: what I'm interested in, and then just how how he
Speaker 3: looks like it that if he's grasping it or not.
Speaker 1: Sam is not going to be checking on the Bears
Speaker 1: because he's got a Bears, he's got an anti Bears bias. Now,
Speaker 1: I like money, Well, the best way to make money
Speaker 1: is not to lose money.
Speaker 3: I'm past this year, Jem, what's that I'm pro Bears
Speaker 3: this year.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that one of us will be right. Well,
Speaker 1: two of us are going to be right.
Speaker 2: Stuck, though, what's what are you hoping for? Chad? Just
Speaker 2: the playoffs? Loss?
Speaker 1: Playoffs? Playoffs? I just want the Bears to make the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I want them to build.
Speaker 2: I can see now Bears going down to Tampa. There
Speaker 2: you go.
Speaker 1: Honest to God, that's that's exactly what it could be.
Speaker 1: I just want progress and success. I know Brandon Anderson
Speaker 1: said it best. Growth is not linear, but I would
Speaker 1: like some growth, any kind of growth. Uh, speaking of
Speaker 1: growth is not linear. I have been on the record
Speaker 1: and saying that I think the most impactful off season
Speaker 1: addition to any team could be Robert Salah rejoining the
Speaker 1: San Francisco forty nine ers when they're coming off a
Speaker 1: dreadful year with a lot of injuries. But I think
Speaker 1: his bi to remake that defense could make them the
Speaker 1: number one seed in the NFC. Stuck. How much of
Speaker 1: a difference will Robert Salah really make?
Speaker 3: I don't know about Will, but he can like they've
Speaker 3: been since he left. I mean, you even saw when
Speaker 3: he left. The Jets like their defense off He's a
Speaker 3: really good defensive coordinator, and the forty nine ers have
Speaker 3: kind of been searching for the guy and that identity
Speaker 3: since he left. So skimm and they're gonna need some
Speaker 3: schematic help because they lost a lot of talent. They're
Speaker 3: gonna need some young guys to step up. So it's
Speaker 3: not Sale's not gonna be able to just come in
Speaker 3: and save the day. They're gonna need some They're gonna
Speaker 3: need to stay healthy too. It's probably that's what doomed
Speaker 3: them last year across the board on offense and defense.
Speaker 3: But I do think it was a huge higher. They've
Speaker 3: been searching basically for his replacement, haven't been able to
Speaker 3: find it, and I think he's one of the best
Speaker 3: defensive coordinators. Maybe he's just not cut out for being
Speaker 3: a head coach. It'll work out again in the future.
Speaker 3: You know, you learn from things. But I think it
Speaker 3: was a great hire. They're gonna need some there. There's
Speaker 3: some talent lacking in certain areas if they don't get
Speaker 3: some young guys to hit. But I think it was
Speaker 3: as good of a hire as they could have made.
Speaker 1: Simon, You're not as high in the Niners as I am, how.
Speaker 2: Come because there's just so many unknowns about the Niners.
Speaker 2: I the reason I'm on them in general, the fact
Speaker 2: I'm betting them to make the playoffs is because there
Speaker 2: is the talent there and they have the coaching there
Speaker 2: In the schedule, like they have the schedule to make
Speaker 2: the playoffs, Like to me, it lines up really nice
Speaker 2: for them. Those upcoming season is four and aras team.
Speaker 2: And that's my biggest question in training camp is these
Speaker 2: last two years, the way they've drafted, they have to hit,
Speaker 2: like they just they've been paying such top heavy guys.
Speaker 2: Now at this point they have to be hitting in
Speaker 2: this draft and bringing him in it to me is
Speaker 2: such a key, key deal. Like Sala, the different team
Speaker 2: makes and improving guys defensively is massive and we've seen
Speaker 2: it time him again, like like we talked about that
Speaker 2: drop off after he left the Jets was noticeable right away.
Speaker 2: So to me, that's like we already nailed it. But
Speaker 2: that could be the biggest ad of any defensive team,
Speaker 2: is that him as a DC to that forty nine
Speaker 2: ers team Like that, to me, all the moves that's
Speaker 2: happened and any teams on like you know, teams at
Speaker 2: any different players, their defense, everything like that. Adding the
Speaker 2: right coach like him to a defense with young talent,
Speaker 2: if he can build on that and coach them up,
Speaker 2: it's gonna be huge for them because we talked about
Speaker 2: like they're they're another team. They're all in right, Like
Speaker 2: like McCaffrey, everything we've read, he's healthy, so to us,
Speaker 2: we don't really have questions about their offense so much.
Speaker 2: The questions for the forty nine ers right now is
Speaker 2: just that defense. So yeah, big deal getting him back
Speaker 2: there on the forty nine ers and excited to see
Speaker 2: how they look at an upcoming camp right that's it's
Speaker 2: gonna be pretty tony to see what they run in
Speaker 2: camp because they probably won't run much in the games.
Speaker 2: But seeing what he's gonna run, what style he's gonna
Speaker 2: run for that defense, I'm excited to see because obviously
Speaker 2: Fred Warner, he's the cog on the machine that makes
Speaker 2: it all go.
Speaker 1: The Cincinnati Bengals Joe Burrow. Everyone thinks he's amazing. Top
Speaker 1: four quarterback with Lamar, Josh Allen, and Patrick Mahomes, at
Speaker 1: least according to most. Maybe not Simon Hunter, but they
Speaker 1: cannot get out of their own way when it comes
Speaker 1: to contract negotiations. The Trey Hunterson thing has been downright
Speaker 1: challenging what they're doing with Shamar Stewart, the first round
Speaker 1: pick has been Bengal peak Bengals and does.
Speaker 3: Rumors he might go back to A and M and
Speaker 3: he might challenge like the NCAA on legality. It came
Speaker 3: out this.
Speaker 1: Morning, Bengals incompetence so stuck. How does that like, what
Speaker 1: does that foretell for you as a Lexington resident, Cincinnati
Speaker 1: might be the closest NFL team to where you are
Speaker 1: as a as a Midwestern Kentuckian football officionado, Can this
Speaker 1: team get out of its own fucking way?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: It is, since he's like an hour and a half
Speaker 3: from Lexington Airport. I use sometimes. I mean the Bengals,
Speaker 3: they they're gonna have gotta hope Al Golden comes in
Speaker 3: and has a magic wand and schematically because yeah, they
Speaker 3: I don't think they fix the defense. Defense Canna bad again.
Speaker 3: They're gonna be a ton of shootouts. The state of
Speaker 3: their defense just significantly lowers their ceiling. I mean, it's
Speaker 3: what Barrow has done. He's not working with much I
Speaker 3: mean his offensive line has been bad every year. It's
Speaker 3: under pressure as much as any quarterback. That their run
Speaker 3: game is always bad and their defense now is bad,
Speaker 3: Like he has no help just as receivers. The other
Speaker 3: thing is they paid both receivers. He paid Burrow and
Speaker 3: they're just a bad They can't draft. They're so so
Speaker 3: bad at drafting. Just a poorly run organization that happened
Speaker 3: to hit on some obvious picks with the receivers and Barrow,
Speaker 3: but they don't have much else. And now if you
Speaker 3: don't have Hendrickson, I mean without Hendrickson last year they
Speaker 3: were third dead last, and pressure rate dead last, and
Speaker 3: completion percentage allowed dead last, and success rate dead last,
Speaker 3: and passed dead last across the board. And I mean
Speaker 3: he had what a third of the team's pressures. He
Speaker 3: had seventeen and a half sacks back to back years.
Speaker 3: You know, the only two players I've ever done that
Speaker 3: are Reggie White and JJ Watt. Now he's not gonna
Speaker 3: be there. Then you try to draft Stewart, who I
Speaker 3: would even wasn't a fan of, he might not be there.
Speaker 3: There's just questions across the board.
Speaker 1: Well, look, that's the thing.
Speaker 5: By the way they draft Stewart, who's a athlete looking
Speaker 5: personified and had zero stats.
Speaker 1: I spoke to a college a guy who used to
Speaker 1: run a scattering department in the NFL, and I said
Speaker 1: to him before the draft, what do you think of this?
Speaker 1: He goes, college coaches are trying to win. They don't
Speaker 1: build schemes to go against the best player on the field.
Speaker 1: If the guy isn't producing and he's their best athlete,
Speaker 1: there is something else going on there, and yet the
Speaker 1: Bengals continue to get in their way. That was the
Speaker 1: most Bengals pick, Stuck, You're nailing it. Are we all
Speaker 1: being fooled by the fact they drafted Joe Burrow and
Speaker 1: he masks over so many problems? Simon, I know you've
Speaker 1: got a strong opinion on this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm appreciating with Stucky Sander. I feels like I'm
Speaker 2: nailing my early picture that I just think they're an
Speaker 2: easily fatable team because of what we talked about. Just
Speaker 2: horrible offensive line and defense to me, is only going
Speaker 2: to get worse, and they've just not addressed in any
Speaker 2: way in the draft to improve that defense. And you know,
Speaker 2: to me, Stucky, this is your division of your fandom, Like,
Speaker 2: wouldn't you rather take Pittsburgh at a plus number to
Speaker 2: make the playoffs and take the Bengals at a plus
Speaker 2: number to miss the playoffs if you're a bet and man,
Speaker 2: rather than taking them both at minus numbers the Pittsburgh
Speaker 2: and missed the playoffs and Bengals to make I just
Speaker 2: I think it's really people flip flopped it because of
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow. Like we talked about, he's just he's likable.
Speaker 2: The general public views him as a top five quarterback.
Speaker 2: He's a proven winner because of what we saw him
Speaker 2: do in college, making the super Bowl year two. But
Speaker 2: I've said to Chad, he's not done a single thing
Speaker 2: since that Super Bowl run, right, And you could say, well,
Speaker 2: he's at injuries. That's true. And guess what. They just
Speaker 2: wasted a healthy year of Joe Burrow last year. And
Speaker 2: that's another thing that just jumps out to me. It's
Speaker 2: like they just they hit on they hit on it,
Speaker 2: and they got lucky because he lasted behind that offensive line.
Speaker 2: Now they have another year with their defense might have
Speaker 2: gotten worse and they didn't improve that offensive line. So yeah,
Speaker 2: it's I'm just so down this team. It's not a
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow. Think it's just the team as a whole.
Speaker 2: I think they're in too tough a division to be
Speaker 2: this bad throughout, you know, defensively an offensive line.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but you pay Burrow like that's you. That's when
Speaker 3: you can go for it as a team like the Bengals,
Speaker 3: he had him on his rookie contract to pay them.
Speaker 3: They're not able to address. They're not able to draft, right,
Speaker 3: So like these really elite teams that end up having
Speaker 3: to pay the quarterback, which is something I always I
Speaker 3: like to watch in camp, is in order for these
Speaker 3: teams to stay elite, Like do you have an elite quarterback,
Speaker 3: you're gonna be good like the real elite teams. But
Speaker 3: the Chiefs, the Ravens, the Eagles, Right, they're able to
Speaker 3: draft really well, and that's how they're able to plug
Speaker 3: some of the holes. Like look at the Eagles, they're
Speaker 3: all the questions two years ago were about that their
Speaker 3: secondary and their secondary fell off a cliff, right, they
Speaker 3: went in the draft, announce it and hit like the
Speaker 3: Ravens their secondary campaign as many guys. If we'll see
Speaker 3: if they do with Starks, but they've hit on some
Speaker 3: guys that have just kept their team elevated. The Bengals
Speaker 3: aren't able to do that. There's such a bad drafting
Speaker 3: team and they're so poorly run. And you look at
Speaker 3: their roster, top five quarterback, top five receivers, what about
Speaker 3: the rest of the roster, what other groups where you
Speaker 3: like they might all be bottom ten, the rest all
Speaker 3: the all their other position groups are bottom ten. And
Speaker 3: the failures of drafted offensive lineman over the years, I
Speaker 3: mean that's going on decade plus. Uh, there's just so
Speaker 3: many holes throughout this roster. Yeah, I mean, if they're
Speaker 3: gonna need the rookie guards to hit, Stuart to want
Speaker 3: to play, sign Hendrickson al Golden does some magic, and
Speaker 3: then they're just gonna need some close game variants. Like
Speaker 3: that's the story for the Bengals this year to get
Speaker 3: to the playofs because they're gonna be a shootouts. They're
Speaker 3: gonna be in games with everybody. But it's hard to
Speaker 3: see that defense and offensive line being good enough to
Speaker 3: you know, make a deep run in the playoffs. And
Speaker 3: that's if like all these other things go right with
Speaker 3: the offensive line, with Stuart, Hendrickson and Golden having a
Speaker 3: positive impact. So yeah, it's probably another year of Bengaling.
Speaker 1: Last question, Matt Mitchell's favorite team, the Buffalo bill are
Speaker 1: against their will being featured on Hard Knocks. The Bears
Speaker 1: had that problem last year, The Giants had that problem.
Speaker 1: The Jets were cursed with a Hard Knocks season.
Speaker 3: Wait, is that true? They can just force you to
Speaker 3: do it?
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, if you've never done it, they can force
Speaker 1: you to do it.
Speaker 3: Wow. I didn't know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, totally, And so the Bills are being forced to
Speaker 1: do it. Should we look at this as a curse
Speaker 1: for the Buffalo Bills?
Speaker 3: Stucky, I'm just looking forward to creating. I always love
Speaker 3: watching Hard Knocks. When's that start? When's the episode one?
Speaker 3: It's usually like I feel like it's like the first
Speaker 3: week of August, like August six, you'll.
Speaker 1: Be the first week of August. They got to get
Speaker 1: some weeks in there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's and it's always like, Okay, NFL is right
Speaker 3: around the corner. The first time, is Shriver still doing
Speaker 3: I believe he does.
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 3: When I hear his voice the first time, I'm like,
Speaker 3: all right. By the way, I watched a decent like
Speaker 3: this is a good Hotel Plane movie with Led Schreiber.
Speaker 3: It was called a human Capital, it's pretty good, not great,
Speaker 3: but it was entertaining.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm getting on a plane in twenty four hours,
Speaker 1: so I'll totally check it out.
Speaker 3: Human Capital. Yeah, But quest about the Bills. I'm just
Speaker 3: looking for watching and then getting screenshots and means of
Speaker 3: Sean McDermott terrorist means for things that he might say,
Speaker 3: so I can take out a context. That's really what
Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to. But the Bills. By the way,
Speaker 3: the Bills talk about turnover regression or plus twenty four
Speaker 3: last year, does that swing back the other way? It
Speaker 3: was best of any team in twelve years. What I'm
Speaker 3: watching for the Bills, though everybody eats, is their slogan
Speaker 3: on them. But I'm still curious about the wide receivers.
Speaker 3: The main thing is their secondary how that comes together
Speaker 3: with the rookie, how the safeties come together to Bishop,
Speaker 3: and just how that all works. I think that's probably
Speaker 3: the two questions you have with the Bills this year
Speaker 3: going into this year is and then what happens with
Speaker 3: Cook But they're their defensive backs and then wide receivers
Speaker 3: is what I'm interested to watch, but mainly try to
Speaker 3: get some McDermott memes.
Speaker 1: Simon, are you concerned for Matt Mitchell and the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 2: I mean, what curse? They've ember won a Super Bowl,
Speaker 2: so what is there to curse? I mean in their mindset.
Speaker 2: I'm just saying, as a Bills fan, it can't get
Speaker 2: any worse. They've been through hell and back, so it's like,
Speaker 2: you know, I don't think a curse that people bestow
Speaker 2: from them is scary as them. They're above a curse
Speaker 2: at this point, like they they know the deal. Josh
Speaker 2: Allen knows the deal. Like we talked about it that
Speaker 2: he was happy to win the MVP last year, but
Speaker 2: you can tell he's like, I'm sick of going to
Speaker 2: sports psychologists and talking about Patrick Mahomes to conquer this mountain.
Speaker 2: And that's what this season lines up for perfectly. They
Speaker 2: have the easiest schedule. I think any professionally talk to
Speaker 2: thinks they have the easiest schedule in the AFC. You know,
Speaker 2: sure shocked the world, New England might do it, or
Speaker 2: justin Fields in the Jets. Something crazy could happen. But
Speaker 2: there's a reason they're over minus two hundred to win
Speaker 2: their division. Right now. It's it's the Bills year. It's
Speaker 2: lined up, So to me, I am excited to watch it. Right,
Speaker 2: we all love Josh Allen. Excited to see more camera
Speaker 2: time in because he's kind of like this goofy, weird
Speaker 2: kind of dude, Like he says some funny shit when
Speaker 2: he does talk and open up like he to me,
Speaker 2: has always been a very funny guy, even if you know,
Speaker 2: if you're an old part of my take fan, they
Speaker 2: had him on before the draft and immediately you're just like, fuck,
Speaker 2: this dude's really likeable. I hope my team drafts from LID.
Speaker 2: Did we know he was going to be some day
Speaker 2: of the MVP and the best player ever? So yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm excited for Hard Knocks. I'm happy they picked the
Speaker 2: franchise like the Bills. No no disrespect to you know,
Speaker 2: Chicago or the Giants, but those are organizations that aren't
Speaker 2: the best to run organizations. Right. They've both kind of
Speaker 2: had faltered here these last five ten years. But the
Speaker 2: Bills they're on the up and up, so it'd be
Speaker 2: cool to get a peek behind the curtain to see
Speaker 2: what kind of team they are in this upcoming season.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I will say that the I just mentioned the
Speaker 3: drafting the Bills like their defense really fell off and
Speaker 3: has really cost them in playoffs. So what do they
Speaker 3: do you know for their five free agent signings on
Speaker 3: the defense and first five picks in the draft on
Speaker 3: the defensive side of the ball, Like they have you
Speaker 3: have Josh Allen and you have a good offensive line. Yeah,
Speaker 3: you have the offense figured out, it's all about that defense.
Speaker 3: Are these draft picks, these free agent signs can to
Speaker 3: hit that something that I'm looking to watch And you
Speaker 3: mentioned the Bills. Yeah, there's a reason they're having favorites
Speaker 3: during the division. The schedule sets up so nice for them.
Speaker 3: They are all they're hard. Games are at home. There's
Speaker 3: no back to back road games and the Bills at home.
Speaker 3: Last three years, they've lost one game at home in regulation.
Speaker 3: I wonder if our producer Bills fans can remember the
Speaker 3: game they lost to the Broncos twenty four to twenty two.
Speaker 3: And like Russell Wilson, you remember this camping was like
Speaker 3: two years ago, Mitchell, Well.
Speaker 1: Look now we got a lot more to look forward
Speaker 1: to for training camp. By hoping to God we can
Speaker 1: cross our fingers against the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 3: Get a raven shout out. I'm watching one thing I'm
Speaker 3: watching for the first time forever. A new kicker I
Speaker 3: gotta see. We got to see this. A rookie kicks, right,
Speaker 3: and a new kicker in Baltimore. It's gonna be very
Speaker 3: weird to like, I feel like every other team now,
Speaker 3: although Tucker had fallen off the last year or two,
Speaker 3: but for so long, I'm like, oh, Tucker's coming out automatically.
Speaker 3: You know you're gonna make anything under fifty. Now I'm
Speaker 3: going to a rookie kicker, Like I have the anxiety
Speaker 3: of every other team, every other fan base that's had
Speaker 3: for years that I've taken for granted. So I'm looking
Speaker 3: forward to watching me some loop.
Speaker 1: Welcome to it. Stuck, It's the age of anxiety. Listen
Speaker 1: to Stuck Big Bets on Campus the Action Networks the Thursday,
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