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Speaker 1: Dirty Birds.

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Speaker 2: What's up?

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Speaker 1: And welcome back to the Atlanta Falcons podcast Network. I'm

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Speaker 1: your host, Will McFadden. I am joined today by ESPN's

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Speaker 1: national NFL analyst Ben Solak. Ben, thank you so much

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Speaker 1: for taking the time to join me.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, man, thank you.

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Speaker 1: So you are kind of doing I guess the rounds

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Speaker 1: this offseason, collecting a lot of information and you happen

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Speaker 1: to be here in Atlanta on the day that a

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Speaker 1: story publishes on ESPN talking about potential Kirk Cousin trades

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Speaker 1: and you had an offer in there. I've got it

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Speaker 1: right here in front of me. The Falcons would get

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Speaker 1: a twenty twenty six sixth round draft pick, which would

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Speaker 1: potentially become a fifth rounder with considerations, and they would

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Speaker 1: the Steelers would be involved in this trade. So Aaron

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Speaker 1: Rodgers not going to Pittsburgh in your scenario, Yeah, they

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Speaker 1: would get Cousins and cash considerations. So kind of what

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Speaker 1: is your take on the Falcon situation and do you

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Speaker 1: still believe that kind of the best interest is for

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Speaker 1: a deal to get worked out.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you're an expected deal to get worked out.

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Speaker 3: It very much seems like wants to be somewhere else

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Speaker 3: wants to have a starting opportunity and kind of finish

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Speaker 3: his career in that way. If you're the Falcons, you

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Speaker 3: have this rookie quarterback in PANICX, you think he's going

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Speaker 3: to be your future, so you want to have that

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Speaker 3: cap flexibility. Biggest building advantage you can have for a

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Speaker 3: team over the last ten fifteen years is having the

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Speaker 3: rookie contract quarterback. He's so cheap and you're able to

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Speaker 3: pour money elsewhere in order to get there. You have

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Speaker 3: to get the Kirk contract off of your books, right,

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Speaker 3: It's got to be what comes next, and so I

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Speaker 3: would so expect there to be a move. But whenever

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Speaker 3: we have quarterbacks that are stuck on rosters in June July,

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Speaker 3: you're kind of always expecting another domino to fall and

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Speaker 3: then to dictate where that quarterback goes. I remember when

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Speaker 3: the Eagles had Sam Bradford and he was just kind

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Speaker 3: of sitting on the team. This is like the Chip

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Speaker 3: Kelly era, like we don't know what we're gonna do

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Speaker 3: with this guy. And then the Viking's Teddy Bridgewater gets

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Speaker 3: injured in camp, We're trading Sam Bradford. You kind of

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Speaker 3: have to wait for something else to give somewhere to

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Speaker 3: open up that opportunity. So will it be Aaron Rodgers

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Speaker 3: not signing with the Steelers in Pittsburgh? Will it be

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Speaker 3: Brown's camp? And the whole quarterback carousel is a total mess,

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Speaker 3: and they clearly need somebody. Right, you have to wait

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Speaker 3: for something to occur, So it's probably gonna be a

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Speaker 3: waiting game. You don't need to hold your breath. It'll

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Speaker 3: happen when it happened. But I think they're going to

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Speaker 3: get Kirk done. It's just going to depend on what

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Speaker 3: happens with some other franchises to figure out who exactly

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Speaker 3: the partner is and what does the actor that trade

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Speaker 3: looks like.

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Speaker 1: You know, you're so right, And it's funny. We talked

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Speaker 1: about that exact same thing kind of playing out with

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Speaker 1: Albert Breer at the combine.

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Speaker 2: It just okay.

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Speaker 1: So let's say it doesn't happen before the draft, then

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Speaker 1: you planned a training camp and maybe you're waiting for

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Speaker 1: the leverage to kind of swing back in a different directions.

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Speaker 1: Somebody gets hurt, somebody under performing, what have you. But

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Speaker 1: if and his point was that that does come with

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Speaker 1: some risk, because let's say that other domino doesn't fall

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Speaker 1: and you do go into the season, and as the

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Speaker 1: Falcons have said, Kirk Cousins is your backup. So let's

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Speaker 1: assume that that does happen at this point and kind

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Speaker 1: of everything rolls out as it is currently. Do you

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Speaker 1: see any potential positives to that scenario for Atlanta?

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Speaker 3: A lot of it depends on how Kirk would decide

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Speaker 3: to behave as the backup, right I think that your

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Speaker 3: expectation for Kirk to get into the building and be

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Speaker 3: a constructive member of the quarterback room right now is

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Speaker 3: pretty low, just because the way that he's communicated with

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Speaker 3: the team to this point. Something changed by September October

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Speaker 3: because he realizes there's not going to be another team.

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Speaker 3: You know, they hear through the league. Oh you know,

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Speaker 3: other acquiring teams are worried about the fact that you

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Speaker 3: haven't played, you haven't put on pads, you haven't practiced,

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Speaker 3: Like how rust are you going to be?

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Speaker 2: So again other.

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Speaker 3: Dominoes that might fall there can, of course, always be

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Speaker 3: a positive to having the young quarterback and then having

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Speaker 3: the mentor QB two. That's a nice construction given the

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Speaker 3: unique circumstances of how Penick joined the Falcons and how

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Speaker 3: Kirk lost the starting job. I really don't expect that

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Speaker 3: relationship to ever blossom here.

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Speaker 2: But you don't know these.

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Speaker 3: Things, right, I've not asked spoken to Kirk Cousins about

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Speaker 3: his feelings about the situation recently, Right, I'm just tea

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Speaker 3: leaves and secondhanding here. And so it can become positive.

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Speaker 3: I don't think you're holding your breath for that, but

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Speaker 3: it can.

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Speaker 1: I think, you know, And there is a world where

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Speaker 1: Michael Pennick Junior has played three games, right, and he

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Speaker 1: gets out there like again, that growing that happens during

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Speaker 1: the course of your first full kind of seventeen game season,

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Speaker 1: I think is important. So having again another figure in

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Speaker 1: the room, and the Falcons have surrounded him with a

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Speaker 1: lot of former quarterback TJ. Yates, you know, DJ Williams,

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Speaker 1: Zach Robinson, Like he's got a great support system, but

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Speaker 1: being able to communicate it directly from a player perspective

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Speaker 1: is unique. Right, And then we look on the flip side,

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Speaker 1: Atlanta just drafted four defenders. If you have Kirk Cousins

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Speaker 1: out there and he's in practice going up against you know,

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Speaker 1: some of the younger guys, maybe that pays dividends too.

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Speaker 3: Now, I do think that's a big part of it,

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Speaker 3: where your QB two and your scouting QB. If you

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Speaker 3: have that voice in the room. Yeah, he can help

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Speaker 3: some of those younger defensive players. It's a very very

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Speaker 3: good point, right, Like Jesse Bates and Kirk Cousins used

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Speaker 3: to talk all the time in Kirk's first year here,

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Speaker 3: right in terms of a film review and what are

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Speaker 3: you seeing?

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Speaker 2: What are you doing?

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Speaker 3: Kirk's got a lot of football knowledge. You'd love to

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Speaker 3: get that into the building if you can. I think

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Speaker 3: there's probably some bridges to be mended to get there,

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Speaker 3: but you hope to get there for sure.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think about maybe that would like Xavier Watts, right,

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Speaker 1: kind of same thing, maybe a younger player. But let's

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Speaker 1: actually talk about Atlanta's starting quarterback moving forward. What was

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Speaker 1: your opinion of Michael Pennick Junior coming out of Washington

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Speaker 1: and then did you see anything in his three starts

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Speaker 1: that changed your opinion either.

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Speaker 2: For or worse.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So out of Washington Panics was a very confident

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Speaker 3: throw of the football, willing to scent in the pocket,

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Speaker 3: grip in a repid who'll be aggressive thrown downfield, He'll

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Speaker 3: tack one on ones, He'll make reads, get to the backside,

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Speaker 3: He'll take a hit and still deliver an accurate football

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Speaker 3: like this is an NFL passer.

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Speaker 2: The NFL arm is there. There's no question.

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Speaker 3: The movement skills I think drained over the time from

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Speaker 3: Indiana to Washington because of some of the injuries. You

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Speaker 3: saw him mostly want to stay in the pocket at Washington.

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Speaker 3: So that's what you're expecting.

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Speaker 2: Coming into the league.

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Speaker 3: The first big box to check is will this confident

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Speaker 3: and aggressive passer wilt in the face of the NFL

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Speaker 3: defenses NFL speed or is he's still gonna be able

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Speaker 3: to play that way? And with panis it's like a

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Speaker 3: clear yes, right. I mean he's just ripping throws in

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Speaker 3: the red zone right the touchdown the pits against Washington

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Speaker 3: like that. These are these are high impact, high leverge.

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Speaker 3: So as he's giving Drake London and Kyle Pitts chance

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Speaker 3: to make big plays on the ball, those big bodied receivers,

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Speaker 3: that's that's maturity, that's NFL decision making. That's that's a

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Speaker 3: big deal. The concern out of Washington was some of

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Speaker 3: the accuracy, some of the spray, some of the big misses.

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Speaker 3: He's playing with three NFL wide receivers there right roma dunes,

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Speaker 3: say Jalen pol Chilen mcmill and that can that can

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Speaker 3: help a guy look a lot more accurate than he

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Speaker 3: might be because you have that sort of talent at

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Speaker 3: the college level. And I certainly think that you watch

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Speaker 3: that twenty four season, there's some great throws, there's some

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Speaker 3: big sprays, there's some big, big, big misses, and so

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Speaker 3: what you're hoping is he's.

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Speaker 2: Got some unique mechanics.

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Speaker 3: Zach Robinson's gonna take a look at that TG, He's

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Speaker 3: gonn take a look that maybe we make some slight adjustments.

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Speaker 3: You don't want to mess with the guy too much,

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Speaker 3: so maybe we make some mechanical changes. Maybe he gets

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Speaker 3: a little bit more calm in the pocket in year two.

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Speaker 3: But you're hoping to minimize some of the big misses

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Speaker 3: simply because he's paying you off a lot of positive plays.

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Speaker 3: But then he's also he's leaving easy urs on the table.

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Speaker 3: He's leaving easy completions on the table because he's taking

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Speaker 3: those big downfield throws and he's got some of those

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Speaker 3: those difficult misses. So that's the developmental arc. We usually

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Speaker 3: say in quarterback development. That accuracy isn't something that improves

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Speaker 3: at this kind of preternatural. But we have a lot

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Speaker 3: of examples of the last five six years of either

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Speaker 3: players getting a lot better at it. You see Josh

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Speaker 3: Allen or coaching sas getting so good at figuring out

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Speaker 3: what a guy needs to see that they can color

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Speaker 3: it in the margins. Think about Sam Donald with the Vikings,

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Speaker 3: we're just you know, Sam's is who he is. Sam's

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Speaker 3: got has ward, Sam's got his issues, But the Vikings

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Speaker 3: found a way to build the whole ship out of

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Speaker 3: what Sam Donald can do well. And so there's there's

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Speaker 3: there's reasons for rosy projections on Penix because he has

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Speaker 3: the arm and he has the willingness. You can build

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Speaker 3: a good offense. You have a great, great catch rates

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Speaker 3: player in Drake London. You have the tools necessary to

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Speaker 3: build around him even as he's as he slowly figures

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Speaker 3: out some.

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Speaker 2: Of the accuracy issues.

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Speaker 1: I actually want to go back, so accuracy, what was

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Speaker 1: the belief that that's kind of preternatural natural and not

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Speaker 1: because I would assume that that is something that is

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Speaker 1: more technical that you could kind of work on a

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Speaker 1: refine and teach.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so accuracy is it sounds like it's one trait,

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Speaker 3: but it's really the conglomerate of a lot of things.

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Speaker 3: It's it's your your footwork and the throwing motion, your mechanics,

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Speaker 3: but it's also your your timing and how well you

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Speaker 3: are you reading the coverages. When we talk about acuracy,

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Speaker 3: we're not always talking about catchable football. We're talking about

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Speaker 3: how you place the ball relative to coverage, right, And

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Speaker 3: uncaught football can be very accurate because you threw it

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Speaker 3: away from the defender and just missed, just as a

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Speaker 3: caught football can be very inaccurate because you threw the

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Speaker 3: receiver back into the defender and he paid you off

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Speaker 3: with a great play. Again, talking about it, Drake London here, right,

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Speaker 3: It makes those opportunities for you.

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Speaker 2: Uh.

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Speaker 3: And so when you think about quarterback development, there's always

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Speaker 3: been a lot of ways to color in the lines. Right, Okay,

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Speaker 3: we want to take we want him to throw vertical balls,

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Speaker 3: not crossing routes. We wanted to throw crossing routes, not

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Speaker 3: vertical balls, right, exactly. Yeah, So there's ways to get

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Speaker 3: a guy's completion percentage up.

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Speaker 2: But if there's if like Jimmy Garoppolo.

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Speaker 3: The Niners was never good at leaning a nine route

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Speaker 3: down the field, so they just never throw it.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 2: We're just not going to ask him to do it.

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Speaker 3: You could say, you have the one on one coverage,

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Speaker 3: you're making the correct read, it's brand Aayuki's very fast.

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Speaker 3: Just go ahead and throw it, and it just wouldn't

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Speaker 3: be accurate. It's just not a throw that he had

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Speaker 3: in his quiver. Right. There's a lot of different throws

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Speaker 3: on a football field, and all three levels, going vertical,

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Speaker 3: going horizontal, zone man coverage. Sometimes quarterbacks just just don't

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Speaker 3: see it well. And so a big part of coaching

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Speaker 3: your young quarterback is figuring out what throws he has,

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Speaker 3: what throws he doesn't have, what he's seeing on his

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Speaker 3: good throws, but he's not sitting on his good throws,

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Speaker 3: and how to present him with the information he needs.

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Speaker 3: Bryce Young with the Panthers twenty three to twenty four

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Speaker 3: is a big example of this. Right, they just started

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Speaker 3: throwing all these isolated fifteen yard outbreakers. Because Bryce is short,

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Speaker 3: he can't see over the middle of the field. But

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Speaker 3: if you just point him to half of the field

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Speaker 3: he can see, he can grip. He can rip it

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Speaker 3: all of sudd and the accuracy improves, even though it's

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Speaker 3: just shot selection. It's just where on your course are

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Speaker 3: taking your shots, and so there's a lot of ways

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Speaker 3: to fudge accuracy. It's generally very difficult to go from

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Speaker 3: I miss a lot of throws, so I make a

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Speaker 3: lot of throws. You're one big exception being Josh Allen

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Speaker 3: Man improvement kind of revolutionized the bills.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, So if you were going to and maybe

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Speaker 1: this is the wrong way to think about it, because maybe,

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Speaker 1: as you just explained, like this isn't possible. But if

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Speaker 1: let's say we take a player like Pennix and who

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Speaker 1: is mostly outside of the hashes kind of go balls

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Speaker 1: deep down the field throws, and you're going to add

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Speaker 1: in your two two types of throws to his game

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Speaker 1: to make him take a little bit of that next

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Speaker 1: step forward.

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Speaker 2: What would those two throws be?

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Speaker 3: You really want to get the dig back right. There

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Speaker 3: was something that you threw a lot with Kirk, the

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Speaker 3: deep stop raut of the deep dig fifteen yard in

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Speaker 3: breaking route, and you see some willingness for penics to

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Speaker 3: throw it, and you see good throws on it.

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Speaker 2: There's certainly good throws between the hashes.

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Speaker 1: That's a throw you need though in the NFL today.

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Speaker 3: And Zach Robinson offense too, especially. And the thing about London,

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Speaker 3: who I've talked about London like nine times here. I

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Speaker 3: love Crack London. He's such a good player. And the

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Speaker 3: discourse around London was very frustrating to me before this

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Speaker 3: twenty four season versus now because London actually is a

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Speaker 3: very good rout runn He's very good in the inbreaking routes.

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Speaker 3: He's not snapping guys off like Justin Jefferson is, but

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Speaker 3: he's just he's so big and he's so physical, and

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Speaker 3: he goes and gets every single football. He'll dig it

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Speaker 3: out of the ground, will catch it behind him. You

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Speaker 3: want to give that sort of a receiver those sorts

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Speaker 3: of routes. We talk a lot with those throws about anticipation,

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Speaker 3: and right now Penis is a little bit more see it,

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Speaker 3: shoot it, and you want him to be able to

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Speaker 3: anticipate it and throw. You throw it to a spot

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Speaker 3: in the field. You throw, you know, between the two

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Speaker 3: linebackers in front of the safety. It can't always be

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Speaker 3: a laser beam. He likes to throw those howitzers. You

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Speaker 3: want him to throw a little bit more touch, make

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Speaker 3: it a little more catchable of a football. That's a

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Speaker 3: throw that can be improved. That's a throw a quarterback

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Speaker 3: can get better at over his time in the NFL.

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Speaker 3: Is he just to NFL speed and where exactly that

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Speaker 3: route is going to hit? So that's a route that

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Speaker 3: you'd like to get back. You brought up the vertical stuff.

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Speaker 3: You brought up the outbreaking stuff. If I can get

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Speaker 3: a dig, if I can get a deep comeback, I

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Speaker 3: can get a vertical. The last thing I want is

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Speaker 3: to be able to hit the big post. And I

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Speaker 3: do think that in Darnell Mooney and Rarey mclod you

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Speaker 3: have guys who are speed guys. But now that one

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Speaker 3: of those dudes are great on that big post route,

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Speaker 3: and that's kind of a little bit of a of

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Speaker 3: a question mark.

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Speaker 2: He also talked about the.

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Speaker 3: Scene and kind of maybe on to get Kyle Pitts

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Speaker 3: more involved there. But I'd like to be able to

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Speaker 3: get Pennix to take some more of those trebuche shots,

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Speaker 3: those big shots, thirty plus forty plus harts down the field,

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Speaker 3: not always outside the numbers. Those the hardest catches to make.

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Speaker 3: Those are the lowest percentage throws. Yeah, but the ones

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Speaker 3: in the middle of the field after I manipulate that

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Speaker 3: post safety, that's going to require good pass protection, and

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Speaker 3: then it's going to require the receiver who can make

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Speaker 3: those sorts of plays, and in theory, that should be Mooney.

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Speaker 3: And you've seen Mooney do that a couple of times

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Speaker 3: and a lot more of his success on the outbreaking stuff.

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Speaker 3: If you can get Mooney to be a little bit

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Speaker 3: more viable there, it's going to be a big part

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Speaker 3: in expanding your offense.

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Speaker 1: One other player who you know then remiss to not

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Speaker 1: even mention until now, but who could also be a

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Speaker 1: factor in this is Jean Robinson. And you know, we

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Speaker 1: think back to the Washington game. They have that miss

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Speaker 1: throw where he is running that wheel route kind of

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Speaker 1: down the left side, and then Carolina there's a wheel

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Speaker 1: route where he's running down the right boundary and it's

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Speaker 1: actually kind of a mistake on Bajon's part. He eats

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Speaker 1: up his own cushion and he doesn't leave Pennix any

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Speaker 1: any chance to really complete that pass, even though he

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Speaker 1: drops it right where it should be. But that could

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Speaker 1: be another factor. And where do you think Bajon kind

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Speaker 1: of falls in the hierarchy right now of the league's

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Speaker 1: best backs. Because here in Atlanta, obviously we're like man

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Speaker 1: Bajon just like can do no wrong. But when you

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Speaker 1: start talking about Saquon Barkley and you start talking about

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Speaker 1: Derrick Henry and Jimi or Gibbs because he's been on

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Speaker 1: a higher profile team over the last couple of years, Like,

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Speaker 1: where do you personally kind of fit Bijon with the

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Speaker 1: Christian McCaffrey's and that Dereck Henry's and those guys.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So I think if you ask right an average

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Speaker 3: NFL fan, you know, best running back in the league,

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Speaker 3: who would do list?

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Speaker 2: I don't think many.

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Speaker 3: It would say Jon Robins name, they would say Saquan,

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Speaker 3: they would say Jamiir Gibbs, they would say Dereck Henry.

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Speaker 3: Because of the seasons those players just had, Bijon deserves to

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Speaker 3: be mentioned exactly what those guys. I think Bajon is

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Speaker 3: as likely as any other player in the league to

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Speaker 3: have the most productive running back season this year period, right,

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Speaker 3: And like Saguon Derrek Henry, they're coming off very high

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Speaker 3: volume seasons, and Bajan was certainly very high volume. But

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Speaker 3: he didn't have like the playoff runs and the kind

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Speaker 3: of those additional weeks, and so he expect him to

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Speaker 3: recover a little bit better. He's younger, so you expect

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Speaker 3: them to recover a little bit better. Like I thought,

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Speaker 3: Bijon was a great dark horse pick for Offensive Player

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Speaker 3: of the Year last year. I'll say the exact same

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Speaker 3: thing again this year. It's worth noting that Bijon from

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Speaker 3: a success rate perspective, So just is the play positive yesterday?

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Speaker 2: Now we're not looking at.

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Speaker 3: Explosive, We're not looking at you know, just just was

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Speaker 3: it a positive play they'd create? Expect the points out

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Speaker 3: of your team. Bijon in the Falcons running game last year,

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Speaker 3: it was like historically good, right, they just they just

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Speaker 3: kept Bijeon's ability to turn a one yard playing to

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Speaker 3: three yards and three yards into five and five and

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Speaker 3: eight is positively like the highest floor running back. He's

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Speaker 3: so so so good and and and Panix will be

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Speaker 3: your your your big name, and London is gonna have

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Speaker 3: the big contract coming and so you're gonna talk about

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Speaker 3: these guys. That's what we started with. The core of

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Speaker 3: the Falcons offense is Bijon. He is He is the

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Speaker 3: engine that makes it go. The first priority of the

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Speaker 3: offensive coach staff's gonna have every single Monday when they

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Speaker 3: walk into the room is okay, how are we getting

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Speaker 3: Bajon's twenty plus touches this week?

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Speaker 1: Right?

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Speaker 3: Do we want to be running it this way or

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Speaker 3: that way? Are we evolving him in the in the

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Speaker 3: pass catching game? Remember when they played Denver, right and

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Speaker 3: it was Denver's gonna be a big blitz team. We're

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Speaker 3: gonna involve Bejon in the passing game quick and early

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Speaker 3: and by design, and he pays you off for it. Bajon,

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Speaker 3: from a talent perspective, can have a season just like

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Speaker 3: Saquan just had, like McAfrey had in twenty twenty three,

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Speaker 3: like that that is one hundred percent within his range

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Speaker 3: of outcomes. He's also, like you in a little bit

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Speaker 3: of way, done it in like kind of of a

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Speaker 3: quieter way, just not as big of a deal. The

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Speaker 3: ceiling is the moon with Bijon. He's He's an absolute delight.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned it's so interesting because yeah, you talk

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Speaker 1: to anybody, any coach in the building, like they'll say

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Speaker 1: the exact same thing. But they also have a very

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Speaker 1: clear way for him to improve in year three, and

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Speaker 1: it is those explosives because if you look at the

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Speaker 1: number of I think twelve plus yard runs on true media,

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Speaker 1: he's fourth right behind kind of like all those guys

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Speaker 1: we just mentioned. If you put that up to twenty

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Speaker 1: plus yard runs, he falls to seventeenth. So we talked

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Speaker 1: about this incredible, incredibly high floor. But I think now

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Speaker 1: they're working on, Okay, how do we get you those

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Speaker 1: forty yard runs, those sixty yard runs? His longest run

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Speaker 1: last season was thirty seven yards, right, and he was

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Speaker 1: also had the highest mile per hour at the line

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Speaker 1: of scrimmage of any player in the league last season.

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Speaker 1: So it's like, you got the acceleration, you got the tools.

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Speaker 1: Now how do we get that last home run ability

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Speaker 1: out of you?

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: So one thing I will say is that outside zone,

402
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Speaker 3: which the Falcults ran last year more than any team

403
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Speaker 3: did and one of the highest rates last few years,

404
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Speaker 3: is not as good a play for the eighty yard

405
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Speaker 3: house call as it seems, and as you might you

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Speaker 3: hope it would be Derek Henry here being the exception

407
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Speaker 3: of the proofs of rule, Derek Henry would run a

408
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Speaker 3: lot outside zone with the Titans and then get in

409
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Speaker 3: the third level and then no one stopping Derek Henry.

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Speaker 3: Bijon does not have that tool in his toolkit. Nobody

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Speaker 3: has that tool in the toolkit besides Derrick Henry, because

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Speaker 3: of the size, because of the speed. But Bijeon ran

413
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Speaker 3: so much outside zone last year, and you're picking your

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Speaker 3: spots and you're flowing through and you're finding little gaps

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Speaker 3: and you're in, you're finding alleyways, you're getting to the

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Speaker 3: third level. But because the play works to one side

417
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Speaker 3: of the field so heavily, the entire defensive flow is

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Speaker 3: there the backside safety of the corner, they're in pursuit

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Speaker 3: and you have more guys to solve.

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Speaker 2: If you can, yeah, if you can. If you go

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Speaker 2: and you watch them.

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Speaker 3: Those twenty plus yard runs, you'll certainly see some outside on,

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Speaker 3: no question. You'll see a lot of plays that happened

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Speaker 3: between the tackles because big bi big explosive runs are

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Speaker 3: the result of good interior blocking that gets a running

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Speaker 3: back to the third level Vertically, we don't waste time

427
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Speaker 3: going horizontal, letting the defense figure out what's happening. And

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Speaker 3: we're all on you quick, right, we're upfield on you. Now,

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Speaker 3: that's how you get flat footed safeties. That's how you

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Speaker 3: get corners who are still looking at receivers and now

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Speaker 3: you can actually, you know, get that that big explosive run.

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Speaker 3: So you know, Bijeon's got to do his work, you know,

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Speaker 3: put the parachute on, get the speed, you know whatever,

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Speaker 3: do do the mile per hour work. Absolutely, you want

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Speaker 3: that third level speed, but a lot of getting more

436
00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:45,160
Speaker 3: explosive Bijon runs.

437
00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:45,560
Speaker 2: So it's real.

438
00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:47,640
Speaker 3: Twenty plus yard house calls is going to be on

439
00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:50,360
Speaker 3: Zach Robinson and on the coaching staff to find more

440
00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:52,600
Speaker 3: variety in the running game. And I think that's something

441
00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:54,080
Speaker 3: that they know they want to do. I think that

442
00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:56,680
Speaker 3: because of kirks athletical limitations last year, they had to

443
00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:58,640
Speaker 3: be a little specific in their running game and under

444
00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:01,640
Speaker 3: center Pistol the dropbacks, how are we gonna run the football?

445
00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:03,440
Speaker 3: So I think with Penick, you're gonna see that blossom.

446
00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:05,359
Speaker 3: You're gonna see that the diversity and the running game widen,

447
00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:07,359
Speaker 3: and I promise you'll see a couple of beuge on

448
00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:07,840
Speaker 3: house calls.

449
00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:08,360
Speaker 2: They'll be there.

450
00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:11,040
Speaker 1: That is something. Actually you mentioned Pistol. I'm curious to

451
00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:13,000
Speaker 1: see how much that remains in the offense too, because

452
00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,760
Speaker 1: we can see Michael Pennox obviously has more of the

453
00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,960
Speaker 1: athleticism to do those play action boots and rollouts and

454
00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:20,800
Speaker 1: things like that. But you go back a couple of

455
00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:23,159
Speaker 1: years ago, the Rams were one of the highest pistol

456
00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:24,639
Speaker 1: teams in the league. The Falcons were one of the

457
00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:27,080
Speaker 1: highest pistols under Arthur Smith as well. So it's like,

458
00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:29,439
Speaker 1: is that just a staple of the offense or was

459
00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:31,160
Speaker 1: that the nature of the quarterback the ad in place

460
00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:33,879
Speaker 1: last year? Something I'm just curious to see as the

461
00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:36,920
Speaker 1: season unfolds. But let's flip over and talk defense, because

462
00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:40,080
Speaker 1: that's really been the story for Atlanta this offseason. What

463
00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:42,600
Speaker 1: do you think of the reunion with Jeff Holbrick and

464
00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:44,919
Speaker 1: Rahee Morris kind of coming together before this season?

465
00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:48,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm Raheem at this point, like doesn't have DNA

466
00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:51,200
Speaker 3: as a defensive play caller, right, they do so much

467
00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:53,680
Speaker 3: stuff and he's under Dan Quinn and then he's Sean

468
00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:56,280
Speaker 3: mcvay's running the Brand and Staley stuff and the two high,

469
00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:59,960
Speaker 3: one high, you know, defensive structure they are is extremely

470
00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:03,520
Speaker 3: very gated. He's got a lot of different pages in

471
00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:06,080
Speaker 3: the playbook, and so you bring in a Jeff Olbrick guy. Okay,

472
00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:08,280
Speaker 3: so Robert solid disciple, and you know it's gonna be

473
00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:09,840
Speaker 3: all this four to three and then we kind of

474
00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:11,439
Speaker 3: you know it's gonna be cover three to quarters and

475
00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:13,200
Speaker 3: we kind of know the DNA of this team. I

476
00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:15,719
Speaker 3: think you're gonna continue to see hodgepodg stuff that they

477
00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:18,640
Speaker 3: they do a lot of work here to make sure

478
00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:20,040
Speaker 3: that they acquire smart players.

479
00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:20,600
Speaker 2: On defense.

480
00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:22,480
Speaker 3: You talk about Jesse Bates, you talk about aj To Wright,

481
00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:24,359
Speaker 3: talk about what katan Neellis has been at linebacker for

482
00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:26,160
Speaker 3: this team. You had a player now in Jalen Walker

483
00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:28,159
Speaker 3: who's a notoriously like versatile.

484
00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:29,280
Speaker 2: Guy who can eat a lot of the playbook.

485
00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,320
Speaker 3: So there's going to be weeks that they just look

486
00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:34,160
Speaker 3: like the Jeff Olbricks team. You might expect the Jeff

487
00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:36,280
Speaker 3: Oulbrick defense to look like it's gonna look like the Jets.

488
00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:38,320
Speaker 3: It's gonna be four down or all gain in upfield,

489
00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:40,200
Speaker 3: and like this is pretty you know what you're getting.

490
00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:41,920
Speaker 3: We're just really good at it. Rememb there's gonna be

491
00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:43,920
Speaker 3: weeks whether they're highly headed versaal, there's gonna be weeks

492
00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:45,960
Speaker 3: were on first and second down they look very vanilla

493
00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:46,680
Speaker 3: than on third down.

494
00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:47,760
Speaker 2: It's the Raheem Moore.

495
00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:50,919
Speaker 3: Splits package stuff that you know he popularized with the Rams,

496
00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:56,800
Speaker 3: and so I trust Raheem as a defensive coach just period.

497
00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,400
Speaker 2: I trust his ability to maximize his players and get

498
00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:00,000
Speaker 2: them in the right spot.

499
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,080
Speaker 3: They were right to pour resources into the defense and

500
00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:04,639
Speaker 3: to add more players and to try to plug some

501
00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:06,840
Speaker 3: of those gaps so as to be a more productive

502
00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:09,679
Speaker 3: pass Roushkin, have a better coverage, you know, a good

503
00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:11,800
Speaker 3: safety running mate to Jesse Baits, stuff like that. So

504
00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:13,640
Speaker 3: they're adding more tools for the toolbox. But I trust

505
00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:15,760
Speaker 3: Raw from an ex as and O perspective every time.

506
00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:19,040
Speaker 1: I'm really curious to get your thoughts on this question.

507
00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:20,520
Speaker 1: I was trying to think of, you know, a good

508
00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:22,960
Speaker 1: one to throw at you, and given the Falcons kind

509
00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:26,320
Speaker 1: of pingponging back and forth between defensive coordinators over the

510
00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:29,520
Speaker 1: last four or five years, by nature of that, the

511
00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:31,920
Speaker 1: guys they've drafted and kind of the guys they brought

512
00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,480
Speaker 1: in free agency, it's a little bit of a hodgepodch

513
00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,840
Speaker 1: of different attributes and different body types and things like that.

514
00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:41,640
Speaker 1: So as you're going about building a hybrid style defense,

515
00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:44,280
Speaker 1: as the Falcons say, they want to deploy. Do you

516
00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:46,879
Speaker 1: think the best version of that is a defense filled

517
00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:51,040
Speaker 1: with jack of all trade, hybrid versatile types of players,

518
00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:56,080
Speaker 1: or a defense that contains players who may fill single roles.

519
00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,920
Speaker 1: But you have the ability to go to the best

520
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,880
Speaker 1: version of multiple different looks because you may have one

521
00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:05,120
Speaker 1: guy who's a great nose tackle for that three to four,

522
00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:06,959
Speaker 1: one guy who's a good base end for that four

523
00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:09,400
Speaker 1: to three. They can't do both, but like you can

524
00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:11,320
Speaker 1: deploy the lines as you need them.

525
00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:11,640
Speaker 2: Yeah.

526
00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:14,239
Speaker 3: So you always hear defensive coordinators talk about being multiple, right,

527
00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:18,240
Speaker 3: It's their favorite word. And the dirty little secret about

528
00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:21,719
Speaker 3: being multiple is that in that second scenario you bring

529
00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:23,280
Speaker 3: up where I have a really good nose tackle from

530
00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:24,439
Speaker 3: my lot of fronts and I have a really good

531
00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:26,280
Speaker 3: base end for my even fronts, is that I'm the

532
00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:28,760
Speaker 3: offensive coordinator in the opposing box and I just have

533
00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:31,000
Speaker 3: a guy watching who you're putting in. Right, Here comes

534
00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:32,960
Speaker 3: the nose tackle. I know what you're in. Here comes

535
00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:34,400
Speaker 3: the base end. I know what you're in.

536
00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:36,240
Speaker 2: Right. Your ability to.

537
00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,840
Speaker 3: Disguise what you want to do is limited by the

538
00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:40,600
Speaker 3: fact that you have role players, right, and I know

539
00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:42,119
Speaker 3: what the role players want to do is now I

540
00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:44,439
Speaker 3: can call expecting the pitch I'm gonna get from you,

541
00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:48,119
Speaker 3: as opposed to in a truly versatile defense, there are

542
00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:50,040
Speaker 3: eleven players on the field and we can do just

543
00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:51,720
Speaker 3: about anything we want with them. Right. We have a

544
00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:53,240
Speaker 3: guy in Jalen Walker who you don't know if he's

545
00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:54,840
Speaker 3: going to stack or if he's gonna come on line

546
00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:56,280
Speaker 3: of scrimma. If you have a safety and Jesse Bates,

547
00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:57,800
Speaker 3: who if we put him in the deep middle, you're

548
00:20:57,840 --> 00:20:59,480
Speaker 3: scared of him, and if we put him in the box,

549
00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:01,399
Speaker 3: you're scared. I mean, you do everything in between. We

550
00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:03,199
Speaker 3: have a player and aj Trell who can travel with

551
00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:05,199
Speaker 3: your wide receiver one or we can zone them off

552
00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:09,040
Speaker 3: and we feel comfortable doing that. True versatility means you

553
00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:11,119
Speaker 3: get a highly versatile guy and then you get a

554
00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:12,159
Speaker 3: second one, and then you get a through win, and

555
00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:12,760
Speaker 3: then you get a fourth one.

556
00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:12,960
Speaker 1: Souse.

557
00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:14,240
Speaker 3: If you have if you have ten role players in

558
00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:16,159
Speaker 3: one versatile dude, he can't be versatile. He's got to

559
00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:20,440
Speaker 3: fill the eleventh role, right, He's limited by things the

560
00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:22,680
Speaker 3: other ten. Yeah, and this is something that I think

561
00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,400
Speaker 3: Raheem knows very well. Like again Raheems with Dan Quinn

562
00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:27,679
Speaker 3: it was very here are our roles. And then he

563
00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:29,919
Speaker 3: was in Los Angeles with the Rams and it was

564
00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:31,720
Speaker 3: very Okay. We have a lot of guys who can

565
00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:33,000
Speaker 3: do a lot of different stuff, and I think you

566
00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:34,960
Speaker 3: see them swinging towards the second thing, and that's the

567
00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:38,360
Speaker 3: correct way to swing. Now, there's problems with that, right,

568
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:41,000
Speaker 3: which is, if you're gonna have a whole menu, sometimes

569
00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:42,520
Speaker 3: you're gonna call something bad off the menu. Right, you

570
00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:44,200
Speaker 3: go to a restaurant you've never been before, there's four

571
00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:45,920
Speaker 3: met pages of that menu. You might not order what

572
00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:47,720
Speaker 3: actually was going to be your favorite thing on that menu, right,

573
00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:49,439
Speaker 3: as opposed to if you have a call sheet this big,

574
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:52,040
Speaker 3: I'm getting the burger. The burger is gonna be good, right,

575
00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:56,159
Speaker 3: And so there it is an admirable pursuit and it

576
00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:58,960
Speaker 3: can be very good for you long term. Right. Your

577
00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,000
Speaker 3: defensive ceiling to be highly multiple. It usually takes years

578
00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:03,960
Speaker 3: to build that, and you can run into some problems

579
00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:06,040
Speaker 3: with it. Right. You get to an offense that's so

580
00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:07,840
Speaker 3: good at getting heavy running the football and you just

581
00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:09,680
Speaker 3: don't have the solutions for it. Right, You've all these

582
00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:11,119
Speaker 3: jack of all trades guys, you just don't have a

583
00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:13,320
Speaker 3: dude who can just plug right like that two gap

584
00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:15,800
Speaker 3: in nose tackles. So it's not perfect, but defense never

585
00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,000
Speaker 3: is in general. Though, the way they're building it by

586
00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:19,880
Speaker 3: adding more more versati players is the way you want

587
00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:20,400
Speaker 3: to go about it.

588
00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:23,840
Speaker 1: So keep mentioning Jalen Walker is kind of that example

589
00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:26,679
Speaker 1: of versatility, and rightfully so, the Falcons have said they

590
00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,280
Speaker 1: plan to use him in more of a specific, narrowtifined

591
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,520
Speaker 1: edge rusher role in your one A. Do you believe

592
00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:35,199
Speaker 1: him in that B? Is that the right way that

593
00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:36,200
Speaker 1: you would approach.

594
00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:38,240
Speaker 3: This, Yeah, that's exactly what I would say, and then

595
00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:40,679
Speaker 3: I would see what he can do right. Like you

596
00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:42,840
Speaker 3: want him to be an edge, he's built more like

597
00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:44,359
Speaker 3: an edge and he's built like a linebacker. You' have

598
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:46,600
Speaker 3: a bigger needed edge than you have a linebacker. But

599
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:49,199
Speaker 3: this last year kay Nellis had seventy five tackles and

600
00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:51,080
Speaker 3: five sacks. He's the only player in football who did

601
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:53,280
Speaker 3: this right. They had a player who they said, okay,

602
00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:55,560
Speaker 3: he's a stack linebacker for us, but on every third down,

603
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:56,879
Speaker 3: we're gonna get him up on line of scrimage.

604
00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:58,240
Speaker 2: We're gonna loop and we're gonnatut them. We're going to

605
00:22:58,280 --> 00:22:58,639
Speaker 2: crash him.

606
00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:00,320
Speaker 3: We're gonna, you know, blitz him from depth like this

607
00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:04,520
Speaker 3: is We're going to build our blitz packages around the

608
00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:06,359
Speaker 3: fact that this is a unique player. So then they

609
00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:07,880
Speaker 3: draft a guy of Jail Walker. They say, we're gonna

610
00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:09,399
Speaker 3: play amt edge all the time, Like you're not like

611
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:11,720
Speaker 3: you you'd be foolish too, and you're not foolish, right,

612
00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:14,959
Speaker 3: So you give him the edge playbook. You see how

613
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:16,199
Speaker 3: he does during no TA, you see how he does

614
00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:17,639
Speaker 3: during training camp. You find a way to get him

615
00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:19,359
Speaker 3: on the field. You get him his pass rush impact.

616
00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:21,479
Speaker 3: It's where you need the most help. But you're never

617
00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:24,160
Speaker 3: going to let a player like that play ninety five

618
00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:25,840
Speaker 3: percent of the snaps just off of one edge. It

619
00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:27,480
Speaker 3: just doesn't make sense or who he is. They're gonna

620
00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:29,199
Speaker 3: walk out and third down in week one and he's

621
00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:31,080
Speaker 3: gonna be standing up in the A gap, right. And

622
00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:32,560
Speaker 3: you can do that with all the guys who are

623
00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:34,840
Speaker 3: definitely true edges who've never played linebacker before, but you

624
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:37,160
Speaker 3: specifically want to do it with a player in Jalen Walker.

625
00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,640
Speaker 3: So again they're saying, absolutely, it's what you say, right,

626
00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:44,439
Speaker 3: But there's no way this staff drafts that player and

627
00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:46,000
Speaker 3: just lines him up at a defensive end, It's not

628
00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:46,520
Speaker 3: gonna happen.

629
00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:48,800
Speaker 1: Well, And that's why when you mentioned Raheem doesn't have

630
00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,320
Speaker 1: a DNA, it's you can see the elements of Brian

631
00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:53,440
Speaker 1: Flores and you can see the elements of Vic Fangio.

632
00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:56,040
Speaker 1: Like it's it's such an interesting kind of collision of

633
00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:58,439
Speaker 1: a lot of the very common I think styles of

634
00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,840
Speaker 1: defense in today's end NFL. What are your thoughts on

635
00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:04,040
Speaker 1: the other pass rusher, James Piers Junior that the Falcons

636
00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:04,520
Speaker 1: drafted in.

637
00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:04,960
Speaker 2: The first round.

638
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:06,960
Speaker 3: Yeah, I did not think that we were going to

639
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:08,760
Speaker 3: see a big trade up for James Piers Junior in

640
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:10,240
Speaker 3: the first round. That was a big surprise to me.

641
00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,000
Speaker 3: And the twenty three season for Pierce Junior obviously described

642
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:15,480
Speaker 3: to the ceiling. I think in twenty twenty four with

643
00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:17,600
Speaker 3: the volunteers, you saw some of the floor can look like,

644
00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:19,320
Speaker 3: what some of the awards can look like. There was

645
00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:21,680
Speaker 3: a big discussion and the pre draft process about Pierce

646
00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:24,719
Speaker 3: Junior in terms of how interested is he in football,

647
00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:26,119
Speaker 3: what's the hustle like, what's the effort?

648
00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:26,320
Speaker 1: Like?

649
00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:29,720
Speaker 3: Those conversations happen with every single player. Right you're checking

650
00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:31,040
Speaker 3: your notes on that if you feel good about it

651
00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:32,400
Speaker 3: as a team, you pull the trigger, and if you don't,

652
00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:34,119
Speaker 3: you don't with Falcons because they feel good about it.

653
00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:35,639
Speaker 3: And so we have our guy in the building. We

654
00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:37,399
Speaker 3: have a good room around, and we have good coaches,

655
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,159
Speaker 3: like you know, the Falcons are a young and a

656
00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:40,919
Speaker 3: very firebrand you sort of a coaching staff. We think

657
00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:42,720
Speaker 3: we're gonna be able to get this guy's head where

658
00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:45,160
Speaker 3: we want it to be. If you get the good

659
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:47,360
Speaker 3: James Spears Junior, you have a guy who can created

660
00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:49,159
Speaker 3: a pressure and under two point five seconds one of

661
00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:51,040
Speaker 3: the most valuable things that a defense can have in football.

662
00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:52,359
Speaker 3: As a guy who wins, but doesn't just win, he

663
00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:54,879
Speaker 3: wins quick right, He's able to immediately create pressure. You

664
00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:56,920
Speaker 3: only get one read as a quarterback as opposed to

665
00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:58,960
Speaker 3: guys who have to go through you and pass rush moves,

666
00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:00,720
Speaker 3: and it takes a little bit long. So if you

667
00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:02,880
Speaker 3: get the good James Pierce Junior, it makes a lot

668
00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:05,639
Speaker 3: of sense. And I appreciate the urgency with which they

669
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:08,400
Speaker 3: approached we gotta get sacks, man, like we've now got

670
00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:10,200
Speaker 3: sacks in a de QO off seasons, they.

671
00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:12,199
Speaker 1: Were like, we need a quarterback two of them. We

672
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:13,560
Speaker 1: need pass prushures two of them.

673
00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:16,080
Speaker 3: Yah, we got we gotta get some sacks in the building.

674
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:18,480
Speaker 3: So I appreciate the urgency. I'm very curious to see

675
00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:20,480
Speaker 3: what Pierce Junior looks like as a pro, because there's

676
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:22,840
Speaker 3: there's a wide range of opinions on him from the

677
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:24,720
Speaker 3: league in a pre draft process, and depending on what

678
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,439
Speaker 3: film you put on from his volunteers day, you can

679
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:29,160
Speaker 3: get a wide range of opinions on him as a player,

680
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:31,000
Speaker 3: just playing and simple and so I was surprised to

681
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,480
Speaker 3: see it. I didn't have it on my bingo card.

682
00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:35,440
Speaker 3: But it's happened that the Falcons has been very willing

683
00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:37,159
Speaker 3: to be aggressive in the draft as we as we

684
00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:38,760
Speaker 3: well know, and we'll see where the chips fall.

685
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:41,440
Speaker 1: Yeah. One other note on that was really fascinating. Talking

686
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:44,439
Speaker 1: to Raheem Morris on Monday, he mentioned kind of just

687
00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:47,040
Speaker 1: some mentorships as they start to develop over, you know,

688
00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:50,440
Speaker 1: naturally at this time. But they're pairing him with aj'srel

689
00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:52,840
Speaker 1: and he said that was something he identified. He was

690
00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:56,040
Speaker 1: here obviously when AJ was drafted in twenty twenty, and

691
00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:57,639
Speaker 1: as was I, and he was kind of a serious

692
00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:01,480
Speaker 1: rookie that first introductory press conference we did, it was like, Yeah,

693
00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:04,400
Speaker 1: this feels like a guy who just played Jamar Chase

694
00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,720
Speaker 1: and Justin Jefferson in the National Championship three months ago.

695
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:10,600
Speaker 1: And James Pearce is kind of the same way, you know,

696
00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:14,320
Speaker 1: serious kind of quiet, goes about his business, that kind

697
00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 1: of demeanor. So I thought it was interesting that Raheem

698
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:18,720
Speaker 1: identified that and kind of like paired him together to

699
00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:22,200
Speaker 1: try to, you know, get that connection going. Two more

700
00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:26,640
Speaker 1: for you, what is kind of your thought on Atlanta

701
00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:30,080
Speaker 1: in the NFC South and in the NFC landscape at large.

702
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:32,199
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the Buccaneers are going to be very very,

703
00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:34,920
Speaker 3: very very good. Buccaneers are were turning eleven out of

704
00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:37,800
Speaker 3: eleven starters on offense, right, Liam cone Leaves was their

705
00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:41,600
Speaker 3: previous office coordinator. Josh Grizzard takes over, and if Josh

706
00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:44,520
Speaker 3: Grizzard's got you know, three brain cells rup together, which

707
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,240
Speaker 3: it seems like he does, then the plan for Buccaneers

708
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:49,000
Speaker 3: offense is pretty simple. You know what works with Mike

709
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,439
Speaker 3: Evans Riscott when Baker May through Bucket Irving like that

710
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:53,439
Speaker 3: group is still together, there's still strongly attitude in the

711
00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:55,480
Speaker 3: first round that offense was the top ten offense by

712
00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:57,240
Speaker 3: pretty much every metric you look at last year. I

713
00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:00,359
Speaker 3: expect them to be so again. Defensively, it was one

714
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:03,000
Speaker 3: of the worst Todd Bowles defenses we've ever seen, right,

715
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:04,520
Speaker 3: And they deal with a ton of injuries in the

716
00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:08,080
Speaker 3: back seven, and they're different alignment some guys every single week.

717
00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:09,760
Speaker 3: And they were playing a very high risk, high reward

718
00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:11,320
Speaker 3: style of defense because they knew they didn't have the

719
00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:14,720
Speaker 3: coverage players. I do not think Todd Bowles, who's got

720
00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:17,359
Speaker 3: a long history of being a solid defensive coach, I

721
00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:19,320
Speaker 3: do not think Todd Bowles is going to let that

722
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:22,400
Speaker 3: defense fall like that again. Right, the bad injury luck again.

723
00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:25,720
Speaker 3: But they added a lot of defensive backs in the

724
00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:28,679
Speaker 3: draft against Sarbassia Dennis back. They added Hassan Reddick off

725
00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,600
Speaker 3: the edge, like they they put the pieces out there where.

726
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:33,600
Speaker 3: I think the floor that defense is gonna rise. I think

727
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:35,119
Speaker 3: it's gonna better than it was. So we're talking about

728
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:37,919
Speaker 3: a top ten offense with an average too above average defense.

729
00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:40,080
Speaker 3: That's usually how contenders are built. If you can get

730
00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:41,960
Speaker 3: both top ten, you're lucky. But generally in the NFL,

731
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,199
Speaker 3: we talked about top ten offense and then the defense

732
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:45,840
Speaker 3: that's passable, So I think the Buccaneer is going to

733
00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,040
Speaker 3: be very good. Atlanta should be there in that wildcard

734
00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:51,560
Speaker 3: route pursuit, right. They very much can challenge the Buccaneers,

735
00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:53,159
Speaker 3: They can beat them on any given Sunday. But I

736
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:55,920
Speaker 3: more so expect them to be in that wildcard route

737
00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:57,720
Speaker 3: in that, you know, trying to push above five hundred,

738
00:27:57,720 --> 00:27:59,520
Speaker 3: trying to get those one of those three remaining spots.

739
00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:02,639
Speaker 3: Would not be surprised if Carolina.

740
00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:02,960
Speaker 2: Is also there as well.

741
00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,159
Speaker 3: I have a lot of lingering doubts about Bryce Young,

742
00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:07,440
Speaker 3: and I want to see it for another season. But

743
00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:09,600
Speaker 3: they added just so many people because they they have

744
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:11,920
Speaker 3: picks and they had so much money that that again,

745
00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:14,080
Speaker 3: that defense is going to improve a ton and they

746
00:28:14,119 --> 00:28:16,720
Speaker 3: got Bryce more weapons there second year with Dave Canalis,

747
00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:18,800
Speaker 3: I think they're gonna take a step. So I would

748
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,159
Speaker 3: expect Atlanta to be fighting along with Carolina in that

749
00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:23,640
Speaker 3: NFC South for that second spot, fighting, you know, trying

750
00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:25,040
Speaker 3: to put pressure on the Bucks there at the top

751
00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:26,440
Speaker 3: of the division and fighting for.

752
00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:27,520
Speaker 2: One of the wild card positions.

753
00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:31,520
Speaker 3: It's it's year three now for Rahim, right, you two

754
00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:33,199
Speaker 3: your two excuse me, it's your two for him, it's

755
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,399
Speaker 3: your five for Terry, right, and so yes, yeah, so

756
00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:38,120
Speaker 3: if you're if you're you know Falcons have them been

757
00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:39,760
Speaker 3: in the playoffs since twenty sixteen.

758
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:41,840
Speaker 2: Right, seventeen seventeen, right, this it's been eight years.

759
00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,400
Speaker 3: So if you're if you're Terry, you would really like

760
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:45,960
Speaker 3: to be able to get one of those spots. This

761
00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:48,640
Speaker 3: is a big season for the team that you've built, right,

762
00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:51,560
Speaker 3: You've made the top ten picks. Drake Clinebijon Robinson compits

763
00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:54,160
Speaker 3: like that, this offense is the offense that you brought together.

764
00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:55,080
Speaker 2: So it's an important year.

765
00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:57,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, they've been right there knocking on the door every

766
00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:01,000
Speaker 1: single year, which honestly is only kind of it's almost

767
00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:03,920
Speaker 1: been like worse, right, like sometimes taking that full step

768
00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:06,280
Speaker 1: back to then take that step forward. People see the

769
00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:08,880
Speaker 1: build and they they kind of the year of a

770
00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:11,160
Speaker 1: year improvement. But to be right there at kind of

771
00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:14,800
Speaker 1: eight and nine, nine to eight, like it's tough, but

772
00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:18,120
Speaker 1: again kind of credit to they are firing everything they

773
00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,880
Speaker 1: can to solve the problems they have. So last one

774
00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:22,920
Speaker 1: is a little bit more league wide for you. What

775
00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,760
Speaker 1: kind of scheme trends are you anticipating us seeing this fall.

776
00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:29,760
Speaker 1: We kind of saw the proliferation of cover four last year.

777
00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:31,920
Speaker 1: We saw some of the orbit cheap motion kind of

778
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:33,800
Speaker 1: year before with the Dolphins. Like anything fun that you're

779
00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:34,640
Speaker 1: really looking forward to.

780
00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:36,760
Speaker 2: I think it's a it's always cyclical.

781
00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:38,080
Speaker 3: I think last year was a big return to the

782
00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:40,200
Speaker 3: running game, and I think you just see more running game.

783
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:41,880
Speaker 3: Last year is a big return to under center. I

784
00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:44,720
Speaker 3: think you just see more under center. Defenses are light,

785
00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:47,400
Speaker 3: they're thin, they're built us off the pass. Let's just

786
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:49,400
Speaker 3: get heavy and running at these guys right. And the Falcons,

787
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:51,200
Speaker 3: going back to the Arthur Smith days, have been wanting

788
00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,280
Speaker 3: to be on that on that precipice right and being

789
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:56,200
Speaker 3: able to just handle the football off. And like I said,

790
00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:58,000
Speaker 3: the Falcons were a great handoff team last year. I

791
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:00,400
Speaker 3: think that's a very good sign for the future. And

792
00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:02,840
Speaker 3: so I think you're gonna still see have your personnel

793
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:04,480
Speaker 3: start to be the move and the pendulum start to

794
00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:06,160
Speaker 3: swing back, and we're gonna run the ball more, get

795
00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,600
Speaker 3: under center and and not need to be as pass oriented.

796
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:09,800
Speaker 2: Right.

797
00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:12,320
Speaker 3: What was the big panic and freak out in the

798
00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:14,160
Speaker 3: first two weeks last season, It was all the passing

799
00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:16,720
Speaker 3: numbers are down football's ruined two highs running football. The

800
00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:18,080
Speaker 3: reason for that is is that the running game, which

801
00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:19,560
Speaker 3: is really good now right because of the way that

802
00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:21,640
Speaker 3: the defense have adjusted. So to me, like that that's

803
00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:23,280
Speaker 3: gonna be what you what you continue to see. I

804
00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:26,080
Speaker 3: think the first month of the season training camps, you

805
00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:27,720
Speaker 3: know you're not getting nearly as much practice as you

806
00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:29,760
Speaker 3: used to. Guys aren't ready for football in the same way.

807
00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:31,320
Speaker 3: So if you can just be big and out running

808
00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:33,200
Speaker 3: guy for for for four quarters, you can just win

809
00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:35,080
Speaker 3: those those early games because you control the ball, you

810
00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:37,200
Speaker 3: control possessions, you don't turn the football over. So to me,

811
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:39,160
Speaker 3: it's all running game. That's that's where I expected to

812
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,080
Speaker 3: go on next few years. Gotcha, I I lied.

813
00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:43,600
Speaker 1: I got one more for it because I played rugby

814
00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:46,560
Speaker 1: in college, so I'm a big advocate of I think

815
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:49,000
Speaker 1: more teams should lateral the ball down the field. Yeah,

816
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:50,280
Speaker 1: I think there should be a playout. I thought it

817
00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:52,120
Speaker 1: was going to be a touch push. No, no, no,

818
00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:54,960
Speaker 1: I'm going because I think the touch push we're thinking back.

819
00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:56,880
Speaker 1: I'm trying to pay ahead. I'm thinking of the future.

820
00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,640
Speaker 1: Ben Johnson like my king because of all the cool,

821
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,040
Speaker 1: cool stuff they're doing. Do you think we'll ever next season,

822
00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:04,840
Speaker 1: do you think to or do you expect to see

823
00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:06,920
Speaker 1: maybe an expansion on some of the stuff we have

824
00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:08,800
Speaker 1: seen over the last couple of years with the Chiefs,

825
00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:11,520
Speaker 1: with the Lions, some of this like, yeah, we're getting

826
00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:14,000
Speaker 1: a little risky and loose with the football, but it's

827
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:16,000
Speaker 1: paying off for us, and we're going to continue to

828
00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:16,480
Speaker 1: try to do that.

829
00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:19,120
Speaker 3: Yeah, I wouldn't expect to see expansion in the sense

830
00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:23,560
Speaker 3: of we're lading lateraling in more places, doing it more ways.

831
00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,440
Speaker 3: I definitely think that like the o'mana Saint Brown, that

832
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:28,800
Speaker 3: Jamior Gibbs lateral that they scored on against the Cardinals,

833
00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:31,200
Speaker 3: right where it's just crazy. It's just a crawl route

834
00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:33,320
Speaker 3: backs out of the back folds of the flat we

835
00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:33,880
Speaker 3: just tossed to him.

836
00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:34,640
Speaker 2: He went to the corner.

837
00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:37,400
Speaker 3: Like teams are gonna that's an easy copy paste, right,

838
00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:39,040
Speaker 3: And the way a lot of this stuff works is

839
00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:41,240
Speaker 3: by copy paste. And so I think you'll see more

840
00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:43,840
Speaker 3: teams be willing to do the simple lateral stuff. I

841
00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:46,440
Speaker 3: don't know how much more aggressive like the lines of

842
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:48,440
Speaker 3: the Chiefs. Obviously with Kelsey do it a bunch will

843
00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:52,200
Speaker 3: get in like lateraling in in specific spots, you really

844
00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:54,920
Speaker 3: really really really really really have to trust the guy

845
00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:56,959
Speaker 3: who catches the ball in the later You have to, right,

846
00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:00,560
Speaker 3: And that's that's that. Kelsey has earned that over you know,

847
00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:02,800
Speaker 3: a decade there with the Chiefs. Sayt has earned that.

848
00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:05,200
Speaker 3: It's a very cerebral player, is very hard working player

849
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,320
Speaker 3: like Saint has earned that for the Lions.

850
00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:10,880
Speaker 2: But in general, you've got to be careful, right.

851
00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:12,560
Speaker 3: You can't show up and be like, all right, this

852
00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:15,120
Speaker 3: is in our playbook, who's our toss guy right now?

853
00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:17,240
Speaker 3: You need to know for sure that that player is

854
00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:19,360
Speaker 3: worthy of being the toss guy. So I think that's

855
00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:21,120
Speaker 3: probably the limiting factor on that sort of a play.

856
00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:24,000
Speaker 1: I disagree. Let's throw the football backwards this lateral all

857
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,000
Speaker 1: day long. That That's what I'm going to keep pushing

858
00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:28,640
Speaker 1: for because it's just more fun that way. But Ben,

859
00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:31,240
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining me today. Everybody please

860
00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:35,360
Speaker 1: go check out his awesome work at ESPN and continue.

861
00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:35,840
Speaker 2: To support the show here.

862
00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:37,800
Speaker 1: But we will see you guys next time.

863
00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:39,480
Speaker 2: Bi