Speaker 1: The volume.
Speaker 2: All right, time to bring back the very popular John
Speaker 2: Middlecoff podcast three and out former NFL scout before he
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Speaker 2: always guarantee, all right. Former NFL scout John middlecough buddy
Speaker 2: of mine called me today asked how I was doing.
Speaker 2: I said, I had a podcast with John Middlecoffee said
Speaker 2: that guy works, man, he's that guy is constantly working.
Speaker 2: And I said, well, I haven't talked to him in
Speaker 2: a month, so now's a good time, you know. I
Speaker 2: had Denny Parkins on a real talented kid from Chicago,
Speaker 2: and I said, I think the Bears are going to
Speaker 2: be really good. I think the division offensively is a
Speaker 2: really good division with really good coaching and really good
Speaker 2: O lines. I said. The only thing that will screw
Speaker 2: it up is a distraction, and then they get hard knocks.
Speaker 2: I thought, oh god, all these couples that have cameras
Speaker 2: in their houses, they all get divorced, you know, just
Speaker 2: it's the end of times. How I mean, I guess
Speaker 2: in the league nobody wants it. How are people now
Speaker 2: used to it? Your sources are they used to it?
Speaker 1: Kind of now? I said this on the podcast last
Speaker 1: week Forever right, you know, especially when the series started,
Speaker 1: it was pretty intrusive. Humans weren't used to being followed
Speaker 1: around by cameras in two thousand and two. Right now,
Speaker 1: everywhere you go someone has a camera phone out talking
Speaker 1: to themselves. I actually think these guys are pretty numb
Speaker 1: to it. Think how long Caleb william has been used
Speaker 1: to cameras pointed at him, press conferences, the Way his
Speaker 1: Life is, podcast, you name it. I think it's never
Speaker 1: It's less intrusive now than ever because of how numb
Speaker 1: these guys are to cameras. Now, I think some of
Speaker 1: the hoopla around it is not ideal. But let's face it,
Speaker 1: colin the authenticity of the mid two thousands. You remember
Speaker 1: when you would have the inside of the coaches and
Speaker 1: gms talking about cutting players and this guy sucks and
Speaker 1: we don't get that anymore. So that that got thrown out.
Speaker 1: Really hard knocks isn't for me anymore, right, It just
Speaker 1: really isn't. I think it's a pretty watered down version,
Speaker 1: but I get it. It's popular, but I don't think
Speaker 1: it phases the player specifically, maybe the coaches. That can
Speaker 1: be a little unnerving having a camera look at you,
Speaker 1: knowing that, but you get to control what comes out, right.
Speaker 1: The teams have final cut. It's like state run media. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I don't think it's a big deal at all anymore.
Speaker 2: I think there's two stories in the NFL that are
Speaker 2: real obvious ones, one of them being you know Matt Eberfluse,
Speaker 2: and you know the downside to a Even if you
Speaker 2: have a good defensive coach, they generally don't have as
Speaker 2: good at connections to offensive coordinators as a McVeigh, you know,
Speaker 2: as a Shanahan and Andy Reid, Sean Payton, those guys
Speaker 2: are pretty dialed in. So that's the first thing. The
Speaker 2: second thing is if you do hit on a really
Speaker 2: good offensive coordinator and he's good, Ben Johnson's an outlier.
Speaker 2: They take gigs and leave in two years and then
Speaker 2: you have to hit another one. Sean McDermott hit on
Speaker 2: Brian Dable. He didn't have success with the next hires.
Speaker 2: And that's very common among defensive coaches. I mean, Mike
Speaker 2: Tomlins hit on some, missed on some badly. Pete Carroll,
Speaker 2: same thing. So when I look at eberflues Is, I
Speaker 2: don't think he's a bad coach. I always say, if
Speaker 2: you can, if you can show me that you know
Speaker 2: your side of the ball. Well, the Bear's defense in
Speaker 2: the last seven eight weeks was really good. They have
Speaker 2: a good corner Montese sweat, but they don't have great
Speaker 2: personnel up front, so I'm interested. I think Eber Flu's
Speaker 2: changed his look like I think he kind of got.
Speaker 1: He got a stylist heat colored his hair. Yeah, he's got.
Speaker 2: He understands it's a big city, a lot of people watching.
Speaker 2: I don't want to look like a fruntpy old defensive
Speaker 2: coach if you had to wager he gets through the year.
Speaker 2: Kind of where do you land on Eberflus?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm not as confident as some that they're going
Speaker 1: to make the playoffs. I think they could be good
Speaker 1: and win eight now games and Miss, I mean their
Speaker 1: division is a mother Yeah, I mean Detroit's bringing everyone back,
Speaker 1: including the coaches. I think everyone. You'd be crazy to
Speaker 1: not be high on Green Bay if that quarterback continues
Speaker 1: to play like this. Their new defensive coordinator, Jeff Affley.
Speaker 1: So to me, if they miss the playoffs, you could
Speaker 1: argue it's unfair Eberflu should get two years to kind
Speaker 1: of show what he can do with this young team.
Speaker 1: But that's not the way it's gonna work, right if
Speaker 1: they go eight and if they go what would it
Speaker 1: be eight to nine or nine to eight? And Miss,
Speaker 1: I could just see because the pressure and the hype
Speaker 1: on this team. But I'm not as confident they're going
Speaker 1: to be a playoff team, and a big reason is
Speaker 1: because their division help. If Minnesota is the worst team
Speaker 1: in your division, I mean, that's not an easy team
Speaker 1: to play, right. So they got an excellent coach, they
Speaker 1: got a lot of firepower, and I understand the pushback
Speaker 1: would be while the Bears could have easily beat the
Speaker 1: Detroit Lions multiple times last year, I'm not saying they're bad.
Speaker 1: It's just I think the hype on the quarterback big
Speaker 1: picture totally behind it. He can be a high end player.
Speaker 1: Most guys don't come into the league and look like CJ.
Speaker 1: Strad right. I mean, it's usually there are some growing pains,
Speaker 1: especially because the transition that he's going to have to have.
Speaker 1: The way he played last year in college is not
Speaker 1: going to translate. They're not going to have him do
Speaker 1: that in theory. So and if he gets some back
Speaker 1: some of those kind of hero ball habits, you're playing
Speaker 1: NFL players. You're not playing Arizona anymore. And they were
Speaker 1: struggling to beat Arizona last year. Now the Bears defense
Speaker 1: is better. Offensively, they have firepower, but like you said,
Speaker 1: I think the pressure on this coach. You don't make
Speaker 1: the playoffs. You could have a really successful year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think you can still get fired.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think one. Even the good quarterbacks Peyton Manning
Speaker 2: Andrew Luck threw a lot of picks early. That's just
Speaker 2: that's the reality of it. I think the second thing,
Speaker 2: the one thing that I think Caleb gets a break.
Speaker 2: There's not really a great pass rush in that division.
Speaker 2: In fact, the Bears at times didn't have a great one,
Speaker 2: but Montez sweats great. Packers have been looking for a
Speaker 2: great pass rush for a decade. Minnesota upgraded on some
Speaker 2: b guys, not a guys. Detroit Hutchison's excellent about eleven
Speaker 2: sacks last year, but their corners are weak. There's not
Speaker 2: a dominating defense in this division. It's offensive coaches. So
Speaker 2: I do think he's gonna come in. I mean, if
Speaker 2: you head to the AFC North and you're getting Miles
Speaker 2: Garrett in the Ravens culture, that's a whole different ballgame.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I've said this justin Fields won seven. My guess is
Speaker 2: Chicago wins eight, but looks significantly better.
Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying. And there's a chance he could
Speaker 1: have a really good rookie season and be the third
Speaker 1: best quarterback in his own division. If Jared Goff replicates
Speaker 1: what he's been doing the last couple of years, he's
Speaker 1: going to be a pro Bowl level guy. Jordan Love,
Speaker 1: there's some there's a question mark there. We have an
Speaker 1: eight game sample size of high level. But if he
Speaker 1: carries that over, there's a decent chance. Kayleb Williams could
Speaker 1: throw twenty four touchdowns in twelve pick yep. We all
Speaker 1: view him like a transcending or the trajectory's pointing high
Speaker 1: and go. He was the third best quarterback in his division.
Speaker 1: And they're the third place team in the division. They
Speaker 1: missed the playoffs because there's not unlimited amount of spots, right,
Speaker 1: the Niners, the Rams, the Lions, the Packers. You start
Speaker 1: doing the math. Atlanta should be better. The Saints were
Speaker 1: nine to eight last year and they had a terrible offense.
Speaker 1: Now they bring Kubiak's kid. The Eagles are gonna be good.
Speaker 1: I mean, the Cowboys, even if they take a step
Speaker 1: back from twelve, there'll be in that eight to nine range.
Speaker 1: So it's just difficult.
Speaker 2: Well, if sports fans don't like to be wrong, and
Speaker 2: there's a lot of people who are proven wrong on
Speaker 2: Justin Fields, So just get ready for it. You have
Speaker 2: to watch things you can't just your life can't be
Speaker 2: just about the result, you know, you have to contextualize everything.
Speaker 2: I don't think there's any question Caleb Williams is several
Speaker 2: notches better than Justin Fields, like several notches better. I mean,
Speaker 2: if you read the riding on the wall and we
Speaker 2: both have enough sources, I mean, Caleb's not gonna have
Speaker 2: problems find open receivers. That was a real issue for Justin.
Speaker 2: There was like Zach Wilson, there are guys all over
Speaker 2: the field open, he just couldn't find them. So people
Speaker 2: are going to want to be right the Justin Fields fans.
Speaker 2: But I think the league spoke when he went for
Speaker 2: a six round pick, and I think very quickly you're
Speaker 2: going to see the calebs just different.
Speaker 1: So for sure, and to me, the offensive weaponry that
Speaker 1: they have for yeah, we've talked about this before. It's
Speaker 1: a pretty easy landing zone for a young quarterback with
Speaker 1: that many wide receivers.
Speaker 2: Here's a second thing. And I'm always trying to be
Speaker 2: somewhat delicate with Aaron Rodgers because I'm viewed as anti Aaron.
Speaker 2: But last year sixty quarterbacks played in the league. And
Speaker 2: if I just said to you said, forget the teams
Speaker 2: and the names, forty year old quarterback oft an achilles
Speaker 2: surgery with a makeshift, old and really young offensive line
Speaker 2: in a better conference, does that scream the quarterback plays
Speaker 2: seventeen games? I think lost in this this Jets improvement
Speaker 2: and people love their roster is Hey, they're a Breece
Speaker 2: Hall injury from being a have to pass offense, have
Speaker 2: to pass. And now the good news, they shouldn't be
Speaker 2: in shootouts. Aaron shouldn't be forced to throw forty four
Speaker 2: times a game. But they got one back. And I
Speaker 2: tend to believe that championship teams are built when you
Speaker 2: have your seven to eight best players all in their prime.
Speaker 2: Like Detroit right now, Jared's in his prime. Hutchison moved
Speaker 2: into it. That running back may be into it now,
Speaker 2: Amaran Saint Brown, Panay Seouel, You're getting a lot of
Speaker 2: now Laporta. They're all like moving into their prime. And
Speaker 2: you start looking at Green Bay and it's like, I
Speaker 2: guess Breece probably is. Garrett Wilson still raw a lot
Speaker 2: of their defensive talent. Sauce Gardner's probably moving into it,
Speaker 2: but they got a lot of guys that aren't there
Speaker 2: or were never there. I PFF last week had the
Speaker 2: Kansas City roster number two, and I was like, they're
Speaker 2: bad at tackling. Don't I have a number one receiver.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: It's not the second best roster of the league. I
Speaker 2: look at the Jets and I just keep saying, if
Speaker 2: you gave me over under fifteen games on Aaron, I'd
Speaker 2: bet the under. I'd be like fourteen.
Speaker 1: Did you see the clip last week of him scrambling
Speaker 1: to his right, yeah, and kind of limping. Yeah. And
Speaker 1: whether you tell me it's blister prevention or whatever, that
Speaker 1: has to be pretty concerning because I will say this
Speaker 1: last year at this time, and remember he dealt with
Speaker 1: a calf a little in OTAs. But when you saw
Speaker 1: him move around and he was healthy, he looks somewhat spry.
Speaker 1: He's forty years old, and we have I would say,
Speaker 1: pretty recent data of some legendary guys falling off a
Speaker 1: cliff Matt Ryan for all different Matt Ryan, and I
Speaker 1: would put him on the lower end of these players.
Speaker 1: Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Ben or Roethlisberger most of my life.
Speaker 1: When I was a kid in the nineties, guys got
Speaker 1: to like thirty five in all pro sports and were done,
Speaker 1: and then Brady kind of changed it. Lebron kind of
Speaker 1: changed it. Most people fall off, Hey, Russell will and
Speaker 1: that's what I'm kind of expecting. Yeah, and he's that's crazy.
Speaker 1: But he's not quite as quick anymore. He's not quite
Speaker 1: the athlete. Why he's thirty four, he's not twenty six.
Speaker 1: Aaron's forty forty. And part of the reasons he's older, right,
Speaker 1: because played several years in college red shirted, gray shirted
Speaker 1: in the pros, didn't play for a while, so he's
Speaker 1: actually older, even though he hasn't been playing technically as
Speaker 1: long as some of those guys like Peyton Manning when
Speaker 1: he was forty. But I think there's a very good
Speaker 1: chance if you just base it up the history of sports,
Speaker 1: it usually ends poorly. Usually don't do John Elway. This
Speaker 1: one's for John, especially with the Jets, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: their offensive coordinator is not any good. That's right, He's
Speaker 1: just not. I mean, most teams in the league laugh
Speaker 1: at that situation. And he's there for one reason and
Speaker 1: one reason only, which I'm for the coach and the
Speaker 1: quarterback having a good relationship. That's how you and your
Speaker 1: producers have good relate Like there's it should be healthy
Speaker 1: if the guy is good at his job. Josh McDaniel's
Speaker 1: pay and Tom Brady made a lot of sense Kyle
Speaker 1: in his quarterbacks for Sean McVay and Matt Stafford. This one,
Speaker 1: this guy's just not viewed as good enough. And last
Speaker 1: year when Aaron left, it was an abomination and these
Speaker 1: stories because of the organization. What if they start slow now,
Speaker 1: I actually think they have an opportunity. I don't think
Speaker 1: their schedule is that hard early after it's.
Speaker 2: A weird schedule. Well, it's a lot of night games
Speaker 2: in short weeks.
Speaker 1: They're just gonna be covered like the Lakers or the Yankees,
Speaker 1: and we know things get weird with that franchise. And
Speaker 1: even if it's all about football, none of the other
Speaker 1: extracurricular stuff. If it's weird on offense, they're just gonna
Speaker 1: point at the quarterback and the offensive coordinator, and then
Speaker 1: the head coach is gonna be up there like saying,
Speaker 1: who knows what? It could snowball into weirdness really quick
Speaker 1: and like Aaron said, if I don't perform, we're all
Speaker 1: getting fired. That's what's on the line here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the schedule. I think it's it's viewed
Speaker 2: as easy, and we have to be honest. Seven teams
Speaker 2: that made the playoffs won't seven new ones.
Speaker 1: Will.
Speaker 2: You gotta be careful about look it, you know, looking
Speaker 2: at last year. Yet, like I mean to me, the
Speaker 2: Colts and Washington could be I mean, the Colts won
Speaker 2: nine games with Gardner Minshew. I mean Anthony Richardson when
Speaker 2: he was playing was jaw dropping.
Speaker 1: If they won eleven, they were a drop pass from
Speaker 1: winning that division.
Speaker 2: Last YEP and Washington I contend they're going to be
Speaker 2: probably the most improved NFC team. So you start looking
Speaker 2: at these teams. I did something the other day where
Speaker 2: since the league expanded to fourteen playoff teams, six point
Speaker 2: eight or seven new teams make it every year. And
Speaker 2: I went through a list of teams. Some are obvious Atlanta,
Speaker 2: big quarterback upgrade, Chargers, big coaching upgrade, Cincinnati Burrough plays.
Speaker 2: I think Colts are really interesting. They're my surprise team
Speaker 2: potentially in the league. I thought last week was really interesting.
Speaker 2: So Miami signs Jayalen Waddle to a massive deal with
Speaker 2: Tyreek Hill already signing a stupendous contract. Okay, what are
Speaker 2: we saying here? So if Tua just signs the tenth
Speaker 2: biggest contract, that's Josh Allen. Now, who'll get an extension
Speaker 2: to raise? They're one hundred and five million guy, one
Speaker 2: hundred and five million bucks. I think something close to
Speaker 2: that on three dudes, all on offense. Not a pass rusher,
Speaker 2: not a corner, not an interior defensive lineman, not an
Speaker 2: offensive tackle, two receivers in a quarterback. So I almost wondered, was.
Speaker 1: Miami small guys too?
Speaker 2: Was Miami saying, listen, we're making our bet. We're just
Speaker 2: not going to have This is our way of telling
Speaker 2: you you're not getting fifty five million dollars. We're just
Speaker 2: not going to give you that. Because I don't know.
Speaker 2: I know Dak has market. I've talked to two gms
Speaker 2: who have told.
Speaker 1: Me the Raiders would sign him yesterday yesterday.
Speaker 2: And I think very quickly, you know, if the Drake
Speaker 2: May thing looks awful, they'd sniff at it. I mean
Speaker 2: New Orleans with Derek Carr. I don't think they're in
Speaker 2: lot Giants Daniel Jones. What is too his market?
Speaker 1: I don't think it would be that good. But he's
Speaker 1: not my type player. But we also know when you
Speaker 1: hit free agency at that position, people overspend. But who
Speaker 1: is giving two one hundred and fifty million dollars on
Speaker 1: the open market? Who is I can't see. Did you
Speaker 1: see the picture of him at the charity event? He
Speaker 1: looked like he was on ozembic. He looks tiny, He
Speaker 1: looks really really skinny. Yeah. I'm not into small guys
Speaker 1: who aren't great athletes with average arms. It's not really
Speaker 1: my style. I mean, I like my quarterbacks to be
Speaker 1: a little bigger, a little more mobile with howitzers. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but because when you look at to in theory, he
Speaker 1: should be this kind of mobile little guy. But he
Speaker 1: is much closer to Jared Goff the way he plays.
Speaker 1: I've said it over and over. Well, here's what Dak
Speaker 1: does has proven. Now he's given me three straight years
Speaker 1: of twelve wins. Do I want to give him fifty
Speaker 1: plus million dollars? I do not. Is there an opportunity
Speaker 1: that if he gets hot one postseason, they could win
Speaker 1: a couple games like an Eli Manning situation. I don't
Speaker 1: believe too as that capability. Yeah, one, what we witnessed
Speaker 1: last year. I mean, if this was like the ND
Speaker 1: five hundred, they were up like several laps, the Bills
Speaker 1: were leaking oil. They were six and six. Then the
Speaker 1: season ends, they win the division and they're hosting playoff
Speaker 1: games and Miami has to go on the road. And
Speaker 1: even when I saw Vech at the Combine, He's like,
Speaker 1: I've been in the NFL a long time. That was
Speaker 1: the coldest game I've ever stood on the field for
Speaker 1: when he played the Chiefs. And we felt pretty good
Speaker 1: about our chances because we knew that offense couldn't function
Speaker 1: in the freezing court, right, But they wouldn't have had
Speaker 1: a chance in a cold weather game against Baltimore, against
Speaker 1: any of these teams. Yeah, So part of it is
Speaker 1: the AFC. If you spend two, if you spend all
Speaker 1: this money on to it, because at the end of
Speaker 1: the they could dak. It hasn't gone well these last
Speaker 1: three years. But beat a party. Beat sure. You know
Speaker 1: a Jared Goff if he plays right, how is Tua
Speaker 1: ever gonna outplay Patrick mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Herbert Now with Harbaugh,
Speaker 1: Josh Allen it's not happening. It doesn't mean he's not
Speaker 1: a solid NFL starter. But once you start talking about
Speaker 1: the money, this is not baseball. You don't have an
Speaker 1: unlimited on of cap space. Tyreek Hill, he's one of
Speaker 1: the greatest players I've ever seen. No problem investing Jayleen Wattle.
Speaker 1: You draft him high. He's a productive player. I get
Speaker 1: it too, Like, why can't we just play this out?
Speaker 1: Why does every quarterback have to get in it? Jared
Speaker 1: Goff proved last year. He went toe to toe with
Speaker 1: Matt Stafford in the playoff game. He won the second
Speaker 1: playoff game against Baker Mayfield. He was great against the
Speaker 1: forty nine ers, Like they have tangible evidence now in
Speaker 1: the playoffs, let alone the regular season now for a
Speaker 1: year and a half, where's that evidence against Tua? Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: he plays well in October. Well, you're in the AFC
Speaker 1: where most of these teams come November and December. I
Speaker 1: looked at their schedule whenever the schedules came out, they
Speaker 1: have three or four games post You know, Hall of
Speaker 1: get a little cold, Colin get a little cold. What
Speaker 1: if you can't do it this year, If you can't
Speaker 1: win the division and host a playoff game, which they
Speaker 1: would have to do to have success in the playoffs
Speaker 1: because of their climate. What's the point of extending them
Speaker 1: just to say you have a quarterback?
Speaker 2: Well, and last year, you know, I've said this. Last
Speaker 2: year in the AFC, it was the year Aaron gets hurt,
Speaker 2: Bill starts slowly, Burrow gets hurt, Deshaun and Cleveland are
Speaker 2: a head scratching mess. Anthony Richards had hurt. C J.
Speaker 2: Stroud's only a rookie. Trevor law ran and Staley with
Speaker 2: the Chargers, and Trevor Lawrence injured every part of his
Speaker 2: lower Torso like in the last eight weeks, it was
Speaker 2: the year and they didn't do it. So Aaron's back,
Speaker 2: Jets have another draft. Buffalo's not starting six and six.
Speaker 2: You know, let me let me speak in the buffle.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna throw a theory at you that and this
Speaker 2: is especially true with young ger quarterbacks. Four years and
Speaker 2: then is that I've said this, something can be really
Speaker 2: important in your life, but overrated. A big house. A
Speaker 2: house is nice. A bigger house is not necessarily bigger mortgage,
Speaker 2: more cleaning, bigger yard, like you. My wife and I
Speaker 2: talk about this like locations. So much more important than
Speaker 2: size of house. Like we'll just just give us a
Speaker 2: good location. We'll add a bedroom. We'll figure out and make,
Speaker 2: you know, create another place to go to the bathroom.
Speaker 1: Use the same three rooms every day. That's right. You
Speaker 1: know there's a lot of rooms don't even touch.
Speaker 2: So I used to call wide receivers icing on the cake,
Speaker 2: never the cake. The cake was a left tackle, the
Speaker 2: pass rusher, the quarterback, the head coach. And then I
Speaker 2: had to about six seven years ago acknowledge the rules
Speaker 2: have changed. They're part of the cake. But I don't
Speaker 2: necessarily love dominant number one receivers. Patriots with Randy Moss
Speaker 2: was a great example where you almost felt like you
Speaker 2: had to throw to him, and don't. I don't think
Speaker 2: losing Stefan Diggs. If the kid out of Florida State
Speaker 2: can play, they have two excellent tight ends. They finally
Speaker 2: found a running back, Josh Is in his athletic prime.
Speaker 2: I think I think we're in a little bit of
Speaker 2: a wide receiver bubble thirty million for a receiver if
Speaker 2: you don't have the quarterback. We've always said quarterbacks make
Speaker 2: the rice. Even Larry Fitzgerald had off years without great
Speaker 2: quarterbacks Carson Palmer big year, Kurt Warner big year. So
Speaker 2: I look at Buffalo and I think there's this feeling that,
Speaker 2: you know, watch out, it's a free fall. I don't
Speaker 2: feel like it. I really don't.
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna be really good. I mean it's
Speaker 1: part of my two of you know, where I land
Speaker 1: on that situation is like, I don't think you're any
Speaker 1: closer to catching them. And it starts with Josh Allen.
Speaker 1: When's the last time he had a wide receiver like
Speaker 1: the guy they just draftedim from Florida State, A big body,
Speaker 1: high point guy. He's a basketball player. So Stefan Diggs won.
Speaker 1: Like a lot of wide receivers, their person can change
Speaker 1: on a daily basis, and it was clearly driving them nuts.
Speaker 1: And then the play was started to like a lot
Speaker 1: of older players he's played at high level, was no
Speaker 1: longer at the same level. So it was probably a
Speaker 1: pretty easy move for them to make. And then they
Speaker 1: get the wide receiver one that is just going to
Speaker 1: translate to cold weather, right, He's not predicated on speed,
Speaker 1: So I'm with you. I mean, they've won this division
Speaker 1: four straight years. They're the new Patriots in the division
Speaker 1: in terms of the dominance, obviously not the same playoff success.
Speaker 1: The other thing is when you have an all time
Speaker 1: great quarterback. I mean that's what I think. Josh Allen
Speaker 1: is going to go down as one of the great
Speaker 1: quarterbacks of my life. They make wide receivers ideally, you
Speaker 1: would love to have Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne like
Speaker 1: Peyton benefited. He was a great player, and they also
Speaker 1: did a great job because Bill Polly is an all
Speaker 1: time great exec. Tom Brady won a lot of games
Speaker 1: with Julian Edelmans and Danny Ammadolas, So if you can
Speaker 1: find a sweet spot somewhere in the middle, you don't
Speaker 1: need to have. Look at the Packers. I love Devontae Adams.
Speaker 1: I'd want them on my team every day of the week.
Speaker 1: If they get rid of him, he goes to the Raiders.
Speaker 1: They haven't won at all. He's still a great player,
Speaker 1: but now he's kind of useless because their quarterback situation sucks.
Speaker 1: In the Packers boom last year. Kick the shit out
Speaker 1: of the Packer or the Cowboys in the playoff game,
Speaker 1: and it looks like all we talk about is they
Speaker 1: have one of the best young wide receiver rooms in
Speaker 1: the league. So I think when I saw the story
Speaker 1: about would they trade Justin Jefferson right the Minnesota Vikings, Well,
Speaker 1: if i'd get two ones and two twos and allocate
Speaker 1: my resources differently, i'd be a no brainer than paying him.
Speaker 1: And we all acknowledge one of the great non quarterbacks
Speaker 1: in the NFL. But this is it's a pretty easy
Speaker 1: math equations. Especially I already got Jordan Addison, I got
Speaker 1: an offensive coach, Like, yeah, I wouldn't just trade him
Speaker 1: for a second round pick. But if you're gonna give
Speaker 1: me three ones, here, take them. You give them the contract.
Speaker 1: But I think there's a reason a lot of smart
Speaker 1: teams now go that's not worth it to us giving
Speaker 1: up all these ones and then having to allocate the resources.
Speaker 1: So it's we've kind of seen less and less of
Speaker 1: those massive trades since the DeVante and the Tyreek, because
Speaker 1: why don't I just draft a guy in the twenties
Speaker 1: like the Baltimore Ravens last year. I get Zave Flowers
Speaker 1: and he's on a cost controlled contract that pays him
Speaker 1: three or four million dollars a year, right, and I
Speaker 1: get to keep my assets.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, listen, if you if you look at
Speaker 2: the greatest example is Kansas City that took a touchdown
Speaker 2: machine in Tyreek Hill, and they have won back to
Speaker 2: back Super Bowls without him, and Miami's going no further
Speaker 2: with him. And you know, the other thing you have
Speaker 2: to acknowledge is football is different in December and January.
Speaker 2: You just don't throw the ball as deep as often.
Speaker 2: You just don't, you know, you.
Speaker 1: Don't throw the ball deep that often in general, Like
Speaker 1: there aren't go routes every other series, Right, That's not
Speaker 1: the way football, even though it kind of feels that way.
Speaker 1: A lot of explosive plays nowadays, right, happen around the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage because you have so many guys with
Speaker 1: so much speed. Break Deebo Samuels had a ton of
Speaker 1: explosive plays over the years. I would imagine the majority
Speaker 1: of them have come ten yards an inn from where
Speaker 1: the ball is snapped.
Speaker 2: The you know I was. The Pittsburgh Steelers are at
Speaker 2: a really interesting crossroads. So Mike tom Mike Tomlin can
Speaker 2: get a little prickly when his future is discussed, but
Speaker 2: he has not beaten an elite quarterback in the playoff
Speaker 2: game in forever. And that's just the reality.
Speaker 1: He hasn't want a playoff game in almost a decade. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So, and it's interesting they're not paying anything for Russell. Russell,
Speaker 2: you know, any chance he gets to say, boy, I'd
Speaker 2: love to see packages for Justin Fields at wide receiver.
Speaker 2: It's like, I mean, that's so transparent.
Speaker 1: That's kind of weird.
Speaker 2: You know, they're all talking about and Justin doesn't want
Speaker 2: any part of that, and he shouldn't want any part
Speaker 2: of it. But I did have somebody that I trust
Speaker 2: kind of that reports on the Steelers say, Russell, the
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh's going to be.
Speaker 1: It's very.
Speaker 2: That culture there is very grinder oriented. Even your stars.
Speaker 2: Big Ben was kind of a small town guy. TJ.
Speaker 2: Watt Midwestern guy. You know, the lavian bells come in
Speaker 2: and very quickly they kind of feel disconnected from it.
Speaker 2: It's it's a grinder operation. And I'm not saying Russell
Speaker 2: doesn't grind and work hard, but he's got a brand.
Speaker 2: He's just different. I mean, it's just I mean, call
Speaker 2: it what you want. Nobody gets called out in this
Speaker 2: league as much as Russell, and somebody that has good
Speaker 2: connective tissue to the Steelers said, there's already been a
Speaker 2: couple of situations where you know he's he's Russ and
Speaker 2: these are the Steelers. It's ay and I say this,
Speaker 2: Green Bay and Pittsburgh have a very lunch pale quality. Now,
Speaker 2: the Steelers usually have elite defensive personnel. Packers are better
Speaker 2: on the offensive side in terms of efficiency. Packers have
Speaker 2: also had offensive coaches. But if you had to do
Speaker 2: crystal ball on Russell Wilson, what it looks like end
Speaker 2: of the year's schedule's awful. But if you had to
Speaker 2: have a crystal ball on Russell Wilson, another quarterback who
Speaker 2: almost inexplicably got worse fast without an injury, just got
Speaker 2: worse fast nearing thirty five, what is your crystal ball
Speaker 2: on Pittsburgh?
Speaker 1: If I had to go over under on Justin Field's
Speaker 1: first start with the Steelers, it'd probably be around five
Speaker 1: and a half. I think he's in and I think
Speaker 1: he's in early. The other thing is, you know, Russell
Speaker 1: has to ingratiate himself. When you think of Mike Tommin
Speaker 1: and the Steelers, I think TJ. Watt, Cam Hayward, make
Speaker 1: of Fitzpatrick. I mean, those guys in Mike are kind
Speaker 1: of on the same page, right I mean they feel
Speaker 1: like part of the operation. Do they feel like Russell
Speaker 1: Wilson guys? I mean when you think do you think TJ.
Speaker 1: Watt and MIKEA. Fitzpatrick. You never say the word brand.
Speaker 1: You think ass kickers and football players. And I just
Speaker 1: can't imagine. I just don't think he's good enough. And
Speaker 1: the margin Ferrera in this conference dinking and dunking. You
Speaker 1: could argue if it starts slow, like what if they're
Speaker 1: owing to and it's just like what are we doing on?
Speaker 1: It might not even get to five and a half
Speaker 1: because what what whorst is equity with the operation? Denver what'nything?
Speaker 1: Pretty heavily paying them anything? They're paying them less than
Speaker 1: a million dollars. Honestly, if it got really what, you
Speaker 1: could cut them and you wouldn't even think twice. And
Speaker 1: that happens to a lot of NFL players. Once you
Speaker 1: start getting the team three and four, your equity with
Speaker 1: the operation disappears. And it's a performance based business, so
Speaker 1: no one's gonna want to hear about anything except touchdown passes.
Speaker 1: And I don't know, I mean the guy we've seen
Speaker 1: the last couple of years, I don't know if his
Speaker 1: confidence is gone. I don't know if, but he's been
Speaker 1: a pretty marginal player now for three straight years because
Speaker 1: that last year in Seattle and then everything that happened
Speaker 1: in the last two years in Denver. I also think,
Speaker 1: if you're the fan bases in the NFL, sneaky have
Speaker 1: a lot of juice because that's kind of where the owners,
Speaker 1: you know, they listen to radio that they so you
Speaker 1: think Pittsburgh if all of a sudden listen, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I would bet justin Fields he's probably closer to what
Speaker 1: we've seen his whole career, but we've also seen guys
Speaker 1: improve with that skill set when they get with the
Speaker 1: right coordinator. Arthur Smith resurrected Ryan Tannehill. If I'm a
Speaker 1: fan and we're zeroing too, like I not watching Russell Wilson, Well,
Speaker 1: I've seen this from Afar putting the young kid, and
Speaker 1: let's just see if we could figure something out with
Speaker 1: this guy that has a lot of physical tools. Now
Speaker 1: quarterbacks at about a lot more than run fast and
Speaker 1: throwing hard. His pocket presence has been a major question mark.
Speaker 1: But what did Arthur Smith do with Ryan tannel They
Speaker 1: ran the ball. He gave him a lot of easy
Speaker 1: looks kept it pretty simple. Now, I don't think they
Speaker 1: really have Derrick Henry, you know, Najee Harris, Okay, back
Speaker 1: Jalen Warred pretty explosive, but if their defense is good.
Speaker 1: You know, honestly, if I was a Steeler fan, I
Speaker 1: just want to see Justin fields right out. I wouldn't
Speaker 1: even want to see Russell Wilson. I just like, can
Speaker 1: we resurrect this guy?
Speaker 2: Well, it's interesting because Arthur Smith, his history is a
Speaker 2: lot of throws over the middle of the field, and
Speaker 2: that's not what Russell does. That's just not it.
Speaker 1: No, he throws deep go routes.
Speaker 2: See that's yeah, because you know his size, he can struggle.
Speaker 2: Kyler Murray admits this. Tua acknowledges this. Sometimes I struggle
Speaker 2: to see over the line. So of all, I've been
Speaker 2: doing this now thirty years of talk sports, and you know,
Speaker 2: I do a segment every Monday. Colin right, Colin wrong.
Speaker 2: I have big opinions miss all the time. Russell. I
Speaker 2: don't ever remember a player in my life at that
Speaker 2: position that I was sure he was great, and then
Speaker 2: after a year I'm pretty sure he's just B minus
Speaker 2: and there's no injury he's not to thirty six. He
Speaker 2: works really hard, Like it's a really hard ask. You
Speaker 2: start trying to figure out. You say, well, he didn't
Speaker 2: get along. Seattley wasn't beloved, so no injury, He's still elusive.
Speaker 2: It's like he put wede On in the wrong spot.
Speaker 2: He got a little thick. I find Russell to be
Speaker 2: a complete historic outlier, like Matt Ryan, never moved well,
Speaker 2: didn't have a big arm, kind of thin, and it
Speaker 2: felt like the game quickly passed him by. It got
Speaker 2: very mobile and athletic, and he wasn't you know, there
Speaker 2: are players at the end. Philip Rivers was never athletic.
Speaker 2: He got like the most unathletic quarterback in the league.
Speaker 2: Eli Manning just felt like he was out of gas. Russell,
Speaker 2: You're like last year in Seattle, he's a wizard and
Speaker 2: then he's bad and then Peyton makes him okay, And
Speaker 2: I'm like, I don't think he sees the field. I
Speaker 2: don't think he sees guys, and I from people close
Speaker 2: and around Sean like that's what the film said. He
Speaker 2: just didn't see open guys.
Speaker 1: I'll give you another guy that falls into that category. Now,
Speaker 1: he had a bunch off the field stuff, But Deshaun
Speaker 1: Watson was much more of kind of a scramble to
Speaker 1: throw ad lib guy, and when it was on it
Speaker 1: looked spectacular. But over the course of years you have
Speaker 1: to play from within the pocket. Now he missed time
Speaker 1: because of the massage therapist, he's been injured, but he
Speaker 1: has looked like a shell of himself in Cleveland. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's not like he's throwing to me and you.
Speaker 1: I mean, they have a lot of talent on the
Speaker 1: team and he looks like a guy and he's way
Speaker 1: younger than Russell. You're like, what the hell is this? Yeah,
Speaker 1: and that that is?
Speaker 2: That is And we love his coach.
Speaker 1: For sure. I mean we love his team. Joe Flacco
Speaker 1: gets in there, they boom, they start rattling off wins.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're they're loaded. And that's one. I know
Speaker 1: a lot of people in the NFL are like you know,
Speaker 1: if you really watch them in Houston, it's a lot
Speaker 1: of kind of running outside the tackles and making stuff happen,
Speaker 1: which is awesome to watch when you're sitting on your couch.
Speaker 1: No one in my life watching football did that better
Speaker 1: Russell in his prime, But like over and over and over. Peyton,
Speaker 1: Tom Aaron, it's winning. Think about some of the solid cousins.
Speaker 1: Why is he had success? Dak Goff win in the
Speaker 1: pocket is how you do it on a weekly basis,
Speaker 1: especially nowadays you watch the combine. How many of these
Speaker 1: d linemen are running four sevens and four as crazy,
Speaker 1: So you start scrambling around. You don't get as much
Speaker 1: space anymore because these guys can run you down. The
Speaker 1: guy the Eagles draft last year, Jalen Carter, is like
Speaker 1: three hundred and twenty pounds and can run faster than
Speaker 1: some like running backs. So the athleticism, and let's face it,
Speaker 1: the other thing is the offensive linemen that have come
Speaker 1: into the league over the last four or five years.
Speaker 1: The supply and demand relative to the high defensive linemen,
Speaker 1: it's kind of it hasn't been there. So the offensive lineman,
Speaker 1: a lot of these guys get aren't as good as
Speaker 1: they used to be. And we know because of college
Speaker 1: football is not quite the same the way that they
Speaker 1: coach with the spread offenses, and these defensive linemen are
Speaker 1: coming for you and they can catch you unless you're
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray and most obviously you know Russell definitely no
Speaker 1: longer is as fast and even Deshaun Watson, you watch him,
Speaker 1: he doesn't play fast anymore. The volume.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to part one of the conversation. Don't
Speaker 2: forget to check back for part two.
Speaker 1: Hey everyone, it's Jason Tipp, host of Hoops Tonight. Make
Speaker 1: sure you check us out live after games on the
Speaker 1: Hoops Tonight YouTube channel as we provide instant reaction and
Speaker 1: analysis of all the big NBA playoff games. Again, that's
Speaker 1: the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcasts.