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Speaker 1: Welcome to Tuesdays and they should a big blue kioff

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Speaker 1: live here on Giants dot com. He's pulled the teenam Lance.

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Speaker 1: Metto with you in the next sixty minutes two zero

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Speaker 1: one five one three hashtag Giants Chat. It is good

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Speaker 1: to be back after a week hiatus. We're back in

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Speaker 1: the mix. We're gonna continue our team previews today. We're

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Speaker 1: gonna have to doubleheader. First, we will preview the Texans

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Speaker 1: and then we will move to the Saints. So we're

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Speaker 1: gonna preview the Week three matchup for the Giants, followed

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Speaker 1: by the Week four matchup. And these are two teams,

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Speaker 1: one of which made the playoffs. That was the New

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Speaker 1: Orleans Saints. They had a bounce back season, made a

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Speaker 1: lot of improvements on the defensive side of the ball,

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Speaker 1: specifically last year. The Texans, on the other hand, the

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Speaker 1: big storyline for them, Paul is they were very much

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Speaker 1: in the hunt. Deshaun Watson took the league by storm.

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Speaker 1: He goes down with a torn a c L completely

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Speaker 1: different story in the second half of the season. Well,

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Speaker 1: between injuries to Watson last year and the last couple

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Speaker 1: of years to t J Watt, J J J J

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Speaker 1: Watt good Um. You know, between those two guys, we're

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Speaker 1: talking about two of the game's high profile superstars, even

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Speaker 1: though Watson's younger. Uh. And to lose those guys for

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Speaker 1: extended periods of time as the Texans have, I mean

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Speaker 1: that just throws up huge wrench into what you're trying

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Speaker 1: to do. So, I mean, I'm gonna be honest with

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Speaker 1: your folks, I really don't know how good the Texans are.

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Speaker 1: I really don't. I don't know what to expect from them.

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Speaker 1: You don't know if these superstars will stay healthy. If

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Speaker 1: they do, how good are they going to be? And

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Speaker 1: we're talking about not just key parts, we're talking about

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Speaker 1: megaparts to the success of this team. These two guys,

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Speaker 1: I mean, they have the keys to the success of

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Speaker 1: the Texans, and if they can't be what they're supposed

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Speaker 1: to be, this team will fall short. They do have

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Speaker 1: Jendevion Clowney, though, who's another electric pass rusher. Their secondary

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Speaker 1: has had a mix of youth and veteran guys. I

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Speaker 1: still think they're trying to work out the kicks there.

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Speaker 1: But I agree with you. You're talking about two players.

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Speaker 1: One was some way to go on offense. The other

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Speaker 1: one was key critical piece of the defense, and I

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Speaker 1: think it's been well documented, Paul. This is not the

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Speaker 1: first season in which Watts got hurt and he has

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Speaker 1: fallen down and they have not had his services. Defense

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Speaker 1: is completely different. You're talking about you know, certainly J. J. Watt,

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Speaker 1: who when he's healthy, you know he's a perennial candidate

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Speaker 1: for Defensive Player of the Year without question. And some

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Speaker 1: people think the way Deshaun Watson started out last season

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Speaker 1: that he might have been a candidate for Offensive Player

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Speaker 1: of the Year or m v P the way he

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Speaker 1: was playing at the time he got hurt. So you

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Speaker 1: can't minimize those injuries or those values, those player values

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Speaker 1: in any way, shape or form. Well, it will be

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Speaker 1: addressed to see how early the Texans clicked, because I

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Speaker 1: think a big part of the storyline for Euston, as

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Speaker 1: you noted, is going to be Deshaun Watson's health and

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Speaker 1: if he gets back to full forum during the course

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Speaker 1: of training camp, he's ready to go week one. I

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Speaker 1: don't think it would be a stunnard as he Houston

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Speaker 1: get back to the level of play that it showed

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Speaker 1: in early two thousand seventeen. Because but Watson, like the

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Speaker 1: Russell Wilson's in the world, like the Cam Newtons of

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Speaker 1: the world, are mobile quarterbacks, so you have to account

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Speaker 1: for their strong arms down the field, which he certainly showcased.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I remember the Texans went into Seattle last

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Speaker 1: season in the first half, and you know, everybody's like

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Speaker 1: the Legion of Boom, How's he going to handle that?

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Speaker 1: And he carved them up as if they were a

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Speaker 1: mediocre defense. That was almost Deshaun Watson's coming out party.

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Speaker 1: It was an offensive clinic in that game. You had

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Speaker 1: both defenses give up a lot of points. But you know,

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Speaker 1: Watson made quite a statement then unfortunately got hurt right

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Speaker 1: after that. But getting back to the point, given the

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Speaker 1: fact that he's a dual threat, it puts the strain

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Speaker 1: on the opposing defenses. You have to be concerned about

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Speaker 1: what Watson could do on the ground as well as

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Speaker 1: what he could do with his arm. However, when we've

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Speaker 1: seen quarterbacks get hurt from a mobility standpoint, sometimes it's

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Speaker 1: a transitional phase in their careers. They have to say

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Speaker 1: to themselves, do I want to continue to be aggressive

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Speaker 1: or do I want to show more balance in my

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Speaker 1: game and more often than not, do I want to

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Speaker 1: say to myself, Hey, I've got to throw the ball away,

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Speaker 1: I've got to run out of bounds as opposed to

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Speaker 1: try to get the additional yardage on the ground. And

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Speaker 1: I'm sure Bill O'Brien, the head coach of the Texans,

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Speaker 1: one of the things they're going over with Deshaun Watson

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Speaker 1: this offseason is, hey, you have to realize you're extremely

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Speaker 1: valuable to our franchise. You already got hurt your rookie year,

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Speaker 1: You've got it. Now start to decide is it worth

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Speaker 1: getting the first down or is it worth you know what,

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Speaker 1: taking the seven yards and running out of play. Uh,

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Speaker 1: go and watch some old tapes of r G three

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Speaker 1: and learn from How about that perfect example and when

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Speaker 1: he was hurt, all of a sudden, the Redskins had

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Speaker 1: no one to turn to. And I mean, you don't

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Speaker 1: want to take it so far. But r G three's

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Speaker 1: career also was cut short as a result of that decision.

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Speaker 1: Making no question with DeShawn Watson with respect to his

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Speaker 1: ability and his game changing ability. I know it's a

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Speaker 1: small sample size, but I think most scouts in the

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Speaker 1: league would tell you most defenses in the A f

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Speaker 1: C South that they didn't necessarily miss him when he

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Speaker 1: was injured because of the damage he did. And that's

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Speaker 1: what the Giants will have to anticipate in the early

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Speaker 1: stages of this season when they go up against Houston.

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Speaker 1: It's gonna be a good early test, I think for

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Speaker 1: the Giants defense, assuming Watson is fully healthy. Well, they

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Speaker 1: tried to protect themselves, and I say tried by going

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Speaker 1: out and getting Brandon Whedon to be their number two

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Speaker 1: quarterback up in case he should go down again. Uh,

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Speaker 1: Savage did not work out well for them at all,

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Speaker 1: and I feel bad, actually, I thought a pit Savage

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Speaker 1: showed some promise, just didn't work out, and he's going

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Speaker 1: to the Saints, by the way, which will be the

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Speaker 1: second team. A lot of connections both of these pods

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Speaker 1: in terms of players switching teams. But you hit on

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Speaker 1: a key point and we'll discuss that with our next

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Speaker 1: guest in terms of the importance of the backup quarterback

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Speaker 1: position in Houston because of some of the injuries that

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Speaker 1: they've dealt with, not just under center, but the injuries

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Speaker 1: that they've dealt with also on the defensive side of things.

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Speaker 1: And speaking of the Houston Texans, We're now going to

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Speaker 1: get into more detail on this team and what type

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Speaker 1: of challenges they'll present for the Giants in week three.

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Speaker 1: We are now joined by Rich Lord. He is an

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Speaker 1: afternoon host on Sports Radio six ten k i l

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Speaker 1: T in Houston, and he is here to help us

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Speaker 1: break down the Texans. Rich you got Lance, Meadal, Paul

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Speaker 1: Ta Tino with you here on Giants dot Com Big

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Speaker 1: Lou Kickoff Live. How's everything? Appreciate the time. Great to

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Speaker 1: be with you, guys. Can't wait for the season to start.

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Speaker 1: We're sixteen days away from heading up to the Greenbrier

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Speaker 1: in West Virginia to cover Texans camp. Can't wait? And

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Speaker 1: why are they going to West Virginia? Most of these

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Speaker 1: teams are starting to do home basis for their training camps. Now,

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Speaker 1: why are the Texans one of those holdouts that still

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Speaker 1: wants to go somewhere else? You clearly have not been

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Speaker 1: to Houston in July. It's a good reason. It's pretty

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Speaker 1: oppressive down here in July. I really think it's pretty simple.

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Speaker 1: A couple of weeks away from the heat, playing and simple.

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Speaker 1: That's not a bad reason, Riche, why don't we just

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Speaker 1: start off by getting an offseason injury report from you.

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Speaker 1: We were just talking about DeShawn Watson a few minutes ago,

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Speaker 1: and uh, you know, obviously that was one of the

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Speaker 1: most devastating injuries of many that the NFL suffered last year.

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Speaker 1: One of the true superstars who had to go on

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Speaker 1: the shelf because of the knee. There's no doubt and guys,

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Speaker 1: that's pretty much the theme heading into this camp with

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Speaker 1: the text and there are five players who are five

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Speaker 1: of their most premier valuable players coming off surgery. And

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Speaker 1: how well these guys come off their surgical procedures and

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Speaker 1: recover and perform for their this team is going to

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Speaker 1: be a huge factor in whether or not they can

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Speaker 1: get back to where they were in Bill O'Brien's first

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Speaker 1: few seasons, and that was, of course a playoff contender Watson.

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Speaker 1: All the news we're hearing on Watson is good. We

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Speaker 1: had Bill O'Brien on our show a week or so back,

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Speaker 1: and he raved about not only physically how far he's

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Speaker 1: come since the knee injury, but mentally the kind of

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Speaker 1: work he's put in to allow he and Watson to

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Speaker 1: kind of get on the same page. Because O'Brien is

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Speaker 1: not just a head coach, he's the offensive play caller

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Speaker 1: as well. But you go from Watson to a second

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Speaker 1: year running back out of Texas named Deante Foreman, who

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Speaker 1: officially was Lamar Miller's backup last year, but towards the

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Speaker 1: end of the season before he suffered a pretty serious

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Speaker 1: achilles injury, was really emerging as a force for this offense.

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Speaker 1: And then on defense, arguably their three best defensive players

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Speaker 1: are coming off season ending surgery. Of course, you start

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Speaker 1: with j. J. Watt, you continue with Jadeveon Clowney, and

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Speaker 1: then Whitney Merciless as well. All three of them, except

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Speaker 1: for Clowney, have been double digit sack guys for this team.

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Speaker 1: So the health of this team really is what it's

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Speaker 1: all about at this point. Well, and that also puts

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Speaker 1: additional pressure ridge on the depth chart because most teams

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Speaker 1: who suffer injuries like that, it makes it breaks their

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Speaker 1: season depending on whether or not the guys could step up,

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Speaker 1: and the Giants are in the same boat. Last season

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Speaker 1: suffered multiple injuries, the depth chart was tested, it wasn't enough,

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Speaker 1: and you look at the quarterback position last year, they

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Speaker 1: turned to Tom Savage t J. Yates. Team goes one

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Speaker 1: and eight without Deshaun Watson center, they bring in Brandon

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Speaker 1: Wheat in this season. What is your feeling on how

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Speaker 1: this quarterback depth chart looks like this season in the

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Speaker 1: event that Deshaun Watson can't get through all sixteen games. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's a little dicey, and let's face it, you know,

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Speaker 1: Watson is coming off his second a c L tere

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Speaker 1: people forget he tore the other a c L his

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Speaker 1: junior year or sophomore or junior year, not too clear

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Speaker 1: on that, but at Clemson although he came back from

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Speaker 1: that much sooner than expected for the Tigers and never

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Speaker 1: had a problem with it moving forward. So there's a

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Speaker 1: lot of optimism about Watson. But yeah, there's no question

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Speaker 1: there's a huge drop off to Brandon Whedon, although he

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Speaker 1: is a guy with experience in the system, experience with

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Speaker 1: O'Brien um and you know, I know, he's a former

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Speaker 1: first round draft pick of the Browns who never really

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Speaker 1: panned out to live up to that first round status.

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Speaker 1: But he's capable. I mean, it's a big drop off,

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Speaker 1: but he's capable. After that is or you really have

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Speaker 1: to have some concern because Joe Webb right now is

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Speaker 1: officially the third string quarterback on this team, um, the Texans.

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Speaker 1: Over the last few years, I'm sure you guys know,

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Speaker 1: before the arrival of Deshaun Watson, it's been a you know,

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Speaker 1: musical chairs if you want to call it that of quarterbacks.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I think Bill O'Brien has had eight or

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Speaker 1: nine of them start games in his first three or

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Speaker 1: four years at the Helm. So we're kind of knocking

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Speaker 1: on wood here in Houston that that Deshaun Watson is

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Speaker 1: going to provide some stability. And look, guys, we're talking

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Speaker 1: about a sixty year history of pro football in this town,

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Speaker 1: dating back to the Oilers in the a f L,

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Speaker 1: and franchise quarterbacks few and far between. I mean, Warren

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Speaker 1: Moon did go to the Hall of Fame. Uh, Dan

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Speaker 1: Pastorini had a couple of good years, but we don't.

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Speaker 1: We don't have franchise quarterbacks in Houston. This feels like

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Speaker 1: it's the guy. Let me ask you this again, rich

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Speaker 1: Lord from k i l T Radio and Houston joining

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Speaker 1: us to talk about the Texans. They'll be playing the

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Speaker 1: Giants by the way through game of the regular season.

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Speaker 1: The reason we are previewing the Texans in today's program. Uh,

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Speaker 1: let let me ask you this, Rich You mentioned a

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Speaker 1: moment ago about the quarterback issues that the franchise in

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Speaker 1: the city has had for a long time. There are

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Speaker 1: those who think that Bill O'Brien was kind of on

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Speaker 1: thin ice at the end of last year. Now again

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Speaker 1: he lost some superstar players. And the optimists would say, Hey,

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Speaker 1: you know, he's a good coach, he knows football, he's

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Speaker 1: a good communicator. Uh, he's been victimized by some really

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Speaker 1: rough circumstances and obviously he's getting another chance this year.

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Speaker 1: The pessimist would say, somehow, some way, you got to

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Speaker 1: overcome all these things, and he hasn't nearly done enough,

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Speaker 1: and this is a do or die year for him.

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Speaker 1: How do you look at it? How do you think

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Speaker 1: his players look at it? Well, he's not only getting

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Speaker 1: another chance, he signed a five year extension to continue

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Speaker 1: coaching this team. And it's been pretty well documented. I

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Speaker 1: think that through his first four seasons here in Houston,

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Speaker 1: he and his general manager Ricks It did not see

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Speaker 1: eye to eye on a lot of personnel issues and

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Speaker 1: philosophical kind of football issues and how to build a

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Speaker 1: football team in You know, O'Brien's image and although they

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Speaker 1: were both very professional about it. Publicly, it was pretty

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Speaker 1: wilde documented that they were not on the same page. Well,

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Speaker 1: Rick took a leave of absence, that's officially what it's

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Speaker 1: being called after last season, and there was a press

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Speaker 1: conference announcing that, and he also announced that that press

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Speaker 1: conference that his wife is dealing with breast cancer and

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Speaker 1: that's the reason he's stepping away. He emphasized that it's

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Speaker 1: it's not a resignation, it's a leave of absence. But

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Speaker 1: they brought in Brian Gain who was previously in this

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Speaker 1: front office and really clicked with Bill O'Brien, and it

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Speaker 1: feels like they've got a real chemistry between the two

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Speaker 1: of them, kind of a shared vision on how to

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Speaker 1: move forward, and they've both been given long term deals.

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Speaker 1: So Rick Smith maybe back in some capacity at some

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Speaker 1: point with this franchise, but he's not going to be

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Speaker 1: the general manager if Andy and he does return, And

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Speaker 1: O'Brien and Brian Gaine moving forward feel like a much

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Speaker 1: better pairing of of head coach and general manager for

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Speaker 1: this franchise. So honestly, anyone who thought Bill O'Brien was

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Speaker 1: on thin ice after four and twelve last year was

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Speaker 1: not inside that building because the confidence Bill O'Brien is

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Speaker 1: actually a pretty amazing thing. His players were able about him,

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Speaker 1: and although he's not he's not perfect. He's still got

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Speaker 1: some game management issues that he's got to overcome. By

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Speaker 1: and large, he's done a pretty good job. I mean,

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Speaker 1: he inherited that two and fourteen disaster after the season,

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Speaker 1: and even though nine and seven for three straight years

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Speaker 1: is not blowing anybody out of the water, you know,

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Speaker 1: two of those years will playoff years, and it felt

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Speaker 1: like there were some progress being made. So it's almost

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Speaker 1: as if seventeen was a mulligan, and you you nailed

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Speaker 1: the reason why they were devastated by injuries. No team

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Speaker 1: in the NFL had more players on injured reserve than

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Speaker 1: the Texans. And as you also noted, Richie has had

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Speaker 1: much stability under center, and you don't give a head

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Speaker 1: coach a quarterback, it's gonna be very difficult to maintain

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Speaker 1: continuing consistency with the franchise. You brought up Brian Gaine

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Speaker 1: and he came over from the Bills franchise, and one

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Speaker 1: of the trends I noticed this offseason was the Texans

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Speaker 1: decided to address their offensive line because obviously that was

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Speaker 1: a major issue for them. So they bring in two

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Speaker 1: new guards and they also bring in a tackle, Sean

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Speaker 1: Trulle Henderson, who came over from Buffalo. I don't think

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Speaker 1: that's a surprise, giving his ties to gain. What do

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Speaker 1: you make of the moves they made on the offensive line.

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Speaker 1: Is that enough to overcome some of the losses of

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Speaker 1: the personnel that they've endured over the last few seasons.

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Speaker 1: You know, guys, the only direction this old line can

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Speaker 1: go is up. It was the hand It was the

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Speaker 1: hands down worst O line in the league last year,

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Speaker 1: which which is what makes the six and a half

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Speaker 1: game stretch with Deshaun Watson at the helm all the

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Speaker 1: more remarkable worst O line in the league and his

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Speaker 1: last five games before he went down with the knee injury,

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Speaker 1: they were averaging a league leading thirty nine points per game.

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Speaker 1: And I don't know if you were called the road

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Speaker 1: games at Seattle in New England, but he almost pulled

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Speaker 1: it off in both of those games. But as far

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Speaker 1: as the old line is concerned, four new starters and

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Speaker 1: the only returning starter is a third year center by

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Speaker 1: the name of Nick Martin out of Notre Dame who

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Speaker 1: missed his entire rookie season due to injury, and had

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Speaker 1: his second year in seventeen cut short with an ankle injury.

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Speaker 1: So he's the returning starter, although kind of on shaky ground.

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Speaker 1: And yeah, you mentioned some of the guys. They drafted

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Speaker 1: a kid named Julian Davenport last year that they think

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Speaker 1: can step in at left tackle. The guards you reference

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Speaker 1: Zack Fulton from Kansas City, Kelemente from New Orleans, and

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Speaker 1: Chantrelle Henderson from Buffalo. Yeah, completely revamped old line, and honestly,

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Speaker 1: it looks good, but the expectations were a little higher

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Speaker 1: going into the off season as far as rebuilding this thing.

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Speaker 1: To be honest with you, a lot of people down

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Speaker 1: here were really, we're really hoping that the guy you

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Speaker 1: got from New England was going to choose Houston. I

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Speaker 1: know there are a lot of reasons why he chose

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Speaker 1: New York instead of Houston, but that was that was

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Speaker 1: a name that a lot I think a lot of

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Speaker 1: Texans fans had their sites set on at left tackle. So, honestly,

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Speaker 1: a lot of unproven guys once again, and they've really

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Speaker 1: swung and missed pretty spectacularly over the last few years

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Speaker 1: in the offensive line Jeff Allen from Kansas City has

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Speaker 1: been a fat failure. Uh they drafted a kid from

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Speaker 1: U C L A um my, gosh, I'm I'm My

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Speaker 1: memory is fate is failing me at the moment. But

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Speaker 1: they have just swung and miss on draft picks and

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Speaker 1: free agents in the old line repeatedly and honestly. With

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Speaker 1: a commodity like Deshaun Watson at quarterback, you can't afford

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Speaker 1: to do that. You're gonna put this guy at risk

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Speaker 1: at some point and it's gonna come back to bite

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Speaker 1: you in the butt. Rich One of the things I

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Speaker 1: noticed when I did a quick check on on last

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Speaker 1: year's stats. And again we've mentioned injuries already five times

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Speaker 1: I think in this short conversation, But you look at

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Speaker 1: that defense and you say, my goodness, they gave up

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Speaker 1: a lot of yards through the air. That secondary had

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Speaker 1: a lot of trouble. Well, they didn't get pass rush

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Speaker 1: when J. J. Watts out of the line up, and

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Speaker 1: they had some of the other guys get hurt. Is

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Speaker 1: is a healthy front seven all that this defense needs

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Speaker 1: to become a I don't know, a five hundred or

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Speaker 1: a better caliber type of defense, or do they still

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Speaker 1: have a bunch of holes that have to be addressed.

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Speaker 1: It really goes back to the health question because I

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Speaker 1: think you hit on the key. Uh. It was a

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Speaker 1: bad year for the back end, but that had a

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Speaker 1: lot to do with no jj want a less than

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Speaker 1: healthy Jadeveon Clowney and no Whitney Merciless. I mean, those

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Speaker 1: are your three primary pass rushers on this defense, and

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Speaker 1: two of them were out for the season very early

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Speaker 1: and one was hobbled. So yeah, that had a lot

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Speaker 1: to do with it. And I think DJ Reader uh,

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Speaker 1: there are other starter up front at nose tackle is

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Speaker 1: pretty under a player former teammate of Watson's at Clemson

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Speaker 1: at linebacker, but Ardric McKinney is the new captain. He

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Speaker 1: takes over the Brian Cushing role, and they've got a

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Speaker 1: couple of young athletic backups, well not backup, Zack Cunningham's

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Speaker 1: the other starter. Dylan Cole is the backup. There's a

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Speaker 1: lot of potential in that front seven, no question about it.

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Speaker 1: But if they returned to health can pressure the quarterback,

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Speaker 1: it's going to help the back end a lot. And

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Speaker 1: the back end is kind of intriguing because they're moving

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Speaker 1: a kid not a kid. Kareem Jackson was their first

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Speaker 1: round pick in he's been a pretty much a stalwart

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Speaker 1: at cornerback. They're moving him to safety. They drafted another

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Speaker 1: safety named Justin Reid, and of course, their biggest signing

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Speaker 1: of the off season was the hunting badger Karon Matthew

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Speaker 1: from Arizona. He brings a lot of excitement and a

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Speaker 1: lot of potential to the table. Well, and another name

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Speaker 1: that they added to me that somewhat intriguing is Aaron Colvin,

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Speaker 1: the slot corner from the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Jaguars

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Speaker 1: had a great season. You saw that firsthand, Rich, I'm

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Speaker 1: sure from playing in the div Vision. Where do they

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Speaker 1: plan to put him? I know there's some chatter that

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Speaker 1: maybe they can move another corner to safety depending on

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Speaker 1: where they feel Colvin will thrive. What do you think

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Speaker 1: he will do for the back in I think Colvin

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Speaker 1: is excited about the opportunity to spend a little time

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Speaker 1: on the outside. He was pretty strictly a slot corner

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Speaker 1: last year. Having Jalen Ramsey and A. J. Boyer as

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Speaker 1: his teammates in Jacksonville, I think they're gonna move around.

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Speaker 1: I think he could wind up starting on the outside,

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Speaker 1: even though he was a fantastic slop corner for the

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Speaker 1: Jags last year. Kariem Jackson is moving from corner to safety.

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Speaker 1: I mentioned that they wore dealt a blow very recently

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Speaker 1: with their starting free safety Andre Howe, who was diagnosed

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Speaker 1: with Hodgkins lymphoma and he's expected to miss the season

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Speaker 1: recovering from that. They're probably leaning a lot on their

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Speaker 1: third round draft pick Justin Reid and leaning a lot

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Speaker 1: on Tyron Matthew's mentorship. And and to me, that's still

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Speaker 1: something that you know when you talk about Matthew as

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Speaker 1: a leader, as a mentor, as setting an example for

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Speaker 1: this team. I know you guys remember his problems at

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Speaker 1: l s U and five six years and five or

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Speaker 1: six years ago. If we had this conversation about Tyron Matthew,

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Speaker 1: we I don't think we would have been talking about

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Speaker 1: him as the player and the influence he can be

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Speaker 1: on this team. And you're right, my bad leaving out

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Speaker 1: Colvin because he was a big pick up as well.

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Speaker 1: I think this defense. I mean, as I mentioned, we

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Speaker 1: had O'Brien on our show a couple of weeks ago,

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Speaker 1: and he and he's not a guy who you know,

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Speaker 1: gets into a lot of hyperbole. He was raving about

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Speaker 1: the potential of this defense. He used the word dominant

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Speaker 1: as the potential for what he thinks they can do

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Speaker 1: on that side of the football. Well, let me reiterate, Rich,

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Speaker 1: that's gonna be week three when the Giants play the Texans.

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Speaker 1: Are you curious as to what kind of team detections

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Speaker 1: will be coming out of training camp. Do you think

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Speaker 1: it's going to take them a month or two to

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Speaker 1: get their sea legs or do you feel as though

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Speaker 1: this team is going to be able to hit the

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Speaker 1: ground running at the start and the Giants will be

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Speaker 1: facing a formidable fall when they head down there. You know,

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Speaker 1: it really does depend on how quickly these guys bounce

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Speaker 1: back from injuries and the differing differing reports we're hearing

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Speaker 1: on these really central players that are recovering from serious injuries. Um,

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Speaker 1: at the top of the list is Watson and as

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Speaker 1: I mentioned, he all the reports are that he's going

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Speaker 1: to be ready to go. Uh. You know, they open up,

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Speaker 1: of course at New England and then the Giants in

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Speaker 1: week three, so they've got a pretty tough opening schedule.

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure they're gonna be at, you know, the

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Speaker 1: height of their powers, and by week three it may

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Speaker 1: take a little time, especially with the serious nature of

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Speaker 1: some of these injuries. However, one thing they do have

429
00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:47,360
Speaker 1: going for them is even though they lost their defensive coordinator,

430
00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:50,320
Speaker 1: Mike Rabel, the new head coach of the Titans, you

431
00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,159
Speaker 1: talk about a plug and play guy. To have Romeo

432
00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:56,800
Speaker 1: Cornell available as the assistant head coach to take over

433
00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:59,280
Speaker 1: once again running the defense and for two years ago

434
00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,200
Speaker 1: in twenty six teen when he last ran the defense,

435
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:05,040
Speaker 1: they have the number one defense in the NFL. So

436
00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,960
Speaker 1: I think they feel pretty good heading into the season

437
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:10,560
Speaker 1: about their chances to really turn this thing around. Romeo

438
00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:13,720
Speaker 1: is an old war horse from our many many days

439
00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:16,480
Speaker 1: years ago under parcels here at East brother Ford. Always

440
00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,439
Speaker 1: loved Romeo. That's a nice thing. You don't tell me that.

441
00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:21,280
Speaker 1: I don't know if your producer told you or you

442
00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:24,280
Speaker 1: guys are even aware. But I'm from bay Ridge, Brooklyn

443
00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:28,000
Speaker 1: Giants fan, I have to request that here in Houston,

444
00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:32,359
Speaker 1: well Rich it's always nice to speak to a fellow

445
00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:34,520
Speaker 1: Brooklyn I I can tell you that. So we we

446
00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:38,400
Speaker 1: are glad we found the one about Rack and Belichick

447
00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:41,359
Speaker 1: and Parcels. Those were the glory days. Oh, you're not kidding,

448
00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:43,880
Speaker 1: You're not kidding one bit. Hey, how did we get

449
00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:46,360
Speaker 1: through this whole thing without talking about Hopkins once? Well,

450
00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:48,680
Speaker 1: I was gonna get to that. You took the words

451
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:50,560
Speaker 1: right out of my mouth. Thought I was actually more

452
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:53,680
Speaker 1: inabored with the Brooklyn Rich got us soft card here

453
00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:55,720
Speaker 1: as we're talking with Rich Lord after dude host on

454
00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:59,199
Speaker 1: sports Radio six ten k I l T and speaking

455
00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:01,920
Speaker 1: of the receiving corps, I'm not so much addressed in

456
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,520
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hopkins Rich because I think it's well document, did

457
00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:06,360
Speaker 1: you pretty much know what you're gonna get out of him?

458
00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:08,280
Speaker 1: I think every year one of the big question marks

459
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:10,199
Speaker 1: where the Texans is, you know, who's gonna be that

460
00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:13,159
Speaker 1: other reliable, complimentary piece. And you look at the roster.

461
00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:15,439
Speaker 1: You know, Will Fuller has been hurt. You know, he

462
00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:19,359
Speaker 1: flashed a bit last season, especially when Watson was under center.

463
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:22,960
Speaker 1: They drafted Braxton Miller, the former quarterback at Ohio State.

464
00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:26,600
Speaker 1: What do you make of that other wide receivers spot?

465
00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:28,520
Speaker 1: And are we finally going to get to the year

466
00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:34,080
Speaker 1: where there's going to be a consistent option opposite DeAndre Hopkins. Yeah,

467
00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:37,280
Speaker 1: they drafted a kid from Texas Tech named Kiki Qt

468
00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:41,600
Speaker 1: and he's got real potential, very explosive player in the

469
00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:46,240
Speaker 1: slot receiver position. They've really never had a top flight

470
00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:50,520
Speaker 1: slot receiver m especially in the last few years, so

471
00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:52,720
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of excitement about him. But

472
00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:56,000
Speaker 1: you mentioned Will Fuller and you hit on the key again.

473
00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:59,240
Speaker 1: It's all about him staying healthy. He did flash, I

474
00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:02,480
Speaker 1: mean it was an unbe leavable flash four games that

475
00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:06,880
Speaker 1: he played with Shaun Watson last year. Seven touchdown receptions

476
00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:09,200
Speaker 1: in those four games. He can take the top off

477
00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:12,640
Speaker 1: the defense. He's got some big time speed, and Watson

478
00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:15,480
Speaker 1: has shown a capability to throw the long ball, the

479
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:19,600
Speaker 1: deep ball accurately. Hopkins is amazing. It doesn't matter who

480
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:21,840
Speaker 1: you pair this guy with. And believe me, we've had

481
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,640
Speaker 1: some slappy's at quarterback over the last few years, whether

482
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:28,359
Speaker 1: it's bron Gosweiler or Ryan Mallett. I mean, I could

483
00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:30,760
Speaker 1: go on and on there, Tom Savage. There's been some

484
00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:35,640
Speaker 1: real bad quarterbacks get some regular season snaps on this team,

485
00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,239
Speaker 1: and it doesn't seem to matter to DeAndre Hopkins. He

486
00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:40,440
Speaker 1: finds a way to make it work with whoever he's

487
00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:43,760
Speaker 1: paired with, and I think he is very excited about

488
00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,679
Speaker 1: moving forward with Deshaun Watson. So the answer is a

489
00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:49,680
Speaker 1: healthy will Fuller as far as that other player is concerned,

490
00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,359
Speaker 1: because I think when he's been healthy, he's absolutely shown

491
00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:56,520
Speaker 1: that he's capable of being that guy. As for Braxton Miller,

492
00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,119
Speaker 1: this is a make or break year for him. Um,

493
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:01,879
Speaker 1: he is not on what they'd hoped he'd achieve in

494
00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:04,560
Speaker 1: his first couple of seasons. He's got a show that

495
00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:07,760
Speaker 1: he belongs to this season or the former. I guess

496
00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:09,600
Speaker 1: what was the Big Ten offensive player of the year

497
00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:12,720
Speaker 1: at quarterback at Ohio State. But a third round pick

498
00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:16,879
Speaker 1: here is a receiver in his job is not completely

499
00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:20,120
Speaker 1: safe unless he shows some progress. Well, it'll be in

500
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:23,119
Speaker 1: intriguing matchup early in the season. Week three, Giants are

501
00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:25,320
Speaker 1: gonna visit the Texans part of a back to back

502
00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:28,480
Speaker 1: trip to Texas because they will visit the Cowboys the

503
00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:31,600
Speaker 1: previous week. He is Rich Lord after a host on

504
00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:41,800
Speaker 1: sports Radio six head. Yes, I'm sorry that just slipped out. Listen.

505
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:47,480
Speaker 1: It's understandable the fan and everybody eventually come to stay

506
00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:50,359
Speaker 1: rich greatly appreciate the time of the insight. Thank you

507
00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:53,720
Speaker 1: for joining us. Enjoyed it, guys, have fun? All right?

508
00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:56,240
Speaker 1: You got it. Rich Lord once again breaking down what

509
00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:59,040
Speaker 1: to expect from the Houston Texans. And you know, I

510
00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:02,720
Speaker 1: listened to rich describing the Texans and it reminds me

511
00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:04,639
Speaker 1: more and more of what the Giants dealt with in

512
00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:07,320
Speaker 1: two thousands seventeen. I'm not trying to make a comparison

513
00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:08,960
Speaker 1: in terms of the talent level. That's not what I'm

514
00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:12,640
Speaker 1: trying to do. I'm saying you had two teams devastated

515
00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:15,000
Speaker 1: by the injury bug and they were just trying to

516
00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:17,159
Speaker 1: work out with their depth chart ways to overcome it.

517
00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:21,640
Speaker 1: Two teams who also had no chance to meet their

518
00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:27,159
Speaker 1: expectations because of those circumstances. Absolutely, you took DeShawn Watson

519
00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:29,760
Speaker 1: out of the Equation, completely different team. You take J. J.

520
00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:33,040
Speaker 1: Watt at the Equation, completely different defense. And we've talked

521
00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:35,080
Speaker 1: about the Giants at nauseum all this season, so we

522
00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:37,920
Speaker 1: certainly don't need to revisit that. So that's a look

523
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:40,159
Speaker 1: at the a f C opponent that the Giants are

524
00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:42,520
Speaker 1: going to visit in Week three. A few minutes, we're

525
00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:45,280
Speaker 1: gonna turn our attention to the new Orleans Saints. Mike

526
00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:48,080
Speaker 1: Triplet of ESPN will be joining us in a few

527
00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:51,080
Speaker 1: moments and the Saints, this is a team that is

528
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:54,800
Speaker 1: gonna be coming to MetLife Stadium. The reason I emphasized that,

529
00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:57,000
Speaker 1: Paul is the Giants don't have a great track record

530
00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:59,480
Speaker 1: when they go to New Orleans. It's been one offensive

531
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,119
Speaker 1: clinic after another. You wanted to bring that up. I

532
00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:04,639
Speaker 1: had to bring that up. You're not a nice man.

533
00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:06,359
Speaker 1: I know, I'm not a nice man. We are pouring

534
00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:09,840
Speaker 1: salt into wounds today on Big Blue Kickoff Live. My

535
00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:13,919
Speaker 1: goodness that that Superdome has been such a house of horrors.

536
00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:18,080
Speaker 1: I think since the day LT ravaged the Saints when

537
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:21,240
Speaker 1: he played with that harness on his shoulder, it has

538
00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:25,560
Speaker 1: turned into a nightmare city for the New York Football Giants.

539
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:28,679
Speaker 1: So I for one, am very glad. But the Giants

540
00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:31,399
Speaker 1: don't have to go back there. And when they have

541
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:34,920
Speaker 1: come to MetLife it's been a number of close affairs

542
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,119
Speaker 1: or the Giants offense seems to have clicked and has

543
00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:39,040
Speaker 1: got in the better of the Saints. So this is

544
00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:43,480
Speaker 1: gonna be another early matchup between the Giants and the Saints,

545
00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:45,879
Speaker 1: as the Saints will visit East Ruther for New Jersey

546
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:47,960
Speaker 1: and to break down what to expect from New Orleans.

547
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:50,200
Speaker 1: Were now joined right here on Giants dot Com Big

548
00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:52,439
Speaker 1: Blue Kickoff Live by Mike triple It. He covers the

549
00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:55,160
Speaker 1: Saints for ESPN. Mike, he got, Lance Meadow and Paul

550
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:59,080
Speaker 1: the Tino appreciate the time. How's everything great? How are

551
00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,160
Speaker 1: you guys doing, doing very well? Or trying to watch

552
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:04,520
Speaker 1: the off season slow down as I'm sure you are

553
00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:07,800
Speaker 1: before we get to the nuts and bolts of training camp.

554
00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:09,520
Speaker 1: But we figured this would be a good time to

555
00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:12,560
Speaker 1: take a closer look at all of the giants upcoming opponents.

556
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:15,600
Speaker 1: And when you look at the Saints last year in particularly,

557
00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:17,560
Speaker 1: the one thing that jumped out to me, Mike was

558
00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:20,720
Speaker 1: the strides they made on defense, because when you look

559
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:22,879
Speaker 1: at the Saints in previous years, it was always the

560
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:25,280
Speaker 1: Achilles heel of the team that Drew Brees would be

561
00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:27,200
Speaker 1: able to put up the points, and then what would

562
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:29,919
Speaker 1: the defense due to help the cause. And I know

563
00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:32,359
Speaker 1: they've suffered some injuries, they have some young guys, they

564
00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:35,000
Speaker 1: brought in some veterans. What do you make of the

565
00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:37,800
Speaker 1: defense this season based on some of their offseason moves

566
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,000
Speaker 1: and how likely is it for them to pick up

567
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:44,160
Speaker 1: where they left off last year? Well, you're exactly right

568
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:46,280
Speaker 1: that that was the key. I mean, we've those of

569
00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:48,480
Speaker 1: us who followed the Saints for years, they've always said

570
00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:50,760
Speaker 1: if they just had the middle of the road defense,

571
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:52,760
Speaker 1: they they'd be winning the division and going to the

572
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:56,000
Speaker 1: playoffs every year. They've had multiple years where they were

573
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,600
Speaker 1: setting NFL records for for bad defense and finishing thirty

574
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:03,200
Speaker 1: one thirty second in the league. Um so last year

575
00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:05,960
Speaker 1: was an amazing turnaround. There was a good long stretch

576
00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:08,800
Speaker 1: of about twelve weeks at a nine game wing streak

577
00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:10,640
Speaker 1: in the middle of the last season where they had

578
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,280
Speaker 1: the number two defense in the league, behind only Jacksonville,

579
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,840
Speaker 1: And uh, I don't know, you know, maybe it'll be

580
00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:20,280
Speaker 1: a little bit of regression this year. But they did

581
00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:22,680
Speaker 1: it with a lot of young players who should only

582
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,120
Speaker 1: continue to get better, including the defensive rookie to Hear

583
00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:29,000
Speaker 1: Marshall Lattimore at cornerback, and that made such a big

584
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:31,800
Speaker 1: difference for them, having a true number one cornerback that

585
00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:34,560
Speaker 1: makes such a big difference for every NFL team. There

586
00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:37,600
Speaker 1: are other corner second year pro Kim Crawley had a

587
00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:40,960
Speaker 1: breakout year. The rookie safety Marcus Williams had a breakout here.

588
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,720
Speaker 1: Kim Jordan has been terrific at defensive end for years,

589
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:47,280
Speaker 1: probably had his best season and was the first team

590
00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:50,120
Speaker 1: All Pro um. And then they went up and drafted

591
00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:53,040
Speaker 1: another pass rusher. Uh was the thirteen pick of the

592
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:56,520
Speaker 1: draft this year. So uh, they've prevented the linebacking corpse.

593
00:29:56,560 --> 00:30:00,360
Speaker 1: So you know, it's not guaranteed top five of top

594
00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:02,600
Speaker 1: ten defense, but there's a lot of reasons to believe

595
00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:05,560
Speaker 1: they can sustain that and be a really balanced team again.

596
00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:07,520
Speaker 1: You know, I gotta flip the page right back to

597
00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:09,880
Speaker 1: the offense for a second though, before we go any further,

598
00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:12,440
Speaker 1: because there's a question I've been begging to ask you

599
00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:16,000
Speaker 1: all day, Mike. You know, you hear the people all

600
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:19,040
Speaker 1: around the country talk about the older quarterbacks all Eli

601
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:22,280
Speaker 1: Manning Giants need to get a new franchise quarterback. He's old,

602
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:25,840
Speaker 1: he's thirty seven years old whatever, and he's on his

603
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:30,240
Speaker 1: last legs. Ben Roethlisberger, he starts hinting that he might retire,

604
00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:32,280
Speaker 1: and then he says no, he's gonna come back and

605
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:34,720
Speaker 1: he's gonna try to give it another goal. Then you

606
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,320
Speaker 1: hear about, oh, what's Philip Rivers gonna do? He's another

607
00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:41,080
Speaker 1: old guy from the same class. Nobody ever talks about

608
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:45,440
Speaker 1: Drew Brees being old. The guy's thirty nine and they

609
00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:51,440
Speaker 1: no one ever ever mentions his age. And this guy

610
00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:54,800
Speaker 1: had a significant arm injury years ago, but they never

611
00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:59,080
Speaker 1: talked about how many bullets are left in that shoulder? Why,

612
00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:02,920
Speaker 1: well you got I guess you gotta star start showing

613
00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:05,640
Speaker 1: signs of regression before where they talked about it. But no,

614
00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:08,840
Speaker 1: look they they have. That has been a big topic

615
00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:12,800
Speaker 1: of conversation here, especially around draft time every year. And

616
00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:14,880
Speaker 1: he actually had a down year a couple of years

617
00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:18,640
Speaker 1: ago where he did battle injuries and people wondered, oh,

618
00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:20,239
Speaker 1: is this year they're gonna do it? As this year

619
00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:23,520
Speaker 1: they're gonna do it, And they were very close um

620
00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:29,000
Speaker 1: to uh just last year UM with the eleventh Marshawn

621
00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:31,360
Speaker 1: Lattimore had gone tent they would have taken Pat Mahomes

622
00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:35,840
Speaker 1: at number eleven, So they were very close to doing it. Uh.

623
00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:38,560
Speaker 1: But obviously they're not gonna push Breeze out the door.

624
00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:41,320
Speaker 1: They you know, they see the value in drafting and quarterback.

625
00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,320
Speaker 1: If the value is there, but that quarterback might have

626
00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:46,560
Speaker 1: to wait four or five years if Breeze continues to

627
00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:48,760
Speaker 1: play this way. And the best thing they're doing for

628
00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:52,720
Speaker 1: Breeze is, you know, the defense we just talked about,

629
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:56,720
Speaker 1: but they've also rebuilt the offensive line and the run game.

630
00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:00,640
Speaker 1: Uh was fantastic last year. I mean to two running

631
00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:03,360
Speaker 1: backs who both went over yards from scrimmage and in

632
00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:06,800
Speaker 1: Alan Camarat mark ingram So Breeze his numbers were pretty

633
00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:10,400
Speaker 1: incredible last year. It was like, you know, his fewest

634
00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:12,880
Speaker 1: past attempts, as few as the yards, as few as touchdowns,

635
00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:16,600
Speaker 1: and stewest interceptions in his entire twelve years with the Saints,

636
00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:19,600
Speaker 1: but he set the NFL record for completion percentage because

637
00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:22,560
Speaker 1: they have allowed him to be really, really efficient in

638
00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:25,200
Speaker 1: this offense. So that'll keep him going well into his

639
00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:27,160
Speaker 1: forties and to keep giving him a run game and

640
00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:29,440
Speaker 1: offensive line and the defense. You know what I love

641
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:32,720
Speaker 1: about this, Mike, It's almost as if the Saints have

642
00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:35,600
Speaker 1: established the blueprint for what the Giants need to do.

643
00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:38,320
Speaker 1: Because the Giants have had Eli Manning get rid of

644
00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:41,000
Speaker 1: the ball ultra quick, you know, to to gain a

645
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:44,400
Speaker 1: higher efficiency in his passing game. They have now rebuilt

646
00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:47,160
Speaker 1: the offensive line and the running game. This passed off

647
00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:51,360
Speaker 1: season by acquiring more alignment and by drafting say Kwan Blackley.

648
00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,600
Speaker 1: And we all know what the offensive line did for

649
00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:57,920
Speaker 1: Breeze last year. We all know what Alvin Kamara did

650
00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:02,440
Speaker 1: for Drew Brees last year. I see a very similar

651
00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:07,600
Speaker 1: pattern developing here with the Giants this season. Yeah, look,

652
00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:11,240
Speaker 1: it's not it's not a bad strategy. Um. And you know,

653
00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:14,719
Speaker 1: I think the things have quietly done that. Everybody realized

654
00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:17,080
Speaker 1: the Cowboys did that with their offensive line with all

655
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,520
Speaker 1: these first round draft picks. But the Saints were really

656
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:21,960
Speaker 1: stockpiling that too. Kind of started when they traded Jimmy

657
00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,640
Speaker 1: Graham for Max Hunger has been a great center for them.

658
00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:27,080
Speaker 1: They used two first round picks on an offensive linement

659
00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:30,600
Speaker 1: and Andrew Steaton Ryan ram Check. Uh. Toronto Armstead has

660
00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:32,640
Speaker 1: been been a stud for them. They spent a lot

661
00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:34,760
Speaker 1: of money on Larry Warford, who went to the Pro

662
00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:38,320
Speaker 1: Bowl and free agency last year. Uh, there is nothing wrong.

663
00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:41,440
Speaker 1: It's never the sexy exciting pick for fans when you

664
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:43,440
Speaker 1: do that in the draft or spend your money that

665
00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:47,040
Speaker 1: way in free agency. But it's sort of a secret

666
00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:50,560
Speaker 1: to make everybody on an offense look better, especially a quarterback. Well,

667
00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:52,880
Speaker 1: speaking of the running game and how critical that is

668
00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:55,960
Speaker 1: for the play the quarterback Mark Ingram is suspended in

669
00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:59,000
Speaker 1: the first quarter of the season, and you've said that

670
00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:01,800
Speaker 1: they did produce say nice one to punch Mike last

671
00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:04,200
Speaker 1: season and they both made the Pro Bowl. What are

672
00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:07,120
Speaker 1: the dynamics going to be like in your mind in

673
00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:10,440
Speaker 1: terms of workload carries now that Ingram's not in the

674
00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:15,680
Speaker 1: picture for that first quarter. Well, yeah, I mean, Sean

675
00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:17,239
Speaker 1: Payton has said he doesn't want to just all of

676
00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:20,640
Speaker 1: a sudden give Camara fifteen more touches a game. He

677
00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:22,360
Speaker 1: doesn't think that would be smart. You don't want to

678
00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:26,439
Speaker 1: overwork him right away. But obviously that's a really nice

679
00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:29,319
Speaker 1: fallback to half. If you're gonna lose one Pro Bowl

680
00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:31,920
Speaker 1: running back for four games, it's nice to have another

681
00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:34,920
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl running back to the same team. So uh,

682
00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:37,839
Speaker 1: and then here's the other thing. They can also rely

683
00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:39,919
Speaker 1: on the past, which had been doing for eleven years

684
00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:41,600
Speaker 1: in this offense, you know, they could throw it a

685
00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:43,200
Speaker 1: little more if they're not just going to be a

686
00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:46,720
Speaker 1: ground and pound team. So they have so many other options.

687
00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:48,359
Speaker 1: I mean, I think the idea will be to pair

688
00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:51,239
Speaker 1: Camara with another guy who's like a number two, and

689
00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:53,120
Speaker 1: they've got a lot of young candidates, so that they

690
00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:55,239
Speaker 1: also just signed Terence West at the end of O

691
00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:57,160
Speaker 1: T A s to give them a veteran option. But

692
00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:00,640
Speaker 1: it'll be you know, if it's not ninety percent Camara,

693
00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:04,440
Speaker 1: it will be Camara. And then obviously the passing games.

694
00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:07,480
Speaker 1: So obviously they were better with both of those Pro

695
00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:10,240
Speaker 1: Bowl running backs last year. And and you know, uh,

696
00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:12,319
Speaker 1: you're you're still going to see them without Ingram when

697
00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:14,920
Speaker 1: when they come to New York. But I think they

698
00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:17,800
Speaker 1: have some nice ballback options and obviously a pretty creative

699
00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:21,719
Speaker 1: coach who can probably still manufacture some offense, uh with

700
00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:24,279
Speaker 1: it been missing for what you know, Mike, there had

701
00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:27,879
Speaker 1: been some talk before this past season that maybe Sean

702
00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:31,080
Speaker 1: Payton had some rough waters to navigate in New Orleans.

703
00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:34,839
Speaker 1: But then obviously things seem to be copacetic. He got

704
00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:38,720
Speaker 1: his extension, he's all setting safe and secure and moving forward.

705
00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:42,120
Speaker 1: How close do you think it got to maybe them

706
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:46,240
Speaker 1: parting with him? Yeah, I think it got really stale

707
00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:51,719
Speaker 1: here from from both sides. I think you know, um,

708
00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:56,560
Speaker 1: there was a big shift around where they just sort

709
00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:59,160
Speaker 1: of had to rebuild this entire thing outside of Drew

710
00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:02,440
Speaker 1: Brees and Sewn Peyton. Uh, they've really revamped the roster

711
00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:05,000
Speaker 1: started from scratch. You know, they went seven and nine

712
00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:07,960
Speaker 1: three years in a row. Maybe his message was getting

713
00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:11,640
Speaker 1: a little old for some people. Um, and you know,

714
00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:14,840
Speaker 1: teams go through that, and and it's pretty impressive the

715
00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:16,799
Speaker 1: way they've come out on the other end. I mean,

716
00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:18,839
Speaker 1: there was a little while there where Peyton did listen

717
00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:21,440
Speaker 1: to other offers. The Saints would have considered trading him

718
00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:25,239
Speaker 1: to another team sort of just feeling like, you know,

719
00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:28,359
Speaker 1: his mentor is Bill Parcels, and Parcels always say, you know,

720
00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:30,160
Speaker 1: get out of there before they run you out of

721
00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:32,160
Speaker 1: town and and and go on to the next thing

722
00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:35,120
Speaker 1: and keep it fresh. And he really strongly considered that,

723
00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:37,160
Speaker 1: and and you know, I think it's the right team

724
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:40,480
Speaker 1: and the right offer would have come along, maybe the Giants, Um,

725
00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:43,160
Speaker 1: he would have considered it, but ultimately the Saints were

726
00:36:43,239 --> 00:36:45,320
Speaker 1: just going to shove him out the door because you

727
00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:47,200
Speaker 1: don't just go out and find a better coach. And

728
00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:49,840
Speaker 1: Sean Payton would have had to have been probably a

729
00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:52,200
Speaker 1: first round draft pick coming back to them for him,

730
00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:54,840
Speaker 1: or an offer that he said he just couldn't possibly refused,

731
00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:56,520
Speaker 1: but he didn't want to go to the Niners, and

732
00:36:56,520 --> 00:36:58,920
Speaker 1: the Saints didn't want to let him go um and

733
00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:01,719
Speaker 1: and they felt like, if we're gonna do this rebuilding thing,

734
00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:04,840
Speaker 1: he's the best guyalta. And that's absolutely turned out to

735
00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:07,000
Speaker 1: be the case. Now, it might not have worked if

736
00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:11,080
Speaker 1: they hadn't started drafting incredibly well the last two years.

737
00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:12,880
Speaker 1: I mean this draft they had this last year with

738
00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:15,360
Speaker 1: both the offensive and defensive rookie of the year in

739
00:37:15,719 --> 00:37:19,200
Speaker 1: Camara and Marshawn Lattimore. Uh and they had five starters

740
00:37:19,239 --> 00:37:21,839
Speaker 1: total come out of last year's draft class. That that

741
00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:24,439
Speaker 1: was just a remarkable way to turn a program around.

742
00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:26,960
Speaker 1: The year before that, they landed Michael Thomas, the receiver.

743
00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,360
Speaker 1: He's a pro bowler already too, So you can rebuild

744
00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:32,640
Speaker 1: if you draft that well and you put a lot

745
00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:35,200
Speaker 1: of weapons around Drew Brees, that's how you allow him

746
00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:38,040
Speaker 1: to continue to produce well into his forties. As we're

747
00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:40,680
Speaker 1: talking with Mike Triple who covers the Saints for ESPN,

748
00:37:40,719 --> 00:37:44,120
Speaker 1: and one other weapon around Drew Brees this season is

749
00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:46,400
Speaker 1: going to be Benjamin Watson, who I'm sure is a

750
00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:48,840
Speaker 1: familiar name to you from covering the team because he

751
00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:51,680
Speaker 1: was with the team two years ago. They parted ways

752
00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:53,799
Speaker 1: with Kobe Fleaner in the off season, and the tight

753
00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:56,200
Speaker 1: end position has been a key position for the Saints

754
00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:59,319
Speaker 1: going back to when Jimmy Graham was there. Watson's up

755
00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:02,240
Speaker 1: there in age, not necessarily the most dazzling offensive weapon,

756
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:05,160
Speaker 1: but the fact that he's familiar with the system and

757
00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:08,719
Speaker 1: was fairly productive with Baltimore. What do they expect out

758
00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:10,800
Speaker 1: of him and do they expect that he's going to

759
00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:15,000
Speaker 1: fill that need at the tight end position. Yeah, Well,

760
00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:17,840
Speaker 1: that is an area where there is question marks around

761
00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:21,600
Speaker 1: in this team is pass catchers. I mean, as I

762
00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:24,279
Speaker 1: said earlier, Sean Payne and Drew Brees can manufacture an

763
00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:27,520
Speaker 1: offense with whoever they have, but outside of Michael Thomas

764
00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:31,680
Speaker 1: and and Ted Kin Jr. There it's a little bit

765
00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:34,120
Speaker 1: of a mistress to who's going to be the big, reliable,

766
00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:36,879
Speaker 1: go to pass catchers on this team. They actually tried

767
00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:39,560
Speaker 1: to replace Ben Watson two years ago with Kobe Sleaner

768
00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:42,120
Speaker 1: and that didn't work out, and they spent a lot

769
00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:43,719
Speaker 1: of money at him and for agency, and that didn't

770
00:38:43,719 --> 00:38:45,480
Speaker 1: work out, and they let him go this offseason. So

771
00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:48,960
Speaker 1: Watson comes back and he's a nice solid veteran that

772
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:50,839
Speaker 1: they know they can trust, but you don't expect him

773
00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:54,840
Speaker 1: to light up the scoreboard necessarily. And then they brought

774
00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:57,480
Speaker 1: in Cameron Meredith from the Chicago Bears, who was a

775
00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:00,680
Speaker 1: great promising young receiver before he suffered a journey injury

776
00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:03,200
Speaker 1: last year in the Bears let him go even though

777
00:39:03,239 --> 00:39:05,840
Speaker 1: it's a restricted free agent, because they were concerned about

778
00:39:05,880 --> 00:39:08,320
Speaker 1: his health. So he's a little bit of a mystery.

779
00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:11,120
Speaker 1: They drafted a guy, Trey Fon Smith in the third round,

780
00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:14,520
Speaker 1: but more than I remember in most years, it's a

781
00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:17,440
Speaker 1: curiosity to see exactly who's going to be catching all

782
00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:19,920
Speaker 1: the balls from Drew Brees this year. The Giants will

783
00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:23,040
Speaker 1: be playing the Saints in Week four, once again here

784
00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:26,920
Speaker 1: at the Meadowlands that Metlive Stadium, Uh, New Orleans. Of course,

785
00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:29,520
Speaker 1: we all know comes off that horrible playoff loss to

786
00:39:29,560 --> 00:39:32,880
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings last season. On Stefon Dix caught that

787
00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:36,840
Speaker 1: miracle pass down the sideline. Uh, Mike, I gotta ask you,

788
00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:39,719
Speaker 1: from what you've seen during the course of this offseason,

789
00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:43,000
Speaker 1: during the spring and during the summer, how much of

790
00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:46,359
Speaker 1: that still stings. I mean, there are players who will

791
00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:49,239
Speaker 1: say they can never wash a memory like that out

792
00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:52,160
Speaker 1: of their brains. There will be other guys who say,

793
00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:54,520
Speaker 1: I will use it as motivation and it will make

794
00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:57,319
Speaker 1: me try ten times harder this year, and we will

795
00:39:57,360 --> 00:39:59,759
Speaker 1: come back and we will rebuild and and it will

796
00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:04,359
Speaker 1: make us better and stronger. How do you see it? Yeah,

797
00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:07,000
Speaker 1: I mean it's probably more of the ladder, uh, more

798
00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:10,920
Speaker 1: than deflating. The funny thing that the story arc around

799
00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:14,040
Speaker 1: this team is that was an incredibly memorable way to

800
00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:19,080
Speaker 1: lose the playoff game and heartbreaking. But this team and

801
00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:22,480
Speaker 1: their identity is how they were the young, up and

802
00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:25,239
Speaker 1: coming team that burst onto the scene last year, that

803
00:40:25,280 --> 00:40:28,319
Speaker 1: after three straight seven and nine seasons, they win the

804
00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:30,879
Speaker 1: NFC South and and you know, come a play away

805
00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:34,000
Speaker 1: from the NFC Championship game. The questions are way more

806
00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:37,200
Speaker 1: like talking to guys like Kimara and Thomas and Lattimore

807
00:40:37,239 --> 00:40:39,799
Speaker 1: about how do you you know, how do you live

808
00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:42,160
Speaker 1: up to your press clippings, not rest on your laurels

809
00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:44,640
Speaker 1: from last year, not to get to you know, everybody

810
00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:46,960
Speaker 1: thinks you're great now. You guys had seven Pro Bowlers

811
00:40:47,040 --> 00:40:49,200
Speaker 1: last year. Everybody's taking you to win the Super Bowl? Now,

812
00:40:49,239 --> 00:40:51,479
Speaker 1: how do you how do you combat that? That's sort

813
00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:54,640
Speaker 1: of more of the storyline with this team rather than

814
00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:57,880
Speaker 1: a team that is still feeling deflated by that loss.

815
00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:01,800
Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like you know that as heartbreaking

816
00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:03,760
Speaker 1: as that loss was, it's not like they're this veteran

817
00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:05,839
Speaker 1: team that just can't seem to get over the hump.

818
00:41:06,080 --> 00:41:09,080
Speaker 1: They arrived, maybe even a year earlier than expected Leicester terear,

819
00:41:09,120 --> 00:41:10,880
Speaker 1: So there's a lot of hope and promise that that

820
00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:13,440
Speaker 1: was just the beginning of things to come. But but

821
00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:16,560
Speaker 1: obviously for the veterans that have been around here for

822
00:41:16,600 --> 00:41:18,799
Speaker 1: a long time, you know, you only get so many

823
00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:21,120
Speaker 1: fights at the Apple, and you know, States have only

824
00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:23,400
Speaker 1: gone to one Super Bowl in the entire Peyton Freeze era,

825
00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:26,279
Speaker 1: so they know how much it stings to to miss

826
00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:28,600
Speaker 1: out on those opportunities. But there's real optimism that that

827
00:41:28,719 --> 00:41:32,239
Speaker 1: this team is still on the rise even after that loss. Well, Mike,

828
00:41:32,239 --> 00:41:35,040
Speaker 1: you mentioned even earlier, this is a defense that has

829
00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:37,440
Speaker 1: a lot of youth, and maybe some of these guys

830
00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:40,560
Speaker 1: did exceed expectations, and like any defense, when you have

831
00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:43,080
Speaker 1: a young secondary, you hope that the front seven comes

832
00:41:43,120 --> 00:41:45,640
Speaker 1: to play, And when you look at the nucleus within

833
00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:48,440
Speaker 1: the front seven, they've added some guys, they've also resigned

834
00:41:48,480 --> 00:41:51,479
Speaker 1: players like Alex okafor who had a great season before

835
00:41:51,520 --> 00:41:53,239
Speaker 1: he went down with the season ending injury. And they

836
00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:56,120
Speaker 1: drafted Marcus Davenport in Round one. Now, I know he,

837
00:41:56,239 --> 00:41:59,640
Speaker 1: I believe recently underwent a hand surgery. What are the

838
00:42:00,040 --> 00:42:02,800
Speaker 1: timeline or timetable for him in terms of whether or

839
00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:05,040
Speaker 1: not he's gonna be okay for training camp in the season,

840
00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:07,239
Speaker 1: And what do you make of the nucleus of this

841
00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:11,640
Speaker 1: front seven this season? Yeah, look, that's second defensive and

842
00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:15,680
Speaker 1: position across from Cameron Jordan is is probably the most

843
00:42:15,719 --> 00:42:19,520
Speaker 1: important thing to watch with this team in the offseason.

844
00:42:19,560 --> 00:42:22,720
Speaker 1: Alex Oka Force coming up a torn achilles and Marcus

845
00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:27,440
Speaker 1: Davenport is you know, his hand surgery should be fine, um,

846
00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:30,080
Speaker 1: pretty early into camp, certainly by the time they have

847
00:42:30,120 --> 00:42:34,000
Speaker 1: to get into all the contact work, preseason games, everything. Um,

848
00:42:34,040 --> 00:42:36,439
Speaker 1: so that should be okay. But he's still a raw

849
00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:40,759
Speaker 1: developmental prospect that played at Texas San Antonio, and you

850
00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:44,839
Speaker 1: know there's there's a big learning curve. Um. The comparison

851
00:42:44,880 --> 00:42:46,719
Speaker 1: that I've made is sort of like Jason Pierre Paul

852
00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:48,480
Speaker 1: when he get to the Giants, you know, coming from

853
00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:50,839
Speaker 1: the small school, drafted right around the same kind of

854
00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:54,080
Speaker 1: same size and weight. So that's that's the ideal scenario

855
00:42:54,120 --> 00:42:55,640
Speaker 1: for the Saints. But that's the kind of guy is.

856
00:42:55,719 --> 00:42:57,640
Speaker 1: So you don't know for sure what we're going to

857
00:42:57,680 --> 00:43:00,719
Speaker 1: get out of Oka for this year with Andrey, and

858
00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:03,120
Speaker 1: you don't know exactly what you're gonna get out of

859
00:43:03,160 --> 00:43:07,120
Speaker 1: Marcus Davenport being a young player. Uh So, if one

860
00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:10,040
Speaker 1: or both of those guys can have great seasons, look out,

861
00:43:10,239 --> 00:43:12,440
Speaker 1: this team is just going to be loaded. If they

862
00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:14,680
Speaker 1: both take a little time to develop them, that becomes

863
00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:17,520
Speaker 1: a concern spot. So it'll be really interesting to see

864
00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:20,120
Speaker 1: what they are exactly at that position and in that

865
00:43:20,200 --> 00:43:22,920
Speaker 1: front seven by the time they're coming there in late September,

866
00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:25,800
Speaker 1: you know, along the same lines in some ways. Cameron

867
00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:28,200
Speaker 1: Jordan is a very interesting guy when you look at

868
00:43:28,200 --> 00:43:30,440
Speaker 1: the back of his football card because he's been a

869
00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:33,960
Speaker 1: starter for all seven years with the Saints and obviously

870
00:43:34,400 --> 00:43:37,360
Speaker 1: a dominant player when he's right. I mean, if you

871
00:43:37,360 --> 00:43:40,120
Speaker 1: look at the last six years, he is alternated with

872
00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:43,799
Speaker 1: double digit sacks and Pro Bowl seasons, but then in

873
00:43:43,840 --> 00:43:47,320
Speaker 1: the ensuing year he goes down to single digit sacks

874
00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:50,560
Speaker 1: and is a very pedestrian pass rusher. So he had

875
00:43:50,560 --> 00:43:53,600
Speaker 1: double digits and a Pro Bowl trip last year. Mike,

876
00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:57,480
Speaker 1: what's he gonna do this season? Well, you know what,

877
00:43:57,520 --> 00:44:00,399
Speaker 1: that's a fair question for you to ask. I'm glad

878
00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:03,200
Speaker 1: he's finally got his do last year because he really

879
00:44:03,239 --> 00:44:06,120
Speaker 1: has been consistently great throughout all seven of those years.

880
00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:07,960
Speaker 1: And he's the guy who in the football car doesn't

881
00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:11,040
Speaker 1: tell the full story because his versatility is really one

882
00:44:11,080 --> 00:44:14,160
Speaker 1: of his strength. He's a big guy. He probably compares

883
00:44:14,520 --> 00:44:17,960
Speaker 1: mostly to J. J. Watt and Calais Campbell in the NFL,

884
00:44:18,080 --> 00:44:20,759
Speaker 1: those guys who are sort of end slash tackles. He's

885
00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:23,359
Speaker 1: not an edge rusher guy. They've had him playing at

886
00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:26,000
Speaker 1: three hundred pounds before. In this defense. He's probably a

887
00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:28,160
Speaker 1: little better when he's closer to two eight two eighty five,

888
00:44:28,239 --> 00:44:30,920
Speaker 1: but they've used him inside and outside. He's almost as

889
00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:33,360
Speaker 1: good of a run defender as he is a pass rusher.

890
00:44:33,640 --> 00:44:36,600
Speaker 1: He backs down a ton of passes, so his game

891
00:44:37,160 --> 00:44:39,200
Speaker 1: is a lot more than just the sacks, and it

892
00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:44,040
Speaker 1: always has been, but in recent years they have trimmed

893
00:44:44,120 --> 00:44:45,840
Speaker 1: him down a little bit. And let him focus on

894
00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:47,719
Speaker 1: rushing the pass there a little more, which he's good at,

895
00:44:47,760 --> 00:44:49,560
Speaker 1: and that's where you see those totals come in. But

896
00:44:50,360 --> 00:44:52,359
Speaker 1: he's played it pretty close to a pro bowl level

897
00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:56,200
Speaker 1: for most of his career. But unfortunately with those guys,

898
00:44:56,480 --> 00:44:58,440
Speaker 1: you do need the Devil Didge attack gives to really

899
00:44:58,480 --> 00:45:01,319
Speaker 1: get recognised for it. We're talking about Mike triple It,

900
00:45:01,360 --> 00:45:04,520
Speaker 1: who covers the Saints for ESPN. Mike from a big

901
00:45:04,560 --> 00:45:08,560
Speaker 1: picture perspective, because this season is interesting. The NFC East

902
00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:10,600
Speaker 1: plays the NFC South, and when you look at both

903
00:45:10,600 --> 00:45:14,359
Speaker 1: of these divisions, with the exception of Carolina winning three

904
00:45:14,400 --> 00:45:18,400
Speaker 1: straight NFC South titles, it's really been a merry go round. Atlanta,

905
00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:21,319
Speaker 1: New Orleans is one the championship for the NFC South.

906
00:45:21,360 --> 00:45:23,399
Speaker 1: The East has not had back to back winners since

907
00:45:23,400 --> 00:45:25,160
Speaker 1: the Eagles won four in a row in the early

908
00:45:25,200 --> 00:45:28,160
Speaker 1: two thousands. I consider the NFC South one of the

909
00:45:28,200 --> 00:45:31,400
Speaker 1: deepest divisions in football. What do you make of this

910
00:45:31,480 --> 00:45:35,360
Speaker 1: division this year and how the balance could very well

911
00:45:35,520 --> 00:45:40,080
Speaker 1: hurt the division or perhaps make it even tougher. Yeah,

912
00:45:40,120 --> 00:45:42,120
Speaker 1: I couldn't. I couldn't agree with you more on that,

913
00:45:42,200 --> 00:45:45,040
Speaker 1: And look, one of these years Tampa Bays figure it

914
00:45:45,040 --> 00:45:47,520
Speaker 1: out too, because they've been a pretty talented young team

915
00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:49,839
Speaker 1: that that seems that always take ton of a step

916
00:45:49,880 --> 00:45:51,920
Speaker 1: forward and then a step back. But they're not an

917
00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:54,839
Speaker 1: easy out. And to begin there, where all four teams

918
00:45:54,880 --> 00:45:57,800
Speaker 1: could easily go eight and eight or better. Um, and

919
00:45:57,800 --> 00:46:00,920
Speaker 1: and the Saints, Falcons, and Panthers all made playoffs last year,

920
00:46:00,920 --> 00:46:03,400
Speaker 1: and obviously that the Panthers and Falcons recently went to

921
00:46:03,440 --> 00:46:06,920
Speaker 1: Super Bowls. I don't think they're going away obviously. Um

922
00:46:07,520 --> 00:46:09,239
Speaker 1: I think Atlanta maybe had a little bit of a

923
00:46:09,280 --> 00:46:11,600
Speaker 1: Super Bowl hangover season last year, but could be right

924
00:46:11,640 --> 00:46:14,359
Speaker 1: there competing for the title again this year. So you're right,

925
00:46:14,400 --> 00:46:17,640
Speaker 1: And I think even the bigger thing. People obviously asked

926
00:46:17,640 --> 00:46:20,640
Speaker 1: me if this is a Super Bowl year for the Saints,

927
00:46:20,680 --> 00:46:23,800
Speaker 1: and I'd say yes, But I know everybody who covers

928
00:46:23,840 --> 00:46:26,480
Speaker 1: the Vikings would say the same thing, and the Eagles

929
00:46:26,680 --> 00:46:31,040
Speaker 1: and the Packers, and um, I know I'm leaving out

930
00:46:31,080 --> 00:46:34,719
Speaker 1: another team with the wait, the Rams. Everybody thinks here

931
00:46:34,760 --> 00:46:37,400
Speaker 1: for the Rams. You know, I don't think the Cowboys

932
00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:39,640
Speaker 1: are gonna stay down. And you know, the Giants just

933
00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:42,000
Speaker 1: won twelve games a couple of years ago, and the

934
00:46:42,040 --> 00:46:44,920
Speaker 1: Seahawks aren't gonna go. I mean, the NFC is like

935
00:46:45,040 --> 00:46:48,439
Speaker 1: the Western Conference in the NBA right now, the last

936
00:46:48,520 --> 00:46:50,880
Speaker 1: question before we let you go, Mike Kenny maccarl is

937
00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:53,239
Speaker 1: still out there was one of the higher profile free

938
00:46:53,280 --> 00:46:56,320
Speaker 1: agents who was yet to sign anywhere. I don't necessarily

939
00:46:56,360 --> 00:46:58,520
Speaker 1: think he's going back to the Saints, although maybe you'll

940
00:46:58,520 --> 00:47:01,480
Speaker 1: tell me otherwise. Do you have any hints as to

941
00:47:01,600 --> 00:47:04,520
Speaker 1: where he might land again, he's one of those big

942
00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:09,040
Speaker 1: names that's still floating around and yet to find a home. Yeah,

943
00:47:09,160 --> 00:47:11,279
Speaker 1: that's a big surprise to me. And I think I've

944
00:47:11,280 --> 00:47:14,360
Speaker 1: got the impression that the offers weren't what he hoped

945
00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:17,000
Speaker 1: for the first time around, and he was still coming

946
00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:19,719
Speaker 1: off a little bit of an injury, uh growing injury

947
00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:23,360
Speaker 1: after finishing last year, and I are and maybe decided

948
00:47:23,400 --> 00:47:25,840
Speaker 1: to bet that that he could find a better opportunity

949
00:47:25,840 --> 00:47:28,640
Speaker 1: closer to training camp or or what training camp starts out.

950
00:47:29,200 --> 00:47:30,840
Speaker 1: But that is one of the bigger surprises to me,

951
00:47:30,880 --> 00:47:34,280
Speaker 1: And honestly, that happened to almost the entire position. Um,

952
00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:37,360
Speaker 1: he won't come back to the Saints because they replaced

953
00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:39,440
Speaker 1: him early on with with what turned out to be

954
00:47:39,480 --> 00:47:42,239
Speaker 1: one of the most expensive safety deals. They signed Kirk

955
00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:44,800
Speaker 1: Coleman from the Panthers to play a similar role, and

956
00:47:44,840 --> 00:47:46,800
Speaker 1: they probably thought he was gonna come a little cheaper,

957
00:47:47,320 --> 00:47:49,560
Speaker 1: and in the end, uh Coleman probably ended up being

958
00:47:49,560 --> 00:47:52,440
Speaker 1: more expensive. But yeah, you know what I wrote about

959
00:47:52,480 --> 00:47:55,440
Speaker 1: with with the car when the Saints made it clear

960
00:47:55,480 --> 00:47:57,359
Speaker 1: they were gonna let him go, is is just all

961
00:47:57,360 --> 00:48:00,279
Speaker 1: the you know, his career here was defy and by

962
00:48:00,320 --> 00:48:03,279
Speaker 1: unrealized potential. I think at times he did look like

963
00:48:03,320 --> 00:48:06,760
Speaker 1: a pro bowler first round pick, which but he battled

964
00:48:06,800 --> 00:48:09,520
Speaker 1: some inconsistency, battle a lot, a lot of injuries. So

965
00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:12,000
Speaker 1: I think if he does find the right place, that

966
00:48:12,120 --> 00:48:14,880
Speaker 1: is a guy that that could still be sort of

967
00:48:14,880 --> 00:48:17,400
Speaker 1: a late career breakout type of players. So I'm curious

968
00:48:17,400 --> 00:48:19,160
Speaker 1: to see where he winds up to now. I think

969
00:48:19,160 --> 00:48:22,160
Speaker 1: that's a really good point. The safety market overall baffling

970
00:48:22,239 --> 00:48:25,120
Speaker 1: what's occurred this offseason with so many veteran guys still

971
00:48:25,160 --> 00:48:27,200
Speaker 1: out there. I think they were very surprised, as well

972
00:48:27,239 --> 00:48:31,040
Speaker 1: as their agents to describe the current circumstances. He's Mike Triplet.

973
00:48:31,080 --> 00:48:34,120
Speaker 1: He covers the Saints for ESPN. Mike greatly appreciate the

974
00:48:34,160 --> 00:48:36,080
Speaker 1: time of the inside thanks so much for joining us

975
00:48:36,120 --> 00:48:38,879
Speaker 1: here on the apro appreciated Mike and Tar the summer. Alright, guys,

976
00:48:38,880 --> 00:48:41,040
Speaker 1: thanks for having Yeah you got it my triplet once

977
00:48:41,040 --> 00:48:44,240
Speaker 1: again breaking down the New Orleans Saints, who the Giants

978
00:48:44,239 --> 00:48:47,600
Speaker 1: will host in week four at MetLife Stadium. We also

979
00:48:47,640 --> 00:48:49,920
Speaker 1: thank Rich Lord for joining us earlier in the program

980
00:48:49,960 --> 00:48:52,360
Speaker 1: to break down the Texans. So we are moving along

981
00:48:52,400 --> 00:48:54,600
Speaker 1: with our team previews and will continue to do that

982
00:48:54,960 --> 00:48:57,680
Speaker 1: leading up to the start of training camp here on

983
00:48:57,719 --> 00:49:00,120
Speaker 1: Big Blue Kickoff Live Giants dot Com. We're gonna put

984
00:49:00,160 --> 00:49:01,800
Speaker 1: up the phone lines are about the last ten minutes

985
00:49:01,800 --> 00:49:03,560
Speaker 1: of the program, So if you want to chime in

986
00:49:03,600 --> 00:49:05,960
Speaker 1: on anything related to the two opponents we just discussed there.

987
00:49:05,960 --> 00:49:07,920
Speaker 1: Anything with respect to the Giants, you give us a

988
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:11,880
Speaker 1: ring two zero, one, four, five on three. Hashtag Giants

989
00:49:11,960 --> 00:49:14,839
Speaker 1: chat on Twitter as well. One thing that I thought

990
00:49:14,880 --> 00:49:18,640
Speaker 1: was very interesting about you know what the Saints did again.

991
00:49:18,960 --> 00:49:21,680
Speaker 1: They did it last year. They went out and rebuilt

992
00:49:21,680 --> 00:49:24,600
Speaker 1: the old line. They went out and they got Kamara

993
00:49:24,680 --> 00:49:26,360
Speaker 1: although he was only a third round pick. He was

994
00:49:26,400 --> 00:49:29,160
Speaker 1: in the first round pick, but they got there all

995
00:49:29,280 --> 00:49:31,239
Speaker 1: everything running back who was going to be a big

996
00:49:31,280 --> 00:49:33,840
Speaker 1: part of the passing game, which, as I said to

997
00:49:33,880 --> 00:49:36,520
Speaker 1: Mike and I honestly, folks, don't think it's a stretch

998
00:49:36,600 --> 00:49:39,040
Speaker 1: to say it that Giants are going to follow a

999
00:49:39,160 --> 00:49:42,520
Speaker 1: very similar blueprint to what the Saints did and we

1000
00:49:42,560 --> 00:49:45,160
Speaker 1: saw how well it worked for them. And oh, by

1001
00:49:45,200 --> 00:49:47,560
Speaker 1: the way, yeah, they do have an aging quarterback in

1002
00:49:47,600 --> 00:49:51,640
Speaker 1: New Orleans too, So it's it's to me, it just

1003
00:49:51,800 --> 00:49:54,719
Speaker 1: makes a whole lot of sense, you know, to look

1004
00:49:54,800 --> 00:49:57,200
Speaker 1: at the Giants and say, hey, you know you, guys,

1005
00:49:57,400 --> 00:49:59,440
Speaker 1: you're on the right track here, you know you you

1006
00:49:59,520 --> 00:50:04,640
Speaker 1: could really do something very significant with this offense. Eli

1007
00:50:04,760 --> 00:50:07,719
Speaker 1: Manning could very easily wind up having a Pro Bowl

1008
00:50:07,760 --> 00:50:10,640
Speaker 1: season this year. I would not at all be surprised. Well,

1009
00:50:10,680 --> 00:50:13,040
Speaker 1: I think the Vikings are another great example to Paul,

1010
00:50:13,120 --> 00:50:15,560
Speaker 1: it's not just the Saints. Listen, it's a copycat league.

1011
00:50:15,560 --> 00:50:17,680
Speaker 1: You hear that phrase all the time, But the truth

1012
00:50:17,760 --> 00:50:21,400
Speaker 1: is there's validity behind that cliche. Minnesota, where Pat Shermer

1013
00:50:21,480 --> 00:50:23,480
Speaker 1: just came from, did the same thing the Saints did.

1014
00:50:23,640 --> 00:50:26,040
Speaker 1: They went out, they addressed the offensive line. They did

1015
00:50:26,040 --> 00:50:28,600
Speaker 1: it with the combination of the drafted free agency. They

1016
00:50:28,680 --> 00:50:32,040
Speaker 1: drafted Dalvin Cook and then just like that, all of

1017
00:50:32,080 --> 00:50:35,040
Speaker 1: a sudden case, Keenum is able to thrive as well

1018
00:50:35,040 --> 00:50:37,800
Speaker 1: as Sam Bradford before he went down with an injury.

1019
00:50:37,840 --> 00:50:41,200
Speaker 1: And it's the same thing. You're surrounding the quarterback with stability,

1020
00:50:41,200 --> 00:50:43,960
Speaker 1: you're protecting him, you're providing a balance offense with the

1021
00:50:44,040 --> 00:50:47,920
Speaker 1: running game, and therefore you're keeping your defense fresh, you're

1022
00:50:47,960 --> 00:50:51,520
Speaker 1: keeping them off the field. This is not rocket science. No,

1023
00:50:51,719 --> 00:50:55,160
Speaker 1: I'm not saying it's easy. Here. The differences though Minnesota

1024
00:50:55,200 --> 00:50:57,719
Speaker 1: New Orleans. Not only did they make those changes, Paul,

1025
00:50:58,040 --> 00:51:02,120
Speaker 1: but the execution we also consistent. That's the other question.

1026
00:51:02,120 --> 00:51:04,040
Speaker 1: To listen. We could go over everybody on the roster,

1027
00:51:04,080 --> 00:51:05,680
Speaker 1: We could play the paper game all you want, and

1028
00:51:05,680 --> 00:51:07,799
Speaker 1: I can tell you this guy looks great. That's guy's

1029
00:51:07,840 --> 00:51:10,799
Speaker 1: a perfect b. If the executions nowhere near where the

1030
00:51:10,880 --> 00:51:13,280
Speaker 1: level of the player is and how he looks on paper,

1031
00:51:13,880 --> 00:51:16,279
Speaker 1: it doesn't mean any fit point. Being though that the

1032
00:51:16,320 --> 00:51:20,080
Speaker 1: Giants of the previous few seasons did not follow that bluepoint,

1033
00:51:20,440 --> 00:51:23,840
Speaker 1: that's fair and we saw what happened. So now they

1034
00:51:23,960 --> 00:51:26,800
Speaker 1: even though even though they had one really good playoff

1035
00:51:26,880 --> 00:51:30,120
Speaker 1: season that turned out to be an outliner when you

1036
00:51:30,160 --> 00:51:33,800
Speaker 1: look at the Giants last handful of seasons. So now

1037
00:51:33,840 --> 00:51:37,000
Speaker 1: they've gone to a blueprint, which to me seems much

1038
00:51:37,040 --> 00:51:41,880
Speaker 1: more sound, whereas the previous game plan was more drafting

1039
00:51:41,960 --> 00:51:45,239
Speaker 1: some guys hoping they turned the corner and develop and

1040
00:51:45,320 --> 00:51:47,520
Speaker 1: seeing if that comes to fruition as opposed to investing

1041
00:51:47,520 --> 00:51:49,720
Speaker 1: a lot of money in the line, which is exactly

1042
00:51:49,760 --> 00:51:51,839
Speaker 1: what they went out and they did this offseason. Now

1043
00:51:51,960 --> 00:51:55,200
Speaker 1: they bolstered and revamped the defense the Giants, But then

1044
00:51:55,239 --> 00:51:58,160
Speaker 1: what happened is when the defense gets banged up and

1045
00:51:58,160 --> 00:52:02,120
Speaker 1: you don't address the offensive line, than what's making up

1046
00:52:02,160 --> 00:52:04,759
Speaker 1: for the other issue on the opposite side of the ball.

1047
00:52:04,840 --> 00:52:09,040
Speaker 1: More than anything else, it's about re establishing the running game,

1048
00:52:09,440 --> 00:52:13,719
Speaker 1: because when you re establish a running game, by definition,

1049
00:52:14,160 --> 00:52:17,719
Speaker 1: you have to improve the offensive line by definition goes

1050
00:52:17,760 --> 00:52:20,640
Speaker 1: hand in hand. That goes hand in hand. So when

1051
00:52:20,680 --> 00:52:23,560
Speaker 1: you say the Giants are trying to rebuild their running game,

1052
00:52:23,760 --> 00:52:26,839
Speaker 1: that in itself includes a whole bunch of things which

1053
00:52:26,920 --> 00:52:30,040
Speaker 1: enhanced the overall picture. And that's really what the Saints did.

1054
00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:32,880
Speaker 1: And when you talk about running game, you're talking about

1055
00:52:32,920 --> 00:52:35,200
Speaker 1: the power run game, the short yardage run game, the

1056
00:52:35,280 --> 00:52:38,440
Speaker 1: form minute offense, but you're also talking about the short

1057
00:52:38,520 --> 00:52:41,880
Speaker 1: dup off passes that become the pseudo runs, which is

1058
00:52:41,920 --> 00:52:45,040
Speaker 1: how Kamara really made his mark on the league. As

1059
00:52:45,600 --> 00:52:47,480
Speaker 1: I mean, he was just as big as a receiver.

1060
00:52:47,840 --> 00:52:53,240
Speaker 1: In terms of their him and McCaffrey, we're basically mirror

1061
00:52:53,280 --> 00:52:57,880
Speaker 1: images of once and so many people have said Barkley

1062
00:52:57,960 --> 00:53:00,320
Speaker 1: is going to kind of fit into that more old

1063
00:53:00,680 --> 00:53:02,959
Speaker 1: for the Giants this season, which is why I think

1064
00:53:03,440 --> 00:53:06,760
Speaker 1: they're a better example than necessarily Minnesota, even though Schumer

1065
00:53:06,800 --> 00:53:10,920
Speaker 1: came from Minnesota. You know, Cook got hurt early. McKinnon

1066
00:53:10,960 --> 00:53:14,480
Speaker 1: then stepped in, but not the not the yeah, but

1067
00:53:14,640 --> 00:53:19,400
Speaker 1: not the same kind of Camara style. Necessarily, that person

1068
00:53:19,719 --> 00:53:21,960
Speaker 1: is different. Yes, well, and here's the other thing I'll

1069
00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:25,399
Speaker 1: add to that, and this is why personally, I would

1070
00:53:25,400 --> 00:53:28,719
Speaker 1: be very surprised that Barkley gets into that eighty reception ballpark.

1071
00:53:28,920 --> 00:53:31,640
Speaker 1: I'm still thinking it's gonna be about fifty six. I'm

1072
00:53:31,760 --> 00:53:34,160
Speaker 1: very much with you, and the reason being is they've

1073
00:53:34,160 --> 00:53:37,040
Speaker 1: got other You hit it right on the nose. And

1074
00:53:37,239 --> 00:53:39,799
Speaker 1: but that's the difference between what the Saints and the

1075
00:53:39,840 --> 00:53:44,160
Speaker 1: Panthers did not see. Carolina remember trades Kelvin Benjamin to Buffalo,

1076
00:53:44,280 --> 00:53:48,120
Speaker 1: their number one wide receiver. So McCaffrey really becomes by

1077
00:53:48,200 --> 00:53:51,919
Speaker 1: default the number two offensive weapon, even in the receiver corps.

1078
00:53:51,960 --> 00:53:54,120
Speaker 1: The Saints. Listen, we just heard from Mike Triplet. He's

1079
00:53:54,160 --> 00:53:56,719
Speaker 1: talking about as great as the offense is, they don't

1080
00:53:56,719 --> 00:53:59,480
Speaker 1: necessarily know what they have after Michael Thomas. That's the

1081
00:53:59,520 --> 00:54:02,560
Speaker 1: difference the Vikings. The Vikings have Dikes, they have Feeling,

1082
00:54:02,600 --> 00:54:06,600
Speaker 1: they have Rudolph, They've got other weapons to rely so

1083
00:54:06,680 --> 00:54:08,600
Speaker 1: much on the running backs stumping them off, and I

1084
00:54:08,680 --> 00:54:11,480
Speaker 1: think the clients similar to that. That's how I see it.

1085
00:54:11,719 --> 00:54:14,399
Speaker 1: That is true. That is true, although again I think

1086
00:54:14,480 --> 00:54:19,120
Speaker 1: Camara and Blackley compare rather favorably and there's a lot

1087
00:54:19,160 --> 00:54:23,080
Speaker 1: of similarities guilty skill set wise. I do think that

1088
00:54:23,160 --> 00:54:27,719
Speaker 1: the overall offense, even though the philosophy is coming from

1089
00:54:27,880 --> 00:54:31,880
Speaker 1: what I see the Saints having employed, there's no question

1090
00:54:31,880 --> 00:54:34,240
Speaker 1: there's gonna be a lot of Minnesota in this Shermer

1091
00:54:34,280 --> 00:54:38,080
Speaker 1: obviously coming from there, and them having the plethora of

1092
00:54:38,200 --> 00:54:41,080
Speaker 1: targets that the Giants can also put on the field.

1093
00:54:41,640 --> 00:54:43,360
Speaker 1: All right, let's open up the phone line strat to

1094
00:54:43,360 --> 00:54:45,120
Speaker 1: squeeze in a call or two before we wrap things

1095
00:54:45,239 --> 00:54:48,160
Speaker 1: up to zero, one four or five one three. Julian

1096
00:54:48,320 --> 00:54:52,520
Speaker 1: is in Florida, Julian, what's happening, Paul? Are you guys

1097
00:54:52,520 --> 00:54:56,120
Speaker 1: doing on? Julian? What do you got for us? Not much? Um,

1098
00:54:56,360 --> 00:54:58,520
Speaker 1: I always seem like I had call in. I think

1099
00:54:58,560 --> 00:55:01,400
Speaker 1: Paul remembers this from a couple weeks back. Glance you

1100
00:55:01,400 --> 00:55:03,839
Speaker 1: aren't on. I think it was John Schmilk. But Paul,

1101
00:55:03,880 --> 00:55:06,080
Speaker 1: you remember how I told you I ran into a

1102
00:55:06,239 --> 00:55:11,120
Speaker 1: rock Cockereil at a at a designer. Yeah. I didn't

1103
00:55:11,160 --> 00:55:13,560
Speaker 1: get to finish that that phone call, but pretty much,

1104
00:55:14,000 --> 00:55:15,319
Speaker 1: I know you guys are getting off the year soon,

1105
00:55:15,320 --> 00:55:16,839
Speaker 1: so pretty much what he had told me that he

1106
00:55:16,840 --> 00:55:19,160
Speaker 1: he had never experienced anything like being in the Giants

1107
00:55:19,239 --> 00:55:21,720
Speaker 1: locker room. Obviously, he went to Carol with the Carolina

1108
00:55:21,760 --> 00:55:23,680
Speaker 1: he went to Yeah, he signed a pretty nice deal

1109
00:55:23,719 --> 00:55:26,680
Speaker 1: down there to the number. We're a little bit out

1110
00:55:26,680 --> 00:55:29,120
Speaker 1: of control, I think for for a guy if his resume,

1111
00:55:29,600 --> 00:55:31,360
Speaker 1: But I wish you well. He's a good guy and

1112
00:55:31,400 --> 00:55:35,960
Speaker 1: he played well. He contributed. He uh, he pretty much

1113
00:55:36,000 --> 00:55:37,360
Speaker 1: told me, yeah, you know, the only reason why I

1114
00:55:37,400 --> 00:55:39,239
Speaker 1: left was because it was a nice, nice chunk of

1115
00:55:39,239 --> 00:55:42,160
Speaker 1: money being sent his way. But it was funny. How

1116
00:55:42,239 --> 00:55:44,160
Speaker 1: you know, I'm a I'm a really big giant fan

1117
00:55:44,200 --> 00:55:45,879
Speaker 1: so when I get the chance to talk to these guys,

1118
00:55:45,880 --> 00:55:48,920
Speaker 1: I just love to pick their brains. Um, and so

1119
00:55:48,960 --> 00:55:51,440
Speaker 1: I'll hear I'm calling you about another guy ran into

1120
00:55:51,520 --> 00:55:54,239
Speaker 1: just over the weekend on fourth of July. I live

1121
00:55:54,280 --> 00:55:55,799
Speaker 1: out here in Fort lauder Deal and I went out

1122
00:55:55,840 --> 00:55:57,640
Speaker 1: to the two. I'm not gonna put it out there,

1123
00:55:57,640 --> 00:56:01,280
Speaker 1: but I went to a place and this big dude

1124
00:56:01,440 --> 00:56:04,080
Speaker 1: walks in. It looks like a receiver and it was

1125
00:56:04,120 --> 00:56:08,040
Speaker 1: a shot Jennings and um, you know he was. I mean,

1126
00:56:08,040 --> 00:56:09,560
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, but he looks like he's built like a

1127
00:56:09,600 --> 00:56:12,640
Speaker 1: receiver in person more than running back. I mean, I'm

1128
00:56:12,680 --> 00:56:16,520
Speaker 1: just saying, but um, you know, I didn't approach him.

1129
00:56:16,560 --> 00:56:17,799
Speaker 1: You know, I know these guys like to go and

1130
00:56:17,840 --> 00:56:19,360
Speaker 1: have a good time. They don't want to be approached.

1131
00:56:19,360 --> 00:56:21,279
Speaker 1: But you know, I just walked by him he was

1132
00:56:21,280 --> 00:56:23,520
Speaker 1: standing there by himself and said, hey, man, uh, you know,

1133
00:56:23,520 --> 00:56:25,680
Speaker 1: I'm big giant fans. You want to say respect and everything.

1134
00:56:25,680 --> 00:56:27,600
Speaker 1: And he was like, oh, cool man, you know that's awesome.

1135
00:56:27,640 --> 00:56:29,600
Speaker 1: You want to picture like he was just such a

1136
00:56:29,680 --> 00:56:34,120
Speaker 1: cool guy. I mean, like literally like you run into

1137
00:56:34,120 --> 00:56:37,080
Speaker 1: football players. I met Chado, I met guys like that,

1138
00:56:37,120 --> 00:56:39,879
Speaker 1: and they're just the biggest you know what. But this

1139
00:56:39,920 --> 00:56:43,759
Speaker 1: guy was just so so cool. Had a conversation with me.

1140
00:56:43,840 --> 00:56:47,280
Speaker 1: I picked his brain for about twenty minutes about the Giants,

1141
00:56:47,560 --> 00:56:51,479
Speaker 1: the locker room and everything. And you know, he even

1142
00:56:51,480 --> 00:56:55,160
Speaker 1: admitted I wasn't the best back, but I definitely bought

1143
00:56:55,200 --> 00:56:57,400
Speaker 1: brought a present to that locker room as far as

1144
00:56:57,719 --> 00:57:01,759
Speaker 1: veteran leadership and and you know, positivity and everything like that.

1145
00:57:01,800 --> 00:57:04,280
Speaker 1: And he feels that that was the best thing about

1146
00:57:04,280 --> 00:57:07,680
Speaker 1: the Giants two thousand sixteen season. Um, when we won

1147
00:57:07,920 --> 00:57:12,719
Speaker 1: uh thirteen games, I believe and loving games. I'm sorry guys,

1148
00:57:12,800 --> 00:57:14,640
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, he was saying, like that's what

1149
00:57:14,880 --> 00:57:17,400
Speaker 1: that's what we need, and you know, and he feels

1150
00:57:17,480 --> 00:57:21,000
Speaker 1: very confident about this year and and whatnot. But my

1151
00:57:21,160 --> 00:57:23,280
Speaker 1: question is leading to, who do you think is in

1152
00:57:23,320 --> 00:57:26,960
Speaker 1: that locker room now as far as that leadership presence,

1153
00:57:26,960 --> 00:57:28,880
Speaker 1: because he's right, right, I mean, you gotta have a

1154
00:57:29,000 --> 00:57:31,960
Speaker 1: positive guy. It's funny you bring him up because in

1155
00:57:32,040 --> 00:57:35,720
Speaker 1: a way, Jonathan Steward has been brought here to kind

1156
00:57:35,720 --> 00:57:38,280
Speaker 1: of I don't want to say be a suit over

1157
00:57:38,360 --> 00:57:41,120
Speaker 1: Sean Jennings, but the truth of the matter is he's

1158
00:57:41,160 --> 00:57:43,640
Speaker 1: a little bit more of a power short yardage back

1159
00:57:43,960 --> 00:57:49,120
Speaker 1: who also has shown class over on class upon class

1160
00:57:49,240 --> 00:57:52,840
Speaker 1: upon class during his time in Carolina. The guys of

1161
00:57:52,920 --> 00:57:56,840
Speaker 1: pros pro commands respect and with a lot of young

1162
00:57:56,880 --> 00:57:59,200
Speaker 1: players in that locker room, he is going to be

1163
00:57:59,240 --> 00:58:01,040
Speaker 1: one of the big brother So I think, you know,

1164
00:58:01,160 --> 00:58:02,960
Speaker 1: when push comes to show from the season starts, I

1165
00:58:03,000 --> 00:58:04,920
Speaker 1: don't think there's a much doubt about that. Hey, he

1166
00:58:05,040 --> 00:58:07,680
Speaker 1: was in Carolina with Dave Gettleman. He helped build up

1167
00:58:07,720 --> 00:58:11,480
Speaker 1: that culture. I mean, Stewart spent his entire career in Carolina,

1168
00:58:11,600 --> 00:58:14,120
Speaker 1: so he was a big fabric as part of the

1169
00:58:14,160 --> 00:58:17,480
Speaker 1: identity of the Carolina Panthers. So I think he's one

1170
00:58:17,480 --> 00:58:20,120
Speaker 1: guy that comes to mind. And I think on defense,

1171
00:58:20,200 --> 00:58:22,760
Speaker 1: you know the guy alec Ogiltree. I think his arrival

1172
00:58:23,160 --> 00:58:25,520
Speaker 1: on the defensive side is gonna probably have the same

1173
00:58:25,560 --> 00:58:28,520
Speaker 1: type of impact as Jonathan Stewart. Another veteran guy who

1174
00:58:28,560 --> 00:58:31,880
Speaker 1: came from a team that was coming off career franchise

1175
00:58:32,000 --> 00:58:34,720
Speaker 1: year after what they were able to accomplish, and now

1176
00:58:34,720 --> 00:58:36,760
Speaker 1: he hopes to have the significant impact with the Giants.

1177
00:58:36,800 --> 00:58:38,960
Speaker 1: And I'm gonna add one other guy to that list.

1178
00:58:39,160 --> 00:58:42,640
Speaker 1: I think that Nate Solder has already proven that he

1179
00:58:42,760 --> 00:58:47,480
Speaker 1: is a quiet leader, but nonetheless a guy who sets examples.

1180
00:58:47,840 --> 00:58:50,680
Speaker 1: Because when you come from New England and you've operated

1181
00:58:50,720 --> 00:58:53,160
Speaker 1: under the Bill Belichick for all of those years, and

1182
00:58:53,200 --> 00:58:55,640
Speaker 1: you've gotten all those Super Bowl appearances and all those

1183
00:58:55,720 --> 00:58:59,479
Speaker 1: championship rings on your fingers, my goodness, people will listen

1184
00:58:59,520 --> 00:59:01,800
Speaker 1: to you. Yeah. I think that's a big part of

1185
00:59:01,800 --> 00:59:04,920
Speaker 1: the equation. I agree that is that is a very

1186
00:59:04,960 --> 00:59:06,640
Speaker 1: you know, I didn't even think about John the steward,

1187
00:59:06,640 --> 00:59:08,400
Speaker 1: but now that you lay it out there, while that's

1188
00:59:08,440 --> 00:59:12,000
Speaker 1: like almost the most perfect example. And I was going

1189
00:59:12,040 --> 00:59:14,320
Speaker 1: to ask, what do you think about the defensive side,

1190
00:59:14,320 --> 00:59:17,480
Speaker 1: and I guess ogle Tree would be the guy. Uh yeah,

1191
00:59:17,520 --> 00:59:20,280
Speaker 1: He to me is somebody that I think has been

1192
00:59:20,320 --> 00:59:22,840
Speaker 1: in the locker room already with a bunch of veterans.

1193
00:59:23,040 --> 00:59:25,480
Speaker 1: If you look at the defensive makeup of the Rams

1194
00:59:25,800 --> 00:59:29,720
Speaker 1: over the last few seasons, He's overcome injuries in his career,

1195
00:59:29,880 --> 00:59:31,880
Speaker 1: so I mean you have that side of things which

1196
00:59:31,920 --> 00:59:34,040
Speaker 1: he can help mentors some of the other younger players

1197
00:59:34,200 --> 00:59:36,080
Speaker 1: that have dealt with injuries. Now that's not to say

1198
00:59:36,120 --> 00:59:38,680
Speaker 1: that the Giants don't have other veterans on defense. I

1199
00:59:38,680 --> 00:59:41,400
Speaker 1: mean Olivier Vernon is obviously a presence of the lock

1200
00:59:43,640 --> 00:59:46,240
Speaker 1: and that's why I think ogle Tree to me fits

1201
00:59:46,280 --> 00:59:49,240
Speaker 1: that Bill. He's a new arrival. I think that. You know,

1202
00:59:49,280 --> 00:59:51,080
Speaker 1: if you speak to other players who played with him

1203
00:59:51,080 --> 00:59:53,720
Speaker 1: on the Rams, they have nothing but good things to say.

1204
00:59:54,040 --> 00:59:57,040
Speaker 1: And that's a big reason also why Dave Gettleman traded

1205
00:59:57,120 --> 00:59:59,480
Speaker 1: for him. He wasn't a free agent, so they gave

1206
00:59:59,560 --> 01:00:01,880
Speaker 1: up asset sort of draft picks, and the reason being

1207
01:00:01,960 --> 01:00:05,479
Speaker 1: is solid defensive player, but also somebody that will help

1208
01:00:05,560 --> 01:00:07,160
Speaker 1: change the culture in the locker room. And I'll tell

1209
01:00:07,160 --> 01:00:09,560
Speaker 1: you something, I wouldn't be surprised if William Gate does

1210
01:00:09,600 --> 01:00:14,000
Speaker 1: some of that too, because between his time in Pittsburgh

1211
01:00:14,280 --> 01:00:17,640
Speaker 1: and in Arizona, we know that the Giants assistant coaches,

1212
01:00:17,800 --> 01:00:20,440
Speaker 1: they've got experience with him. And there is a reason

1213
01:00:20,440 --> 01:00:22,600
Speaker 1: why he was brought here. It wasn't just to compete

1214
01:00:22,600 --> 01:00:25,240
Speaker 1: for a job on the field. He's also one of

1215
01:00:25,240 --> 01:00:29,720
Speaker 1: those pros pro kind of guys, right, And I guess

1216
01:00:29,720 --> 01:00:31,360
Speaker 1: it was safe to say that Beckham would be now

1217
01:00:31,360 --> 01:00:33,400
Speaker 1: the new leader of the receivers, right, I mean last year,

1218
01:00:33,440 --> 01:00:35,080
Speaker 1: I guess we could have put that on Marshall being

1219
01:00:35,120 --> 01:00:38,400
Speaker 1: the vet. But is Beckham now officially our vet. Well,

1220
01:00:38,880 --> 01:00:44,160
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't, I don't, I don't know. I

1221
01:00:44,160 --> 01:00:47,680
Speaker 1: I think that Odell Beckham Jr. In my mind, can

1222
01:00:47,720 --> 01:00:50,800
Speaker 1: inspire people by the feats that he performs on the

1223
01:00:50,840 --> 01:00:54,080
Speaker 1: field and by the way he prepares and gets ready

1224
01:00:54,360 --> 01:00:56,920
Speaker 1: to go out there in battle. I don't know that

1225
01:00:57,000 --> 01:01:00,320
Speaker 1: Oldell Beckham is a leader in the truest sense of

1226
01:01:01,080 --> 01:01:03,000
Speaker 1: that he's gonna tell people what to do, or that

1227
01:01:03,040 --> 01:01:06,000
Speaker 1: he's gonna rob rob people up. Because he is so

1228
01:01:06,200 --> 01:01:09,959
Speaker 1: volcanic in terms of his own intensity to get himself

1229
01:01:10,400 --> 01:01:14,360
Speaker 1: maximized at every snap. I think, you know, you can

1230
01:01:14,400 --> 01:01:17,120
Speaker 1: be inspired by that. It's it's interesting. We had a

1231
01:01:17,120 --> 01:01:20,760
Speaker 1: guy yesterday say he was a former military man, who said,

1232
01:01:21,240 --> 01:01:23,760
Speaker 1: I would make Odell Beckham Jr. One of the team

1233
01:01:23,800 --> 01:01:29,760
Speaker 1: captains because the responsibility of being a captain will kind

1234
01:01:29,800 --> 01:01:33,040
Speaker 1: of polish out his rough edges, and who wants to

1235
01:01:33,080 --> 01:01:36,240
Speaker 1: win more than Odell Beckham Jr. It's it's a very

1236
01:01:36,360 --> 01:01:40,200
Speaker 1: interesting thought. I don't know that I'd go there, but

1237
01:01:40,320 --> 01:01:44,000
Speaker 1: it's an interesting thought to contemplate, and I would fix

1238
01:01:44,320 --> 01:01:47,400
Speaker 1: I would think if he were voted captain co captain

1239
01:01:47,480 --> 01:01:50,680
Speaker 1: by by the team, I would think he would take

1240
01:01:50,720 --> 01:01:54,640
Speaker 1: it extremely seriously because he takes everything seriously. This guy

1241
01:01:54,680 --> 01:01:58,040
Speaker 1: hates to lose, he hates to fail, and I suspect

1242
01:01:58,040 --> 01:02:01,800
Speaker 1: that they did give him those stripes. I wouldn't be

1243
01:02:01,880 --> 01:02:05,640
Speaker 1: shocked if he reacted in a very favorable way. And listen, Julie,

1244
01:02:05,680 --> 01:02:07,560
Speaker 1: we appreciate the full call. Thank you. The one thing

1245
01:02:07,560 --> 01:02:09,760
Speaker 1: that I will add, actually, if you look at the

1246
01:02:09,760 --> 01:02:13,480
Speaker 1: wide receiving corps, they're not necessarily household names, but Cody

1247
01:02:13,560 --> 01:02:16,120
Speaker 1: Lattimer and Russell Shepherd obviously have a lot of experience.

1248
01:02:16,160 --> 01:02:18,480
Speaker 1: It would not surprise me if those two guys actually,

1249
01:02:18,480 --> 01:02:20,480
Speaker 1: if they make the team, depending on how the depth

1250
01:02:20,560 --> 01:02:23,040
Speaker 1: chart breaks down, that they actually perhaps provide a vocal

1251
01:02:23,080 --> 01:02:25,880
Speaker 1: presence and a mentorship role within that receiving corps. Well,

1252
01:02:25,920 --> 01:02:28,080
Speaker 1: i'll tell you what. We also know that Sterling Shepherd

1253
01:02:28,080 --> 01:02:31,640
Speaker 1: has a tremendous amount of pride. Well, he's another guy

1254
01:02:31,720 --> 01:02:34,439
Speaker 1: that you can tremendous pride. This is not a guy

1255
01:02:34,480 --> 01:02:37,240
Speaker 1: who takes his job very lightly at all, you know.

1256
01:02:37,360 --> 01:02:41,080
Speaker 1: So you know, again we've given you a list of guys.

1257
01:02:41,160 --> 01:02:43,240
Speaker 1: I will tell you this. I do think it's going

1258
01:02:43,280 --> 01:02:45,840
Speaker 1: to be a much better locker room this year. Than

1259
01:02:45,960 --> 01:02:48,400
Speaker 1: than than some of the lot of turnover. And that's

1260
01:02:48,640 --> 01:02:51,200
Speaker 1: that's splint through the team last season. Yeah, I mean

1261
01:02:51,200 --> 01:02:53,480
Speaker 1: by default, when you have new faces in you figure

1262
01:02:53,520 --> 01:02:56,040
Speaker 1: clearly the dynamics and locker room are gonna change, right.

1263
01:02:56,040 --> 01:02:57,760
Speaker 1: That is gonna wrap up Tuesday's They should a big

1264
01:02:57,760 --> 01:02:59,720
Speaker 1: blue kick off live once again. We want to thank

1265
01:02:59,800 --> 01:03:02,920
Speaker 1: Rich Lord and Mike Triplet for breaking down the Texans

1266
01:03:02,920 --> 01:03:06,040
Speaker 1: and the Saints respectively. Will continue our preview with upcoming

1267
01:03:06,040 --> 01:03:09,360
Speaker 1: opponents tomorrow tomorrow the Carolina Panthers. There you go, speaking

1268
01:03:09,360 --> 01:03:11,440
Speaker 1: of the devil. We were talking about Carolina from a

1269
01:03:11,480 --> 01:03:13,400
Speaker 1: lot of different angles, So we'll continue to break down

1270
01:03:13,440 --> 01:03:15,880
Speaker 1: the NFC South State. Tuned for that for Paul Detino

1271
01:03:15,920 --> 01:03:17,640
Speaker 1: on Lance Meadow and join the rest of your Tuesday

1272
01:03:17,760 --> 01:03:19,440
Speaker 1: right here on Giants dot Com. I'm a going