Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily.
Speaker 2: I'm Greg Rosenthal and I am beyond lucky today to
Speaker 2: be joined by Patrick Claybonn and Jordan Rodrigue of The
Speaker 2: Athletic on our maiden voyage for this show here NFL
Speaker 2: Daily in the Chris Westling podcast studio. So this offseason
Speaker 2: has been a lot. I'm going to talk a little
Speaker 2: bit first, guys before bringing in. It's got me thinking
Speaker 2: what brings joy in life and in football, and we're
Speaker 2: going to talk about that with our segment coming up
Speaker 2: in the show. But before before I do get to you, guys,
Speaker 2: I do want to start by addressing the obvious that
Speaker 2: this is not the Around the NFL podcast. That we
Speaker 2: taped our last episode of Around the NFL on May
Speaker 2: twenty third, and it was a total shock to all
Speaker 2: of us and it's very difficult that that was the
Speaker 2: last show that we're not going to do another.
Speaker 1: And I know.
Speaker 2: That's going to inspire a lot of emotions from our listeners,
Speaker 2: from you guys, from anyone that that's worked on it.
Speaker 2: For myself, of course, I get it like I've been
Speaker 2: going through them two for really six six weeks now
Speaker 2: since since we did that last So I still am.
Speaker 1: We'll go through them together.
Speaker 2: I love Dan and Mark and what we built together
Speaker 2: with Chris was was beyond special. Keisha, Chris's wife, said
Speaker 2: it perfectly on IG yesterday that we will always be
Speaker 2: family and nothing can take away what we accomplished together.
Speaker 2: I do just want to thank everyone, especially like the listeners,
Speaker 2: but also everyone in this room. You two and that's
Speaker 2: ever been in this room. You know who you are,
Speaker 2: and who's in the control room back there, and who's
Speaker 2: been in the control room over the years, whether it's
Speaker 2: in Culver City or here, and the listeners too, because
Speaker 2: y'all helped you change all of our lives. You know,
Speaker 2: you you made something so special with us and you
Speaker 2: felt like it was always us together. Uh, and you
Speaker 2: stuck with us after Chris died, and we tried not
Speaker 2: to ask for too much along the way, but I do.
Speaker 2: I do want to ask for something now, and and
Speaker 2: that's to support the hell out of Mark and Dan
Speaker 2: and what they're gonna do next. And I love them,
Speaker 2: I always will, and I want you to support this
Speaker 2: show too, give it a chance, like give give both
Speaker 2: shows some grace and and be cool NFL dailies.
Speaker 1: It's not gonna be the same show. It's not.
Speaker 2: I it can't be, and I wouldn't want it to be.
Speaker 2: It's gonna be different. And we'll get into how you
Speaker 2: know that's that's gonna be different. But it's gonna be
Speaker 2: a great show too. Like I'm really excited. It's it's
Speaker 2: as you would say, Jordan, like two things can be true.
Speaker 2: You know, we can miss that and this is going
Speaker 2: to be something we're going to be really proud of.
Speaker 2: And I hope y'all that are listening are too. I'm
Speaker 2: looking forward to working with so many people. Colleen's going
Speaker 2: to be back on the show next week when she
Speaker 2: gets back in town, and we got Steve Weish and
Speaker 2: Nick Shook on the show tomorrow. And uh, of course
Speaker 2: you Jordan like welcoming you here. It's really exciting to
Speaker 2: me and Patrick. There's no one I I love working
Speaker 2: more with than y'all.
Speaker 1: And that's it. I'll let you guys talk a little
Speaker 1: bit too.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 4: No, I guess thank you from the standpoint of obviously
Speaker 4: personally and you know I've said this to you, but
Speaker 4: from the standpoint of a of a listener, right, because
Speaker 4: like you get you get guests on a podcast, and
Speaker 4: the relationship is kind of fundamentally differ And so I
Speaker 4: felt right and feel all the things that a lot
Speaker 4: of people are feeling, and then like to have this
Speaker 4: tangential attachment to what you guys built by just being
Speaker 4: in your vicinity, like over on West Washington Boulevard all the.
Speaker 3: Way to Overhear has just it's been something to experience.
Speaker 4: And when I think about how much the show means
Speaker 4: to so many people, I have to remind myself that
Speaker 4: there's four people and four families who the show means
Speaker 4: so much more to right. And of course, when you're
Speaker 4: experiencing those emotions, you like I'm sitting here in the
Speaker 4: Chris Westling podcast studio right, what you guys built it
Speaker 4: provides people with a level of openness and vulnerability and
Speaker 4: understanding that a lot of people don't get in real life,
Speaker 4: much less surrounding the discussion of football right and so
Speaker 4: doing that, it grew the game, and there's all these initiatives,
Speaker 4: all of these discussions about how to make the game
Speaker 4: international right, how to accomplish these things. I can't think
Speaker 4: of a better way to protect the shield than to
Speaker 4: have more people carrying it. And that's and that's what
Speaker 4: you guys did, and you don't. You don't get that
Speaker 4: in an Excel spreadsheet or an earnings report. There's there's
Speaker 4: equality to that that the reason that people feel the
Speaker 4: emotions that they're feeling is because they felt that. And
Speaker 4: so I love you guys, right, And as you said,
Speaker 4: I hope that people are able to get two properties
Speaker 4: that they can listen to and be a part of
Speaker 4: an extended family.
Speaker 3: But I just.
Speaker 4: Sorry, what you guys did is incredible and should be
Speaker 4: celebrated and in any way that we can, you know,
Speaker 4: because I haven't known how to react, all right, Like
Speaker 4: I haven't really known what to say or where to be,
Speaker 4: and people ask questions and it's just like this was
Speaker 4: incredible and I'm glad to have experienced it been the
Speaker 4: small part of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we've had at least say a little time since
Speaker 2: since taping that show. I appreciate all that Patrick to
Speaker 2: process it a little but obviously letting everyone know, letting
Speaker 2: the listeners know. This week it's just different and we're
Speaker 2: going to get to the football of it all. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I do want to hear from you too, Jordan.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, it's that openness that you guys created
Speaker 5: that it's going to make it really hard for me
Speaker 5: to get through the next couple seconds here, But it's
Speaker 5: also that space that you guys created that allows me
Speaker 5: to be able to try right. Like the listeners of
Speaker 5: this show know, I am one of them. I've been
Speaker 5: one of them. I've been, you know, lurking in all
Speaker 5: the same places they've been lurking for years and years.
Speaker 5: I've been listening this podcast to me that that you
Speaker 5: and Mark and Dan and Chris, the heroes that you
Speaker 5: guys created, that so many other people created, it got
Speaker 5: me through some.
Speaker 6: Really hard stuff.
Speaker 5: And I don't think for a long time you guys
Speaker 5: knew that the space you created and the safety you
Speaker 5: created for people to come in and just sit with
Speaker 5: people who they they thought were good, a good hang
Speaker 5: and they liked listening to. But then that space became
Speaker 5: really an open door into this thing that so many
Speaker 5: of us are passionate about and for all the words
Speaker 5: that we can't use sometimes to describe it because we
Speaker 5: don't know how. We would turn to you guys, and
Speaker 5: I would turn I would turn to Wes. And football
Speaker 5: was a closed door for me in a lot of ways.
Speaker 5: For a long time, and the way that he talked
Speaker 5: about football and the way that he wrote, because.
Speaker 6: That's what I found first. That opened the door for me.
Speaker 5: And I never got to tell him that, but I
Speaker 5: was here a couple months ago, Greg, and I know
Speaker 5: you saw me staring at the door of the studio.
Speaker 6: And having a moment.
Speaker 5: And at the after we recorded that show, I had
Speaker 5: to tell all of you guys what that meant for me.
Speaker 5: That was why I was so nervous. The fan base
Speaker 5: was so nice. I was so nervous. I'm so freaking
Speaker 5: nervous still, Like I'm terrified because this is really hard
Speaker 5: because it matters. This mattered so much to me, and
Speaker 5: it mattered so much to so many people, and it
Speaker 5: mattered to you for and your families. And I want
Speaker 5: to preserve that I did not have I did not
Speaker 5: build the house that we're sitting in right now.
Speaker 6: I didn't.
Speaker 5: I watched and I enjoyed, and I supported from afar
Speaker 5: and I think now I'm getting tapped on the shoulder
Speaker 5: in a small in a very small capacity to support
Speaker 5: up close everybody, to support you, to support Mark, to
Speaker 5: support Dan. And I'm gonna do that because finding this
Speaker 5: show open a door to football for me in a
Speaker 5: way that I didn't know was possible. Football, to me
Speaker 5: is my purpose on this earth. And all I can
Speaker 5: do is pay this forward to you, to Mark, to Dan,
Speaker 5: to everybody as as best I can, as much as
Speaker 5: you'll have me, as much as they'll have me. I
Speaker 5: just want to I just want to help keep that
Speaker 5: door open for people who were like me, who still
Speaker 5: are like me, who doesn't matter what you look like,
Speaker 5: where you come from, your knowledge level, like I want
Speaker 5: to help keep that door open. And that's why I'm
Speaker 5: sitting here. That's why I continue to support you. That's
Speaker 5: why I continue to support those two guys and will
Speaker 5: until I'm done on this planet, because that's that changed
Speaker 5: my life.
Speaker 2: So like beautiful and bittersweet and just life man. And
Speaker 2: this happens so much when I think about the impact
Speaker 2: Chris has had on all of this, that you're saying
Speaker 2: those words and sitting in that seat and everything in
Speaker 2: his studio, because like how you approach football, it reminds
Speaker 2: me of Wes, Like that's it's one of the reasons
Speaker 2: I was really I've told you this before, but it's
Speaker 2: one of the reasons why I wanted you to come
Speaker 2: on the show initially. It's why I'm so excited that
Speaker 2: you're part of this show when you say football is
Speaker 2: your your purpose on this earth, like it can mean
Speaker 2: everything to us, and we also kind of can put
Speaker 2: it to the side that it means nothing, and it's
Speaker 2: just this thing where incredibly passionate about the way you
Speaker 2: see the game that you want to understand it because
Speaker 2: I do think it's the one thing is going to
Speaker 2: be my twenty first season doing football since I started
Speaker 2: at Roade World, and I still love it so much,
Speaker 2: and we're going to get to what we're really looking
Speaker 2: forward to in this season shortly. But like the gap
Speaker 2: and this was when I started, what I realized after
Speaker 2: three or four months because I loved all sports was
Speaker 2: like the gap between what we know and what we
Speaker 2: don't is so much greater than any other sport, and
Speaker 2: trying to like fill that gap is what gets me
Speaker 2: really excited and excited about NFL daily that it's it's
Speaker 2: going to be different, but like we're gonna have this journey.
Speaker 2: And it's been a lot this offseason. Thank you everyone
Speaker 2: that that's listening for for your patients too, because I
Speaker 2: know it's been silent and the uncertainty was tough, and
Speaker 2: you like, I want to be like really open in
Speaker 2: this show when we do this these shows and just
Speaker 2: honest and like look full full transfer. It is like
Speaker 2: my family was going through, you know, some serious health
Speaker 2: issues that are very uncertain during all this and when
Speaker 2: this happened, you know that that was part of that
Speaker 2: was part of everything, part of the decisions and what
Speaker 2: I'm gonna do, and I'm I'm so happy, Like there's
Speaker 2: like great news on that front recently, and man like
Speaker 2: this week, like the sun's been shining better and and
Speaker 2: food is tasting better, and it all puts it in
Speaker 2: perspective of you know what what matters in life, and
Speaker 2: that football can matter as as stupid as it is,
Speaker 2: Like I find joy in this football thing.
Speaker 1: You you guys do. I couldn't quit it if I tried.
Speaker 2: And so we're gonna we're gonna celebrate it and try
Speaker 2: to figure it out and and talk about what we
Speaker 2: are looking forward to and the joy that that we're
Speaker 2: going to get out of this season as training camps
Speaker 2: uh start to get going next week, and we'll do
Speaker 2: that in our first segment after the break. Okay, we
Speaker 2: are back on NFL daily and apologize for that hard
Speaker 2: transition from whatever ad just played to what we said
Speaker 2: ahead of the break and what we're gonna say now too,
Speaker 2: which I'm really excited about.
Speaker 1: It's been a minute.
Speaker 2: It's been a minute since we podcasted Patrick and Jordan
Speaker 2: obviously you two and like we're close. The Texans are
Speaker 2: showing up next week, and I was debating, like whether
Speaker 2: we get back in the studio, you know, this week
Speaker 2: next week. I want to get ready to go, and
Speaker 2: I wanted to like set this first segment up of
Speaker 2: just like what are we looking forward to? Like what
Speaker 2: is the things during this offseason?
Speaker 1: For me?
Speaker 2: That's how I thought about it during this offseason, which
Speaker 2: been a little challenging obviously, but I've still been staying
Speaker 2: on top of the football of it all, Like what
Speaker 2: am I looking forward to the most? What do I
Speaker 2: think is going to give me the most joy as
Speaker 2: we are looking ahead to the twenty twenty four season,
Speaker 2: And I want to start this with Patrick claibon.
Speaker 4: It's over the common thing with all the things that
Speaker 4: I'm looking forward to is most of it is uncertainty.
Speaker 4: I like that because pushing back towards this idea of
Speaker 4: how much we don't know right what part of the
Speaker 4: things that you were talking about earlier. Okay, so last season,
Speaker 4: only nineteen teams converted more than fifty percent of their
Speaker 4: fourth down attempts. And I say only because in the
Speaker 4: two previous years it was twenty three and twenty four.
Speaker 4: We raved about how good the Eagles were at fourth down.
Speaker 4: Last season they finished at seventy three percent. The year before,
Speaker 4: the Rams had the lead at seventy eight percent, when
Speaker 4: the thing they had the lead it the one.
Speaker 3: Thing that the twenty twenty two Rams were good at.
Speaker 4: I think right it would go back to twenty eighteen
Speaker 4: Anthony Lynz Chargers converted eighty seven percent of their fourth
Speaker 4: down attemps. They only went for it eight times, they
Speaker 4: got seven of them. The idea of how going forward
Speaker 4: on fourth down is always better is slowly starting to
Speaker 4: not become better, because I think teams are getting better
Speaker 4: at defending all of these fourth down attempts, and so
Speaker 4: it's pushing towards this uncertainty of what's going to happen
Speaker 4: at fourth down all the cycle, and I'm just I'm
Speaker 4: excited to see that cycle start to come to its
Speaker 4: fruition and maybe we're getting to a point where maybe
Speaker 4: less than half of the league is converting fifty percent.
Speaker 3: I don't know, but it's going to be fun.
Speaker 1: So I'm shocked.
Speaker 2: Actually, I'm being serious that that Claybond started with like
Speaker 2: sort of an analytic bent to it. Make a second
Speaker 2: time very right what he's looking forward to, because I
Speaker 2: hear those numbers and I still think, Okay, we've got
Speaker 2: a little ways to go, Like, okay, I mean you're
Speaker 2: saying only nineteen teams are over fifty percent. It's like, okay,
Speaker 2: that's still pretty good. And some of those percentages are
Speaker 2: pretty high. But you do speak to what's the natural
Speaker 2: evolution of anything analytic or you know, the moneyball effected
Speaker 2: when baseball started that way, It's like, yeah, once every
Speaker 2: team starts doing the same thing, then it is increasingly
Speaker 2: less effective and you have to pivot. I think we're
Speaker 2: seeing that now in team building when you think about
Speaker 2: the off ball linebacker position, Like the analytical model of
Speaker 2: building your team and kind of not worrying about off
Speaker 2: ball linebackers was so copied and until you got to
Speaker 2: the playoffs last year and maybe the last couple of years,
Speaker 2: and it's like you can point to so many teams
Speaker 2: like the Cowboys would be want, certainly the Eagles, and
Speaker 2: you can point to all these teams that keep losing
Speaker 2: the playoffs and you're like, literally the entire game plan
Speaker 2: that the other team was making is because your off
Speaker 2: ball linebackers are bad. And then you kind of look
Speaker 2: at like, who's got the best off ball linebackers.
Speaker 1: They're the best teams in football. They're the best defenses
Speaker 1: in football.
Speaker 2: So I hear you on the fourth down teams will
Speaker 2: have to adjust on their short yarded strategy and come
Speaker 2: up with new stuff. I feel like we still have
Speaker 2: some I don't want to be I don't want to
Speaker 2: stop calling for fourth downs, I guess is my issue.
Speaker 1: Yeah, like going for it.
Speaker 5: I will still be calling for certain coaches who typically
Speaker 5: don't go for it on fourth down to go for
Speaker 5: it on fourth down.
Speaker 1: What team do you cover on a regular.
Speaker 5: Basis speaking, the off ball linebacker thing, we actually call
Speaker 5: that the Shanna plan. You know, circle the other teams
Speaker 5: right middle linebacker and then just spam that player mercilessly
Speaker 5: over and over and then like laugh behind the play
Speaker 5: card that you're doing it. But I think it's interesting
Speaker 5: because when you see changes like that when you see
Speaker 5: teams get really good at going forward on fourth down
Speaker 5: and also more teams who are understanding analytics meets sorry Patrick,
Speaker 5: but momentum, feel and flow.
Speaker 6: Of the game.
Speaker 5: When you're seeing the analytics meet meet some of these
Speaker 5: like very stereotypical coaching principles, that's the that's the shift
Speaker 5: that you're starting to see a little bit.
Speaker 6: You're seeing more and more of that.
Speaker 5: I mean, you know, again we joke about it, but
Speaker 5: but Sean mc sean McVay hired Stretch out of Tennessee
Speaker 5: and he's like one of the game management guys.
Speaker 6: In the league.
Speaker 5: And even so he even he is who is like
Speaker 5: one of the most conservative John Striker, Stretch is easier
Speaker 5: because I always say, is it's Stretcher?
Speaker 6: Is it Striker? And he's tall, So Stretch.
Speaker 1: Well, did they try to hire you first? Or well?
Speaker 2: Because I because Jordan's too too humble about this, but
Speaker 2: like her getting on them about their fourth down decisions
Speaker 2: and like writing an article about.
Speaker 1: It every week every week.
Speaker 2: But there was one I remember in particular last year
Speaker 2: where you really did it, Like there was a pretty
Speaker 2: clear before that article and after that article of like
Speaker 2: how often Sean McVay was going for, I'm just.
Speaker 1: Saying that's to get back to the point.
Speaker 2: But that's true. That's not the first time I'm going
Speaker 2: to interrupt your point.
Speaker 3: Praise is Jordan's number one skills.
Speaker 5: Spinning praise like love your love your shirt Patrick, By
Speaker 5: the way, spinning.
Speaker 3: Praise is this, yeah, like a ninja move.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So, but I think the more teams get used to
Speaker 5: the fact that this is going to be the wave
Speaker 5: now in the NFL. Like, what I don't think a
Speaker 5: lot of people on the outside see is that you
Speaker 5: literally are starting to structure practices different. You're literally starting
Speaker 5: to build more time in not just for a more
Speaker 5: full play sheet, more full play design out of a
Speaker 5: fourth down bucket, so to speak.
Speaker 6: Do you sort of like that lingo?
Speaker 5: You know, you don't often have time to build out
Speaker 5: a full, malleable and adjustable, evolvable fourth down plan in
Speaker 5: traditional and typical punt on fourth down kind of situations.
Speaker 6: For practice, there is no time in the week.
Speaker 5: It's not criticizing the coaches who don't do it, and
Speaker 5: for a long time most league wasn't or it hasn't.
Speaker 5: It's just that there's no time during the week. You
Speaker 5: gotta get to red zone for God's sake. You got
Speaker 5: to walk to the bus and install things as you go.
Speaker 5: You got to troubleshoot during walkthroughs, like all of these
Speaker 5: different things. The week of preparation is so it's so
Speaker 5: tight to fit all of those things in. Well, now,
Speaker 5: what you're starting to see, and I heard about this
Speaker 5: this offseason, is more teams building out that scheduled time.
Speaker 6: It's kind of similar.
Speaker 5: We're going to talk about it the kickoff, the new kickoff.
Speaker 5: Building more time during the week, not just for what
Speaker 5: you're going to do on fourth down and all the
Speaker 5: situationals that you're going to build into the natural part
Speaker 5: of the weekly plan. Instead of those guys are in
Speaker 5: another department on the other side of the building, No,
Speaker 5: they're in the coaching rooms now, and that's growing across
Speaker 5: the league. And then also you're seeing by proxy, teams
Speaker 5: are getting better at defending it because there's more tape.
Speaker 5: There's more tape on what you're going to potentially do,
Speaker 5: there's more data, there's more situations. So if you are
Speaker 5: seeing that and everything springs back.
Speaker 2: To basically everyone's just becoming more like Bill Belichick's been
Speaker 2: for like forty years.
Speaker 6: It took what twenty minutes for you to bring up
Speaker 6: Bill Belichick. I'm just saying I thought, I thought we might.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm exaggerating a little bit.
Speaker 2: All I'm saying is that I think they prepped game
Speaker 2: management situations on a more consistent and specific level than
Speaker 2: other teams were, Like when I'm even talking about the
Speaker 2: Giants back in the eighties and nineties and the Patriots.
Speaker 2: And that's all not that he was perfect about it
Speaker 2: or that it's all like, it's not about the analytics
Speaker 2: of it all.
Speaker 1: But I think they how you build the week.
Speaker 2: They literally just spent more time doing that stuff than
Speaker 2: other teams. I know this because every player that's left
Speaker 2: there is like, we spent way more time on this stuff.
Speaker 4: The culture of communication I think in the league has
Speaker 4: changed a lot. Yeah, I agree, And so you're not
Speaker 4: necessarily going to have some like a Bill Belichick maybe
Speaker 4: taking criticism from the outside and applying it right to
Speaker 4: Whereas now there's more there's more communication about the way
Speaker 4: that you know, people operate.
Speaker 3: I think I think people share more now and.
Speaker 6: More information available, and so like while.
Speaker 4: You could bemoan like people you know, quote unquote, like
Speaker 4: analytics is this all consuming monster that does everything. Everybody
Speaker 4: does it differently and everybody applies it differently, and you
Speaker 4: can have you know, the Shanahan Tree coaching half the league,
Speaker 4: but it can still be different, right right because of
Speaker 4: the like everything is this meta analysis, and then we
Speaker 4: get the analysis of the analysis, and it just creates
Speaker 4: more uncertainty, which is football to.
Speaker 5: That point though, like we have so much cool information
Speaker 5: and so much cool math, and like it is so
Speaker 5: such an awesome tool, but nothing actually changes in shifts
Speaker 5: like what you're noticing until the actual tangible functionality of
Speaker 5: how the week is planned and shifts. And I'm talking scheme,
Speaker 5: I'm talking position value, I'm talking anything. It doesn't actually
Speaker 5: start to shift that way until they build and structure
Speaker 5: tangible things that create those changes that can you could
Speaker 5: You have to rep it. You have to rep it
Speaker 5: and rep it and rep it and rep it. And
Speaker 5: then you start seeing like these things trickle out of
Speaker 5: buildings during training camps, joint practices. I think across the
Speaker 5: league are going to be huge this year because that's
Speaker 5: what's going to bring me a lot of joy because
Speaker 5: we're going to watch the kickoffs this is one of
Speaker 5: my things.
Speaker 1: All right, let's get to it.
Speaker 5: Yes, it's the new kickoff. I did get to watch
Speaker 5: like practices of the new kickoff the spring.
Speaker 6: It rules.
Speaker 5: Really it's chaos, nobody knows what they're doing yet, but
Speaker 5: it rules. But the thing that I wanted to point
Speaker 5: out is, you see, you know, I don't have the
Speaker 5: specific numbers, like I'm failing Patrick already. I don't have
Speaker 5: the specific numbers in front of me, but that you're
Speaker 5: seeing an increase in schedule joint practices. A huge reason
Speaker 5: for that, in my theory, is people need a clean
Speaker 5: like a clean sheet, a clean practice, a safe practice
Speaker 5: with some contact to practice the new kickoff in and
Speaker 5: they don't want to show that tape across the league.
Speaker 5: A couple of special teams coordinators we're around talking like
Speaker 5: the first team that figures this out is going to
Speaker 5: have such an advantage on different teams. And it brought
Speaker 5: me a lot of joy watching it because it's it
Speaker 5: just looks so will you get something so weird?
Speaker 6: It's just but it was it.
Speaker 2: This is what we always talk about on this show.
Speaker 2: This is like if you went back and listened to
Speaker 2: and I'll do this a few times. This is our
Speaker 2: first show. This is what we used to talk about
Speaker 2: on around the NFL, like first season, Like Wes and
Speaker 2: I would always like talk about, like why doesn't the
Speaker 2: NFL innovate more?
Speaker 1: Why doesn't the NFL change more?
Speaker 2: Like like and they do compared to other sports, like
Speaker 2: their ability to change. I think I don't know it.
Speaker 2: I'm very excited about this too.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's it's chaos because the kickers, they compare it
Speaker 5: to Like so if you're thinking about I guess golf clubs,
Speaker 5: which I don't golf, but it is interesting to think
Speaker 5: about they're switching different cleats out and trying to see, okay,
Speaker 5: this like moldable to my foot soccer cleat on my
Speaker 5: right foot, and then a regular football cleat on my
Speaker 5: left foot, and like that's the plant foot. And then
Speaker 5: it's like, you know, using different clubs that are in
Speaker 5: your bag to to have placement, to have precision, to
Speaker 5: do different things for your return unit essentially. And then
Speaker 5: on the other side, I mean, I just think you're
Speaker 5: gonna see people try some wild stuff you're hearing buzziness about,
Speaker 5: like outside linebackers returning puns.
Speaker 2: I am a little worried there's gonna be there's so
Speaker 2: much stock of like how crazy it is and are
Speaker 2: they going to get there and checking out?
Speaker 1: But I'm with you, don't checking out.
Speaker 5: This is my message to special teams coordinators across the nation.
Speaker 5: Do do do do do do do like or not
Speaker 5: checking out on this. I'm shaking my finger at you, Patrick,
Speaker 5: but don't. I'm I'm so I'm so hyped about this
Speaker 5: because watching them practice and like, what what it could
Speaker 5: possibly be, what it could turn into? And Bones Fossil
Speaker 5: who used to coach for the Rams now it was
Speaker 5: in Dallas, he was like the point, one of the
Speaker 5: point people on this and hearing him in the little
Speaker 5: back hallways of league meetings and before the votes and
Speaker 5: explaining it to coaches, explaining it to owners not just
Speaker 5: the safety element of it, but also leading to more scoring.
Speaker 5: I mean, you've got an offensive trending league. If you
Speaker 5: just say to you know, the coach there, half the
Speaker 5: coaches in the league, like you could score more points
Speaker 5: this way, then automatically, you know, they start to they
Speaker 5: start to pivot toward that. But but the way that
Speaker 5: teams can do it, you're you're running, it's almost like
Speaker 5: you're running run game plays like you're running like you're
Speaker 5: seeing counter, you're seeing duo. But in the kick return
Speaker 5: stuff like it's it's really really interesting, I'm telling you,
Speaker 5: And I think it also to your point earlier, I
Speaker 5: do think it helps with the international presence too, because
Speaker 5: you're gonna see people try stuff. You're gonna see oh
Speaker 5: can this rugby player come do this for us? And
Speaker 5: that's that's his role and he's like a call up
Speaker 5: on the roster.
Speaker 2: I can't wait for it. It will create a higher
Speaker 2: scoring average. Now I'm thinking I wonder if that was
Speaker 2: part of the pitch and why it did get through.
Speaker 2: Not because it's necessarily going to be that effective. That's
Speaker 2: really hard to predict exactly, but because the field position
Speaker 2: is just going to be better because so many people
Speaker 2: this is what I worry about, is just gonna take
Speaker 2: the kickoff to the thirty that they're that they're going
Speaker 2: to accept, you know, the touchback and everything, and that
Speaker 2: field position is just going to be increased.
Speaker 1: But then you're going to deal with that.
Speaker 5: You have to cut off a tenth of your play sheet.
Speaker 5: If you're an offensive minded coach and you're saying, okay,
Speaker 5: we all accept l acquiesce to the third like you're
Speaker 5: gonna cut. You're cutting off like a tenth or twelfth
Speaker 5: of your play sheet at that point. So why you
Speaker 5: know if you want, you want everything wide open for you, right,
Speaker 5: and and all of that. But but I do think
Speaker 5: like the reason why you're seeking to circle back, you're
Speaker 5: seeing these joint practices get scheduled and against a wide
Speaker 5: variety of people because you can't show that tape to
Speaker 5: anyone else. You can get as close to live action
Speaker 5: football as possible in a practice, so within the safety
Speaker 5: guidelines and all of that, but still some contact and
Speaker 5: you won't really know what any of this like. It
Speaker 5: is why I compare it to the run game so
Speaker 5: much like you don't actually know what any of this
Speaker 5: is going to look like until you until you hit somebody,
Speaker 5: until you have pads on and do it. But they
Speaker 5: also don't want to do this. They don't want to
Speaker 5: show what they've got, like offensive coaches defensive coaches. They
Speaker 5: want to be super vanilla in the preseason because if
Speaker 5: they happen to find, you know, that one thing, they
Speaker 5: don't want thirty one other teams to see it.
Speaker 6: It's like, okay, if it's two.
Speaker 5: Non conference opponents who see it fine.
Speaker 2: And it's kind of like it's like a lot of
Speaker 2: things with the NFL, we won't really really know until
Speaker 2: the season starts. But that makes me, that's what I love,
Speaker 2: really excited about it. I do want to have Sam
Speaker 2: Schwarztein on this show. He's been on it before. Actually
Speaker 2: he works on the TNF Prime Video and he did
Speaker 2: a recap with me last year. But he he helped
Speaker 2: write this rule for the XFL. Because I don't want
Speaker 2: to say too much about it, because I did spend
Speaker 2: like I don't know if you'll find this sad or lonely.
Speaker 2: I definitely like watched like thirty minutes of this one
Speaker 2: night at like one in the morning when I couldn't sleep,
Speaker 2: and it didn't help me. It didn't help me kind
Speaker 2: of figure out how this is all gonna work. It's
Speaker 2: very confusing to me, so I feel like I need
Speaker 2: to see more.
Speaker 4: Well, I think we're gonna see even when we do
Speaker 4: finally see it, it's going there's gonna be meta trends. Yeah,
Speaker 4: that that happened over the course of several weeks, and
Speaker 4: they're gonna be tight lipped about it. And I'm sure
Speaker 4: like reporters are gonna get scolded for video of a kickoff.
Speaker 3: And when it's like, you know, it's like apartment building.
Speaker 6: Into sending of a video.
Speaker 1: No, I'm just dding, I don't I.
Speaker 4: Don't want to including the special because you're talking about
Speaker 4: kicking it out. I know a lot of time special
Speaker 4: teams coaches get to be the sacrificial lamb, right, and
Speaker 4: you're gonna have somebody give up a couple of touchdowns
Speaker 4: and maybe and so like it's gonna be super safe
Speaker 4: and you know, we don't know how it's gonna turn out, right,
Speaker 4: That's the best.
Speaker 5: Part, the wild car, the uncertainty, the thing. But that's
Speaker 5: one of the cool things about this though, is like
Speaker 5: I've never met a Special Teams coach who isn't like
Speaker 5: kind of nuts in the best way.
Speaker 6: So this is this, this is their moment.
Speaker 2: Like kind of marginalized and that play was marginalized. And
Speaker 2: anything that gets uh the excitement of what used to
Speaker 2: be one of the most exciting plays, I'm all into it.
Speaker 2: I'm look, I'm I'm for the uh you know, the
Speaker 2: rule where you where you could choose to go for
Speaker 2: it on fourth and fifth. I'm all for crazy rules.
Speaker 2: I think the NF we need more of this moving forward.
Speaker 2: We we've done two things now.
Speaker 3: I love it.
Speaker 6: We're waiting on your.
Speaker 2: I'm I'm gonna go simple because my I'm The reason
Speaker 2: I mentioned that is because it's like, Okay, we're only
Speaker 2: going to get through so many or the show is
Speaker 2: going to be three hours and it maybe this seems boring,
Speaker 2: but it's a simple and it's just true.
Speaker 3: For me.
Speaker 1: It's CJ. It's c J Stroud and that's just like.
Speaker 2: Like it's not just because my son Walker was the
Speaker 2: only attendee of the Super Bowl last year and at
Speaker 2: least that I saw that was wearing a CJ.
Speaker 1: Stroud jersey.
Speaker 2: That's like a little part of it, the joy that
Speaker 2: it brings my son, because Yeah, like c J. Stroud
Speaker 2: made my son. I think a Texans fan for life.
Speaker 2: I think it's sticking and I think he's just gonna
Speaker 2: be with this guy and this team. And I don't
Speaker 2: know why that is, but for for me, because we're separate,
Speaker 2: I'm here, he's there, and for me, it's like he's
Speaker 2: got He's just got everything he wants. He's had a
Speaker 2: great offseason. I've loved the Mark up the Michael Parsons. Yes,
Speaker 2: I love the Mike Parsons and c J Stroud like
Speaker 2: road Show, I love basically every appearance.
Speaker 1: CJ.
Speaker 2: Strouda said, So I like love him as a dude,
Speaker 2: but I wouldn't really care about that if I didn't
Speaker 2: love watching him as a player. And like I start
Speaker 2: with the quarterbacks that I tend to like with guys
Speaker 2: that first like can just make beautiful throws and usually
Speaker 2: like at least a starting point, like beautiful throws with
Speaker 2: anticipation from the pocket.
Speaker 1: And he reminds me of Philip Rivers in.
Speaker 2: That way, like Herbert a little bit to what I
Speaker 2: liked about Herbert when he first came out. How he
Speaker 2: gets through the reads so quick, reminds me a little
Speaker 2: bit of Geno in that way. And so that's like
Speaker 2: the starting point. And then there's like what he can
Speaker 2: do off script, which I think is underrated, and what
Speaker 2: he can do intangibly as a leader that to me,
Speaker 2: like he's just I hate the announce like I know
Speaker 2: you hate this analysis Patrick when it's like he's got it,
Speaker 2: But I think that is part of it for me,
Speaker 2: and it all like it all comes together in this
Speaker 2: package that I actually don't think people appreciated quite how
Speaker 2: incredible he played last year, because I did go back
Speaker 2: and watch him this offseason, and I think when you
Speaker 2: watch him, you can make a strong case that he
Speaker 2: was like a top seven or eight quarterback.
Speaker 1: In the NFL, A very easy case, like as as
Speaker 1: a rookie.
Speaker 2: And since I've started doing this, I don't think there's
Speaker 2: maybe anyone else I that you could say that about.
Speaker 2: Like Luck was sniffing there but not there. RG three
Speaker 2: was sniffing there but not there. Dak Dak was was there. Actually,
Speaker 2: I think Dak's a good, good comparison. I think CJ.
Speaker 2: Strodd showed even more about how Dak performed that you're like,
Speaker 2: and I just think he'll be just knowing everything that
Speaker 2: we know about him and knowing what's around him and
Speaker 2: stuff on Diggs and all that stuff. Like I just
Speaker 2: think the year, the growth from year one to year
Speaker 2: two is just like, I can't freaking wait for this
Speaker 2: to watch this dude play.
Speaker 4: And I'm not even like tinging at the the he's
Speaker 4: got it right because it in this instance right is
Speaker 4: his natural ability as a football player, and also the
Speaker 4: honesty that he approaches the game with and discussing the
Speaker 4: game where you hear CJ's rout say something and of course,
Speaker 4: you know, those of us who agree with him, we're like, hey,
Speaker 4: he's a ballner. But like legitimately it provides a window
Speaker 4: into oh well, yeah, if you go into the huddle
Speaker 4: with this guy, of course you're gonna believe what he says.
Speaker 3: And like the way that he discusses a playbreak. Now, like.
Speaker 4: Of course people remember that viral interview with Cooper Cup
Speaker 4: and Bridget Condon, right, and so like you get that
Speaker 4: level of discussion, and it's like, yeah, that's what it is.
Speaker 4: This guy is a person who I can who's one
Speaker 4: of the most talented people on the planet, but I
Speaker 4: can actually relate to him as a human being. And
Speaker 4: oh yeah, he's a very good quarterback. And I think
Speaker 4: that's that's what it is. And of course, like that's
Speaker 4: exciting and I'm glad the Texans are good.
Speaker 5: Now, yeah, it's fun. That's such a fun team also
Speaker 5: for so many reasons. But he is at the forefront
Speaker 5: of that. And like he speaks how he plays. He
Speaker 5: I have in my notes c J. Stroud dash ballner,
Speaker 5: supreme ballnoer like he but he speaks, how he plays
Speaker 5: in that he has this.
Speaker 6: Assuredness, this conviction.
Speaker 5: So much about what a rookie quarterback has to learn
Speaker 5: how to do in his first year has nothing to
Speaker 5: do with anything that happens after the snap. A lot does,
Speaker 5: but it's all how you control the huddle, how you
Speaker 5: manage your teammates, how you learn with your receivers, how
Speaker 5: you get people to do what you need them to do,
Speaker 5: and how you absorb what other things people need from you.
Speaker 5: But doing so with such conviction and such an assuredness.
Speaker 5: I mean, the dude Uza's leadership. First of all, for
Speaker 5: someone so young, it is really fun. Again, we talked
Speaker 5: about being you know, as fans of the sport, it
Speaker 5: is so fun to watch somebody be so he is
Speaker 5: like basically an on his sleeve player, Like you're gonna
Speaker 5: know where he's at because he will show you and
Speaker 5: he'll play like that and he'll.
Speaker 6: Be that dude.
Speaker 5: And I think what's cool is they're not gonna have
Speaker 5: to start in a typical year or two with him,
Speaker 5: Like they're not gonna have to go through a teaching
Speaker 5: progression that I would think would be typical for a
Speaker 5: quarterback going into here two.
Speaker 6: I'm really excited to.
Speaker 2: See you said during the season last year. Yeah, difference
Speaker 2: between him and Week three, it's a week fourteen or whatever,
Speaker 2: was massive.
Speaker 6: Yeah, he's advanced.
Speaker 5: I mean, he has gone past what the normal steps
Speaker 5: would be when you think about, Okay, how do we
Speaker 5: give this guy what he needs, but not too much
Speaker 5: because he's still growing and he's a kid, and we've
Speaker 5: got to get you know, the an NFL full NFL
Speaker 5: offseason and all of those things.
Speaker 6: But he showed that very early on.
Speaker 5: You know, it was super interesting to watch sort of
Speaker 5: the collective conscious wake up to the qualities and the
Speaker 5: traits that he had already showed he already was that guy,
Speaker 5: and so to see like the collective sport really appreciate.
Speaker 5: But then I think, whatever, you know, he's kind of
Speaker 5: given that appreciation right back to the sport. I mean,
Speaker 5: I've loved hearing him talk on on the podcast and
Speaker 5: and all those things because it's just it's just fun.
Speaker 5: You just think this this guy is going to be
Speaker 5: around for a long time. And he didn't show what
Speaker 5: his ceiling would be and instead showed an extremely high floor.
Speaker 5: And that's super important when you think about team building.
Speaker 5: When you think about when this team is going to
Speaker 5: be ready to really push, to really go all in.
Speaker 5: You think about everything centers around how fast you can
Speaker 5: get through these years, and he's going to go through
Speaker 5: him in a truncated time.
Speaker 2: And the throws are pretty oh yeah, Like that's sort
Speaker 2: of like, hey, where it starts for me, Like they're
Speaker 2: just oh dude, they're just sort of majestic and the
Speaker 2: anticipation of it all. And I do want to be
Speaker 2: careful of expectations. I'm that I thought now and I
Speaker 2: think more deeply about it since we started, since you
Speaker 2: know we did around the NFL. Justin Herbert like was
Speaker 2: the guy was most confident going into year two, would like,
Speaker 2: you know, be an MVP candidate, that sort of thing.
Speaker 2: And you know, his growth since then has been rocket.
Speaker 2: I think there's reasons for that, and I think reasons
Speaker 2: that CJ. Strad will avoid in terms of the continuity
Speaker 2: with the coaching staff and certainly the talent around Stroud.
Speaker 2: But you I do want to be careful of just
Speaker 2: like expectations, like some things could be could be bumpy,
Speaker 2: Like it doesn't mean that he's going to climb to
Speaker 2: the very top of the quarterback like Ladder this year,
Speaker 2: but I'm not ruling it out either, like defenses would
Speaker 2: will adjust, but like I've just I've seen enough we know,
Speaker 2: and it's it's going to be fun to be along
Speaker 2: the ride from We're going to take a quick break
Speaker 2: and then we're going to come back with some more
Speaker 2: things that we're looking forward to in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2: All right, continuing on with the things related to the
Speaker 2: National Football League, Patrick, that get you up in the morning,
Speaker 2: you know, they get you going. We've had a little
Speaker 2: break and we're back.
Speaker 4: At it, and I want to get back at seeing
Speaker 4: teams go from worse to first.
Speaker 3: Okay, that we just talked about. CJ.
Speaker 4: Stroud and the Texans were very close, you know, and
Speaker 4: looking at the Bears, the Chargers, the Cardinals, the Panthers,
Speaker 4: the Commanders, the Patriots, unfortunately the Titans, like we don't
Speaker 4: believe it right now, but there's a chance, Like of course,
Speaker 4: you know, we did this exercise on game debut, and
Speaker 4: the obvious answer is the Cincinnati Bengals, right, But I
Speaker 4: think one of those other teams, despite all of the
Speaker 4: things that they're facing, has a chance to do it.
Speaker 3: And I it's it's one of those situations, you.
Speaker 1: Have a specific one or are you just saying any.
Speaker 6: He wants you to say Patriots so bad?
Speaker 1: No, I don't. I don't.
Speaker 3: Do you want me to say the Patriot?
Speaker 2: No, I've been emotionally disconnecting. I got a lot of
Speaker 2: heat for that, but it's just been the facts, Drake
Speaker 2: maybe in back then, Drake May and the mix. Though
Speaker 2: I'm going to enjoy that, but no, they're not gonna
Speaker 2: win their division because we.
Speaker 4: Just saw the Houston Texans have this incredible turnaround and
Speaker 4: the Bears were making it. Like, I think you can
Speaker 4: make a case Bears. I think that position the Chargers, but.
Speaker 2: I think that CARDINALSY can that they would be a
Speaker 2: fun team. Yeah, probably not win the division, but a
Speaker 2: fun team.
Speaker 6: Their division kills them.
Speaker 4: But yeah, they're for all of these teams. Maybe you
Speaker 4: could make a case for the Titans, but all of
Speaker 4: them are better than they were a season.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 2: I think the Patriots are gonna better than people think.
Speaker 2: I was shocked when I saw the like you know, spoiler,
Speaker 2: unless everything changes on the Desert Front, like we every year,
Speaker 2: we've done a like a before the seasoned Bill Barnwell
Speaker 2: on He's coming on later this week, by the way,
Speaker 2: be excited about that, and you know, drafted over unders
Speaker 2: the fact that the Patriots I think we're four and
Speaker 2: a half or five and a half.
Speaker 3: Yeah, like forget that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm so see what the Bears do. Their defense
Speaker 5: was already solid, kind of came along a little bit better.
Speaker 5: Eberflus is kind of maybe coaching for some some tenure here,
Speaker 5: you know, just give or take how the how the
Speaker 5: year starts. And I am so excited to see Caleb Williams.
Speaker 5: I mean, you guys get you guys know living out
Speaker 5: here in la uh, being awake watching the games, you know,
Speaker 5: well after the sun has set.
Speaker 6: You know, he's he's so special.
Speaker 5: And obviously this is doesn't even need to be said,
Speaker 5: because he was the number one overall pick and highly
Speaker 5: touted prospect and legendary thrower already. But like, still, putting
Speaker 5: it all together can be so hard for teams.
Speaker 6: We've seen that.
Speaker 5: We've seen that with teams with number one overall picks,
Speaker 5: and that can be really difficult.
Speaker 6: But I think he has.
Speaker 5: I don't want to, I don't want to put too
Speaker 5: much optimism in the Chicago Bears before we actually see
Speaker 5: proof of concept, But I do think life gets a
Speaker 5: lot easier when you find the quarterback. I personally think
Speaker 5: they've found the quarterback, and now building around him will
Speaker 5: be important. I do want to give you guys my
Speaker 5: hot Cardinals take, because I don't feel like the Cardinals
Speaker 5: if they're they're crushed by their division, and so I
Speaker 5: think they get overlooked a lot, right, Like not overlooked
Speaker 5: in this sense that it's unfair because they've been bad
Speaker 5: and gone through a lot of different things. But the
Speaker 5: stuff that they were doing last year, Drew Pets and
Speaker 5: Nick Ralis under the Jonathan Gannon sort of umbrella, it
Speaker 5: was weird and it was cool and you would hear
Speaker 5: quarterbacks talk about it like I don't know what they
Speaker 5: were doing. I hadn't seen that what they were doing.
Speaker 5: On defense, they would sometimes do these things where they'd
Speaker 5: like do like a walk around pre snap look where
Speaker 5: they'd sort of just like they were just trying and
Speaker 5: all of a sudden rush to the snat they were.
Speaker 2: And I and I thought it was I was like
Speaker 2: they were doing a really good job for that, and
Speaker 2: then you look at the end of the year and
Speaker 2: it's like dead last and like EPA to play loud
Speaker 2: so defensively that I did want to balance it with that.
Speaker 2: I thought like it felt like it was cool and
Speaker 2: it was good and they were overachieving. And then I
Speaker 2: looked and there's like, actually their defense was a sip
Speaker 2: offense totally different.
Speaker 1: They improved a ton, but I.
Speaker 5: Do I mean they statistically they were not a good team.
Speaker 5: Like let's be clear on that, Like let's be very clear.
Speaker 5: But sometimes when you see process stuff like that, when
Speaker 5: you see troubleshooting, when you see what works what doesn't work,
Speaker 5: it's almost like I would kind of with those two coordinators,
Speaker 5: I would almost compare it to when you give a
Speaker 5: quarterback when a quarterback has a year to sit and
Speaker 5: instead of coming right in, I mean obviously they didn't
Speaker 5: have a year to sit and like cut their teeth
Speaker 5: on being coordinators and being a real team and all
Speaker 5: of that. Like the results were the results, and the
Speaker 5: stats were the stats. But it was similar vibes where
Speaker 5: you know Kyler was hurt. You weren't going into it.
Speaker 5: You were kind of like, h what is this going
Speaker 5: to be? Okay, let's just see everything We're not first, like,
Speaker 5: let's try, let's try things, Let's do these different things.
Speaker 5: I'm not saying that they're going to be a contender here.
Speaker 5: I think they could be really fun. Honestly, I do
Speaker 5: think that, especially you know, with you know, healthy quarterback
Speaker 5: and all of those different things, and the draft classes
Speaker 5: that they've put together, like they could be.
Speaker 1: Really fun making a draft class last Yeah.
Speaker 5: But I think that they they did some stuff that
Speaker 5: was interesting and fun and a lot of times teams
Speaker 5: do not get an opportunity or even a chance to
Speaker 5: do that with without super high stakes, and that could
Speaker 5: potentially lead to something cool. So it's not like a
Speaker 5: super high guess it's not a super hot Cardinals take.
Speaker 5: It's another very lukewarm Cardinals Kylier year.
Speaker 2: Two is on my long list, which we're not getting
Speaker 2: to like almost any of them at this point. But
Speaker 2: they were the number two of rushing attack last year
Speaker 2: in EPA per play after Kyler return full stop, like
Speaker 2: they were just by the numbers about a top ten offense.
Speaker 2: After Kyler returned, I thought him and that offense and
Speaker 2: what you could see he wasn't fully back from the
Speaker 2: injury physically and was getting up to the speed of
Speaker 2: the offense. But I thought he did things just as
Speaker 2: a quarterback that I didn't always see with Cliff Kingsbury.
Speaker 2: I saw growth, like I process wise, and man, that
Speaker 2: makes me very excited about them. And I think the
Speaker 2: ceiling side you meant. We mentioned the Bears by the
Speaker 2: way and all that we're going to hit on tomorrow's
Speaker 2: show with Steve Weisch and Nick Shook. Everything we've missed,
Speaker 2: everything that has happened in the NFL essentially as much
Speaker 2: as we can can like as much news rundown that
Speaker 2: we think matters. One of them is that, Yeah, the
Speaker 2: Bears are the Hard Knocks team, which is cool, so
Speaker 2: that we can get into getting into this team I liked.
Speaker 2: I'm into like eight weeks straight of Hard Knocks the
Speaker 2: first episode. I know people had their doubts on the
Speaker 2: Giants Hard Knocks, but it was I found it compelling.
Speaker 1: I thought it was a good addition.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna give a quick one that you guys don't
Speaker 2: need to comment on, and then I'll throw it to
Speaker 2: you Jordan, just a very quick One's just like if
Speaker 2: you look at Week eighteen last year, here are some
Speaker 2: quarterbacks that did not play Aaron Rodgers and that will
Speaker 2: be playing Week one, hopefully. Aaron Rodgers Kirk Cousins, Anthony Richardson,
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow, Caleb Williams, Jaden Daniels, Drake May. Like that's
Speaker 2: a quarter of the league right there, and like those
Speaker 2: are all dudes, and they're going to be playing, you know,
Speaker 2: health willing week one. So that's just a quick one
Speaker 2: that I'm excited about.
Speaker 5: It's so nice that your point actually sets up my point,
Speaker 5: So thank you for that. I'm looking at like Year
Speaker 5: two quarterbacks in general, and I'm i think maybe more
Speaker 5: excited about these guys than possibly guys that are just
Speaker 5: coming in and being rookies, because I try not to
Speaker 5: grade rookies too difficult, Like with too much difficulty, there's
Speaker 5: a learning curve, there's you know, the whole ship has
Speaker 5: to get built around them at some point.
Speaker 6: And like we touched on with c J.
Speaker 5: Stroud, it's you know, he's a very pleasant outlier in
Speaker 5: the sense that so much worked and he really worked
Speaker 5: and everything really clicked. But the Year two guys, I mean,
Speaker 5: obviously we talked about CJ. I'm so excited to see
Speaker 5: I hope Anthony Richardson gets a full season. I think
Speaker 5: he is so special. Some of the throws he was
Speaker 5: making last year before he got hurt. There's there's some
Speaker 5: controlled chaos, but in the best way, in that way
Speaker 5: that makes defenders hesitate, what the heck is this guy
Speaker 5: gonna do? And and he can just can he can
Speaker 5: hurt you every which way? And pairing him, you know,
Speaker 5: with Shane Stike and like a lot of these year
Speaker 5: two guys, I mean, Bryce Young that's to me a
Speaker 5: really compelling story after what he went through last year
Speaker 5: and what it must have done in terms of, like
Speaker 5: how do you manage that mentally? That's going to be
Speaker 5: really significant and unproven, really relatively unproven play caller in
Speaker 5: Dave Kanalas, and you're going to kind of see can
Speaker 5: you can you write the ship with this young man?
Speaker 6: Like can can you figure it out?
Speaker 5: Can they maximize some of the qualities that did make
Speaker 5: him a really strong prospect, you know coming out of
Speaker 5: the draft that weren't necessarily available to him. Does he
Speaker 5: actually have more skills and more tools around him? And
Speaker 5: I kind of he doesn't qualify structurally. So nobody dig
Speaker 5: me on this, Please don't yell at me for this.
Speaker 5: But Jordan Love in year two of like being the dude, Like, no,
Speaker 5: that's not acceptable well, I'll just I'm gonna go, Yeah,
Speaker 5: I'm just gonna.
Speaker 2: That's actually the end of NFL Daily killed the show.
Speaker 2: It's been a good first episode, like yeah.
Speaker 5: All right, yes, but year two of being the dude,
Speaker 5: like like fully having the reins, fully being you know,
Speaker 5: with working fully with Mattlaflor, fully fully having sort of
Speaker 5: the you know, the shadow, not in a negative way,
Speaker 5: but the shadow of like the legendary quarterback who came
Speaker 5: before him, fully away from that building, and I you know,
Speaker 5: obviously structurally he does not qualify as a year two quarterback,
Speaker 5: but a year two as franchise guy. I loved how
Speaker 5: he put together that season last year. I loved seeing
Speaker 5: the collaboration between him and Matt Laflor. I think it's
Speaker 5: like so magical when the coach you know, and the
Speaker 5: quarterback can suddenly you can see the planning together. You
Speaker 5: can see them truly collaborating and troubleshooting together. That's what
Speaker 5: I think a lot of these year two guys do
Speaker 5: have in common. We have yet to see with Bryce
Speaker 5: Young obviously, but they do have that really heady way
Speaker 5: of being able to vocalize and vertbilize what they want,
Speaker 5: of being able to really construct an offense. All of
Speaker 5: these young quarterbacks do, and that's really exciting to me.
Speaker 5: I mean, that's that's really fun for the sport in general.
Speaker 5: But it's also really fun when it's like, get out
Speaker 5: of their way a little bit, let them cook. And
Speaker 5: I think a lot of these guys have that at him.
Speaker 4: And so much of the like should a quarterback start,
Speaker 4: should a quarterback sit discussion to me is based on
Speaker 4: our perception of who they are, and so we if
Speaker 4: it goes bad, right, we perceived them as bad and
Speaker 4: think that, oh well, you our buyas has been confirmed.
Speaker 4: This guy started early and now he's bad, right, But
Speaker 4: Bryce was in a horrible situation.
Speaker 6: Oh yeah.
Speaker 4: And I think we can go back to look at
Speaker 4: camp reports and conversations surrounding Jordan Love early in his
Speaker 4: career where it's like this is not working, and I think.
Speaker 2: Or Aaron Rodgers, I can't remember what it was, a
Speaker 2: craignall or something like he was the fourth quarterback, he
Speaker 2: was struggling his rookie year in camp.
Speaker 4: And I remember it was two Super bowls before two
Speaker 4: Super Bowls ago. We were talking to Aaron Jones on
Speaker 4: Super Bowl Live and Michael Robinson asked him before the segment, like, hey,
Speaker 4: how's how's Jordan Love doing, and Aaron said, oh, Jordan
Speaker 4: Love's ready, Like this is this is it.
Speaker 3: Jordan Love is a quarterback. He's real, He's legit.
Speaker 4: And Mike rob was like, hey, we're we're not taping
Speaker 4: right now, you can be honest, and and there was
Speaker 4: like there was that level of skepticism, and then early
Speaker 4: on in the season the skepticism was still there and
Speaker 4: all of a sudden he goes nuclear and it's like
Speaker 4: this is it and Jordan Love would never be questioned now.
Speaker 4: And I'm I'm with Jordan, like, yes, I think we
Speaker 4: can get that from some of these year two guys
Speaker 4: and completely shift our perception because it's it's football.
Speaker 2: Well, Jordan Love specifically is like a bit of a
Speaker 2: mystery box. I think the floor is higher than we
Speaker 2: ever would have expected. The ceiling is through the roof.
Speaker 2: As as Michael Michael Jordan say, like he's just preposterous.
Speaker 2: He reminds like he reminds me of Kaepernick and Josh
Speaker 2: Allen at least just in the way that he makes
Speaker 2: me feel. What when he sort of first came out
Speaker 2: just like oh, like anything is possible here. I don't
Speaker 2: know what's gonna happen, and some of it's gonna be bad.
Speaker 2: And and those are the two guys. And I think
Speaker 2: it's just because also just their physicality and just their
Speaker 2: just talent that just is undeniable, that that he reminds
Speaker 2: me of not that he plays exactly like them, but
Speaker 2: just in the way that he makes me feel like
Speaker 2: he he is an incredible uh value add as a quarterback.
Speaker 1: And that's that is kind of what it's about, at
Speaker 1: least for me.
Speaker 2: Like it's like you know, when you're when you're picking
Speaker 2: which games to watch, ultimately the games that you don't
Speaker 2: want to watch as much as the ones and the
Speaker 2: quarterbacks you're not going to be excited about. I'm going
Speaker 2: to do one more and then we're going to take
Speaker 2: one last break and it's just the Steelers being steelery.
Speaker 2: I was, I actually am, I genuinely am into this.
Speaker 2: Like we have so might you know, none of us
Speaker 2: have done a podcast. We haven't talked about football in
Speaker 2: a while. Like, we have a lot to get to
Speaker 2: and we're going to get to it. It's it's called
Speaker 2: NFL Daily, So we're gonna have plenty of time as
Speaker 2: we build up.
Speaker 1: To this season.
Speaker 2: But I mean it like the defensive front reminds me
Speaker 2: so much of the Steelers teams in the ATS and
Speaker 2: the early twenty tens that just like, well, that's what
Speaker 2: the Steelers are. They're two preposterously good outside linebackers and
Speaker 2: then a third that probably is better than your second.
Speaker 2: And then they're and that's you know, TJ. Watt and
Speaker 2: Alex Highsmith, and I really like Nate Herbert coming in.
Speaker 2: And then oh yeah, by the way, there's also like
Speaker 2: a couple massive difference makers in the front with Cameron
Speaker 2: Hayward and County Benton, who I think is a making
Speaker 2: the Leap type of candidate if we do a Making
Speaker 2: the Leap show, like really good last year for them
Speaker 2: on the inside. And so that's their defense, and it's
Speaker 2: Tomlin and they recently, you know, they got Larry Ogunjobi,
Speaker 2: I think Jerry Porter Junior, he's a dog like they're
Speaker 2: just I think they're quietly gonna be one of those
Speaker 2: Tomlin defenses. And then oh, by the way, it's the
Speaker 2: Art Smith revival. It's like the runs scheme, like you
Speaker 2: can fall Art Smith for a lot of things, but
Speaker 2: it's a pleasing run scheme to watch when it works.
Speaker 2: And what I think of is just you know, the
Speaker 2: pulling tackles and stuff. And when Progeri Jones came in
Speaker 2: last year as a pulling tackle, they improved like day one.
Speaker 2: And he is just like a monster of highlight blocks
Speaker 2: on the edge. And now he's moving to left tackle.
Speaker 2: And who do they take in the first round Troy Filtanu,
Speaker 2: who is the most massive, the most intimidating, like pulling blocker.
Speaker 2: And I don't know if this is all gonna work.
Speaker 2: I have a feeling we're gonna be talking with Nate Tyson.
Speaker 2: You're gonna be on this show Jordan next week about
Speaker 2: stuff schematically that we're excited about. That's gonna be Monday's show.
Speaker 2: I would maybe I'll stop talking because I have a
Speaker 2: feeling Nate's gonna hit this. But like those two dudes
Speaker 2: in Art Smith's running scheme and two really good running backs,
Speaker 2: I just think that's very steelery to me, and I
Speaker 2: think they're just gonna be very steelery.
Speaker 5: So he's he's also rebranded to Art is what you know?
Speaker 5: We go from Arthur. He's going to say that, but
Speaker 5: he's going to be painting. It's going to be painting.
Speaker 5: Is that's really this is where you're I mean that
Speaker 5: you're breaking some news here. If he's if he's rebranded,
Speaker 5: because I like art, I like art. I think art
Speaker 5: Art is better for uh, you know, it's like kind
Speaker 5: of more of a it's a punch in the mouth
Speaker 5: kind of name.
Speaker 2: Which was like the holding the microphone stand a little
Speaker 2: too tight. I mean, Arthur was holding the microphone stand
Speaker 2: a little too tight. As a head coach, Art is
Speaker 2: the one cooking up a nineteen eighty style with some
Speaker 2: twist running scheme in the lab.
Speaker 6: Art's gonna run triple option art Smith.
Speaker 5: Art Smith says, give me the biggest, beefiest offensive lineman
Speaker 5: you've got, and we're going to pull your ass to
Speaker 5: the sideline.
Speaker 6: Like Art. Art Smith's got some lettuce right, Like.
Speaker 3: Art arts at the whiteboard with an easel, you know,
Speaker 3: he he's drawing.
Speaker 6: Up past they walk it.
Speaker 5: They walk in, and all the all the whiteboards in
Speaker 5: the building have been changed out.
Speaker 3: And I think there is some some truth.
Speaker 4: Like he he was in that stressful position as the
Speaker 4: head coach of the football team with a million different
Speaker 4: things to do and to worry about. And and now
Speaker 4: he can be art Smith, right, he can just focus
Speaker 4: on play calling and facilitating an offense.
Speaker 6: He's free to be art.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he can be art. Be the art that you
Speaker 3: want to see.
Speaker 5: I want to see them run pistol. We're going to
Speaker 5: get to it. Don't let Nate steel okay for me?
Speaker 1: Okay?
Speaker 2: And I do want to, you know, make the first
Speaker 2: NFL Daily apology just to all the great people and
Speaker 2: storylines and trends that I didn't get to. But you know,
Speaker 2: I'm going to save them. Oh, We're gonna do them
Speaker 2: at some point. That's podcasting one there. You'll use everything
Speaker 2: I've learned. Eventually, let's take one last quick break and
Speaker 2: we're going to wrap things up after that. Jaunty back
Speaker 2: on NFL Daily, wrapping up our first show together. A lot,
Speaker 2: a lot of emotions, a lot of football. Really glad
Speaker 2: you guys were here for it, and just to let
Speaker 2: everyone know, like what is NFL Daily going to be?
Speaker 2: Like what what is coming up? I think the first
Speaker 2: first week and plus is a good, you know, example
Speaker 2: of what's what's coming our show tomorrow we're going to
Speaker 2: talk about, as I mentioned, a lot of everything that's happened.
Speaker 2: Since there's been a podcast here on this feed. So
Speaker 2: Nick Shook Steve Weisch is going to join me for that.
Speaker 2: We're also going to have one of our insiders in
Speaker 2: rapaport I believe Believe us just for a little news.
Speaker 2: As part of that show, I'm going to be breaking
Speaker 2: down kind of previewing camps with Mina Chimes and Bill Barnwell.
Speaker 2: Later in the week on Monday, we mentioned the scheme
Speaker 2: show we're going to do with with Nate Tyson and Jordan,
Speaker 2: and then it'd be great to have Colleen Wolf back
Speaker 2: in the studio. Patrick, hopefully you're available for that one.
Speaker 2: I'm really hoping you are anytime. Sure, And so that's
Speaker 2: the next week and and going from there, it's daily.
Speaker 2: We're going to be hosting five days a week overnights
Speaker 2: for now. With that that might get adjusted once once
Speaker 2: we move on into training camp and more news is
Speaker 2: coming out. And yeah, even Monday mornings, you guys will
Speaker 2: have something in your feed. And so before we go,
Speaker 2: I do want to do something that we you know,
Speaker 2: we might do every day, we might do some days
Speaker 2: and it's like a little after dinnerman like when I
Speaker 2: would go to my grandfather's house Heinz Rosenthal in Connecticut.
Speaker 2: Every Sunday we'd go there and we'd get back to
Speaker 2: his house and uh, he would have this little little
Speaker 2: jar mint after eight's. They were called very old school
Speaker 2: and you would have like a little after dinner mint.
Speaker 2: It was we were home from the restaurant. We would
Speaker 2: always go out, go out to eat, and it's just
Speaker 2: like a nice this little uh after taste.
Speaker 1: A nice little thing to leave you on.
Speaker 3: And so.
Speaker 2: Our after dinner mint, our after eight today is gonna
Speaker 2: be a picture that I was so excited to see
Speaker 2: while we were on our break. If you're watching on YouTube,
Speaker 2: check us out there too. This is Austin James Roberts
Speaker 2: born May twenty fifth, so just just a few days
Speaker 2: since we talked to you last. And Eric, as the
Speaker 2: ATEN listeners will know, it's a great producer for us,
Speaker 2: and he's doing some work from home for now, but
Speaker 2: he's spending time with Austin and he will be back
Speaker 2: with us in the studio doing a lot of work
Speaker 2: for us, I believe in August. And in the meantime,
Speaker 2: Randy Chavez is holding it down behind the scenes. So
Speaker 2: we love you too, Randy, but we really love Austin James.
Speaker 2: So congratulations to Eric and Tale and and especially to Austin.
Speaker 2: You got some badass parents and it's really exciting.
Speaker 3: Yeah, existence is awesome. You're going to enjoy it.
Speaker 2: And I look, and you don't know any alternative, frankly,
Speaker 2: in existence or not, but yes, compared to the alternative,
Speaker 2: enjoy it.
Speaker 4: And when people because it's always interesting when you have
Speaker 4: kids and it's like, you know, you tell them how
Speaker 4: old your kids are, it's like, oh, that's a good age.
Speaker 4: And I was thinking, like hell a month, like oh
Speaker 4: that's a good age, Like yeah, they're all great ages.
Speaker 4: And uh, you know, Eric grinding out and doing everything
Speaker 4: and being a new dad.
Speaker 2: It's a it's awesome, great dude, and you'll you'll get
Speaker 2: to know him too, Jordan when he's back. And you're right,
Speaker 2: I I pushed back hard now because now that Elis
Speaker 2: my daughter is twelve, it's now to the point where
Speaker 2: people think it's not a good age. And I'm kind
Speaker 2: of like, you you know, like they're all like, that's
Speaker 2: my daughter. You're talking just like, oh, teenage age. You know,
Speaker 2: teenage daughters. It's like all right, you know how you're
Speaker 2: so happy like that you're like one year old or
Speaker 2: two year old, like walked without themselves or whatever, or
Speaker 2: they did one little thing like can you imagine how
Speaker 2: proud I am of what my bad aass twelve year
Speaker 2: old is doing on a daily basis, Like it's exponential
Speaker 2: the pride, that's all. Let's hit the music, Randy, Uh
Speaker 2: yeah for this first episode of NFL Daily. Again, thank
Speaker 2: you to everyone for their patients and their their support
Speaker 2: and their loved It means a lot to us, and
Speaker 2: uh for checking out the show and hopefully uh you
Speaker 2: will tomorrow too. Until then, for Patrick and Jordan, I'm
Speaker 2: Greg Rosenthal.
Speaker 1: See you next thing.