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Speaker 1: What's up, guys. Welcome into a brand new episode of

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Speaker 1: Chargers Weekly. We were off last week. Good to be back.

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Speaker 1: Chris Avery here with you. Matt money Smith has NFL

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Speaker 1: media obligations today, so we'll see him next Thursday. In

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Speaker 1: the meantime, a Beat Riders Roundtable recapping all things Midicamp,

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Speaker 1: a busy week before the Chargers go on summer vacation.

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Speaker 1: Daniel Popper, the athletic Gil Manzano, Southern California News Group,

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Speaker 1: Jeff Miller Atla Times. Gentlemen, it's always a pleasure. I

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Speaker 1: feel like we haven't done this in a while. It's

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Speaker 1: good to have you all together. It's God. I'm glad.

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Speaker 1: I'm just glad that money so famous that he has

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Speaker 1: to go do his big time stuff. We we slums

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Speaker 1: can get out here. Listen, Money's a Money's a busy man.

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Speaker 1: We'll get his thoughts on Mini camp next week, though,

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Speaker 1: So we'll start with you, guys, and if you had

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Speaker 1: to break it down to like one overarching thought or takeaway,

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Speaker 1: believe me, we're gonna get into everything, but but I'll

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Speaker 1: start with you, Gil, how would you summarize the last

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Speaker 1: two days? Yeah, I'm glad you started with me first,

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Speaker 1: because for me is the newcomers seeing all the new

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Speaker 1: faces together U the entire team, like the most most

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Speaker 1: of the team has been there for for OTAs, but

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Speaker 1: we got to see the full practice from mandatory mini

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Speaker 1: camp and just seeing Joey Boza Khalil mack standing on

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Speaker 1: opposite sides for a walk through was like, Okay, this

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Speaker 1: is real. They actually have Khalil macka on the team.

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Speaker 1: They say CALVADNOI JC Jackson. So all the newcomers with

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Speaker 1: the defense was was what kind of stood out to me? Pop,

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Speaker 1: What about you? Yeah, I think I think you have

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Speaker 1: to start there right, Just so many new faces on

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Speaker 1: this defense. It looks completely different. I know you have

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Speaker 1: some holdovers obviously Derwin and Joey and Asante, but a

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Speaker 1: lot of this defense is going to be brand new.

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Speaker 1: And I think the one thing that jumped out to

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Speaker 1: me is just how many guys and defense have played

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Speaker 1: for Brandon Staley before and have played in this defense before.

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Speaker 1: And you know, you you see the names and you're like, okay,

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Speaker 1: it's it's a decent number. You know. I remember tweeting

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Speaker 1: about it, you know, during free agency and after they

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Speaker 1: signed you know, Morgan Fox and Bryce Callahan, but when

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Speaker 1: you see it out on the field, it's pretty jarring.

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Speaker 1: Like it's a lot of guys that know this defense,

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Speaker 1: that have been in this defense. And I think that

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Speaker 1: was a big motivation this offseason for Brandon Staley, Tom Clasco,

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Speaker 1: the whole group over there that put this roster together.

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Speaker 1: Just get some familiarity with the scheme. Guys that know

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Speaker 1: what they're doing, even Sebastian, Joseph Day, you know up front,

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Speaker 1: Guys that really understand the scheme, because I think that

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Speaker 1: was an issue last year in terms of trying to

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Speaker 1: transition with the players that they had. Yeah, it's strange

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Speaker 1: because it's Brandon staley second year and his program has

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Speaker 1: been established, but it's this program. Yeah, it's been established,

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Speaker 1: where like you have a completely overhaul defense. But like

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Speaker 1: you said, Pappa, it's guys who have been in his

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Speaker 1: system before, Guys he's familiar with. Jeff, what about you.

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Speaker 1: It's sort of in the same vein of what the

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Speaker 1: other guy said is I was struck struck by the

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Speaker 1: depth now, especially on defense, all those defensive backs, and

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Speaker 1: it's some of the stuff they've done up front. You know,

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Speaker 1: the name The big names are the big names, the headlines,

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Speaker 1: Khalil j C. Jackson resigning, Mike Williams. Those are big

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Speaker 1: names and big headlines for a reason. But the what's

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Speaker 1: not talked about as much is just the depth, the

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Speaker 1: quality depth that they've added. And I think it's just,

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Speaker 1: you know, everyone knows that guys are gonna get hurt

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Speaker 1: the NFL. Happens all the time, but you know it

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Speaker 1: just as an example for people that appreciate is you know,

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Speaker 1: Michael Davis and Jerry Tillery played a ton of football

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Speaker 1: for this team, you know, last season, and Michael Davis

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Speaker 1: a little bit before that. Jerry you know, played a

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Speaker 1: little bit early on too, but they played a lot

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Speaker 1: and right now those guys are death pieces. I mean,

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Speaker 1: they're rotation guys. And uh that's really you know that

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Speaker 1: really I think says a lot about not only did

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Speaker 1: they add a lot of quality, but they've they've added

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Speaker 1: a quantity too, and I think they're trying to protect

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Speaker 1: against these inevitable injuries that are going to come. So

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Speaker 1: if I was a fan of this team, I would

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Speaker 1: be as excited about that as anything, because it seems

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Speaker 1: like they've there, you know, they're they're they're preemptively preparing

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Speaker 1: for having to deal with the injuries. And we saw

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Speaker 1: it happened last year, especially in the secondary when guys

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Speaker 1: got hurt, and even up front two when guys got hurt.

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Speaker 1: We you know, we all saw it happened, and so

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Speaker 1: did the coaching staff and the front office. Obviously. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I just to jump in. Yet, it's a great point

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Speaker 1: from Jeff, And something that really jumped out to me

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Speaker 1: is what Ronaldo Hill said during his press conference that

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Speaker 1: you know, nobody there were guys that weren't looking over

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Speaker 1: their shoulder last year because they had they had their

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Speaker 1: spots and they didn't have to worry about anyone coming

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Speaker 1: for it, and they didn't want that to happen last year.

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Speaker 1: They were Ronaldo basically expl said, Listen, we had guys

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Speaker 1: last year that weren't looking over their shoulder that should

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Speaker 1: have been looking over their shoulder, and that's what we

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Speaker 1: created this year is that those guys have to fight

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Speaker 1: for their positions. They're not comfortable, and I think that's

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Speaker 1: what Jeff is alluding to here with all these guys

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Speaker 1: that they brought in that you know, the Jerry Tillery's

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Speaker 1: and the Michael Davis is of the world. They're gonna

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Speaker 1: have to fight for playing time, which didn't have to

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Speaker 1: happen last year. They got they got to waltz right

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Speaker 1: in there and play just because of the depth that

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Speaker 1: was built on the roster last season. Popera. We talked

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Speaker 1: about that a few weeks ago, how it was. It

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Speaker 1: was more just a product of this is the roster

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Speaker 1: that Staling Company had to work with last year. They

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Speaker 1: weren't really able to make the drastic moves on defense

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Speaker 1: that they made this offseason. So you're right, guys did

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Speaker 1: not have to look over their shoulder. They were establishing.

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Speaker 1: The staff is just like, Okay, well we got to

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Speaker 1: roll with these guys and hopefully they perform. Some guys did,

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Speaker 1: some guys had uneven seasons, And now I think that

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Speaker 1: competition starting a training camp is going to be really

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Speaker 1: something to watch. It it a lot of key positions, Gil.

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Speaker 1: I want to talk to talk to you about Durwin,

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Speaker 1: but but first I was there on Monday and we

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Speaker 1: did this one hour streaming show on CBS News Los Angeles.

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Speaker 1: If you go to CBSLA dot com you could watch it.

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Speaker 1: It was fun. We had Staley with Telesco Keenan, Austin Sante,

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Speaker 1: Samuel Junior. We walked around the photo booth and just

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Speaker 1: talked to random guys, Braden Poco, Trey Pipkins walking around.

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Speaker 1: So it was a lot of fun to see all

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Speaker 1: these new faces. Khalil Mack rolling out in powder blue

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Speaker 1: for the first time. But you know, I see Durwin

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Speaker 1: Man and it's just you're automatically gravitated towards him anyway,

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Speaker 1: but with that number three on, he just looks like

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Speaker 1: he looks like Florida stay Drwin again. And it was

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Speaker 1: announced that he had all season surgery. They're gonna take

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Speaker 1: their time, be cautious with him, but Gil he should

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Speaker 1: be ready to go for training camp. Yeah, we were

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Speaker 1: all caught off guard when we heard that he had

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Speaker 1: at surgery. I'm looking at Jeff, I'm looking at Popera.

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Speaker 1: When it to happen that that I missed this? Am

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Speaker 1: I not doing my job? Did I forget? But yes,

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Speaker 1: it was kind of new. We're not new, but new

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Speaker 1: for us. Surgery happening in February after after the Pro Bowl,

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Speaker 1: and we're not really sure when it happened, but you know,

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Speaker 1: he separated his shoulder in that Casey gave way back

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Speaker 1: in week three, So if it's from that point, that

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Speaker 1: kind of tells you the toughness of Derwin James absolutely

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Speaker 1: and the way he plays. But you're you're right, Chris,

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Speaker 1: they kind of feels like a different Derwin James with

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Speaker 1: the number three. We had a photographer for those reasually

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Speaker 1: come out and I'm like, get a picture of Derwin

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Speaker 1: the number three. That's different. I neat that picture, so

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Speaker 1: it feels different, and but it's the same mold Derwin

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Speaker 1: the leader out there. You're seeing him guiding guys like

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Speaker 1: jac Jackson Um. You know, we were asking about the

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Speaker 1: contract or. I guess I was, and he said, I

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Speaker 1: don't care about the contract. I care about getting these

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Speaker 1: guys up to speed. J C. Bryce Callahan, Cava Illinois.

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Speaker 1: So that leadership for this new defense is going to

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Speaker 1: be vital for the for the season. You know, Jeff.

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Speaker 1: Another wrinkle to what we were talking about with the

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Speaker 1: depth on defense and in the pieces, Derwin didn't necessarily

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Speaker 1: have the supporting cast around him to do everything that

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Speaker 1: Derwin James does. And you know when when Gush Radley

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Speaker 1: was ye, I go back to like twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen,

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Speaker 1: there was a specific way of defense that they wanted

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Speaker 1: to teach, a play to build around Derwin. Now when

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Speaker 1: you bring in uh J. C. Jackson and Khalil Mack

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Speaker 1: and Kyle Van Noy, Staley said a multiple times this offseason,

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Speaker 1: they've really equipped this defense to allow Durwin to just

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Speaker 1: play free and do what he does. Yeah, and you know,

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Speaker 1: we saw what he did last year and how great

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Speaker 1: he was, and just imagine now if they take that

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Speaker 1: up a notch, which is what they're trying to do

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Speaker 1: by being able to utilize him even more effective ways.

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Speaker 1: And I think, you know, and it struck me when

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Speaker 1: they drafted JT. Woods and that was the one thing

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Speaker 1: that they talked about. Staley talked about was this guy

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Speaker 1: can play. We hope this guy can play the deep

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Speaker 1: part of the field. And now that you know, now

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Speaker 1: we Derwin can move around even more. So you know,

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Speaker 1: we saw, you know, early on with Derwin is his

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Speaker 1: All Pro season. I remember that year there were a

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Speaker 1: few games he or yellow cleats, and I remember that

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Speaker 1: helped me because I could figure out where he was easily.

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Speaker 1: Otherwise there were times he does Jeff. There were plenty

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Speaker 1: of games where like the defense is out there and

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Speaker 1: the offenses come to the line of scrimmage. I'm trying

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Speaker 1: to figure out where he is because I want to

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Speaker 1: see what he's gonna do. And you know, we've seen

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Speaker 1: some of that, but I think to me, it seemed

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Speaker 1: like that year he did a ton of that and

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Speaker 1: we saw how Grady was, So you know, the idea

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Speaker 1: of being able to unleash him even more and exploit

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Speaker 1: his skills even more, it's got to be very exciting.

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Speaker 1: And if you're you know, in on that coaching staff,

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Speaker 1: you've got to be thinking, Man, if if everybody can

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Speaker 1: stay healthy, if he can stay healthy, there's just so

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Speaker 1: much this guy can do. I mean, and everyone knows it.

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Speaker 1: You look at all these lists and people put out,

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Speaker 1: he's always at the top among the best safeties, and um,

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Speaker 1: I just hope for his sake. He's such a good guy.

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Speaker 1: He's so good with us and so good with the fans.

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Speaker 1: For his sake, I hope it all works out for him.

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Speaker 1: He's able to to to stay healthy and be out there,

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Speaker 1: because it will be special to see what he can

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Speaker 1: do in a defense that has has the pieces that

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Speaker 1: this defense has right now. Yellow Cleet situation was before

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Speaker 1: I was in the press box. Now, Jeff, just true

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Speaker 1: and yells that is true. Was I could just turn

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Speaker 1: to other people now, but yes, I love the optical

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Speaker 1: assistance Derwin game. That was just a single digit you know,

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Speaker 1: so that that should help. And then you know, Popper,

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Speaker 1: I think you take away the position of safety like

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Speaker 1: Derwin is so valuable to this team. He's not just

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Speaker 1: the safety man. He is like this positionless player that

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Speaker 1: is really going to make all things go for Brandon Steele. Yeah, well,

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Speaker 1: he played five positions last year and I did a

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Speaker 1: film breakdown of all the different positions he was playing,

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Speaker 1: and go check that out at the Athletic Plug. I

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Speaker 1: don't have my mug today. I have a different mug,

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Speaker 1: but go check that out. Yeah, so five different positions.

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Speaker 1: He played both safety spots. He played in the slot

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Speaker 1: as in nickel corner. He played dimebacker, which is basically

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Speaker 1: like a safety hybrid safety linebacker hybrid in six dB packages.

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Speaker 1: And he also played this exposition which was like some

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Speaker 1: you know, hybrid edge rusher position where you'd come off

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Speaker 1: the edge and get out to the quarterback. They had

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Speaker 1: a plan heading into the season to play Derwin all

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Speaker 1: over the field, but I think the attrition that they

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Speaker 1: had in the secondary really prevented them from doing that.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you go back to that first game against Washington,

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Speaker 1: and they had a plan where they were gonna, you know,

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Speaker 1: basically switched Chris Harris and Derwin James so that if

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Speaker 1: they wanted Derwin closer to the line of scrimmage, they'd

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Speaker 1: bring Chris Harris back and put him at safety and

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Speaker 1: then moved Drwin and put him at slock corner. And

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Speaker 1: they did that in the Washington game. But then Chris

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Speaker 1: Harris got hurt and that started this cascading effect where

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Speaker 1: Chris Harris was out of lineup, and then Michael Davis

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Speaker 1: got hurt, and then it's not a Samuel Junior had

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Speaker 1: multiple concussions, and so you got all these different pieces coming.

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Speaker 1: And there was a period of time where they weren't

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Speaker 1: even playing dime packages with six defensive backs because they

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Speaker 1: just didn't have enough bodies. They did, like, literally did

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Speaker 1: not have enough defensive backs to put six defensive backs

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Speaker 1: in the game. And then a lovely Gil had the

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Speaker 1: quad injury, and so you had all these issues and

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Speaker 1: so they couldn't move Derwin around. They didn't have enough players,

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Speaker 1: and they didn't have the capability in the back end

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Speaker 1: to defend the deep part of the field, so they

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Speaker 1: put Derwin where they needed a most, which was at safety.

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Speaker 1: You know, I think towards the end of the season,

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Speaker 1: when guys started to get healthy, saw on moving around more.

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Speaker 1: But that is the thought process behind bringing in all

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Speaker 1: of this depth in the secondary, because if if we

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Speaker 1: can weather injuries, that means we can continue to use

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Speaker 1: Derwin the way that we want to as opposed to

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Speaker 1: the way that we that we need to buy necessity.

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Speaker 1: And I think that's that's logic there, and I think

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Speaker 1: we're gonna be able to see him. We're gonna be

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Speaker 1: able to see the vision expressed fully this season because

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Speaker 1: they have the depth that even if they do suffer

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Speaker 1: a few injuries like they did last year, Derwin can

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Speaker 1: continue to play in that plan that they have for him.

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Speaker 1: I was joking with our manager of photography time now,

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Speaker 1: because you know, Derwin's wearing three now and Dean Leonard

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Speaker 1: the rookies wearing thirty three and tie. I guess I

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Speaker 1: think he told Dean He's like, you're gonna have a

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Speaker 1: lot of people at soap by staying with your jerseyology,

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Speaker 1: it'd be a lot of thirty threes in the crowd,

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Speaker 1: you know, Yeah, interesting if a gold choice from him.

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Speaker 1: But he's he's actually been balling out and in Mini

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Speaker 1: camp he has like four pass breakups from my account,

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Speaker 1: so yeah, he's looking pretty good. So he's wrapping the

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Speaker 1: thirty three right now. Papa. You had a tweet and

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Speaker 1: it was just very simple, just a couple of words

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Speaker 1: from Justin I need football, and it blew up and

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Speaker 1: Gil you wrote, I wrote, I read everything you guys

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Speaker 1: wrote today, and Gil your your story was basically like

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Speaker 1: Justin's vacation is happening right now at Mini Campum. That

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Speaker 1: was probably the biggest takeaway from Justine gil anything else. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you know, I felt kind of silly right about it

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Speaker 1: that this guy likes football, this guy cares, but then

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Speaker 1: started thinking about like, you know, people like to read

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Speaker 1: Justice Herbert's stores. But the more important part was, like,

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Speaker 1: you know, this is why he succeeded so well in

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Speaker 1: the NFL for his first two years because he actually

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Speaker 1: really really cares about football and he needs it. He's

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Speaker 1: watching film. I'm guessing like six hours a day. He's

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Speaker 1: doing it on vacations and he just loves being around

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Speaker 1: the team. So that preparation kind of tells you how

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Speaker 1: he was so ready for a week two gaming against

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Speaker 1: the Chiefs with five minutes notice. So that was kind

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Speaker 1: of that was my biggest stake where I know Justin

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Speaker 1: is not the most talkative. It doesn't like to, you know,

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Speaker 1: share too much of his personal life, but it just

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Speaker 1: shows you that this guy really cares about football. He

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Speaker 1: needs it. He didn't get as far as saying that,

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Speaker 1: you know what, I don't know what I'll do without it,

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Speaker 1: but you're seeing that side of how you kind of

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Speaker 1: prepare to watch film and how much he cares was

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Speaker 1: interesting for me and then getting to know him because

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Speaker 1: sometimes we're just asking a bunch of questions about football,

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Speaker 1: but now I was like, so what are you doing

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Speaker 1: your free time? And he kind of revealed that side.

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Speaker 1: It was what I thought a lot about a football

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Speaker 1: so but for him, it's a you know, it's a

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Speaker 1: big gear. So maybe you know, taking some time off

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Speaker 1: is okay. People are calling him to you know, maybe

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Speaker 1: the MVP there, super Bowl hype, so maybe getting some

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Speaker 1: time away before a big year is okay. Popper, I

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Speaker 1: think it was you who asked about the football to

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Speaker 1: two stuff, and I thought it was pretty interesting. He

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Speaker 1: kind of went into the cadence and some of the

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Speaker 1: things he's been working on to kind of that next

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Speaker 1: level in Joe Lombardi's offense. Yeah, it was a great

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Speaker 1: justin press conference. I feel like I actually was able

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Speaker 1: to like learn something about him. And I don't know

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Speaker 1: if that's him just opening up or if we were

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Speaker 1: just on our game and asking great questions. I'd like

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Speaker 1: to think it's a little bit of both. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: the football two or two thing really jumped out to

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Speaker 1: me because like it really seems like to me that

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Speaker 1: he's just scratching the surface of what he can do.

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Speaker 1: It feels like as a rookie, he was thrown in

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Speaker 1: there and he was just trying to do his best,

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Speaker 1: and what his best was was, you know, one of

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Speaker 1: the greatest rookie seasons we've ever seen, and that's just

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Speaker 1: his physical capabilities taking control. And then he learned a

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Speaker 1: new scheme heading into year two. It was a lot.

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Speaker 1: It's really complex. I mean he told me when I

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Speaker 1: talked to him and during training camp last year that

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Speaker 1: felt like he was drowning. Initially, it took him a

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Speaker 1: lot of time to really start grasping it. But now

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Speaker 1: he's moving on to really mastering the offense, mastering the

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Speaker 1: finer details of the offense, things like you you know,

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Speaker 1: he's saying that last year he's in there, he's like,

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Speaker 1: all right, we're going on one clap, let's get out

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Speaker 1: of the huddle. Now it's like, okay, I can I

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Speaker 1: can use my cadence to pretend a draw off sides.

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Speaker 1: He's starting to operate on a different level, the same

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Speaker 1: level that guys like Aaron Rodgers, like Drew Brees did,

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Speaker 1: like Tom Brady does, like all of these great quarterbacks

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Speaker 1: to he has that capacity mentally like he can do

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Speaker 1: those things because he's been incredibly intelligent and has a

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Speaker 1: high football like Q. But he hasn't been doing those things.

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Speaker 1: So what does it look like when Justin Herbert, with

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Speaker 1: his physical tools, is operating mentally the way some of

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Speaker 1: these great processors in the history of football. I don't

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Speaker 1: know what it looks like. It might look like an

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Speaker 1: ape season. Like I really feel like with the way

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Speaker 1: he's talking about how he's mastering things and the things

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Speaker 1: that he's moving on to in terms of football. Two

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Speaker 1: O two, like, we're gonna see an even better version

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Speaker 1: of Justin Herbert. And you know, I know that cliche

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Speaker 1: is like the sky is the limit, but that's that

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Speaker 1: really feels like the reality for Justin Herbert. Like, I

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Speaker 1: don't think anyone would be smart to put a cap

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Speaker 1: on what he can achieve and the things that he

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Speaker 1: can do on a football field. Jeff, We've talked so

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Speaker 1: much about, you know, the charges potentially drafting a wide

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Speaker 1: receiver this offseason. It didn't happen, and Justin was quick

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Speaker 1: to praise Joshua Palmer and the steps he's taken. A

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Speaker 1: year two, you guys wrote about the fact that Brandon

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Speaker 1: Staley singled out Jalen Guyden and Nazier Adelie is maybe

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Speaker 1: the two guys who showed a lot of improvement, maybe

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Speaker 1: under the radar, guys. The fact that Justin we know

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Speaker 1: that the chemistry and the confidence that he has with

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Speaker 1: Keenan and Mike and Austin out of the backfield, but

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Speaker 1: yet and jailed Everett, yet and improved Jalen Guyton and

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Speaker 1: Joshua Palmer in year two. I don't think there's any

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Speaker 1: reason to not think Justin can take another leap. Just

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Speaker 1: a because of his sheer talent, and B because of

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Speaker 1: the confidence he has in his weapons. Sure, absolutely, uh,

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Speaker 1: you know I think good. I think when you know

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Speaker 1: Pop asked the question yesterday, I was trying to think

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Speaker 1: of as the same kind of idea of that sort

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Speaker 1: of deeper dive into the offense, and my I was

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Speaker 1: thinking sort of asking him what will that look like? Like?

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Speaker 1: What will what will we see? What's a deeper dive

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Speaker 1: version of of Justin Herbert in this offense? And I think,

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Speaker 1: like Daniel said, it's you know, I mean, we don't

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Speaker 1: know what that looks like necessarily, but you know we

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Speaker 1: could guess. You know, like all those names of the

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Speaker 1: quarterbacks that Pop mentioned, those guys who are on their

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Speaker 1: way to the Hall of Fame. You know, he there's

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Speaker 1: no reason to not believe that it will look just

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Speaker 1: like that, another version of that same thing. Because we

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Speaker 1: know what he can, We know his skills, physical skills,

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Speaker 1: and now he gets deeper mentally into it, it's going

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Speaker 1: to be one of those situations where he's gonna come

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Speaker 1: to the line of scrimmage. He's going to know exactly

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Speaker 1: what the defense is doing. You know, at the moment

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Speaker 1: they know what they're doing, and I mean that that idea.

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Speaker 1: You know, that's a pretty dangerous combination when you have

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Speaker 1: that kind of mental capacity and you have a guy

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Speaker 1: getting in, you know, kind of taking it to the

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Speaker 1: next gear mentally, when we know what he can do physically.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, I think you know, Daniel's right there. It

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Speaker 1: would be crazy to think, Okay, this guy, this is

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Speaker 1: about as good as this guy can do. I mean,

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Speaker 1: right now sitting here, he's going into his third season.

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Speaker 1: It's not ridiculous to think or you know, or we're

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Speaker 1: seeing a guy who's gonna end up being one of

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Speaker 1: the best to ever play the position. Gil How motivating,

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Speaker 1: How how motivating do you think it is for Justin's

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Speaker 1: weapons to you see Justin at all the OTAs, you

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Speaker 1: see the leaps and what he's trying to accomplish each

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Speaker 1: and every day on the field. For guys like Keenan

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Speaker 1: and Mike obviously they were there for the OTAs, but

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Speaker 1: for Joshua, for Jalen, for Gerald evert, they know the

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Speaker 1: opportunity that they have in terms of you know, having

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Speaker 1: a great career, maybe getting a contract extension down the

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Speaker 1: line because of Justin Herbert. Yeah, he's gonna make players

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Speaker 1: better and then not just on offer. Guys on defense

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Speaker 1: want to come out to the charge because they know

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Speaker 1: what's going to happen on office at number ten, slinging

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Speaker 1: the ball down the field. So yeah, you know, I

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Speaker 1: know the opposite didn't change too much. But those young

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Speaker 1: guys like you mentioned Joshua Palmer, who has shown that

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Speaker 1: he has you know, a similar work work that could

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Speaker 1: work ectic to Justin Herbert. You could take another step

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Speaker 1: forward it in year two and and Justin Herber was

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Speaker 1: talking about building that trust but his wide receivers and

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Speaker 1: Joshua Palmer. And it's funny because Justin stoped him saying, say,

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Speaker 1: you know, I hope they trust me. I'm not sure

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Speaker 1: they trust me. I'm like, I'm pretty sure they trust you. Justin,

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Speaker 1: You're really good. Uh. Just that that just shows you

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Speaker 1: that he wants to make sure he has it right,

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Speaker 1: the chemistry down. But guys like Gerald Everard, Uh, you

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Speaker 1: want to see that tight end position to do a

427
00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:24,359
Speaker 1: little more this year. But overall, the wide receivers you know,

428
00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:26,719
Speaker 1: are still very you know, talented with Mike Williams and

429
00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:29,119
Speaker 1: King Allen, but you want to see that step, you know,

430
00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,560
Speaker 1: take that step forward from Jayalen guiding and Joshua Palmer

431
00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:33,880
Speaker 1: and then like you mentioned, Chris Brandon stately single doll

432
00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:36,000
Speaker 1: jail and guide him a year ago. I'm sorry a

433
00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:39,840
Speaker 1: week ago. I'm already trying to flash forward. But it's

434
00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:41,520
Speaker 1: gonna be a big year for Jendy and guy because

435
00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:43,639
Speaker 1: everybody wants to see Justin Herbert sling the rock down

436
00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:46,720
Speaker 1: the field at a fast paced go vertical and Jalen

437
00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:50,880
Speaker 1: guy has his big so guys like Palmer and Guti

438
00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:52,160
Speaker 1: wanted to step up and I think you know they

439
00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:54,480
Speaker 1: probably will do that. The connection you have with Justin Herbert, Jeff,

440
00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:56,040
Speaker 1: is there somebody in your zoom that would like to

441
00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:59,960
Speaker 1: speak in your window? I have a couple of pets

442
00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:02,480
Speaker 1: that are not getting along right now. I'm sorry, hopefully

443
00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:05,959
Speaker 1: you didn't hear that screaming, but I I have an

444
00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:09,320
Speaker 1: an elderly cat and a younger cat, and the younger

445
00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:11,480
Speaker 1: cat is not figured out that they elderly cat can't

446
00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,400
Speaker 1: see it, and sometimes they get dangerously close to each other.

447
00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:19,320
Speaker 1: And uh so that I apologize. Oh, it's no domestic

448
00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:22,920
Speaker 1: it's a subst to watch. It's a sublot to watch.

449
00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:27,280
Speaker 1: As we continue this round table, uh popper. Austin Eckler

450
00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:29,960
Speaker 1: spoke for about fifteen minutes. First time seeing him in

451
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,280
Speaker 1: a while, and what I thought was most interesting. He

452
00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:36,600
Speaker 1: had a lot to say, but he basically said come

453
00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:40,080
Speaker 1: at me, like like I got the number one spot,

454
00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,600
Speaker 1: who wants some of my carries? And it was almost

455
00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:46,120
Speaker 1: like a challenge to both Roundtree and Kelly and then

456
00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:50,280
Speaker 1: Isaiah Spiller, the rookie coming in. Um yeah, I'm really

457
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,840
Speaker 1: looking forward to late July to see this running back competition,

458
00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:58,440
Speaker 1: and I just wonder if if Isaiah Spiller can quickly

459
00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:02,080
Speaker 1: kind of take a springlehold that second spot. Yeah. I

460
00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:04,800
Speaker 1: mean Austin has said pretty much as explicitly as any

461
00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:08,480
Speaker 1: NFL player is going to say, Hey I need help, dude,

462
00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:12,240
Speaker 1: like I need help. I mean, you're never gonna hear anything. Yeah,

463
00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:16,080
Speaker 1: he's the rare back who says I don't want yeah

464
00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:18,680
Speaker 1: you know yeah, like yeah, Well, I mean he's look,

465
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,760
Speaker 1: you know, obviously he's in peak physical condition. He's a

466
00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:24,640
Speaker 1: workout freak, but he's not like a particularly big guy.

467
00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:26,440
Speaker 1: And when he goes out there and he gets hit

468
00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,520
Speaker 1: like it is violent and that you can only do

469
00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:31,720
Speaker 1: that for so long. And play as much as he

470
00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:34,040
Speaker 1: was playing last year, Like that's not sustainable. He knows

471
00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:36,280
Speaker 1: it's not sustainable, and he has said explicit like I

472
00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:39,359
Speaker 1: need help somebody step up. And I think it's getting

473
00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:41,280
Speaker 1: to a point where he's like, you know, I have

474
00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:43,159
Speaker 1: to motivate these guys. You know, I have to go

475
00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:45,879
Speaker 1: out here and be like, let's go, like, somebody step up.

476
00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:49,359
Speaker 1: You know, whether it's Joshua Kelly, Larry Rowntree, or Isaiah Spiller,

477
00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:51,840
Speaker 1: somebody needs to take this job and run with it.

478
00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,560
Speaker 1: You have an opportunity here to make yourself some money

479
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:57,919
Speaker 1: and create opportunity for yourself, which I think is a

480
00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:02,240
Speaker 1: really interesting way that Austin explained this to young players, like, hey, yeah,

481
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:04,800
Speaker 1: you can go score touchdowns and get this notoriety in

482
00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,280
Speaker 1: the NFL, but the opportunities that this platform can give

483
00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:11,040
Speaker 1: you to create a life for yourself after football is

484
00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:13,919
Speaker 1: also should also be part of your calculus here. And

485
00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:15,639
Speaker 1: so that's really what jumped out to me, is like

486
00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:17,800
Speaker 1: Austin's ready for somebody to step up, but he knows

487
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:19,880
Speaker 1: that if he has another season like he did last

488
00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:22,280
Speaker 1: year in terms of you know, how much he's playing,

489
00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:23,960
Speaker 1: it's going to do a real toll on his body,

490
00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:25,840
Speaker 1: and he knows as well that it's going to do

491
00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:27,399
Speaker 1: a toll on what the team can accomplish as well,

492
00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:29,520
Speaker 1: because he needs to be fresh and on the field.

493
00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:30,840
Speaker 1: So that's really what jumped out to me. And then

494
00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:34,239
Speaker 1: I think the way Austin talks about everything, it's just

495
00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:36,800
Speaker 1: it's very thoughtful and very interesting, and I really appreciate

496
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:38,479
Speaker 1: that from him, and the way he talked about you know,

497
00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:40,879
Speaker 1: why he wasn't there at OTA's, Like, I think the

498
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,040
Speaker 1: way he viewed it is really really interesting to me that,

499
00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:45,280
Speaker 1: like I give myself to the NFL everything I have,

500
00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:47,080
Speaker 1: I give to the NFL for seven months out of

501
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:48,920
Speaker 1: the year, So for a few months when I'm in

502
00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:52,160
Speaker 1: the offseason, I need to take everything I can from

503
00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:54,680
Speaker 1: the NFL. Like that's a really fascinating way to look

504
00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:57,040
Speaker 1: at it. And I think that any fan that was

505
00:23:57,119 --> 00:23:58,840
Speaker 1: upset that Austin did't show up to ot is when

506
00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:01,199
Speaker 1: they see his x nation for why he's doing the

507
00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:03,280
Speaker 1: things that he's doing, you have to at least respect

508
00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:06,000
Speaker 1: it because he's obviously thought it through and he's obviously

509
00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:08,080
Speaker 1: doing everything that he can to set himself up for

510
00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:10,720
Speaker 1: success after football which is something that's really important for

511
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:12,679
Speaker 1: for a lot of these guys. Yeah, you know he

512
00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:14,640
Speaker 1: was and he was blunt too. I think somebody asked

513
00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:16,359
Speaker 1: him about Zion. I don't know if it was one

514
00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:19,440
Speaker 1: of you guys. Yeah, he's like, I don't really have

515
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,639
Speaker 1: an opinion of him yet. Well we'll see, but you know,

516
00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:26,960
Speaker 1: he's he's basically really established himself. It's just amazing. Like

517
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,159
Speaker 1: I started covering this team in twenty seventeen when he

518
00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,800
Speaker 1: was trying to make the fifty three men roster as

519
00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:34,920
Speaker 1: a special teamer against the Niners and in the last

520
00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:38,480
Speaker 1: preseason game, and to see the type of player and

521
00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:42,399
Speaker 1: leader and uh really one of the premier players on

522
00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:46,400
Speaker 1: offense has been pretty remarkable. Isaiah Spiller to me, man,

523
00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:48,560
Speaker 1: he just looks the part. Like I was up in

524
00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:50,520
Speaker 1: the in the photo booths when he was getting his

525
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:54,560
Speaker 1: all his pictures taken. He's a big back. And you know,

526
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:56,840
Speaker 1: Austin said, he's been he's been vocal in the in

527
00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:59,840
Speaker 1: the meeting rooms. I look at that guy, man, and

528
00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:02,720
Speaker 1: I I say, I have a feeling that this may

529
00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:06,639
Speaker 1: be the player the Chargers have been hoping was on

530
00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:09,119
Speaker 1: this roster the last few years. You know, and you know,

531
00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:11,480
Speaker 1: I think guys have had flashes. I think Justine Jackson

532
00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:14,400
Speaker 1: certainly had flashes. But it's all about kind of being

533
00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:19,200
Speaker 1: healthy and available and hopefully Spiller Gil can accomplish that. Yeah,

534
00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:21,159
Speaker 1: you know, they drafted him for a reason to come

535
00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:23,320
Speaker 1: help out Austin Ekeler. And you know, I go back

536
00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:26,480
Speaker 1: to Tom Tellus because a presser after they drafted Isaiah Spiller,

537
00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:29,080
Speaker 1: they don't want him to be the spell back to

538
00:25:29,359 --> 00:25:31,399
Speaker 1: you know, give as a breather. They wanted to be

539
00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:33,920
Speaker 1: out there and compete and be you know, potentially number

540
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:36,439
Speaker 1: one running back. You know, uh, the more backs you have,

541
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,439
Speaker 1: the better, especially nowadays in the NFL. So yeah, Isaiah

542
00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:41,399
Speaker 1: looks apart and not just kind of being in the

543
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:43,359
Speaker 1: big body back. He could be an all around running back.

544
00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:45,359
Speaker 1: He could catch out the backfield too. He showed out

545
00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:47,439
Speaker 1: Texas A and m uh and to play in that

546
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:49,879
Speaker 1: that system with Jimbo Fisher. That kind of shows you

547
00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:51,720
Speaker 1: and Brandon Bench and that too. When you can play

548
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:53,399
Speaker 1: in that system and in college, you could do it

549
00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,240
Speaker 1: in the NFL. So there's high hosts for aask Spiller

550
00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:58,640
Speaker 1: and for the Charger. They're hoping third times to charm

551
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,840
Speaker 1: because they have some hacks at it with Joshua Kelly

552
00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,840
Speaker 1: and later round Tree hasn't worked out, but they need it.

553
00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,400
Speaker 1: And like Papa was saying, you know, Austin Nicholas pretty much,

554
00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,480
Speaker 1: you know, begging, pleading out there, somebody help him out,

555
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:13,560
Speaker 1: and they're hoping that could be that guy. Jeff, I

556
00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:16,760
Speaker 1: almost look at him as a as a missing link

557
00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:19,280
Speaker 1: to a well rounded offense, and Pop, I think you've

558
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:21,480
Speaker 1: said this before. It I agree with you, Like, why

559
00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:22,920
Speaker 1: would you want to take the ball out of justin

560
00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:25,600
Speaker 1: Herbert's hands more times than now? You don't want to,

561
00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:29,720
Speaker 1: but when you're protecting a lead late in games, if

562
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,440
Speaker 1: you want to chew the clock, you need a guy

563
00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:35,640
Speaker 1: that's gonna help you ice games and guys who are gonna,

564
00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:39,000
Speaker 1: you know, like like Austin wants, he wants a breezer

565
00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:41,840
Speaker 1: every now and again. Jeff, I almost feel like, if

566
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,280
Speaker 1: they can get that and then we'll get into right

567
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:46,840
Speaker 1: tackle next. But if they can get that out of

568
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:49,840
Speaker 1: a running back two, that's just that could be the

569
00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:52,840
Speaker 1: difference between night and nine and eight and eleven and

570
00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:55,760
Speaker 1: six or whatever it is now seventeen games, eleven and six,

571
00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:00,520
Speaker 1: twelve and five. Oh absolutely, And you know, we we've

572
00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:03,879
Speaker 1: talked about that depth and it doesn't it extends throughout

573
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:07,000
Speaker 1: the entire roster. And if they had a guy you

574
00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:11,960
Speaker 1: know who knows maybe you know, they pick up that fourth,

575
00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:15,840
Speaker 1: uh that fourth and one against the Raiders, uh in

576
00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:20,480
Speaker 1: week seventeen, for Week eighteen, game seventeen last year, if

577
00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,159
Speaker 1: if Austin's a little better arrested, or if he hadn't

578
00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:26,280
Speaker 1: had as many touches. I mean, you don't want to

579
00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:28,680
Speaker 1: be too dramatic about it, but I mean literally, that's

580
00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,120
Speaker 1: that's the margins in the NFL. They're they're that thin.

581
00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:34,280
Speaker 1: So you know, any help that they can give Austin

582
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,080
Speaker 1: you can only help you know, down the road, and

583
00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:39,840
Speaker 1: it can only you know, later in the season can

584
00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:42,120
Speaker 1: be as important as it is at the time it's

585
00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:45,359
Speaker 1: actually happening. Uh So yeah, I think, uh, you know,

586
00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:47,479
Speaker 1: we'll see. It's hard to tell. Just so fans are

587
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 1: clear this. They these guys aren't in pads right now

588
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:52,680
Speaker 1: through through mini camps, so it's it's hard to tell.

589
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:55,240
Speaker 1: They all look good, you know, and uh, you know

590
00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:57,400
Speaker 1: Staley always said, as you know, well, if the real

591
00:27:57,440 --> 00:27:59,600
Speaker 1: footballs and the pads come on so we'll see a

592
00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:03,359
Speaker 1: little more training camp how Spiller looks. But uh, yeah,

593
00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:07,040
Speaker 1: I think they're you know, like like Bill said, maybe

594
00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:08,639
Speaker 1: the third time is going to be the one they

595
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:12,160
Speaker 1: hit on. And uh he does certainly look the party.

596
00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:13,840
Speaker 1: He's got a baby face, but the rest of him

597
00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:17,919
Speaker 1: looks like an NFL player, So, um, we'll see it.

598
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,000
Speaker 1: Certainly would be a major BOSTA if they could they

599
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,320
Speaker 1: could find that the solid number two. You know. Khalil Mack,

600
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:26,479
Speaker 1: we talked to him on Monday and I asked him

601
00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:29,399
Speaker 1: about Rashawn Slater and you know what it's like to

602
00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:31,360
Speaker 1: kind of share the field with him, and he said,

603
00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:33,560
Speaker 1: you know what, I just I gotta wait till the

604
00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:35,639
Speaker 1: pads come on to really get a full assessment. And

605
00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:39,320
Speaker 1: that's I think that's true for most positions. Now, Like

606
00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:43,160
Speaker 1: we'll see what's really going on in late July when

607
00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:45,840
Speaker 1: the pads come on, and Papa, I'll just say this

608
00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:49,400
Speaker 1: and kind of you can take it from here. Just

609
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:52,280
Speaker 1: this is just an observation and obviously it's not on

610
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:55,080
Speaker 1: the field. But I'm I'm walking around and I see

611
00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:57,280
Speaker 1: Trey Pipkins walk by, and he looks like a different

612
00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:01,640
Speaker 1: guy to me, Like he looks stronger. He talked about

613
00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:03,920
Speaker 1: the fact that he's been working out with Rashwan and

614
00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:06,520
Speaker 1: oday in Dallas with Duke manny Weather, and he's going

615
00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,760
Speaker 1: back there after Mini camp, and I just wonder, like

616
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:13,920
Speaker 1: you know, we we think of Trey, you know, a

617
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:16,400
Speaker 1: few years ago, he was a small school kid, third

618
00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:21,000
Speaker 1: round pick, and I almost feel like this could be

619
00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:23,800
Speaker 1: his year. I feel like this could be his opportunity

620
00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:27,080
Speaker 1: and he really has to seize it. But I think

621
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:29,640
Speaker 1: Chargers fans may be pleasantly surprised by what they see

622
00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:33,800
Speaker 1: at right tackle. Yeah, I agree with you. M I

623
00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:36,800
Speaker 1: do have something coming on this exact topic, so I'm

624
00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:39,080
Speaker 1: not going to get too much into the details here,

625
00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:41,760
Speaker 1: so I would suggest everyone just stay tuned to the athletic.

626
00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,840
Speaker 1: But what I can say is he has filled into

627
00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:48,560
Speaker 1: his body. He's got a full beard right like he's

628
00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:50,800
Speaker 1: a he's a man now, you know, he's he like

629
00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:53,320
Speaker 1: when he first got here. I remember, and I mentioned

630
00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:54,800
Speaker 1: this to him when I was talking to him. I

631
00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:57,480
Speaker 1: remember in twenty nineteen, I was in the locker room

632
00:29:57,480 --> 00:29:59,480
Speaker 1: talking to Trey when we were still like this is

633
00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:01,960
Speaker 1: pretty covid. When we were still it feels like forever

634
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:03,640
Speaker 1: ago when we were allowed in the locker room and

635
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,440
Speaker 1: I was talking to him about dislike some details of

636
00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:09,880
Speaker 1: offensive line play and vertical sets versus horizontal sets and

637
00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:11,480
Speaker 1: what he was working on, because at that point he

638
00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:13,280
Speaker 1: was he sort of got thrown into the action in

639
00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:15,920
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen because of injuries and a lack of depth

640
00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:18,640
Speaker 1: in the offensive line. I probably played a little bit

641
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,680
Speaker 1: earlier than he should have, just the difference in his

642
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:25,200
Speaker 1: body between then and now. You know, like he is,

643
00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:27,440
Speaker 1: he is a full grown man at this point. And

644
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:29,959
Speaker 1: you know, he spent this whole offseason working on like

645
00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:32,960
Speaker 1: the details of the position, and that's what matters. He

646
00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:35,520
Speaker 1: was down in Texas with Duke many Weather, working with Rashan,

647
00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:39,200
Speaker 1: you know, focusing on these details, the little things that

648
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:42,840
Speaker 1: could take his athleticism and his physical tools and his

649
00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:47,320
Speaker 1: measurables and turned them into consistent tackle play. And you know,

650
00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:50,000
Speaker 1: I go back to that Chiefs game last year and Chris, you,

651
00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:52,760
Speaker 1: me and Money have talked about this, like he played really,

652
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:55,040
Speaker 1: really well in that game. And I went back and

653
00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:57,240
Speaker 1: watched the tape again because I did a film review

654
00:30:57,560 --> 00:30:59,600
Speaker 1: on that game, Like he was excellent in that game

655
00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:03,080
Speaker 1: as a pass protector, as a run blocker. He played

656
00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:06,200
Speaker 1: well again a few weeks later against the Broncos in

657
00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:08,360
Speaker 1: Week seventeen, So like, I'm with you, and especially if

658
00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:10,800
Speaker 1: he spent all of this offseason really working on the

659
00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:14,320
Speaker 1: details of the position, particularly in pass protection, Like I

660
00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:18,360
Speaker 1: feel like he can be consistent and reliable out there

661
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:21,200
Speaker 1: at right tackle, and that's I think that's that's got

662
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,400
Speaker 1: to be the calculus for the Chargers in terms of

663
00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:25,240
Speaker 1: how they built this roster, Like they really feel like

664
00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:27,920
Speaker 1: Trey can step up and be that guy. And we're

665
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:29,440
Speaker 1: going to see if that's the case when when the

666
00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:32,880
Speaker 1: pads come on in July and Gil, when we talked

667
00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:36,160
Speaker 1: about making this a complete offense and getting that running

668
00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:38,040
Speaker 1: back too, we also mean the right side of that line.

669
00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:43,680
Speaker 1: If Zion is as advertised and Trey can just be

670
00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:48,160
Speaker 1: consistent on the right side, that's a market improvement for

671
00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:50,040
Speaker 1: this offensive line because we know what's going on the

672
00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:53,600
Speaker 1: left side. It's dominant and Corey Lindsley's probably the best

673
00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:56,440
Speaker 1: center in football. I not top two, top three, but

674
00:31:56,560 --> 00:32:00,240
Speaker 1: if you can get Trey to play at a starter

675
00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:03,040
Speaker 1: level and Zion to just come in and do what

676
00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:07,160
Speaker 1: we're expecting him to do man. I'm talking that in

677
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,120
Speaker 1: a division where it will be decided by a game

678
00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:13,479
Speaker 1: or two or three, that could be it. Yeah, you know,

679
00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:16,320
Speaker 1: Trey has been around the team for four years about

680
00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:19,320
Speaker 1: to be four years, and Zion is it's new, and yeah,

681
00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:20,920
Speaker 1: people are expecting in first round pickuld do well. But

682
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:23,160
Speaker 1: Zion's gonna be help from guys like Trey, and obviously's

683
00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:25,720
Speaker 1: gonna get it from Corey Lindsley, So it doesn't matter

684
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,160
Speaker 1: being on that same page at the right side, and

685
00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:30,320
Speaker 1: it's gonna help out to charge it in a long way.

686
00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:32,880
Speaker 1: But I'm just scared to see how what happens with

687
00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:36,640
Speaker 1: the right tackle side, because it didn't really focus on it.

688
00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:38,480
Speaker 1: They just said, hey, Storm, you had it last year,

689
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:40,600
Speaker 1: and Brandon has mentioned how they helped justin through five

690
00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,240
Speaker 1: thousand yards with Storm ordering protecting them at right tackle.

691
00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:45,720
Speaker 1: And then they're seeing some growth and Trey Pipkins and

692
00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:49,280
Speaker 1: I think Trey having those good games last year maybe

693
00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:52,480
Speaker 1: bottom this opportunity to compete at the right side. So

694
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,680
Speaker 1: it's a gambo, I think. But if they really believe

695
00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:57,880
Speaker 1: in their coaching and the way that Tray's developing, and

696
00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:00,080
Speaker 1: they like what they saw from Storm, then why not

697
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:01,800
Speaker 1: have have Hi Duke get out? But yeah, I think

698
00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:04,600
Speaker 1: Zion Johnson it's a little unfair to expect him to

699
00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:06,440
Speaker 1: do what what Rashaan did a year ago. So he's

700
00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:08,440
Speaker 1: got a neat help from some better And so if

701
00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:10,640
Speaker 1: somebody like Trey or someone steps up and helps in

702
00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:13,840
Speaker 1: that development of Zion Johnson's gonna go a long way. Yeah.

703
00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:18,440
Speaker 1: And really the competition too, like guys like like Brennan Heimisu,

704
00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:20,320
Speaker 1: And this is one thing, Gil, do you have to

705
00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:22,640
Speaker 1: you have to go, don't you? I got some time

706
00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:25,800
Speaker 1: at some time, all right, good, because I want to

707
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:28,080
Speaker 1: talk about some of these guys who are already on

708
00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:31,640
Speaker 1: the roster right, Like I think we get so caught

709
00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:34,720
Speaker 1: up talking about the new additions in single play like

710
00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:37,640
Speaker 1: Khalil Mack and j C. Jackson, But what about the

711
00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:41,880
Speaker 1: guys who were on this roster last year who could

712
00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:44,640
Speaker 1: turn into Pro Bowl players. I'm talking about Asante, Samuel

713
00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:48,560
Speaker 1: Junior and Nazi or Adderley Jeff. There are any other

714
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:51,760
Speaker 1: players that you feel like we haven't talked enough about

715
00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:57,479
Speaker 1: that could have a really big impact on this upcoming season. Well,

716
00:33:57,520 --> 00:33:59,320
Speaker 1: I think the one guy that, yeah, a lot of

717
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:03,360
Speaker 1: people are gonna talk about, especially once the training camp arrives.

718
00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:06,560
Speaker 1: Is Josh Palmer. You know you mentioned him earlier. I

719
00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:08,920
Speaker 1: think a lot of people are anticipating him taking a big,

720
00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:13,400
Speaker 1: big step forward just um. You know, we soft flashes

721
00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:17,120
Speaker 1: of what he can do, and certainly he suggested last

722
00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:22,400
Speaker 1: year in some pretty significant moments that he can make plays.

723
00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:25,200
Speaker 1: And when you see that in big games like that

724
00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:29,560
Speaker 1: that last game against the Raiders, it suggests that, yeah,

725
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:33,200
Speaker 1: this guy could be a legit you know, NFL wide

726
00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:35,640
Speaker 1: receiver for a long time. So he's the one guy

727
00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:38,279
Speaker 1: I think that you're going to hear a lot about it.

728
00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,440
Speaker 1: Will we'll be asking about and you know one of

729
00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:45,399
Speaker 1: those guys who will be you know, keeping really close

730
00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:48,520
Speaker 1: watch on when training camp begins. And the other one too,

731
00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:52,960
Speaker 1: You mentioned a sante Uh Samuel Jr. Who you know,

732
00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:55,560
Speaker 1: if he can stay healthy and stay out there, we

733
00:34:56,239 --> 00:34:58,280
Speaker 1: know what he can do, we know his ball skills,

734
00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:02,120
Speaker 1: and we know what a good player's dad was. He's

735
00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:04,960
Speaker 1: got those genes. If he can stay out there and

736
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:08,200
Speaker 1: stay healthy, he's another guy you'd expect, it to say,

737
00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:12,280
Speaker 1: take a pretty decided leap forward here in his second season. Popera.

738
00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:14,920
Speaker 1: I think in number nine on defense in in what

739
00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:17,400
Speaker 1: a big five six weeks this is for him to

740
00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:20,960
Speaker 1: be ready for training camp, and um, if if he

741
00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:24,480
Speaker 1: can be the player that I think this staff expects,

742
00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:29,200
Speaker 1: that's just another premier type player on your defense. I

743
00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:31,920
Speaker 1: mean we've talked about all these these names and Staneley

744
00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:34,200
Speaker 1: said it's just names right now. They got a gel

745
00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:37,080
Speaker 1: as a team. But Kenneth Murray, to me, this is

746
00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:40,239
Speaker 1: a such a big season for him, starting right from

747
00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:43,680
Speaker 1: jump at Jack Hammon. He's got he's gotta get healthy.

748
00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:46,319
Speaker 1: Like that's the issue here is that he got hurt

749
00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:48,440
Speaker 1: so early last year that they never even got to

750
00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:50,600
Speaker 1: experiment with him as far as like, okay, what can

751
00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:52,800
Speaker 1: we do with this guy? You know, he has some

752
00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:56,800
Speaker 1: some athleticism, right and and and he's a he's a

753
00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:59,640
Speaker 1: downhill player, you know, not particularly good in coverage. How

754
00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:02,680
Speaker 1: can we old a role for him that really fits

755
00:36:02,719 --> 00:36:04,680
Speaker 1: his skill set? They never really got to do that

756
00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:07,080
Speaker 1: because he was hurt from the jump. So he needs

757
00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:09,160
Speaker 1: to get healthy and needs to be on the field

758
00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:11,400
Speaker 1: and then they can figure out what exactly they have

759
00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:14,760
Speaker 1: with him. But I think they've prepared themselves for Kenneth

760
00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:16,640
Speaker 1: to not be there, like I think that that was

761
00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:19,480
Speaker 1: part of the process of building this rouster for this offseason.

762
00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:22,960
Speaker 1: You know, they signed Troy Reader, they signed Kyle van Noy, Like,

763
00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:25,680
Speaker 1: they have guys that can play off ball linebackers that

764
00:36:25,719 --> 00:36:28,560
Speaker 1: if Kenneth isn't there, they're not you know, super thin

765
00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:31,800
Speaker 1: at the position. Um, so it's up to Kenneth Murray, like,

766
00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:33,919
Speaker 1: can he get healthy? Can he get on the field

767
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,480
Speaker 1: and start producing the way that that you know, the

768
00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:39,520
Speaker 1: Chargers expected him to produce when they drafted him in

769
00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:41,719
Speaker 1: the first round. I think, you know, step number one

770
00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:44,000
Speaker 1: is is get on the field and be healthy and

771
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:45,560
Speaker 1: then and then if you can stay in the field,

772
00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:47,640
Speaker 1: then the Chargers in this defensive staff can start getting

773
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:49,880
Speaker 1: a little bit creative with how they use him and

774
00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:52,359
Speaker 1: start using that that you know, pretty unique skill set

775
00:36:52,719 --> 00:36:56,080
Speaker 1: in a way that they haven't previously. He'll I remember

776
00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:58,880
Speaker 1: last year when Ronaldo Hill had his pressors and he

777
00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:02,640
Speaker 1: brought up was atterly a lot and how intelligent intelligent

778
00:37:02,719 --> 00:37:05,479
Speaker 1: he wasn't in the classroom, and how you know, really

779
00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:08,120
Speaker 1: engaged he was. And you hear his name come up

780
00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:12,359
Speaker 1: again the other day with with Brandon Staley. If if

781
00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:17,200
Speaker 1: nas can convert these interceptions. Do what he did a Telaware.

782
00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:20,400
Speaker 1: I mean, it really could be game changing for this defense,

783
00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:22,960
Speaker 1: especially when you you expect maybe J. T. Woods to

784
00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:26,160
Speaker 1: have a role this year. Yeah, a reminder for my

785
00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:29,239
Speaker 1: both prediction. Last year, I predicted NASA Allie tenant receptions.

786
00:37:30,239 --> 00:37:34,120
Speaker 1: Remember it did not happen. Don't bring that up, Gil,

787
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:36,480
Speaker 1: I don't want to come back. I think I had

788
00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:39,400
Speaker 1: eight sacks with Gustin Jones. I don't even remember down

789
00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:41,839
Speaker 1: this year, double down this year. I'm not gonna say ten.

790
00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:44,239
Speaker 1: But you know what, he was in right positions last

791
00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:46,520
Speaker 1: year to to make those play. He just couldn't catch him.

792
00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:48,360
Speaker 1: And maybe this year he could do it. And to

793
00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:50,359
Speaker 1: Brad Stady to give him another shout, I'd say, hey,

794
00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:53,000
Speaker 1: NAS is doing well. I started thinking maybe I'll get

795
00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:54,960
Speaker 1: I'll get another both prediction here, but I won't go

796
00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:57,480
Speaker 1: that far. And he say ten. But I always start

797
00:37:57,520 --> 00:38:01,960
Speaker 1: with one guilt. Yeah, make a play. But you know what,

798
00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:04,839
Speaker 1: it's a big year for NAS. You know year four

799
00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:08,080
Speaker 1: they drafted J. Two Woods for competition. Uh it's kind

800
00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:10,080
Speaker 1: of you know, make or break. So for for Brennon

801
00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:12,439
Speaker 1: to say something about that for about NAS that early

802
00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:14,480
Speaker 1: on in the year, that shows that he's taking this seriously.

803
00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:16,399
Speaker 1: He wants to put in the work and he's done

804
00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:18,520
Speaker 1: well and flashes. But now they wanted to be consistent

805
00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:21,880
Speaker 1: and allowed Derwin James to make plays up top and

806
00:38:22,239 --> 00:38:24,960
Speaker 1: he could handle the center field position. So I'm curious

807
00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:27,000
Speaker 1: for that battle j two Woods and Nasa Eli. But

808
00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:30,279
Speaker 1: Naz he has the edge for the experience. But it's

809
00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:31,759
Speaker 1: a big year for him and hopefully he prives me

810
00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,839
Speaker 1: you're right a year later. It feels like a Floodgate situation, right,

811
00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:37,480
Speaker 1: Like he's he's around the ball so much and he

812
00:38:37,719 --> 00:38:40,400
Speaker 1: obviously feels comfortable in the scheme, Like eventually he's going

813
00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:42,239
Speaker 1: to start coming down with these interceptions. Like it's just

814
00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:44,319
Speaker 1: like I refuse to believe that the guy forgot how

815
00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:46,480
Speaker 1: to catch, Like I will not like believe that, Like

816
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:49,000
Speaker 1: it's gonna it's gonna be a Floodgate situation once he

817
00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:50,439
Speaker 1: gets his first one, I feel like they're just gonna

818
00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:53,239
Speaker 1: start coming in bunches. I really think fans need to

819
00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:56,880
Speaker 1: be pretty encouraged with the secondary because because of the depth, right,

820
00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:00,120
Speaker 1: like the competition Maan with with Bryce Callahan ad Be

821
00:39:00,239 --> 00:39:02,359
Speaker 1: and you know we talked about Michael Davis, who's played

822
00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:06,440
Speaker 1: a lot of football here with the Chargers, U J. T. Woods,

823
00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:10,359
Speaker 1: nas at Orly got a lohee. Still, there's a lot

824
00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:13,680
Speaker 1: of guys that can push each other. M. Jeff, I

825
00:39:13,920 --> 00:39:17,000
Speaker 1: want to transition to one of my favorite things. It's

826
00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:20,640
Speaker 1: a Joey Bosa press conference. They're the best. There are

827
00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:24,160
Speaker 1: a few better. Um, Joey and Khalil sharing the field

828
00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:29,400
Speaker 1: and um, it's it's something that I feel like we

829
00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:32,480
Speaker 1: don't really know what to expect yet, Um, in terms

830
00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:34,959
Speaker 1: of who's gonna get doubled, how these guys are gonna

831
00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:37,920
Speaker 1: gel Um. What were your initial impressions of hearing both

832
00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:41,960
Speaker 1: of those guys speak at Mini Camp. Well, they certainly

833
00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:45,319
Speaker 1: are fans of each other, which which is understandable since

834
00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:49,560
Speaker 1: they both have accomplished so much. And it's interesting Joey

835
00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:54,279
Speaker 1: talked about how they're very different as rushers, so this

836
00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:56,520
Speaker 1: idea maybe they can kind of learn a little bit

837
00:39:57,120 --> 00:40:00,799
Speaker 1: from each other about about how the other guy does

838
00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:03,839
Speaker 1: things and maybe they can each expand them their own

839
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:07,480
Speaker 1: games that way. UM. The biggest thing I think with

840
00:40:07,719 --> 00:40:10,759
Speaker 1: with Khalil is just, uh, you know, he's at that point,

841
00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:13,440
Speaker 1: he's coming off a year where he missed a good

842
00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:16,040
Speaker 1: chuck of the season because of a foot injury. If

843
00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:18,640
Speaker 1: he can stay healthy, he was certainly productive when he

844
00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:20,880
Speaker 1: when he played last year until he got hurt. So

845
00:40:22,719 --> 00:40:26,080
Speaker 1: I think the Chargers you know, saw that and are expecting. Okay,

846
00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:27,800
Speaker 1: if if he can stay healthy, there's no reason to

847
00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:31,680
Speaker 1: think he won't be Still. You know, I'm not necessarily

848
00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:33,400
Speaker 1: saying he's gonna be an all pro like he like

849
00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:36,759
Speaker 1: he was early, but he certainly can be a you know,

850
00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:40,080
Speaker 1: one of the better pass rushers in the NFL. Still. Uh.

851
00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:44,400
Speaker 1: And it's it should be exciting, and you look at

852
00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:47,319
Speaker 1: it and it's hard to see if he can stay,

853
00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:49,520
Speaker 1: if Khalil can stay out there, and they both are healthy,

854
00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:53,919
Speaker 1: it's hard to imagine why it shouldn't be uh. Quite

855
00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:57,319
Speaker 1: quite a combination. Uh. And we're seeing I mean, it's

856
00:40:57,360 --> 00:40:59,400
Speaker 1: not a coincidence that you saw a bunch of teams

857
00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:02,800
Speaker 1: this year. Uh get get you know who had a

858
00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:04,960
Speaker 1: pass rusher, We got another pass rusher. We saw it

859
00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:07,040
Speaker 1: all over the NFL. Right, there was a run there

860
00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:11,120
Speaker 1: where teams were doing we're doing that. So Chargers being

861
00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:13,279
Speaker 1: one of them, so we all know how important that is.

862
00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:15,560
Speaker 1: You got to put pressure on the quarterback and they

863
00:41:15,719 --> 00:41:19,120
Speaker 1: they've made that commitment. So it's like so many things

864
00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:21,239
Speaker 1: with this team right now, it looks really good, Like

865
00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:24,800
Speaker 1: the potential is definitely there and and if it comes together,

866
00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:27,319
Speaker 1: there's no reason to why, you know, why to think

867
00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:30,759
Speaker 1: that it won't be among the best in the league. Yeah,

868
00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:33,360
Speaker 1: particularly in the AFC West. When you see Randy Gregory

869
00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:37,160
Speaker 1: and Denver and Chandler Jones with the Raiders and uh Popper.

870
00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:38,719
Speaker 1: When I say I don't know what to expect, I

871
00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:42,759
Speaker 1: feel like I always throw Darwin in the equation too,

872
00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:44,720
Speaker 1: because I think Darwin's like the third best pass rusher

873
00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:47,239
Speaker 1: on the team. Like, what's it gonna look like? Like,

874
00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:49,880
Speaker 1: are we gonna see Darwin and Joey or Darwin in

875
00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:53,279
Speaker 1: Khalil or Joey and Khalil lined up on the same

876
00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:55,600
Speaker 1: side at times? Like, I just think there's a lot

877
00:41:55,640 --> 00:42:00,520
Speaker 1: of fascinating combinations here. Yeah, absolutely, I mean you can

878
00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:02,560
Speaker 1: get into different packages, like I don't know if you recall,

879
00:42:02,680 --> 00:42:04,719
Speaker 1: you guys, recall you know, when Melvin Ingram was here

880
00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:06,640
Speaker 1: and how they used to line Melvin Ingram up over

881
00:42:06,680 --> 00:42:08,959
Speaker 1: the guard and get Joey and Melvin pretty much rushing

882
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:11,879
Speaker 1: next to each other. That was very, very successful. And yeah,

883
00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:13,239
Speaker 1: you can bet that the charges are going to be

884
00:42:13,280 --> 00:42:15,640
Speaker 1: looking at similar things. You know, how can they move

885
00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:17,919
Speaker 1: klol Mac around? How can they move Joey Bosa around

886
00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:19,840
Speaker 1: to get them as many one on one matchups as possible?

887
00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:22,200
Speaker 1: Like that was part of the thought process here is

888
00:42:22,239 --> 00:42:26,160
Speaker 1: like Joey's getting doubled a ton, and how can we

889
00:42:26,280 --> 00:42:28,960
Speaker 1: free him up? Or how can we free up the

890
00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:31,520
Speaker 1: guy opposite him and get a guy in Clie Mac

891
00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:33,720
Speaker 1: who's gonna win a lot of those battles. And one

892
00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:36,600
Speaker 1: easy way to do that is to line them up

893
00:42:36,640 --> 00:42:38,080
Speaker 1: next to each other, have one go up against the

894
00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:40,120
Speaker 1: guard and one go against the tackle, and isolate those

895
00:42:40,160 --> 00:42:43,279
Speaker 1: two players against fantastic edge rushers. So yeah, I mean

896
00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:47,839
Speaker 1: Brandon Staley I think from a philosophical perspective, just wants

897
00:42:47,840 --> 00:42:50,759
Speaker 1: as many chess pieces is he can possibly have on

898
00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:54,480
Speaker 1: defense guys that can be versatile, move around and make

899
00:42:54,560 --> 00:42:56,120
Speaker 1: plays like those are the things that are important. And

900
00:42:56,160 --> 00:42:58,000
Speaker 1: he's added a lot of guys that do those things

901
00:42:58,080 --> 00:42:59,799
Speaker 1: that can be versatile, I can move around and most

902
00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:02,239
Speaker 1: importantly can make plays and go get the footballs, he

903
00:43:02,239 --> 00:43:05,440
Speaker 1: would say, right, So, and you know, Klomack is obviously

904
00:43:05,480 --> 00:43:07,080
Speaker 1: one of those guys. Darwin James one of those guys.

905
00:43:07,160 --> 00:43:08,799
Speaker 1: Jac Jackson is one of those guys. Kyle then now

906
00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:09,920
Speaker 1: he's one of those guys. We can sort of go

907
00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:11,759
Speaker 1: down the list guys that have had production in this

908
00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:13,640
Speaker 1: league and you're gonna be seeing a lot of moving

909
00:43:13,719 --> 00:43:16,040
Speaker 1: parts to get guys and positions to make plays and

910
00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:18,080
Speaker 1: go get the football. And lining up Joey bos and

911
00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:19,879
Speaker 1: Kloonac together is one way to do that for sure.

912
00:43:20,719 --> 00:43:25,840
Speaker 1: Gil Week one, Raiders Chargers, Khalil makes his debut and

913
00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:28,359
Speaker 1: Powder Blue against his former team. I know he said

914
00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:31,239
Speaker 1: the other day it's just another game. On Monday when

915
00:43:31,239 --> 00:43:33,600
Speaker 1: I asked him about it, he quoted Jay Z. He said,

916
00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:36,200
Speaker 1: you know that that lyric where he says, live long

917
00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:39,040
Speaker 1: enough to see yourself become a villain. He's like, that's

918
00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:40,600
Speaker 1: kind of how it feels right now. It's like a

919
00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:45,400
Speaker 1: full circle moment for Khalil. So if there wasn't enough intrigue,

920
00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:47,480
Speaker 1: Chargers the Raiders hate each other, we know what happened

921
00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:50,400
Speaker 1: Week eighteen, the fact that he's gonna make his debut

922
00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:53,200
Speaker 1: at Sofi Stadium against his former team and Derek Carr

923
00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:56,360
Speaker 1: that's pretty remarkable. Yeah, it's a perfect start to the season.

924
00:43:56,520 --> 00:43:59,480
Speaker 1: Chargers Raiders, and I think Khalil was saying that, you know,

925
00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:01,200
Speaker 1: I've heard the raider of fans cheer from me, so

926
00:44:01,239 --> 00:44:02,880
Speaker 1: I don't care if they booze. So he's heard the

927
00:44:02,920 --> 00:44:04,800
Speaker 1: good side. He's kind of maybe intrigued to hear the

928
00:44:04,880 --> 00:44:07,600
Speaker 1: other side from it. So that's a perfect start. We

929
00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:11,000
Speaker 1: can talk about all the matchups. Definitely, Davante Adams, J C. Jackson,

930
00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:14,400
Speaker 1: I'm I'm fascinating for that. Another round of Joya Bosa

931
00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:17,640
Speaker 1: and Derek Carr trash talking. I like that. So week

932
00:44:17,719 --> 00:44:20,440
Speaker 1: one it's gonna be very intriguing at SOFI Stadium and

933
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:23,640
Speaker 1: you know, out of the gates, so running back from

934
00:44:23,680 --> 00:44:28,120
Speaker 1: that Week eighteen thriller. But I'm intrigued. Chris, that's that

935
00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:29,719
Speaker 1: was my last one because at the head out. But

936
00:44:29,760 --> 00:44:32,600
Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys having me on. Gil get out

937
00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:36,239
Speaker 1: of here, appreciate you man, Um Paper, Jeff, I'll get

938
00:44:36,280 --> 00:44:39,000
Speaker 1: you guys out of here on this. Just Brandon Staley

939
00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:41,759
Speaker 1: in in year two. Um. It was fun to see

940
00:44:41,800 --> 00:44:47,880
Speaker 1: those competitions yesterday with Fajoko and Filer and the Jugs

941
00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:51,719
Speaker 1: Machine and everything. He established the culture in year one

942
00:44:52,200 --> 00:44:54,600
Speaker 1: and I feel like it's a continuation now there's a

943
00:44:54,600 --> 00:44:56,759
Speaker 1: lot of new players, But Papa, you mentioned a lot

944
00:44:56,800 --> 00:45:00,080
Speaker 1: of guys who are familiar with Brandon Staley. Um, do

945
00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:03,239
Speaker 1: you think coach Staley has changed over the last year,

946
00:45:04,480 --> 00:45:08,200
Speaker 1: knowing that this year is a big year for this team, Popper,

947
00:45:09,400 --> 00:45:12,120
Speaker 1: I don't know if he has changed, Like, I don't like.

948
00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:14,080
Speaker 1: I think that's one thing that you can you can

949
00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:15,800
Speaker 1: say about Brandon Steely is that he's going to be

950
00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:18,880
Speaker 1: unabashedly himself. Like he believes in what he believes in,

951
00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:22,440
Speaker 1: and he's gonna he's gonna really pursue those beliefs. Like

952
00:45:22,520 --> 00:45:25,040
Speaker 1: there's a very specific way that he thinks you can

953
00:45:25,160 --> 00:45:27,719
Speaker 1: build a football team and build a culture to be

954
00:45:27,840 --> 00:45:30,400
Speaker 1: successful over the long term. It starts with being a

955
00:45:30,840 --> 00:45:36,720
Speaker 1: player centric, you know, culture, right, starting with the players,

956
00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:38,560
Speaker 1: focusing on the players from player health to how you

957
00:45:38,680 --> 00:45:40,879
Speaker 1: use them to all these things, listening to them, all

958
00:45:40,960 --> 00:45:42,520
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. Like, I don't think he's changed

959
00:45:42,560 --> 00:45:45,319
Speaker 1: at all. I think he's gotten some different players, right,

960
00:45:45,719 --> 00:45:47,400
Speaker 1: I think he's gotten some guys that are more familiar

961
00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:49,520
Speaker 1: with him in his scheme. I think they've added a

962
00:45:49,560 --> 00:45:51,440
Speaker 1: lot of talent. I think he feels like the rosters

963
00:45:51,440 --> 00:45:52,640
Speaker 1: at a point now where he can do what he

964
00:45:52,719 --> 00:45:56,319
Speaker 1: wants to do defensively. But he is a genuine guy

965
00:45:56,360 --> 00:45:57,800
Speaker 1: and he's going to be himself and he's gonna do

966
00:45:57,880 --> 00:46:00,480
Speaker 1: things a specific way, and you want that of intention

967
00:46:00,520 --> 00:46:03,320
Speaker 1: out of your head, coach. Yeah, Jeff, I'd say this

968
00:46:03,640 --> 00:46:07,440
Speaker 1: just a piggyback off that I think, UM, being the

969
00:46:07,560 --> 00:46:10,920
Speaker 1: same guy is so important in the NFL, not changing

970
00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:13,879
Speaker 1: who you are in your belief system, and I feel

971
00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:16,960
Speaker 1: like that's been a continuation even uh, you know, highs

972
00:46:17,040 --> 00:46:20,920
Speaker 1: or lows. I think that the coach has an answer

973
00:46:21,000 --> 00:46:26,200
Speaker 1: for everything, UM and the consistency and getting your players

974
00:46:26,280 --> 00:46:29,359
Speaker 1: to buy in and getting to buy in right now,

975
00:46:29,600 --> 00:46:31,439
Speaker 1: because I think this is the most important time. Every

976
00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:34,279
Speaker 1: every player you talk to during media days says this

977
00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:35,880
Speaker 1: is the time to bond, this is the time to

978
00:46:35,960 --> 00:46:38,839
Speaker 1: gel before we get to training camp. UM. I think

979
00:46:38,880 --> 00:46:42,480
Speaker 1: it's refreshing to see all the players really excited to

980
00:46:42,640 --> 00:46:47,040
Speaker 1: play for one another, so absolutely, And you know, and

981
00:46:47,120 --> 00:46:49,920
Speaker 1: the players there's they see the same thing we do.

982
00:46:50,080 --> 00:46:52,920
Speaker 1: They see the same players, the same guys. I'll walk

983
00:46:52,960 --> 00:46:55,560
Speaker 1: it in that locker room now, they know exactly what

984
00:46:55,640 --> 00:46:59,799
Speaker 1: this team has done. There's no you know, there's there's

985
00:46:59,840 --> 00:47:03,120
Speaker 1: no you can't question the direction of this team. You know,

986
00:47:03,200 --> 00:47:05,040
Speaker 1: there's a lot of teams the NFL you can wonder

987
00:47:05,120 --> 00:47:07,160
Speaker 1: where where are they going? What are they doing? This

988
00:47:07,280 --> 00:47:10,440
Speaker 1: team there's no questioning where the Chargers are heading or

989
00:47:10,480 --> 00:47:12,839
Speaker 1: where they're trying to go. There we don't know where

990
00:47:12,840 --> 00:47:14,960
Speaker 1: they're heading exactly, but we know where they're trying to go.

991
00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:18,920
Speaker 1: There's no doubt about that. And Staley, I was going

992
00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:21,239
Speaker 1: to say the exact same thing that Pop said, is

993
00:47:22,239 --> 00:47:25,040
Speaker 1: he's exactly the same guy and he'll always be that guy.

994
00:47:25,120 --> 00:47:27,279
Speaker 1: I don't think he's always going to be that guy

995
00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:33,680
Speaker 1: because he is so committed and convinced that he has

996
00:47:33,760 --> 00:47:36,399
Speaker 1: a plan and he his plan is going to work,

997
00:47:36,760 --> 00:47:39,520
Speaker 1: and he knows he knows it's going to work. He

998
00:47:39,640 --> 00:47:42,200
Speaker 1: knows it can work. He's seen it work, so he

999
00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:44,320
Speaker 1: is fully committed to it. And if you're a player,

1000
00:47:44,680 --> 00:47:46,919
Speaker 1: like you said, if you're a player on this team,

1001
00:47:48,239 --> 00:47:50,640
Speaker 1: you know his passion, You feel it, You see his

1002
00:47:50,719 --> 00:47:53,120
Speaker 1: passion when you talk to him, and when when he

1003
00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:57,480
Speaker 1: believes in something that strongly you as a player, you

1004
00:47:57,600 --> 00:47:59,480
Speaker 1: start to believe it, and I'm sure you you you

1005
00:47:59,640 --> 00:48:02,200
Speaker 1: believe what he says. He can point to these guys

1006
00:48:02,280 --> 00:48:04,160
Speaker 1: he's coach in the past and the production. They've had

1007
00:48:04,160 --> 00:48:05,799
Speaker 1: a lot of these guys who are now on this team,

1008
00:48:06,239 --> 00:48:09,680
Speaker 1: who who have had very productive stretches of their careers

1009
00:48:09,960 --> 00:48:12,279
Speaker 1: in this system playing for him, whether he was a

1010
00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:16,319
Speaker 1: coordinator or a physician coach. They if you're if you're

1011
00:48:16,360 --> 00:48:20,160
Speaker 1: a player, you really appreciate that history. You really appreciate

1012
00:48:20,280 --> 00:48:23,879
Speaker 1: the genuine way he is, You really appreciate the fact

1013
00:48:23,920 --> 00:48:27,359
Speaker 1: that he that's who he's authentic, that's exactly who who

1014
00:48:27,440 --> 00:48:30,480
Speaker 1: he is when he when we meet him, we talked

1015
00:48:30,480 --> 00:48:32,600
Speaker 1: to him at whether it's after an ota or whether

1016
00:48:32,680 --> 00:48:35,759
Speaker 1: after a game that they just lost, crushing fashion or

1017
00:48:35,840 --> 00:48:38,839
Speaker 1: something we saw some last year, it's the same guy.

1018
00:48:39,040 --> 00:48:42,520
Speaker 1: He's exactly the same and his mood might be up

1019
00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:44,359
Speaker 1: or down a little bit, but he's the same guy.

1020
00:48:44,480 --> 00:48:47,880
Speaker 1: He has the same focus, the same intensity, and that

1021
00:48:48,040 --> 00:48:52,040
Speaker 1: sort of consistency is exactly what you want want from

1022
00:48:52,080 --> 00:48:55,880
Speaker 1: your head coach and you want from your entire organization

1023
00:48:57,080 --> 00:48:59,080
Speaker 1: because when when you had that consistency and when it

1024
00:48:59,160 --> 00:49:01,239
Speaker 1: does lead to six us, now you've really got some

1025
00:49:02,080 --> 00:49:05,880
Speaker 1: um so that's what he's trying to establish and and uh,

1026
00:49:06,560 --> 00:49:08,960
Speaker 1: you know, we'll super it goes. But it's certainly have

1027
00:49:09,040 --> 00:49:11,920
Speaker 1: been very promising. Uh you know through a year, a

1028
00:49:11,960 --> 00:49:14,719
Speaker 1: little over a year that he's now been at the

1029
00:49:15,200 --> 00:49:18,120
Speaker 1: the you know, at the forefront of this team. It's

1030
00:49:18,160 --> 00:49:21,600
Speaker 1: certainly there's no doubt. Like I said, what direction they're there,

1031
00:49:21,840 --> 00:49:24,400
Speaker 1: they think they're heading. Yeah, and they're they're all rowing

1032
00:49:24,680 --> 00:49:26,800
Speaker 1: in the same direction right now as they get the

1033
00:49:26,880 --> 00:49:29,960
Speaker 1: summer break. Guys, before I let you go, it's it's

1034
00:49:30,040 --> 00:49:33,840
Speaker 1: hard to like really glean a ton from mini camp

1035
00:49:33,960 --> 00:49:35,960
Speaker 1: and not being in pads. You know, we didn't talk

1036
00:49:36,040 --> 00:49:38,920
Speaker 1: much about guys like jac Jackson or any rookies that

1037
00:49:39,000 --> 00:49:42,200
Speaker 1: may have stood out. Was there anything that that you

1038
00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:44,960
Speaker 1: took from the last couple of days that maybe finishing

1039
00:49:45,120 --> 00:49:53,000
Speaker 1: about Popper undrafted free agent to watch tight end Stone

1040
00:49:53,160 --> 00:49:55,920
Speaker 1: smart out of old Avinian and Jeff is like guy

1041
00:49:56,840 --> 00:49:58,759
Speaker 1: because every time he caught a ball, I was like,

1042
00:49:58,800 --> 00:50:01,560
Speaker 1: there's forty eight again, there's forty eight again, And I

1043
00:50:01,719 --> 00:50:04,200
Speaker 1: counted it up and he had like seven catches over

1044
00:50:04,239 --> 00:50:08,920
Speaker 1: the two days, multiple touchdowns. He's making toe tap grabs

1045
00:50:08,960 --> 00:50:13,560
Speaker 1: along the sideline, diving catches in the end. Name alone.

1046
00:50:14,400 --> 00:50:18,279
Speaker 1: Make thee smart with two teas for two tight right.

1047
00:50:18,440 --> 00:50:22,799
Speaker 1: There you go. So he's so interesting story quarterback at

1048
00:50:22,880 --> 00:50:25,680
Speaker 1: Juco played one season a quarterback at Old Dominium, switched

1049
00:50:25,680 --> 00:50:28,360
Speaker 1: to wide receiver, has never played tight end before. Moves

1050
00:50:28,440 --> 00:50:31,400
Speaker 1: really well. He's got some size at six four. Chargers

1051
00:50:31,480 --> 00:50:33,480
Speaker 1: have a history of developing some of these, like highly

1052
00:50:33,520 --> 00:50:38,040
Speaker 1: athletic tight ends case in point and Donald Palm. Right. Hey,

1053
00:50:38,520 --> 00:50:41,080
Speaker 1: they let Steven Anderson go. They don't really have a

1054
00:50:41,160 --> 00:50:44,800
Speaker 1: fourth tight end on the roster. I'm telling you stone Smart.

1055
00:50:45,680 --> 00:50:47,759
Speaker 1: Put him in the notebooks, write him in your in

1056
00:50:47,840 --> 00:50:50,360
Speaker 1: your notes pad, on the on the iPhone, name to

1057
00:50:50,440 --> 00:50:53,200
Speaker 1: watch undrafted free agent. There you go, there's your takeaway.

1058
00:50:53,200 --> 00:50:56,200
Speaker 1: Because I'm locked in even during seven on seven in

1059
00:50:56,360 --> 00:51:00,640
Speaker 1: mid June. There you go. Subscribe the athletic I'm a tape.

1060
00:51:00,640 --> 00:51:03,279
Speaker 1: We'll have you on weeks four or a week three preseason.

1061
00:51:03,320 --> 00:51:05,600
Speaker 1: We'll see if stone Smart make the team. Jeff, any

1062
00:51:05,680 --> 00:51:10,759
Speaker 1: anybody that caught your riser. You're right, it really is

1063
00:51:10,800 --> 00:51:13,279
Speaker 1: hard to tell on this stuff. Uh but you know

1064
00:51:13,360 --> 00:51:15,600
Speaker 1: Pop mentioned Dean Leonard. You know we saw him with

1065
00:51:15,719 --> 00:51:17,800
Speaker 1: some pass breakups. I mean that's you know, for what

1066
00:51:17,960 --> 00:51:19,839
Speaker 1: that's worth, but I mean it means something, and I'm

1067
00:51:19,920 --> 00:51:21,920
Speaker 1: in the coaches notice it and then then they'll watch

1068
00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:24,960
Speaker 1: the tape. And and he looked, he looked good that

1069
00:51:25,239 --> 00:51:30,440
Speaker 1: the first day of of many camp, the defense that

1070
00:51:30,600 --> 00:51:32,840
Speaker 1: the past defense was tremendous. I mean the offense is

1071
00:51:32,880 --> 00:51:36,239
Speaker 1: struggling to complete passes. Uh, for whatever that's worth. I mean,

1072
00:51:36,280 --> 00:51:39,920
Speaker 1: we'll see eventually. But the other thing I did notice was,

1073
00:51:40,360 --> 00:51:42,719
Speaker 1: you know, Gerald Leverett saw a lot of him, you know,

1074
00:51:42,800 --> 00:51:45,680
Speaker 1: lining up in the backfield, and uh, you know something,

1075
00:51:45,680 --> 00:51:47,000
Speaker 1: I think we're going to see these guys do a

1076
00:51:47,080 --> 00:51:49,560
Speaker 1: lot of uh you know, they'll be able to utilize

1077
00:51:49,640 --> 00:51:51,279
Speaker 1: him and if in different ways, which we have not

1078
00:51:51,400 --> 00:51:54,720
Speaker 1: seen a ton of from this team. And part started

1079
00:51:54,840 --> 00:51:57,160
Speaker 1: using tight ends like that. So that was another thing

1080
00:51:57,640 --> 00:52:00,960
Speaker 1: I happened to notice. And uh but uh yeah, I

1081
00:52:01,760 --> 00:52:05,520
Speaker 1: will admit Pop is right to Stone smart. He was impressive.

1082
00:52:05,560 --> 00:52:07,480
Speaker 1: He got on a nice little run yesterday, and I'm

1083
00:52:07,520 --> 00:52:11,000
Speaker 1: sure he left mini camp thinking yeah, I can do this.

1084
00:52:11,320 --> 00:52:13,640
Speaker 1: I got a chance to do something here, so we'll

1085
00:52:13,680 --> 00:52:17,000
Speaker 1: see where it goes. Stone felt good leaving Coasta Mesa

1086
00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:20,839
Speaker 1: ready for summers. You guys, you guys, have also earned

1087
00:52:20,840 --> 00:52:24,320
Speaker 1: a summer vacation. Incredible coverage The Athletic and the La Times.

1088
00:52:24,640 --> 00:52:28,279
Speaker 1: Um always appreciate you joining us. These are always my

1089
00:52:28,400 --> 00:52:31,479
Speaker 1: favorite thing doing, doing roundtables with you guys, and we'll

1090
00:52:31,880 --> 00:52:33,879
Speaker 1: do it again here as we get closer to training camp.

1091
00:52:33,920 --> 00:52:35,600
Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for us. Money should be back

1092
00:52:35,680 --> 00:52:38,320
Speaker 1: next week. We'll get his thoughts on mini camp and

1093
00:52:38,640 --> 00:52:42,160
Speaker 1: everything off season. Until next time, I'm Chris hay Read.

1094
00:52:42,200 --> 00:52:43,160
Speaker 1: This has been Chargers Weekly