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Speaker 1: All right, guys, Before we get started, a big thank

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Speaker 1: you to our partner Microsoft, Windows eleven, the official operating

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Speaker 1: system of the NFL and the exclusive sponsor of the

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Speaker 1: LA Chargers, the all new Windows eleven. They're here to

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Speaker 1: bring you closer to what you love, like the Chargers

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Speaker 1: and the Final Drive. Learn about all the awesome new

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Speaker 1: features of Windows eleven at Windows dot com and welcome

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Speaker 1: in to our very final final drive of the season.

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Speaker 1: Alongside Haley Elwood as always, Daniel Popper, Jeff Miller also

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Speaker 1: joining us. I'm Chris Harry, and today we are going

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Speaker 1: to look ahead to the twenty twenty two season. Now

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Speaker 1: that the Tom Telesco press conference is in the books,

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Speaker 1: it kind of signals time to move on and look

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Speaker 1: ahead to twenty twenty two. So I got four topics, guys,

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Speaker 1: and we'll go around the horn. And Haley, let's just

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Speaker 1: start with you. The most noteworthy item that you took

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Speaker 1: from Tom's presser. Yeah, there was a lot him To

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Speaker 1: start with a comment that he made where he said

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Speaker 1: that he was actually surprised the offense was ahead of

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Speaker 1: the defense in twenty twenty one and that he may

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Speaker 1: have overestimated the defense's capabilities because he just loved the scheme,

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Speaker 1: the staff, the system, and everything like that. But to

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Speaker 1: kind of go along with that, you know, he mentioned

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Speaker 1: sitting down with some of the Chargers veterans on this

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Speaker 1: team and reminding them that this was year one. This

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Speaker 1: was year one and a brand new system with a

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Speaker 1: brand new head coach, a lot of new players as well,

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Speaker 1: and that new stadium, even with fans at the same time,

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Speaker 1: and that you kind of had to keep that into perspective.

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Speaker 1: So when you look at the different units on this

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Speaker 1: team and maybe their growth or maybe what they need

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Speaker 1: to do to grow and take that next step, you

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Speaker 1: are sort of reminded that this was a first year operation.

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Speaker 1: And I think when you look back to at some

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Speaker 1: of the losses that this team had this year, you

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Speaker 1: kind of go back to that. You fell back to that, like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: this was though, the first time that Brandon's daily is

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Speaker 1: better head coach. This is a brand new offense for

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Speaker 1: Justin Herbert. This is a very complex defense for these

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Speaker 1: guys who are playing in that unit. So while it

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Speaker 1: was a first year operation and while you know, he

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Speaker 1: said he may have overestimated where the defense was, it

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Speaker 1: is now time to clean those things up and rectify

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Speaker 1: those areas as we move forward to twenty twenty two. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I would echo the same thing. I thought it was

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Speaker 1: fascinating that he thought the offense was going to be

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Speaker 1: behind the defense in twenty twenty one and that was

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Speaker 1: just kind of flipped on its head. Popper, what about you. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I'll stick with that same answer because it was a

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Speaker 1: long answer, but just the fact that he sort of

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Speaker 1: took responsibility and gave that sort of sober assessment of

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Speaker 1: the defense. And listen, I overestimated where we were going

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Speaker 1: to be. And I'll spin it forward since this is

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Speaker 1: a spin it forward portion of the podcast. It seems

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Speaker 1: to me that this is an indication that the Charges

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Speaker 1: are really going to invest in this defense this offseason.

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Speaker 1: And I know Tom Salaska said that, you know, it's

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Speaker 1: going to be a complete look at the football team,

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Speaker 1: and obviously there are things that they can do offensively,

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Speaker 1: but considering all of the free agents that they have

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Speaker 1: on defense, whether it's kind of news to whether it's

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Speaker 1: Kaiser White, Justin Jones, Leval Joseph, you can go down

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Speaker 1: the list, there's really an opportunity here to bring in

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Speaker 1: a lot of new talent that fits into Brandon Staley's

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Speaker 1: scheme and system, because that seemed to be an issue,

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Speaker 1: you know, Tom Selesko saying that, you know, we really

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Speaker 1: thought that Brandon Day was going to be able to

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Speaker 1: take the existing pieces that we had, you know, with

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Speaker 1: Derwin James, with Joey Bosa, and turn this into a

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Speaker 1: quality defense, and that did not happen. And you know,

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Speaker 1: the transition into the new scheme did not go as planned.

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Speaker 1: So they need players in here that can really fit

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Speaker 1: into the scheme. And I think there's going to be

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Speaker 1: a significant amount of capital both through the draft and

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Speaker 1: free agency. This officusly, you didn't invest into that defense

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Speaker 1: to get to a point where it's not one of

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Speaker 1: the worst five defenses in football. Jeff Tom spoke for

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Speaker 1: an hour and six minutes. No shortage of topics, my friend,

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Speaker 1: not that we were counting or anything. Yeah, I think

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Speaker 1: you know, as Hailey said, he mentioned the offense, he

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Speaker 1: thought the defense would be ahead of the offense, and

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Speaker 1: it was the other way around. And that's just another

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Speaker 1: you know, another pat on the back of Justin Herbert, right,

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Speaker 1: I mean, they gave him all this new offense he

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Speaker 1: had to go through. He had another system and he

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Speaker 1: figured it out so quickly and so well that that

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Speaker 1: we saw what the offense did. But yeah, you know,

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Speaker 1: you guys are right. The theme is the theme was defense.

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Speaker 1: I think we all took away from from Tom's availability

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Speaker 1: there and uh and Popper's right too, and that it's

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Speaker 1: it's going to be interesting to see now what what

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Speaker 1: the you know, the players they bring in, either in

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Speaker 1: the draft or free agency, whatever it is, what those

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Speaker 1: players look like, what those defensive players look like, because

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Speaker 1: we're going to see what you know, this is going

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Speaker 1: to be a chance now for for Staley to to

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Speaker 1: really kind of hand pick the guys that he thinks

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Speaker 1: are going to fit what he wants to do, and

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Speaker 1: we're gonna see what those characteristics are. I mean, it'll

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Speaker 1: be really interesting to see how he reshapes this ruster

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Speaker 1: and it could be there could be quite a bit

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Speaker 1: of turnover. You know, there are there are but five

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Speaker 1: starters I think are free agents, and um so there

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Speaker 1: could this could look at this defense could look a

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Speaker 1: lot different just than personnel before they even take the

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Speaker 1: field and next time we see him. Which is a

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Speaker 1: great segue, and Jeff will keep it with you and

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Speaker 1: go back around the horn. Which free agent currently on

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Speaker 1: the team do you think the Chargers need to make

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Speaker 1: their top priority? And it could be a variety of

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Speaker 1: the guys on the defense, um, somebody on offense. If

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Speaker 1: you had to pick just one, though, Jeff, who would

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Speaker 1: it be? Boy, that's a good uh, because you got

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Speaker 1: Mike Williams and everyone. Uh, you'd imagine this team without him.

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Speaker 1: Is hard to think what this offense would would have

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Speaker 1: not you know, would be missing without him. Yeah, I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna go with Chatta Duosu just because he he uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, he really flourished, especially the second half of

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Speaker 1: this year. We saw him really really develop and both

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Speaker 1: Brandon Stalely and Tom to Lesko have praised him and

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Speaker 1: raved about him, you know they I'm sure they'd love

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Speaker 1: to have him back. I'm sure everybody wanted to have

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Speaker 1: Hunter Henry back too, and that didn't happen. So you

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Speaker 1: can't just go by, Hey, we really love this guy.

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Speaker 1: We could build around this guy, meaning they're going to

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Speaker 1: bring a guy back, sou But I think I'd love

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Speaker 1: to see them also would get some more time in

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Speaker 1: the system and have a chance to develop even more

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Speaker 1: because that last game, you know, gets the Raiders. He

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Speaker 1: was phenomenal, and uh, I think it was interesting. He

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Speaker 1: and Mike Williams. I think we're probably the two guys

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Speaker 1: that stood at the most and now here we are,

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Speaker 1: you know, a couple of weeks later, they're the two

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Speaker 1: two of the most prominent free agents on this on

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Speaker 1: this team. So, um, it'll be interesting to see. But

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of a lot of questions that we're

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Speaker 1: gonna have answered on that that front. And I guess

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Speaker 1: Chinda would be my guy most interesting to see what

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Speaker 1: happens with. You know, Jeff, that's a great point that

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Speaker 1: those two guys, And another thing that kind of going

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Speaker 1: back to what Tom said, just the way that Mike

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Speaker 1: will played at the end of that Vegas game and

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Speaker 1: just how much he poured into that game. Had they won,

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Speaker 1: he said, it would have been you know, something that

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Speaker 1: they talk about for a long time. Poper, what about you.

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Speaker 1: It's an interesting exercise because we talk about the defense

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Speaker 1: and guys that do fit Staley's scheme and obviously want

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Speaker 1: to keep those guys. But on the other side, you

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Speaker 1: have a wide receiver who has shown to be much

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Speaker 1: more than just a guy that catches jumpalls. Yeah, I

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Speaker 1: think Jeff was right on it. I think those two

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Speaker 1: guys are one A and one B in terms of priority.

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Speaker 1: You know, what does this offense look like without Mike

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Speaker 1: Williams Considering his role in it this season, they obviously

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Speaker 1: expanded his route tree, getting him the ball more and

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Speaker 1: the short and intermediate areas of the field, and he

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Speaker 1: put up massive numbers. He's durable, he's an explosive play

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Speaker 1: waiting to happen. And you go back to that Raiders game,

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Speaker 1: I mean just being there in the stadium. I mean

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Speaker 1: he was, you know, limping to the sideline, crouched over

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Speaker 1: and paying head down like for one play, and then

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Speaker 1: you'd think that he wouldn't come back in the game,

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Speaker 1: and then all of a sudd here's Mike Williams coming

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Speaker 1: back into the game making a play. It was. It

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Speaker 1: was an incredible performance considering how much pain he was.

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Speaker 1: And so, you know, Mike Williams and then Channing new

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Speaker 1: Moosu because they don't really have an edge rusher opposite

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Speaker 1: Joey Bosa on the roster right now with Kyler Thackerl's

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Speaker 1: also going to be free agent. But the other guy

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Speaker 1: I'll throw in the next I think those are the

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Speaker 1: two guys, right, But the other guy I'll throw in

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Speaker 1: the mix is Justin Jones because the Chargers have to

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Speaker 1: completely overhaul their defensive line this offseason, full stop, and

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Speaker 1: it has to be a similar scenario to what happened

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Speaker 1: with the offensive line last year, where they brought in

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Speaker 1: a ton of new starters and really increased the amount

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Speaker 1: of talent they had, and Justin Jones has to be

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Speaker 1: a part of that. Lindvall, Joseph is thirty three years old.

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Speaker 1: It's hard to imagine the Chargers resigning him considering where

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Speaker 1: he is in his career. So they need to resign

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Speaker 1: Justin Jones and add multiple pieces to that defensive line

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Speaker 1: to improve the run defense that was the worst in

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Speaker 1: the league this past season. So if they if they

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Speaker 1: let Justin Jones walk, it's like where are you at

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Speaker 1: on the defensive line? Like what do you really have

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Speaker 1: outside of Jerry Tillery. So that seems to be a

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Speaker 1: really important guide to focus on, just because of the

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Speaker 1: lack of depth they have there and how much work

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Speaker 1: they would have to do if Justin Jones did end

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Speaker 1: up signing elsewhere. And Haley, we take it a step further.

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Speaker 1: We just had this this pod where we look back

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Speaker 1: on the twenty twenty two season. You mentioned Kaiser white

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Speaker 1: Is being one of the most improved guys on this

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Speaker 1: team and really the team's best linebacker, and he's a

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Speaker 1: free agent, you know. So it's just it's one of

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Speaker 1: those things where you have to prioritize and where does

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Speaker 1: Kaisier fall in that? I mean, he was going to

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Speaker 1: be my pick, and obviously I echo every single other

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Speaker 1: player that was brought up on this call, but but

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Speaker 1: to kind of change it up, I will go with Kaisier.

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Speaker 1: And look, Tom Talaska's philosophy has draft and developed. That

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Speaker 1: is something that he learned obviously with the Colts from

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Speaker 1: Bill Polian and is something that he you know, he

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Speaker 1: even said earlier this week that they believe in taking

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Speaker 1: care of their own, grooming their own, and developing them.

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Speaker 1: But I will go with Kaiser, and I think we've

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Speaker 1: talked to linebacker depth has been an issue for this

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Speaker 1: Chargers team in linebacker production as well, and for some

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Speaker 1: reason this year in this scheme. And also I will

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Speaker 1: say Kaisier staying healthy because that has been an issue

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Speaker 1: with him in terms of his availability over his career.

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Speaker 1: But he really, really took it to the next level

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Speaker 1: this twenty eighteen draft class. When you look at guys

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Speaker 1: like him, you look at Uchenna, they sort of developed it.

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Speaker 1: It took them a minute to kind of get going.

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Speaker 1: And you obviously think of Chenna and that strip Sachi

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Speaker 1: had in the Ravens playoff game and to really seal it.

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Speaker 1: But Kaisier is someone who was doing things and I

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Speaker 1: said this on the last podcast from the linebacker position

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Speaker 1: for the Charters that hadn't been done and since the

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Speaker 1: mid two thousands or so, he was so close to

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Speaker 1: finishing with one hundred and fifty tackles and really getting

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Speaker 1: that production. He at some point, I think had led

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Speaker 1: the team in tackles from like Week nine or so

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Speaker 1: or week ten to like week seventeen, and his production

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Speaker 1: just really really blossomed. And so to echo what Jeff

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Speaker 1: and Pop said, you can't obviously resign everyone, and Tom

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Speaker 1: said this yesterday. No team is going to be exactly

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Speaker 1: identical from one season to the next. But I think

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Speaker 1: when you look at the defense overall, they do have

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Speaker 1: guys who had who did stand out. Even though production

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Speaker 1: as a whole was something to be desired. In the

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty one season, but it's about building on some

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Speaker 1: of those guys, and I think everyone who was mentioned

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Speaker 1: on this call certainly can deserve to be back next year. Popa,

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Speaker 1: We're gonna start with you with this next topic, which

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty one rookie, do you think we'll take the

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Speaker 1: biggest leap in twenty two? And obviously it's hard if

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Speaker 1: your a Shawn Slater. It's hard to take a leap

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Speaker 1: from an All Pro to an All Pro, you know,

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Speaker 1: But I think there's a lot of guys on this

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Speaker 1: team and in that draft class that maybe we didn't

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Speaker 1: necessarily see as much this year that could take that

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Speaker 1: next step. Right, the best rookie is a Shawn Slater,

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Speaker 1: but it's hard to see him making the biggest jump,

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Speaker 1: as he said, just because he was so good as

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Speaker 1: a rookie and there's not much more improvement he can

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Speaker 1: make in his game. I'm gonna go with Train mckittye

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Speaker 1: because of the way the roster is sort of structured

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Speaker 1: right now, I would expect them to move on from

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Speaker 1: Jared Cook came in, was productive, you know, filled that

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Speaker 1: role as sort of the elder statesman in the tight

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Speaker 1: end room, bringing along a lot of these young tight ends.

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Speaker 1: I think he deserves a lot of credit along with

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Speaker 1: tight ends coach Kevin Koger. But you know, I'm not

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Speaker 1: convinced the Chargers are gonna bring Jerry Cook back. They

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Speaker 1: have a nice trio of tight ends with Donald Palm,

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Speaker 1: Steven Anderson and Trey McKitty, and I could really see

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Speaker 1: Trey McKitty making a massive jump next year and taking

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Speaker 1: on a bigger role if Jared Cook isn't in the building. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: he showed what he can do as a run blockers.

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Speaker 1: He's really physical, He's an imposing in the run game.

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Speaker 1: Needs to be a little more consistent there, but definitely

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Speaker 1: you see the potential as a run blocker, but we

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Speaker 1: really didn't get to see him sort of flourish as

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Speaker 1: a pass catcher. Caught a few balls, but but you know,

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Speaker 1: it wasn't really consistent presence in that area of the offense.

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Speaker 1: But he has that skill set, he has that athleticism

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Speaker 1: and you've seen it when he gets the ball in

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Speaker 1: his hands. And I think you can see him really

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Speaker 1: be productive next year as a pass catcher as he

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Speaker 1: continues to grow and with some more opportunities. If Jared

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Speaker 1: Cook does end up walking in free agency. Jeff, what

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Speaker 1: do you think a lot of guys on the board here. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that was pop. That's a great answer because he left.

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Speaker 1: What I thought for sure he was going to say

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Speaker 1: is Joshua Palmer who you know, and we talked about

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Speaker 1: Mike Williams. Who knows where that's going. But uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: we saw we saw flashes from him all season, things

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Speaker 1: he can do, and I think the expectation is that

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Speaker 1: he you know, he's kind of I don't want you know,

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Speaker 1: he's sort of this keenan Allenish route runner. He's kind

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Speaker 1: of aspires to be that we you know, obviously he

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Speaker 1: started to develop a little bit with Herbert and Herbert's

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Speaker 1: trust and you know, he had the huge touchdown at

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Speaker 1: the end of the game in Week eighteen, So, uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, that's a guy and a lot of these players,

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Speaker 1: you know, Hayley mentioned it with Kaizer, it's an opportunity,

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Speaker 1: and I think he's a guy who is in a

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Speaker 1: position who could have quite a bit of opportunity next year,

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Speaker 1: depending on what happens with the rest of the wide

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Speaker 1: receiver situation. But I think he's a guy that they

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Speaker 1: would the Chargers are looking at right now thinking hey, this,

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Speaker 1: I we need this guy to be more, you know,

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Speaker 1: next year, to develop and to become much more of

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Speaker 1: a every down guy out there who who Herbert can

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Speaker 1: trust and the offense can trust and Joe Lamarty can trust.

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Speaker 1: And I think he has that ability. And I think

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Speaker 1: he he seems from what we can tell and what

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Speaker 1: we're told that he does seem to have that work

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Speaker 1: ethic and that desire. I mean, his that whole thing

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Speaker 1: with you know, him trying to, you know, trying to

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Speaker 1: emulate Keenan with his route running and stuff. When wide

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Speaker 1: receivers are you know, are looking at guys like that

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Speaker 1: and trying to break it down and trying to be

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Speaker 1: like that and be technicians like that. It's when you

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Speaker 1: can combine that with some ability, which he certainly has,

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Speaker 1: it's it's usually a good sign. So I'm gonna go

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Speaker 1: with Palmer and just just to I think it would

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Speaker 1: be a it would be a huge step for this

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Speaker 1: team too if he can, if he can step forward.

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Speaker 1: So I'm gonna go with Josh two good ones, Haley.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna go defense, And I think obviously you look

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Speaker 1: at Assante, Samuel Junior and he obviously was hindered by

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Speaker 1: the concussions this year at multiple times. But I go

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Speaker 1: back to that acrobatic interception that he had on Patrick Mahomes,

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Speaker 1: I believe, and just how ridiculous that was. And Brandon

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Speaker 1: Staley said, it is hard to start cornerback, you know,

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Speaker 1: at cornerback as a rookie in this league, but seeing

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Speaker 1: someone like him, and also I'll take it to and

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Speaker 1: go down the draft class and pick Chris Rumph as well.

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Speaker 1: And I was actually able to catch up with him

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Speaker 1: earlier this week and just talk to him about the

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Speaker 1: complexities of this Brandon Staley defense, because that was a

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Speaker 1: word that we heard used a lot to describe it.

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Speaker 1: And he said he enjoyed it and really enjoyed kind

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Speaker 1: of learning and growing it as a young player. It

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Speaker 1: was really important for him to kind of come in

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Speaker 1: and do that. We saw, you know, when we kind

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Speaker 1: of go back to that twenty eighteen draft class, we

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Speaker 1: talked about some of those guys that Uchenna is the

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Speaker 1: Kaizier's sort of coming along and developing and and really

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Speaker 1: taking it. You know, it might have taken them a

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Speaker 1: little longer to kind of get going, but maybe this

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Speaker 1: is the right fit for a lot of these guys,

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Speaker 1: and so seeing some of those defensive young players. The

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Speaker 1: team's got a lot of free agents on the defensive

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Speaker 1: side of the ball, so they're going to need some

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Speaker 1: of those young guys to really step up and elevate

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Speaker 1: their game as they move forward. I think the fact

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Speaker 1: that we all have different answers and it's it's kind

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Speaker 1: of a testament to where we think this draft class

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Speaker 1: can go. I'm gonna go with Brendon Hymas because we

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Speaker 1: didn't get to see him at all this year, and

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Speaker 1: Staley was steadfast and saying that he wanted to make

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Speaker 1: it right for Himus and you hope that twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: two is right and it's the right time to see

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Speaker 1: what he can do. And there may be an opening

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Speaker 1: at right guard. There could be a starting position there

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Speaker 1: for Brendan Hymis if he's ready for it. And you know,

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Speaker 1: we just saw snapshots of him in the preseason next

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Speaker 1: to Slater. I remember that Rams game, and albeit it

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Speaker 1: so early in its preseason, but you saw flashes of

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Speaker 1: what he could potentially be across this offensive line. So

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Speaker 1: I'm really interested to see how much they value him

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Speaker 1: going into off season workouts in training camp, and um,

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Speaker 1: if he's a potential starter in twenty twenty two, all right,

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Speaker 1: what do we have next year? Um? This is the

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Speaker 1: final one. What offseason move or moves will make this

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Speaker 1: Chargers team a championship contender in twenty twenty two? And

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Speaker 1: I say championship contender because in mid December, had they

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Speaker 1: won that Chiefs game, they very well could have won

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Speaker 1: the AFC West and they lost it in overtime. So, um, Jeff,

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Speaker 1: why don't you why don't you start with this one? Wow? Um,

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Speaker 1: because this has been such a defensive theme. And pops

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Speaker 1: over there smiling because he's waiting to see He's waiting

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Speaker 1: to form his answer based on what it's gonna be

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Speaker 1: much better than what I say, because don't overthink it.

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Speaker 1: Don't overthink it, so overthink it. Uh, you know what

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna. I'm gonna stick with this and uh,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna say right tackle on offense? What I'm just

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Speaker 1: gonna go offense? I think you know the Chargers are there,

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Speaker 1: They've got what sixty percent of like a really good

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Speaker 1: offensive line right now, you know, center, we know how

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Speaker 1: good Corey Linsley is the left side with Matt Feiler

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Speaker 1: and you guys, you've talked about Rushan. I mean, that's

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Speaker 1: that's that's that's the base of a really what could

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Speaker 1: be a really good offensive line. Now the right side,

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Speaker 1: if they could get a couple of pieces on that

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Speaker 1: right side, you know, they could be they could be

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Speaker 1: one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. And

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Speaker 1: you think about saying that a couple of years ago

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Speaker 1: about the Chargers. I mean, I've covered the team for

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Speaker 1: four years and the offensive line has always been an

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Speaker 1: issue until until they got They got a lot better

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Speaker 1: this year. So I'm going to say right tackle, and

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Speaker 1: I think if they could get somebody and uh to

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Speaker 1: to man that spot, and who knows, you know, a

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Speaker 1: right guard, there's you know, some ways you can go there.

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Speaker 1: But if they could get a right tackle, that's a legit,

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Speaker 1: you know, top line, like right tackle all of a sudden,

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Speaker 1: now that offensive line and just imagine Jessin Herbert with

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Speaker 1: a little more time and what you know what he

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Speaker 1: could do. And so I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: put aside the defense and I'm gonna I'm gonna go

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Speaker 1: with the right tackle. Good answer, Hailey, I will let

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Speaker 1: Popper take defense, but I'm gonna add another offensive offensive note,

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Speaker 1: and that's um bolstering the run game. And it was

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Speaker 1: something that Austin Eckler obviously shouldered a very heavy load

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Speaker 1: this year, and Tom Talasco mentioned that he shouldn't have to.

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Speaker 1: He shouldn't, you know, we should be able to rotate

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Speaker 1: some other guys in. And you kind of saw this

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Speaker 1: unit growing and developing as the season went on. Justin

404
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Speaker 1: Jackson obviously, and we've all seen it. When he's healthy,

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Speaker 1: he's capable of really really being that guy to shoulder

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Speaker 1: that load and really take that run game on. But

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Speaker 1: finding consistency there because it was very inconsistent throughout this season.

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Speaker 1: And what's a quarterback's best friend, right a good run game.

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Speaker 1: It can open up a lot. And so if you

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Speaker 1: were able to build on that and sort of get Austin,

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Speaker 1: you know, throw him in when you need to. And

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Speaker 1: Chris Usement, I've mentioned this a lot of the time.

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Speaker 1: As good as Austin is, he really is an offensive

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Speaker 1: weapon overall. I know that there's a lot of talk

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Speaker 1: right now with Deebo Samuel being like a wide back,

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Speaker 1: and Austin certainly has capabilities obviously as a patched catcher

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Speaker 1: as well, but just being able to kind of shore

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Speaker 1: up that run game. It definitely parlays into the offensive

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Speaker 1: line and production there. But being able to find maybe

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Speaker 1: that number two, that guy who can compliment Austin. Justin

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Speaker 1: Jackson is a free agent. If they drafted Larry Rountree

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Speaker 1: last year, that's another guy, and Joshua Kelly a couple

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Speaker 1: of years ago as well. So really bolstering that unit

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Speaker 1: I think can help them become a more complete offense.

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Speaker 1: We know what Justin Herbert can do, but really make

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Speaker 1: them more well rounded. I agree, And I think having

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Speaker 1: a one two punch to go with Austin consistently helps

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Speaker 1: with time of possession, helps keep the offense and Justin

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Speaker 1: Herbert on the field a little bit longer, and helps

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Speaker 1: keep that defense off. And speaking of defense, Jeff and

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Speaker 1: Haley have given Daniel Popper the entire unit to work with,

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00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:58,240
Speaker 1: and Popper keep in mind, this is a thirty minute podcast.

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Speaker 1: If you go, all right, so you're saying I have

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Speaker 1: thirty minutes because because I have a seventeen point plan,

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00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:10,879
Speaker 1: let me start at the beginning. I won't get into it.

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Speaker 1: I'll save that for the athletic no one thing I

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00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:15,919
Speaker 1: will say, um, the right tackle, right side of the

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Speaker 1: line situation, and the running game situation. I think those

439
00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:20,720
Speaker 1: two things are aligned because if you look at the splits,

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00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:23,359
Speaker 1: like they were averaging like six yards of carry running

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Speaker 1: to the left side of the line behind Corey Lindsley,

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00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:28,880
Speaker 1: Matt Filershans later and they were averaging like three point

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00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:33,160
Speaker 1: two yards of carry running working together within to more

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00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:36,160
Speaker 1: complete offense. Like I think the inconsistencies with the running

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00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:37,960
Speaker 1: game a lot of it was just like how much

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00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:39,520
Speaker 1: better the left side was the right side and the

447
00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:41,439
Speaker 1: charters became kind of predictable because that's where all their

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00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,840
Speaker 1: production came from. And listen, they need a right tackle.

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Speaker 1: You go back to specific games that they lost because

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00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:49,600
Speaker 1: storm Norton was really struggling in past protection. You can

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00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:51,520
Speaker 1: start with the last game of the season. How does

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00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:54,040
Speaker 1: that game go differently if if storm Norton doesn't allow

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00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:57,160
Speaker 1: eleven pressures, you know, and gets and get dominant, gets

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Speaker 1: dominated by by Max Crosby sort of what happens there?

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Speaker 1: But I feel like it has to be defense because

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00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:03,919
Speaker 1: when I went back and I you know, sort of

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00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:05,399
Speaker 1: looked through this season and tried to come up with

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00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:09,040
Speaker 1: an answer of Okay, what happened here? It was the defense.

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00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:13,480
Speaker 1: I mean, the Chargers were top five in every single

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00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:17,800
Speaker 1: statistical category offensively, like I don't care if you like analytics,

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00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:20,199
Speaker 1: I don't care if you like basic counting stats. Like,

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00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:22,240
Speaker 1: however you look at it, this was one of the

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Speaker 1: best offenses in football. Defensively, they were bad. They were

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00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:27,399
Speaker 1: just straight up bad. They could knock get off the

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00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:29,720
Speaker 1: field on third down. A lot of that was run defense.

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Speaker 1: They weren't good enough in coverage. They didn't get enough

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Speaker 1: pass rush. Like down the list, they weren't good enough

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00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:36,359
Speaker 1: in the red zone. You can really go down the list.

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00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,640
Speaker 1: They really didn't do anything well besides like forced fumbles.

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00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:40,960
Speaker 1: That was the one thing that they did well, and

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00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:43,040
Speaker 1: they didn't even recover enough of those. So you can't

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00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:44,880
Speaker 1: even put that as a feather in the cap. They

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00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:48,239
Speaker 1: need talent defensively, and so it needs to be a

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00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:50,399
Speaker 1: full fledged investment in that side of the ball so

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00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:53,120
Speaker 1: that Brandon Staley's scene can actually come to life, can

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00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:56,720
Speaker 1: actually express itself, to use his own term, because we

477
00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,280
Speaker 1: did not see that this year. He didn't have the

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00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:01,359
Speaker 1: players to get it done. I don't think he had

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00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:05,080
Speaker 1: the talent around Derwin James and Joey Bosa and Kaiser White.

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00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:08,119
Speaker 1: I don't think he had the necessary depth to weather injuries.

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00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:10,359
Speaker 1: And we saw that with how this defense performed. When

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00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:12,440
Speaker 1: you have a top five offensive football it's really hard

483
00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:14,680
Speaker 1: to miss the playoffs. It's really hard to miss the

484
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,119
Speaker 1: playoffs because that's how the league is designed, is to

485
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,480
Speaker 1: put great offenses in the playoffs so that they can

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00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,600
Speaker 1: play in front of the entire world. And you have

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00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:25,520
Speaker 1: to have a really bad defense and they have to

488
00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:28,120
Speaker 1: struggle on special teams to leave an offense that good

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00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:29,919
Speaker 1: out of the playoffs. And that's that's where the focus

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00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:33,520
Speaker 1: has to be. Adding defensive lineman, it's adding another edge rusher,

491
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,000
Speaker 1: it's upgrading at nickel corner, it's adding safety depth. Like

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00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:38,960
Speaker 1: and Jeff has said this before, they could add players

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00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:42,200
Speaker 1: at every single position group defensively, pretty much outside of

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00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:45,240
Speaker 1: inside linebacker, and so it has to be a full

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00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:47,480
Speaker 1: fledged investment in there. That's how this team makes the

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00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:51,440
Speaker 1: playoffs next year is by improving significantly on defense and

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00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:55,639
Speaker 1: maintaining this level of offense. That's the recipe. Yeah, we

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00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:57,280
Speaker 1: have a little bit of a loll and then we

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00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:02,520
Speaker 1: get right into free agency, combine and draft, and in

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00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:06,000
Speaker 1: the next three months this team may look markedly different

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00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:09,840
Speaker 1: from the version you saw in twenty twenty one. Appreciate

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00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:12,359
Speaker 1: you guys breaking it down with us, Jeff Miller, Elie Times,

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00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:15,440
Speaker 1: Daniel Popper of the Athletic and as always Haleyo with

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00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,159
Speaker 1: joining me on the final drive. Like I said at

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00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,720
Speaker 1: the top, this has been the final final drive, and

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00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:24,080
Speaker 1: we'll have much more as we get into the combine

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00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:27,000
Speaker 1: starting the first week of March, getting you ready for

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00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:28,359
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty two season.