Speaker 1: I'm Terry Fao, general manager of the Atlanta Falcons, and
Speaker 1: this is the NFL Report.
Speaker 2: Welcome into the NFL Report, James Palmer, Steve Whitch with you.
Speaker 2: Terry's working his tail off right now, getting ready for
Speaker 2: the combine and the draft.
Speaker 3: And Steve, what is Wait a minute, you look like
Speaker 3: you're in a press box right now?
Speaker 4: Where Steve?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm in a press box of at Yeoman Stadium
Speaker 1: on the campus of Tulayne University watching practices for the
Speaker 1: HBCU Legacy Bowl, which will air Saturday, four pm Eastern
Speaker 1: on NFL Network. Met Bucky Brooks, Sherry Burris, and Charles
Speaker 1: Davis on the call, top one hundred draft LGI players
Speaker 1: from HBCUs. It's always a great week, JP, But I
Speaker 1: got good WiFi in here too. These pictures have been
Speaker 1: real clear.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you look great. You look great. You know who's
Speaker 3: also in that press box you mentioned him? Bucky Brooks.
Speaker 2: He's gonna join us talking about some deepest part of
Speaker 2: the draft, maybe some specific positions that some teams might
Speaker 2: be intrigued by. We're also going to have Saints head
Speaker 2: coach Dennis Allen join the show.
Speaker 3: Let's go.
Speaker 2: Also NFL Network insider Tom Pelisara joins his talk franchise
Speaker 2: tags and a couple of quarterbacks and Kirk Cousins and
Speaker 2: Baker Mayfield. But let's start off with Justin Fields, Steve.
Speaker 2: And we're not saying that solely. You know, we didn't
Speaker 2: connect Terry Fontnou to introduce this show to Justin Fields,
Speaker 2: because we do know that's a potential landing spot that
Speaker 2: some teams are trying to connect. Let's talk about the
Speaker 2: best fit for Justin Fields. And I say this Steve
Speaker 2: specifically because to my understanding, the Bears are kind of
Speaker 2: finalizing in this week. They're kind of their their mindset
Speaker 2: on what they want to do at the quarterback position,
Speaker 2: and then when they get to Indianapolis, probably a lot
Speaker 2: of discussions will be had about what teams would be
Speaker 2: interested in Justin Fields that started amobile, and we'll continue
Speaker 2: in possible landing spots that he could wind up in.
Speaker 2: So with that said, and on the you know, a
Speaker 2: couple of days before the combine, what's the best fit
Speaker 2: for Justin Field, Steve?
Speaker 1: It's first off, Jap isn't interesting how the conversation is
Speaker 1: really no longer the Bears retaining Justin Fields.
Speaker 4: I mean that seems like the ship is sales.
Speaker 1: We don't know, We really don't know, but it seems
Speaker 1: that the conversation has swung so much to them using
Speaker 1: that number one pick on Caleb Williams' quarterback that Justin
Speaker 1: Fields has gone. So to answer your question, it's not Atlanta,
Speaker 1: it's not Pittsburgh.
Speaker 4: It is the Las Vegas Raiders for his.
Speaker 5: Former law.
Speaker 4: Gets he takes over. But here's why I think he's
Speaker 4: a great fit.
Speaker 1: I look at what their offense is, right, you know,
Speaker 1: he comes into their quarterback. They've got I think they're
Speaker 1: gonna bring back Josh Jacobs so they can have a
Speaker 1: dual threat run game. They've got a pretty good offensive
Speaker 1: line there. They've got DeVante Adams, They've got some players.
Speaker 1: They've got a tight end, right, They've got Meyer, They've
Speaker 1: got some players he can get the ball to.
Speaker 4: They're a physical club. Plus all of.
Speaker 1: Those great offensive head coaches in that division, Jim harbaughch
Speaker 1: On Peyton, Andy Reid, they haven't had to defend a
Speaker 1: quarterback like Justin Fields. I think he could go there,
Speaker 1: and in a division where Antonio Pierce the only defensive
Speaker 1: coach facing some of the greatest coaches that we have
Speaker 1: seen in modern football having somebody like him to confuse
Speaker 1: them to hold the ball and have explosive play potential.
Speaker 1: To me, I think he's a raider all day. Fits
Speaker 1: the culture. I could see him smoking a cigar with
Speaker 1: Max Crosby and AP. I think that's the perfect fit.
Speaker 2: Well, that's a various It also like rich Gangarillo joining
Speaker 2: that staff, who maybe an underrated developer of quarterbacks in
Speaker 2: this league, is very, very talented in terms of working
Speaker 2: with quarterbacks.
Speaker 3: I just look at.
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh and I look at Atlanta, and I look at
Speaker 2: the skill position players that would be around, justin fields.
Speaker 2: In terms of guys like you know, George Pickens goes
Speaker 2: up and gets ball, Steve right he goes up and
Speaker 2: gets balls that are fifty to fifty type of balls.
Speaker 2: I also think that those guys exist in Atlanta as well.
Speaker 2: What I'm curious about this process and I wanted to
Speaker 2: add this more than just a typical landing spot. This
Speaker 2: was a crazy stat sent to us by our research department.
Speaker 2: The Bears had a ten or more point lead in
Speaker 2: the fourth quarter in eight games this season. They lost
Speaker 2: three of those. Nobody else really lost more than one
Speaker 2: game that had that type of lead. I want to
Speaker 2: know what the league considers if this is on Justin Fields,
Speaker 2: the quarterback, or if this is on the situation in Chicago.
Speaker 2: He had the worst passer rating in football in the
Speaker 2: fourth quarter amongst qualified passers. So I want to know
Speaker 2: how this evaluation evolves. Because the guy hasn't been dealt
Speaker 2: the greatest of hands in Chicago. He is actually extremely
Speaker 2: well liked by the front office and the people within
Speaker 2: that locker room. I want to know if they want
Speaker 2: to do him a solid Steve, do they want to
Speaker 2: send him to a decent location.
Speaker 3: That's what I'm curious about.
Speaker 1: And I do think that's a great point, because when
Speaker 1: you trade away somebody who is a good player or
Speaker 1: who has those types of feelings, you want to trade
Speaker 1: him to a situation where he could possibly succeed. But
Speaker 1: I want to go back to what he said, is
Speaker 1: this conversation about the Steelers continues to intrigue me because
Speaker 1: Arthur Smith, he was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons,
Speaker 1: wanted no parts of Justin Fields.
Speaker 4: He had the possibility to draft him, they.
Speaker 1: Took Kyle Pitts. We asked Terry Fondo. This last week
Speaker 1: they took Kyle Pitts, a tight end. They bypassed Justin Fields.
Speaker 1: Why all of a sudden with the head coach who
Speaker 1: designs the offense take a liking to Justin Field. That's
Speaker 1: why this conversation when I hear the Steelers and Arthur Smith,
Speaker 1: Ougho'd be a perfect fit. Why Arthur Smith didn't want
Speaker 1: him once? Why would he want him right now? It's
Speaker 1: just that that linking, I may be completely off base.
Speaker 1: I don't see I don't see that link. Real quick, JP,
Speaker 1: since we're talking about Chicago Bears with the number one pick,
Speaker 1: possibly you're likely using it on quarterback Caleb Williams.
Speaker 4: A number two sets to Washington Commanders.
Speaker 1: I think they are going to be more draft day ballers.
Speaker 4: Than the Bears.
Speaker 1: I think they've got the potential to move from two
Speaker 1: to four, still, get the quarterback that they want, pink
Speaker 1: up some extra picks, They've got cap space to add
Speaker 1: people in free agency.
Speaker 4: To me, that is the team to watch with the draft.
Speaker 1: That's where the draft really starts, because I think they've
Speaker 1: got some pieces and they've got.
Speaker 4: Some time there.
Speaker 1: They've got a grace period to put things in place.
Speaker 1: Where that's going to be the big mover all around
Speaker 1: the early part of the draft.
Speaker 2: Listen, Steve, if they're the ones grabbing all the attention,
Speaker 2: I'm nervous for Ryan Poles. I'm nervous if he gets
Speaker 2: overshadowed with what he has set up leading into this draft.
Speaker 2: I do think the Fields trade actually happened sooner rather
Speaker 2: than later. They'd like that to happen. There's more teams
Speaker 2: that need a quarterback now than when it gets closer
Speaker 2: to the draft. I think that's plays with this as well.
Speaker 2: And I think you're right. I think number two is
Speaker 2: where the draft starts. Because everybody's assuming it's Kayleb Williams
Speaker 2: at number one that's locked in. It's gonna take a
Speaker 2: historic Hall, as Ian Rappaport reports. So number two seems
Speaker 2: to be the start of the draft, but at number
Speaker 2: nine is also the Bears.
Speaker 3: So I'm fascinated by this.
Speaker 2: Thought process that you have to where it could be
Speaker 2: the Washington Commanders hurting all the heads as opposed to
Speaker 2: the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 3: I'm fascinated to see what happens. But that's why you
Speaker 3: went and got Adam Peters, right, Steve.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, and was he Adam Peters. He's wheeling and
Speaker 1: dealing before before the draft when it comes to those
Speaker 1: types of picks when he was with the forty nine ers.
Speaker 1: We'll see if he does it again, you know what, Jap.
Speaker 1: When we come back after the break, we've got Saints
Speaker 1: coach Dennis Allen. They are revamping their with a new coordinator,
Speaker 1: a new scheme. We're gonna talk to him about that
Speaker 1: and how that affects Derek Carr when we're back on
Speaker 1: the NFL Report, roll.
Speaker 4: That state bell.
Speaker 1: See it's time for the lead block, presented by T
Speaker 1: Mobile for Business. A sport as fast as football deserves
Speaker 1: America's fastest five G network, businesses go further with T
Speaker 1: Mobile for Business. All Right, welcome back to the NFL
Speaker 1: Report and JP, I am so looking forward to this
Speaker 1: because we are now joined by New Orleans Saints head
Speaker 1: coach Dennis Allen.
Speaker 4: I've known DA way back. Gosh, it's been about fifteen years.
Speaker 1: We go back DA back to Atlanta, and first off,
Speaker 1: thanks for joining us, but we want to have you
Speaker 1: on because this has been such an eventful off season
Speaker 1: in terms of changing of your coaching staff. On the
Speaker 1: offensive side, you hire Clint Kubiak as your offensive coordinator.
Speaker 1: Just kind of what went into that and what are
Speaker 1: you expecting now for your offense?
Speaker 4: Is it going to be a radical.
Speaker 1: Change or do something you think fits philosophically what you
Speaker 1: want to do with this team.
Speaker 6: Yeah, well, look, obviously, we went through an extensive search
Speaker 6: in terms of interview and a lot of people for
Speaker 6: this position. I think we I think we interviewed eleven
Speaker 6: or twelve offensive coordinator candidates, a lot of really qualified guys.
Speaker 6: I felt like, you know, we really needed to do
Speaker 6: a deep dive into a lot of different schemes and
Speaker 6: a lot of different personalities.
Speaker 7: I wanted to really look at.
Speaker 6: You know, what was going to be the best fit
Speaker 6: for the New Orleans Saints, for our players that we
Speaker 6: have here, and the things that we need to try
Speaker 6: to get accomplished.
Speaker 7: And I felt like Clint Kubiak was.
Speaker 6: Obviously the the person of choice. And I've known Clint
Speaker 6: for a long time. I feel like I've known the
Speaker 6: family for you know, probably over twenty thirty years. I
Speaker 6: remember watching Clint's dad, Gary play quarterback back at Texas
Speaker 6: A and m you know, growing up. So I feel
Speaker 6: like I fe I've known this family. I feel like
Speaker 6: I've known this scheme for a long time and and
Speaker 6: and I feel like this is the best scheme that
Speaker 6: gives your players the best chance to have success that's
Speaker 6: going in the National Football League right now. And and UH,
Speaker 6: I think Clint is highly intelligent. UH, he's extremely hard worker.
Speaker 6: I think we've put together an outstanding UH staff with
Speaker 6: a little bit of a mixture of some older veteran
Speaker 6: coaches that have been there, done that, UH, with some
Speaker 6: younger progressive mindset type of guys. And and I think
Speaker 6: it's gonna be a great mixture for our for our organization.
Speaker 2: Yeah, before we move forward to what we want to
Speaker 2: talk about philosophically and scheme wise, And you touched on
Speaker 2: it there a little bit.
Speaker 3: I know I've been told back in the day.
Speaker 2: You know the way Gary when he ran it at
Speaker 2: its highest level, it's almost Doenguardle sometimes if it's done
Speaker 2: the right way, the way this offense can be run.
Speaker 2: But specifically Clint coming from San Francisco and the way
Speaker 2: you've seen coaches depart out of San Francisco and have success.
Speaker 2: What is it that you learned maybe in that interview
Speaker 2: process with Clint about what that building is doing right
Speaker 2: to have guys prepared to make a jump like you're
Speaker 2: having Clint do.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Well, I just think it's really about, you know, having
Speaker 6: having a system that you believe in UH, and then
Speaker 6: being able to clearly identify the players that fit that system,
Speaker 6: and then being able to acquire the talent that fits.
Speaker 7: That And and I think.
Speaker 6: I think they've done as good a job as any
Speaker 6: in San Francisco being able to do that. I think
Speaker 6: they have a belief system of things that they really
Speaker 6: firmly believe in, and they don't vary from that. Obviously,
Speaker 6: the scheme has has evolved as it's going gone along.
Speaker 6: You know, this goes back to you know, Mike Shanahan
Speaker 6: coaching back at Denver h through you know kub going
Speaker 6: to Houston UH and then and then carrying that scheme along,
Speaker 6: you know, when he went back to UH Baltimore and
Speaker 6: then he went to Minnesota, and you just see this
Speaker 6: scheme having a lot of success.
Speaker 7: There's probably a little bit more window.
Speaker 6: Dressing within the scheme now than maybe what there was
Speaker 6: you know, ten or fifteen years ago. But I just
Speaker 6: think it's it's a system that's quarterback friendly UH and
Speaker 6: and I think it relies on being able to run
Speaker 6: the football and uh and get your play action passing
Speaker 6: game going.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love I love hearing you talk about this
Speaker 1: because you're a defensive guy, right, You've had the scheme
Speaker 1: begainst this, so you know how what the challenge it
Speaker 1: is schematically. You just said it, this is a quarterback
Speaker 1: friendly system. How do you think this is going to
Speaker 1: benefit Derek Carr?
Speaker 6: Well, look, I think Derek's going to do exceptionally well.
Speaker 6: You know, I thought there was a point in time
Speaker 6: this past season where you know, we started incorporating a
Speaker 6: little bit more of the play action passing game and
Speaker 6: I really felt like that's where our offense started to
Speaker 6: take off. I thought that's where Derek really kind of
Speaker 6: started to take off. And you know, it's interesting because
Speaker 6: you know, I've had communication with Derek throughout this process, uh,
Speaker 6: you know, and talk to him about some of the
Speaker 6: different candidates that you know, we were bringing in. And
Speaker 6: his brother, David had played for Gary and and UH
Speaker 6: in Houston, and that was David's last year in Houston.
Speaker 6: I was kind of a little bit concerned that, you know,
Speaker 6: maybe that wouldn't go over that great and and uh,
Speaker 6: and David had some really good things to say, you know,
Speaker 6: about the offensive scheme, uh, and about how he uh,
Speaker 6: you know, really appreciated the scheme and the things that
Speaker 6: they were doing, and and and really enjoyed playing for
Speaker 6: for Gary and felt like, look, if, if, if there's
Speaker 6: some similarities, which I think there's a ton between Gary
Speaker 6: and Clint, that uh, it was going to be a
Speaker 6: great fit. And so I'm really kind of excited about that.
Speaker 3: It's interesting you bring up Houston.
Speaker 2: I was a beat guy there when Gary was the
Speaker 2: head coach, and I remember those drafts da of him
Speaker 2: kind of finding the guys that fit this game we're
Speaker 2: talking about throughout the draft. So I'm kind of curious
Speaker 2: now that you make this switch on offense, what have
Speaker 2: the meetings been like, and does your draft philosophy maybe
Speaker 2: change a little bit in the style of player maybe
Speaker 2: you're looking at on the offensive line or some other
Speaker 2: spots with the way that Clint wants to run this.
Speaker 7: Yeah, no, I think that's a great question.
Speaker 6: You know, you know, a few years back defensively here,
Speaker 6: I remember back in twenty fifteen, kind of twenty sixteen,
Speaker 6: we weren't sure exactly what we wanted to be defensively
Speaker 6: three four four to three, Seattle three defense, New England
Speaker 6: single high man. We kind of went through a little process,
Speaker 6: and it was really kind of in sixteen where I
Speaker 6: kind of took over, and I think we clearly identified
Speaker 6: exactly what we wanted to do defensively and exactly what
Speaker 6: we were looking for in each position, and so therefore
Speaker 6: we were able to go out and find those guys
Speaker 6: twenty seventeen draft and on, and I think we became
Speaker 6: a lot better defense because of that, because we clearly
Speaker 6: identified what we were looking for. And I think that's
Speaker 6: the process that we're going through right now. We're in
Speaker 6: the process of having our February draft meetings with the scouts,
Speaker 6: with Jeff Ireland, Mickey Loomis, myself, we're in there talking
Speaker 6: through these guys, and we had a chance to get
Speaker 6: the offensive coaching staff in here over the weekend and
Speaker 6: really sit down with the you know, with the scouts
Speaker 6: and with the people in the draft room and kind
Speaker 6: of go through, Look, this is what we're looking for
Speaker 6: at the quarterback position. This is what we're looking for
Speaker 6: in an offensive tackle, this is what we're looking for
Speaker 6: at the receiver position. So I think that's been I
Speaker 6: think that's been great for our group, and I think
Speaker 6: we'll have to continue to have those discussions as we
Speaker 6: go throughout you know, this draft process and really not
Speaker 6: just the draft process, but free agency also.
Speaker 3: M hm.
Speaker 4: I mean, I know that's invigorating.
Speaker 1: I mean it's got to be like so cool now
Speaker 1: to have these types of discussions with the new staff
Speaker 1: and kind of hear new ideas and and to really
Speaker 1: do this. So let's let's kind of flip it to
Speaker 1: the other side of the ball, DA, you know, that's
Speaker 1: where you've just had one of the best defenses in
Speaker 1: the NFL for just the longest time. And I want
Speaker 1: to look at Cam Jordan because last year see him
Speaker 1: like just such an aberration. You know, you only had
Speaker 1: the two sacks he wasn't putting up, you know, the
Speaker 1: typical Hall of Fame type of numbers we've seen him
Speaker 1: put up.
Speaker 4: Do you consider that just kind of.
Speaker 1: A blip on the radar, you know, And what does
Speaker 1: he maybe need to do to get back to the
Speaker 1: Cam that we have seen for more than a decade.
Speaker 6: Yeah, Well, look, I think I think the thing that
Speaker 6: I would say about Cam, you know, probably where the
Speaker 6: dip occurred a little bit. Is just his ability to
Speaker 6: finish on the quarterback. I think he was still effective
Speaker 6: and kind of being able to get around the quarterback,
Speaker 6: he just didn't finish as well on the quarterback. And so, uh,
Speaker 6: I think that's one of the things that we've got
Speaker 6: to continue to look at and work at. I think
Speaker 6: he's still one of the better run players in our
Speaker 6: league at the defensive end position.
Speaker 7: But look, let's be honest.
Speaker 6: I mean, as we as we all get older, we
Speaker 6: we we start to slow down a little bit. I
Speaker 6: don't think he's at that point where I think he's
Speaker 6: still got some good football left. And I think it's
Speaker 6: up to us to try to find the positions and
Speaker 6: the places to put him in, uh, to allow him
Speaker 6: to still be successful, you know.
Speaker 7: And so.
Speaker 6: Look, the other thing is he injured his ankle at
Speaker 6: some point in the season. I think it might have
Speaker 6: been the Minnesota week. And look, he's such a tough
Speaker 6: competitor that he just battled through and fought through it.
Speaker 6: But I think it was probably, you know, six weeks
Speaker 6: before he started feeling more like himself.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you mentioned you mentioned Cam's age, and I'm not
Speaker 2: pushing him out the door by any stretch.
Speaker 3: He's one of my favorite players to watch.
Speaker 2: But as a head coach, now that you're in this
Speaker 2: position and you're going through this, when a roster starts
Speaker 2: to get a little bit older, how do you figure
Speaker 2: out gauging you know, a guy still, as you mentioned, Cam,
Speaker 2: still has this much left in your mind, gauging between
Speaker 2: we have to try to maybe flip this and get
Speaker 2: younger in some aspects, but we still want to value
Speaker 2: what this guy brings. Because you have a lot of
Speaker 2: those type of players that still bring a lot to
Speaker 2: the table.
Speaker 3: How do you gauge that?
Speaker 6: Yeah, Look, I think it's a delicate balance, you know,
Speaker 6: because not only do these players I'm talking about guys
Speaker 6: like Cam Jordan, I'm talking about guys like Tyron Matthew,
Speaker 6: I'm talking about guys like to Mario Davis. We're speaking
Speaker 6: specifically on the defensive side of the ball. Look, they
Speaker 6: can still play, and they can still play at a
Speaker 6: winnable level, and it's all those other intangibles that they
Speaker 6: can bring to your football team that don't necessarily always
Speaker 6: show up on the stat sheet, but they they they
Speaker 6: show up in terms of the culture and and uh
Speaker 6: and the way you go about doing things. And so look,
Speaker 6: it's a delicate balance and it's hard because you know,
Speaker 6: these guys have been such great players for such a
Speaker 6: long time. Uh that's that's the challenging part of this business.
Speaker 6: But uh, as long as they can play and play
Speaker 6: at a level that allows us to be able to win, uh,
Speaker 6: then then uh, I think they're valuable pieces to our team.
Speaker 1: Da Hey, one last question before we let you go here,
Speaker 1: and and this is important. I'm in New Orleans for
Speaker 1: the the HBCU Legacy Bowl. The HBCU Combine was running
Speaker 1: your facility, and the Saints have such a rich history
Speaker 1: with players, coaches and supporting black college athletics. Even last
Speaker 1: year you guys adding Mark Evans, the offensive lineman at
Speaker 1: Arkansas Pine Bluff. Just what about your organizational commitment to
Speaker 1: continue to find talent on and off the field to
Speaker 1: make you guys better year in and year out.
Speaker 6: Yeah, well, look, I mean I think I think it's
Speaker 6: really just a commitment to trying to find the best
Speaker 6: people and the best players that we can find, regardless
Speaker 6: of where they come from.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 6: And I think this uh, you know, this Legacy Bowl,
Speaker 6: and we had the combine over here at the facility
Speaker 6: yesterday where I think there was probably about you know,
Speaker 6: fifty kids that got an opportunity to get in front
Speaker 6: of the NFL scouts, uh and and go through some
Speaker 6: you know, positional uh drills or skilled drills to get
Speaker 6: get there, get their name, and get their face in
Speaker 6: front of uh some NFL evaluators and give them an
Speaker 6: opportunity to maybe have a chance to uh, you know,
Speaker 6: either be drafted signed as a free agent. You know,
Speaker 6: we look football players coming and and all shape sizes
Speaker 6: and areas and backgrounds and all those kinds of things,
Speaker 6: and and uh, you know, we're willing to look anywhere
Speaker 6: we can to find somebody that fits our culture, that
Speaker 6: fits our program, uh, that can help us, you know,
Speaker 6: be a successful organization wins the football games.
Speaker 1: Hey da, man, we appreciate the support. We appreciate you
Speaker 1: taking the time with this.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 4: You're the best.
Speaker 1: Thank you, you know, and you're taking out time when
Speaker 1: the middle draft prep and putting the staff together means
Speaker 1: the world.
Speaker 4: So can't thank you enough. Joining James and I here
Speaker 4: at the NFL report.
Speaker 6: Yeah, absolutely, guys. I always got I always got fifteen
Speaker 6: minutes for you.
Speaker 1: Guys there we go, We're gonna follow you back.
Speaker 3: We're going to hold you to that day. Yeah, we
Speaker 3: are all right.
Speaker 1: NFL Report our top Pella zero is going to talk
Speaker 1: about some key NFL free agents. That guy Kirk Cousins
Speaker 1: he be available. That's next on the NFL Report. All
Speaker 1: the tape, l Fie.
Speaker 3: That's a wrap for the.
Speaker 1: Lead block presented by Team Mobile for Business. A sport
Speaker 1: as fast as football deserves America's fastest five G network,
Speaker 1: businesses go further with t Mobile for Business.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the NFL Report. James Palmer, Steve Whitch
Speaker 2: with you now. NFL insider Tom Pellisero joins us and
Speaker 2: tom My first question to you is this, we broke
Speaker 2: bread multiple times in Vegas during the week long stay
Speaker 2: we had in there, which is far longer than the
Speaker 2: forty eight hours everybody recommends. Your favorite meal in Las
Speaker 2: Vegas that you had with me was what.
Speaker 8: Let's see.
Speaker 9: I believe I bailed on one of them about halfway
Speaker 9: through because I had an engagement that I needed to
Speaker 9: get to. I believe that one lotuses I am had
Speaker 9: the potential to be really good. Everybody raided about it after,
Speaker 9: but the potent in the Cosmo. It was a fantastic
Speaker 9: meal that we had together.
Speaker 3: Oh, that was fantastic. That one was really really good,
Speaker 3: really really good.
Speaker 2: And all right, speaking of fantastic, let's get to the
Speaker 2: wide receiver position. Potential franchise tag candidates.
Speaker 3: There's two. I'm looking at the first one. T Higgins.
Speaker 2: To me, this is a fascinating situation with Cincinnati and
Speaker 2: he if you give him a contract, then you're just
Speaker 2: resetting a floor for Jamar Chase, which you have to
Speaker 2: do down the road. Do you want to pay two
Speaker 2: wide receivers? Do you move on now or do you
Speaker 2: try to maybe just run it back on the tag
Speaker 2: and try to get a Lombardi in twenty twenty four?
Speaker 2: Where do things stand in your opinion with T Higgins
Speaker 2: and the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 9: You're right, James, because somebody, if T. Higgins were to
Speaker 9: get to the open market, would pay him like a
Speaker 9: number one wide receiver on his own team. It's pretty
Speaker 9: clear Jamar Chase is that number one guy when he's
Speaker 9: out there and fully healthy. The Bengals are not strangers
Speaker 9: to using the franchise tag. They have done it in
Speaker 9: the past with a wide receiver not that long ago.
Speaker 9: In aj Green and had him play his final season
Speaker 9: there on the tag, So certainly a possibility that they
Speaker 9: could keep t Higgins on the franchise tag for a year.
Speaker 9: Nobody's preference, generally speaking, is to end up with somebody
Speaker 9: on the tag, but they've got enough flexibility right now
Speaker 9: in terms of their salary cap that that would be
Speaker 9: an option if they're not able to consummate a deal
Speaker 9: prior to the negotiating window opening up on March eleven.
Speaker 3: JB.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna let you follow up since you said you
Speaker 1: had a second wide receiver you want.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I kind of blocked out because I was thinking
Speaker 2: of STK real quick. How about Mike Evans down there
Speaker 2: in Tampa Bay, Because I know there's plenty of teams
Speaker 2: around the league that are going this is still an
Speaker 2: unbelievably productive receiver and if he finds his way out,
Speaker 2: this is somebody just like the Higgans, and teams are
Speaker 2: going to jump at.
Speaker 9: Well, it's a big number for Mike Evans if you
Speaker 9: were to franchise tag him based off last year's salary
Speaker 9: cap number. Also, you have to think what a player
Speaker 9: has had the type of career that Mike Evans has
Speaker 9: had at the Buccaneers one thousand yards every single season
Speaker 9: being a franchise legend. Do you go that harout if
Speaker 9: you're not able to work out a deal, or do
Speaker 9: you say thanks for the memories, thanks for a Super
Speaker 9: Bowl win, We're gonna let you move on with your
Speaker 9: career right now. Those are organizational decisions that the Bucks
Speaker 9: are going to have to make. I know that certain
Speaker 9: people were making a lot of fact they didn't get
Speaker 9: a contract done a couple of days ago before a
Speaker 9: void date. Voids are not magic, They're not hey, he
Speaker 9: immediately becomes a free agent. They just mean it's a
Speaker 9: matter of accounting differently for future cap numbers onto the cap.
Speaker 9: Nothing precluding them from being able to move forward here
Speaker 9: with a deal on Mike Evans. But let's also be
Speaker 9: very clear, Mike Evans has earned it. He's one of
Speaker 9: the most consistent players that the NFL has seen over
Speaker 9: the past decade. Here he's got one more big bite
Speaker 9: at the apple. I would not think that he would
Speaker 9: want to be on the franchise tag. I would think,
Speaker 9: and again a lot of different ways that this could go.
Speaker 9: Teams have the right he used the tag, But I
Speaker 9: would think if they can't get a deal done with
Speaker 9: Mike Evans. He quite possibly we're in a new uniform
Speaker 9: in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1: I would agree Tom because look, he'll always be viewed year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: even if he has to play another team, he always
Speaker 1: be viewed as a buccaneer. His his legacy is solidified.
Speaker 4: There. Let's come off the tag.
Speaker 1: You know, maybe later we can talk about, you know,
Speaker 1: Tony Pollard to say, Kwon Barkley and this and that,
Speaker 1: but let's.
Speaker 4: Get some guys with some inspiring contracts.
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins is the more, if the more, one of
Speaker 1: the most I should say, intriguing guys out there. Because
Speaker 1: Minnesota we know they probably would like to keep him.
Speaker 1: But he's coming off that achilles, there's the age. What's
Speaker 1: his situation.
Speaker 9: Well, I would anticipate Steve that kirk Cousins is going
Speaker 9: to have a strong market, even going on to his
Speaker 9: age thirty six season and coming off.
Speaker 8: Of that torn achilles.
Speaker 9: The Vikings want to keep kirk Cousins, but to this point,
Speaker 9: there's really been no substantive communication. That's normal for the Vikings.
Speaker 9: They do a lot of their contract talks with their
Speaker 9: own free agents. At the combine that begins next week
Speaker 9: in Indianapolis. At that point, I would think that everybody
Speaker 9: involved have a pretty good idea of what that market
Speaker 9: for Kirk Cousins is going to be. At the same time,
Speaker 9: Vikings are exploring all options in the event that the
Speaker 9: price tag just becomes too high on Cousins if he
Speaker 9: goes elsewhere. Wouldn't think that they'd be in the Baker
Speaker 9: Mayfield mix. There's not a lot of other starting caliber,
Speaker 9: clear starters available in free agency. I think it may
Speaker 9: be more of an economical type of veteran Let's say
Speaker 9: a Sam Darnold coming in, which would buy them some
Speaker 9: time to bridge the gap to bringing a young quarterback
Speaker 9: as well. Maybe even somebody that they could draft or
Speaker 9: sitting there at number eleven could go up to go down.
Speaker 9: That would be a possibility. Minnesota in general, guys in
Speaker 9: a really unique situation right here, because there's not a
Speaker 9: lot of times you've got three players on your roster
Speaker 9: who all could be thirty million plus per year players
Speaker 9: with Kirk Cousins who can't be tagged, the Neil Hunter,
Speaker 9: who is also a penny free agent, can't be tagged,
Speaker 9: and then justin Jefferson who has a pretty big vested
Speaker 9: interest in what happens with Kirk Cousins in that quarterback situation.
Speaker 9: So a lot of moving parts for Quasia doofo Mensa
Speaker 9: and Kevin O'Connell to soar through here. Again, the Vikings
Speaker 9: usually do a lot of what they take care of
Speaker 9: is at the combine, coming off of that and leading
Speaker 9: up to March eleventh March thirteenth, that's where you'll get
Speaker 9: a better idea of exactly what direction these are gonna go.
Speaker 2: Can I just say with all the time he missed
Speaker 2: justin Jefferson season still was absolutely remarkable and what he
Speaker 2: was able to do with even the games that he missed,
Speaker 2: he was He's incredible. You mentioned Baker there real quick, Tom,
Speaker 2: you look down there in Tampa. We mentioned Mike Evans,
Speaker 2: We talked about him, and then you could look at
Speaker 2: the franchise tag and maybe that's going to Antoine Winfield
Speaker 2: Junior their safety. Maybe that's where that tag goes. What's
Speaker 2: what's the status with where things stand with Baker maybe
Speaker 2: re signing in Tampa because he becomes available. There's not
Speaker 2: a lot of veterans, as you mentioned, signal callers that
Speaker 2: teams are maybe desiring and he might be one a
Speaker 2: on a decent price.
Speaker 8: Well, here's what we know, James.
Speaker 9: The price is gonna be higher for Baker Mayfield than
Speaker 9: it was a year ago when he went there on
Speaker 9: a one year deal worth five million dollars plus incentives.
Speaker 9: The question is going to be how high does that
Speaker 9: price go and does another team it's serious, involved and
Speaker 9: make a push for Baker Mayfield. Now we know the
Speaker 9: Bucks have expressed an interest they want Baker Mayfield back.
Speaker 9: Mayfield said during Super Bowl interviews that getting that offensive
Speaker 9: coordinator in place, the fact that the guy he knows
Speaker 9: in Liam Cohen, that was one of the big pieces
Speaker 9: that had to be in place before he evaluates his situation. Now,
Speaker 9: I've talked to a lot of people within the league,
Speaker 9: other general managers who are trying to project this thing out.
Speaker 9: They all believe Baker Mayfield ends up going back to Tampa.
Speaker 9: If for no other reason then he's been on so
Speaker 9: many teams from Cleveland, Carolina to LA to Tampa over
Speaker 9: the past couple of years that up ending once again
Speaker 9: and going to another new team probably isn't what he
Speaker 9: really wants to do. I mean said that Dave Canalis
Speaker 9: isn't there anymore? The guy had success with in Tampa
Speaker 9: last year, he's now the Panthers head coach.
Speaker 8: How much does that impact things?
Speaker 9: And also remember this, okay, Liam Cohen worked with Baker
Speaker 9: during that time that he's spent with LA a couple
Speaker 9: of years ago. So did Zach Robinson, who's now the
Speaker 9: Falcons offensive coordinator.
Speaker 8: They have an acute quarterback feat.
Speaker 9: I'm not saying that the Falcons are going to make
Speaker 9: a run at this, but in the same division, if
Speaker 9: they got involved, that's the type of thing that can
Speaker 9: really make that price go up.
Speaker 1: And Raheem Morris was the DC for the Rams when
Speaker 1: Baker came in and played well at the end of
Speaker 1: the season a couple of years ago too, so there's
Speaker 1: that tie as well. Let's get back to the running
Speaker 1: backs and potential franchise tag with Tony Pollard and Saquon
Speaker 1: bark That would seem almost a steep for what both
Speaker 1: teams got from those running backs last year. Even on
Speaker 1: the tag, that would seem like a steep number for
Speaker 1: both of those players.
Speaker 4: Am I am? I kind of off base?
Speaker 1: You're thinking that an eleven million dollars twelve thirteen million
Speaker 1: dollar tag for both those guys is serviceable enough.
Speaker 9: Again, the steepest tag actual would be for Josh Jacobs
Speaker 9: in Las Vegas. That one could go to fourteen million
Speaker 9: plus based upon the foundation upgrade contract a couple extra million.
Speaker 9: Saquon and Tony Pollard played it essentially the base tag.
Speaker 8: Barkley did a new deal.
Speaker 9: They added like nine hundred and nine thousand dollars in incentives,
Speaker 9: but they were all tied to team performance. When you're
Speaker 9: the Giants and you lose your quarterback and you play
Speaker 9: with Tommy DeVito and.
Speaker 8: You win like six games, you're not hitting any of
Speaker 8: those incentives.
Speaker 9: So for Saquon, he's said many times he wants to
Speaker 9: be a Giant for life. The Giants organization has a
Speaker 9: great affinity for Saquon Barkley. John Marris certainly is in
Speaker 9: that bucket as well. It would make a lot of
Speaker 9: sense for them to try to get a deal done.
Speaker 9: But remember last year, New York made multiple runs at this.
Speaker 9: They did it before the startup Fur agency, before the
Speaker 9: tag window. Last year, Saquon turned down a fairly substantial contract,
Speaker 9: albeit within the context of running back contracts, so they
Speaker 9: had to pivot tag Saquon and resign Daniel Jones to
Speaker 9: an extension.
Speaker 8: Again.
Speaker 9: They made another push to resign Saquon d'uring the bye
Speaker 9: week last year, again didn't end up doing it. So
Speaker 9: all of that leads you to a situation now and
Speaker 9: again before July as well. So several times they've tried
Speaker 9: to make a run of getting something done with Saquon.
Speaker 9: It hasn't worked out to this point. You would think though,
Speaker 9: again they would like to get something done. The question
Speaker 9: is going to be the number. And then when it
Speaker 9: comes to Tony Pollard, obviously his numbers weren't great in
Speaker 9: his first year as the back three point nine yards
Speaker 9: per carry. I talked to Emmett Smith in an interview
Speaker 9: during Super Bowl Week. I asked him, what would you
Speaker 9: do with Tony Pollard? Emmittt said, I think you have
Speaker 9: to resign him. His argument was, it is different being
Speaker 9: the number one back versus the number two back. Cowboys also,
Speaker 9: based on how they played offense, didn't necessarily always commit
Speaker 9: to being a running football team, in Emmett's point of view,
Speaker 9: and I respect that more than anything I'm going to
Speaker 9: say on this show.
Speaker 8: Let's be honest here.
Speaker 9: He felt like there's more that they could unlock with
Speaker 9: Tony Pollard moving forward, but tagging him again at twelve
Speaker 9: million dollars plus to your point, Steve, that does seem right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a deep number, Tom p good stuff. Have
Speaker 1: fun during franchise tax season, combine season. You two go
Speaker 1: get a meal. I'm not saying it to what. We'll
Speaker 1: break bread there too.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, you have me. Tom's gonna dip.
Speaker 1: Out again too halfway because he got a more important
Speaker 1: engagement again, JP, do take that.
Speaker 3: That's probably what happened.
Speaker 1: Can we come back on the NFL report. Caleb William's
Speaker 1: the number one quarterback. We're about to talk about him
Speaker 1: and others might not be, or maybe they are.
Speaker 4: We're back on the NFL Report.
Speaker 1: The top draft eligible players from historically black colleges and
Speaker 1: universities put on the pads one last time to show
Speaker 1: they're worthy of getting drafted.
Speaker 4: The third annual.
Speaker 1: All State HBCU Legacy Bowl Saturday at four pm Eastern,
Speaker 1: exclusively on NFL Network and streaming on NFL Plus. Speaking
Speaker 1: of the HBCU Legacy Bowl, Bucky Brooks, who now joins US,
Speaker 1: will be on the call with me and Bucky and
Speaker 1: I right now are at Tulane Stadium, about a third
Speaker 1: fourteen away from one another in the press box here
Speaker 1: Stadium at T Lane JB.
Speaker 3: Bucky, B.
Speaker 4: Appreciate you joining us. We're gonna get to some of.
Speaker 1: The these HBCU players who are participating in practice this week.
Speaker 1: In just a minute, there's the horn, kind of signaling
Speaker 1: practice is over.
Speaker 4: Well, Bucky, let's get to the overall draft class coming in.
Speaker 1: Since we're in that window the NFL Draft combine starts soon,
Speaker 1: we can just tell us overall about this draft class.
Speaker 10: You know, Steve is a really solid draft class up
Speaker 10: at the top of the board. Now, this would be
Speaker 10: the first year where we see some of the I
Speaker 10: would say, the negative effects of nil, some of the
Speaker 10: COVID stuff where the draft is not as deep when
Speaker 10: we get to Day three. But the first three rounds
Speaker 10: should be loaded with players that can come in and
Speaker 10: make contributions in those things. As it relates to positions
Speaker 10: that are really loaded with talent, I would say the
Speaker 10: quarterback position, you got solid prospects. You have a ton
Speaker 10: of big time playmakers at wide receiver. Probably the deepest
Speaker 10: position of the draft. Offensive line, particularly offensive tackle, is
Speaker 10: loaded with playmakers and talent.
Speaker 5: Where you can see a bunch of first round come
Speaker 5: off the board.
Speaker 10: On defense, you have a solid pass rushing class, like
Speaker 10: you have guys that are intriguing, but it's not as
Speaker 10: deep as past some past years. And then I would
Speaker 10: say cornerback, you have a bunch of big cornerbacks, guys
Speaker 10: that are over five ten, five or eleven that can
Speaker 10: play the game, usize in a variety of techniques.
Speaker 5: So you're in need of kind of what we call
Speaker 5: the core positions.
Speaker 10: You can find those guys passers, playmakers, pass protectors, hand
Speaker 10: full of pass rushers, and then some defensive playmakers.
Speaker 5: At corner you can get those guys. You just won't
Speaker 5: find a.
Speaker 10: Lot at running back, in linebacker. That's where you kind
Speaker 10: of have to go shopping elsewhere.
Speaker 2: Okay, I like it, I like it. We'll start with
Speaker 2: the most important one. It's the quarterback spot bucket. And
Speaker 2: this is not my Ohio State blood right here throwing
Speaker 2: shade at JJ McCarthy and what he's done to my
Speaker 2: team in the game. What I'm curious about is what
Speaker 2: do you see in your evaluations in talking people in
Speaker 2: terms of size and in terms of it just seems
Speaker 2: like he hasn't had to be the guy in big moments.
Speaker 3: The team's been brilliant around him.
Speaker 2: Is that kind of I don't want to say a
Speaker 2: knock on him, but when you haven't seen him have
Speaker 2: to do that as much? What happens in your evaluation
Speaker 2: process when you don't have a whole lot of examples
Speaker 2: of that.
Speaker 3: And you're going to need him to do it at
Speaker 3: the next level.
Speaker 10: Yeah, No, I mean, I think that's a very valid
Speaker 10: concern to think about JJ McCarthy. The things that will
Speaker 10: go well for him will be winning pet agree. He's
Speaker 10: done it on a big stage on a ton of
Speaker 10: games at Michigan. He'll go down maybe as the greatest
Speaker 10: quarterback to ever play there, just based on how the
Speaker 10: team succeeded.
Speaker 5: He's been a guy that has just kind of managed the.
Speaker 10: Team, driven the bus and found a way to get
Speaker 10: the team into the winner circle.
Speaker 5: But when you watch him play athletically, he's intriguing.
Speaker 10: He can run the ball, he's a legitimate duel threat quarterback,
Speaker 10: super athletic, has a strong arm and delivered deadly strikes
Speaker 10: and those things. You just don't have a lot of
Speaker 10: visual evidence on tape to say that he could be
Speaker 10: the guy that is the drive for us of the offense.
Speaker 3: That's it.
Speaker 10: When I look at him, it reminds me a lot
Speaker 10: of the same evaluation that I had with Justin Herbert.
Speaker 10: Justin Herbert when he played at Oregon was not asked
Speaker 10: to do a lot of stuff, played in the more
Speaker 10: of a conservative offense, but then he gets to the
Speaker 10: National Football League and flourishes. I think JJ McCarthy is
Speaker 10: intriguing because people see the traits and the tools, They
Speaker 10: see the athleticism, they see the strong arm, they recognize
Speaker 10: and appreciate the intangibles. That's why he's going to be
Speaker 10: a gutess of interest in the first round.
Speaker 1: Wow, Bucky, sound like people evaluating some Dean Smith tar
Speaker 1: heels back in the day because they had so many
Speaker 1: good players. None of them were have to drive. But
Speaker 1: you talked about how great this receiving classes. We know
Speaker 1: how the very top there's Marvin Harrison Junior, who might
Speaker 1: be the best player.
Speaker 4: Overall in this draft.
Speaker 1: What about the top end depth and what type of
Speaker 1: players are these teams getting Because we've seen wide receivers
Speaker 1: buck the norm over the past five or six years
Speaker 1: and come in and have an immediate impact.
Speaker 10: Yeah, I think what we're seeing is the byproduct of
Speaker 10: what we call seven on seven culture. The wide receivers
Speaker 10: that are entering the league now are more experienced, more
Speaker 10: polished than they've ever been. Part of the reason is
Speaker 10: because they're catching more balls, running more routes than they
Speaker 10: ever have. From the time there and Pop Warner to
Speaker 10: the time they graduate college, these guys have really played
Speaker 10: football year round, and it manifests itself in guys like
Speaker 10: Marvin Harrison Junior. Being a very polished player that comes
Speaker 10: out reminds me a lot of Larry Fitzgerald in terms
Speaker 10: of just guessing when you see him. He's a plug
Speaker 10: and play pro. You can run rouse, he can catch
Speaker 10: it over the middlefield. He has speed to burn. But
Speaker 10: to me, he's a legitimate number one receiver because he
Speaker 10: not only commands double coverage, but he can defeat cover coverage.
Speaker 10: It's easy to envision him being the anchor of a
Speaker 10: passing game, but it extends beyond him. Rome a Doonsday
Speaker 10: from Washington is another guy that people are buzzing about,
Speaker 10: and one of the reasons they're buzzing about the Washington
Speaker 10: standout is because he's big, he's physical, does a great
Speaker 10: job of catching the ball in his hands. He wins
Speaker 10: the fifty to fifty balls and really, when you watch him,
Speaker 10: he reminds me a lot of Jamar Chase, physical imposing
Speaker 10: presence even though he doesn't have I would say superior size.
Speaker 10: He plays with a rugged game that means he's gonna win,
Speaker 10: and he's gonna win a ton on the perimeter. And
Speaker 10: the last guy we got to talk about is Lsu
Speaker 10: Standout Molik Neighbors just a total package. Can catch it,
Speaker 10: run and catch specialists and separate, does a great job
Speaker 10: of making things happen. And even though like he shared
Speaker 10: the marquee with another talented player, he is another guy
Speaker 10: that is ready to roll. These three players will vie
Speaker 10: for the number one spot. Even though we've talked about
Speaker 10: Marvin Harrison Junior being the number one, these other guys
Speaker 10: would get him a run for their money because I
Speaker 10: think it comes down to ice cream shops. What kind
Speaker 10: of flavors do you like to go in your favorite
Speaker 10: waffle cone. These guys bring a lot to the table.
Speaker 10: That's why so much how many people are buzzing about.
Speaker 3: I love the analogy buckets.
Speaker 2: I want to use it for what Terry Fontineau told
Speaker 2: us on this show last week. He was on with
Speaker 2: us and said, they're really excited about the round two,
Speaker 2: round three picks that they have because he believes that
Speaker 2: group right there, you have the ability to find a
Speaker 2: lot of talent in different spots. I'm curious if maybe
Speaker 2: you could read into what he's saying. We don't know
Speaker 2: how the draft is going to fall by then, right,
Speaker 2: it always can kind of fall and there's runs at
Speaker 2: different spots. But maybe in that could you kind of
Speaker 2: maybe with what you've looked at round two, round three,
Speaker 2: what's he talking about of what maybe value you can
Speaker 2: find there?
Speaker 10: Well, I mean, like I don't necessarily think that the
Speaker 10: Atlanta Falcons and the wide receivers, but we have seen
Speaker 10: in recent years wide receivers come from every round of
Speaker 10: the draft and have an immediate impact. Everybody would talk
Speaker 10: about Fuku Nakua, but let's just talk about the impact
Speaker 10: that Tank Dale was having the Houston Texas when he
Speaker 10: jumped out and made a ton of plays. There are
Speaker 10: more of those kinds of players were supplying to me. Look,
Speaker 10: the supply is overwhelming when it comes to the wide
Speaker 10: receiver position, but it also would be an opportunity for
Speaker 10: teams to look at offensive tackles and if you need
Speaker 10: to fortify the offensive line, there are a bunch of
Speaker 10: intriguing players that can come off the board. We always
Speaker 10: talk about the first rounders, but look, man, there's an
Speaker 10: offensive tackle class of Joe aut Tullis Fuaga, Amarius Men,
Speaker 10: JC Latham, troy Na that are going to be available
Speaker 10: at the bottom of the first round, top of the
Speaker 10: second round, so you can get some of those these
Speaker 10: feel and also on the interior, because as I'm thinking
Speaker 10: about the Atlanta Facons, I think really the main thing
Speaker 10: is them fixing quarterback and continue to upgrade.
Speaker 5: The offensive line.
Speaker 10: Ram Barton, Jackson, Powers, Johnson Hooper, BB, Chris Haynes. There
Speaker 10: are a lot of players on the offensive side of
Speaker 10: the ball that are available in the second and third
Speaker 10: rounds that'll be able to come in and get you starters.
Speaker 10: And then if we talk about, like literally I talk
Speaker 10: about the draft nine being plentiful in terms of running
Speaker 10: backs and linebackers, but that's where those guys are gonna
Speaker 10: come off the board.
Speaker 5: We have a namesake in Jeremiah Trodde Junior.
Speaker 10: There will be a nice fit second, third round instinctive
Speaker 10: active in those things. I think the reason why general
Speaker 10: managers get excited is because they know if I don't
Speaker 10: want to expand the first round pick, there are some
Speaker 10: positions that I can talken in the second and third
Speaker 10: rounds and really upgrade my roster.
Speaker 1: All right, but we're talking about some day two, day
Speaker 1: three guys. We are here at the HPCU Legacy Ball.
Speaker 1: The first day of the full practice is just wrapped
Speaker 1: up here at Tulane University. Team Robinson, players made up
Speaker 1: from the Swack and the Ssayak just finish their drills.
Speaker 1: But later on it be Team Gaither and their quarterback
Speaker 1: Davius Richard from North Carolina Central.
Speaker 4: Is that, dude? Do you tie me a heck Player
Speaker 4: of the year, A great runner, a great thrower. He
Speaker 4: blew up the combine.
Speaker 1: What about a player like him who is so accomplished
Speaker 1: at this level, who has all the physical specs about
Speaker 1: him getting into a camp and getting a shot, especially
Speaker 1: with the duality he poses.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think this year.
Speaker 10: I mean look even previous years, like last year we
Speaker 10: saw as a Shawn Clifford go in the fifth round
Speaker 10: and dtr during Thompson Robinson going the fifth round and
Speaker 10: have an opportunity to play. I think teams are kind
Speaker 10: of getting hip to the fact that you need to
Speaker 10: continue to take quarterbacks just due to the nature of
Speaker 10: the position, the value of the position, and the injury
Speaker 10: situations that we see in the position.
Speaker 5: You need to have a bunch of guys in the stable.
Speaker 10: When you talk about Davis Richard, one of the things
Speaker 10: that will intrigue teams about him is the spectacular playmaking
Speaker 10: ability that he possesses, not only as a thrower but
Speaker 10: as a dynamic runner. When you watched him at n
Speaker 10: C Central, he made plays. He had the ability to
Speaker 10: put this offense on his back. People will need to
Speaker 10: look no further than the Celebration Bowl a year ago
Speaker 10: when he knocked off Coach Primes undefeated Jackson State team
Speaker 10: and did it in splendid fashion. This is a big
Speaker 10: time playmaker. And the thing that I like about him, Steve,
Speaker 10: is when we had an opportunity to talk to him
Speaker 10: after the combine, the ability to articulate and to really
Speaker 10: explain the wise behind.
Speaker 5: What he does on the field.
Speaker 10: To me, that is valuable because when you talk to teams,
Speaker 10: they want guys that can take board the information from
Speaker 10: the board to the field.
Speaker 5: Richard is one of those except one of those guys
Speaker 5: that can do that.
Speaker 2: But when you've seen quarterbacks over the last couple of
Speaker 2: years come out and Brock perty's one that jumps out
Speaker 2: obviously with everything he's done, but experience, right, you've played
Speaker 2: those snaps in the game, and now it seems like
Speaker 2: teams are seeing that.
Speaker 3: You know, it's important to almost go up.
Speaker 2: I have to finish with this because this is what
Speaker 2: Steve and I show is about. It's about offensive linemen
Speaker 2: and it's about the nickel corner position. For some reason,
Speaker 2: we talk about those two more than anything else on
Speaker 2: this show. Have you seen in team's evaluations, Buck, over
Speaker 2: the last couple of years the way that nickel spot
Speaker 2: has become more and more important to finding that on
Speaker 2: your defensive side of the ball? Trent Duffee, obviously, what
Speaker 2: he did with the Super Bowl champs just jumps out
Speaker 2: of us. You know, repeatedly, What have you seen in
Speaker 2: terms of the evaluations and the importance of finding that
Speaker 2: spot over the last couple of drafts?
Speaker 5: Yeah, so I think it's been changing for a while.
Speaker 10: It's become now where teams consider defenses to have twelve starters,
Speaker 10: and that nickel corner is considered a starter. And it's
Speaker 10: not only considered a starter, but now you're scouting for
Speaker 10: play a specific set of skills to play at the
Speaker 10: nickel position, because when you're playing nickel corner, I want
Speaker 10: people to understand back in the day, the nickel used
Speaker 10: to be your best corner, because what you're asking them
Speaker 10: to do is to be.
Speaker 5: A hybrid player.
Speaker 10: He's a hybrid linebacker slash defensive back who is tasked
Speaker 10: with being assigned to sometimes the slipperiest wide receiver, but
Speaker 10: also being factored into the running game. So guys need
Speaker 10: to tackle well, they need to have quickness to be
Speaker 10: able to shadow in space, they need to be high
Speaker 10: IQ guys because you ask them to do a lot
Speaker 10: of things at that position, and if they have pass
Speaker 10: for a skills where they can blitz off the edge,
Speaker 10: it really makes them a very valuable commodity. So when
Speaker 10: you talk about guys like Trent McDuffie and the work
Speaker 10: that he was able to do last year for the
Speaker 10: Kansas City Chiefs, people are going to look at that
Speaker 10: and they want players who can kind of impact the
Speaker 10: game in a variety of ways. I just think it's
Speaker 10: the nature of the way the NFL is going. You're
Speaker 10: seeing teams blitz more, You're seeing teams play more man
Speaker 10: to man, and you continue to see the evolution of
Speaker 10: the defense where you having positionless players manning multiple spots.
Speaker 10: The nickel position is that spot that has really become
Speaker 10: a huge position for championship caliber defense.
Speaker 3: Love.
Speaker 2: I don't know, Buck, I don't know how many guys
Speaker 2: that play that spot.
Speaker 3: Steve and I have had on the show this year.
Speaker 2: I might be half a dozen of those guys, Kenny
Speaker 2: Moore and a couple of those guys that have been
Speaker 2: on the show, and we've absolutely loved chatting with them
Speaker 2: about the position. You know it so well and you
Speaker 2: broke it down brilliantly. Listen, we stole Bucking from moved
Speaker 2: the sticks for our but make sure you keep an
Speaker 2: eye listening to him and Daniel Jeremiah throughout this entire
Speaker 2: draft off season or for in season, for you, off
Speaker 2: season for me.
Speaker 3: But I appreciate it, man, Please can join us.
Speaker 2: Again before this draft rolls around on the NFL report, Buck,
Speaker 2: awesome stuff, Thank you.
Speaker 5: Hey man, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3: All right. Coming up, Matthew Slater announces his retirement.
Speaker 2: Can a man with one NFL reception as a wide
Speaker 2: receiver make it to the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 3: We're going to debate that next on the NFL Report.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the NFL Report podcast, but you can
Speaker 1: watch me, Steve Weich and my co host James Palmer
Speaker 1: on The NFL Report at seven fifteen Eastern Time on
Speaker 1: Mondays and Thursdays on the NFL App and free streaming
Speaker 1: platforms on the NFL channel on Roku two b Peacock,
Speaker 1: Pluto TV and other free streaming apps.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the NFL Reporters. We close things out.
Speaker 2: James Palmer, Steve Whtch with you alongside Tom Brady and
Speaker 2: a recently retired Matthew Slater. The Special Team's Extraordinary for
Speaker 2: the New England Patriots. Brady's saying the best teammate and
Speaker 2: even better man, Congratulations on the perfect career. A ten
Speaker 2: time Pro bowler, Steve, two time All Pro who had
Speaker 2: eight career targets. He's listed on your roster as a
Speaker 2: wide receiver, but eight targets in his whole career one catch.
Speaker 2: You know so much about the Hall of Fame? Does
Speaker 2: Matthew Slater get into Canton.
Speaker 1: This is gonna be real interesting because, look, Devin Hester's
Speaker 1: going in as a member of the Class of twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four.
Speaker 4: He's the greatest returner ever.
Speaker 1: We have two of the greatest kickers John Stenenrud and
Speaker 1: Morgan Anderson in the game in the Hall, the greatest
Speaker 1: punter ever, and Ray guy in the Hall. Got what
Speaker 1: about one of the best coverage guys, blocker setup men
Speaker 1: ever in Matthew Slater. Interesting because Steve Tasker, the legend
Speaker 1: of the Buffalo Bills. People have been clamoring for him
Speaker 1: to get in for more than a decade. Do you
Speaker 1: put Matthew Slater, who you see right here. You know
Speaker 1: how hard this is to pick somebody up on the
Speaker 1: run as you see him on that type of play.
Speaker 1: Does he get in before Steve Pasker? This is going
Speaker 1: to be a very interesting debate becaus Matthew Slater is
Speaker 1: far more decorated as a special teamer than any non
Speaker 1: returner or punter or kicker to get into the Hall JP.
Speaker 2: And Steve, I'll throw this on his resume as well
Speaker 2: real quick, and I've talked to people in New England
Speaker 2: about this. His role in the Second Dynasty Essentially, the
Speaker 2: Patriots have is massive, a special teams player that took
Speaker 2: the attention to detail in operating, in coverage and kick
Speaker 2: return to all those aspects added to the attention to
Speaker 2: detail in the culture that Bill Belichick created there. If
Speaker 2: you talk to people in that building, they will tell
Speaker 2: you he played a far bigger role than people outside
Speaker 2: the Boston area understand in how that dynasty was developed.
Speaker 2: It was Teddy Bruski that handed the baton essentially to
Speaker 2: Matthew Slater. How crazy is that? A special team or
Speaker 2: an unbelievable career. Remember our time has changed, Steve by
Speaker 2: fifteen minutes, so don't miss the first team fifteen minutes
Speaker 2: of the show. We are remember Mondays and Thursdays, seven
Speaker 2: o'clock on the NFL channel that's on Roku and twob
Speaker 2: and Peacock and everywhere, and then all later it'll be
Speaker 2: on YouTube.
Speaker 3: Steve, the picture still looks great. The time's just a
Speaker 3: little bit different.
Speaker 1: Times are a bit different, and we're still a podcast
Speaker 1: that you can listen to whenever, when you're out walking
Speaker 1: your dog, when you're up on the slopes, when you're
Speaker 1: watching the NFL combine, next week, your Thursday JP