Speaker 1: This is the OTP pregame presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans.
Speaker 1: Farm Bureau Health Plans has been protecting Tennessee for nearly
Speaker 1: eighty years. Visit FBHP dot com to learn all about
Speaker 1: how Farm Bureau Health Plans can protect you and your family.
Speaker 1: With Amy Wells and Mike Keith. Welcome to the audio
Speaker 1: podcast Studio Ramon Foster and the Snickers Hot Seat. I
Speaker 1: am welcome back. Need to play jo I do? I do?
Speaker 2: If you're never not yourself have a Snicker.
Speaker 1: That's right, Snickers really satisfied?
Speaker 2: It does me and my childhood, I had a three
Speaker 2: rotation snack. Okay, a sprite and a can okay, bag
Speaker 2: of chips and a Snicker. Wow, that's all lessen the
Speaker 2: worst thing you possibly have. But you want to talk
Speaker 2: about living like a king as a kid.
Speaker 3: That's the but the whole thing.
Speaker 1: I mean, when you think about it, I mean, that's
Speaker 1: not that bad, not that bad. I mean you can't
Speaker 1: you shouldn't do it five times? No, I wasn't that gotta.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you can't have a Snickers and a
Speaker 1: sprite and a bag of chips when you're a kid.
Speaker 2: Winning until the parents that are holding your kids back
Speaker 2: from doing Oh.
Speaker 1: Then they're just going to go to college. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: a whole other part.
Speaker 2: Us.
Speaker 1: All right, So what we really should call this edition
Speaker 1: of the OTP is totally in the weeds. If you
Speaker 1: like football, you will never enjoy an OTP more than
Speaker 1: you will enjoy this one.
Speaker 3: WHOA, that's quite a promise.
Speaker 1: It's quite well because Romone Foster's here.
Speaker 3: So we can get it and I have.
Speaker 1: The five topics to go in the weeds with him,
Speaker 1: and then we're going to show you our entire interview
Speaker 1: with Jim from the recent's Senior Bowl. He's the executive director,
Speaker 1: and we always we always visit with him in November, Yes,
Speaker 1: because we know Titans fans like draft talk. And it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter what the record is it. I mean, it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter where you're thinking your draft position is going
Speaker 1: to be. We know you like draft talk. You like
Speaker 1: it when we go to the Senior Bowl, you like
Speaker 1: it when we go to the Combine. I mean, you
Speaker 1: enjoy all of that.
Speaker 2: You tell us that, And I'll be honest, you guys
Speaker 2: have made me like it even more too. I used
Speaker 2: to not even pay attention to college players at all. Oh, gosh,
Speaker 2: oh now I'm so locked in. It's so fun. It
Speaker 2: is fast, it is so fun, And the only thing
Speaker 2: we used to do in college at the University of Tennessee,
Speaker 2: we used to track like the pre game, I mean,
Speaker 2: the pre draft specialists and the mock drafts and see
Speaker 2: how they'd hit on them. The only guarantees usually like
Speaker 2: the top five. After that the specialists that the draft experts,
Speaker 2: not really much that you can get from them. But
Speaker 2: on the other side, going to the Senior Bowl and
Speaker 2: the combine, that's where you get all the information.
Speaker 1: Key to following the draft analysts is you want to
Speaker 1: follow the ones who have relationships with real NFL people. Yes,
Speaker 1: because they're getting backstory, they're getting context, they're getting perspective.
Speaker 1: So that's coming later. But Ramon, we are going to
Speaker 1: go deep with you right on the five topics.
Speaker 3: Are you ready, Amy, I'm excited too. This is quite
Speaker 3: the intro topic one.
Speaker 1: Is there a real specific disadvantage for a team coming
Speaker 1: off a Monday night football game like the Houston Texans
Speaker 1: are this past Monday?
Speaker 2: Is there a real yes? Mentally mentally mentally because when
Speaker 2: the game starts, the physicality, the physical side of it
Speaker 2: it handles itself. One thing I always said about people
Speaker 2: that guys have injuries or they have issues is you
Speaker 2: never have to worry about them getting juiced up for
Speaker 2: game day is going to happen regardless. Now, the mental
Speaker 2: side of it is, they just played a big game
Speaker 2: against the Cowboys, beat them on their home place. And
Speaker 2: how do you reset yourself as far as game planning,
Speaker 2: understanding that there is a short week and fighting that
Speaker 2: earth say, man, this sucks we on a short week.
Speaker 1: It does play a part in it.
Speaker 2: That's what becomes bothersome for younger guys that hadn't been
Speaker 2: in that spot before or veterans who do need an
Speaker 2: extra day is all right? Can you block that out?
Speaker 2: This game more more times than not? And I always
Speaker 2: tell people this, it is more mental than it is physical.
Speaker 2: Can I mentally set myself up to compete physically, because again,
Speaker 2: most guys run fast, jump about the same and do
Speaker 2: the job. That's where the ones who do make it
Speaker 2: and the ones who don't make it, that's where it
Speaker 2: taxes you at Because I've been in the spot. Of
Speaker 2: course as an undrafted guy, there was so much talent
Speaker 2: that came like after me that was better than me mentally,
Speaker 2: they couldn't check that box every single day, and that
Speaker 2: does happen on short weeks.
Speaker 4: So disruption to the routine is a real thing. That's
Speaker 4: a real problem.
Speaker 2: Listen, we're babies, okay, in we won't admit it, and
Speaker 2: we have enough power and flexis players sometime either with
Speaker 2: our trainers, family understands the situation.
Speaker 1: Hey, coach, I can't.
Speaker 2: Really do this lift this way. You can control those
Speaker 2: types of things. No, that is a portion of it though.
Speaker 2: Aimy to wear routine right. That's one thing coaches also
Speaker 2: teach too. What's your technique? What's your routine? Find you
Speaker 2: get a veteran that's gonna show you the pathway. Those
Speaker 2: types of things do matter. And the quicker you can
Speaker 2: figure that out and learn how to block those disadvantages
Speaker 2: out of your mind, the better of a pro you
Speaker 2: will be in the better of a team. You can
Speaker 2: get to like the mentalities we have that be thrown
Speaker 2: out a lot. What is your team's character make up?
Speaker 2: Who are you as a player?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 2: That's where it plays a part in it too into
Speaker 2: development On mondays, I do this tuesdays.
Speaker 1: I do these types of things.
Speaker 2: And if you can be a veteran enough and stay
Speaker 2: around the league long enough, long enough, then you'll be
Speaker 2: able to get those things because you're paid a little
Speaker 2: bit more and you can kind of change.
Speaker 1: The schedule out.
Speaker 2: But yeah, that's why it's bigger for the younger guys
Speaker 2: than it is for the veterans. I'll never forget my
Speaker 2: first Thursday night game. It was a whirlwind. We were
Speaker 2: playing in Cleveland and it was cold, it was windy,
Speaker 2: and I was not prepared so much so did almost
Speaker 2: burn myself up on one of the heaters.
Speaker 3: On the sideline.
Speaker 2: It was with me and another rookie, Craig rvick Man.
Speaker 2: It was by far I wanted the craziest things ever
Speaker 2: because we just played on Sunday. Why do we have
Speaker 2: to play on Thursday? Those are the types of things
Speaker 2: that happened this week.
Speaker 1: All right? Topic two? Are you ready? Yes? Houston's defense.
Speaker 1: They have an NFL high sixty eight tackles for loss, yes,
Speaker 1: six per game. They have twenty takeaways, including fourteen interceptions.
Speaker 1: Matt Burke is the defensive coordinator. He was here for
Speaker 1: the early part of his career. He is a Jim
Speaker 1: Schwartz disciple. Demiko Ryans is also a defensive guru from
Speaker 1: his playing days and his coaching background. So with all
Speaker 1: of that build up, what are the character sticks that
Speaker 1: jump out to Ramon Foster about the Texans defense.
Speaker 2: First word that comes to mind, and I said that
Speaker 2: the coach matc stout.
Speaker 1: Stout. Stout.
Speaker 2: They're not like Minnesota where they just you feel like
Speaker 2: we can't get out of the way of everything that's moving,
Speaker 2: like there's just so many blitzes and stent. No, this
Speaker 2: defense is stout. They got big bodies up front that
Speaker 2: can handle the offensive line. They got linebackers that can
Speaker 2: run side to side. Heck, they got a backup, a
Speaker 2: former first round draft pick at number five overall in
Speaker 2: Devin White, as a backup for their team. And when
Speaker 2: they play, they know they have to stay stout and
Speaker 2: the mentality of their team too, holds the point can
Speaker 2: get up the field, but they also have speed around
Speaker 2: the edge. That's the way I look at them. This
Speaker 2: is the type of defense. If I was playing them,
Speaker 2: my mindset would be, we have to beat them up.
Speaker 2: This is gonna be a slow two yards two yards.
Speaker 2: Maybe we can complete and punt, and we got to
Speaker 2: continue to chip away at them because their depth is
Speaker 2: so deep that you have to be able to find
Speaker 2: words to kink in the arm. Right, where is the
Speaker 2: hole that we're gonna be able to go to And
Speaker 2: the only way to go about that is to hit
Speaker 2: them in the face like that will be my mentality.
Speaker 2: But even towards the linebackers right like Henry Totoe is
Speaker 2: turning into a guy, he's also a guy to go
Speaker 2: side to side, So if you're gonna be able to
Speaker 2: run on them, you need to be good with your
Speaker 2: tight ends on the edge to be able to get
Speaker 2: to him on the second level also, and then the
Speaker 2: back end handles itself. They keep the top on for
Speaker 2: the most part. And then last week we saw against
Speaker 2: the Cowboys on Monday Night Football, Derrick Barnett is a
Speaker 2: backup playing for them, another former first round draft pick.
Speaker 2: He gets a sack fumble, big old offensive lineman think
Speaker 2: is his opportunity to run the football and catch it. No,
Speaker 2: then he's ends up stripping him the football and running
Speaker 2: in for a touchdown. They have specific playmakers on their
Speaker 2: team that make their entire squad good because they do
Speaker 2: have the talent, but it starts with the bigs that
Speaker 2: they have up front.
Speaker 1: Denico Altri.
Speaker 2: I'm sure we're gonna speak about it in a minute
Speaker 2: too or at some point this week. He's another one
Speaker 2: of those big body, long, rangy guys that simply move
Speaker 2: you backwards. The Niko's not a flashy guy when the
Speaker 2: way he plays football, that's not his game. His game
Speaker 2: is to push you backwards and try to get you
Speaker 2: off your point with his strength. And that's the way
Speaker 2: I feel about their entire defense, include to Mario Edwards too.
Speaker 1: And then you look on the other side.
Speaker 2: If I can say this word one of the biggest agitators,
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna say the other word. I want to
Speaker 2: say one of the biggest agitators on this squad is
Speaker 2: Jerry Hughes fifteenth year.
Speaker 3: It's crazy.
Speaker 2: There was an all out fight with him and Camp
Speaker 2: that we had joint practices with the Buffalo Bills. He's
Speaker 2: been that guy every single year of his career. And
Speaker 2: there's no breathing room with this defense. So it's a
Speaker 2: mindset type of week, Mike Amy to where it's not
Speaker 2: going to be easy. You just gotta keep putting dirt
Speaker 2: in the wheelbarrow and continue to walk it uphill with them.
Speaker 1: Okay, So let me go through the ten guys they
Speaker 1: have in the defensive line rotation, and they probably won't
Speaker 1: all be active, but let's just go through it. Dylan Horton,
Speaker 1: second year player out of TCU. You mentioned Derek Barnett.
Speaker 1: Three sacks on the year. Will Anderson's missed the last
Speaker 1: two games. We'll see if he plays. He has seven
Speaker 1: and a half sacks this year. Moving inside the defensive tackle,
Speaker 1: Mario Edwards, who was here in twenty twenty two and
Speaker 1: in his ninth year out of Florida State, has sort
Speaker 1: of figured out who he is. He's playing good football.
Speaker 1: Tim Saddle, big old guy from Virginia Tech. Five sacks
Speaker 1: on the year. He's having a career year. Kirk Heiinish
Speaker 1: is a plugger, a guy out of Notre Dame in
Speaker 1: his third year. Plays hard but won't play a lot.
Speaker 1: The addition there at a defensive tackle is Folo Fatakassi,
Speaker 1: and he has played really well. He's sixth year guy
Speaker 1: out of Yukon who he's listed at three eighteen. No
Speaker 1: chance he was you.
Speaker 2: See it on tape, you do.
Speaker 1: He's a large individual. You mentioned Jerry Hughes in his
Speaker 1: fifteenth year. He was initially a bust he was when
Speaker 1: he was drafted by Indianapolis. He goes to Buffalo and
Speaker 1: became a man, and now he's in his fifteenth year.
Speaker 1: Deniko Autry, who is a little banged up. We know
Speaker 1: all about him. We talked about him on Titans Tonight
Speaker 1: with Keith Bullock on Wednesday, and it still upsets me.
Speaker 1: He doesn't play here, but I understand he wanted more
Speaker 1: money business. And then there's Daniel Hunter. I didn't even
Speaker 1: mention it, okay, So that is point three. Yeah, Daniel Hunter,
Speaker 1: ninth year out of LSU. His first eight years were
Speaker 1: spent with Minnesota. Interesting fact about Daniel Hunter. He is
Speaker 1: seventh on the active list in quarterback sacks. Would you
Speaker 1: like to hear the other six?
Speaker 5: Yes?
Speaker 1: I was okay. Von Miller yep, gold jacket. One hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty seven point five career sacks.
Speaker 3: That's a lot.
Speaker 1: Cameron Jordan, Yeah, one hundred eighteen and one half career sacks.
Speaker 1: Kalais Campbell one hundred and nine point five career sacks,
Speaker 1: Khalil Mack one hundred and six career sacks. TJ. Watt
Speaker 1: one hundred and four career sacks. I didn't know he
Speaker 1: got there. Yeah. Wow, Miles Garrett ninety five and a
Speaker 1: half sacks. You block, you tried to block all these guys. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and then Danil Hunter ninety five sacks on the year.
Speaker 1: By the way, he had sixteen and a half sacks
Speaker 1: last year in his eighth and final year with the Vikings.
Speaker 1: So I mean those are you know? To me? That
Speaker 1: number sixteen and a half sacks. That's fifty home runs
Speaker 1: in baseball, that's thirty points a game in basketball. I mean,
Speaker 1: when you're getting not only to double digits, but you're
Speaker 1: over fifteen, that's special, all right. This year leads the
Speaker 1: National Football League with seventy two quarterback pressures. Crazy wow,
Speaker 1: seven quarterback pressures at the team Jeff Simmons just had
Speaker 1: a great game against Minnesota last weekend and he had
Speaker 1: six quarterback pressures. This dude is averaging right at seven
Speaker 1: quarterback pressures a game. He has seven and a half sex.
Speaker 1: So that's really a wind up for point three. What
Speaker 1: is it about Daniel Hunter that makes him a force? Oh?
Speaker 2: My, so I got two stories about him real quick,
Speaker 2: Danil Hunter.
Speaker 1: That's what a podcast is for. It is, yes, it is.
Speaker 2: You can expand up story if you can you can't
Speaker 2: see my hands. You can see me expand upon.
Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying, no time limit, no disqualification podcast.
Speaker 2: And it is good. They'll continue to listen to us too. Right, Well,
Speaker 2: see there's that. Yeah, So the danil Hunter number one,
Speaker 2: there's a clip of him circulating around social media. I'm
Speaker 2: not sure if you guys have sing that you hadn't
Speaker 2: followed Mike. I mean he's tea and voice, okay on
Speaker 2: all social media platform is a M I A M
Speaker 2: I E. That's right, Yes, it is like the pure
Speaker 2: Prairie League song we Gotta Plug Ourselves. But there's a
Speaker 2: clip of him on social media and he's developed this
Speaker 2: new spin move that I hadn't seen almost anybody do.
Speaker 2: He is rushing up on the right tackle, which I
Speaker 2: know that's.
Speaker 1: The sort of that's going to be a top time.
Speaker 1: Well i'll keep that one in the back exactly.
Speaker 2: He rushes up and he hit this whirl of wind
Speaker 2: spin move and he's disclose. I snapped my finger, Okay,
Speaker 2: this close to sacking the quarterback. And it is such
Speaker 2: a ballet type of move for guy his size that
Speaker 2: when I first met him as a player, this wasn't
Speaker 2: who he was okay. And so the second story one
Speaker 2: is that if you hadn't seen that clip, find it.
Speaker 2: It's a mussy to watch him maneuver the way he is.
Speaker 2: So that's the first story. The second story was when
Speaker 2: we first played, when he first came into the league,
Speaker 2: had some veterans on that defense up in Minnesota. Jared
Speaker 2: Allen was one of those guys. I mean, they just
Speaker 2: had a plethora of dudes. It was a Harrison was
Speaker 2: still on the team at that point, okay, but the
Speaker 2: d line was stout, it was stocked, it was ready
Speaker 2: to go. And all I can remember was was, who
Speaker 2: in the heck is this?
Speaker 1: Then? What is it? Danielle guy? Who is it? Yeah,
Speaker 1: fell it is.
Speaker 2: And of course we as football players become very cocky
Speaker 2: and just disrespectful. I mean to tell me, I'm supposed
Speaker 2: to block a dude by the name of Danielle. That's
Speaker 2: all I kept thinking. Okay, law and behold this joker
Speaker 2: Rushes And he's such a young guy at the time.
Speaker 2: If you've ever seen him his physic, I think he's
Speaker 2: a little bit slender. Now, well, he came in, he
Speaker 2: was like big and bulky. His arms looked like Jack's
Speaker 2: off of more to combat like they were that huge
Speaker 2: and a tall specimen man, And I'll never forget. I'm
Speaker 2: left guard and they do a bunch of the same
Speaker 2: stuff they do now at Minnesota. They'll stun in and
Speaker 2: I'll never forget he's slanting it in on me and
Speaker 2: hit me so hard that I say, yes, sir, mister Daniel,
Speaker 2: that's just where I was. He was, But that just
Speaker 2: the force that he came into the league. You gotta
Speaker 2: start doing certain things to solidify yourself as a player.
Speaker 2: For the most part for young guys is physicality. How
Speaker 2: can I go abuse the next person around me? I mean,
Speaker 2: we saw to Andandre sweat this past weekend. Hit Aaron
Speaker 2: Jones and I could have swore, and I heard Aaron
Speaker 2: Jones go oh on the sideline when he grabbed him
Speaker 2: and fell on top of him. It was by far
Speaker 2: one of the hardest tackles I've ever seen. But Denikoko
Speaker 2: Danil Hunter's entry into the NFL, to me was just
Speaker 2: a wild, reckless human being that was a long specimen
Speaker 2: of an athlete that was very physical, and that to
Speaker 2: me seems to be the reason he got paid what
Speaker 2: he paid. While his career's gone the way it is
Speaker 2: right now. And at the end of the day, when
Speaker 2: you play that position that he does, the physical game
Speaker 2: always shows up. You can't be soft and play defensive
Speaker 2: line of football in general. And that's a part of
Speaker 2: his game that he carries. And that's what's going to
Speaker 2: be the case this upcoming weekend.
Speaker 4: And what's scarier than a guy who is described as
Speaker 4: physical and reckless and just a beast the way that
Speaker 4: Ramone just told that story is that person, but as
Speaker 4: a vet because now he's learned how to control it
Speaker 4: and how to use all of those elements of his
Speaker 4: game completely to his advantage and do.
Speaker 3: It with precisions, which good it is.
Speaker 5: It's not just a reckless guy who's overpowering and strong
Speaker 5: and able to do these things. He's able to contain
Speaker 5: it and use it in a way because he's refined
Speaker 5: his craft like all exactly.
Speaker 2: And know how to get home. And then those types
Speaker 2: of guys like himself that has a reputation for physicality,
Speaker 2: like Jeff right, then you get to a point to
Speaker 2: where it's sad to say this, though it ain't sad
Speaker 2: to say because it's a game. But then you pick
Speaker 2: and choose when I'm going to go. And that's where
Speaker 2: it becomes even more tricky. Is I'm expecting the brute force, right,
Speaker 2: No blunt force? I mean no, Now he's going to
Speaker 2: hit a paarilet on me and a spin move and
Speaker 2: dip his shoulder. I see he's listed here on the
Speaker 2: on the sheet at six five to sixty three, every
Speaker 2: bit of them.
Speaker 6: Right.
Speaker 2: He had the biggest, longest arms of a young guy
Speaker 2: that I'd seen at the time, and it's paid off
Speaker 2: on him.
Speaker 1: Nobody could figure out quite who he was going to be,
Speaker 1: which is why he went in the second round. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because it's like, yeah, he looks like is he going
Speaker 1: to grow into the three hundred pound guy or is
Speaker 1: he going to take some weight off and become more
Speaker 1: you know, you know when guys remake their bodies, which
Speaker 1: is what always happens in the NFL, largely in year
Speaker 1: one to year two because you see guys come back
Speaker 1: in year two and you're like, oh, hell, I mean,
Speaker 1: say Peter Skoronsky. Pete had a whole off season where
Speaker 1: he wasn't having to go on pre draft visits and
Speaker 1: run around them, and so all of a sudden, Pete's
Speaker 1: a different Yeah, he's a different cat. Now what he
Speaker 1: weighs is or isn't different. How he looks and how
Speaker 1: it's put together is different. Sometimes it is what you weigh.
Speaker 1: It is because a lot of these young guys, you
Speaker 1: go from being a big kid basically to becoming a man,
Speaker 1: which is why when you play these teams with guys
Speaker 1: in their late twenties, early thirties, or even Jerry Huge
Speaker 1: who's in Deniko mid to late thirties, those are grown
Speaker 1: men they are.
Speaker 2: And that's to your point, like why it's so important
Speaker 2: for you to one jump onto the deep end of
Speaker 2: the pool as a rookie so I belong and after that, Okay, how.
Speaker 1: Do I become better as a pro? What is your training? Like? Secondly,
Speaker 1: when do I take off days?
Speaker 2: Like those are all part of how you become a
Speaker 2: pro with longevity, right because in college they tell you
Speaker 2: everything you're supposed to do, they feed you like there's
Speaker 2: a lot that has to change. And the one thing
Speaker 2: that's the biggest advantage for pro is time, Like you
Speaker 2: have free time, so that may mean more.
Speaker 1: Rest and disadvantage. Yeah, that's true too.
Speaker 2: We've seen how that can go for the other side.
Speaker 1: Because everybody talks about money. Yeah, I think the biggest
Speaker 1: disadvantage potentially is time freedom because guys don't know what
Speaker 1: to do. They're going to order taco bell and play Minecraft.
Speaker 2: Or or go to Vegas and party the couches all
Speaker 2: day long. Yeah, you're right, that is, which is when
Speaker 2: you say it's a grown man's game, like managing and budgeting,
Speaker 2: all of that is somewhat to your point, I think
Speaker 2: understated it is. There is a I'll never forget my
Speaker 2: first off season. Oh, my first off season. I'm almost
Speaker 2: ashamed to just be like, yeah, that was me in
Speaker 2: that time because it's so much to your point, free
Speaker 2: time and there's so much access. Well back then, we
Speaker 2: didn't get nil in college, so being able to have
Speaker 2: the funds was new to me. It was, Oh, I
Speaker 2: can just go out of town. I don't have to
Speaker 2: go to the facility right now and lift. Like there's
Speaker 2: a big management of that. But hopefully with this new
Speaker 2: regime coming in, these young guys seem to have that
Speaker 2: under the belt little bit. Specifically to Fandre I'm impressed
Speaker 2: by his longevity and he's shown in this big rookie
Speaker 2: year of.
Speaker 4: His Hey Titans fans with a Kroger Boost membership, You'll
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Speaker 3: Tighten up.
Speaker 1: Holme is at the forefront of all that we do.
Speaker 1: It's why we're so committed to caring for the places
Speaker 1: and spaces in which we work and live. Ashley the
Speaker 1: official furniture provider of the Tennessee Titans. We continue with
Speaker 1: Ramon Foster and the Snickers hot Seat. We called this
Speaker 1: the OTP pregame. Are you ready for topic four?
Speaker 3: I can't wait?
Speaker 1: Okay, Topic four? How do you expect the Texans to
Speaker 1: attack the right side of the Titans offensive line, specifically
Speaker 1: the right tackle situation in waves?
Speaker 2: That's the first one, because they have it. Will Anderson
Speaker 2: hadn't played the last few weeks. The last time we
Speaker 2: were in Houston, he had the two and a half
Speaker 2: sack game, and I'm not mistaken, So of course, if
Speaker 2: there was a week he was gonna come back, it's
Speaker 2: probably going to be this one for him. But not
Speaker 2: only just that the Titans had the illegal formation, the
Speaker 2: anxiety of getting on the line of scrimmage this week
Speaker 2: is something that if I was Houston, I jump off
Speaker 2: sides just one time, just to set them up, to
Speaker 2: let them know, like, I'm going to be upfield and
Speaker 2: there's nothing you can do about it.
Speaker 1: You mean, teams would set out to and I don't
Speaker 1: say it in a bad way, but they would say, hey,
Speaker 1: let's jump one time here early, just to get them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: get them generally.
Speaker 2: Because here's the other portion of it is until that
Speaker 2: side can prove that it's going to stop a nosebleed,
Speaker 2: what's to convince me that I can't get back there again?
Speaker 2: You know, I'll give up to five to get something
Speaker 2: later down the line, because if I can rate anxiety
Speaker 2: to where now if I'm not mistaken. There's been a
Speaker 2: League memo about line of scrimmage positioning for tackles because
Speaker 2: it is a disadvantage to the outside Russia on the
Speaker 2: other side of the ball. There has to be fairness
Speaker 2: in this game. I would get up filled with speed,
Speaker 2: use that turf to my advantage, Mike and up the middle,
Speaker 2: try to stop the run as much as I possibly
Speaker 2: can to force this team into long down the distances,
Speaker 2: and as an offensive player, I say that because I
Speaker 2: always on what I thought teams would do to me.
Speaker 2: I love the idea of like film study and going
Speaker 2: through it and seeing what my deficiencies are, because if
Speaker 2: I know how you're going to attack me, then I
Speaker 2: have a better way of succeeding. And that's where having
Speaker 2: that experience of those five, six, seven eight year veterans
Speaker 2: in the league, which this offensive line doesn't have right
Speaker 2: now other than Bronsko getting into the starting lineup, that's
Speaker 2: where that advantage takes over for you. Is Hey, if
Speaker 2: I was that team, I would do this to you.
Speaker 2: And it's no slight to call somebody out in their
Speaker 2: weakness because that's the truth sound of being a really
Speaker 2: good teammate.
Speaker 1: But that's what I would do this.
Speaker 2: I would create so much anxiety for So.
Speaker 4: We started this podcast talking about the mental aspect of
Speaker 4: routine and all that. There's a mental aspect of going
Speaker 4: after an opposing team at a place where they might
Speaker 4: know that there are issues, and so if you can
Speaker 4: exploit that even mentally, you're giving yourself the advantage.
Speaker 1: Yes, it's just like of us have grandparents.
Speaker 2: If my granddad gives my brother five dollars, I'm going
Speaker 2: to my granddad to get five dollars too, because you
Speaker 2: got a reputation, granddaddy, you gave him five and I
Speaker 2: have like they've seen what the tape has shown them
Speaker 2: against other teams, and that's something that has to be exposed.
Speaker 1: At that point, I at.
Speaker 2: Least have to test it because we were always taught
Speaker 2: in the NFL across all thirty two cities. Your film
Speaker 2: travels three weeks is what it takes.
Speaker 1: If it leaves.
Speaker 2: In the first week, then I gotta try it again.
Speaker 2: Well two weeks later, let me see if it's still fixing.
Speaker 2: If it's not, then it resets over your tape travels.
Speaker 2: And that's why these guys spend so much time in meetings.
Speaker 2: This is why film study and the way they track
Speaker 2: and watch tape is a thing now too, because your
Speaker 2: deficiency is going to be the first thing that they attack.
Speaker 2: Nobody worries about you being in space and being good
Speaker 2: on you know linebackers. No, you can't hold up at
Speaker 2: the line of scrimmage. Let me test this thing out
Speaker 2: because it worked for them last week and I hated it.
Speaker 2: I had a vall do me like that, Sean Ellis,
Speaker 2: I'll never forget he's playing for the Jets, and the
Speaker 2: week before I'd given up a sack and a guy
Speaker 2: hit me with an outside rush and beat me quickly inside.
Speaker 2: You know what I had on the first third down?
Speaker 2: And I told him too. And it was so funny
Speaker 2: the exchange we had, because he was of all I
Speaker 2: was like, I was excited to play against him. He
Speaker 2: went outside and tried to go inside on me, and
Speaker 2: I said, you've been watching tape punk and he laughed.
Speaker 2: He was like, I had to try it, and that's
Speaker 2: the way the game goes. He told me in that moment,
Speaker 2: I had to try it. I saw it on tape.
Speaker 2: That's how my new like the the details are.
Speaker 1: Ready for topic five.
Speaker 3: I'm ready for topic five.
Speaker 1: We already five. We're in the weeds. We're in the weeds.
Speaker 1: On this edition of the OTP pregame with Ramone Foster
Speaker 1: in the Snickers hot seat. Between week seven and eleven,
Speaker 1: arden Key has five sacks and nine tackles for loss,
Speaker 1: a couple of forest fumbles too. What is ardent Key
Speaker 1: doing well? That has made it hard for offensive linemen
Speaker 1: to be able to handle him?
Speaker 2: Not running? No what I have seen earlier. Again, I
Speaker 2: feel like he's attacking more again, shocking, all right, you
Speaker 2: gotta get guys at that point to where I gotta
Speaker 2: think about what you're gonna do, and if you hit
Speaker 2: me in the face as many times as he has
Speaker 2: so far, then I got to think about what's next,
Speaker 2: or if you make a counter move off of that,
Speaker 2: which he has been beating guys around the edge, and
Speaker 2: I feel like his finish has been more relentless as
Speaker 2: of late than I think we've seen in the last
Speaker 2: two years here. So his ability to be physical with
Speaker 2: the guys up front and then not sticky. He's long armed,
Speaker 2: he's long leg He's a rangy guy as itself, as
Speaker 2: it pertains to anyway, with his characteristic traits. So he
Speaker 2: has to be able to use that. He said during
Speaker 2: the bye week he went and had film study or
Speaker 2: it has some outside council, and sometimes it takes a
Speaker 2: person say why are you doing what you're not good at?
Speaker 2: And I feel like that's what he's done. He is
Speaker 2: too long and too athletic and has a relentless motor
Speaker 2: that it's a shame that he wasn't using. I think
Speaker 2: he was just trying to play the technique just a
Speaker 2: little bit too much. I think when guy's are vets
Speaker 2: like him, you do have to build it straight outside
Speaker 2: of your parameter, and that's what I feel like he's
Speaker 2: been doing as of late. But to me, it does
Speaker 2: show him carrying his lunch hell every single Sunday and
Speaker 2: just he's tired on the sideline when he comes over,
Speaker 2: you know. And I think he's also had a little
Speaker 2: fun to his game. The reactions that he and Jeff
Speaker 2: have on the sideline seem like there's a little bit
Speaker 2: of a competition that I see from time to time,
Speaker 2: and there's a need and want for it too, because
Speaker 2: somebody on this team's got to answer the call to
Speaker 2: help this team want more games, and as of late,
Speaker 2: it has been him.
Speaker 1: The other part of him too, is he's the long
Speaker 1: rangey guy. He doesn't weigh as much as everybody at
Speaker 1: his position, but man, he is strong and explosive in
Speaker 1: his lower body, and when you see that part of
Speaker 1: his get you don't think he's going to be necessarily
Speaker 1: just from when he stands next to the other eleven guys, oh,
Speaker 1: this is going to be one of the more physical dudes.
Speaker 1: He's not big like Deniko Autry and Harold is shorter
Speaker 1: and stouter, you know, as a player. But this kid,
Speaker 1: i'd be a kid. He's not a kidding he is
Speaker 1: he's fun to watch. And you know the other thing
Speaker 1: about him, everybody thinks, like Daniel Hunter lsuga. He's from Georgia,
Speaker 1: and man, every football player I've ever seen come out
Speaker 1: of Georgia high school football, it seems like, I mean
Speaker 1: they are.
Speaker 3: It's a different world.
Speaker 1: I mean the level of competition they play, whether it's
Speaker 1: in a city or in a suburb around the country.
Speaker 1: I mean, the level of football in the state of
Speaker 1: Georgia in high school is amazing.
Speaker 2: It is that Wanner Robbins area, I mean from north
Speaker 2: of Georgia all the way down to the bottom part.
Speaker 1: So I look at the recruiting a good bit, the.
Speaker 2: Amount of four and five stars, like you'll be thirty
Speaker 2: forty players deep and they're still in four star rankings.
Speaker 1: Yep. That's unheard of almost in a sense. And that's
Speaker 1: why for many years coaches that I've talked with have
Speaker 1: always contended the best job in the Southeastern Conference is Georgia.
Speaker 1: And you'd say, well, well what about Alabama. Well, in Alabama,
Speaker 1: you gotta you're gonna have to go against Auburn for players,
Speaker 1: and then they're like, oh, okay, well what about Florida.
Speaker 1: It's like, well, everybody in the country comes into Florida
Speaker 1: after players, and they have Florida State and Miami in
Speaker 1: the same state, and now you have South Florida and
Speaker 1: Central Florida and Florida Atlantic and Florida International and so
Speaker 1: on and so forth. You look at Georgia though, because
Speaker 1: of how Georgia Tech is set up as a university. Yep,
Speaker 1: they and everybody thinks, well, it's just engineering, but they
Speaker 1: don't have every single college that Georgia does. So if
Speaker 1: you want to go get an education, it's possible. They
Speaker 1: don't offer something you may be interested in. Their more
Speaker 1: specific so not only do they have high academic standards there,
Speaker 1: it's a little different. And while they do well and
Speaker 1: Brent Keith, he's got them playing Royll and they have
Speaker 1: a history of their own, Georgia has an inside track
Speaker 1: and then you know, with their reputation, they can go
Speaker 1: to Florida, they can go to South Carolina, they can
Speaker 1: go to Tennessee, they can go out.
Speaker 4: A homegrown you don't have to don't have to for
Speaker 4: the country.
Speaker 1: If you know, the core of your class is going
Speaker 1: to come from that state every year. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: what Kirby Smart's been able to do.
Speaker 2: It is he's put a stronghold on it because you're right,
Speaker 2: in the years where Tennessee was besting them, they go get.
Speaker 1: They go get Eric Barry. Eric Barry was supposed to
Speaker 1: leave Georgia. I mean his history, you know it's been
Speaker 1: I mean many of the greatest players at the University
Speaker 1: of Tennessee where Georgia kids. How has Kentucky rebooted their
Speaker 1: football program? If you look at the list, it's a
Speaker 1: lot of kids from Georgia, and and it may be
Speaker 1: kids that Georgia didn't recruit, and but it's like the
Speaker 1: level of competition they've still played. I mean, you go
Speaker 1: get a three star out of Georgia, it's like that
Speaker 1: guy can become a four star, five star college player.
Speaker 2: Yes, And if you look at their top ten, seven
Speaker 2: of those top ten. So your point about Georgia not
Speaker 2: wanting all of them, but they're going to get the
Speaker 2: cream of the crop all times and not Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 2: I know Nil somewhat contains that these days, but they're
Speaker 2: getting seven of the top ten more times and speaking.
Speaker 1: Of prospects, uh huh. We turn now to Jim Naggy,
Speaker 1: who is the executive director of the REESUS Senior Both.
Speaker 1: He joined Amy and me just a few days ago
Speaker 1: to talk about some of the trends and what's going
Speaker 1: on as we stay in the weeds in this edition
Speaker 1: of the OTP pre Game. Here we talk twenty twenty
Speaker 1: five draft with Jim Naggy. Amy Wells and I are
Speaker 1: so glad to welcome the executive director of the REESEUS
Speaker 1: Senior Bowl, Jim Naggy. Jim, thank you so much for
Speaker 1: joining us.
Speaker 6: Good to be back on guy. It's good to see
Speaker 6: you again.
Speaker 1: Jim.
Speaker 4: We've heard a lot about the twenty twenty five draft
Speaker 4: class and that it's not loaded with a ton of
Speaker 4: top end players, but that Day three could be pretty
Speaker 4: loaded because of all the players who had the extra
Speaker 4: COVID eligibility.
Speaker 3: Do you think that's an accurate statement?
Speaker 6: That is definitely accurate, and it's a good thing for
Speaker 6: the Senior Bowl really. I mean I think I look
Speaker 6: at this whole draft thing selfishly, very selfishly about who
Speaker 6: we can you know, get to mobile and whatnot. I
Speaker 6: do think in a normal year, in a normal year,
Speaker 6: an average year, I think most teams would have somewhere
Speaker 6: in the mid teens in terms of first round grades
Speaker 6: on players. In a good year, it's in somewhere in
Speaker 6: that low twenties to mid twenties. And this year, talking
Speaker 6: to teams on the calls that we just had, we
Speaker 6: just finished up fourteen calls trying to get at our
Speaker 6: roster selection process wrapped up, and there's some teams that
Speaker 6: don't have ten first round grades right now. So it
Speaker 6: is a deeper class exactly why you said, because it's
Speaker 6: the last year of the extra COVID year. But there's
Speaker 6: no there's not a ton of high end guys. I
Speaker 6: had another a national medium member reach out the other
Speaker 6: day and he was going on a show and he
Speaker 6: wanted to ask my opinion on it. And he said,
Speaker 6: in the team that he was in his market, they
Speaker 6: will be picking very high in the draft. And he asked,
Speaker 6: is this is this not a good year to have
Speaker 6: a top top five pick or a top ten pick,
Speaker 6: And I said, no, it's probably not a good year
Speaker 6: because there's like last year, there was a lot of
Speaker 6: teams wanting to trade up for the quarterbacks. I don't
Speaker 6: think we're going to see that this year. So it
Speaker 6: is going to be a deep class. It's just not
Speaker 6: it's not great.
Speaker 1: Up top Jim, Which are the strongest positions in the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five NFL Draft as it looks now and
Speaker 1: which which appeared to be the weaker positions?
Speaker 6: Definitely running back. This is the deepest running back and
Speaker 6: most talented running back group we've seen in a long time.
Speaker 6: A lot of high end guys teams, Teams don't really
Speaker 6: want to take those guys, you know, in the first
Speaker 6: couple of rounds nowadays, but there's I think, you know,
Speaker 6: depending on where the run happened, there's going to be
Speaker 6: a run happen, and it's probably gonna be on Day
Speaker 6: two somewhere. I think you'll see Ashton genty from from
Speaker 6: Boise State going the first round. I'll be curious to
Speaker 6: see if any other guys you know, sneak up in
Speaker 6: that range, but I think Ashton's definitely there. I think
Speaker 6: the question with him is how high he'll how high
Speaker 6: he'll go, how high he'll climb during the process. But
Speaker 6: if the run happens in the second or happens in
Speaker 6: the third, but I do think it's going to happen
Speaker 6: somewhere on Day two. And and we've got twelve junior
Speaker 6: running backs on the on the Senior Bowl board right
Speaker 6: now that are now available to us. I'm I'm actively
Speaker 6: trying to lock some of those guys up right now
Speaker 6: with agents to UH for roster spots. And and we're
Speaker 6: gonna bring twelve mobile we've invited six seniors. We think
Speaker 6: all those guys are are going to be drafted before
Speaker 6: the fifth round. And again, in a normal year, you know,
Speaker 6: at the at the running back position, before we were
Speaker 6: able to bring juniors, that is a position where we
Speaker 6: were dipping into those later rounds where we like to
Speaker 6: stay out of. So no, that's a really good class.
Speaker 6: The defensive line class, all the way across from from
Speaker 6: the in tierior guys, you know somebody you could draft,
Speaker 6: somebody to pair with with Big Devandre I know he's
Speaker 6: having a great year for you guys. And then all
Speaker 6: the way out to the edge group. I mean there's
Speaker 6: some pass rushers, not in the first half of the
Speaker 6: first round, but there's some really good depth of that
Speaker 6: in the pass rush class as well.
Speaker 4: Who are some of the players who you feel have
Speaker 4: really helped their twenty twenty five draft stock by their
Speaker 4: play in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 6: Wow, we could. We could probably go position by position there.
Speaker 6: There there's a number of guys that have that have
Speaker 6: really jumped out. I mean Ashton Genty being one of them.
Speaker 6: I mean, we liked him a lot, but he's having
Speaker 6: a phenomenal year. But well, we can there's a lot
Speaker 6: of people talking about Ashton Genty. You know, you work
Speaker 6: across the board, like there's there's some tight ends in
Speaker 6: this group. There's a kid, Gunner Helme at Texas who
Speaker 6: going at coming into the year was probably an undrafted
Speaker 6: free agent seventh round pick. He's probably squarely in the
Speaker 6: middle rounds right now. I mean that that's one guy
Speaker 6: that stands out on the defensive line. There's a guy
Speaker 6: like Derek Harmon at Oregon and who coming into the
Speaker 6: year was a late round guy transfer from Michigan State.
Speaker 6: He's playing great for the Ducks right now. He dropped
Speaker 6: a ton of weight in the offseason, really looks like
Speaker 6: a different player, and he's got himself. I mean there's
Speaker 6: teams that have top one hundred grades on Derek Harmon
Speaker 6: right now. That's a massive jump in one year to
Speaker 6: go from you know, being a seventh round free agent
Speaker 6: level player to a potential Day two player. That's a
Speaker 6: big jump. Those are a couple of names that really
Speaker 6: stand out. But I do think we could probably go
Speaker 6: across the board and pick a guy probably in every
Speaker 6: position group that's helped himself quite a bit.
Speaker 1: We're at the real moment of the season now in
Speaker 1: college football, these rivalry games, championship games coming up, bowl games,
Speaker 1: and even most importantly, the College Football Playoff upcoming. Give
Speaker 1: me some players that you think down the stretch as
Speaker 1: the games get more spotlight, they could really help their
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five draft stock in November, December into January.
Speaker 6: I would start at the quarterback position. I think, you know,
Speaker 6: when you look at this year's quarterback class, I don't
Speaker 6: know if any of these guys have played a completely
Speaker 6: clean season. I think there's I think there's been rough
Speaker 6: patches for most of the guys in this class that
Speaker 6: we've talked about. You know, Carson Back had a rough
Speaker 6: patch in the first half against Alabama. He had ale
Speaker 6: other rough patch against Ole Miss. He was our top
Speaker 6: great quarterback coming into the year. Had Carson Beck came
Speaker 6: out a year ago, I mean, it was he was
Speaker 6: trending towards being a first round pick. He just progressively
Speaker 6: got better and better over the course of the year.
Speaker 6: I think Carson needs to to, you know, if they
Speaker 6: can get into the playoff at this point, make a
Speaker 6: nice run. You know, Quinn Yours has had a pretty
Speaker 6: good year this year, but he's had a rough patch.
Speaker 6: Jalen Milrow all these so to me, really it's the
Speaker 6: quarterbacks and even cam Ward. You know, cam Ward has
Speaker 6: played really good football this year. Has helped himself a lot,
Speaker 6: you know, being outside of the air raid offense at
Speaker 6: Washington State coming down here to Miami. But I really
Speaker 6: look for this year's quarterback class. They're gonna need some
Speaker 6: performances down the stretch here in November December.
Speaker 4: Let's talk about Colorado wide receiver slash defensive back Travis Hunter,
Speaker 4: because if he enters the twenty twenty five NFL Draft,
Speaker 4: do you feel that he could be the best player
Speaker 4: in the draft and also do you really believe that
Speaker 4: he could play both ways in the National Football League.
Speaker 6: I'll start with the first part. He could definitely play
Speaker 6: both ways. I think we're the league and what he's doing,
Speaker 6: I'll just say this off the bat. What he's doing
Speaker 6: right now with the volume of snaps at the FBS
Speaker 6: level is unheard of. You know, we've seen two way players.
Speaker 6: They've seen Charles Woodson, we've seen Chant Bailey, you know,
Speaker 6: going way back in time, but we've never seen players
Speaker 6: log this amount of snaps. So to me, it just
Speaker 6: to me, it's incredible toughness, it's incredible focus, it's incredible
Speaker 6: you know, durability, stamina, all those things outside of the talent. Right,
Speaker 6: we all know how talented he is. I think we're
Speaker 6: the league when they really start drilling down, everyone knows
Speaker 6: Travis Hunter's first round player. What they really need to
Speaker 6: figure out is how good is he at those two
Speaker 6: respective positions? And then which one is he best at?
Speaker 6: You know, it's incredible he's playing both, but what is
Speaker 6: the ceiling at each position? What does that look like? It?
Speaker 6: Is it Pro Bowl at both positions? Is it Pro
Speaker 6: Bowl at one of the positions? Just just how good
Speaker 6: is he at those two spots. So that's gonna be
Speaker 6: for the teams drafting up high, they're gonna have to
Speaker 6: figure that out. I know for the Senior Bowl, we
Speaker 6: haven't spun our wheels watching a lot of Travis Hunter tape.
Speaker 6: If we were lucky enough to get him in mobile,
Speaker 6: we'd love to have him. But I think that's gonna
Speaker 6: be the conversation is, you know, do we play him
Speaker 6: on defense full time and then spot play him on
Speaker 6: offense and try to, you know, manufacture five to ten
Speaker 6: touches a game. That might be the route, but again,
Speaker 6: I think that's that's what those teams drafting up high
Speaker 6: are going to have to spend a lot of time on.
Speaker 1: Shohio Tani broke the sort of glass ceiling in baseball
Speaker 1: for a guy doing two different things. Any thought, as
Speaker 1: the NFL continue to evolve, that Travis Hunter could end
Speaker 1: up being almost the Otani komp if you will, to
Speaker 1: somebody who plays more than just a couple of plays
Speaker 1: on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 6: I don't think so, Mike, I don't. I don't see
Speaker 6: that happening. Just I mean, you guys see it too.
Speaker 6: I mean, if you go to a college football game
Speaker 6: on a Saturday and stand on the sidelines, even in
Speaker 6: the SEC or the Big Ten or the a SEC,
Speaker 6: the Power four conferences, and then you go to a
Speaker 6: Titans game on a Sunday, it's a completely different level
Speaker 6: of speed in violence, and I just I just don't
Speaker 6: see a player lasting like that on both sides of
Speaker 6: the balls. Is a full time two way player?
Speaker 1: All right? Well, I just wanted to check because I
Speaker 1: know I'd seen a couple of interviews with you where
Speaker 1: you talked about Hunter and you had me convinced, you
Speaker 1: had me convinced that he might have that possibility to
Speaker 1: do more of both on both sides of the ball
Speaker 1: than somebody in a long time. Let me move back
Speaker 1: to the quarterbacks for a second. You hit on some
Speaker 1: of the top ones, Jim, you in on some of
Speaker 1: the guys who need to play well down the stretch.
Speaker 1: As a group, do you like these quarterbacks?
Speaker 6: I do?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 6: It's it's I can I think I can safely say
Speaker 6: it's not gonna be last year's class where we're gonna
Speaker 6: have six guys go in the top twelve. That was
Speaker 6: a pretty unique group and a lot of those guys
Speaker 6: are playing at a high level. Jayden Daniels, bow Nicks
Speaker 6: are doing some really good things. Drake may is playing
Speaker 6: really well for the Patriots now that he's gotten in there.
Speaker 6: So I think those guys are proving themselves that that
Speaker 6: was gonna be a really good class. I'm excited to see,
Speaker 6: you know, in five years what that class pans out
Speaker 6: to be. But I like the depth of the class.
Speaker 6: I'll say that they do need they do need to
Speaker 6: put together a nice run here to kind of get
Speaker 6: up into that first dround conversation. Are any of these
Speaker 6: guys slam dunk first dround picks? I don't, I don't.
Speaker 6: I don't think so at this point. And then there's
Speaker 6: some depth to the group too, you know, when we
Speaker 6: worked down work down the line. I think there's gonna
Speaker 6: be some guys, you know, in the in the middle
Speaker 6: to eight range that are pretty intriguing players. But I
Speaker 6: don't think it stacks up to last year. I think
Speaker 6: there's potential there. I think if a couple of these
Speaker 6: guys can get into the playoff and go on a
Speaker 6: nice run, they can kind of salvage you know, what
Speaker 6: has been kind of a rocky season so far. But
Speaker 6: it's not up to last year's class. And you I mean,
Speaker 6: you know, just being fair to this year's class, I mean,
Speaker 6: I don't know how many classes will measure up to
Speaker 6: last year.
Speaker 4: Well, you mentioned bon Nicks, and he's had a pretty
Speaker 4: solid year for Denver this year as a rookie, and
Speaker 4: it's clear that his experience at Auburn and at Oregon
Speaker 4: seems to have helped him with the transition to the pros. So,
Speaker 4: thinking in that regard, is there a bon Knicks comp
Speaker 4: in the twenty twenty five draft who has the experience
Speaker 4: and will be a good player for a team in
Speaker 4: their rookie year based on the experience that they've had
Speaker 4: in college.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's a great question. Let's be fair. Both playing great.
Speaker 6: Let's not like temper like they should have beat Kansas
Speaker 6: City if they don't have a flue Bowl block. You know,
Speaker 6: like he's he's he's playing really good football out there,
Speaker 6: you know, I mean they're you know, Dylan Gabriel from
Speaker 6: Oregon is going to break his all time starts record
Speaker 6: if he stays healthy down the stretch the year. Played
Speaker 6: a ton of football. Now, he doesn't project to be
Speaker 6: a first dround pick like bo was, but he certainly
Speaker 6: has the experience factor working for him. You can see
Speaker 6: how efficient he is for for Oregon. You know, there's
Speaker 6: a number of these guys. You know, cam Ward's played
Speaker 6: a ton of football going all the way back to
Speaker 6: his time at Incarnate Word, you know, and then up
Speaker 6: at Washington State, and he's played in Now he's played
Speaker 6: in a couple of different systems and played with three
Speaker 6: different groups of teammates, which I always think is cool.
Speaker 6: I think, in three different parts of the country. So
Speaker 6: I think that's cool for a player's resume, like just
Speaker 6: like it was for Bo playing in the SEC and
Speaker 6: going all the way up to the you know, out
Speaker 6: to the Pacific Northwest. So I would say I would
Speaker 6: say guys like that. I said cam Ward, you know,
Speaker 6: he's played a ton of football, and in Dylan Gabriel,
Speaker 6: and then you can go down the list the Will
Speaker 6: Howard at Ohio State and Tyler Shuck at Louisville's kind
Speaker 6: of the sleeper name right now who playing really good
Speaker 6: for Louisville can throw the heck out of it. So yeah,
Speaker 6: there's certainly some guys in this class that are that
Speaker 6: are bow like in terms of the experience.
Speaker 4: We've got to ask you about a Tennessee guy. His
Speaker 4: stats aren't really through the roof, but are you still
Speaker 4: impressed with edge James Pearce.
Speaker 6: Absolutely, No, absolutely, I think people were picking James apart
Speaker 6: a little bit early in the year. I mean, let's
Speaker 6: face it, he's coming off a year with double digit sacks.
Speaker 6: There's a couple guys in college football this year like
Speaker 6: Ashton Jelattie up the road from you guys Oble up
Speaker 6: by sixty five. I mean, he was another double digit
Speaker 6: sack guy. And when when coordinators have an off season
Speaker 6: to sit around and kind of look at the schedule. Okay,
Speaker 6: who's on the schedule this year? Who do we got
Speaker 6: to get ready for. I just think they threw a
Speaker 6: lot of James Pierce's way in terms of, like you know,
Speaker 6: sliding protection and chip blocks and you know, just just
Speaker 6: running a lot more people at him before he had
Speaker 6: a chance to get to the quarterback. So I think
Speaker 6: he was just learning how to deal with all the
Speaker 6: extra attention early on. I mean, they do a great
Speaker 6: job up front in terms of like running him off
Speaker 6: people like they did when Byron Young was there. I mean,
Speaker 6: we've seen what be Wise become as an NFL player.
Speaker 6: I think that's gonna help James Pierce. But you know,
Speaker 6: they're different body types. James Pierce is a longer guy.
Speaker 6: But what they have in common they're both very bendy
Speaker 6: and they work off other people really well, and that's
Speaker 6: what that's what they've done, and you've seen like the
Speaker 6: pressure rates have gone up over the course of the
Speaker 6: season for James. So again, I was talking to an
Speaker 6: agent the other day who's in the mix for representing
Speaker 6: James Pierce, and we just had the conversation what this
Speaker 6: guy would look like in one on one drills of
Speaker 6: the Senior Bowl when he's only got one guy trying
Speaker 6: to block him. I think he would make I think
Speaker 6: he would make a lot of money. The agent actually,
Speaker 6: he brought up the name Von Miller and what von
Speaker 6: Miller did at the Senior Bowl back in the day
Speaker 6: in one on one. So so, yeah, we're still big
Speaker 6: James s peers fans down here in Mobile.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you a senior bold insight question, Jim,
Speaker 1: why do you guys always end up with so many
Speaker 1: outstanding pass rushers there in Mobile? I don't know.
Speaker 6: Oh, I guess we get lucky.
Speaker 1: No, I mean we're trying to do We're trying to
Speaker 1: we're trying to bring the best players.
Speaker 6: Mike, and I do think the agent community is bought
Speaker 6: into what the one on ones can do for both
Speaker 6: the offensive line and the defensive lines. I think. I
Speaker 6: think I think both groups understand if they come to
Speaker 6: mobile and they again, if you're a pass rusher, it's
Speaker 6: not like you have to win every single rep. To me,
Speaker 6: I've always told I've always told guys because I've seen
Speaker 6: this in draft rooms. I mean, if these guys put
Speaker 6: two or three good rushes on tape, similar to like
Speaker 6: Tovandre Sweat. You know he took bo Limmer last year.
Speaker 6: Who's that now the starting center for the l A
Speaker 6: Rams and he just picked him up and walked him
Speaker 6: back to the quarterback. And I mean, you you make
Speaker 6: some plays like that and you plant the seed in
Speaker 6: a defensive line coach's mind that, oh my god, this
Speaker 6: is what I could work with, and those guys get
Speaker 6: all fired up about the potential of what they could
Speaker 6: make a player. So again, if the agents and the
Speaker 6: and the players know they only have to have a
Speaker 6: handful of decent reps over the over the week to
Speaker 6: move the needle, it's easy to get those skys bought
Speaker 6: into come into the game.
Speaker 1: Last question, Uh. In the NFL this year, defense has
Speaker 1: had a great start to the season, a first two
Speaker 1: plus months where defense has been more dominant than it
Speaker 1: has been in years. Jim, we're seeing the same thing
Speaker 1: in college football. They're more good defensive teams than there
Speaker 1: have been in recent years. What do you think the
Speaker 1: trend is overall with defense that has enabled them at
Speaker 1: the college level onto the pro level to step up.
Speaker 1: How they're getting after offenses that quite frankly for about
Speaker 1: ten years felt like they were got they worked them over.
Speaker 6: That's a great question, Geez. I would say a couple
Speaker 6: of things. One, I think we're seeing faster players on
Speaker 6: the defensive side of the ball, especially at linebacker. You're
Speaker 6: just seeing you're seeing a new wave of linebacker that
Speaker 6: you know, we're kind of weeding out the guys that
Speaker 6: can't run or playing space. So you're seeing like like
Speaker 6: you guys have drafted a couple over the last couple
Speaker 6: of years. You speed at linebackers is a big deal.
Speaker 6: It's becoming more of a space game. Everyone knows that.
Speaker 6: And then I you know, at the college level, I
Speaker 6: do think the transfer portal is hurting offenses, don't. I
Speaker 6: think offensive execution is down because you're seeing so many
Speaker 6: players on the move, and that's not that's not a
Speaker 6: great thing for like continuity purposes or whatnot. So, and
Speaker 6: it's not just players on the move, it's coaches on
Speaker 6: the move too, right. I mean, we're seeing that it's
Speaker 6: just a everyone. There's just moving parts all the time.
Speaker 6: You can't even keep up with it. In the off season.
Speaker 6: We don't even know where these players are going to
Speaker 6: end up playing. We start watching them in the spring
Speaker 6: and they're at one school, and then we get to
Speaker 6: August and they're they's somewhere else. So I would think
Speaker 6: those those are probably the two factors that just off
Speaker 6: the top of my head. That's a that's a great question,
Speaker 6: though I would love to have more time to think
Speaker 6: about that one.
Speaker 1: We love having you on in November. You are so
Speaker 1: kind to give us our first taste because you know,
Speaker 1: in this part of the country, our fan base loves
Speaker 1: the high school recruiting little nuts over that here in
Speaker 1: the Southeast and have gotten just as nuts over the draft,
Speaker 1: which is so much fun when we come to Mobile
Speaker 1: to see people around who have that same sort of
Speaker 1: enthusiasm at the stories and the hope for the future
Speaker 1: with their team and needs and whatever. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: really it's really become a special thing for the NFL
Speaker 1: fans in the Southeast. So thank you so much.
Speaker 6: No, thank you guys for having me on and it
Speaker 6: for you guys. I mean it probably stemmed from when
Speaker 6: you hosted the Draft you know whatever.
Speaker 1: That was five years ago.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean I was up there for it working
Speaker 6: for ESPN. It was unbelievable, and I think you're right.
Speaker 6: I think the stories. You know, they did the Hard
Speaker 6: Knocks this past spring with the Giants, and you know
Speaker 6: that series seemed like it was tailing off a little
Speaker 6: bit doing the end season, you know, training camp stuff.
Speaker 6: We'd seen that over and over and over talking to
Speaker 6: the guys that did the Giants Hard Knocks. I mean,
Speaker 6: people are captivated by it. They're captivated by the draft process.
Speaker 6: And if you have a team that you know, struggling,
Speaker 6: like you said, it's on draft days like Christmas morning,
Speaker 6: it gives you some hope. So yeah, we just appreciate
Speaker 6: you guys coming down and spending spending the weekend mobile
Speaker 6: with us every January. We look forward to have you
Speaker 6: every year. We do.
Speaker 1: We love it. Jim Nagy, executive director of the Reese
Speaker 1: Senior Both, thank you so much for your time. We
Speaker 1: appreciate you. Okay, guys, thanks for having me on, Hey
Speaker 1: Titans fans. Seat Geek makes it easy to find tickets
Speaker 1: so you can be a part of all the touchdown
Speaker 1: celebrations this season.
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Speaker 4: primary ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titan.
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Speaker 1: this football season, Maybe you should have had snickers.
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Speaker 1: Visit snickers dot com slash rookie mistake for details. All right,
Speaker 1: it's time to get to the fast break portion of
Speaker 1: the show. Got ramone Foster. You know they had Little
Speaker 1: Caesar's pizza in here yesterday they did.
Speaker 3: It was faked out.
Speaker 1: I thought it was a box, yeah.
Speaker 3: Because I thought someone moved our boxes.
Speaker 1: So I'm walking out of here at seven thirty and
Speaker 1: I was like, all those boxes, you.
Speaker 3: Know, and remember to grab them.
Speaker 1: Here's a these boxes are empty.
Speaker 3: There's no pizza.
Speaker 1: There's no pizza. So they they got two boxes laying there,
Speaker 1: and I'm thinking at first, Oh, they've put our boxes
Speaker 1: out for the OTP for tomorrow. Yeah, so I just
Speaker 1: go by, got my backpack on walk into the cargo.
Speaker 1: But no, there's still pizza there.
Speaker 3: Ah, right left the building.
Speaker 1: I know. I love cold pizza. All right, It's time
Speaker 1: for the key ingredients of the game, delivered by Little Caesars.
Speaker 1: Mike Key number one. Keep going with the plays in
Speaker 1: the passing game. Ninety eight yard touchdowns are great, but yes,
Speaker 1: they're currently every sixty two years. So we the Titans
Speaker 1: will have to take all of the fifteen yard completions,
Speaker 1: the twenty yarders, the thirty yarders, the forty yard touchdowns.
Speaker 1: We'll take them all. In the last two games, solid
Speaker 1: gains in the passing game been showing up more and more.
Speaker 1: Titans need more of them. Sunday in Houston, Key number
Speaker 1: two finished the job on the quarterback. Jeffrey Simmons had
Speaker 1: six quarterback pressures against Minnesota to Andre Sweat five Arden
Speaker 1: Key had four. Pressure was real and yet only two sacks.
Speaker 1: Coach Brian Callahan said the key to turning pressures into
Speaker 1: sacks is staying in rushing lanes. Keep collapsing the pocket.
Speaker 1: Don't let the passer escape. Do that. With last week's
Speaker 1: pressure on CJ. Stroud and I bet the sacks will come.
Speaker 1: Key number three. Keep getting big plays up and down
Speaker 1: the roster, especially from the youngsters. The Titans are having
Speaker 1: more and more players show up in the box score
Speaker 1: Jarvis Brownlee and Darryl Baker in the secondary, Deviandre Sweatin
Speaker 1: the defensive line, Bryce Oliver and Jakwan Jackson at receiver
Speaker 1: and on special teams. As this roster expands with guys
Speaker 1: who now have experience and confidence to make a play,
Speaker 1: those youngsters need to keep showing up. Their contributions can
Speaker 1: be the difference in potentially pulling out a road wind
Speaker 1: on Sunday.
Speaker 3: You went over but like ten seconds.
Speaker 4: Little Caesars is the official pizza partner of your Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 4: Download the Little Caesars app and get your favorites delivered today.
Speaker 3: Delivery fees do apply.
Speaker 1: Unless they bring it to your office and don't.
Speaker 4: Tell any tell you you have to tell me there's
Speaker 4: pizza in the box.
Speaker 3: I never assume.
Speaker 1: Usually they send out like a memo, hey we get pizza.
Speaker 3: Get some just so sticky on it or get No,
Speaker 3: they did it.
Speaker 1: We don't miss that. They checked. We don't miss those
Speaker 1: remote We missed the ones about meetings and hey, you
Speaker 1: need to go get a flu shot.
Speaker 3: Miss those never saw it pizza he never met ever
Speaker 3: miss it.
Speaker 1: Get the manna all right? Time for a mayotivation from
Speaker 1: Helman's and Amy.
Speaker 4: Wells Mayo Titans Chears, be Loud and your buffalo Chicken dip,
Speaker 4: make you Yo Mama and the entire family Proud Helmans
Speaker 4: the official mayo of the Tennessee Titans. Mayo game day
Speaker 4: be delicious.
Speaker 1: Isn't it time they change? But you read that a
Speaker 1: lot now. They need to change that up a little bit.
Speaker 1: They shake it up, you know on the Will Levis commercials.
Speaker 3: I try and give it a little I.
Speaker 1: Mean it's got a pizzazz.
Speaker 3: I try to add a little little something.
Speaker 1: Little that was good the last time. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: how important is Helman's in the coming week with all
Speaker 1: of the dishes that will be made.
Speaker 4: I was actually going to take that giant car. You
Speaker 4: can't because I'm gonna.
Speaker 1: Need it to the ot people. Get some Helmans this week.
Speaker 1: Just you're going to the grocery store this weekend.
Speaker 4: Gonna need it, just pick it up, you put it
Speaker 4: in every thing on sure, But.
Speaker 1: I mean you're just going by and you think I'm
Speaker 1: just going to grab that because I'm going to need
Speaker 1: you are going you will thank us on the next OTP.
Speaker 1: That is not in the weeds. I mean, this was
Speaker 1: a lot of hardcore football stuff.
Speaker 4: Next week, let's just talk about what everyone ain't for Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1: Let's not because it would take too long. With me,
Speaker 1: I love it.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, you kind of do a big thing. I
Speaker 3: just kind of have my my standbys.
Speaker 2: You.
Speaker 3: No, it's good, it's great. It's like all the classics.
Speaker 2: I've been telling everybody. Listen, I've yet to have green
Speaker 2: bean castle all I like love it, never had it.
Speaker 3: I'm going to make it and bring it to.
Speaker 1: Your there is we're neighbors. Basically, there is nothing Thanksgiving wise.
Speaker 1: I don't think I turned down nothing.
Speaker 3: I don't think so, even Cranberry person Cranberry.
Speaker 1: But but part of it is if you offered it
Speaker 1: to me on May the seventh, probably not, But on Thanksgiving,
Speaker 1: I'm up everything. Get that hot fruit salad delicious made
Speaker 1: with like cheese. It's and I never heard of that?
Speaker 1: Is it?
Speaker 2: That that Yang and yang right there actually sounds pretty
Speaker 2: so good all of it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I like anything put in jello, so really it's
Speaker 4: big holiday.
Speaker 1: Do that Thanksgiving you.
Speaker 3: Can put a lot of stuff in jello.
Speaker 1: Again on January eighth, not a thing.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm glad you went up to January eighth because
Speaker 2: my birthday January seventh, we'll celebrate that.
Speaker 1: Thank you early.
Speaker 4: I'm just lord, you've never had green bean castro, never
Speaker 4: had it to make it in the microwave.
Speaker 2: Well, and then I'm like Mike though, like I have
Speaker 2: like my Thanksgiving things, and like I've seen it at
Speaker 2: people house, like coaches cook for us on the holidays
Speaker 2: and college and stuff like that, and I just pass
Speaker 2: it by because I probably want more turkey or moral asaigna.
Speaker 1: Or something like that.
Speaker 4: It has a weird look to it, but you've got
Speaker 4: to dive in anywhere.
Speaker 1: I'm for you. Lasagna very underrated it thanks yeah what yeah? Amy,
Speaker 1: very under It shows up and you're like, oh, here's
Speaker 1: no zigna.
Speaker 5: Can some of that just feel like competing mains to me,
Speaker 5: have turkey and a lazagna?
Speaker 1: Why not? South what you talking about turkey and lasagna?
Speaker 1: Maybe even together? I mean, because you can mix it
Speaker 1: all together. And it's just what if I this year,
Speaker 1: people would love you more. They will, they appreciate it.
Speaker 1: If that's even possible.
Speaker 3: Oh it sure is.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I need every little bit I can. You do, every
Speaker 5: little morsel.
Speaker 1: I love it. Ramone, thank you anytime, anytime. Don't say
Speaker 1: that we have to do the one next week early. Seriously.
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us for the OTP pre game,
Speaker 1: for a Ramone foster and the Snickers ide seat and
Speaker 1: Amy Wells. I might keep thank you to the ot people.
Speaker 1: Let's go beat Houston. Thanks for joining us for the
Speaker 1: ot