Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where we don't need a phono
Speaker 1: finish to determine our champs. I'm Greg Rosenthal and beyond
Speaker 1: lucky today to be joined by Nick Shook, who is
Speaker 1: going to help us crank through an entire conference of
Speaker 1: camp notes. I love shows like this. Ooh, Shooky. I
Speaker 1: gotta admit I'm still buzzing from that one hundred meter final.
Speaker 1: What a sporting event? Ten seconds every four years like
Speaker 1: that is just pure adrenaline. I think it's awesome.
Speaker 2: We pass over twelve hundred days just to wait for
Speaker 2: those ten seconds, and boy are they thrilling.
Speaker 1: It really is. I'm not even kidding just to have
Speaker 1: that much meaning in that short of time. It just
Speaker 1: in the way that thing finished, it was electric. But
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people are watching the Olympics
Speaker 1: this time of year, and that's where we come in. Shook.
Speaker 1: I love these shows because it forces me and you two,
Speaker 1: I know, to kind of go through each team and
Speaker 1: find what the beat writers there are saying and find
Speaker 1: out what's happening in practice, because I know if you
Speaker 1: have normal jobs, you don't have time for this. So
Speaker 1: we're gonna hit all sixteen teams in the AFC will
Speaker 1: hit the NFC on our next show with Jordan rod
Speaker 1: Rieg and yeah, I'm excited. Let's start off with the
Speaker 1: Bills and the AFC East. I'll lead the way here.
Speaker 1: A lot going on with the Bills. The thing that
Speaker 1: probably sticks out to me the most is the receiver group.
Speaker 1: And I think we're at the point where we can
Speaker 1: trust Khalil Shakir. He's not a wide receiver one in
Speaker 1: the traditional sense, but he to me, is going to
Speaker 1: be the guy who's on the field the most for them.
Speaker 1: And then a little bit of a surprise, maybe early
Speaker 1: in camp, is that Marquez Valdez Scantling might be out
Speaker 1: of their top four receiver rotation. There's an undrafted guy
Speaker 1: from a year ago, Tyrell Shavers who's maybe ahead of him,
Speaker 1: and other guys you know, Chase Claypole, kJ Hamler And yeah,
Speaker 1: you think about this team was going to play two
Speaker 1: tight ends a lot, and there are four receivers who
Speaker 1: are going to be Shakir and Coleman and Samuel and
Speaker 1: Mac Collins your guy. And yeah, it looks like MVS
Speaker 1: might be the guy on the on the way out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not surprised by this though, I mean, if
Speaker 2: we saw what his trajectory was like in Kansas City
Speaker 2: last year, then this is a team here that threw
Speaker 2: a bunch of spaghetti at the wall and are hoping
Speaker 2: something sticked in the absence of Stefan Diggs. You know,
Speaker 2: they drafted Keyon Coleman to kind of hopefully replace him,
Speaker 2: but not expect as much. They're gonna do a committee
Speaker 2: type approach at this receiving corps and for MVS to
Speaker 2: not be in that group, I mean, if we looked
Speaker 2: at what he did last year and where he was going,
Speaker 2: not a huge surprise, especially if they like somebody who's cheaper,
Speaker 2: who's undrafted.
Speaker 3: That sort of thing. Right.
Speaker 1: A couple position battles I find interesting Jamar Hamlin right now.
Speaker 1: I mentioned a couple of weeks ago getting starter snaps,
Speaker 1: and the other two guys he's competing with, Mike Edwards
Speaker 1: and Cole Bishop, who was the second round safety or rookie,
Speaker 1: are both hurt and there week to week. So that
Speaker 1: might have been Bishop's job. But it's interesting Toamar Hamlin,
Speaker 1: I might actually be an NFL starter this year. And
Speaker 1: then I've kept an eye on just the return veterans
Speaker 1: that were hurt last year. It seems like so far,
Speaker 1: so good for Matt Milano and Von Miller. Of course
Speaker 1: they're gonna say that at this time of year, but
Speaker 1: we also heard them saying it wasn't going so well,
Speaker 1: and so Milano off the acl Miller off just a
Speaker 1: disastrous season. That's one other thing that stuck out. And
Speaker 1: then Ray Davis looks like they're backup running back just
Speaker 1: for the fantasy heads out there making some plays.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's gonna be interesting too, because I think
Speaker 2: that's actually a sneaky pick. Not that James Cook isn't
Speaker 2: gonna be the lead guy, because he is, but mins
Speaker 2: you with the Bills in previous years was that they
Speaker 2: didn't run the ball traditionally well. And you know, once
Speaker 2: we had the changing offensive coordinator last year and Joe
Speaker 2: Brady took over, it became kind of apparent that they
Speaker 2: could run the ball that way. And James cook value
Speaker 2: increased late in the year. So if you have a
Speaker 2: backup who's going to get a decent amount of carries,
Speaker 2: then hey, keep an eye on him. I'm not much
Speaker 2: of a fantasy head myself, at least my friends would
Speaker 2: tell you that, but they're going to run the ball
Speaker 2: better in a traditional sense that they did in the past.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're gonna draft do a mock draft on the
Speaker 1: show later this week with Clay Vaughn and the fantasy
Speaker 1: guys at the NFL Market scrant and Mike Florio. I'm
Speaker 1: looking forward to that. All right, Let's let's go to
Speaker 1: the Patriots. I was about to say, my Patriots, I'm
Speaker 1: not I'm not there yet. Man. They have a lot
Speaker 1: of questions. Let's start negative with them. I mean, they're
Speaker 1: rotating Chuck Sacora for uh, kind of a guy who
Speaker 1: struggled with the Steelers, Kayden Wallace, and Verderian Lowe as
Speaker 1: their three tackles, and none of them are playing well,
Speaker 1: none of them are healthy, and they don't really have
Speaker 1: any other option. Calvin Anderson's another journeyman who's also hurt there,
Speaker 1: and I think it's going to make it hard to
Speaker 1: evaluate this this offense. That position alone makes me like
Speaker 1: drop the expectation level for this team like a couple wins.
Speaker 2: You know, anytime I have to hear Verderian Lowe's name
Speaker 2: mentioned in a sentence, I get a little nervous. If
Speaker 2: that's taken as a serious opportunity for him, not because
Speaker 2: he's not, you know, a decent player, but that was
Speaker 2: a guy that when I saw him in the combine,
Speaker 2: I was like, Okay, potential there, and then you know,
Speaker 2: he flew under the radar and was not notable for
Speaker 2: a reason. I mean, it's hard to play offensive line
Speaker 2: at a high level in the NFL, and if you
Speaker 2: find yourself in a position where you're considering somebody like that,
Speaker 2: I get nervous. I get nervous because you're supposed to
Speaker 2: be blocking for a rookie quarterback at least eventually, maybe
Speaker 2: not right away, but eventually, and if you have any
Speaker 2: sort of weakness there, that's gonna hurt his development as well.
Speaker 2: So it just kind of makes me feel a little
Speaker 2: bit uneasy about the entire offense in the direction that
Speaker 2: they're going.
Speaker 1: Right, it makes me think it's gonna be Jacoby Brissett.
Speaker 1: Although you know, I'm someone who I track every you know,
Speaker 1: camp report, and for the most part, it sounds like
Speaker 1: May started picking it up towards the end of the week,
Speaker 1: that the offense in general has been picking it up
Speaker 1: towards the end of the week. So I think it
Speaker 1: was a rough first week for may not a shocker,
Speaker 1: but it's gone getting better. The other thing I wanted
Speaker 1: to hit was the receivers there. I don't think Juju
Speaker 1: Smith Schuster is making this team. I don't care how
Speaker 1: much guaranteed money you have. And Javon Baker, who a
Speaker 1: lot of people loved coming out of the draft like,
Speaker 1: is living up to that hype making a lot of
Speaker 1: plays at camp. And it really seems like their top
Speaker 1: four are gonna be two rookies, Javon Baker and Jalen Poke,
Speaker 1: and then to Mario Douglas who popped last year. That's
Speaker 1: his nickname too, and then kJ Osborne has been solid
Speaker 1: for them. That's probably their top four. And that means
Speaker 1: Juju gets cut. Weird team.
Speaker 2: Weird team, yeah, I mean, but they're in that transition
Speaker 2: phase right now where we don't know what to expect
Speaker 2: from with the new head coach, and they've got a
Speaker 2: young quarterback and they're gonna have a veteran probably start
Speaker 2: in his place. And you have a bunch of different
Speaker 2: names of the receiving corps that you look back and think, well,
Speaker 2: there's no clear number one, but there's some potential there.
Speaker 2: Jalen Polk is with potential and Jalen Baker like if
Speaker 2: you saw me, UCF kids just stunned.
Speaker 1: I mean people watching camp are like this guy has
Speaker 1: the most juice, Like, yeah, you don't want to get
Speaker 1: too carried away, but he has transitioned it into padded practice.
Speaker 1: He's getting open. He's a part of their first team.
Speaker 1: So like Juju's not Taekwon Thornton, I don't think will
Speaker 1: be either, And that's fun. If you're going to be bad,
Speaker 1: at least be bad with rookies. Let's go to the
Speaker 1: Jets first team offense struggled quite a bit early in camp. There.
Speaker 1: Their center has been struggling, like can't snap the ball
Speaker 1: and Rogers is getting all over them all the time.
Speaker 1: It sounds like it got a little better the last
Speaker 1: few days before we're recording this, and the thing that
Speaker 1: stuck out to me the most is that their offensive
Speaker 1: line was finally together on the field late in the week.
Speaker 1: And that's like the first time that Jets have had
Speaker 1: an offensive line that's been healthy in I don't know
Speaker 1: the Robert sala Era, so cross your fingers, but on paper,
Speaker 1: it's a good offensive line. They could be six deep.
Speaker 1: They could you know, they have a good swing tackle
Speaker 1: and for now a bunch of guys coming off big
Speaker 1: injuries like Verah Tucker, it's like, okay, Tyrone Smith, they're
Speaker 1: getting back on the field and for now they're healthy.
Speaker 1: So that that to me is everything.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, Abt when he's healthy is a very
Speaker 2: solid guard, and that's when he went down last year.
Speaker 2: It was one of the big losses that you looked
Speaker 2: at and you, oh, no, they're not going to recover
Speaker 2: from that. The Tyron Smith acquisition on paper makes a
Speaker 2: ton of sense because you're thinking that's good value for
Speaker 2: a veteran. He's a stud, but he doesn't stay healthy.
Speaker 2: So to back him up with Olufashanu from Penn State
Speaker 2: is a big move in my opinion, because you have
Speaker 2: to pretty much prepare to lose Tyron Smith at some point.
Speaker 2: And that's the beauty of what they did in the
Speaker 2: off season. They knew, like a lot of teams do
Speaker 2: this in the off season. They look at it go
Speaker 2: that we're fine. Starting five is fine, you know, in
Speaker 2: case of emergency, will figure it out. The Jets have
Speaker 2: been burned enough that they now understand that they have
Speaker 2: to prepare for that emergency, not saying that that's like
Speaker 2: that across the board. But they're still in a better
Speaker 2: spot than they were last year, so you do have
Speaker 2: to feel encouraged about that.
Speaker 3: You just hope that Aaron Rodgers stays healthy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I and you know Mike Williams has in practice
Speaker 1: and that's not like a shock. He's coming off at
Speaker 1: tourney cl but you know we're getting closer to the season.
Speaker 1: Malachi Corley is a bit of a mystery box, you know.
Speaker 1: I think some days they think he looks pretty good.
Speaker 1: He's a rookie who's maybe pretty unrefined, and then you
Speaker 1: have Alan Lazard is maybe in a big role if
Speaker 1: those guys aren't there. So I think the offense has
Speaker 1: been a little up and down. They lost one of
Speaker 1: their starting corners, Michael Carter for a couple of weeks,
Speaker 1: but sounds like he'll be ready for the season. Tarik
Speaker 1: Cohen retired, so sad to see he was back and retired.
Speaker 1: This has happened a lot, so that was sad. And
Speaker 1: then you know, one thing I noted was Will McDonald
Speaker 1: was their first round pick a year ago and he
Speaker 1: went into the offseason wanting to add weight and he
Speaker 1: couldn't get on the field last year, he's still a backup.
Speaker 1: Even though they got rid of Bryce Off and even
Speaker 1: though Hassan Reddick is holding out, he's still behind Chris Clemons.
Speaker 1: And he didn't add any weight. He's two hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty five pounds, So that might be a first round
Speaker 1: pick that is take it a little while to get going.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's not a Vernon Golston necessarily, But when you
Speaker 2: spend a first round pick on a guy like that,
Speaker 2: and it makes you think, like, did you add to
Speaker 2: an area that you didn't need to add? Was it
Speaker 2: the best player available situation? You hope that he puts
Speaker 2: it together, but would be a bummer if they don't
Speaker 2: end up getting any sort of production that they would
Speaker 2: expect from a first round pick.
Speaker 1: Yeah, right now, not getting a lot of time. All right,
Speaker 1: let's tuck. Dolphins. Tyreek Hill got paid since we last talked.
Speaker 1: That was something I thought could be simmering, and it
Speaker 1: wasn't at all. I give credit to the Dolphins who
Speaker 1: are paying their top guys a lot of money. I
Speaker 1: think they now lead the NFL in terms of the
Speaker 1: amount of money they pay their five highest paid players.
Speaker 1: So they're a very like top heavy team and that
Speaker 1: includes some defensive players like Bradley Chubb at least is
Speaker 1: in there. But he got paid. They just pushed a
Speaker 1: lot of guaranteed money from the back end of his
Speaker 1: contract into the next two years. So that's the perfect way.
Speaker 1: They're not paying him huge guaranteed money until he's thirty four.
Speaker 1: But he's the He is the number one player in
Speaker 1: the NFL according to the the tires out there. How
Speaker 1: about it. I don't know if you watched that video,
Speaker 1: but that meant a lot to him, and I get
Speaker 1: it like he was into it. He was into it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I can't argue with them. The player
Speaker 2: voted thing tends to have some pretty big discrepancies from
Speaker 2: year to year. Guys who get hurt fall out of consciousness.
Speaker 2: Among players you saw, you know, Joe Burrow fall into
Speaker 2: like the thirties. But Tyreek, I mean, it's hard to
Speaker 2: argue with him. Guys had over seventeen hundred receiving yards
Speaker 2: in each the last two seasons. It's a guy you pay.
Speaker 2: And good on the Dolphins for not tacking on more
Speaker 2: years and instead finding a way to make him happy
Speaker 2: while staying within the realm of possibility.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought this to a Tyreek thing had a
Speaker 1: chance to be a distraction and a problem, and I
Speaker 1: was wrong going into camp. I should I should always
Speaker 1: remember contracts, for the most part, are overrated to talk about.
Speaker 2: And the and the salary cap is a myth. Let's
Speaker 2: not forget the salary.
Speaker 1: Totally a man, but you if you want to keep them,
Speaker 1: you can't. A couple other things from from camp, Chop
Speaker 1: Robinson reportedly in the one on ones just unblockable, like
Speaker 1: who knows if he'll be good on running downs, but
Speaker 1: unlike Will McDonald for instance, I think Chop Robinson is
Speaker 1: going to have a role right off the bat. And
Speaker 1: uh notice you know Obj is still not practicing. That's
Speaker 1: kind of like a thing that we've gotten used to.
Speaker 1: So everyone's pencil him into the third receiver role and
Speaker 1: he should be that. And Braxton Barrius, you know, might
Speaker 1: not even be a lot to make this team, but man,
Speaker 1: is he ever going to be healthy? And then I
Speaker 1: noticed Mike McDaniel talked about, you know, with Johnny Smith
Speaker 1: there and a couple of their additions and a rookie
Speaker 1: like I think they want to feature the tight end
Speaker 1: a little more too, Uh, so that could be something
Speaker 1: just to keep keep an eye on.
Speaker 2: At golf with the interesting personnel wise though, because like
Speaker 2: they they did make some changes of the position last
Speaker 2: year and you move on from you know, a handful
Speaker 2: of different tight ends and kind of just cycle through
Speaker 2: and you rely so much on the receivers that if
Speaker 2: you could actually have that element, that would make that
Speaker 2: offense that much more dangerous. And now that Tua got paid,
Speaker 2: we don't talk about that anymore, but we still have
Speaker 2: to evaluate who he is because he didn't get paid
Speaker 2: quite as much as some of the other quarterbacks, and
Speaker 2: that's kind of a sign that, you know, we'll see
Speaker 2: where he is, he said.
Speaker 1: You know, McDaniel said, it was all about what you emphasize,
Speaker 1: and they're emphasizing in practice, according to the practice reports,
Speaker 1: throwing to tight ends more and their deep as hell
Speaker 1: is running at running back like Jalen Wright is popping
Speaker 1: off long runs and he might be like their third
Speaker 1: or fourth running back that they're They're a fascinating team.
Speaker 1: I feel like they have one of the highest ceilings
Speaker 1: but also a shaky floor if things go wrong. All right,
Speaker 1: AFC North, why don't you kick us off now? Right?
Speaker 2: Let's start with the Cincinnati Bengals. Joe Burrow is back
Speaker 2: in camp and he's looking good. The offense is looking good,
Speaker 2: and he's hooking up with guys not named t Higgins
Speaker 2: or Jamar Chase. He found Trent Nordwin for a touchdown
Speaker 2: at the end of a long eleven on eleven period
Speaker 2: in practice this weekend. Overall, you know, this team, if
Speaker 2: you look at the offensive line, that's what's gonna matter
Speaker 2: most because you got to keep Burrow healthy. And on
Speaker 2: that offensive line is a guy who's very familiar to
Speaker 2: you coming from New England and been in some other stops,
Speaker 2: Trent Brown, and he just was recently cleared to practice.
Speaker 2: He has not fully participated with them yet, but that's
Speaker 2: going to be a key part of this offense because
Speaker 2: you know, you have Orlando Brown the opposite side. To
Speaker 2: get both Browns at both tackles, if they're healthy, that's
Speaker 2: going to do a huge job to help Burrow, who's
Speaker 2: not going to be the same immobile quarterback that he
Speaker 2: was at this time last year. But again, this offense
Speaker 2: starts and finishes with the Bengals, and and frankly, you
Speaker 2: know you look at their numbers last year, they were
Speaker 2: pretty solid without him. They went four and three without
Speaker 2: him and five and five with him as a starter,
Speaker 2: but they'd lacked the juice down the stretch to get
Speaker 2: over the hump. Jake Brown did a bang up job,
Speaker 2: much better than anybody anticipated, including myself. But again it's
Speaker 2: this starts and finishes with Burrow, so being able to
Speaker 2: protect him is huge. Another defensive side of the ball,
Speaker 2: you know, you're you're relying potentially on some young corners
Speaker 2: because they spent you know, they invested in DJ Turner
Speaker 2: a couple of years ago and now he's going to
Speaker 2: slide into a prominent role. But she also got guys
Speaker 2: like Diy John Anthony, you know, he's a youngster, could
Speaker 2: end up playing the nickel. He's been seeing an amount
Speaker 2: of snaps in camp so far. You know, some of
Speaker 2: the people there have said he's looked pretty good, especially
Speaker 2: in sub packages, dying packages where you have more defensive
Speaker 2: backs on the field. If you can find strength in
Speaker 2: the secondary, that's going to go a long way toward
Speaker 2: making this team a legitimate contender, because we know what
Speaker 2: you have in Burrow, but at the defense can actually
Speaker 2: make some plays and create some turnovers, then suddenly we're
Speaker 2: looking at his real beast in the AFC North.
Speaker 1: Yeah, quietly, Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson. They're their two
Speaker 1: best defensive linemen and two of their best defensive players
Speaker 1: have are out and it's like a week to week
Speaker 1: injuries where they don't think, you know, there's no risk
Speaker 1: that they're going to miss the season, I mean, miss
Speaker 1: anything into the regular season, but they're out right now.
Speaker 1: In Trent Brown, that always worries me. This is a
Speaker 1: guy and who knows. Maybe he's a veteran who is
Speaker 1: ramping up slowly to the season, but you just never
Speaker 1: know if he's going to be on the field or not.
Speaker 1: But the positive there is, you know, I've read a
Speaker 1: lot and heard a lot that Marius Mims so far
Speaker 1: doesn't seem like he's having that long adjustment to the
Speaker 1: pros that he is blocking out the and he's blocking
Speaker 1: out now at their backup pass rushers because the starters
Speaker 1: aren't in there. But supposedly he's looked really good, and
Speaker 1: my guess is he's just gonna start Week one over
Speaker 1: Trent Brown potentially, unless they're they're worried about Trent Brown
Speaker 1: being upset with Trent Brown tends to do. I do
Speaker 1: want to say before we move on from the Bengals, though,
Speaker 1: Andre Yoshavas this is a camp story. I'm buying. I
Speaker 1: think he's their wide receiver. Three. Paul daaner of the Athletics,
Speaker 1: said he's been the best receiver in camp, like including
Speaker 1: t Higgins. That and Joe Burrow even said it, Andre
Speaker 1: is gonna have a big year. So this is what
Speaker 1: camp is all about to me, is he thought, Okay,
Speaker 1: that's Jermaine Burton, who's a rookie, that's gonna be his role.
Speaker 1: But this is a physically talented guy who's in his
Speaker 1: second year, and it seems now like it'd be a
Speaker 1: shock if he is not the third receiver in a
Speaker 1: real part of the offense.
Speaker 2: This was a guy that I loved in Indianapolis before
Speaker 2: the draft a couple of years ago. When they snagged him,
Speaker 2: I thought, oh, that's a good long term play because
Speaker 2: he's got the physical tools and he's obviously got the brain.
Speaker 2: He's an ivy leaguer. You just need some time to
Speaker 2: get your feet underneath him. So why does he get
Speaker 2: ahead of Jermaine Burton going to this camp? Because he
Speaker 2: has that first year under his belt. Granted he didn't
Speaker 2: play a ton of snaps, but he did get some
Speaker 2: live bullets and has some experience. And then you get
Speaker 2: into year two, when you start to settle in, you
Speaker 2: get comfortable. The rookie wall is no longer an issue.
Speaker 2: I would love to see him because he didn't make
Speaker 2: contributor for them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think he's gonna all right, let's hear your
Speaker 1: next team.
Speaker 2: All right, we're gonna go over the Browns, and I'm
Speaker 2: gonna express some concern about this team. And the reason is, Look,
Speaker 2: I know it's early in camp, but anytime you get
Speaker 2: a number of guys to start on PUP, I get nervous.
Speaker 3: I get real nervous.
Speaker 2: And right now the Browns both are starting tackles are
Speaker 2: on pup, Jed Wills and Jack Conklin. We obviously know
Speaker 2: what Jack Conklin went through in a season ending injury
Speaker 2: last year. You got Dwan Jones there, so he shouldn't
Speaker 2: be that nervous. But I also think about the long
Speaker 2: term plan. Does Jed will stick around after this year?
Speaker 2: They just resigned Conkland to an extension, so you think
Speaker 2: maybe Dewand ends up taking the left side. But that's
Speaker 2: not where he's experienced. But if we're thinking this season,
Speaker 2: all right, well, both guys are on pup right now,
Speaker 2: let's hope that they get off of that before long.
Speaker 2: You have to start Week one with hackem I dentity
Speaker 2: at left tackle, because we know how that went for
Speaker 2: the Bengals right tackle in the past. It's not pretty.
Speaker 2: And then you go down the list Nick Chubb, who's
Speaker 2: getting closer, but he's still on pup as well.
Speaker 3: I worried about that.
Speaker 2: And then Dalvin Tomlinson, another guy on the backside, you know,
Speaker 2: on the defensive side of the ball, in the interior,
Speaker 2: guy who really played well for them last year. And
Speaker 2: they do have some depth there. They added Quentin Jefferson,
Speaker 2: they have Mohurst, they drafted.
Speaker 3: My call.
Speaker 2: But anytime I see a number of guys with with
Speaker 2: that PUP next to their name at this point in
Speaker 2: the season.
Speaker 3: I get a little worried.
Speaker 2: And it's not even anything to do with the Shawn Watson,
Speaker 2: who apparently has been showing off the arm strength. But
Speaker 2: we already know that this is a big year for
Speaker 2: him and that we can't necessarily be confident in where
Speaker 2: he is healthwise until he proves it, so big question
Speaker 2: marks on the health side early in camp for the
Speaker 2: Browns as they return from their stay at the Greenbrier.
Speaker 1: Right they're they're back in Cleveland. As of Sunday, they're
Speaker 1: starting corner. Greg Newsom is also out for a number
Speaker 1: of weeks. There was some news on the Chubb front
Speaker 1: that Mary Kay Cabot of the Akronbeacon Journal, now, I
Speaker 1: think a Cleveland it's hard to keep dot com yep,
Speaker 1: that he could be activated during camp, which is interesting
Speaker 1: because I kind of thought he'd be a pup guy
Speaker 1: into the season, so that that'd be good to have him.
Speaker 2: I mean, the question Star is this is like, if
Speaker 2: you activate him in camp, does that mean that he's
Speaker 2: actually ready or is that just like the next step
Speaker 2: in the acclamation, Like, I fully don't expect him to
Speaker 2: be good for the first few weeks.
Speaker 1: Well, you can't put him in the injury yet. Now,
Speaker 1: I guess you could move him to IR, So it's
Speaker 1: not that huge of a deal. You lose you lose
Speaker 1: the pup status that you can have for the season.
Speaker 1: There's a certain amount of IR spots, so I would
Speaker 1: say this, they would only activate him if they thought
Speaker 1: he has a chance to help them in the first
Speaker 1: three weeks of the season or so, so that that's
Speaker 1: a positive sign if it happened. And they did get
Speaker 1: Jerry Judy back at team drill Sunday, They did get
Speaker 1: Miles Garrett back at team drills for the both of
Speaker 1: them for the first time all camp. So yeah, they
Speaker 1: they've had a lot of injuries. I have a hard
Speaker 1: time Browns fans think I hate this team because I
Speaker 1: hated the Deshaun Watson acquisition, and yeah, like that's a problem.
Speaker 1: I do think if you're a Browns fan, there's a
Speaker 1: lot like this is a really good roster. And on
Speaker 1: the Watson front, I think this offseason's gone as planned.
Speaker 1: He had a scheduled day off, but he's basically doing
Speaker 1: almost everything at camp and it's just the injuries. Other
Speaker 1: than that, Like, all they need is average quarterback play.
Speaker 1: We saw it last year, Like that's all they need.
Speaker 1: And I think so far, so good for everything. It's
Speaker 1: just they got to get everyone around him healthy. Let's
Speaker 1: hear about the Steelers, all right.
Speaker 3: The Steelers.
Speaker 2: The big headline is one that's been dominating the beat writers'
Speaker 2: focus for most of the last week, which is that
Speaker 2: Russell Wilson a little bit of a lower body issue,
Speaker 2: you know, listed his calf kind of limited him a
Speaker 2: little bit in practice going into this week, and of
Speaker 2: course turned all the attention to how many snaps does
Speaker 2: Justin Fields get versus Russell Wilson. Mike Tomlin was pretty
Speaker 2: adamant that no matter how hard Wilson wants to be
Speaker 2: or how bad he wants to be out there, that
Speaker 2: he he's not gonna, you know, just let him force
Speaker 2: his way out there.
Speaker 3: Which is great.
Speaker 2: That's the structure that somebody like Russell Wilson probably needs
Speaker 2: at this point in his career to really.
Speaker 3: Be you know, his own safeguard.
Speaker 2: But I do sit back and think a guy that's
Speaker 2: been mobile for a lot of his career was good
Speaker 2: and extending plays any sort of lower body issue, I
Speaker 2: get a little concerned, And it just makes me wonder,
Speaker 2: how do we see Justin Fields get worked in this offense?
Speaker 2: Because at some point it's going to happen. And if
Speaker 2: this is the way, it's unfortunate, but it does open
Speaker 2: the door.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So Wilson hasn't been taking first team reps, but
Speaker 1: he has taken seven on sevens and he was ramping
Speaker 1: up his individuals, and when they asked Tomlin about it's Sunday,
Speaker 1: it did sound like, I think, I think the team
Speaker 1: drills are coming maybe after the break. I think they
Speaker 1: have Monday off, and then maybe he's coming on Tuesday.
Speaker 1: But they got they got a proof of concept, and
Speaker 1: supposedly as the week and a half went on, Fields
Speaker 1: was more and more comfortable and had some really big
Speaker 1: days where the offense dominated. There was one red zone
Speaker 1: session where they said he did he had six straight
Speaker 1: touchdown and then Russell Wilson steps in for one snap
Speaker 1: where he hands it off and you know that's killing
Speaker 1: Russ when they're scoring six touchdowns without him. And then
Speaker 1: it really struck me. Tomlin talked about the running back
Speaker 1: just how impressed he is right now that Jalen Warren
Speaker 1: and Najee Harris are kind of the leaders, the tough
Speaker 1: guys of this team, and they're playing a lot of
Speaker 1: two three tight ends and they want to run the
Speaker 1: ball and it's Arthur Freakin Smith and they're saying Reid option,
Speaker 1: they're saying pistol and which quarterback would you rather have
Speaker 1: run that offense? It's just in It's just in Fields,
Speaker 1: so I think this is a story. This is something.
Speaker 1: All right, let's wrap up the AFC with the Ravens.
Speaker 2: Looks like the defense is balling in Baltimore so far
Speaker 2: with the Ravens. A number of defenders are really standing out.
Speaker 2: Odafe Oway, a guy who had a really good year
Speaker 2: a couple of years ago, has been pretty disruptive in camp.
Speaker 2: I'm really excited to see if they can actually get
Speaker 2: that turned up because, look, they lost Mike McDonald, the
Speaker 2: defensive coordinator, They lost a lot of defensive coaches this offseason.
Speaker 2: It was a bit of an exodus, not because the
Speaker 2: Ravens were bad, but because they were so good other
Speaker 2: teams wanted them. So how can they kind of sustain
Speaker 2: that momentum going into this season. That's gonna be key,
Speaker 2: And especially on the back end. You got veterans back
Speaker 2: there in that secondary. Now you got Marcus Williams. You know,
Speaker 2: you got Eddie Jackson back there as well. Those are
Speaker 2: guys who have a lot of experience making plays in
Speaker 2: the back end. If the front four and the back
Speaker 2: end can work together, then we're not even going to
Speaker 2: be thinking about Rokwan Smith or the loss of Patrick Queen.
Speaker 3: Who cares if that both sides are doing that well.
Speaker 2: So a lot of good signs from the Ravens defensively
Speaker 2: in practice so far. Trenton Simpson, that's another guy who's
Speaker 2: gonna get a bigger role this season. Curious to see
Speaker 2: how he takes advantage of this camp. So far, so
Speaker 2: good on their end, and that's going to be the key,
Speaker 2: because you know your offense can put up points like
Speaker 2: we could sit here and talk about year two with
Speaker 2: Todd Munkin all day, but and you know you have
Speaker 2: Lamar at quarterback and he's gonna be electric. But it's
Speaker 2: all about complimentary football. And if that defense could be
Speaker 2: nearly as good as the offense, then they're gonna be
Speaker 2: just as good, if not better than they were last year.
Speaker 2: And they're gonna be a tough out.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I look at them, and they've got three offensive
Speaker 1: line positions up for grabs, which is a little crazy,
Speaker 1: Like it's Andrew Wore's at left guard so far, this
Speaker 1: mountain of a man, Daniel Filele is at right guard,
Speaker 1: but that's open. It's gonna be my brother, Roger rosen
Speaker 1: Garden or McCarry at right tackle. But I'm not worried.
Speaker 1: They always figure that stuff out. You're right, I actually
Speaker 1: think I think it's fair to expect the offense to
Speaker 1: take a little step back because they were just so
Speaker 1: good last year. But I do think the defense can
Speaker 1: make up for it even without Mike McDonald. Their cornerback,
Speaker 1: Nate Wiggins, their first round pick, is to me one
Speaker 1: of the key guys in the division. There was a
Speaker 1: stat that they tracked him as the fastest player they've
Speaker 1: ever tracked during practice earlier this week, and so he's
Speaker 1: just like pure speed. Can he hit like we'll see
Speaker 1: they usually coach that up a lot. But I'm into
Speaker 1: the Rashad Bateman summer, like Rashad Bateman January March OTAs
Speaker 1: everything it keeps happening. He's supposedly having a good camp
Speaker 1: and he's healthy, so it's all happening. And then one
Speaker 1: last note on the Ravens and we'll take a break
Speaker 1: after this is John Harbaugh said Justice. So I see
Speaker 1: him as a starter. I think he's going to play
Speaker 1: a lot, and uh, obviously he's not going to play
Speaker 1: as much as Derrick Henry, but just just something to
Speaker 1: put in your pocket there that they think that highly
Speaker 1: and Derek Henry not always the best on passing down.
Speaker 1: So Justice Hill might be in the mix quite a bit.
Speaker 1: We're going to stay in the mix. We're going to
Speaker 1: go through the entire AFC South and the AFC West
Speaker 1: after the break back on NFL Daily. We're cranking, We're
Speaker 1: speeding through. Did you do track? You look like a
Speaker 1: guy that would have done the hammer throw or something
Speaker 1: like that.
Speaker 3: No, I was never fast enough.
Speaker 1: And what springs sport? What was your spring sport?
Speaker 3: Did you have a spring I was a basebook.
Speaker 2: It was a pitcher and a corner infielder until I
Speaker 2: tore my shoulder playing football and it was all over.
Speaker 1: It's gonna say that surprises me as someone who was,
Speaker 1: you know, on your softball team. No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 3: You hit it a long way now.
Speaker 1: Shook and I actually played similar roles. I think on
Speaker 1: the team. We were very solid role players. We weren't
Speaker 1: the best players on the team, but we were rock
Speaker 1: solid starters that you could depend on to get on base,
Speaker 1: to make smart plays in the field. And that's what
Speaker 1: that's what being a team's all about. Nick.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, we stepped up. We did our job.
Speaker 3: We sprayed the ball around the field.
Speaker 1: I'm messing with you. I did want to hit before
Speaker 1: we hit the division just very quickly. They had the
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame ceremony on Saturday. Our good friend Colleen
Speaker 1: Wolf was there, of course, and that's why if you're
Speaker 1: missing Colleen on the show. She is going to be
Speaker 1: a big part of the show every week. But like
Speaker 1: a lot of the reporters, like Steve Weish, they're traveling
Speaker 1: all over the country right now, so looking forward to
Speaker 1: when they all get back. But after a rain delay
Speaker 1: they had the ceremony. Julius Pepper's in very satisfying to
Speaker 1: me to see how his career arc worked as someone
Speaker 1: who was there at the beginning of his career already
Speaker 1: covering football people. I remember you chumps who were saying, Oh,
Speaker 1: this guy's overrated, or he doesn't try hard enough, and
Speaker 1: it's just a reminder of how toxic the media can be,
Speaker 1: because that dude busted his ass and had an incredible career.
Speaker 1: It's so many offensive linemen say he was the toughest
Speaker 1: person they've ever had to block, and so it was
Speaker 1: very cool seeing him in the Hall of Fame. Dwight Freeney,
Speaker 1: Andre Johnson, who is just all class and a total awesome.
Speaker 1: First Houston Texan to make the Hall of Fame. He'll
Speaker 1: always really have a special place in those fans' hearts
Speaker 1: being the first. Patrick Willis who I'm glad got in
Speaker 1: because I'd rather have a really high peak rather than
Speaker 1: the compilers, and he had such a high peak before
Speaker 1: injuries took him out. And then Devin Hester, Randy Gratischer,
Speaker 1: and Steve McMichael getting in from the Veterans Committee. So
Speaker 1: congratulations to all them and their families. I love that
Speaker 1: Canton weekend. Let's move on to the AFC West. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna lead off. Let's talk chiefs. Okay to me, there's
Speaker 1: some like similar stories here that I remember from last camp.
Speaker 1: Dean Eric Prince. He was kind of a buzzy guy
Speaker 1: last camp and then he didn't do anything in the season.
Speaker 1: It's like, oh, is this guy the RB two? Like
Speaker 1: who is this random dude? He is explaining exclusively with
Speaker 1: the first team him and he's you know at him
Speaker 1: and Pacheco, But it's a clear drop off to whoever's
Speaker 1: behind him, like like Clyde Edwards Hilaire. So this guy's
Speaker 1: gonna make the team. He's probably gonna be the backup
Speaker 1: and then Justin Ross. Every year we get to this
Speaker 1: point in the season and Chiefs fans love Justin Ross.
Speaker 1: You don't need Justin Ross anymore because you got big
Speaker 1: time plays going down the field. But it's almost like
Speaker 1: this team is two set up. You're you're just looking
Speaker 1: at the margins for new stuff.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because they're so good.
Speaker 2: But the thing about Justin Ross is he ends up
Speaker 2: not being the most important justin to this receiving court
Speaker 2: by the time the season actually arrives.
Speaker 3: That ends up being Justin Watson, not Justin Ross.
Speaker 2: I would love it if he was, but he just
Speaker 2: hasn't gotten the volume of targets that he would need.
Speaker 2: But it is interesting when you talk about the running backs,
Speaker 2: because this is a team that has thrived on being
Speaker 2: able to rotate guys in and out and find roles
Speaker 2: for them, going back to twenty nineteen when they came
Speaker 2: back to beat the forty nine ers in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2: So to see a new name included in there, and
Speaker 2: it's not just Isaiah Pacheco's show, that's good. It does
Speaker 2: disappoint me though, that Clyde Edwards Hilaire has faded into
Speaker 2: the background because of where he was drafted and how
Speaker 2: much people liked him when he first came.
Speaker 1: Out, Well, they resigned him. He'll probably make the team
Speaker 1: as like their third back. He had some moments in
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. It's just yeah, they're gonna go younger
Speaker 1: and really look like Prince. So that's a guy that's
Speaker 1: now gonna get drafted in fantasy leagues. The other deep
Speaker 1: ball narrative that's been there, I mean it's day after
Speaker 1: day after day. I read these great reports from Pete
Speaker 1: Sweeney of Arrowhead Prides. Every single day Mahomes is bombing
Speaker 1: to Mark Ease Brown and zaber Worthy and some days
Speaker 1: they hit three or four, two or three, and some
Speaker 1: days it does they don't hit as many. But the
Speaker 1: fact that it's what you emphasize that is coming with
Speaker 1: the regular season. And John Gruden in Chiefs gear at
Speaker 1: practice yesterday or Sunday rather. I don't know if he's
Speaker 1: part of the team, if he's an officially part of
Speaker 1: the team, but he's wearing Chiefs gear and he was there,
Speaker 1: so that's just something to watch. They obviously used to
Speaker 1: coach together Andy Reid and John Gruden. He might be
Speaker 1: back in the league. All right, let's go to the Raiders,
Speaker 1: Pierce Antonio Pierce has been saying that the running back
Speaker 1: position is wide open, which is surprising to me. I
Speaker 1: thought it was Amir White. They have an undrafted free
Speaker 1: agent Dylan lub someone to watch a little bit in
Speaker 1: the preseason, and then the quarterback battle supposedly it's just
Speaker 1: been mostly bad from Minshew and Aidan O'Connell. I'm pulling
Speaker 1: for O'Connell. The reports were Saturday, which you know, was
Speaker 1: one of those practices with fans and the owners that
Speaker 1: you know, Mark Davis is there, that Minshew had a
Speaker 1: much better day and maybe he edged ahead for the
Speaker 1: first time, but we still got a little ways to
Speaker 1: go there.
Speaker 2: It's weird because if you looked at it on paper
Speaker 2: going to the season, most people probably thought, yeah, this
Speaker 2: is Minshew's job to lose, even if it's still Gardner Minshew,
Speaker 2: and yet we're not seeing much of separation so far,
Speaker 2: which I'm not surprised about because Minshew to me, is
Speaker 2: a plus back who's going to do everything he can
Speaker 2: to avoid ruining games for you, but he's not going
Speaker 2: to go out there and win games for you.
Speaker 3: I know Connell has probably more of a higher.
Speaker 2: Yet unknown ceiling and has the experience of playing with
Speaker 2: them in the backside of last year. So it's kind
Speaker 2: of an intriguing battle. It's not an exciting battle because
Speaker 2: the outcome. There's no high peak there. There's nobody you're
Speaker 2: pulling for here. You're like, yeah, he's gonna win us
Speaker 2: a super Bowl. So I'm concerned, but I wouldn't be
Speaker 2: surprised if we see a little bit of back.
Speaker 3: And forth of that position this year.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Jacoreyan Bennett, second year player, looks like he's emerged
Speaker 1: as the starter opposite Jack Jones. I think the tight
Speaker 1: ends have been as advertised and they're going to play
Speaker 1: a lot. Supposedly. The third receiver who I liked last year,
Speaker 1: Trey Tucker, has been pretty rough and Tyree Wilson, a
Speaker 1: top ten pick who did nothing as a rookie, very
Speaker 1: quiet camp. Again, this is according to Victa For and
Speaker 1: to Shun Reed of the Athletic that I just don't
Speaker 1: know if it's happening for Tyree Wilson and Raiders fan.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what I see. I'm going down there
Speaker 1: on Tuesday. We're not doing a ton of content, but
Speaker 1: I will have at least like one interview and talk
Speaker 1: about what I saw practice. So I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I'm actually kind of high on this roster.
Speaker 1: Check out Mina Kimes's AFC West preview. I did it
Speaker 1: with her and we did fifteen minutes. This roster is
Speaker 1: pretty good except for the quarterbacks. Go ahead.
Speaker 2: Sorry, that's just the disappointing part about it is if
Speaker 2: you look around, you're like, this could be a team
Speaker 2: that could contend for the division, like.
Speaker 3: The defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 2: I mean, well, I mean because the Chiefs exist in
Speaker 2: the division, but you know what I'm saying, they could
Speaker 2: make it at least interesting. And then you come back
Speaker 2: to quarterback and you just think this is going to
Speaker 2: be the thing that holds them.
Speaker 1: Back, right the Chargers sort of the opposite. The quarterback
Speaker 1: is going to be lifting everyone up at least when
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert gets back. You know, I hit that injury
Speaker 1: that Herbert had at the beginning of our last show,
Speaker 1: and no, nothing new on that front. East and Stick,
Speaker 1: No Surprise, has reportedly struggled against the starting defense a
Speaker 1: couple of days, although maybe it's more about the defense
Speaker 1: because the Rams had a joint practice with the Chargers
Speaker 1: on Sunday and supposedly couldn't get anything done, like turn
Speaker 1: the ball over every other snap and couldn't block anyone.
Speaker 1: Now they have a lot of injuries up front, but
Speaker 1: the pass rush for the Chargers playing well, you know,
Speaker 1: they go pretty deep in terms of their pass rush.
Speaker 1: But I think offensively it's going to be tough getting
Speaker 1: anything productive done with East and Stick as your quarterback,
Speaker 1: and Quintin Johnston is hurt again, might be minor. Lad
Speaker 1: McConkie's been in and out of the practice because of
Speaker 1: injuries the last few days. So this is a team
Speaker 1: I think that's happy. We're still what is it five,
Speaker 1: We're five Sundays away, you know from starting the season.
Speaker 1: They need that time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And you know, I would be too concerned to
Speaker 2: necessarily receiver when it comes to lad mconaky because I
Speaker 2: think you just need to get him healthy and if
Speaker 2: he's healthy, is out there, he's gonna find a way.
Speaker 1: It's nothing major. He's been in and out like but
Speaker 1: he then he came and played one snap and then
Speaker 1: he was out again the so.
Speaker 2: So get him healthy. You have time to get him
Speaker 2: acclimated and get him healthy. Quentin Johnson on the other hand,
Speaker 2: the pressure has to already be on because he did
Speaker 2: not have a notable rookie season at all, and he
Speaker 2: was known more for failing to come through in the
Speaker 2: clutch than actually producing. So to know that he's hit
Speaker 2: another bump in the road is not exciting for them.
Speaker 2: But defensively, man you talked about you know that the
Speaker 2: Rams gonna do muchgainst him, Well, look at the defensive coordinator.
Speaker 2: I mean that's the guy who was the mastermind behind
Speaker 2: Michigan's defense will win the College Football Payoff national title
Speaker 2: and Jesse Minter. So if that could be the strength
Speaker 2: of the team this year, I'm cool with that. And
Speaker 2: then you let Justin Herbert make the plays that he
Speaker 2: makes and hopes that the receivers on the other end
Speaker 2: of the pass is you know, catch the ball. But
Speaker 2: if the defense is the strength, that's actually really exciting
Speaker 2: because that's not something that we're necessarily used to with
Speaker 2: the turn.
Speaker 1: No, they need it, I mean they need to just
Speaker 1: get closer to average. I think they're getting a really
Speaker 1: good camp out of Christian Fulton, who starting and bothly
Speaker 1: had a good day. Our Rams correspondent Jordan Rodrieg said
Speaker 1: he kind of shut down Cooper Cup throughout the day.
Speaker 1: On Sunday, let let's go to the Broncos. Bo Nix
Speaker 1: has taken first team reps and four out of the
Speaker 1: last five practices. Sean Payton compared his ability to avoid
Speaker 1: sacks to Drew Brees on Sunday.
Speaker 3: There is you know it was coming.
Speaker 1: I think it's I think we know which way that
Speaker 1: that's going here. I thoughts, did him aunt a chance?
Speaker 1: Maybe he still has a little bit of a chance,
Speaker 1: but I don't think he has much of a chance.
Speaker 2: The Knicks aissance is here. This this is gonna be
Speaker 2: the way it was gonna go the whole time. The
Speaker 2: first sign was Zach Wilson fall out of the rotation.
Speaker 2: Now you're hearing it, you know, Sean.
Speaker 1: Okay, here's the thing, though he could he could have
Speaker 1: just stunk. There is a world where like everyone watching
Speaker 1: practice is like, man, Nicks is not ready, and that
Speaker 1: doesn't seem to be the case, you know, So that
Speaker 1: credit to him for doing that, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Like Zach Wilson's first camp, no one would have said like, oh,
Speaker 1: this is going the way we thought it was gonna go,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean?
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, but I think a lot of that has
Speaker 2: to do with what bo Nix has between the ears.
Speaker 3: He's got a ton of college experience. Basically.
Speaker 2: That was the big question, is like could he get
Speaker 2: the job done. I think he fits into what Sean
Speaker 2: Payton does, So I'm not at all surprised to hear
Speaker 2: him start making Breeze comparisons, because you know that's gonna
Speaker 2: be his guy.
Speaker 1: Yeah. A couple other just little notes there Orodric estimate
Speaker 1: is it estimate? Or Yeah, a lot of love and
Speaker 1: Javonte Williams, Peyton says is a totally different player. So
Speaker 1: he's either gassing up Williams to try to trade him,
Speaker 1: or maybe that's your one two punch. I think Esma
Speaker 1: is gonna do something this year.
Speaker 2: That's your thunder and lightning and Estimate is the thunder.
Speaker 2: That's a big back and he runs hard. It's not
Speaker 2: the fastest, he's not the most explosive, but he'll run
Speaker 2: guys over. It's the perfect compliment to Javonte Williams. Can
Speaker 2: make a nice little backfield there.
Speaker 1: Okay, Yeah, listening to Peyton's press conferences, I don't think
Speaker 1: he's a Greg Dulcach guy. Not his guy who they
Speaker 1: always want the guys they brought in, makes sense that
Speaker 1: that's why they brought him in for a reason. And
Speaker 1: then Levi Wallace, who's competing was probably the favorite to
Speaker 1: start at cornerback, is going to miss a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks and that's a thin position for them. We'll wrap
Speaker 1: up the AFC West we already did. I didn't even notice.
Speaker 1: Let's go to the AFC South, all right.
Speaker 2: We're gonna start with the Jacksonville Jaguars, where cornerback Christian
Speaker 2: Braswell is having a good camp. He's standing out, but
Speaker 2: he also had a rough time against Christian Kirk, which
Speaker 2: points to what I really want to talk about, which
Speaker 2: is this revamp receiving corps with the Jaguars. They added
Speaker 2: a ton of talent in the offseason. They let some
Speaker 2: talent go as well, but Brian Thomas has been turning
Speaker 2: heads and they're going to depend on him a lot.
Speaker 2: I think this season you get a top three of Kirk, Thomas,
Speaker 2: and Gabe Davis, and suddenly Trevor Lawrence has multiple options
Speaker 2: to go to. You add in Devin Duvernet, who's got
Speaker 2: experience from Baltimore. It can be a bit of a
Speaker 2: field stretcher at times. I love this group. Now beyond
Speaker 2: those first four, you get a little concerned. You don't
Speaker 2: want to be relying on Parker Washington that much, even
Speaker 2: when he did step up occasionally last season. But I
Speaker 2: like this top four. It's a big year. Trevor Lawrence
Speaker 2: just got paid, but it's still a big year. Because
Speaker 2: of the way they finished last year, they cannot afford
Speaker 2: to struggle out of the gate again. So getting these
Speaker 2: new additions in there and acclimated is going to serve
Speaker 2: them really well. And then you know, of course, like
Speaker 2: I said, on the defensive side of the field, you
Speaker 2: know braswell, a twenty three sixth round pick, if he's
Speaker 2: standing out in camp, that's going to go along the
Speaker 2: way toward helping their depth. And you already know what
Speaker 2: you have in mister Joshua hinz Aellen, a guy who
Speaker 2: we've already highlighted because.
Speaker 3: Of his name change. And so I'm feeling excited about
Speaker 3: this group.
Speaker 2: I think that there are some question marks, there's there's
Speaker 2: some holes that they've passed with veterans. You know, you
Speaker 2: got Ronald Darby back there as well, And I don't
Speaker 2: feel necessarily great about that, but Tyson Campbell got paid recently,
Speaker 2: you got Andre Cisco back there. That's still a group
Speaker 2: that I kind of like. And if you get some
Speaker 2: depth contributions from guys that you didn't expect, then you're
Speaker 2: looking better going into a pivotal season for Doug Peterson.
Speaker 1: I hate that I'm saying this about the AFC South,
Speaker 1: but there's just a couple of teams here. I don't
Speaker 1: know what to say at Yes camp because I went
Speaker 1: through the camp notes and it happens they haven't had
Speaker 1: devastating injuries, although their offensive line right now is banged up,
Speaker 1: but it doesn't seem like they're long term injuries. Tank
Speaker 1: Bigsby better, according to SI's John Shipley, having a good camp.
Speaker 1: That's good to note. Their rookie kicker is killing it,
Speaker 1: Cam little well, and otherwise I see like Gabe Davis
Speaker 1: has a couple good days, Brian Thomas has a couple
Speaker 1: good days within a couple of quiet days. The offense
Speaker 1: definitely got better after I talked about how they were
Speaker 1: really struggling early in camp, and that's fine. It's push
Speaker 1: and pull. They don't have a lot of huge headlines,
Speaker 1: they don't have a lot of big position battles, they're
Speaker 1: like looking for a third edge rusher. But quiet is
Speaker 1: sometimes okay in camp, so I'm not like looking any
Speaker 1: differently that it's been a quiet camp and definitely arrow up.
Speaker 1: It sounds like for the offense over the last week.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they need it.
Speaker 2: You're right though, That's very true about a lot of
Speaker 2: this division, which is why I'm going to go to
Speaker 2: a notable news item coming from Tennessee where the Titans
Speaker 2: lost DeAndre Hopkins to any issue, he's going to miss
Speaker 2: multiple weeks.
Speaker 3: That would be.
Speaker 2: Concerning on the surface, but those who know the Titans
Speaker 2: fairly well understand that Treylon Burk's has not produced at
Speaker 2: the level that they expected and this could open the
Speaker 2: door for him to either prove it or lose it,
Speaker 2: because look, if DeAndre Hopkins isn't out there, you were
Speaker 2: drafted to replace AJ Brown and you were so unproductive.
Speaker 3: They went and got DeAndre Hopkins last year.
Speaker 2: So now they've spent some money elsewhere, they've added other
Speaker 2: talent in the offseason, so now we need you, Trailon
Speaker 2: Burks to step up. And so far we don't really
Speaker 2: have conclusive results, but we did hear them talk a
Speaker 2: lot about it yesterday about how the fact that it's
Speaker 2: going to give him a chance to prove himself. It's just, look,
Speaker 2: we've got five Sundays till the first you know, till
Speaker 2: the regular season. They didn't pick up his fifth year
Speaker 2: option already. They know he's got to prove it right now.
Speaker 2: So this is going to be an important month for
Speaker 2: him and whether he can actually carve out a role
Speaker 2: with his team or not.
Speaker 1: Never was a big Burkes guy coming out of college.
Speaker 1: Now I did think as a rookie, though he did
Speaker 1: more than I expected. Very disappointing second year. I think
Speaker 1: if you could carve out the right role for him,
Speaker 1: he can be valuable. Calvin Ridley has reportedly looked really good.
Speaker 1: I think they're going to use a lot of two
Speaker 1: tight end sets. Again, I can say that about a
Speaker 1: lot of teams. Josh Wiley, I believe it is making
Speaker 1: some noise him in Chickakonquo. That's a bit of a battle.
Speaker 1: So you don't need you know, you don't need trailing
Speaker 1: Burks to be some of you just need him to
Speaker 1: be a contributor. But he was wide receiver four before
Speaker 1: this injury, which which says a lot to me. One
Speaker 1: last thing I'll say in Tennessee is Devandre Devandre Sweat,
Speaker 1: who was a very polarizing draft pick and immediately with
Speaker 1: the starters and by all accounts, immediately making a lot
Speaker 1: of noise at camp. And so that was a guy
Speaker 1: that felt like as boom or bust as anyone in
Speaker 1: this draft. And so far, I think they're really happy
Speaker 1: with what they see, and I think he's going to
Speaker 1: start day one.
Speaker 2: I think we've kind of fallen out of the era
Speaker 2: of the classic gap plugging nose tackle. They still kind
Speaker 2: of exist, but not in the same way that they
Speaker 2: used to. This guy fits that mold. I was just
Speaker 2: blown away by the picture that was posted of him
Speaker 2: next to Jeffrey Simmons, making Jeffrey Simmons look small on
Speaker 2: Jeffer Simmons.
Speaker 1: Oh, I already see that. That is WI.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this dude is a unit.
Speaker 2: So if they can actually plug gaps consistently with him,
Speaker 2: and if he's actually living up to you know, the
Speaker 2: notes so far that he's with the starters and he's
Speaker 2: making plays, it's going to be a huge boon for
Speaker 2: them on that defensive side.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think with Levis, it seems like more
Speaker 1: good than bad. There hasn't been a lot of hot
Speaker 1: takes from people. There just kind of as expected, making
Speaker 1: some plays, making some boneheaded plays. That's will love us.
Speaker 1: All right, Let's go Texans.
Speaker 2: Actually, let's all right, We'll go Texans. I was gonna
Speaker 2: go Colts, but we'll go Texans next. Look, we know
Speaker 2: the story of this team right now, right it's c J.
Speaker 2: Stroud in this entire offense. But what I'm thinking about
Speaker 2: is what they did on the defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 2: Because we can spend all day talking about, oh, they
Speaker 2: got Stefan Diggs in the off season. They look great offensively.
Speaker 2: You know, they gave Nico Collins money. Tank Dell's coming
Speaker 2: back from injury. That's all cool, But I need to
Speaker 2: know how your defense is gonna play in key situations,
Speaker 2: and as he is. Al Shire is a guy that
Speaker 2: I thought was a super sneaky addition in the offseason,
Speaker 2: and so far he's proven his worth in campus. I mean,
Speaker 2: he's been very solid, especially in the red zone. He's
Speaker 2: stuffed the run, He's done pretty much everything you would
Speaker 2: ask him to. He's a guy that came from San Francisco,
Speaker 2: spent last year in Nashville, somebody that wasn't really appreciated
Speaker 2: that much, I don't think, and maybe it was because
Speaker 2: the situation in Nashville last year. But now with Houston, Texans,
Speaker 2: I think he's got an opportunity and that's not necessarily
Speaker 2: to become like a pro bowler and all pro and
Speaker 2: pop like that, but make some key contributions at the
Speaker 2: second level where I thought they were their weakest. And
Speaker 2: now he'll play alongside Christian Harrison and maybe serve a
Speaker 2: big role because we'll pay a lot of attention talking
Speaker 2: about Will Anderson and about Danil Hunter.
Speaker 3: But I think this second level is gonna be the make.
Speaker 2: Or break punt this defense and really what's gonna make
Speaker 2: Dimiko Ryan's unit into something good or not?
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I have so much faith in Ryan's ability
Speaker 1: to coach up that group that was his position and
Speaker 1: he's done it. He did it last year with lesser talent.
Speaker 1: I'm with you. I think Kamari Lassiter has been one
Speaker 1: of the big stories in Camp. If I could pick
Speaker 1: two Camp hype bunnies that I featured on this show
Speaker 1: that that I believe is for real, it would be
Speaker 1: Yoshavas with the Bengals and Lassiter with the Texans, just
Speaker 1: because the people I trust that are there that are
Speaker 1: really smart football people are seeing it day after day
Speaker 1: and they're saying, he is matching up against this great
Speaker 1: receiver trio and he is really holding. And you know
Speaker 1: they didn't of course, they didn't play him in the
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame game, Like he's a locked in starter
Speaker 1: as a rookie corner. You're gonna have ups and downs
Speaker 1: as a rookie corner. But so many rookie corners come
Speaker 1: in and they get barbecued in camp. And the fact
Speaker 1: that he's come out and everyone's really impressed with how
Speaker 1: he's looked to me that that's a really encouraging story
Speaker 1: out of Texans camp. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean he's ahead of Jeff o'cuda on the depth
Speaker 2: chart right now, Like, oh yeah, yeah, that's a that's
Speaker 2: a good move, that looks very good and that fills
Speaker 2: out that secondary and.
Speaker 1: A good sign. Damian Pierce Revival didn't play in the
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame game. I think I think they like
Speaker 1: what they're seeing right now. Demian.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna make one note on the Hall of Fame games,
Speaker 2: since I was sitting in the press box and sat
Speaker 2: to that storm and got drenched in the way out,
Speaker 2: and I also ran to Colleen, so that was fun.
Speaker 2: We got to talk for a minute in the press box.
Speaker 2: But the Bobby Slowk offense looks just as good as
Speaker 2: it did last year. I know it doesn't show on
Speaker 2: the scoreboard, but when Davis Mills was in there early,
Speaker 2: I was like, oh, baby, like, he looks comfortable. They're
Speaker 2: moving him around in the pocket. He is not a statue.
Speaker 2: He's designed rollouts. He's navigating, just breaking away, he's delivering
Speaker 2: the ball. He didn't play very long, but I just
Speaker 2: sat back and thought, man, they were picking up right
Speaker 2: where they left off and they don't even have Stroud
Speaker 2: out there. I love the idea of this offense this
Speaker 2: year with Slowly, He's gonna be getting head coaching looks
Speaker 2: before long, and especially if they produced this year.
Speaker 3: So it was a good sign.
Speaker 1: Hot take. They have the best quarterback room in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Oh CJ. Stroud, Davis Mills in case keenum. I mean,
Speaker 1: if you have to go one through three and you're
Speaker 1: not like overly waiting one as obviously one is by
Speaker 1: far the most important, but you got a top ten
Speaker 1: quarterback at least at one and then Mills at two.
Speaker 1: Keep him at three. That's pretty strong. I'm just saying,
Speaker 1: not many go three deep like that. That's all hit.
Speaker 3: Hey, you know what, let's not forget camp arm.
Speaker 2: Tim Boyle, who I have to tell his Jory, the
Speaker 2: head official at the game on Thursday night, actually left
Speaker 2: his mike hot for a little bit and I caught
Speaker 2: a part of a conversation he was having with Tim Boyle.
Speaker 3: Let's just say it was.
Speaker 2: Hilarious, and it was you would expect from an on
Speaker 2: field conversation.
Speaker 1: Okay, Okay, we'll have to keep that a secret. All right,
Speaker 1: let's wrap this thing up. Colts, We're done. Nick shook
Speaker 1: one more team.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 2: So a lot of that expectation for the Indianapolis Colts
Speaker 2: and Anthony Richardson and so far not exactly as great
Speaker 2: as you'd think. At one point during our recent practice,
Speaker 2: he went two for five in the eleven on eleven period.
Speaker 3: We talked about this.
Speaker 2: You know, he had moments of inaccuracy as a rookie,
Speaker 2: and it's more about his ability to make plays with
Speaker 2: his legs and his feet.
Speaker 3: But I am a little concerned about that. It could
Speaker 3: be a signed for the defense, could say, yeah, the
Speaker 3: defense is.
Speaker 2: Playing well, but I know it really comes down to Richardson,
Speaker 2: so we'll keep an eye on that. And so far,
Speaker 2: that's got to be my biggest point, just because I
Speaker 2: think that the whole season hinges on him. You don't
Speaker 2: want to have to turn to Joe Flacco. You don't
Speaker 2: want to have to unless you absolutely need to. So
Speaker 2: it's all going to come down to him and whether
Speaker 2: he can establish a rapport with Adi Mitchell. So far,
Speaker 2: Die mitchells looked good in practice, and I expect nothing less,
Speaker 2: you know. I know he's slid in the draft, and
Speaker 2: maybe it was people were concerned about, you know, the
Speaker 2: way he presented himself as maybe that was why he slid.
Speaker 3: But I'm not worried about that. Kids are baller. He
Speaker 3: was a baller in college. I would love.
Speaker 1: I'm a little worried. I'm a little worried shook, at
Speaker 1: least in terms of like fantasy, because supposedly he's been
Speaker 1: written you a little quiet and Pierce. You know, Reggie
Speaker 1: Wayne is gassing up Pierce that like this is the
Speaker 1: first time he's had to compete, and for now it
Speaker 1: seems like that's Pierce's job. They'll need them both. But
Speaker 1: I think to me from what I'm here in Downs
Speaker 1: is the clear too. They're playing them outside, they're playing
Speaker 1: them inside. It's it's gonna be Pittman one, Downs two,
Speaker 1: and the other two guys get in the mix and
Speaker 1: the tight ends get in the mix. And that's fine.
Speaker 1: You know, Mitchell's a rookie receiver. But I guess I've
Speaker 1: I've gotten a little more Pierce hype than than I
Speaker 1: expect that that's fair.
Speaker 2: I just wonder, you know, in evaluating Alec Pierce so
Speaker 2: far in this career, he's had a lot of change
Speaker 2: of quarterback and I think that hasn't done in any favors.
Speaker 2: And I just wonder if, like, is that the reason
Speaker 2: why I'm not fully sold on him yet.
Speaker 1: Now he's never opened, he's never the opportunity he's got.
Speaker 2: They weren't good, so now they weren't become good, then
Speaker 2: he'll prove himself. No.
Speaker 1: And you know, we hit the Samsung Ebcom injury. I
Speaker 1: think they're deep enough to withstand that. You know, they've
Speaker 1: moved at practice. You know, they have a couple of
Speaker 1: holes on the defense, especially at safety Julian Blackman, who's good.
Speaker 1: They moved him recently to free safety and when they
Speaker 1: asked about possibly adding someone, Shane Steichen more or less
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, that might be something we do. So
Speaker 1: there's a couple big name safeties, you know, relatively big
Speaker 1: name experience safeties out there, starting with Justin Simmons. I
Speaker 1: think they might be the number one Justin Simmons team.
Speaker 1: So that's just something to put in your.
Speaker 3: Poet that void that makes sense. Yeah, keep an eye
Speaker 3: on that. I like that.
Speaker 1: All right, we did it. We hit all sixteen AFC teams.
Speaker 1: That was fun. We're going to do the same on
Speaker 1: Tuesday show. I'll do it with Jordan rod Reeg talking
Speaker 1: about the NFC. In the meantime, you know, you can
Speaker 1: watch the Olympics a little Yeah, some inside training camp
Speaker 1: live though we're on all day on NFL Network.
Speaker 2: Hey, come watch the two lane Green Wave on Twitch.
Speaker 2: We just got a big win over Oklahoma last night.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you gotta check out Shook on Twitch playing with
Speaker 1: the twu lane Green Wave. That was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: We will be back again on Tuesday the NFC All
Speaker 1: sixteen teams with Jordan rodrig So for Nick Schuck and
Speaker 1: for Noville helping us out producing this show on a
Speaker 1: Sunday evening. We'll see you next time.