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Speaker 1: That's right, folks, we are back with the Falcons Audible

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Speaker 1: presented by AT and T. We're coming back during the

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Speaker 1: offseason to give you some special moments. And that's right,

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Speaker 1: the Atlanta Falcons had a special moment happened. A new

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Speaker 1: defensive coordinator has been hired underneath Arthur Smith. I'm Derek Rackley,

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Speaker 1: He's DJ Shackley and Dave Archer. The crew is back

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Speaker 1: together to talk a little Ryan Nielsen. And here's fellows,

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Speaker 1: this is what we're going to discuss today. Who is

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Speaker 1: Ryan Neils. We're going to tell the people that are

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Speaker 1: listening who this guy is and what his performance was

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Speaker 1: like at his previous stop with the New Orleans Saints.

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Speaker 1: Of course, how we expect him to adapt and evolve

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Speaker 1: with this Falcons defense. We'll also talk about Jerry Jerry Gray,

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Speaker 1: he was hired as well as a defensive assistant. And

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Speaker 1: then we'll look ahead a little bit to the free

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Speaker 1: agency in NFL Draft and maybe discuss some areas where

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Speaker 1: the Falcons need to beef up under their new defensive coordinator.

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Speaker 1: So Dave, let's start with you. I'd like you to

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Speaker 1: try your hardest to give me Ryan Nielsen from what

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Speaker 1: you learned in the press conference yesterday, because I know

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Speaker 1: you were an active participant. We heard you ask him questions.

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Speaker 1: We did give us Ryan Nielsen in three words if

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Speaker 1: you can, you know what, I'll name that tune in

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Speaker 1: one oh attack. Okay, it's even better. That's that's what

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Speaker 1: you call short. And I would even say anything else.

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Speaker 1: He's just done. My Dave just kind of mic dropped. Yeah, yeah, okay,

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Speaker 1: all right, you're up, dj alright, three words or less?

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Speaker 1: All right. I got accountable, passionate, and relatable from watching

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Speaker 1: him yesterday. Obviously, to be in this position he's in now,

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Speaker 1: obviously gotta be accountable speaks for a sale. I thought

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Speaker 1: he was really passionate about setting the things he talked about,

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Speaker 1: and then obviously the relatable part is to his players, uh,

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Speaker 1: to his organization and things that he'd done over the year.

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Speaker 1: So I thought those things really stuck out for me

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Speaker 1: when you know, sitting there watching the stream yesterday. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and I agree with you. I I mentioned two words

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Speaker 1: after Dave that was where kind of two of my

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Speaker 1: three I thought. I thought he was short and sweet,

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Speaker 1: and I don't mean that in a negative way. I

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Speaker 1: mean that he was kind of when he was asked questions,

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Speaker 1: but he was very to the point, like he didn't

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Speaker 1: kind of fluff around it. He didn't go into a

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Speaker 1: whole lot of detail. He just said what his vision

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Speaker 1: is and then what they're gonna do, and then I

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Speaker 1: would also say intense, and maybe that kind of piggybacks

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Speaker 1: off of what you dave. You could just kind of

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Speaker 1: see in his face there was a couple of little smiles,

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Speaker 1: but more than that, he was He's like your typical

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Speaker 1: defensive lineman to defensive coach, and he wanted to go

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Speaker 1: practice yesterday. He said, ready to go. So I said, short, sweet,

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Speaker 1: and intense were my three words on Ryan Nielsen. So

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Speaker 1: let's go back into it a little bit. Obviously, coming

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Speaker 1: from the New Orleans Saints organization, that was actually his

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Speaker 1: first foray into the NFL. Spent a lot of time

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Speaker 1: coaching in the college game, was hired by the New

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Speaker 1: Orleans Saints, and of course worked with the defensive line

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Speaker 1: and the defensive United his last couple of years being

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Speaker 1: the co defensive coordinator duties. I think it's somewhat interesting

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Speaker 1: for us three right here because we were with the

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Speaker 1: organization back when Dennis Allen was just getting his start

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Speaker 1: in the NFL, and Dennis Allen has risen his way

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Speaker 1: through the ranks. Obviously the head coach also the defensive

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Speaker 1: play caller for New Orleans, and Nielsen got to work

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Speaker 1: underneath him. Dave, So, from your vantage point, obviously Atlanta

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Speaker 1: gets to see New Orleans twice a year, every single year.

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Speaker 1: What would you pick up as far as what his

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Speaker 1: style is and what his background is having worked with

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Speaker 1: that defense, Well, I think the things that you want

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Speaker 1: to look at, And obviously New Orleans personnel is different

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Speaker 1: than our personnel right now. But what were they good at?

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Speaker 1: They were good at keeping people off the scoreboard. Their

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Speaker 1: ninth in the league in scoring defense. Okay, And again

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Speaker 1: Dennis Allen and the rest of the staff's part of that,

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Speaker 1: just like Jerry Gray and other people will be a

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Speaker 1: part of Nielsen's staff here as they start to assemble

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Speaker 1: thisst thing. They were fifth in National Football League in

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Speaker 1: sacks with forty eight sacks, okay, and those sacks are

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Speaker 1: by a number of different plays. They have thirteen players

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Speaker 1: that at least one sack. They had five players that

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Speaker 1: had at least five sacks. Cam Jordan led them, and

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Speaker 1: we know he's been a thorn in the falcon side.

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Speaker 1: Since we've been playing New Orleans with him on the team,

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Speaker 1: I think twenty three career games, he's got twenty four

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Speaker 1: sacks or something like that. So Matt Ryan nightmare for

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Speaker 1: Matt Ryanka. But all that being said, he led the

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Speaker 1: team with eight and a half sacks last year. I think, wow,

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Speaker 1: only eight and a half sacks. Yeah, but four other

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Speaker 1: guys had five plus sacks. What's that tell you? That

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Speaker 1: tells you they're attacking from a lot of different places

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Speaker 1: and a lot of different angles, which bodes well if

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Speaker 1: the personnel doesn't necessarily match or you don't have a

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Speaker 1: Cam Jordan. Now, all of a sudden, I have the

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Speaker 1: ability to manufacture pass rush with multiple guys. That's what

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Speaker 1: they did in New Orleans. And then and then you

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Speaker 1: look at them, their fifth overall in overall defense. They're

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Speaker 1: number five in the National Football League in defense, defending

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Speaker 1: the run, the pass combined, those numbers look great. And again,

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Speaker 1: I know it's not our personnel, but he knows what

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Speaker 1: a good defense looks, right shock, and he knows how

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Speaker 1: to develop players that have gone on and reap some

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Speaker 1: of the riches at other teams. You've got some young

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Speaker 1: players that came on a little bit over the last

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Speaker 1: couple of seasons that they've drafted that have become players

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Speaker 1: that he's developed. So those are things that jump out

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Speaker 1: to me about his style. Now, I think you're gonna

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Speaker 1: have to we both we all know that you're gonna

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Speaker 1: fit it to the talents of the dude you have. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and Atlanta's got a lot of work to do. You

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Speaker 1: got guys to resign, you got guys to go get,

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Speaker 1: and so we don't even know what that talent base

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Speaker 1: is gonna look like. To be honest with you have

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Speaker 1: a kind idea. We know ninety seven is gonna be

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Speaker 1: land up. You know, he didn't go anywhere. Troy Anderson

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Speaker 1: forty four he's gonna be sitting in there. But you

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Speaker 1: don't know a lot about some of that front seven

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Speaker 1: that's gonna neither need to be resigned or replaced, and

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Speaker 1: so it's kind of hard to decide what that's gonna

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Speaker 1: look like. Yeah, I mean, DJ, I think when you

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Speaker 1: look at and I'm sure Arthur Smith looked at the

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Speaker 1: same thing with Ryan Nielsen. Dave talked about Cam Jordan, right,

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Speaker 1: but think about the levels like Cam Jordan, da mario' Davis,

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Speaker 1: Marshawn Ladder. So he's had a chance to work with

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Speaker 1: some guys that are pretty good defensive players now, So

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Speaker 1: that doesn't necessarily just mean because he spent a lot

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Speaker 1: of his time working with defensive lineman that that's where

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Speaker 1: his specialty is. He's kind of expanded his roles having

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Speaker 1: being a co defensive coordinator, and he's seen what some

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Speaker 1: premier players look like at all three levels of the defense,

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Speaker 1: and that's what's most important. I think you guys bring

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Speaker 1: up a couple of really good points about the levels

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Speaker 1: in which you have guys on a particular defense that

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Speaker 1: fits a particular scheme, and arch I thought you're about

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Speaker 1: him a good point about a lot of people say

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Speaker 1: sometimes it's about the Jimmis and Joes, not the XS

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Speaker 1: and o's a lot of times, but I think in

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Speaker 1: this situation, I think it's a little bit of both.

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Speaker 1: And yesterday he talked about I think you know, there

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Speaker 1: was a question post to him about if you got

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Speaker 1: a guy this size, you got a guy that size,

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Speaker 1: and he said, look, whatever person that we have, we're

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Speaker 1: gonna finally way to fit him into the scheme that

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Speaker 1: best gives him the advantage or gives him the ability

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Speaker 1: baby to win in our particular scheme. He said, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's some things that we take from what was already here.

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Speaker 1: There's gonna be a lot of things that we add

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Speaker 1: to the fray, and then the personnel we have here,

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Speaker 1: we're obviously gonna mold those guys to fit the scheme

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Speaker 1: we want. And I thought that was one of the

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Speaker 1: things that that stuck out to me is he talked

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Speaker 1: about having a defense that is sounding technique and scheme.

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Speaker 1: So you talk about personnel, you talk about some guys

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Speaker 1: maybe not fitting exactly what people may think he should

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Speaker 1: fit in this particular scheme. Well, there's things that he

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Speaker 1: can do to give those guys advantages to win in

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Speaker 1: a ball game or depending on who you're playing and

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Speaker 1: what you gotta do. Because there was a lot of

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Speaker 1: talk about three four to four three all that kind

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Speaker 1: of stuff. But I love the fact he said we

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Speaker 1: could be multiple and I want to stop people at

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Speaker 1: the end of the day, that's what you want. If

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Speaker 1: you stop people. Guess what, it don't matter if it's

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Speaker 1: three four four three, the guys, the eleven guys, or

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Speaker 1: whoever you got out there. It's definitely gonna make a big, big,

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Speaker 1: big difference in this particular scheme. So I love the

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Speaker 1: fact that he talked so much about his scheme being

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Speaker 1: a bigger part of not just being personnel wise, but

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Speaker 1: we're gonna find guys that fit the scheme we want

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Speaker 1: and then we're gonna be able to execute in that manner.

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Speaker 1: But also they got to play technically sound in that

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Speaker 1: and that goes directly to the point you talked about

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Speaker 1: rac about having guys at each level who can do it.

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Speaker 1: Think about de Roo Davis has been was with him

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Speaker 1: the entire time he was there, and we've seen him.

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Speaker 1: We've talked about how he's all over the field, being

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Speaker 1: that guy in the middlefield. He got guys on the

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Speaker 1: back end and who they had, you know, the honey

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Speaker 1: Badger back there, had Malcolm Jenkins back there, a guy

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Speaker 1: who was a very crubal guy. And you're bringing a know,

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Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about coach grade a minute, but you're

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Speaker 1: bringing a guy who you know, knows what that secondary

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Speaker 1: could look like. With two young guys that we had

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Speaker 1: back there, could Jaden Hawkins turned into the Milcol Jenkins

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Speaker 1: always on the tight ends, always coming down in that

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Speaker 1: and being a smart player. We saw him making huge

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Speaker 1: strides this year from that safety spot. So I think

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Speaker 1: they're the pieces here, along with the scheme that you

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Speaker 1: can kind of jail together and it's gonna take time,

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Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, you got a

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Speaker 1: couple of guys that are gonna be teaching these guys

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Speaker 1: to get him to the right spot. Well, And I

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Speaker 1: thought was interesting is a yesterday or in his press conference,

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Speaker 1: he didn't really want to talk about New Orleans a

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Speaker 1: whole lot, which I can appreciate that, right, Like he's saying,

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Speaker 1: I'm with the Atlanta Falcons now, but we could talk

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Speaker 1: a little bit about it, right, and we talked about

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Speaker 1: Cam Jordan. But I think it's also interesting to note

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Speaker 1: that he worked for four years with Trey Hendrickson, right,

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Speaker 1: Trey Hendrickson's with the Bengals now, but his last year

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Speaker 1: in New Orleans get thirteen and a half sacks, So

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Speaker 1: he has seen guys that know how to put pressure

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Speaker 1: on the quarterback. Now, at the end of the day,

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Speaker 1: you gotta have Joe's right, you gotta have dudes to

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Speaker 1: go out and make plays, and personnel's different. Maybe Atlanta

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Speaker 1: does not have a Cam Jordan Trey Hendrickson type body yet,

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Speaker 1: but at least he knows when you get that type

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Speaker 1: of player, when you get that type of work ethic

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Speaker 1: and the scheme to match, how to get those guys

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Speaker 1: to the quarterback. We've talked about it a lot, Dave.

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Speaker 1: It's one area where Atlanta's defense needs to get better.

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Speaker 1: They've got to find a way to get more pressure

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Speaker 1: on opposing quarterbacks. Yeah, only twenty one sacks last year.

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Speaker 1: I mentioned the numbers nine players head sacks on this

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Speaker 1: Falcon team. At least one. Only one player or Grady Jared,

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Speaker 1: had more than more than five sacks. We just talked

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Speaker 1: about how this Saint team had five players that had

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Speaker 1: five plus sacks. So you love the fact that there's

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Speaker 1: development and guys can create problems from different levels. Da

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Speaker 1: Mario 'davis, you mentioned second level player. He think he

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Speaker 1: had five and a half sacks at the linebacker spot.

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Speaker 1: We think that that's something that Troy Anderson could be

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Speaker 1: really good at. A blitzing linebacker, a guy that's got

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Speaker 1: a big body. It's hard to pick up in protection

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Speaker 1: if you're a smaller back in there and you've got

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Speaker 1: a guy coming at him like that. We saw some success.

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Speaker 1: If Rashaan Evans is in fact retained, you're leading tackler.

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Speaker 1: Rashaan Evans had some success with that as well. So

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Speaker 1: I think that there's and and there's you're gonna look

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Speaker 1: at what they did in New Orleans and you're certainly

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Speaker 1: going to compare it to what you could potentially do here.

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Speaker 1: And I think there's some some matches. There's let's not

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Speaker 1: be naive now. He he did not call the plays

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Speaker 1: per play, and that's going to be a learning curve.

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Speaker 1: I don't think we're not pulling our wall of anybody's

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Speaker 1: eyes or trying to pull it over our own eyes.

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Speaker 1: He's there's gonna be a learning curve with him. Okay.

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Speaker 1: Jerry Gray is a guy that has called defense. And

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Speaker 1: I know we're gonna talk about Jerry and maybe we

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Speaker 1: can go that now, But Jerry Gray is a guy

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Speaker 1: from a secondary stample. This goes a number one draft

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Speaker 1: pick in eighteen eighty five for the Rams. I played

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Speaker 1: against Jerry Gray. Good player came from what they used

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Speaker 1: to call DBU that was Texas because it seemed like

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Speaker 1: they had two guys come out every year played in

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Speaker 1: the league. Jerry was one of those. Played with the Rams,

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Speaker 1: played with a couple of teams, and then rounded into

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Speaker 1: one of the really good secondary coaches in the National

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Speaker 1: Football League. Was the pass game defensive pass game coordinator

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Speaker 1: in Green Bay. Think about the guys he's worked with.

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Speaker 1: Was in Minnesota, Xavier Rhodes, probably the top corner at

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Speaker 1: the time. Xavier Rhodes is a monster. He came in

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Speaker 1: here and we couldn't even throw the ball on inside

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Speaker 1: of the field. JayR Alexander, who has become maybe the

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Speaker 1: top corner or at least in the conversation of the

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Speaker 1: top corner in the league in Green Bay. That's two

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Speaker 1: different places in two corners that he's worked in. Now,

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Speaker 1: both those guys were number one draft picks, but still

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Speaker 1: that he worked with those guys, he knows what again,

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Speaker 1: knows what it like, and he's called defense. So the

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Speaker 1: collaborative effort that this defensive staff will have, namely those

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Speaker 1: two guys, I think that bodes well to start putting

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Speaker 1: what Chock was talking about, putting guys in position, which

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Speaker 1: is ultimately the idea in their best position to be successful. Yeah. Absolutely,

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Speaker 1: you got a kind of a rising star and Ryan Nielsen,

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Speaker 1: and you pair him up with what you would call

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Speaker 1: a savvy veteran in the business, a guy that's been

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Speaker 1: around a lot of different places that you mentioned Arch,

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Speaker 1: he's called defenses. So if there ever becomes those issues

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Speaker 1: shock during the game, as Ryan Nielsen gets his feet

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Speaker 1: underneath himself as far as specific play calls against this defense,

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Speaker 1: certain situation, Jerry's gonna be in a headset. He's gonna

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Speaker 1: be like, Hey, Ryan, I think I like this, I

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Speaker 1: like this call, I like this defense, I like this

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Speaker 1: personnel package, I like this way to match up against

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Speaker 1: we're seeing offensively. That seems like a pretty good mesh

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Speaker 1: between those two guys, and it's I think it's a

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Speaker 1: perfect marriage because aren't just talking about having a guy

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Speaker 1: who now is gonna come in Now he's gonna have

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Speaker 1: the opportunity to have the play calls, but he's got

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Speaker 1: somebody else who he can springboard it off. And I've

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Speaker 1: been around a bunch of teams where you know, obviously

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Speaker 1: been the backup. Sometimes you're in the headsets and you

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Speaker 1: can hear a lot of communication going on. Having somebody

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Speaker 1: who's been there, done that, and has seen it gives

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Speaker 1: you a little bit more confidence to say, all right,

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Speaker 1: this is what we're gonna do in these certain situations.

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Speaker 1: Here's how I think we should attack him. You're talking

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Speaker 1: about being a pass game coordinator. I mean, obviously all

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Speaker 1: these guys know concept schemes, formation and all that kind

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Speaker 1: of stuff. But from that particular part of it, that's

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Speaker 1: all you see. That's all you know, not all you see,

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Speaker 1: but it's majority of what you look at. And that's

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Speaker 1: how you go about trying to attack a particular offense,

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Speaker 1: especially when you say we want to be an attacking style.

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Speaker 1: Arch has already pointed out exactly how many people the

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Speaker 1: guys where we get to the quarterback. But when you're

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Speaker 1: an attacking style, I think regardless of who those players are,

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Speaker 1: if you're putting pressure on anybody, that's gonna be an issue.

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Speaker 1: And you got guys coming from all three levels and

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Speaker 1: you're not sure who is hot food. You know, you

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Speaker 1: don't know what style it is. It's gonna be difficult

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Speaker 1: on anybody. And you mentioned a couple of guys. I

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Speaker 1: went back and looked up. I mean, what about a

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Speaker 1: guy like Carlan Finnegan. How how much of a nuisance

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Speaker 1: was that guy when he was in Tennessee. Jason mccordy

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Speaker 1: was another guy that Jerry Gray coach. Those are guys

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Speaker 1: in along with the other big time names you already mentioned,

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Speaker 1: are guys who were effective guys, who were guys who

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Speaker 1: were very productive in their roles. And I think we

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Speaker 1: go into what we have now with an aj Terrell,

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Speaker 1: with you know, Jalen and Ritchie, all young guys still

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Speaker 1: looking and feeling and want to be hungry and want

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Speaker 1: to be the best they can, and both safeties have

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Speaker 1: an opportunity to play a lot more last year. Now

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Speaker 1: you're bringing a guy with all this experience, and he

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Speaker 1: could turn on the table and say, here's Gyre Exaller,

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Speaker 1: here's guys I coached from you know, ten twelve years

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Speaker 1: ago doing exactly what we're doing now fitting into the scheme.

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Speaker 1: I think it only bodes well for the entire marriage

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Speaker 1: of Ron Nielsen and Coach Gray together. Such a good

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Speaker 1: point Shocks making in the fact, and we all know this,

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Speaker 1: and sometimes the fans aren't privy to this, but players

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Speaker 1: need to be shown why they're doing something. What am I?

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Speaker 1: Why am I doing that? And Shock just talked about

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Speaker 1: being able to put the tape on of these different

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Speaker 1: players that he talked about that's important because as much

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Speaker 1: as we look at the board and we watch tape

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Speaker 1: and stuff like that, and then we get outside and

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Speaker 1: this is why you put your foot here. This is

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Speaker 1: why you'd step here if you can show players that

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Speaker 1: there's a tremendous buy in and when you can throw

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Speaker 1: the tape on of guys like he's talking about, this

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Speaker 1: is why we're teaching it this way. This is the

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Speaker 1: way we're gonna jam, this is the way we're going

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Speaker 1: to defend with an inside technique. This is the way

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Speaker 1: we're gonna press bail, and this is why it works,

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Speaker 1: and this is what we've done before that there's a

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Speaker 1: lot of that helps the buy in, no question about

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Speaker 1: for players that are kind of wondering because you wonder, Okay,

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Speaker 1: that's not how I've done it before, why am I

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Speaker 1: doing it like that? Boom, you show them, Hey, then

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Speaker 1: you get buy in. You know, it's interesting that you

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Speaker 1: mentioned that, Dave. I started thinking back to my playing

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Speaker 1: days and I know you guys can kind of relate

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Speaker 1: to this, but I didn't plan a defense side of

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Speaker 1: the ball. But Emma Thomas was a guy that was

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Speaker 1: here when I was playing, and he was always one

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Speaker 1: of those guys that I would love to just go

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Speaker 1: stand next to and talk to, because not only was

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Speaker 1: he such a great coach, but he was a phenomenal

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Speaker 1: player in his day. And his messages like he's not

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Speaker 1: gonna give you like the chalkboard X is a O,

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Speaker 1: Like he's gonna tell you what to do and why

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Speaker 1: it works. And you know what, you listen to it

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Speaker 1: because he's been there, right, He listened every because he

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Speaker 1: knows what he's talking about and he's seen it be

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Speaker 1: successful before. It's so crazy to bring up et and

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Speaker 1: a story and how he talks to you. I remember

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Speaker 1: my rookie year. We were on the road somewhere in

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Speaker 1: the preseason and you're on the road and you know,

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Speaker 1: you just you know, going out to get time to evening.

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Speaker 1: You come back to the hotel. He's coming out of

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Speaker 1: the hotel. I'm coming in. He stopped me and says

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Speaker 1: he knew it was a big game for me, maybe

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Speaker 1: in the third or four, maybe in the last game, whatever,

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Speaker 1: and I'm looking to make the team. And he just

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Speaker 1: pulls me to the side and say, hey, look, you

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Speaker 1: got all the twos. I've seen you do it in practice.

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Speaker 1: Go out and just execute, play your style. They want

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Speaker 1: you to play your style, don't do anything extra. And

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Speaker 1: at that moment, I'm like, this Hall of Famer took

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Speaker 1: two to three four minute defensive guy to say, you

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Speaker 1: know what, I see something in you? Go play ball,

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Speaker 1: Go and I end up, you know, going out playing

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Speaker 1: well and making the team. But I never forgot that

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Speaker 1: moment that this defensive guy with all this experience and

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Speaker 1: like you just mentioned, let's say something to me like that.

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Speaker 1: So having that kind of impact, having a guy like

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Speaker 1: you were just talking about with Coach Gray who's been

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Speaker 1: around the league and you talk to about the arts,

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Speaker 1: guys want to Guys want to have that kind of

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Speaker 1: fulfillment where it coach tells them exactly what it is

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Speaker 1: and where they've done it, and the guys that they've

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Speaker 1: seen doing and now they're pouring into you. People forget now, Yeah, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: these guys make a lot of money in there. You know,

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Speaker 1: supersyards are all right, but these guys they need that

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Speaker 1: as well. They need to be pushed a little bit

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Speaker 1: and have guys kind of pour into them so that, hey,

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Speaker 1: I can get the job done. So you have that resource.

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Speaker 1: If a guy like aj Terrell or Jalen Hawkins wants

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Speaker 1: to go up and talk to Jerry Gray and say, hey,

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Speaker 1: when we're running this package, like what have you seen

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Speaker 1: in the past, Like who executes this the best? And

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Speaker 1: he can you can have that conversation. Yeah, I saw

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Speaker 1: Jayara Alexander with green Bay, like he used to always

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Speaker 1: get his body in this position when he's facing this

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Speaker 1: type of receiver because it limits that right. You can

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Speaker 1: get into those detailed conversations again, if those players seek

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Speaker 1: it out and they want to know that knowledge, you've

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Speaker 1: got a guy that can give him a whole lot

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Speaker 1: of experience and wherewithal from his experiences with his past teams.

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Speaker 1: So you've got a guy in Jerry Gray that's been around.

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Speaker 1: Did Jerry Gray get you I can't remember. I don't

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Speaker 1: even want to look it up, but I know he's

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Speaker 1: gonna I know he's gonna hit me with it. I

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Speaker 1: gotta look it up though. So you've got a guy

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Speaker 1: in Jerry Gray that brings all the experience. You got

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Speaker 1: a guy in Nielsen that since he joined the Saints

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Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen, that organization at two hundred and eighty

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Speaker 1: one sack, which was the second most in the NFL

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Speaker 1: during that time, finishing top ten in sacks five of

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Speaker 1: the six last six seasons. We talked about that's an

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00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:13,200
Speaker 1: area that needs to improve. This episode in part brought

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Speaker 1: Download the home Depot app today. So let's shift gears,

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Speaker 1: fellas as we kind of close this thing down and

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Speaker 1: let's get into a little bit more of what needs

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Speaker 1: to be addressed in the off season. Because it's easy

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Speaker 1: to say, oh, well, what's Ryan Nielsen, what's his defense

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Speaker 1: going to look like? With Atlanta, we haven't finished the

429
00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,560
Speaker 1: Super Bowl yet, so they still have all of the

430
00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,359
Speaker 1: pre draft stuff, the draft, free agency. They got to

431
00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:11,120
Speaker 1: continue to put the personnel pieces on this defense. But again, DJ,

432
00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:14,920
Speaker 1: let's start with you like the areas from a personnel perspective.

433
00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,760
Speaker 1: We don't necessarily need to go into names, but areas

434
00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:20,920
Speaker 1: that need to be addressed for Nielsen to be able

435
00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:24,040
Speaker 1: to take this defense to the next level. I'm gonna

436
00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:26,800
Speaker 1: go probably an unorthodox place that I think maybe a

437
00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:30,000
Speaker 1: lot of people may have thought about, um, but I'm

438
00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:32,760
Speaker 1: going offensive side of the ball and say we need

439
00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:35,560
Speaker 1: a third guy. You need we know what Drake is,

440
00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:37,960
Speaker 1: we know what Kyle is. We need somebody to compliment

441
00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:40,720
Speaker 1: those two guys. And when I think about it, let's

442
00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:43,200
Speaker 1: think about who's in the super Bowl right now. Obviously

443
00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:46,080
Speaker 1: with the Kansi Chiefs, you got ju Ju, you got

444
00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:48,760
Speaker 1: we saw about a scantly play well, and then you

445
00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:51,359
Speaker 1: got Kelsey to add to it. So there's three pieces

446
00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:53,159
Speaker 1: that makes it really hard for you. Look at the

447
00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:56,480
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles, obviously a J. Brown DeVante Smith is really

448
00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:58,240
Speaker 1: good to go along with their tight end. That's that's

449
00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,000
Speaker 1: that puts a lot of pressure on a lot of

450
00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:04,679
Speaker 1: posing defenses. You go to the Cincinnati Bengals, we know

451
00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:07,840
Speaker 1: exactly how many players they have on that offensive side

452
00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:11,000
Speaker 1: of the ball. With Boyd and Higgins and Chase and

453
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:14,800
Speaker 1: now that mentioned Hurst as well, with another tight end.

454
00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:16,800
Speaker 1: You look at all these teams who are going deep

455
00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:19,639
Speaker 1: into the playoffs, and all those guys have quarterbacks, but

456
00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:22,760
Speaker 1: they also have two or three guys who can stretch

457
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:24,679
Speaker 1: a defense, who can put pressure on you get one

458
00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:26,359
Speaker 1: on one or you try to, you know, kind of

459
00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:30,359
Speaker 1: kind of put a cloud over tight end or something.

460
00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:32,840
Speaker 1: You got other guys who can win. And we saw

461
00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:34,920
Speaker 1: Drake has ability to win last year. We know Kyle

462
00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:38,359
Speaker 1: hasibility win. Let's add another third piece to that. I

463
00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:40,200
Speaker 1: know a longer they came don't play really well this

464
00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:42,560
Speaker 1: past season. We thought Brian every was probably gonna be

465
00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:45,840
Speaker 1: that guy. But I think if we add another piece there,

466
00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:50,320
Speaker 1: that gives you know, whoever's playing quarterback coming in next season,

467
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:52,960
Speaker 1: an opportunity to win. So I like the fact going

468
00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:56,199
Speaker 1: out and try to find another pass catcher that can

469
00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:58,600
Speaker 1: help you be really efficient in the past game well,

470
00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:01,880
Speaker 1: and maybe that ends up helping Ryan Nielsen learning how

471
00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:06,480
Speaker 1: to kind of develop things, practicing against weapons offensively as

472
00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:09,239
Speaker 1: they go through the offseason into training camp. Dave, how

473
00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:11,920
Speaker 1: about you, does anything stick out defensively as far as

474
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,720
Speaker 1: needs for Ryan Nielsen as they really look to improve

475
00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:16,880
Speaker 1: on this side of the ball. Well, unless be clear,

476
00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:19,520
Speaker 1: Shock's not talking about the first round. So a lot

477
00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:21,320
Speaker 1: of you people are talking thinking, well, we need to

478
00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:23,520
Speaker 1: it could be a free agent wide receiver. He's not

479
00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:25,880
Speaker 1: talking about drafting a wide receiver in the first round.

480
00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,120
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think it's something. Wait a minute,

481
00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:29,800
Speaker 1: I don't want to I don't want to draft another

482
00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:33,160
Speaker 1: receiver in the first round. That's not what Shock's talking about.

483
00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:34,879
Speaker 1: I knew. I knew you and I were on the

484
00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:37,480
Speaker 1: same page. I wasn't sure if they were thinking that way,

485
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:41,040
Speaker 1: but yes, certainly researching and finding another weapon when not

486
00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:43,800
Speaker 1: hurt a young quarterback and Desmond Ritter if in fact

487
00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:48,200
Speaker 1: he becomes the guy that's the starter here defensively, for me, Rack,

488
00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:52,080
Speaker 1: it all starts for me in the interior, the defensive line.

489
00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:54,959
Speaker 1: I think there's a number of really good players from

490
00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:57,680
Speaker 1: a free agent standpoint, and we're not going to discuss names,

491
00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:00,240
Speaker 1: but that are going to be potentially in the offing.

492
00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:03,000
Speaker 1: There's a couple of young guys coming out of college

493
00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,760
Speaker 1: from a defensive line stap into your defensive line standpoint.

494
00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:08,960
Speaker 1: I think you got to prevent people from being able

495
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:10,760
Speaker 1: to run the ball between the tackles, and I thought

496
00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:13,400
Speaker 1: Atlanta had a tough time stopping the run game. When

497
00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:16,600
Speaker 1: you start talking about being an effective defense, it means

498
00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:19,240
Speaker 1: you can put people in uncomfortable third down situations. We

499
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,520
Speaker 1: didn't do enough of that this year. Atlanta was near

500
00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:24,360
Speaker 1: the bottom of the league in third down conversions this year,

501
00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:27,800
Speaker 1: which meant the other team's offense was on the field. Now,

502
00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:29,320
Speaker 1: you did a good job once you got down to

503
00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:31,800
Speaker 1: the red zone and limiting scores. I think Atlanta gave

504
00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:34,920
Speaker 1: up about twenty two points per game, which is not terrible,

505
00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:39,880
Speaker 1: but teams were possessing the football and if they've got

506
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:42,720
Speaker 1: the ball, we don't, and so the opportunities for big

507
00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:45,960
Speaker 1: plays or score gets paired down and all of a sudden,

508
00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:49,240
Speaker 1: you've got nine possessions in a game, maybe ten possessions.

509
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:51,320
Speaker 1: We had two games where we had eight possessions in

510
00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:55,040
Speaker 1: the game. A normal NFL game is twelve to thirteen possessions.

511
00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:58,000
Speaker 1: So that makes it really difficult on Arthur Smith to

512
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,840
Speaker 1: be able to design something where you can get some

513
00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,000
Speaker 1: plays and be willing to take some shots. On a

514
00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:05,240
Speaker 1: couple of series, you might give a series away because

515
00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:07,399
Speaker 1: if we're gonna take a couple of shots, couldn't do that,

516
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:09,760
Speaker 1: couldn't afford to do that because you couldn't get off

517
00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:11,800
Speaker 1: the field on defense. And to me, that means stop

518
00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:13,960
Speaker 1: in the run. You've got to stop the run game.

519
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:15,879
Speaker 1: You've got to make on them a one dimensional team.

520
00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:17,480
Speaker 1: There's no question you gotta be able to rush the

521
00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:20,119
Speaker 1: passer in this league. But I'm looking for development. We

522
00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:23,120
Speaker 1: talked about the new defensive coordinator. What's what's his forte?

523
00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:25,920
Speaker 1: His forte is the defensive line guy. Okay, he's gonna

524
00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:27,960
Speaker 1: come in help with the interior guys, but that also

525
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:30,720
Speaker 1: means those edge guys. I'm looking for Arnold ab Kat

526
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,920
Speaker 1: to take another step. I'm looking for D'Angelo them alone

527
00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:36,760
Speaker 1: to get the grasp and with this game, he's already

528
00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:39,080
Speaker 1: a core special teams player and an important player in

529
00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:41,600
Speaker 1: that third phase. I'm looking for him to start affecting

530
00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:43,720
Speaker 1: things on the defensive side of the football and what

531
00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:47,280
Speaker 1: linebackers potentially, Toy Anderson, we mentioned those. Kind of the

532
00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:51,880
Speaker 1: development of the players that we already have is kind

533
00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:53,720
Speaker 1: of where mind it. My mind is, because I don't

534
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:55,600
Speaker 1: know what we're going to get free agency wise. I

535
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:57,480
Speaker 1: know there's some ideas and I don't know what we're

536
00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:00,439
Speaker 1: gonna get from a draft standpoint, But the guys that

537
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:02,760
Speaker 1: we have here, we've got a young core or nu

538
00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:05,760
Speaker 1: police of guys that have to take that next step.

539
00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,760
Speaker 1: And you've got a developmental guy Jock. You guys talked

540
00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:12,480
Speaker 1: about Jerry Gray development develop those two young safeties, continue

541
00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:14,720
Speaker 1: to develop a j Terrell, maybe another guy on the

542
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,200
Speaker 1: other side, maybe it's a draft pick or whatever. And

543
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:21,040
Speaker 1: then the edge players Ebba Katie showed flashes of being

544
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,359
Speaker 1: able to get it done. Can you take him to

545
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:25,840
Speaker 1: the next level? Can he go to the next level?

546
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:29,760
Speaker 1: You mentioned it Rack recognizing that there's guys that have

547
00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:31,920
Speaker 1: worked with dudes, whether it's on the d line or

548
00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:35,119
Speaker 1: in the secondary, that they have an idea how it's

549
00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:37,399
Speaker 1: supposed to work, and now it's supposed to look listen,

550
00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:41,160
Speaker 1: pay attention, take that next step, be willing to do that.

551
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:43,720
Speaker 1: You know, we talked on a previous podcast right before

552
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:47,040
Speaker 1: we ended the season about how Atlanta had to kind

553
00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:49,560
Speaker 1: of weather the storm as far as a salary cap goes.

554
00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:52,159
Speaker 1: And they're in a better position. So and I'm not

555
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:54,240
Speaker 1: going to sit here and say I'm looking forward to

556
00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:57,080
Speaker 1: seeing how much they spend, because they've obviously said that

557
00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:59,400
Speaker 1: they got to find the right piece right, the right

558
00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:02,119
Speaker 1: person that fits the chemistry and the mold of the

559
00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,199
Speaker 1: Atlanta Falcons. But I'm interested to see if they go

560
00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:07,320
Speaker 1: out and get somebody that's in the prime of his

561
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:11,119
Speaker 1: career defensively that's able to make a difference, but not

562
00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:14,960
Speaker 1: only that, bring the competition in to raise the level

563
00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:16,600
Speaker 1: of play as some of those younger players that you

564
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:18,520
Speaker 1: talked about, right, Because you bring in a guy that's

565
00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:20,280
Speaker 1: been in the league for four or five years and

566
00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,560
Speaker 1: maybe he's already a Pro Bowl type player, and a

567
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:25,640
Speaker 1: young kid sees him come in, they're like, well, well,

568
00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:27,119
Speaker 1: how am I going to get on the field. You know,

569
00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:29,679
Speaker 1: how you get on the field, you get better and

570
00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:33,000
Speaker 1: you make plays, right, and competition is what the NFL

571
00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:35,800
Speaker 1: is all about. So who do they decide to bring in.

572
00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:39,399
Speaker 1: Maybe it's a defensive lineman, maybe it's somebody opposite Terrell

573
00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:41,560
Speaker 1: in the free agency market. I don't know if it's

574
00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:43,320
Speaker 1: going to happen, but I'd like to see it. I'd

575
00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:47,320
Speaker 1: like to see somebody that's just the truly approven stud

576
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:50,159
Speaker 1: in the NFL come to this team and make a

577
00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:52,400
Speaker 1: difference on that side of the ball. So we've got

578
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:54,680
Speaker 1: a lot of time to figure out what's gonna happen

579
00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:57,199
Speaker 1: with Ryan Nielson, Jerry Gray and this new staff on

580
00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:59,720
Speaker 1: the defensive side of the ball. But hey, we're here

581
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:01,639
Speaker 1: for oh no doubt, we're here for everybody. What do

582
00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:04,920
Speaker 1: you say. We got to get out on the grass.

583
00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:08,680
Speaker 1: The grass. We just clicked over to February and he's already.

584
00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:12,119
Speaker 1: Let's start developing, all right. That's gonna wrap it up

585
00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:14,320
Speaker 1: for the Falcons Audible presented by A T and T

586
00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:17,320
Speaker 1: once again as Dave Archer d J. Shockley. I'm Derek Rackley.

587
00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:19,200
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us, and we'll be back

588
00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:23,040
Speaker 1: again for the bigger moments of the Atlanta Falcons off season.

589
00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:33,040
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us. Everyone,