May 1, 2023 • 35 mins
John wraps up NFL Draft weekend by discussing the the 5 most interesting post-draft storylines to watch as the league moves toward training camp.
Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow - for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume, What is going on? My people? How are
we doing? What has happened in John Middlecoff three and
out podcast Beautiful Day here Hot Day. Actually just got
(00:24):
back to Arizona from northern California, played a little golf
in Napa instead of watching rounds four through seven. But
you know, didn't miss much. What I did do though,
is Colin and I did a podcast after the first
round came out on Friday. Then I did a podcast
after the second round right as the third round was
starting on Friday night came out. This weekend, I thought
(00:47):
I would put together a little draft podcast of just
five things that you know, intrigue me after this weekend
and kind of heading in now that we head to
OTAs you know, there'll still be some player movement for
the most part, though we kind of got an idea
some of the big moves that happened over the weekend
and just moving forward things I'm interested in. So that's
(01:07):
what I did today. I picked five things, ratted it
off after the draft and yeah, so listen download the
Amazon amp app our stuffs on their podcast is on
there live every single day. YouTube channel, Volume YouTube channel,
check it out the Volume merch Store if you go
to the Volume dot com. Got some Go Lo hats,
some Go Lo polos, check that out. A lot of
(01:31):
football content coming So I have a podcast. We'll have
a lot of podcasts coming up. So buckle up. You
know football offseason, Baby OTA's mini camps, rookie mini camps.
That's a fun one. It's cool actually if you've got
a quarterback. But if you don't, it's not. But other
than that, a lot going on. Middlecoff mailbag. We will
bust that bad boy out on Tuesday. So at John
(01:54):
Middlecoff is my Instagram DM's wide open fire in those dms.
Get your question here on the show and let's talk
some football. I actually got a text this morning. Did today.
I'm recording this on Sunday. And when I got the text,
it was before Game seven in Sacramento, and they said, John,
I want to go to the game. What's your promo
code again? And I said, oh, you mean the official
(02:16):
ticketing app of this podcast, game Time. Here's what you do.
You just download the game Time app and use the
promo code John J o Hn and get twenty dollars off.
They went to the game. They saved a little money
now and they got to watch greatness. Steph Curry scored
fifty points. You know, tip your hat, and that's just
a reality. You want to go to a game, you
never know what you may see. You might see a
(02:39):
historic event, especially at you know, sporting event. So download
the game Time app, fastest growing ticket app in America,
the official ticketing app of this podcast, and use the
promo code. John. I love saving you guys money these
inflationary times. We do everything humanly possible to throw people
we can a bone, and those that listen to this
show use that promo code, and we appreciate everyone it has.
(03:02):
Here's what I wanted to do. The draft happens, and
everyone's got a lot of you know, draft grades, and
which is really just based on your own opinions of
the player. I'm not gonna do that. What I did
is I picked five things that fire me up and
interest me the most after the draft based on what
happened these last three days and a lot of takes
(03:24):
flying a lot of different teams. I think it's hard
to differentiate because a lot of times the good teams
they're drafting at the end of everywhere round, they're not
taking the most famous players. In the draft, Like no
one was like, oh, Kansas City's draft last year, right,
and then the season happened, You're like Isaiah Pajaco, all
those late round DB's playing. So and it's I say
(03:45):
it every year, and I've been going to these training
camps and o tas forever. It's hard to put much
stock in the third day in terms of like this
guy's going to be a really good player, because every
single year I go to these practices and see fourth
and fifth round players get beat out by undrafted free
agents or unable to beat out the veteran practice squad
(04:06):
guys that are already on the team. So when you
are drafted in the first couple of days, because of
your contract, you're making the team. That's just the reality
of the business that is the NFL and the way
these contracts are structured. When you get drafted in the
fourth round on, there ain't any guarantee. Now, for the
most part, you're typically going to be on practice squads.
But like we don't talk about practice squad guys starting
(04:28):
in September, right, talk about NFL players. Now they're technically
on an NFL roster, but they don't actually play in
the games. So I'm going to focus on some of
the headliners, some of the headlighting teams, and uh. I
wanted to start with this the Houston Texans because I've
seen a lot of reaction. I don't know if me
and Colin got that deep into it on Friday. I
don't even know if I talked about it that much
(04:49):
on the Saturday podcast, which you could obviously catch. Me
and Colin went live after the first round. I recorded
something after the second round, so the third round was
still going on. That came out this weekend, and obviously
the draft is done now, so I want to start
with the Texans who traded up. They take c J.
Stroud at two, who most of us because of just
(05:09):
we just thought he was gonna tumble, because that's what
the media kept telling us, and they played the media
like a fiddle. The lies on c J. Stroud were immense.
It's weird because a lot of people, I think the
consensus in the league and outside of the league is like,
you know, he could be like a better version of
Jared Goff. And when you say that, you know, typically
(05:30):
obviously Jared Goff was the number one overall pick, but
based off what we know now and he's really resurrected
his career in Detroit. You know, I think you'd be
looking for a little bit more when you draft really high.
But I think the stories around them is, why would
you trade back up for an edge rusher and give
up what they gave up? Right, they went from twelve
(05:52):
to three, They give up the second round pick, they
gave up next year's first round pick, which fair or
not a lot of people just think they're gonna suck again.
I don't necessarily think that, Like, I'm not viewing them
as a playoff team, but I if I was a
betting man, i'd view them more likely to win, you know,
somewhere like six games than two or three games. But
(06:14):
they traded up to get will Anderson, and I've seen
a lot of smart football people say you can't view
it like they traded up to get will Anderson. They
traded up to get the package of CJ. Stroud and
Will Anderson because they couldn't take Will Anderson too and
risk someone else trading up and giving more than they
were willing to and taking c J. Stroud, which they knew.
The Tennessee Titans loved them, and I think, you know,
(06:36):
depending on who you believe. I think the Raiders were
very very interesting in CJ. Stroud as well. And one
of the things Arizona had clearly let it be known
not only were they open for business, but if anyone
was going to trade with them, it was going to
because one of the quarterbacks they liked did not go
one or two. So I completely understand the Texans doing
what they did. It was really about getting the package
(06:58):
of players. Did you give up a lot? You did?
But I got my favorite quarterback in the draft, I
guess more than likely their second favorite quarterback and the
best pass rusher that we viewed it. And anytime you
get the two most important positions, I got no problem
allocating resources now now separate from the resources they allocated
to get a hold of those players and not risk
(07:18):
losing the quarterback. That there's just a barometer and a
baseline of minimum performance moving forward. Like if CJ. Stroud
is a top seven eight quarterback in the league, it
doesn't matter if Will Anderson actually is overrated and never
makes Pro Bowls, and you go, we gave up all
that for Will Anderson. No one will care. As a
(07:40):
wise man told me a couple of years ago. We
can draft all the sweetest players every single year, and
the Jets have. If Zach Wilson stinks were screwed. Now
they got lucky because Aaron Rodgers poked his head through
that door right to kind of save their careers. But
Zach Wilson was going to get everyone fired. It didn't
(08:00):
matter that they had hit on basically every other pick.
So when you hit on the quarterback, it doesn't matter
your other players. Even if Will Anderson becomes Solomon Thomas
or a Cleveland Ferrell, right, he does not have to
be Nick Bosa, Joey Bosa or Miles Garrett. If CJ.
Stroud is awesome, because that's what will matter the most.
(08:21):
Now it's not ideal, but if CJ. Stroud to me
is like closer to Dak Cousins, the Jimmy Garoppolo Jared
Gobbs of the world, will Anderson better be pretty solid
because if he's not, it's an utter disaster. Right, he
can be her cousins if Will Anderson's an impact Pro
Bowl player, and then you feel pretty good about it, right,
And that's kind of to me the worst case scenario,
(08:43):
or else it's just a disaster. Now, I think Dimiko's
a stud. I've watched Demiko really since he was a player.
Everything Demiko has done in his career professionally once he
left Alabama has been successful. Player, quality control, code, position coach,
defensive coordinator. I'm not betting against the Miko. I think
(09:04):
he's going to be really good, and I do think
he's one of the things he hangs his hat on
as character being a teammate. So he's not coming in
and telling you everyone who designed right, Like I'm not
faulting Sean Payton for doing this, but Sean Payton's taking
orders from nobody. When Sean Payton wants a player, when
Sean Payton wants to sign a free agent, or Sean
(09:25):
Payton wanted anyone in the draft, Sean Payton got that.
He was a decision maker. He didn't give a shit
what anyone else in the room thought right, And I'm
not saying that that's what happened. I'm just saying Sean
Payton was at the top of the food chart. I
think Demko is tried to work with trying to be
a good guy, work with the operation, Listen to the
scouting stamp. Right. I'm a little surprised. They kind of
(09:46):
put a lot of their chips in the middle. Not
that Nick did it, because Nick the team hasn't been
good now for a couple of years. They've kind of waited,
like it's been really really ugly and he need to
get some momentum going. But you know, it is a
little stunning would be too strong, but I thought it
was eye opening that they put so many chips in
the middle of the table. Now, if it works, who cares.
(10:07):
It does not matter, right, But anytime that you draft
a quarterback, especially when you're a you know, first year coach,
your clock kind of starts. Right. It's why sometimes you
just take the incumbent or you assign some random free
agent and you just kind of get a year to
breathe and then you figure it out. Now, you could
argue they've been so shitty that no one wants to
watch that again, But that's not Demko's problem. That's that's
(10:30):
the previous coaches problem. And it's gonna be fascinating how
this shakes out, because I think CJ. Stroud was just
your classic. You know, the media was being played by
the GMS. We all thought that the league thought he
sucked and that just wasn't the case. Now, I know
people in the league they didn't like him that much,
and I know other people that thought he was solid.
So it's just like like most prospects, you could text
(10:52):
five people, two might like, two might not like, and
one guy's kind of indifferent. He's like, mah, that's that's personnel,
that's scouting, that's coaching. We all evaluate players differently. You
and I can watch a game in any sport and
come away with different takes on what we just witnessed.
Is what makes this whole thing fun. It's a very
subjective business. But they did allocate a lot of resources
(11:16):
for a team that still has a lot of resources
because of the Browns, So they would have definitely been equipped.
And as we saw this year, you never know what's
going to happen a year to year, right Listen. I
don't know if we you might have disagreed with me,
but I thought the Giants in Seattle would draft one
and two right or in the mix, like they'd be
drafting in the top five. Both made the playoffs. So
the NFL is a unique business that way, where you
(11:38):
can I mean, that's the best case scenario where you
can go from awful to boom in the playoffs, but
you can go from awful to seven wins really really quick.
Look at the Lions last year. They went from joke
two years ago to you know, nine to eight and
right there in the playoffs mix they didn't make it.
(11:58):
Speaking of GMS on the hot seat, it's not totally
his fault because he took over a job that had
Andrew Luck. He hired Josh McDaniels, which, let's face it
doesn't look like a good hire now Josh backed out
on him. That wasn't his fault. But in fairness to Ballard,
when he hired Josh McDaniels, every team in the league
(12:19):
for like three years was trying to hire Josh McDaniels.
The forty nine ers have Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch
because Josh McDaniels told them no. So the Chris Ballard
and the Indianapolis Colts weren't the first, and as we
saw with the Raiders, they surely weren't the last that
were willing to give Josh McDaniels a ton of jews
to be the head coach of the team. But I
do think for a guy and listen. I think Chris
(12:41):
Ballard's good at his job. I think over the years
he has put together a very very competitive roster. And
I thought once the Josh thing happened, he pivoted really
really well into Frank, who immediately got another job. Has
proven to be pretty impressive. Right. I mean, we'll see
how he does in Carolina. But it's not like Frank. Right.
The guy that hired once Josh left him at the
(13:01):
Altar was like Freddie Kitchens, right. I mean he did
he hired a solid coach who at the end kind
of flamed out, but you know, was very, very respectable
during his time as the head coach. But you can
only go through so many quarterbacks, and most general managers
only get a second coach, right, Sometimes coaches get multiple opportunities,
they keep bouncing around, they keep making a ton of money.
(13:24):
Usually gms don't get a second rodeo. So if Chris
Ballard and this thing fails, this might be his one shot.
And it feels like because he just drafted a guy
number four. Overall, they're all in on Anthony Richardson either
saving this guy's job and Chris Ballard looked like a
genius or this thing's gonna come crumbling down, and in
(13:45):
a couple of years, the Indianapolis culture gonna blow the
whole thing up again. And they're basically just riding it
all on. Not just Anthony Richardson, but can Shane Stiken
do what he did with Jalen Hurts And I don't
even mean it that left. You know, like Jalen easily
could have won the MVP this year if he didn't
get injured he bawled out in the Super Bowl. I mean,
(14:06):
he was easily one of the best players in the league.
If he can just do seventy five to eighty percent
of that in the next couple of years of Anthony
Richardson culture gonna be fine. But when you just look
at NFL history and listen, I like most human beings.
I mean maybe some aren't, but I'm very intrigued by
(14:27):
guys with have incredible athletic attributes that are also really
good guys like I would bet on those people consistently,
but history would show us at quarterback, it's way more
misses than hiss quarterback, Like the amount of linemen, the
amount of linebackers, the amount of wide receivers, guys that
(14:48):
you're able to mold into functional players is plentiful. Quarterbacks
is such a nuanced position that there are things that
you just it's impossible to quantify, right, just like how
he he reads changing defenses, like throughout a series, how
you're able to adapt from one series B zone one
(15:09):
series B. Man demand, different coordinators, different blitz packages, different
you audibling on the It just it's a lot going on, clearly.
I mean this is you don't need me to talk
about this to understand that if you fall football, we
all acknowledge the how difficult it is. Not just obviously
you got to have the god given ability, but then
(15:30):
be a good quarterback. Like, there's so many variables that
come into play, and it turned out Jalen had a
lot of them that equated to kind of just becoming
really really successful. And from everything I've heard, Anthony Richson
has that too. The difference is Jalen had less far
to go, you know when Jalen came to the Eagles,
and obviously his draft position reflected that, going in the
(15:50):
second round, even though he was a really raw passer,
he brought immediate stability of a guy that could just function.
He started at Alabama forever he had a ton of success
at Oklahoma when all else fails, he was an elite runner.
Now in theory, Anthony Richinson is an elite runner, but
game in, game out, he hasn't proven to be able
(16:11):
to do that. And I just think that this thing's
I just see no middle ground, Like I see some
middle ground with the Texans if he told me yes, CJ.
Stroud is like, you know, a Dak Prescott level player,
and you know, Will Anderson. I don't think anyone views
him as like a Hall of Fame talent, but he's
just a really, really good player that they're gonna want
to extend. Like, yeah, I can totally see that. I
(16:31):
have a hard time seeing Anthony Richson, like, you know,
he never lived up to be a top five quarterback,
but he's like probably the eleventh best quarterback in the league.
Like I don't see that, you know, just not happening.
And to me, obviously, as a general manager, you can
put the team together, but you have nothing to do
with the coaching of the player. And he's he got
(16:52):
a second higher in change Stiken, and they're all in
on this guy attempting to do what they did with
Jalen Hurts. It's gonna be fascinating to watch it, really is.
I mean, I would imagine they'll do everything humanly possible
to red shirt the guy. But that's hard. You know,
it's especially hard when you're coming off an embarrassing season
where Jeff Saturday was your fucking coach, So like, what
(17:12):
if you're awful, especially in a division that's not going
to be great? Are they just going to be cool
with like, oh, we're just red shirting. We're just red shirting.
You know. When it's easy to do when you're like
the forty nine ers and you're winning, or definitely the
Chiefs and you got Alex Smith having a career year,
it's hard to do when you're not going to the
playoffs and you're a six win team. No one wants
to watch the other quarterback that's not going to be
(17:35):
on the team, not a soul, not me, not you,
and definitely not any fan of the team. So public
pressure usually wins out, even if it means the guy
is not ready. And again, it was easier for him
to do it because they were having successful season, but
it was like a non starter with Andy Reid, like
we're not playing this guy and they basically got the
free game at the end of the season because it
(17:56):
didn't matter and they could just give Alex Smith the rest,
but they were not gonna play him. He was on
a development process and can you stick to that when
your team sucks? You know, really, I don't know. It's
it's gonna be very, very intriguing to watch three this
(18:20):
Packer Jets quarterback situation right the Jordan Love era is
starting as of right now. I just I just watched
the Warrior Kings game. I sat down, I just kind
of did a little recon before I was gonna fire
up the podcast. I saw that Matt Lafleur said, we're
still talking to the representatives about the fifth year option.
The fifth year option isn't a contract negotiation, right, It's
(18:42):
either you're picking up the option or not. It's a
very black and white decision. So as of right now,
I don't know if they're gonna pick it up. I'd
be stunned if they don't. But if they did not,
that'd be pretty eye opening. But it's, you know, it's
very disingenuous. I didn't see Lafour say it. I just
saw the headline of him basically saying that, you know,
(19:04):
we're still working through the negotiations or or we're talking
with his representative. There's no talk either you either pick
up the thing or you don't. You know, it's Justin
Jefferson fifth uh, Justin Herbert fifgure out, there's no Well,
we'd like them. This isn't arbitration, So don't you can't
say that and listen. I expect them to pick it up.
(19:24):
But if they don't, whenever my next podcast is after
that action were to happen, it would probably be the
lead of the show. That would be pretty it'd be
pretty insane. But the Jets Quarterbout's start with the Jets.
I watched a lot of Rogers press conference. I thought
he was in a very good headspace because I thought
it would have been easy and I probably might have
(19:47):
taken this route. You might have taken this route. Even
though I try to avoid personally living and hate, but
we're all human beings and there's we all have a
little bit of a pettiness to us and a little
bit of a you know, try to prove people wrong.
Even though I don't necessarily know why Rogers like I
think Goodigin's on the floor know that he's really good,
but the love thing and Rogers, you know, in his
(20:10):
Instagram post he named all those guys, including Mark Murphy.
Feels like he's just in a very peaceful might be
a little soft way to say it, but just a
positive mindset. Feels like he's just in a good spot,
which is a good thing if you're the Jets. The
other thing that he mentioned is that he plans on
being at OTAs, something that he not only didn't attend
(20:30):
the last couple of years. Remember a couple of years
ago in the CBA, him and Tom Brady and I
completely understand it, understood it. Thought it should just get
wiped out. Basically they should get six month vacation, and
anyone worth their salt around the league was like, yeah,
I understand Aaron and Tom. You don't need OTAs, even
though it's a little disingenuous for Tom as well, because
(20:51):
he would fly the boys out to him so they'd
be doing work when no one else would be. But
it was like, you know, OTAs are really really big
for I don't know, a large percentage of the league
guys that are on non guaranteed contracts, late round picks,
undrafted free agents. You know, it's kind of important to
be around your bosses in life, to be around people
(21:12):
that determine your future. You know, anytime, any extra time
you can get with them matters. And you know, maybe
Rogers has changes too, and because he realized, like I
got to be around the guys. And ultimately, of their
first two picks, right, they only had a first round pick,
a second round pick. They didn't have a pick to
the fourth round. Their first pick wasn't edg Rusher, which
(21:32):
I'll never argue with, and their second pick was a center.
The one thing that Jets have done a really good
job of is they have a good team, right. I mean,
they got some young pieces on the offensive line. We'll
see Beckden is going to be a major question mark,
but Garrett Wilson looks like, I mean, I don't know
a young star. Obviously, you sign Lazard, who Aaron's very
(21:53):
very comfortable with that, you have Breeze Hall coming back
their offensive pieces, you lose more. But they did. They
sign Corey Davis. I mean, they've invested a lot for
him in the offensive weaponry. So I feel pretty good
about the Jets, and I feel pretty good about where
Aaron's heads at and as of right now, I mean,
(22:16):
as long as he's healthy, I would pick them to
make the playoffs. I'm not picking them to beat up
the Bills, but I'll pick them to finish ahead of
the Miami Dolphins. I know that I will pick them. Listen,
I picked the Packers last year, so I prepare to
be wrong, but I'm fairly confident the New York Jets
will be an AFC playoff team. That's saying a lot.
(22:37):
We'll get to the AFC here in a little bit.
I do think the Packers are very, very fascinating. They
after taking Van s who is just your classic Packers
type guy. You know, he didn't start at Iowa though
he you know, as DJ kept saying on the broadcast,
he was their best player. He's a high weight speed guy.
They love high weight speed guys. A lot of them
have worked out for them over the years. In the draft,
(22:58):
it looks like Christian Wattson he is going to definitely
work out based on the second half of the season.
He is what I would consider a high weight speed guy.
And when I say that in scouting terms, that means
a guy that just fits with big time measurables right
big obviously at fast, so I do think. Then they
took three offensive weaponry to go around Jordan Love, with which,
(23:21):
let's face it, they already have AJ Dillon, who's really good.
They have Aaron Jones. I mean, there are two running
backs are sweet. The Nevada wide receiver to go along
with Watson last year, Dobbs and Christian Watson look to
be really good. They take Luke Musgrave, who is a
fascinating player out of Oregon State tight end. He got
(23:42):
injured this year, but he's healthy now. He's a stud
like that pick. I don't know much about their second
second round pick, this Michigan State wide receiver, but it
shows you they invested back to back picks tight end
wide receiver. And then they took another tight end out
of South Dakota State, Jordan Love. They're gonna have a
(24:02):
lot of young pieces around them. I think you're gonna
be a fascinating team. I'm not gonna pick them to
make the playoffs, even in a weak NFC, but you know,
if they hit on some of these players, and Jordan
Love is just a solid quarterback, which I'm gonna bet against,
you know, I just am and because history would show
us like you're just not going you know how crazy,
(24:23):
I mean, how fucking insane it was to go Joe Montana,
Steve Young to Jeff Garcia, to Jeff Garcia who multiple
Pro Bowls, really really solid player, like that is not
the way it works. Usually go Peyton Manning Andrew Locke
to what we've just witnessed the last five years. Right,
it usually does not work out well. But if it does,
(24:46):
like I said the other day, Lafour Gudikins, like these
guys will become legends fast. They start going to the
playoffs just and having a playoff competitive team with this group,
It's how Ted Thompson and McCarthy got major extensions and
made a ton of money in Green Bay. For those
(25:08):
of you that don't follow the NBA, well, when the
Warriors got Kevin Durant, their owner Joe Lekobos. You know,
I don't know, he's been pretty successful since he bought
the team. It's spent about four or five hundred million
on the team. I just saw his valued about seven billion,
so you know, pretty goodbye. And since he's owned the team,
they've won four championships and signed Kevin Durant, but when
they signed Kevin Durant, he dropped. He dropped a saying
(25:31):
that stuck around Warriors fans and it goes by the UH,
goes by light years. He said, we're light years ahead
of the NBA, which was more of an arrogant comment
than something that was actually true, because anyone with the
cap space would have tried to sign Kevin Durant, and
they got pretty lucky with this capspike. A lot of
(25:54):
things in Steph Curry was on this cheap deal because
bad ankles. But regardless, it's one of the greatest the
statements and lines of all time. It's just funny. I
laugh at it more than think it's real life, though.
I think lacub has been an incredible owner for the NBA.
He's been like the Eddie de Barbelow when I was
a kid with the forty nine ers version in the NBA.
(26:14):
I'll spend anything, I'll pay any luxury tax, but we
got to win chips. It's all about winning titles and
I think the Eagles, but the point was like, yeah,
we'll just pay really good players. We're just going after
the stars like pat Riley has done forever. It's actually
not that complicated. It's like we're just going after the
best players. Now in the NBA, you gotta have a
destination place in football, like they'll take your money. And
(26:37):
in the draft specifically, I think it's easy to overthink
yourself and kind of and I think the forty nine
Ers did it several years ago when they took Trey Lance.
They took this just smaller school guy, like that's not
usually the way it works out, right, And I think
the Eagles, for example, most of the best forty nine
ers players are come from big program right or big conferences.
(27:02):
Deebo Samuel was one of the best players in the SEC.
George Kittle Iowa, Trant Williams, Oklahoma, you know, Nick Bosa,
Ohio State, Like they're better players come from big programs
hufunga USC And I think the Eagles and I know
and I talked about it with Colin they don't waste
any time anymore on the little schools or overthinking it
(27:25):
with the schools the non Power five programs. When you
look at their draft this year, they took they took
three players from Georgia. Three obviously their first two picks,
but they took a corner in the later rounds. And
they also I think their third round pick was an
Illinois dB who Illinois last year had one of their
(27:48):
better seasons in recent memory with Bei Lama, and it
was one of the better defenses in the country. Like
they are taking Power five programs that are having a
lot of success. Obviously they have pillaged Georgia and Alabama
and they're just not messing around with little schools. And
for the most part, it's not a tried and true formula.
(28:09):
If you only drafted LSU, Alabama and Georgia players, you
would miss on guys, but you would probably hit on
way more. And I think the Eagles have really for
this organization that kind of prides itself on being very
stat friendly, being very progressive, being ahead of the curve.
I think they've just taken a basic approach. Let's just
(28:30):
draft the sweetest players from the sweetest programs and try
to build our team. I don't know around those guys,
and for the most part, we'll kick the shit out
of other people. And obviously there has to be luck involved,
right Jalen Carter had to fall, but I gave them
credit last week of like they have the pieces on
(28:51):
their roster. Part of like people, how do you resign
Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox? Those guys are over the hill?
Well to mentor a guy like this Jalen Carter, who
could be an All Pro in the NFL. Obviously, you
need teams to pass on Nolan Smith. And maybe you
benefited from his injury this year for him falling in
the draft, But when he was available, you just draft him.
(29:11):
You don't go, Wow, should we take this tight end
from South Dakota State or should we take this, you know,
kind of rotational guy from the you know, Florida Atlantic.
Now you just take the dude from Georgia. You just drafted, Like,
who's the best defense in the country last year? You
know it was Michigan, it was Georgia, it was Illinois.
Let's just take one guy from there. And when you
(29:32):
do that, I think it simplifies some of your misses
a couple of years ago. It's like, oh, we need
a fast wider. Let's take Jalen Rager. Yeah, should have
just taken Justin Jefferson. The best team. He was one
of the best players on that team. And they've done
that literally ever since. And when you watch them play,
they have talent everywhere, So credit for the Eagles for
(29:53):
just simplifying the math, but not least number five. The
AFC versus the NFC one story that happened. I guess
this would have been on the first round Lamar signed
the contract. I think we all acknowledge the AFC South
is guy. We have three teams that are not gonna
be very good. The Jags are gonna be solid. They
(30:16):
should be a playoff team for the foreseeable future, star quarterback,
star coach. The AFC North now like kind of has
some stability. Steelers have their young quarterback and they were
really coming on at the end of the season. I
think we view that team like they should be in
the mix to be a wildcard team. There are no
excuses of like why isn't Lamar playing? He would do
(30:36):
this if he didn't have a contract. He's not battling
through injuries. You pay him no excuses. Now it's healthy.
He plays, even banged up, he plays in big games.
I feel much better about the stability of the Ravens
and obviously the Bengals, I don't know, are fucking awesome.
The Bills awesome. Now they need to be better in
the playoffs, but regular season team, they've proven year after
(30:56):
year after year they're just gonna win that division and
they're gonna be sweet. Same with the Chiefs. So the
AFC is just stacked. We know Herbert and the Chargers,
you know, always underachieve a little bit, but you're talking
ten to eleven win team, the Miami Dolphins, if they
can just keep Tua erect. I mean, we saw how
dynamic their offense was and how awesome Mike McDaniel was
(31:18):
as an offensive coordinator. Listen, say what you want about Belichick,
like he'll just be feisty. He's not. Even if his
team's not as talented as it was for a long
period of time. He's still Bill freaking Belichick. Haven't you
mentioned the Jets and Rogers. I mean, the AFC is
stupid stacked. It's gonna be They're gonna be really good teams,
just like last year that missed the playoffs. Even with
(31:39):
this seventh added team, I don't think anything changed in
the NFC. I think there's three teams that are clearly
better than the rest of the conference, just like last year,
the Eagles, forty nine Ers and the Cowboys, and clearly
the Eagles lost the sweet defensive tackle and the forty
nine ers stolen and then they replaced him with Jalen Carter.
And you know, they added a pass rusher in Nolan Smith, right,
(32:01):
and you look at the Cowboys like what was what
are their problems run defense? Added a sweet defensive tackle
from Michigan immediately. The forty nine Ers well got some
questions at quarterback. They signed Sam Darnold and Brock Purty
expects to be fully healthy, and the roster is already sweet,
and they have some young players like you know, guys
(32:22):
they drafted last year, ty Davis Price, the running back
from LSU, Danny Gray the third round wide receiver who's
an excellent special team player from from SMU, and I
It's was a long weekend. The USC pass rusher Drake
Jackson last year who started being inactive toward the end
(32:44):
of the season. They're very bullish on him big offseason
so that they should get some young players they drafted
last year start impacting the team this year. To go
with hard Grave, those three teams are heading shoulders above
the rest of the conference. Minnesota is worse. The Giants
like they won all those one score games and I
still think they're a year or two away from having
like a legitimate roster. We saw what happens when they
(33:05):
played a really good team. They got curbstonped. Now I'm
not acting like the Giants won't be in the playoff mix,
but you know, the Lions Jared Goff just gonna have
back to back good seasons. How's Dan Campbell gonna do
with the pressure? Now, the pressure everyone's gonna pick them
to win the division, myself included, But how Dan Campbell actually,
(33:26):
like does he get a little tight? It was easy
to say loose this year. Remember they started off really slow.
They started winning games when they were I think like
one and four. What's it like game one? Like, hey man,
everyone thinks you're gonna be an eleven win team, and
you're in a weird way. Teams are coming after you.
You ain't sleep walking on anybody. Teams are showing up
(33:47):
knowing you guys are good. The AFC South, like Tampa
made the playoffs last year. Obviously the eight and nine
they're done. You know, I don't view the Falcons as
that good. The Saints, in theory should be a lot better,
you know, because they add Derek Carr did Derek Carr
just have a bad season because of Josh McDaniels or
is his career just trending the wrong way, because I
(34:11):
do believe the saint should win the division, but like
I can't feel confident about betting on a Dennis Allen
leadhead team, uh leading a team as the head coach.
So it's just THEFC, you know, has ten good teams
and obviously like multiple powerhouses, and like the Chiefs and
the Bengals. If the Bills are the third best team
(34:31):
in your conference, you're in pretty good shape right now.
The Chiefs and Bengals beat him, but it takes those
two teams and knock the Bills out. Maybe I'm crazy,
but I think the Jets are coming. I do same
with the same with the Jacks, same with the Jags.
The NFC, you know, it's just Cowboys, Niners, Eagles. The
(35:13):
volume
The volume, What is going on? My people? How are
we doing? What has happened in John Middlecoff three and
out podcast Beautiful Day here Hot Day. Actually just got
(00:24):
back to Arizona from northern California, played a little golf
in Napa instead of watching rounds four through seven. But
you know, didn't miss much. What I did do though,
is Colin and I did a podcast after the first
round came out on Friday. Then I did a podcast
after the second round right as the third round was
starting on Friday night came out. This weekend, I thought
(00:47):
I would put together a little draft podcast of just
five things that you know, intrigue me after this weekend
and kind of heading in now that we head to
OTAs you know, there'll still be some player movement for
the most part, though we kind of got an idea
some of the big moves that happened over the weekend
and just moving forward things I'm interested in. So that's
(01:07):
what I did today. I picked five things, ratted it
off after the draft and yeah, so listen download the
Amazon amp app our stuffs on their podcast is on
there live every single day. YouTube channel, Volume YouTube channel,
check it out the Volume merch Store if you go
to the Volume dot com. Got some Go Lo hats,
some Go Lo polos, check that out. A lot of
(01:31):
football content coming So I have a podcast. We'll have
a lot of podcasts coming up. So buckle up. You
know football offseason, Baby OTA's mini camps, rookie mini camps.
That's a fun one. It's cool actually if you've got
a quarterback. But if you don't, it's not. But other
than that, a lot going on. Middlecoff mailbag. We will
bust that bad boy out on Tuesday. So at John
(01:54):
Middlecoff is my Instagram DM's wide open fire in those dms.
Get your question here on the show and let's talk
some football. I actually got a text this morning. Did today.
I'm recording this on Sunday. And when I got the text,
it was before Game seven in Sacramento, and they said, John,
I want to go to the game. What's your promo
code again? And I said, oh, you mean the official
(02:16):
ticketing app of this podcast, game Time. Here's what you do.
You just download the game Time app and use the
promo code John J o Hn and get twenty dollars off.
They went to the game. They saved a little money
now and they got to watch greatness. Steph Curry scored
fifty points. You know, tip your hat, and that's just
a reality. You want to go to a game, you
never know what you may see. You might see a
(02:39):
historic event, especially at you know, sporting event. So download
the game Time app, fastest growing ticket app in America,
the official ticketing app of this podcast, and use the
promo code. John. I love saving you guys money these
inflationary times. We do everything humanly possible to throw people
we can a bone, and those that listen to this
show use that promo code, and we appreciate everyone it has.
(03:02):
Here's what I wanted to do. The draft happens, and
everyone's got a lot of you know, draft grades, and
which is really just based on your own opinions of
the player. I'm not gonna do that. What I did
is I picked five things that fire me up and
interest me the most after the draft based on what
happened these last three days and a lot of takes
(03:24):
flying a lot of different teams. I think it's hard
to differentiate because a lot of times the good teams
they're drafting at the end of everywhere round, they're not
taking the most famous players. In the draft, Like no
one was like, oh, Kansas City's draft last year, right,
and then the season happened, You're like Isaiah Pajaco, all
those late round DB's playing. So and it's I say
(03:45):
it every year, and I've been going to these training
camps and o tas forever. It's hard to put much
stock in the third day in terms of like this
guy's going to be a really good player, because every
single year I go to these practices and see fourth
and fifth round players get beat out by undrafted free
agents or unable to beat out the veteran practice squad
(04:06):
guys that are already on the team. So when you
are drafted in the first couple of days, because of
your contract, you're making the team. That's just the reality
of the business that is the NFL and the way
these contracts are structured. When you get drafted in the
fourth round on, there ain't any guarantee. Now, for the
most part, you're typically going to be on practice squads.
But like we don't talk about practice squad guys starting
(04:28):
in September, right, talk about NFL players. Now they're technically
on an NFL roster, but they don't actually play in
the games. So I'm going to focus on some of
the headliners, some of the headlighting teams, and uh. I
wanted to start with this the Houston Texans because I've
seen a lot of reaction. I don't know if me
and Colin got that deep into it on Friday. I
don't even know if I talked about it that much
(04:49):
on the Saturday podcast, which you could obviously catch. Me
and Colin went live after the first round. I recorded
something after the second round, so the third round was
still going on. That came out this weekend, and obviously
the draft is done now, so I want to start
with the Texans who traded up. They take c J.
Stroud at two, who most of us because of just
(05:09):
we just thought he was gonna tumble, because that's what
the media kept telling us, and they played the media
like a fiddle. The lies on c J. Stroud were immense.
It's weird because a lot of people, I think the
consensus in the league and outside of the league is like,
you know, he could be like a better version of
Jared Goff. And when you say that, you know, typically
(05:30):
obviously Jared Goff was the number one overall pick, but
based off what we know now and he's really resurrected
his career in Detroit. You know, I think you'd be
looking for a little bit more when you draft really high.
But I think the stories around them is, why would
you trade back up for an edge rusher and give
up what they gave up? Right, they went from twelve
(05:52):
to three, They give up the second round pick, they
gave up next year's first round pick, which fair or
not a lot of people just think they're gonna suck again.
I don't necessarily think that, Like, I'm not viewing them
as a playoff team, but I if I was a
betting man, i'd view them more likely to win, you know,
somewhere like six games than two or three games. But
(06:14):
they traded up to get will Anderson, and I've seen
a lot of smart football people say you can't view
it like they traded up to get will Anderson. They
traded up to get the package of CJ. Stroud and
Will Anderson because they couldn't take Will Anderson too and
risk someone else trading up and giving more than they
were willing to and taking c J. Stroud, which they knew.
The Tennessee Titans loved them, and I think, you know,
(06:36):
depending on who you believe. I think the Raiders were
very very interesting in CJ. Stroud as well. And one
of the things Arizona had clearly let it be known
not only were they open for business, but if anyone
was going to trade with them, it was going to
because one of the quarterbacks they liked did not go
one or two. So I completely understand the Texans doing
what they did. It was really about getting the package
(06:58):
of players. Did you give up a lot? You did?
But I got my favorite quarterback in the draft, I
guess more than likely their second favorite quarterback and the
best pass rusher that we viewed it. And anytime you
get the two most important positions, I got no problem
allocating resources now now separate from the resources they allocated
to get a hold of those players and not risk
(07:18):
losing the quarterback. That there's just a barometer and a
baseline of minimum performance moving forward. Like if CJ. Stroud
is a top seven eight quarterback in the league, it
doesn't matter if Will Anderson actually is overrated and never
makes Pro Bowls, and you go, we gave up all
that for Will Anderson. No one will care. As a
(07:40):
wise man told me a couple of years ago. We
can draft all the sweetest players every single year, and
the Jets have. If Zach Wilson stinks were screwed. Now
they got lucky because Aaron Rodgers poked his head through
that door right to kind of save their careers. But
Zach Wilson was going to get everyone fired. It didn't
(08:00):
matter that they had hit on basically every other pick.
So when you hit on the quarterback, it doesn't matter
your other players. Even if Will Anderson becomes Solomon Thomas
or a Cleveland Ferrell, right, he does not have to
be Nick Bosa, Joey Bosa or Miles Garrett. If CJ.
Stroud is awesome, because that's what will matter the most.
(08:21):
Now it's not ideal, but if CJ. Stroud to me
is like closer to Dak Cousins, the Jimmy Garoppolo Jared
Gobbs of the world, will Anderson better be pretty solid
because if he's not, it's an utter disaster. Right, he
can be her cousins if Will Anderson's an impact Pro
Bowl player, and then you feel pretty good about it, right,
And that's kind of to me the worst case scenario,
(08:43):
or else it's just a disaster. Now, I think Dimiko's
a stud. I've watched Demiko really since he was a player.
Everything Demiko has done in his career professionally once he
left Alabama has been successful. Player, quality control, code, position coach,
defensive coordinator. I'm not betting against the Miko. I think
(09:04):
he's going to be really good, and I do think
he's one of the things he hangs his hat on
as character being a teammate. So he's not coming in
and telling you everyone who designed right, Like I'm not
faulting Sean Payton for doing this, but Sean Payton's taking
orders from nobody. When Sean Payton wants a player, when
Sean Payton wants to sign a free agent, or Sean
(09:25):
Payton wanted anyone in the draft, Sean Payton got that.
He was a decision maker. He didn't give a shit
what anyone else in the room thought right, And I'm
not saying that that's what happened. I'm just saying Sean
Payton was at the top of the food chart. I
think Demko is tried to work with trying to be
a good guy, work with the operation, Listen to the
scouting stamp. Right. I'm a little surprised. They kind of
(09:46):
put a lot of their chips in the middle. Not
that Nick did it, because Nick the team hasn't been
good now for a couple of years. They've kind of waited,
like it's been really really ugly and he need to
get some momentum going. But you know, it is a
little stunning would be too strong, but I thought it
was eye opening that they put so many chips in
the middle of the table. Now, if it works, who cares.
(10:07):
It does not matter, right, But anytime that you draft
a quarterback, especially when you're a you know, first year coach,
your clock kind of starts. Right. It's why sometimes you
just take the incumbent or you assign some random free
agent and you just kind of get a year to
breathe and then you figure it out. Now, you could
argue they've been so shitty that no one wants to
watch that again, But that's not Demko's problem. That's that's
(10:30):
the previous coaches problem. And it's gonna be fascinating how
this shakes out, because I think CJ. Stroud was just
your classic. You know, the media was being played by
the GMS. We all thought that the league thought he
sucked and that just wasn't the case. Now, I know
people in the league they didn't like him that much,
and I know other people that thought he was solid.
So it's just like like most prospects, you could text
(10:52):
five people, two might like, two might not like, and
one guy's kind of indifferent. He's like, mah, that's that's personnel,
that's scouting, that's coaching. We all evaluate players differently. You
and I can watch a game in any sport and
come away with different takes on what we just witnessed.
Is what makes this whole thing fun. It's a very
subjective business. But they did allocate a lot of resources
(11:16):
for a team that still has a lot of resources
because of the Browns, So they would have definitely been equipped.
And as we saw this year, you never know what's
going to happen a year to year, right Listen. I
don't know if we you might have disagreed with me,
but I thought the Giants in Seattle would draft one
and two right or in the mix, like they'd be
drafting in the top five. Both made the playoffs. So
the NFL is a unique business that way, where you
(11:38):
can I mean, that's the best case scenario where you
can go from awful to boom in the playoffs, but
you can go from awful to seven wins really really quick.
Look at the Lions last year. They went from joke
two years ago to you know, nine to eight and
right there in the playoffs mix they didn't make it.
(11:58):
Speaking of GMS on the hot seat, it's not totally
his fault because he took over a job that had
Andrew Luck. He hired Josh McDaniels, which, let's face it
doesn't look like a good hire now Josh backed out
on him. That wasn't his fault. But in fairness to Ballard,
when he hired Josh McDaniels, every team in the league
(12:19):
for like three years was trying to hire Josh McDaniels.
The forty nine ers have Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch
because Josh McDaniels told them no. So the Chris Ballard
and the Indianapolis Colts weren't the first, and as we
saw with the Raiders, they surely weren't the last that
were willing to give Josh McDaniels a ton of jews
to be the head coach of the team. But I
do think for a guy and listen. I think Chris
(12:41):
Ballard's good at his job. I think over the years
he has put together a very very competitive roster. And
I thought once the Josh thing happened, he pivoted really
really well into Frank, who immediately got another job. Has
proven to be pretty impressive. Right. I mean, we'll see
how he does in Carolina. But it's not like Frank. Right.
The guy that hired once Josh left him at the
(13:01):
Altar was like Freddie Kitchens, right. I mean he did
he hired a solid coach who at the end kind
of flamed out, but you know, was very, very respectable
during his time as the head coach. But you can
only go through so many quarterbacks, and most general managers
only get a second coach, right, Sometimes coaches get multiple opportunities,
they keep bouncing around, they keep making a ton of money.
(13:24):
Usually gms don't get a second rodeo. So if Chris
Ballard and this thing fails, this might be his one shot.
And it feels like because he just drafted a guy
number four. Overall, they're all in on Anthony Richardson either
saving this guy's job and Chris Ballard looked like a
genius or this thing's gonna come crumbling down, and in
(13:45):
a couple of years, the Indianapolis culture gonna blow the
whole thing up again. And they're basically just riding it
all on. Not just Anthony Richardson, but can Shane Stiken
do what he did with Jalen Hurts And I don't
even mean it that left. You know, like Jalen easily
could have won the MVP this year if he didn't
get injured he bawled out in the Super Bowl. I mean,
(14:06):
he was easily one of the best players in the league.
If he can just do seventy five to eighty percent
of that in the next couple of years of Anthony
Richardson culture gonna be fine. But when you just look
at NFL history and listen, I like most human beings.
I mean maybe some aren't, but I'm very intrigued by
(14:27):
guys with have incredible athletic attributes that are also really
good guys like I would bet on those people consistently,
but history would show us at quarterback, it's way more
misses than hiss quarterback, Like the amount of linemen, the
amount of linebackers, the amount of wide receivers, guys that
(14:48):
you're able to mold into functional players is plentiful. Quarterbacks
is such a nuanced position that there are things that
you just it's impossible to quantify, right, just like how
he he reads changing defenses, like throughout a series, how
you're able to adapt from one series B zone one
(15:09):
series B. Man demand, different coordinators, different blitz packages, different
you audibling on the It just it's a lot going on, clearly.
I mean this is you don't need me to talk
about this to understand that if you fall football, we
all acknowledge the how difficult it is. Not just obviously
you got to have the god given ability, but then
(15:30):
be a good quarterback. Like, there's so many variables that
come into play, and it turned out Jalen had a
lot of them that equated to kind of just becoming
really really successful. And from everything I've heard, Anthony Richson
has that too. The difference is Jalen had less far
to go, you know when Jalen came to the Eagles,
and obviously his draft position reflected that, going in the
(15:50):
second round, even though he was a really raw passer,
he brought immediate stability of a guy that could just function.
He started at Alabama forever he had a ton of success
at Oklahoma when all else fails, he was an elite runner.
Now in theory, Anthony Richinson is an elite runner, but
game in, game out, he hasn't proven to be able
(16:11):
to do that. And I just think that this thing's
I just see no middle ground, Like I see some
middle ground with the Texans if he told me yes, CJ.
Stroud is like, you know, a Dak Prescott level player,
and you know, Will Anderson. I don't think anyone views
him as like a Hall of Fame talent, but he's
just a really, really good player that they're gonna want
to extend. Like, yeah, I can totally see that. I
(16:31):
have a hard time seeing Anthony Richson, like, you know,
he never lived up to be a top five quarterback,
but he's like probably the eleventh best quarterback in the league.
Like I don't see that, you know, just not happening.
And to me, obviously, as a general manager, you can
put the team together, but you have nothing to do
with the coaching of the player. And he's he got
(16:52):
a second higher in change Stiken, and they're all in
on this guy attempting to do what they did with
Jalen Hurts. It's gonna be fascinating to watch it, really is.
I mean, I would imagine they'll do everything humanly possible
to red shirt the guy. But that's hard. You know,
it's especially hard when you're coming off an embarrassing season
where Jeff Saturday was your fucking coach, So like, what
(17:12):
if you're awful, especially in a division that's not going
to be great? Are they just going to be cool
with like, oh, we're just red shirting. We're just red shirting.
You know. When it's easy to do when you're like
the forty nine ers and you're winning, or definitely the
Chiefs and you got Alex Smith having a career year,
it's hard to do when you're not going to the
playoffs and you're a six win team. No one wants
to watch the other quarterback that's not going to be
(17:35):
on the team, not a soul, not me, not you,
and definitely not any fan of the team. So public
pressure usually wins out, even if it means the guy
is not ready. And again, it was easier for him
to do it because they were having successful season, but
it was like a non starter with Andy Reid, like
we're not playing this guy and they basically got the
free game at the end of the season because it
(17:56):
didn't matter and they could just give Alex Smith the rest,
but they were not gonna play him. He was on
a development process and can you stick to that when
your team sucks? You know, really, I don't know. It's
it's gonna be very, very intriguing to watch three this
(18:20):
Packer Jets quarterback situation right the Jordan Love era is
starting as of right now. I just I just watched
the Warrior Kings game. I sat down, I just kind
of did a little recon before I was gonna fire
up the podcast. I saw that Matt Lafleur said, we're
still talking to the representatives about the fifth year option.
The fifth year option isn't a contract negotiation, right, It's
(18:42):
either you're picking up the option or not. It's a
very black and white decision. So as of right now,
I don't know if they're gonna pick it up. I'd
be stunned if they don't. But if they did not,
that'd be pretty eye opening. But it's, you know, it's
very disingenuous. I didn't see Lafour say it. I just
saw the headline of him basically saying that, you know,
(19:04):
we're still working through the negotiations or or we're talking
with his representative. There's no talk either you either pick
up the thing or you don't. You know, it's Justin
Jefferson fifth uh, Justin Herbert fifgure out, there's no Well,
we'd like them. This isn't arbitration, So don't you can't
say that and listen. I expect them to pick it up.
(19:24):
But if they don't, whenever my next podcast is after
that action were to happen, it would probably be the
lead of the show. That would be pretty it'd be
pretty insane. But the Jets Quarterbout's start with the Jets.
I watched a lot of Rogers press conference. I thought
he was in a very good headspace because I thought
it would have been easy and I probably might have
(19:47):
taken this route. You might have taken this route. Even
though I try to avoid personally living and hate, but
we're all human beings and there's we all have a
little bit of a pettiness to us and a little
bit of a you know, try to prove people wrong.
Even though I don't necessarily know why Rogers like I
think Goodigin's on the floor know that he's really good,
but the love thing and Rogers, you know, in his
(20:10):
Instagram post he named all those guys, including Mark Murphy.
Feels like he's just in a very peaceful might be
a little soft way to say it, but just a
positive mindset. Feels like he's just in a good spot,
which is a good thing if you're the Jets. The
other thing that he mentioned is that he plans on
being at OTAs, something that he not only didn't attend
(20:30):
the last couple of years. Remember a couple of years
ago in the CBA, him and Tom Brady and I
completely understand it, understood it. Thought it should just get
wiped out. Basically they should get six month vacation, and
anyone worth their salt around the league was like, yeah,
I understand Aaron and Tom. You don't need OTAs, even
though it's a little disingenuous for Tom as well, because
(20:51):
he would fly the boys out to him so they'd
be doing work when no one else would be. But
it was like, you know, OTAs are really really big
for I don't know, a large percentage of the league
guys that are on non guaranteed contracts, late round picks,
undrafted free agents. You know, it's kind of important to
be around your bosses in life, to be around people
(21:12):
that determine your future. You know, anytime, any extra time
you can get with them matters. And you know, maybe
Rogers has changes too, and because he realized, like I
got to be around the guys. And ultimately, of their
first two picks, right, they only had a first round pick,
a second round pick. They didn't have a pick to
the fourth round. Their first pick wasn't edg Rusher, which
(21:32):
I'll never argue with, and their second pick was a center.
The one thing that Jets have done a really good
job of is they have a good team, right. I mean,
they got some young pieces on the offensive line. We'll
see Beckden is going to be a major question mark,
but Garrett Wilson looks like, I mean, I don't know
a young star. Obviously, you sign Lazard, who Aaron's very
(21:53):
very comfortable with that, you have Breeze Hall coming back
their offensive pieces, you lose more. But they did. They
sign Corey Davis. I mean, they've invested a lot for
him in the offensive weaponry. So I feel pretty good
about the Jets, and I feel pretty good about where
Aaron's heads at and as of right now, I mean,
(22:16):
as long as he's healthy, I would pick them to
make the playoffs. I'm not picking them to beat up
the Bills, but I'll pick them to finish ahead of
the Miami Dolphins. I know that I will pick them. Listen,
I picked the Packers last year, so I prepare to
be wrong, but I'm fairly confident the New York Jets
will be an AFC playoff team. That's saying a lot.
(22:37):
We'll get to the AFC here in a little bit.
I do think the Packers are very, very fascinating. They
after taking Van s who is just your classic Packers
type guy. You know, he didn't start at Iowa though
he you know, as DJ kept saying on the broadcast,
he was their best player. He's a high weight speed guy.
They love high weight speed guys. A lot of them
have worked out for them over the years. In the draft,
(22:58):
it looks like Christian Wattson he is going to definitely
work out based on the second half of the season.
He is what I would consider a high weight speed guy.
And when I say that in scouting terms, that means
a guy that just fits with big time measurables right
big obviously at fast, so I do think. Then they
took three offensive weaponry to go around Jordan Love, with which,
(23:21):
let's face it, they already have AJ Dillon, who's really good.
They have Aaron Jones. I mean, there are two running
backs are sweet. The Nevada wide receiver to go along
with Watson last year, Dobbs and Christian Watson look to
be really good. They take Luke Musgrave, who is a
fascinating player out of Oregon State tight end. He got
(23:42):
injured this year, but he's healthy now. He's a stud
like that pick. I don't know much about their second
second round pick, this Michigan State wide receiver, but it
shows you they invested back to back picks tight end
wide receiver. And then they took another tight end out
of South Dakota State, Jordan Love. They're gonna have a
(24:02):
lot of young pieces around them. I think you're gonna
be a fascinating team. I'm not gonna pick them to
make the playoffs, even in a weak NFC, but you know,
if they hit on some of these players, and Jordan
Love is just a solid quarterback, which I'm gonna bet against,
you know, I just am and because history would show
us like you're just not going you know how crazy,
(24:23):
I mean, how fucking insane it was to go Joe Montana,
Steve Young to Jeff Garcia, to Jeff Garcia who multiple
Pro Bowls, really really solid player, like that is not
the way it works. Usually go Peyton Manning Andrew Locke
to what we've just witnessed the last five years. Right,
it usually does not work out well. But if it does,
(24:46):
like I said the other day, Lafour Gudikins, like these
guys will become legends fast. They start going to the
playoffs just and having a playoff competitive team with this group,
It's how Ted Thompson and McCarthy got major extensions and
made a ton of money in Green Bay. For those
(25:08):
of you that don't follow the NBA, well, when the
Warriors got Kevin Durant, their owner Joe Lekobos. You know,
I don't know, he's been pretty successful since he bought
the team. It's spent about four or five hundred million
on the team. I just saw his valued about seven billion,
so you know, pretty goodbye. And since he's owned the team,
they've won four championships and signed Kevin Durant, but when
they signed Kevin Durant, he dropped. He dropped a saying
(25:31):
that stuck around Warriors fans and it goes by the UH,
goes by light years. He said, we're light years ahead
of the NBA, which was more of an arrogant comment
than something that was actually true, because anyone with the
cap space would have tried to sign Kevin Durant, and
they got pretty lucky with this capspike. A lot of
(25:54):
things in Steph Curry was on this cheap deal because
bad ankles. But regardless, it's one of the greatest the
statements and lines of all time. It's just funny. I
laugh at it more than think it's real life, though.
I think lacub has been an incredible owner for the NBA.
He's been like the Eddie de Barbelow when I was
a kid with the forty nine ers version in the NBA.
(26:14):
I'll spend anything, I'll pay any luxury tax, but we
got to win chips. It's all about winning titles and
I think the Eagles, but the point was like, yeah,
we'll just pay really good players. We're just going after
the stars like pat Riley has done forever. It's actually
not that complicated. It's like we're just going after the
best players. Now in the NBA, you gotta have a
destination place in football, like they'll take your money. And
(26:37):
in the draft specifically, I think it's easy to overthink
yourself and kind of and I think the forty nine
Ers did it several years ago when they took Trey Lance.
They took this just smaller school guy, like that's not
usually the way it works out, right, And I think
the Eagles, for example, most of the best forty nine
ers players are come from big program right or big conferences.
(27:02):
Deebo Samuel was one of the best players in the SEC.
George Kittle Iowa, Trant Williams, Oklahoma, you know, Nick Bosa,
Ohio State, Like they're better players come from big programs
hufunga USC And I think the Eagles and I know
and I talked about it with Colin they don't waste
any time anymore on the little schools or overthinking it
(27:25):
with the schools the non Power five programs. When you
look at their draft this year, they took they took
three players from Georgia. Three obviously their first two picks,
but they took a corner in the later rounds. And
they also I think their third round pick was an
Illinois dB who Illinois last year had one of their
(27:48):
better seasons in recent memory with Bei Lama, and it
was one of the better defenses in the country. Like
they are taking Power five programs that are having a
lot of success. Obviously they have pillaged Georgia and Alabama
and they're just not messing around with little schools. And
for the most part, it's not a tried and true formula.
(28:09):
If you only drafted LSU, Alabama and Georgia players, you
would miss on guys, but you would probably hit on
way more. And I think the Eagles have really for
this organization that kind of prides itself on being very
stat friendly, being very progressive, being ahead of the curve.
I think they've just taken a basic approach. Let's just
(28:30):
draft the sweetest players from the sweetest programs and try
to build our team. I don't know around those guys,
and for the most part, we'll kick the shit out
of other people. And obviously there has to be luck involved,
right Jalen Carter had to fall, but I gave them
credit last week of like they have the pieces on
(28:51):
their roster. Part of like people, how do you resign
Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox? Those guys are over the hill?
Well to mentor a guy like this Jalen Carter, who
could be an All Pro in the NFL. Obviously, you
need teams to pass on Nolan Smith. And maybe you
benefited from his injury this year for him falling in
the draft, But when he was available, you just draft him.
(29:11):
You don't go, Wow, should we take this tight end
from South Dakota State or should we take this, you know,
kind of rotational guy from the you know, Florida Atlantic.
Now you just take the dude from Georgia. You just drafted, Like,
who's the best defense in the country last year? You
know it was Michigan, it was Georgia, it was Illinois.
Let's just take one guy from there. And when you
(29:32):
do that, I think it simplifies some of your misses
a couple of years ago. It's like, oh, we need
a fast wider. Let's take Jalen Rager. Yeah, should have
just taken Justin Jefferson. The best team. He was one
of the best players on that team. And they've done
that literally ever since. And when you watch them play,
they have talent everywhere, So credit for the Eagles for
(29:53):
just simplifying the math, but not least number five. The
AFC versus the NFC one story that happened. I guess
this would have been on the first round Lamar signed
the contract. I think we all acknowledge the AFC South
is guy. We have three teams that are not gonna
be very good. The Jags are gonna be solid. They
(30:16):
should be a playoff team for the foreseeable future, star quarterback,
star coach. The AFC North now like kind of has
some stability. Steelers have their young quarterback and they were
really coming on at the end of the season. I
think we view that team like they should be in
the mix to be a wildcard team. There are no
excuses of like why isn't Lamar playing? He would do
(30:36):
this if he didn't have a contract. He's not battling
through injuries. You pay him no excuses. Now it's healthy.
He plays, even banged up, he plays in big games.
I feel much better about the stability of the Ravens
and obviously the Bengals, I don't know, are fucking awesome.
The Bills awesome. Now they need to be better in
the playoffs, but regular season team, they've proven year after
(30:56):
year after year they're just gonna win that division and
they're gonna be sweet. Same with the Chiefs. So the
AFC is just stacked. We know Herbert and the Chargers,
you know, always underachieve a little bit, but you're talking
ten to eleven win team, the Miami Dolphins, if they
can just keep Tua erect. I mean, we saw how
dynamic their offense was and how awesome Mike McDaniel was
(31:18):
as an offensive coordinator. Listen, say what you want about Belichick,
like he'll just be feisty. He's not. Even if his
team's not as talented as it was for a long
period of time. He's still Bill freaking Belichick. Haven't you
mentioned the Jets and Rogers. I mean, the AFC is
stupid stacked. It's gonna be They're gonna be really good teams,
just like last year that missed the playoffs. Even with
(31:39):
this seventh added team, I don't think anything changed in
the NFC. I think there's three teams that are clearly
better than the rest of the conference, just like last year,
the Eagles, forty nine Ers and the Cowboys, and clearly
the Eagles lost the sweet defensive tackle and the forty
nine ers stolen and then they replaced him with Jalen Carter.
And you know, they added a pass rusher in Nolan Smith, right,
(32:01):
and you look at the Cowboys like what was what
are their problems run defense? Added a sweet defensive tackle
from Michigan immediately. The forty nine Ers well got some
questions at quarterback. They signed Sam Darnold and Brock Purty
expects to be fully healthy, and the roster is already sweet,
and they have some young players like you know, guys
(32:22):
they drafted last year, ty Davis Price, the running back
from LSU, Danny Gray the third round wide receiver who's
an excellent special team player from from SMU, and I
It's was a long weekend. The USC pass rusher Drake
Jackson last year who started being inactive toward the end
(32:44):
of the season. They're very bullish on him big offseason
so that they should get some young players they drafted
last year start impacting the team this year. To go
with hard Grave, those three teams are heading shoulders above
the rest of the conference. Minnesota is worse. The Giants
like they won all those one score games and I
still think they're a year or two away from having
like a legitimate roster. We saw what happens when they
(33:05):
played a really good team. They got curbstonped. Now I'm
not acting like the Giants won't be in the playoff mix,
but you know, the Lions Jared Goff just gonna have
back to back good seasons. How's Dan Campbell gonna do
with the pressure? Now, the pressure everyone's gonna pick them
to win the division, myself included, But how Dan Campbell actually,
(33:26):
like does he get a little tight? It was easy
to say loose this year. Remember they started off really slow.
They started winning games when they were I think like
one and four. What's it like game one? Like, hey man,
everyone thinks you're gonna be an eleven win team, and
you're in a weird way. Teams are coming after you.
You ain't sleep walking on anybody. Teams are showing up
(33:47):
knowing you guys are good. The AFC South, like Tampa
made the playoffs last year. Obviously the eight and nine
they're done. You know, I don't view the Falcons as
that good. The Saints, in theory should be a lot better,
you know, because they add Derek Carr did Derek Carr
just have a bad season because of Josh McDaniels or
is his career just trending the wrong way, because I
(34:11):
do believe the saint should win the division, but like
I can't feel confident about betting on a Dennis Allen
leadhead team, uh leading a team as the head coach.
So it's just THEFC, you know, has ten good teams
and obviously like multiple powerhouses, and like the Chiefs and
the Bengals. If the Bills are the third best team
(34:31):
in your conference, you're in pretty good shape right now.
The Chiefs and Bengals beat him, but it takes those
two teams and knock the Bills out. Maybe I'm crazy,
but I think the Jets are coming. I do same
with the same with the Jacks, same with the Jags.
The NFC, you know, it's just Cowboys, Niners, Eagles. The
(35:13):
volume
Host
John Middlekauff
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.