Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to forties and free Agents. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I
am joined by my friend Daniel Jeremiah. We are getting
to the end of our previews of the season where
we go through each division and pick the biggest additions
in terms of veterans and rookies throughout the league. And look,
we got lucky here DJ. We're doing the NFC East
(00:28):
today and we're taping on the very same morning morning
that Terry McLaurin got a big contract extension with the
Washington Commanders, So I feel like we might as well
just start there. This is one of those holdouts like
you expected to get done eventually, but also I feel
much better about the Commanders knowing he will be fully
ready for a week one.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah, it was interesting.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
I saw that news come down and I wanted to
kind of refresh myself on Terry. Obviously there's been a
great player. He's been fun to watch. And we hit
this on Move the six with Buck. I kind of
went through and just watch all his explosive plays. I
was curious like his usage, like how they were doing it,
Where were those big plays coming from? And it was
you know, seven of those were vertical balls, like just
straight go balls. You had four on scrambles, which you
(01:12):
could understand having an athletic quarterback. You had three on overs,
So the vast majority of them were on takeoffs, verticals
down the field. You know, not a lot of quick kiters.
He had two on slants. Then you get mixed in
and in, you mix in you know, a corner, You
mix in a couple comebacks. But it wasn't there was
no like wide receiver screen run after catch. You know,
(01:32):
you had those two slants, but there wasn't a lot
of just you know, him just taking a short ball
and then making something explosive or dynamic happen, which took
me down a rabbit trail of just okay, who is
run who is a run after catch guy in this offense?
So you go back through and pull the numbers from
last year. Eckler led the team of four hundred and
twenty something yards. Zakias, who now has been doing a
great job with the Bears, he's exited. He was second,
(01:55):
and then McLaurin was after that. So I'm like, okay, well,
this doesn't seem like a lot of yards after catch.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Where were they in the league.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
They're sixteenth in yards after catch. I know preseasons a liar.
I talk about it all the time, Greg, but they're
twenty sixth then yards after catching the preseason. So it
informed the decision to me of why they went and
got Deebo Samuel, because they're trying to find somebody to
compliment what they have in Terry. My whole point of
all of this is it's pretty incredible. This team was
in the NFC Championship Game last year with an offensive line.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
I think we'd all agree that was so so.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Terry's is a great player, but he was not surrounded
by a complete receiver group Like this isn't even a
well formed team and they were in the NFC Championship
Game last year.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Yeah, it makes it very difficult. And we're going to
get to a lot of commanders here, Debo. You know
that's my first veteran, so we will just like combine
the discussion here. The contract was, you know, three years
on the extension with a thirty million dollars signing bonus.
It's up to ninety six million, but that's that's tacking
on the year either way. He's going to be nicely
in that region somewhere between a justin Jefferson and maybe
(02:55):
a DK Metcalf, and I think he deserves it. And
you think about his year last year and fantasy like
it was great because he suddenly scores thirteen touchdowns, but
in terms of volume, I think people would be surprised.
He actually got fewer targets than he used to get
when Jaden Daniels wasn't there, and he just had more efficiency,
like more yards per target. And he's just one of
(03:19):
those receivers if you know, you know, I did not
see any decline out of him, even though you know
he's getting older. He's hitting his age thirty season later
this year, and you do worry about that a little.
But his contested catch rate DJ that is one of those,
you know, skill sets that you look for, I'm sure,
but it's really hard to repeat at the NFL level
(03:40):
year after year. If you look at the numbers, you
could make the argument that Terry McLaurin is the best
contested catch guy, or certainly one of them, of his
entire generation, year after year playing with not so great quarterbacks.
If you look at the numbers in his contested get
he's just he's just a great plucker of the football.
And I don't see why that can't come continue, and
(04:00):
you're right that Deebo ends up being a very nice
compliment to him. With that.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
The last point on that, and again we mentioned this
a little bit. I'm with the sticks, but this is
it's ironic that you had mentioned that is his greatest strength.
He goes to Ohio State on a camp and he
wants to get an offer from Ohio State. That's kind
of his dream school. He goes there, doesn't catch the
ball that great, and he's a little bit of a
body catcher, so they told him, look, you got to
improve your hands if you want to get an offer.
He catches two hundred balls a day, a lot of
(04:26):
those from his mom just throwing in balls in the
family room, but he catches two hundred balls a day,
every single day until he goes back to the camp.
The next time catches the ball flawlessly, they offer him
a scholarship and off he goes. But that was just
a little glimpse into kind of the work ethic and
all that he put into that. And now you look
at him as one of the best catchers of the
football in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
And it's a great sign for the Commanders who you know,
obviously have not been a great organization before the ownership
change of rewarding mister Washington over the last six years,
So feel great about that. Deebo, to me, is just
such an X factor. He's so up and down DJ
in terms of his explosiveness, his health. I don't know
(05:06):
if it's motivation, but maybe I would say the coaching
staff in San Francisco being happy with him, like it
just it was up and down. When he's great, he's great,
he's a unique skill set, but they really need him
to work. It's ultimately a one year deal that they
brought him in on if you look at how the
contract is structured. They traded for him, of course, but
only had to give up a late round pick. And
to me, he is the ultimate X factor for this
(05:28):
team because yet you don't have Diami Brown, you don't
have Zakiyas. They're going to miss those guys, and they
have Noah Brown as their next guy who hasn't been healthy.
So these two really have to carry this passing game
as a whole. I think from what we've heard he
could do it, But I also I'm not feeling like
amazing about it just because he's been up and down.
He really hasn't been that guy that we saw back
(05:49):
in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Too often, with a quarterback like they have in Jaydon Daniels,
there should be massive yards after the catch, just because
he's going to draw so many eyes and so much
tension that you should have opportunities to have fewer numbers
in the back end because you have to dedicate bodies
to deal with what.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
He can do with his legs.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
So I'm hoping that he emerges is that guy, or
that he can still be that guy, because at one
point in time, there is nobody better in the NFL
with the ball in their hands than Deebo Samuel.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
So excited to see what that looks like.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
I'll get to one of my rookies here, Bill, the
man affectionately known as Bill Krossky Merritt, who I took
in I did my I only do one NFL Fantasy
League targeted him early, took him early, however, I think
I took him in the six fifth or sixth round.
Got some I know, but I like I always take
young guys a little earlyer than I have to. I
(06:40):
load up on young guys because it's kind of fun
for me to just keep an eye on the guys.
I just spend all this time talking about it in
the run up to the draft. So but I'm a
believer in him. I know I'm talking to people in
that organization. They're very excited about him and what he
can bring to the table. To go back through and
pull up my notes on him, let's go here.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I get this segment. Spot. This is everyone's face. Yeah,
the notes, the notes going up, the notes.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Where are they?
Speaker 1 (07:06):
He? Oh?
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Here, he is right here.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
So he was.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
He was five ten and a quarter two hundred and
six pounds. He ran four four five. As a runner,
someone who really can press the hole. He lowers pads,
he'll spin off tackles. He runs really hard, there's a
little bit of tightness there, but catches the ball well.
He's really good in the screen game. Needs to work
on pass pro now. He was hurt, missed most of
the season there at Arizona. He was a transfer, but
(07:31):
he popped on the scene when you go watch him
at the East West Shrine Bowl.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
So the practice is there.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
He had an outstanding week and that's kind of what
what got him back on the map. It tested really,
really well, so I think they've got someone who's I
think to me personally, already the most talented runner on
their roster. So we'll see how long it takes before
he takes over the lion's share of the carries.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
And now DJ won't like me doing this, but you know,
when you have commander's takes, I always just listen a
little closer because I know I know who you talk to.
You've talked about it, you know Adam Peter as well,
who runs it. So if you're saying, if you're getting
confident enough that you're taking to Corey Kross early fifth
or sixth round, I feel good about that because it
feels feels like a little bit of a reach. I
(08:13):
think Austin Eckler is going to have a role, Jeremy
McNichols will have a role, and so you're comparing, you know,
the guys you could take at that round in fantasy drafts.
But in reality, he's one of the best stories I
think of all of training camp. It's what paying attention
to training camp to me is all about, is guys
like him elevating. And now they didn't even need Brian
Robinson on this team.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Yeah, Brian Robinson exits, So that's my first one, and
I know we do five in a wildcard.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Yes, this in the NFC East.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
I'm I'm gonna fudge a little bit because I just
have six guys and I felt like all six of
them belong in there. I don't think one of them
belongs in the wildcard. So you can designate whoever the
heck you want is a wildcard. But I've got six
names here.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
What do you is another commander here or no? You're
just giving it? Oh?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
What noy? You want me?
Speaker 1 (08:56):
You want?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
I thought you were up trying to.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Be fair commander, but you just threw out the wildcard thing. Yeah,
so let's be real. The Commander's made the biggest moves
this offseason in the division. Laramie Tunzel is such a
fascinating player, been traded twice for massive hauls like there
are very few players in the last twenty years that
that can be said about. Khalil Mack is the only
(09:19):
other one that really comes to mind. And Tunsil still
got a lot in this iteration coming from Houston, where
it was interesting to me that they were ready to
give up on him. I don't know if they thought
he was as consistent in the running game, but he's
one of the best pass protectors of his generation and
he is going to help out this offensive line. So
(09:41):
Washington really pushed their chips in the middle of the
table with Laramie Tunzell to make sure that they didn't
slide this year. And then they have a good rookie
last year, Brandon Coleman who played left tackle for them,
who's been hurt in camp, but is going to slide
inside to guard. So you're hoping that you're improving two
positions there for the command. And Tunsil is just so talented.
(10:04):
You can tell me how you looked at him way
back in the day.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Of course, was my number one player in that draft.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Wow, that's crazy. It is there is There has been
something about Tunsil over the years. It felt unfair that
he fell that far in that draft considering what was
going on and.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Try being live on the air when that's going down
and trying to trying to choose your words carefully.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Yeah. Crazy for our younger listeners. There was a video
that came out with him using a like a gas mask,
like a gas mask, water bomb and like a.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Gas mask filled with smoke.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Hey, look, it's illegal now, so I think it's okay
to time now.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
It wouldn't have been anything, but that someone that.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Is feel like I'm relatively familiar with the game, Like
I was like, what is that? You know?
Speaker 3 (10:51):
As someone who is zero familiarity with the game, I
had no idea what was going on, and I'm tasked
with being on national television and figuring out who's going
to take this guy and how far does he fall?
How serious is this who leaked this information? How did
it get out there the day like while the draft
is going. It was wild, but I am a huge
believer in his ability. But he did just get two
(11:12):
false starts while you were talking. So that's the only
thing that I'm worried about. We kind of clean up
the penalties.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yet in Houston, it just speaks to my larger commander's point,
and I'm going to throw out my third commander because
to me, they did have three of the biggest signings.
The Eagles basically sat out free agency, so they're not getting.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Weeah, We'll go ahead jump into it, because that's the
only commander that I have was Merrit.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
It's von Miller and von Miller and Tunzel to me,
almost occupy a similar space. I would even throw in
Javon Kinlaw, who they gave a lot of money to.
I just look at this team in terms of their
veteran just a little boom or bust, very high ceilings
and a lot of uncertainty. I feel good about Larrymy
Tunzel in the first year of his deal there. It's
not like he's ever been a bad NFL player. He's
(11:53):
always been a plus player. It's like, how plus plus
is he going to be Von Miller at this stage
of his career. He was a situational pass pressure for
the Bills. Was okay. Last year wasn't great. Kin Law
has been a little up and down. I know there's
some belief in them. I'm throwing a lot of guys
together and I just I look at that edge position,
I look at their offensive line in general. They're hoping
(12:13):
to get Sam Cosmi back eventually from a torn ACL.
It's just a boomer bust team to me. You could
tell me they end up being better this year in
terms of more stable. Maybe they don't get back to
the NFC Championship game, but they're better as a week
to week team, or that it goes wrong and they
take a little bit of a step back because I
think you're betting on a lot of different guys, and
I would throw Debo in there, Vaughan in there, and
(12:36):
Tunzel in there. That to me, high variance guys.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Yeah. To me, I think they're you know, as a team.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
I think their secondaries vastly improved from where it was
a couple of years ago. I like what they've done there,
and they've gotten more physical. They've got tougher there in
the back end. So I'm excited about that now. The
thing is going to be It's really only one question
with them is how they match up with the Philadelphia Eagles,
and then can they keep the Eagles from jam and
the ball down their throats when it matters. So they've
added kin Law, They've added some pieces there to help
(13:04):
try and keep that from happening. I don't know that
they're there yet. They still feel like to me, last
year was a year ahead of schedule. This year, wouldn't
be surprised if they took a little step back, and
I'm almost looking towards It's just I hate doing this
before a season even starts, But like, I'm more excited
about another offseason. I think they need another offseason to
kind of round out this roster and complete this roster.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
You know. That's that's my take on them.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Yeah, I think the strategy this year for their front
office was partly to prevent that backslide by again filling
holes in free agency with guys who can play. They
brought back Bobby Wagner. But I'm with you in terms
of setting up the foundation. It reminds me a little
bit of the Buffalo Bills under McDermott and Brandon Bean,
who I think did as good a team building job
(13:48):
as anyone in the last decade. And if you remember
when they came aboard, they took a little bit of
a step back in year two before really establishing themselves
as year to year contenders in year three.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
So to give you a look behind the scenes of
how this works on the personnel side, this is what happened.
When you take over a team that is drafted terribly.
You swap out a ton of the roster for guys
on one year deals. Now, the good news is you
might hit on some of those guys. The bad news
is once you hit on them, you still don't have
any control. So you can lose guys. You're trying to
resign guys. It's just not there's no foundation. It's what
(14:22):
I'm getting at. So they need three draft classes to
almost backfill because if you look at it, the players,
look at the just the first round picks before this
regime got there, the previous five years, it's gross. So
there there, it's it's a challenge there, and they're way
ahead of schedule last year. All right, I'll give you.
I'll give you two names here. I'm going to go
to the Dallas Cowboys for for my two guys next
(14:44):
up here. First one, because I'm not going to just
take the low hanging fruit. I'm going to go to
the fifth round. I'm going to go Jaden Blue, running
back out of Texas for the Dallas Cowboys, who was.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
A favorite of mine. Greg.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
While I read the report, maybe you can look it
up or Drew can get in your ear to figure
out what number pick he was in the draft. But
he was five to nine, one hundred and ninety six pounds,
ran a four to three eight. I thought he would
run even faster than that after the way he played.
But someone who is a little bit narrow but super
fast explosive in the past game you see him on
(15:16):
option routes, nobody could cover him, change a direction, make
miss out in space outstanding. Now he's not a physical,
violent runner pass protection. You're gonna much rather get him
out in the route than ask him to sit in
there and anchor down. There's just not a lot of
anchor there. But this is someone who is a total
mismatch player in the pass game. And when you have
Seeding Lamba on one side George Pickens on the other side,
(15:38):
if you can stretch the field out a little bit
and isolate him in the pass game or even in
this like the draw game, screen game, draw game, you know,
option route, angle route, like Jayden Blue is gonna you're
gonna see him on Sunday's making plays for the Dallas
Cowboys as a fifth round pick.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Sometimes it's all about opportunity. I don't know if they
were looking at running back earlier in the draft and
just the guys they wanted kept going a little before
they were able to take him. But getting Blue in
the fifth round that was one. It set off alarms
and for fantasy football leaguers because the opportunity is there.
I think the starter is going to be Javonte Williams.
(16:13):
We'll see on cutdown day how they decide to construct
this room. Certainly Jayden Blue is going to be part
of it. I think had a really positive camp. He
did have an ankle injury they say lower ankle injury
in the last preseason game. Don't know if that's going
to prevent him from being ready for Week one. I'm
going to throw a curveball to you. I think film
Offa was an undrafted rookie in this class. Okay, can
(16:37):
you watch any tape on him, by the way, because
you know when I was out at Cowboys camp, he
popped a fifty yarder against the starters, had some bursts,
and then when I would watching in the preseason, I
don't even know if he's going to make the team
or not. I think he will, but I kind of
liked a little North South juice.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Phil MafA was a six foot and a half two
hundred and thirty four pounds six five big big big back.
He's big, He's more carry defenders than power through him.
He's a little bit rigid. He did have a nice
eighty three yard run against app State, which hurt a
little bit, but not big time change the direction, and
no real value as a pass catcher. So he's just
kind of a big a little bit of a plotter.
(17:16):
But someone who is a big, physical back, like an
old school four minute Steeler back, is how I would
kind of look at him.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Maybe, you know, the league maybe is getting back to
a point where he can use a few more of
those backs. Ali Gordon Miami's had a nice.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Hey, hey, hey, don't spoil the AFC that's.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Coming up later in the week. I'm glad you mentioned.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
That, So you got Can I give you my next
week the divisions?
Speaker 1 (17:39):
You can, but I was just going to set it
up for the listener. We got two more divisions this
week and then early next week you can look forward
to us drafting who we think is going to win
the Super Bowl, back and forth, and that'll be kind
of the end of this preseason forties in Free agent's
mini run that we've been on.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
This has been fun, by the way. The feedback has
been positive, surprisingly positive, and considered who I'm working with.
So that's been fun. Let's go to my next Dallas
cowboy here. I'm gonna go Donoviniza Raku edge rusher, who
when I went out there to training camp. I was
just out there for a day early on. I know
you're out there as well, Greg, but there seemed to
be a lot of enthusiasm about him. I liked him
(18:20):
as a player. I thought they got tremendous value with
where they ended up getting him. I'll pull up where
I had him. Yeah, he was a forty fourth pick
and he was my thirtieth overall player, so I thought
they got a first round pick where they were long arms.
He's got legit burst, tons of production and polish. You'll
(18:40):
see him win a lot of different ways, like he'll
do use a nice little club move, swim move inside counter.
You'll see him get guys on their heels and counter
across their face. Talking to the coaches at the Senior
Bowl who coached him there, absolutely loved him.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Thought he was a pros pro. That's always a.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Good sign if you want guys to have an immediate impact.
That's a phrase when you hear that this guy's professional,
he gets it like, Okay, he knows he's going to
learn everything. He's going to be diligent in studying and working.
He can get on the field and make an impact.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
I love that By the way. I never informed you
Jade Blue is one hundred and forty ninth pick of
the draft.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Oh he Jayden Blue was one hundred and forty nine,
and I believe let me go back, I think he
was one to nine for the Jayden Blue was seven
the football.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
In the preseason.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Seven I don't but one seven. I just to me,
it's like, yeah, good.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Signs and uh yeah, he's a DJ type of guy.
So is Azaku. I really liked him going into the draft.
I've heard the same things about him in camp now
the preseason he's been quieter and in the games tiny
sample size, we'll see, but the Dallas beat writers have
been saying, man, he is tearing up the practices and
(19:52):
it hadn't translated quite to the preseason where he did
get a lot of run. And I expect him to
be very good and he doesn't have to be the
man as long as they get Micah Parsons signed, and
if they do get Michael Parsons, ultimately I do think
will happen. In the end, they have potentially the deepest
edge group in the entire NFL. Dante Fowler has been
(20:13):
a productive sign him for one year and he's going
to get you eight to ten sacks type of guy.
He is there. Marshawn Neeland was a second round pick
a year ago. Maybe not not as pure a edge rush, right,
a good player. And then Sam Williams again to talk
about the day I was bowl. I mean, he's got
a lot of juice off the edge. And he actually
(20:33):
picked off Dak Prescott on a play he dropped in
the coverage. I would not expect what happened to off
him and took him for a pick six on the
day I was there. So that is an athletic, exciting
edge group, and I'm excited about this Cowboys defense. I
actually think it could be better than people think once
they get used to the eber flus of it all.
Once Trayvon Diggs is back on the field they activated
(20:54):
him recently. Because of the edge group, I actually think
I think they have a little more juice than people think.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Yeah, excited about a lot of those individual players. It's
hard for me to get it out of my head.
The day I was there, I watched Jimmy Garoppolo carve
them up like a Thanksgiving turkey in the back end.
That was tough, and the Rams DeVante Adams still. Oh
my gosh, they had no answer on that one.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
And you talked about being in the division, like the
Commanders are needing to stop the run against the Eagles.
I have major questions about the Commanders. They're even bigger
questions about the Cowboys. I don't know if they're going
to be able to stop the run with the personnel
that they have. Let's take a quick break and we'll
actually wrap up our Cowboys talk on the other side,
(21:41):
back on forties and free agents. Daniel Jeremiah is off
the road, no more getting back from the preseason game.
I mean, I guess you're going to get back on
the road for the regular season, but you have a
nice couple weeks here before you go to a.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Twelve hour flight coming up to Brazil. Bud like that's
at forty sevens old. That's a there's a lot of
hydration in preparation. I need to know Labor.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Day weekend, you get the Labor Day weekend. Maybe catch
a Padres game. You know something I need to get.
I'm thinking about getting that money. Who does the play
by play has one of those fancy things where you
can kind of stick your arms in him and then
it has the little donut hole you can put your
head down to sleep like basically on the little trade table,
like you can sleep face.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Down like that. Thinking about making that investment, I don't
know if that's worth it or not.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Well you're not DJ's not business class. Well you're going
with the team, so that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Yeaheah, No, players get the players obviously taking care of there.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
It's a bit of a catch twenty two there, going
with the team. But ultimately yeah, nice, yeah, skipping security,
it's amazing. Let's get back to the list. So we're
doing the biggest additions, and I thought George Pickens has
to be on this list because to me, he is
the missing piece of what this Cowboys offense was looking for,
just a little more skill position depth. They expect Jake
(22:59):
Ferguson to have a better year this year. They gave
him a nice contract at tight end, but Pickens brings
them some real juice and I think he occupies that
spot that Michael Gallup used to have. You can move
Cedee Lamb all around the formation, but you have Pickens
there as a ball winner on the outside. Not a
lot of guys like those guys are hard to find
(23:21):
and he's heading into a free agent year and he
is one of the most intriguing freedoms out there. I
think they're going to get the best effort. I don't
know if you heard anything about, you know, from the coaches,
just how they have enjoyed having Pickens with them during
training camp.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Everything I was told when I was out there talking
to guys was he's been good. You know, he's been
bought in, he's fit in. There hasn't been really any issues.
Now we'll see once we get into the regular season
and maybe if the targets aren't there. If that, you know,
he gets frustrated as has been the case in the past.
But to me, this is a best behavior situation, Like
he's smart enough to know that he wants to get
(23:59):
a big paid and that comes with him being on
his best behavior, being bought in, body language, all that
stuff that he's been criticized for in the past. I
think you see the best of him this year. And
I think this is the first time he's had a
dude the caliber of Seeding Lamb on the opposite side
where he's going to not get any attention whatsoever from coverage.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
I think he has a really good year. I'm excited
about him.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
He's so talented. I remember going back and forth with
you when he was coming out. I had him second
and my receivers that year, and talent wise and really
competitiveness wise. It's not like he's lacking for effort. The
effort is there. So reminds me a lot of a
couple other Cowboys pickups over the years. At wide receiver.
They got the very best year possible out of Roy
(24:42):
Williams right from the Lions that first year and then
got the big contract. Same thing with terrell O and
George Pickens. Maybe not at the talent level, certainly of too.
Maybe Roy Williams is closer, closer to that. I think
they're going to get the best out of George Pickens
and maybe he gets a big contract.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Now people getting a peak behind our relationship, by the way,
which is great finding a really uber talented player that
might not be rated as high. And even though we've
been having these conversations for over a decade, he will
still not see the forests of the trees. He will
always call me and go, I mean, I am a
super scout. I'm the only one that sees that this
(25:18):
guy's really talented, how come he's so low? And I go, Greg,
you realize there's other parts of the evaluation other than
just what we see on the field, and it was
I won't say who the player was, but there's one
this last year who's getting a lot of left to
the preseason, who's been outstanding. But yeah, everybody knows the
talent was there. If we're just grad enough, just that
it would have been easy. But there's other information you
(25:39):
take in and that can move guys down a little bit.
And sometimes those issues never materialize and the guy ends
up being a great player. Other times, two years, three
years down the road, you go, oh, I get I
guess I see now why he felt.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Okay, So if you're listening to forties and free agents,
guess who that player is in our mentions and.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Don't know you don't see it. You'll tell me off there.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
I'll tell you. I'll tell the listener if they were right.
I know I'm not. I'm not really sure sure, but
I think what you haven't considered DJ is just that,
like I've got a special eye, you know.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
That's right?
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Right?
Speaker 2 (26:13):
This guy from Georgia is pretty good. I mean, he's
pretty big in athletics.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
You want today better than others. People don't like to
talk about that. Oh everyone's even some are better. You know,
I'm not. You know, you got to where you are
for a reason. So maybe I've just got that special eye.
This guy, No, I like this super tall, fast guy
from Georgia, talented.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Looks pretty good. He's pretty good, Reckie.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
All right, I'm going to go to the Philadelphia Eagles
only one I'm saving. By the way, if you're a
Giants fan, your one, and where are we? I think
the Giants have the two biggest guys in this whole process,
and I'm saving the best for last, so to speak.
So Philadelphia Eagles, I'm gonna go to the first round.
You had Campbell and this is a classic case. Everybody.
I shouldn't say everybody, but some folks in the league
get mad at me every year at the draft because
(26:56):
they feel like I unfairly love up Howie Roseman it.
I say that they get the best value every year
in the draft, and I'm like, guys, I don't know
what you want me to do. I watched the players,
I ranked the players. I don't know who's going to
pick them or where they're going to go. But it
just so happens that every year the Eagles happened to
be picking towards the back of the first round and
(27:17):
they get one of my top twelve players. Like, it
didn't matter which team it was, I would have loved
them up. It's just a based off my opinion of
what I saw on the guys and Johan Campbell when
it came to my final list. He was my twelfth
overall player, my number one off the ball linebacker, and
they got him with what the thirty first pick? I
think maybe somewhere around there. Yeah, oh, thirty second. Well,
(27:39):
they'd had the thirty second pick. They went to the
Super Bowl, right, did they trade up one spot?
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (27:44):
So six h two seven so almost six three, two
hundred and thirty five pounds. He ran four to five
to two, rangey, versatile, He was recruited as an edge rusher.
But then to get him on the field because they
had the two first rounders, you had Dallas Turner and
Will Anderson, Like, we got to get this guy on
the field, so let's put him off the ball. So
he hasn't even spent that much time in that position,
but showed big time lateral range and burst. He can
(28:05):
playoff tackles. When he's an outstanding blitzer, he can bend
and finish. Just think of just a fast, fluid, loose
athlete who's you know, also has extremely high character and
all that stuff's great off the field. The funny story
was early in training camp talking to some folks in Philly, like, okay,
it wasn't he didn't pick it up just right away.
(28:27):
He wasn't, you know, excelling in off the ball linebacker position.
So they started cross training him a little bit because
he had been an edge rusher. So let's give him
some work after practice. Let's let him work on some
pass rush stuff if nothing else, like we could use
him in that capacity. And then all of a sudden,
the preseason games come around and he's just lighting it
up off the ball. He's making splash plays, he's seeing everything.
(28:47):
He's playing fast. And then they're like, yet, you don't
need to work after practice at edge rusher anymore. You
just go ahead and stay in there. And I got
and I was told he's actually kind of bums, Like no,
I want to I like rushing. I'm learning a lot,
Like yeah, sorry, you should have played worse. If you
wanted to play on the edge, you should have played worse.
Now you're locked in here as an off the ball guy.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
That is great insight. Did not know any of that,
and you can kind of see it on the field
in the preseason. One of the stories of the preseason
we did the show with Mina Kymes where we talked
about our favorite players. That was her favorite player in
the draft. If we could have told you or Mina
you had them twelfth overall before the process, that he
would be ready to go day one of training camp,
(29:26):
I think, yeah, maybe you even bump them up a
little higher. It's amazing what a quick recovery he had
and that it really sounds like he is going to
be a day one starter. And what a fun.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Copy about him and Zach Bond right.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Like that's exactly what you want kind of out of
these modern linebackers. Two guys who can rush. Maybe they're
not having them work extra because they're like, you're good enough,
we will blitz you sometimes, Like it's not like he's
not gonna rush the passer here and there, but that's
not his main job.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
The interesting thing about the Eagles to me, like for
a team that just won a Super Bowl. You look
on this defense. Can you remember a team that won
a Super Bowl that's defense was this young? Like, look
at these guys like it's Jalen Carter's class of twenty three,
Nolan Smith class of twenty three, Nakobe Dean twenty two,
Jalx Hunt twenty four, you got Ringo and Sydney Brown
(30:18):
or twenty three guys. You've got Quinnyon and Cooper Dish
twenty the class of twenty four, Like their whole defense
is like first three year guys.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
All right, I'll throw out my wildcard because it was
the Eagles. Like the wildcard to me is do they
get anything out of these edge rush kind of bargain
basement guys? They signed Azizo Jalari and Josh Uce being
two of the examples. You can't push forward in terms
of free agency spending big bucks. Every single year. They've
done as good, maybe better job than literally any team
(30:50):
in the NFL. Re signing guys early, not get into
the problems that the Cowboys or the Bengals get into,
for instance, with their players. If anything, they get great
value signing them early. Guys like you know, Landon Dickerson
who would be worth who knows how much if you
got closer to free agency. But what that means is
you can't push in free agency every single year, and
so they kind of just, you know, nibbled around the edges.
(31:12):
They watched some really good players go and I'm just
curious if they can get anything out of Azizo, Zulari,
josh Uja. You could throw a Dori Jackson in there
at cornerback. Just these guys who are gone cheap veteran
contracts and you're hoping gives you some good production. Jackson
of those three is the guy who looks like he's
gonna play the most, might be their starter at cornerback.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Yeah, when they rolled guys through a lot on the
edge last year because they had so many of them. Remember,
Huff couldn't even get on the field. So I think
they want to play guys I like in that group
of guys you just mentioned that Cluster to me, Uce
gives them another fastball that they can play with who
actually plays bigger than his size. I think he's a
good player, So I'm excited to see how they kind
of kind of meld him into this rotation because it's
(31:56):
going to look different with those guys who were kind
of into three four roles. Now in the won two roles.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
So you said you saved the best for last. It's
the New York Giants. We've done that too. Like we're
ending this series big with NFC East AFC East this week.
Which Giant do you want to talk about first?
Speaker 3 (32:12):
So I'm gonna start their first over their first round
pick in Abdul Carter, who I think there's a chance
and I love cam Ward. I'm excited about cam Ward
and I think they've got their quarterback of the future.
But I will not be surprised if a month into
the season there's articles in Tennessee papers, if people still
do papers Tennessee and shout out the uh did we take?
(32:33):
We've taken Abdul Carter with the first overall pick. Like
this guy's wrecking shop right out the gate.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
He's ready to go.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
There's sometimes when you have preseasons a liar, I know,
but there's sometimes when you see a guy in an
NFL field, I don't care who you're playing against, and
you're like that guy moves different than everybody else on
the entire field.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Abdull Carter is an absolute freak show.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
And he's on a he's joining a really talented front,
So I don't know how much attention they're going to
be able to dictate to him from the offensive side
of the ball. And oh, by the way, they're letting
him run on rush on guards in some of these
third down passing situations.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Good luck.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Yeah, could not be more excited to watch him, Like
his first preseason action was just outrageous. Everyone watching the
practices there at Giants camp say it's just been unfair.
He just pops off the field. So I liked your
concept DJ with the articles possibly being written. First of all, yes,
newspapers still exists, so support local journalism. Yes online, yeah,
online as well. But I think it would have made
(33:30):
more sense if you went with Cleveland as the option.
Should we have just stayed there and taken Abdul Carter
because you got to take the quarterback, cameboards, you know,
you got to take the quarterback at one, But should
have Cleveland stayed there, you know, and made and.
Speaker 3 (33:44):
Then dreaming on that dreaming on that front with him
and Miles Garrett opposite of each other.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Which which we a lot of us said throughout the whole.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
Process, like that makes the most sense, like you're just
going to take him and then you're going to terrorize quarterbacks.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Or even Jacksonville. But uh, how dare anyone even suggests
that Travis Hunters not gonna I don't like this like
Travis Hunter. I wouldn't say fatigue, but I almost feel
like the expectations are too low mine or high. That's
totally neither here nor there. I'll give you a giant pickup. Yep,
that to me was important. I'm keep matching guys together.
Paulsa Dedebo is their cornerback one by far, and everyone's like, oh, yeah,
(34:20):
of course we added one of the best cornerbacks in Freedancy.
First of all, he lasted in Freezy like a little
longer than the top guys for a reason. He's coming
off of a serious injury, and anyone that tracked his
career in New Orleans knows like it was really up
and down. And actually last year he came out the gate.
I watched too many Saints games, not playing well at all,
not playing with much confidence before the injury. And he
(34:43):
was someone who a couple of years before was really
struggling and then had an incredible year A very physical player,
interesting player. But I don't know why this is DJ.
But like, cornerback to me is the most up and
down position in the league, and he's a good example
of that. So they need him to be really good
because it's not a good cornerback position, so they at
(35:04):
least need to count on him. And I'm not sure
because to me, he's been very up and down in
his career.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
Well, I think, you know, a lot depends on their
usage and you go from one team to the next
in terms of what they ask you, the scheme they're in,
how they want to play you. I mean you could, yeah,
just the simple the simple fact of a press corner
versus an off the ball corner, you know, a man corner'
zone corner. How do you play top down or are
you going to have to play with your back to
the quarterback down the field? Like, that's two totally different
(35:31):
skill sets required there, And some teams want you to
do a little bit of everything. Some teams major in
one or the other. So I think that's where you
see some of the volatility. I go back to, you know,
my personal example of the Eagles, Nom Diassomoah, you know,
is a press corner, big long, but a little bit tight.
And then he comes over to the Eagles and we
go out there for the first training camp practice and
he lines up against Deshan Jackson and he's ten yards
(35:53):
off the ball and I go, if I mean, all
of us kind of looks to you like, if we're
asking this guy to do this, we should not have
paid him that much money. And he got absolutely torched.
And so again, to me, usage is a lot of
the reason why you see some of that bollatioer.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Yeah, though in a Debo's case, you know he was
with Dennis Allen there and you know it was it
was consistent. But that's my last guy. And I could
throw Javon Holland in there too, who I think is
another good example. He's more of a he's obviously a safety,
but more of a coverage guy and had a million
different defensive schemes there in Miami and sometimes look great.
Sometimes they were kind of out on him. And so
they really need those two guys because I think that
(36:29):
secondary could prevent their defense from being really you're not.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Going to have to cover very long. That's the good news.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
That would help. That would help, all right, Well.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
Last one and this is could end up being the
most impactful even after I just said that about Abdill Carter.
Is if the Giants got their quarterback in Jackson Dart,
he was awesome. He was awesome in the preseason. I'd
again I try and try and be reasonable about quarterbacks
in the preseason. I'm just looking for some basic benchmarks here.
I'm not going to get caught too caught up in
(36:57):
the box score good or bad, But i want to
see do you look does everything look comfortable? Does the
game look slow to you? Does it look like you're
seeing the field? Are you comfortable working in the middle
of the field or is everything just underneath or outside
the numbers? Because you don't trust what you're seeing and
what picture the defense has given you. Everything's been positive
with Jackson Dart. He looks very poised, he looks very comfortable.
(37:18):
I already know he's a great athlete. I don't, you know,
need to see him run around and make plays. I
know he's going to be able to do that stuff.
But this is a guy who looked like he was
seeing the picture very clearly, which is a great sign
for him. And the way I've phrased it when asked
about you know, when does he get into the lineup.
You know, their schedule is brutal. There's no easy entry
point there for him when you look at it. But
(37:40):
I just said, I do believe we will see more
of Jackson Dart than Russell Wilson this year.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
No question. Completely agree with everything that you said. You say,
don't celebrate your wins in the preseason scouting wise, you
know too early, So don't take the l's too early too.
But I had my doubts about Jackson Dart and I'm
not feeling like that's gonna be born out so far
because I totally agree. Like the offense was completely different.
(38:08):
They're building, They're going to build a different offense around him.
But man, he looked comfortable. And people who like to
point out, well it's the preseason, like look at what
Kenny Pickett did that year. First of all, Kenny Pickett,
that was his second year. But the number of dropbacks
that Dart had compared to how most quarterbacks get in
the preseason, he had like two and a half times,
for instance, that Picket preseason like he was out there
a lot. And I think everything you said was absolutely true.
(38:30):
And I thought that was the part of his game
that would take the longest in terms of the mental
side and the difference between the NFL and comfort and
it'll get harder in the regular season. But he was
really impressive and I am just going to be more
interested to watch them once he is their quarterback. So
I think I think Brian Dable agrees with me.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
That's Brian Dable agrees with you. Put that on your tombstone.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
I mean, that would be a weird It would be
a weird pick. You know, do you realize everyone, you know,
my kids are sobbing and they're like, why, you know,
why did he only make it to one hundred and three, daddy?
And like why does it say Brian? Who is Brian Dable?
You know, my son would probably remember, but that it
seems like an odd thing to put there.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
So here's how they open up at Washington at Dallas
home against the Chiefs home against the Chargers at New Orleans. Okay,
you could look at that one. But then after that
Philly at Denver, Philly again, San Francisco, Chicago, I mean, goodness, gracious,
Green Bay, Detroit, Okay, New England, Washington, Minnesota, Vegas, Dallas
(39:36):
like man Alive, Like that is just they caught it
on the wrong year in terms of breaking in a
new quarterback.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
I'm glad you brought that up. I agree. But first
of all, the easiest stretch might be the start. Is
it would it be that crazy to start in week one?
They're not going to do it, they at least unless
Dable goes back as I don't think that'd be that
crazy because that's the in terms of the defense as
you're facing. And then a lot of people said this
to DJ about like Drake May, Oh, you can't put
him in his first start against the Texas. Oh, Like,
(40:05):
what a horrible situation to set. It's like if the.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Guy is he's going to swim or he's going to sink.
Speaker 1 (40:10):
He played pretty well in that game, and you know
he got good experience, and I just think you got
to put him out there at some point. But it
is a very difficult schedule. Our schedule this week is
u AFC East on Friday. I'm looking forward to that
coming out and then we wrap up this forties and
free agents run with a couple of seasons.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Are going to want to tune in.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
Okay, that that is man we see we'll see you
then