The Most Interesting NFL Offenses of 2025

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by SB Nation's J.P. Acosta to tell you which offenses will be the most interesting in 2025. First, Gregg and J.P get caught up on the news including Joe Flacco being named the starting QB for the Browns (00:57) and Matthew Stafford being back on the practice field for the Rams (05:50). Then, the guys tell you why the Jets (12:10), Chiefs (17:20), Dolphins (23:25), Commanders (27:00), Jaguars (33:58), Lions (40:00), Raiders (45:28), Bengals (48:40), Seahawks (54:50), and Cowboys (56:39) offenses will be the most interesting this coming season. 

Note: time codes approximate. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're happy to give starting
quarterback jobs to Joe Flacco in the year twenty twenty five.
I'm Greg Rosenthal and I'm here in the Chris Westling
podcast studio talking to our friend of the show, JP
Acosta from SB Nation, who is joining us to talk

(00:25):
the top ten most interesting offenses of the season. But
first a little bit of news. Great to have you
back on the show, JP.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
I'm excited you're you're a fan favorite, and by that
I mean like I'm the fan, I'm your fan, and
you've been awesome when we've had had you on in
the past. And yeah, we're going to get to the
most interesting offenses. We'll see how many we can fit in.
Maybe it'd be less than ten, maybe it'll be more.
I don't like sticking to that number necessarily, because first
we got to talk a little bit of news. And yeah,

(00:56):
I was looking at Pro Football Reference JP when the
Browns made what was the obvious decision to name Joe
Flacco the starting quarterback in twenty twenty five, and I
was thinking, like, man, who is he playing with the
first time he was in a starting quarterback competition. He
basically was just giving that job as a rookie, but

(01:17):
Troy Smith was on that team. Todd Bowman might have
been the backup, or might have been Troy Smith, I'm
not sure, but he was throwing to Derek Mason, Todd Heap,
and Mark Clayton. I mean, he has been in the
NFL that long. That was his weapons and his backfield
to me was fascinating. It was Willis mcgahey Ray Rice

(01:37):
as a rookie, and the leading rusher for that team
that year in Carrie's in yards was actually la Ron
mcclayin back when they were doing like a full back
running back thing. I think he made the Pro Bowl
that year. And so that is how long Joe Flacco
has been in the league. And now he's handing the
ball off to Dylan Sampson who was probably what about
three years old when that was all happening.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
It's fascinating how Joe Flacco has has survived multiple eras
of NFL offense. He has gone from the fullback I
formation condensed form of the NFL. He has played in
the spread and shred version of the NFL. And now
as we sort of returned to the twelve personnel gap scheme,

(02:18):
power counter world.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
Joe Flacco is still around.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
I'm starting to believe that he is sort of the
anchor being of the NFL universe, and you cannot have
a thriving NFL season without Joe Blacko starting at least
three games.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
Now. I remember that twenty nineteen battle he was in
with the Broncos, and you know, the namesake of the studio,
Chris Wesling, was pretty fired up about that Broncos team. Initially,
Vic Fangios Joe Flacco Broncos didn't stay on the tracks
the whole time. But I love me some Flaco because
he went from like overrated initially because he was a
very good rookie for a rookie won a couple of

(02:53):
playoff games, to you know, a guy who didn't always
seem like he loved ball that much. He didn't have
that reputation, and then you know, maybe it wasn't the
friendliest quarterback for Lamar Jackson to enter into an organization with.
And then as it's gone on, I think he just
realized he has that love and look, he is obviously
the best option for them for Week one. I think

(03:15):
we'll see Dylan Gabriel and Shoulder Sanders at some point
during the regular season, probably in that order, but we'll see.
And they're they're making the case right now publicly JP,
at least through Adam Schefter, that they're strongly considering keeping
four quarterbacks, that they're like leaning towards that. To me,
that speaks to like, please, someone offer us something for

(03:35):
Kenny Pikett. That's what my guess is.

Speaker 3 (03:38):
I think that also leans towards Kenny Pickett being the
guy that gets the acts here, but on the larger scale,
it means we're just trying anything in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
We just want to see what works.

Speaker 3 (03:50):
If one of these guys pans out and they win
a few games.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
And looks good, cool, that'd be awesome.

Speaker 3 (03:56):
If none of them work out and they have the
worst team in the NFL, make it number one pick, cool,
we'll go to go draft the quarterback. Then they are
really going for the quarterbacks. Don't matter version of the NFL.
We do not care who was under center for us,
just as long as we reach our main goal of
figuring out who everybody else is going to be on

(04:17):
this team. Once we get to towenty twenty six, when
we might actually need a quarterback.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
That's fair, And you know, Stefanski talked about how important
developing quarterbacks are, and I think they're going to play
these two guys eventually. But I just wonder, like, why
does this group have so much leash. I don't think
they do. I think they need to win some games.
Kevin Spansky's proven to be a good offensive coach. He's
won two Coach of the Year awards, which is crazy.

(04:42):
But you know, looking for a year six from Andrew
Berry at GM and Stefanski together seems odd to me.
I was going to talk about it later, but since
we're on Browns, you know, they they signed a player,
Isaiah Bond as an undrafted rookie and gave him a
fully guaranteed rookie c on track after sexual assault allegations

(05:03):
were dismissed. And the one thing I'm just gonna say
on this is like, the allegations are dismissed, and I'm
not saying that this young man doesn't deserve to go
look and have a professional career, but I am saying
that Andrew Berry and the Browns are a team that
has essentially decided to look for an advantage in the

(05:26):
market like get an Edge. It's an antechally analytically driven
team by going after guys that have sexual assault allegations
and seeing if they can get a talented player for
cheap and obviously was a disaster for Deshaun Watson. But
it's also not even the only other player on the
roster Isia Bond. So it's just like, why is that

(05:47):
the thing that you want to be known for Cleveland Browns.
Let's move on to Matthew Stafford. He's back at practice.
I actually was a little surprised he's back at practice.
He took twenty six reps in full team, So not
saying the panic is off, but I'm feeling better than
I was last week.

Speaker 2 (06:06):
My first thought when I saw that was the immortal
chamber worked.

Speaker 3 (06:10):
Whatever whatever they had him in, whatever, a mortal chamber,
hyperbolic time chamber, whatever.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
They had him in cooking for the last three weeks.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
It worked.

Speaker 3 (06:22):
I guess, like, we'll see what happens, but this is
Stafford being healthy and at least enough for this team
is going to really shake up both the short and
long term for the Rams future. Obviously, if he's healthy
right now, the Rams are one of the favorites or
one of the sneaky contenders to come out of the NFC.
They have all the skill talent, they had the pass

(06:44):
rush to make it really far in the playoffs. But
long term, you also are set up with the Falcons
twenty twenty six draft pick. So if Matthew Stafford feels
like this is the off ramp, if this is the
final year and he's going to go out in the
blaze of glory, you've kind of given yourself that off ramp,
like I said, to getting another quarterback in a year,

(07:05):
where right now it's looking like there gonna be a
lot of quarterbacks available in the first round.

Speaker 2 (07:09):
So short term, long term.

Speaker 3 (07:11):
It feels like a good It's a great thing that
Matthew Stafford is actually playing and actually healthy. So shout
out to those guys with the Amortal chainbel because they
probably they might know something we don't.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
That was the best branding and deal that they could
have advertised and they could have possibly had that He
happened to be caught that day at practice, which probably
was not on purpose going into the chamber, but yeah,
he announced last week that he is taking over as
one of the hosts of the Let's Go podcast, you know,

(07:44):
a podcast that's like a radio show and used to
have Bill Belichick and then it had Tom Brady. And
I'm only mentioning that because just seems like something a
guy that's thinking about what's next would do. So is
this the final year of Matthew Stafford? I have zero information,
even heard zero specta. I just think it's is logical

(08:06):
to think that that's quite possible based on the contract
that he signed. But it's good to hear him back.
And Sean McVay is not making any promises, saying that
we're just taking a day to day. Wouldn't even say
he's practicing tomorrow. They are going to ramp him up.
But so far, so good. Good to hear a couple
other injury items for you. You can respond to whichever
you find the most interesting of this three pack. So

(08:27):
Jordan Love already back at practice on Monday, that was
fast after the thumb surgery. Justin Jefferson will practice this week,
So that's good to finally hear. And then unfortunately that
the Chiefs lost their first round pick from a few
years ago, Felix and A D. K Uzama for the
season with a hamstring injury. Just a guy who who
hasn't contributed much to their bottom line, did not get

(08:50):
on the field much in the playoffs last year, and
is now out for the season. So whatever strikes your
fancy out of that three pack, JP, I think.

Speaker 3 (08:58):
The thing I'm most fascinated by is energy ky Ozama
going onto the season ending ir because the Chiefs have
had a little bit of an underrated issue at getting
pass rushed outside of guys not named outside a guy
named Chris Jones, if they can generate pressure, and I
think that's the reason why they drafted Ady k Ozama,
because they've been constantly trying to find a guy to

(09:20):
be a good compliment to Chris Jones whenever teams double them,
but they haven't been able to find that consistently. George
Carloftis is a great run defender, more of a hammer
on the stunts and the games that Spags likes to play,
but they don't have anybody outside of Chris Jones who
can really get them a bucket on third downs. So
and Andydique Uzama was supposed to be that guy, was

(09:42):
supposed to be another designated pass rusher, just hasn't that
light hasn't come on yet, and they've kind of they've
kind of scraped by with the margin signings. I think
Charles Miniu worked for a second.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
There still there, He's still there, he is, He is
still there.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
Thrive and survive.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
Out to Charles de Mini who for being the quintessential
complimentary guy. He was the compliment to Nick Bosa back
on the Demico Niners teams. So they need to find
a consistent second guy with Chris Jones and Felix heodka Uzama.
Going off season in the IR is tough because that's
another high draft pick you sit down the drain and

(10:22):
another pass rusher that you really lost for the season.

Speaker 1 (10:25):
Yeah, these the teams, like the Chiefs, who are trying
to keep a dynasty going. We'll get to them in
a little bit. Spoiler alert. You just can't miss much
on these picks. Now you make the trade, you know,
when you get rid of Tyreek Hill and then you
draft car Loftus and McDuffie and you know that's a
home run. But when you miss on some of these picks,
like a sky Moore or in a dkay Zama, it

(10:47):
really hurts. And yeah, you think about that edge group
Carl Loftis is a very good starting edge. But after that,
it's Mike Dana and it's Charles Amanahu and it's a
rookie third round pick, Ashton Gillette. So they hope that
he steps up. And yeah, when I mentioned the Bond
thing before too, it's like Isaiah Bond got double the
amount of guaranteed money, for instance, than Ashton Gillette and

(11:09):
that that's all that. Like, I understand he should get
a job, but like, why why did the Browns have
to be the team that feel like they're the team
trying to get an edge seeking out these players. I
just feel like they're they're telling on themselves. All right,
and enough of that. Xavin Howard is back in the league.
He's with the Indianapolis Colts. That that is not a
shock because they are really thin at cornerback. So the

(11:30):
former Dolphin gets a job there. Dj chark I mentioned
a few days ago not sure if he had a
future with the Falcons. He got cut on Monday and
then just a couple of injury items. I thought it
was interesting that, you know, Stefan Diggs said to Diana
Rossini on The Athletic that you know he wasn't sure
if he was going to play week one. A lot

(11:51):
of questions about that in New England, and all they've
stressed is that he is ahead of schedule. But it
does remind me of a lot of guys coming off
a torny a CEL who are fully cleared and they
practice a lot and things are looking great, but maybe
they're not really all the way all the way back.
So it's just something to watch there as they wait
for Christian Gonzales and Kendrick Bourne are two guys also
out of practice. I want to get to these offenses.

(12:13):
Enough preamble, JP, and I want you to start, and
then I'll get to my chiefs pick and people are like,
you picked the chiefs is the most interesting offenses? Just
wait and listen. But first I want to hear who
you start with.

Speaker 3 (12:27):
Well, people are probably gonna be mad because my most
interesting offense is come from the bottom of the league.
That I'm starting with is the New York Jets. I
am so fascinated by what the Jets can be in
twenty twenty five because they are sort of doing this
thing where we're like, okay, we're just not even gonna
worry about throwing the ball gonna We're gonna try and

(12:48):
have the most athletic offensive line in the league. We're
gonna have three guys in the backfield who can really
be a threat on the ground and in the ground game.
One of my favorite, like quirky like a season prediction
is the Jets lead the NFL and rushing attempts because
I think they are well set up. Tanner Inkstrand comes
over from Detroit where obviously running the ball is a

(13:09):
high priority for them, and what we've seen in the
preseason is that they are going to move people on
the ground. With Olufashanu and Armam Membu playing well at
both tackle spots, Elijah Vera Tucker is healthy, and now
you have truly a three headed monster back there with
Justin Fields, brayln Allen, and Breese Hall. They're gonna be
so physical on the ground and I think it's gonna

(13:31):
cause some problems for opposing defenses because of how they've
sort of the Jets are doing this at the perfect
time in the NFL because NFL defenses are lighter, smaller
box counts. They play the Bills twice a year, who
seem to only want to survive in small box counts
and playing nickel el all the time, whereas the Jets
just want to line up in twelve personnel. They want

(13:52):
to run the ball at you, and I think that's
going to be really interesting to see how far they
can go while trying to hide justin fields deficiencies.

Speaker 1 (14:01):
As a passer, you are a sickoh that you start there.
I know that's your type of type of ball. By
the way, they start with two home games Steelers and
Aaron Rodgers, I mean, that's spicy. It's amazing that that's
not in primetime. That's a one o'clock game. And then
they do have that those Bills who get like not
trying try not to overreact to the preseason game. But
I am a little concerned with their defense in general,

(14:23):
just the defense on the Bills side, and so in
theory that that would be the matchup that that the
Jets want. Do you think when and we're talking kind
of offenses in general in this show, but the Jets
specifically are a part of all these teams that are
getting heavier. The fact that the whole league is doing
it on some level, or that a lot of the

(14:45):
league is doing it, do you think that's going to
like mitigate whatever advantage you you get from that.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
I think it might.

Speaker 3 (14:54):
But I also think with the way the Jets have
built this team and who they have as their current start,
I mean, you can try and mitigate as the running
the football as much against as much you want against
the Jets, but you have three legit guys back there
who are.

Speaker 2 (15:10):
Going to punish you on the ground.

Speaker 3 (15:11):
I think brayln Allen and Breist Hall are a really
nice compliment to each other, and in justin Fields is
one of the most dynamic run threats at the position
in the NFL. But I think with where defenses are going,
with seeing how offenses have gotten heavier, they're trying to
get bigger as well. I think the Jets are kind
of catching it at the right time because they also

(15:33):
have just this incredibly athletic offensive line. I think the
Jets offensive line it shows in drafting a bunch of
first round picks along that offensive line. Fashanu, Elijah Vera,
Tucker Arman, Bembu.

Speaker 2 (15:46):
You have a whole bunch.

Speaker 3 (15:47):
Of really athletic guys up front who want to go
and hit people really hard.

Speaker 2 (15:52):
Kyle Long told me on CBS.

Speaker 3 (15:56):
It is very It's easy for young guys to buy
into the run game because you're using your athleticism. Older
guys can you need to tell them to sit back
and pass protect a lot. Run blocking is a little bite. Okay,
I don't. I don't want to run my head into
this wall forty times game. But the Jets being able
and willing to lean into that physicality in the run
game while they try and figure it out. Whatever they're

(16:17):
going to do is a passing as a passing offense.
Because I'm not super excited about what I've seen from
Justin Fields in the passing game in the preseason. Of course,
it is preseason, so I'm hedging with that, But I
think this team is going to be very, very run oriented.

Speaker 1 (16:34):
I want different flavors. I'm totally with you, like I
want different types of teams. I don't want every team
to look the same. The fact that their second receiver
is either Mason Taylor, a second round tight end, or
Josh Reynolds, who would be like a four or five
on most teams like it. It's gonna be tough to
throw the ball. And you mentioned the athleticism up front.

(16:55):
Membu is a guy to watch this year. The oldest
guy on that offensive line is probably John Simpson, who's
like twenty eight years old, and man, he is a
road grader. If you want to see some like highlight
level like run blocking, you know, tape, John Simpson's a
great guy to do that three hundred and thirty pounds.
So I'm with you there, they're turning it back to
like nineteen eighty four. I love it. Unfortunately, you know,

(17:19):
the Chiefs have looked like a nineteen eighties nineties offense
too much lately. So I'm going with him as my
most interesting So I try to do a little self
scouting here. JP on the show, and we have a
daily show. We talk about everyone all the time, and
I was actually thinking, like, well, who haven't I talked
about that much? And you know, we hit on like
the Chiefs offensive line and Josh Simmons and that whole

(17:42):
thing a lot, But I feel like we haven't actually
talked that much about the Chiefs offense and team as
a whole. There is Chiefs fatigue with me, with everyone,
and let's be real, they are doing something in a
way that basically no team other than the Patriots have
ever done in the history of the NFL playing this

(18:03):
high level of consistent football deep into January. It's never
been done like this, And they've had a good offense
still JP the last few years, like a top ten offense,
but it's been more, you know, six to ten. If
you look at their DVOA, they've been around eighth. And
Mahomes was really under pressure a lot. They were third
in point differential JP in their own division a year ago.

(18:27):
They had a ton of three and outs, but when
they actually moved the ball, then they held on to
the ball forever. So it was not an entertaining offense
to watch. And I think about where Mahomes is in
his career, and there is something to me about getting
embarrassed in the Super Bowl that I think there's a
human nature of the way that they want to respond
the way he wants to respond. And he has been

(18:48):
a different quarterback JP in terms of not having the
highlight type of plays, the big time throws if PFF
is Chartie, and I do think he has a better
chance to make those type of throws this year with
a little bit of help from his wide receivers if
they're healthy Hollywood Brown, Raceie, Rice and Xavier where they

(19:09):
played exactly zero snaps together last year, and we'll see
when Racie Rice is suspended. If he is suspended, I
expect it's gonna happen. But if you get those three
guys on the field at the same time, I do
think it is the most explosive and the best receiver
group they've had since Tyreek Hill left. What do you
expect out of this offense this year and how do
you think they'll evolve.

Speaker 3 (19:31):
I expect them to be a little bit more complimentary
to each other, especially in this receiving room if we're
including Travis Kelce. Last year, the offense felt so constrained
where you didn't have anybody downfield you could trust. You
didn't have anybody outside of Travis Kelce in the intermediate
game that you can trust, and the offense sort of
turned to death by a trillion paper cuts, which, of course,

(19:54):
like like you said, they were still a top ten
offense by BVOA. They were a top ten offense in
six SSS rate. But success rate is how often you
move the chains, and that's where the Chiefs asked Patrick
Mahomes to be Superman was on third downs. I think
his third down conversion rate especially as a scrambler was
like near like the seventies as a in the NFL

(20:17):
last year. So if you continue to ask Patrick Mahomes
to be Superman all the time, he can do that
because it's Patrick Mahomes. But as we saw in the
Super Bowl, if teams don't respect your offensive line or
your receiving corps, it's really easy to just go, Okay,
we're just gonna play man and you're not gonna be
able to beat us. So now with Rasid Rice back,

(20:40):
whenever he gets back, you have a whole lot more compliments,
especially downfield. I think at having Xavier Worthy in another
year where he's not exactly going to be the number
one receiving option, is going to really help him in
his development in just sort of the finer details of
route running, some of the detail tales of playing the position.

(21:01):
I think getting Rashi Rice back is gonna be huge
for this offense just in the in between game. I
think Rachie Rice is such a good in between receiver
with his physicality, with the ability to create after the catch.
That's gonna be something that really helps in this offense.
If they do continue down this road of being this
horizontal spread and shred offense, or we're gonna kill you

(21:23):
with mesh and bubble screens and we're gonna throw these.

Speaker 1 (21:27):
Now, let's go down the field a little more. JP.
We gotta bring bring them mahomes back, bring the excitement back.
That's we can do that with Worthy a little bit.
I know he's a little better. You know we got
If Hollywood Brown can ever stay healthy, he's supposed to
be back this week. By the way, what about Taekwon
Thornton is making this team. We got a little bit
of speed here.

Speaker 3 (21:44):
You have the speed, but I think that with the
Chiefs have sort of lacked in this downfield.

Speaker 2 (21:50):
It's sort of tilted.

Speaker 3 (21:52):
In a way to now where it was you didn't
have anybody downfield you could trust to last year offensive
line was really in going through a lot of issues
up front. It's really hard to throw the ball downfield
if you don't have enough time for your receivers to
get downfield. I think this is gonna be a really
talented offensive line. I love what I've seen from Josh
Simmons so far. Kingsley Swamatiya has been up and down,

(22:16):
especially as a pass protector, and that's gonna be a
big risk at left guard, but if you have Andy
Hack as your offensive line coach, Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes,
and then playing next to Creed Humphrey, that should help
be a little bit of a floor razor. So I'm
expecting a little bit more downfield. But I also think
that this is sort of what the Chiefs have evolved into.

Speaker 1 (22:38):
This is the you gotta keep you gotta keep changing though,
And if we're gonna compare them to the Patriots, and
I think it's a good comparison just in that they're
trying to do something that almost has never been done.
Staying at that level that that long, you always have
to evolve, and I just think Andy Reid's got another
move in him. I don't know what it's gonna be, like,
I just think they're gonna be different. You can't keep
existing this way. And yeah, a great start is just

(23:00):
increasing that under pressure number. I know Mahomes hold onto
the ball and everything, but his pressure numbers last year
were way higher than they had ever been before. And
so if I truly believe that he Mahomes is, you know,
right at the top of the all time greats, Like
I just think this is if you're looking at the
career arc is a season where we get a little

(23:21):
more sizzle. That's that's That's what I'm expecting, and well,
we'll see if it actually happens. Give me another offense
that you're interested in.

Speaker 3 (23:30):
I'm staying in the AFC East. I'm gonna go with
the Miami Dolphins. And I have been fascinated with the
Dolphins offense since Mike McDaniel took over. And it's for
different reasons that it was when when he first took
over to Dolphins. They were so explosive when they first
when he first got there, he was revolutionizing the NFL
with the cheap motion, with all the cool stuff he

(23:53):
was doing with Tyreek Hill.

Speaker 2 (23:54):
And then everybody.

Speaker 3 (23:55):
Realized that they can't block anybody in short yardage. They
are one of the worst short yardage football teams I've
ever seen. And I think some of it was early
due to Mike McDaniel's inability to develop an inability to change.
But now I think it's about the personnel that you have,
and I think the Dolphins have also realized that they've

(24:16):
gotten a little bit more athletic up front drafting Jonas
Savaia and I to play left guard. You kind of
changed the offensive line configurations. You add Ali Gordon on
day three, who's probably gonna be your short yardage you're
I hate to call him this because it's not exactly
a great player, but he is what Jeff Wilson was
supposed to be when you brought Jeff Wilson over from

(24:37):
San Francisco. So I think what I want to see
from this Dolphins offense. I think the passing game is
gonna be fine, especially if you get Tyreek Hill and
Jalen Waddle playing together healthy, but you need some more
oomph from the blocking, especially what you've tied end, especially
with the receivers because they play so much eleven and

(24:59):
twenty one person that requires a lot from your receivers blocking.
I think Nick Westbrook a QNA, was one of my
favorite value signings of free agency because he is such
a good blocker and does some of the dirty work
over the middle of the field that the Dolphins have
really lacked. The Dolphins offense has lacked an edge even
when Mike McDaniel was revolutionizing the NFL when the first

(25:21):
got there. They have lacked an edge for such a
long time. So I'm hoping this year even I just
hope they get a little bit better on in those
short yard dige, those goal to go situations, just show
a little bit more edge and physicality.

Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah, you know, Aaron Brewer has been coming off of
an injury, but I believe he's been back on the
field that they're center. On paper, the offensive line looks
pretty good. I know Dolphins fans are very sensitive right
now about everyone in the national media just picking on
them and them seeming like, you know, it could all
go very wrong. There is absolutely a world where this

(25:59):
offense goes very right. Tyreek Hill in a contract year,
I think that that could be a factor for him.
I could see him having like one one great last year.
Jalen Waddle, all reports have been really positive with him
and healthy, and the two of them are as dynamic
and fast as it gets. Darren Waller, I'm not expecting

(26:20):
a lot, but they're hoping he's returning to practice at
some point this week. But it's something you can count on,
and like you said, a more athletic, you know, young
offensive line with h Hn really leading the way in
the backfield, like when when he has the time, Tua
at this point should like have a master's level degree
in this offense, and we've seen the difference between him

(26:41):
being on the field and the rest. There is absolutely
a world where you know, they make everyone look stupid
by putting up a lot of points. But I do
think you kind of need not a second move, JP,
but you just need to evolve as a head coach,
and I think Mike McDaniel, especially in the running game,
needs to show that that he can evolve one coach.

(27:02):
I think did do a good job evolving JP. Cliff
Kingsbury last year was a little different, did he. Were
you like surprised, I'm gonna go Commanders as my next one.
Were you surprised how they kept it rolling even getting
better towards the end.

Speaker 2 (27:14):
I was definitely surprised.

Speaker 3 (27:16):
I have been a Cliff Kingsbury hater ever since he
was at Texas Tech.

Speaker 2 (27:21):
He shut me up last year.

Speaker 3 (27:23):
I was actually really impressed with the way that he
was able to keep that offense rolling, kind of develop
and change the offense, and sort of grow with his
young quarterback. And I think that's the biggest thing that
I learned from watching the NFL last year. You can
grow with your young quarterback. You don't have to throw
every master's level QB stuff at him right now, when

(27:44):
he first gets into the NFL, just throw the easy
stuff at him. And as he grows, as he gets
game time, you can start to add more stuff into
the offense. But now it feels like the Commanders are
firmly entrenched in being one of the better team in
the NFL offensively. This is why I find them interesting.

Speaker 1 (28:04):
Are they? I mean it was it was one year
and so what what are you gonna do basically for
number two?

Speaker 3 (28:12):
Yeah, that's also been sort of my question with the
Commander's offense is how will you throw a CounterPunch this year?
Because Jade Daniels was really good last year and really
really efficient without turning the ball over, and I think
that there's probably gonna be some turnover regression.

Speaker 2 (28:31):
There's there's probably that's probably gonna happen. It happens in
the NFL.

Speaker 3 (28:34):
But I think what's really going to help them, of course,
outside of Terry McLaurin being back on this team, is
if you get a healthy Deebo Samuel to do all
the RPO stuff, because that's really where this offense is built.

Speaker 2 (28:49):
It is built on the rpo game kind.

Speaker 3 (28:52):
Of spreading everybody out and being able to use Jaydeon
Daniel's legs as a.

Speaker 2 (28:57):
Threat in that area.

Speaker 3 (28:59):
It really has be Deebo Samuel that can be the
guy that we that he's always been before twenty twenty
three two down.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
Twenty four, right, and he's kind of come and gone
really since twenty nineteen and it's gone up, it's gone down,
like he's had moments. I just wonder, like, how does
their profile change this year? They were really unique in
what they did last year. Cliff Kingsbury always plays at

(29:27):
a really fast paced and these numbers are from the
FDN Almanac of the Football Outsiders, you know by Aaron Shottz.
They went no huddle more than sixty two percent of
the time. The next closest team was was twenty eight percent.
It was a team that was not great throwing over
the middle. That was a little bit of a knock
on Jayden Daniels when you were comparing him to Drake

(29:49):
May let's say, coming out of college, not great over
the middle. Well, they didn't really throw over the middle much.
Was all to the outside and teams when they went
against them. For such a good running team, they played
single high a ton And you do wonder if you
know teams will adjust to Jayden Daniels as a scrambler

(30:12):
because his scrambling JP it wasn't really the run game,
like working him as part of the running game. A
lot of it was just the scrambles. His scramble yards
and first downs and everything was so far above any
other quarterback. And so teams are playing them with the
single high. They weren't trying to prevent like the big play,

(30:33):
and they took advantage of it a lot of times
with Jaydeon Daniels scrambling. So they did not throw the
ball deep very much. Would you think of Jayde Daniels,
He's such a great deep throw, But they really didn't.
That wasn't what they did well. And so there's just
an interesting concoction of like strengths and weaknesses. And maybe
it can all work again, and maybe they've got a

(30:55):
good two point zero play And I think Jayde Daniels
has shown he's ready to handle just about anything. But
I'm just treis what you think it might look like
this year versus what it looked like last year.

Speaker 3 (31:06):
I'm also curious in what this offensive line is going
to look like, especially with Blaron Maytunzel, who has who
has the pedigree of being one of the top ten
tackles in the NFL, but last year was brutal by
any standards, but especially his standards, especially from the pre
snap penalty perspective, a whole lot of false starts to
legal formations. He was penalized a lot last year, and

(31:30):
maybe that's gonna change with being in a new environment.
You draft Josh Connelly to play right tackle, you move
I think Brandon Coleman to left guard, you bring back
Sam cosed me from injury. There's I'm very curious on
how this offensive line grows because if you're gonna spread
teams out so much and you're gonna play all the

(31:51):
RPO stuff that you're not not bringing any extra blockers
in the run game, it is really five on five
in the run game. And that's why Jane and Daniels
as a scrambler, that's why Jane Daniels is a run
threat matters so much because you're easing some of the
stress on the offensive line. So I wonder how they're

(32:12):
going to be able to keep the run game efficient,
especially in the running back runs area where they just
weren't that good in true running back runs. Maybe Jacorey
Krossky Merrit.

Speaker 2 (32:23):
Let's go behavior. Maybe that's a thing Maybell.

Speaker 1 (32:26):
Bill gets a mention on the show.

Speaker 2 (32:28):
I love it. Shout out to Bill.

Speaker 3 (32:30):
I'm curious by Bill Krosskey Merritt.

Speaker 2 (32:35):
I think he can be really fun in the offense.

Speaker 3 (32:37):
If they can generate some more success with their running
back runs, maybe that'll help alleviate some of the stress
on Daniels as a runner and help kind of open
up more lanes for the offense.

Speaker 1 (32:48):
Yeah, they're such a unique team because you add Tunsil
and it sounds like Sam Cosmi, they're all pro guard
will be back, they hope this season, earlier than you
would expect considering how serious his knee injury was. And yes,
you did, you know draft Josh connorly to play right
tackle for this team, but it's an older team, you know.

(33:08):
You add Debo. Noah Brown is probably your second best
true wide receiver. So without Terry McLaurin back on the field,
he's like, you're number one almost in terms of running
like the traditional stuff. Brian Robinson, as we're taping this,
it's Monday afternoon, they're going to actually play a preseason
game tonight. Brian Robinson's not in that game, and people
are like, are they You know, there's some buzz that

(33:30):
they might be looking to trade him. You know, Zach
Ertz is still really involved here. It's it's a very
old team mixed with Jayden just I find them very interesting.
You could tell me their top five, you could tell
me they take a big step back. I would not
be shocked either way. Let's take a quick break. We'll
be back with more of the most interesting offenses in

(33:51):
a little bit. One of the reasons I wanted to
have Jpacosta on the show, they just wanted to hear
him talk a little Jags ball. I'm very interested in
the Jags. If he wasn't gonna talk Jags from his
part of the you know country, I was gonna talk Jags.

(34:14):
But to me, you're more of like the Jags expert here.
I know you've got it all set up for me.
Oh yeah, this is I have.

Speaker 3 (34:22):
Spent so many weeks and months leading up to the
season emotionally hedging for the possibility that the Jaguars are
just not good, which for my entire life, they have
not been good. But I actually think this offense is
gonna be really fun and it's gonna be a legitimately
good offense. If I'm using what they've done in the
preseason as sort of the barrier for what barometer for

(34:46):
what Liam Cohen is going to bring to this offense,
it is so much more precise and there's so much
more detail within the offense. There's a there's an idea
of what's going on. I think last year there was
a whole lot of what are we trying to do?
There's no straightforward vision of what's being done. So now
with Liam Cohen running the offense, there's a straightforward vision,

(35:09):
there's an idea, there's a whole lot more yards.

Speaker 2 (35:11):
After the catch opportunity.

Speaker 3 (35:13):
I think this skill position group is going to be
really fun, fun, It's really fun and led by Brian
Thomas Junior, who I think is fantastic, gonna have another
great year this upcoming year. Travis Hunter is obviously super fun.
Every time he touches the ball, and you can tell
when he touches the ball he is looking to make
a big play and it's evident every time he gets

(35:35):
after the catch. Briton Strange has actually really impressed me
during this preseason. I was never of the belief that
Liam Cohen used his tight ends very much in Tampa.
I think that that's probably because of how Mike Evans,
Chris Godwin and the running backs were used.

Speaker 2 (35:52):
But Britain Strange is super athletic.

Speaker 3 (35:55):
He's played a lot of plays in the receiving game,
especially underneath. And now the all things has layers to
where Dianmi Brown is the vertical explosive guy, you have
Brian Thomas Junior and Travis Hunter a sort of you're
in between doing most of the stuff after the catch.
You have Brenton Strange you're underneath. And then you also
have this running back room which is really talented. Not
even include guys like Bischeltutin, who shows that he has

(36:19):
the juice when he runs. There's just a different feel
when he has the ball in his hands. He sort
of like bounces around when he runs the ball, and
I think it's super cool. So I'm really intrigued by
how all this mixes together. I think Trevor Lawrence has
played really well this preseason. Outside of just one hospital
ball to Brian Thomas Junior against the Steelers, he has

(36:40):
been incredibly efficient. Razor Sharp, I think the footwork has
been much cleaner. So I'm I'm in on this Jags offense.
I know it's sort of easy to say as someone
who's a Jaguars fan, but as someone who has been
mostly hedging against his team possibly be to make sure
this team isn't bad.

Speaker 2 (36:58):
I think this offense is going to be really good.

Speaker 1 (37:00):
Yeah, I am optimistic, maybe not as much as Liam
Cohen on day one. And there's a lot of ideas here, right,
You know, you have a lot of ideas in the
front office with James Gladwell, you have Liam Cohen. Obviously,
you have Grant Yudinski, like one of, if not the
youngest offensive coordinators in the league, who comes from Minnesota,
who's younger than half the players here. I do love that.

(37:23):
You know, when you first signed Diami Brown, I'm like, man,
that's is that a lot for Diami brand? And now
you kind of think about it, it's like, no, he's a
role player. Role players now make a ten million dollar
one year contract. That's actually like your fourth option in
the receiving game. That, as you say, is adding layers.
And the thing I've liked out of Trevor Lawrence is
he just seems to be thinking a little quicker. We

(37:44):
got to see it when when it's a real game
and you're facing real defenses. Obviously, but I love hearing that.
You think the footwork is cleaner and there's just a
lot going on. Now, I will push back on you know,
they haven't been bad all your life. I talked to
Dante Fowler last week. Now, the offense wasn't amazing, but
Blake Bortos was pretty efficient in twenty seventeen, So you

(38:05):
had good one year that you could enjoy.

Speaker 2 (38:07):
I very much.

Speaker 3 (38:08):
Remember the Tommy Bohannon full back up the middle touchdown
against the Steelers. I was able to brag all my
friends that the Jaguars finally went in and did something
really cool. I am.

Speaker 2 (38:20):
I was a super big fan.

Speaker 3 (38:21):
I'm a super big fan of that team just in
the way they played. But I think that is one
of the like three seasons.

Speaker 2 (38:30):
Yeah that they were good.

Speaker 1 (38:31):
It's been pretty rough.

Speaker 3 (38:33):
It's been rough, but this offense is going to I
think they're going to be really cool to watch a
day in day out. The screen game has been really fun,
whether it's been the slip screens to Bigsby or ETN.
There's been a lot of quick game to Travis Hunter,
and I think that emphasis on yards after the catch

(38:53):
is so much different from what Doug Pearson and Press
Taylor were trying to do last year, which is we're
not going to make this at all. We are throwing
them all fifty yards downfield, which I think Trevor Lawrence
can do. But you want to give your offense easy buttons.

Speaker 2 (39:06):
Now.

Speaker 3 (39:07):
I think this offense, of course in limited time in
the preseason, but the premise has been to give your
quarterback easy buttons and options, especially if the first read
isn't open. And I think that's why Trevor Lawrence has
looked so much crisper, so much cleaner, is because he
has those easy yack buttons to press.

Speaker 1 (39:27):
And they're in the AFC South. I think it matters
because I think the Colts and the Titans have a
chance to be two of the worst teams in the AFC.
I think they have a chance, and I think that
matters you get four games against them. In general, the
schedule is forgiving. The Texans are dangerous, you know. I
don't think they're They're the Ravens or the Chiefs or

(39:49):
the Bills going into this season. They're dangerous, but I
think that's an advantage, and yeah, I think they're just
gonna make more sense in general. I'm gonna go with
the Lions. And again, I'm I've picking a lot of
the better teams in the league from a year ago
because I actually don't think we've talked about them enough.
I mean, they were averaging thirty three points a game

(40:10):
last season. It's just absolutely preposterous. And you've got, you know,
eight starters back or eight starters rather that are from
these recent Lions draft classes, like this regime, that's amazing.
And the three that aren't are Jared Goff, who you
obviously feel very good about in terms of how he

(40:32):
fits in this scheme and with the talent around him,
Like he's not a top five quarterback, and there have
been moments and including that Washington game a year ago,
where he made some big mistakes and that worries you.
But the fact that you have this combination when I
mentioned the eight starters, and I'm counting Isaac Toslaw as
a starter already as like a third receiver. That's my

(40:53):
projection for like Week fifteen because otherwise you're counting Tim
Patrick as a starter, and I think Isaac Taslaw in
the end will a bigger role. The only older guys
on this entire roster are the offensive lineman Graham Glasgow
and Taylor Decker on the offense, and I just think
people are like if the windows closing or you know this,

(41:13):
or have they missed their opportunity? They are the envy
of every team in the league. If you could ask
for one thing, it would be to have continuity and
youth and talent all at the exact same time. With
the with the way that the collective bargaining agreement is
set up JP, it's almost impossible to do that and

(41:35):
keep it for long. And the lines have it right now.
I think they are ready to show that it's not
all about Ben Johnson. You know, Dan Campbell is definitely
striking that, you know, drum be like throughout the preseason
that he is ready. It's approve it season for Dan Campbell,
and there's really every reason to believe, because of that

(41:56):
youth and their continuity, that they can do it again
this year.

Speaker 3 (42:00):
I actually think Dan Campbell doesn't get enough credit for
what he's done, especially with that offense, I think he
I think he had more of a say in the
operations of that offense and people gave him credit for
And that's because you know, you don't associate Dan Campbell
with being offensive mastermind. But when you think about what
the offense wanted to be and what the offense wants

(42:22):
to do, I think Dan Campbell has to take get
some credit there outside of Ben Johnson. But when you
look at what this offense is and what they are
from a roster and talent acquisition standpoint, this year, like
you said, it's sort of setting up to be a
Brad Holmes flex year, Like this is why I get
paid the way I do. This is why everybody thinks

(42:42):
I am one of the best gms in the league
because of the way that he can draft and the
way the Lions draft and develop to get guys in
the starting spots. I think Christian Mahogany played well in
his spare time, and now he's going to be a starter.
Tate Ratler's moving over to guard is going to be
really I thought they try to I'm a center, which
I was like, that's weird, and then they're like, nevermind,

(43:03):
We'll move him back to guard where he naturally played
at Georgia. So I'm really intrigued by how they can
sort of mitigate having two first year starters along that
offensive line. And I think that goes back to Jared Goff.
I think Jared Goff being the guy now where he
has had a complete and total mastery of this offense

(43:23):
to where I think he's going to be the one
setting the protections, making the checks and getting everything aligned
up there, whereas I think he and Frank ragnow sort
of shared that with Rag noow Gone.

Speaker 2 (43:35):
I think that's mostly going to be on Jared Goff's shoulders.

Speaker 3 (43:38):
But this offense is still incredibly talented and incredible and
has the ability to put up so many points on
so many teams.

Speaker 2 (43:47):
They are going to be dynamic. You mentioned Isaac taslah I.

Speaker 3 (43:51):
You know, I it was initially like, oh, that's weird
they drapped him in the third round. But if you're big,
tall and fast and don't drop anything, that's gonna lead
you to some success in the NFL. You have to
be a superstar. But if you if you're big, tall,
fast and can catch, you're gonna play. And I think

(44:11):
Tesslaw is gonna play a lot. You saw the box
out touchdown against the Dolphins. I think that's gonna be
his sort of area and where he wins this year.
But this Lions team is still going to be really good.

Speaker 1 (44:23):
Yeah. The the overall idea of like the draft picks
that I brought up is just just think how many
guys could be peaking now. Isaac saw he's a rookie.
He's not gonna be peaking. Jamison Williams ready to do
that thing, like he has steadily gotten better and better.
A'mon Rossain Brown like squarely at the top of his prime,
Pine Sewell squarely at the top of his prime. Jamir Gibbs.

(44:44):
I think the running back timeline is different to me.
He's hitting the top of his prime. He could be
an offensive Player of the Year type of candidate. Sam
Laporta entering year three. It's guys that are getting better,
ideally all at the same time. So I'm really excited
to watch them and we'll see, like, you don't need
to evolve it that much, but I think they'll be

(45:05):
looking to evolve it, you know somewhat. The the you know,
average depth of target for golf was just so low
last year. The play action is always going to be high.
Uh you'll see if he can do a little more
on the sidelines that you know they barely throw to
the sidelines last year. But I'm excited. All right, we
got to pick up the pace slightly if we want
to get through all our team. So maybe we will.
Maybe we will give me another offense.

Speaker 3 (45:26):
So speaking of evolution, I am going with what I
call the function in the NFL. I love the Las
Vegas Raiders. I think that this offense is going to rock.
And I think that it's going to rock because they
have built through the draft and sort of found this
identity of we're going to be really tough to tackle
no matter what happens, that you're gonna have a really

(45:48):
hard time tackling. I think adding Ashon john T obviously
is one of the biggest feathers in the cap that
in that area, and he's going to affect the passing game.

Speaker 2 (45:58):
The run game.

Speaker 3 (45:58):
You've already seen the Raiders try and get him involved
in the screen game, and underneath. I think the way
that they have sort of built the layering in that offense.
Dante Thornton becoming the starting third receiver is huge because
he is going to occupy that vertical plane of explosiveness.
He really didn't do anything else outside of that. At Tennessee.

(46:18):
He was asked to run posts and goes and when you,
like I said, when you are big, tall and fast,
that that works in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (46:27):
You can find a role there.

Speaker 3 (46:28):
But I think you're opening up so much that area
for a guy like Brock Bauers, who now that is
now that he is bald, I think we need a
new nickname for him.

Speaker 2 (46:36):
I'm going with stone cold brought Bowers.

Speaker 3 (46:38):
Okay, we gotta gotta go stone cold for Brock Bowers.
I think Jack Besh when he when he starts coming along,
is going to occupy that intermediate area. Chakobe Myers is
also gonna be really tough to tackle. But this team
has an identity on offense, and you're led by a
quarterback in Geno Smithy. The identity is yards after the catch,

(47:00):
physical and tough to tackle.

Speaker 2 (47:01):
I think that's gonna be there. That's gonna be their moo.

Speaker 3 (47:04):
If you look at sort of what Chip Kelly did
at Ohio State this past year, of course, the collection
of talent was drastically different compared to you know, the
Raiders collection of talent compared to the NFL versus Ohio
States compared to.

Speaker 2 (47:17):
The rest of the college football.

Speaker 3 (47:19):
But their idea was we were gonna be physical, We're
gonna try and beat you up, and then we have
guys who are incredibly tough to tackle. So I think
having all this collection of talent that's gonna really occupy
this middle of the field, the underneath area, and we're
gonna try and make it really hard for you to
tackle us on through sixty minutes, and then ask your

(47:39):
quarterback to make some of those high level deep throws.

Speaker 2 (47:41):
That Gino Smith has shown he can make.

Speaker 3 (47:44):
I think this offense is gonna be like really good,
and they're probably gonna have to be because the defense
isn't going to be.

Speaker 2 (47:51):
That good, right, But I'm excited to see what this
offense does.

Speaker 1 (47:55):
I am too. I've you know, we've been talking up
the Raiders and they're just one of those teams that
are fascinating to watch us here and I love having
Chip Kelly back in our lives. I think from a
fantasy football perspective, the fact that their defense is going
to be so bad, in my mind, is only going
to help this team out. I do fear as a
Geno guy, it's going to be a lot of like

(48:16):
fourth quarters where they're down by ten and he's just
slinging it and there's gonna be a lot of interceptions
and there's going to be a lot of big plays.
I don't know, though, you're really counting on the scheme
to help out this offensive line. I think on paper
it's a pretty average group in terms of talent and
help out at least the perimeter receivers that will be

(48:39):
along with Gino Smith. But you're absolutely right that over
the middle of the field they should be nails. I'm
going to go with the Bengals as my next team,
and the reason I want to put them as interesting
is can they be like the Colts under Peyton Manning
a little bit? Maybe maybe even the Bills in the nineties?

(49:01):
And what why point out? Those two teams are like
they kind of just did what they did every year, right,
They didn't really evolve, but they were just awesome. You know.
The Colts kind of just did what they did. They
were extremely talented, they had the right quarterback leading the way.
Same thing with the Bills. They had a very specific
way of attacking defenses that you know, you know that

(49:24):
no one looks like now Manning is is more of
a comp to Joe Burrow point and shoot and and
I just wonder, because is this an offense that is
going to change much? Do they need to change to
stay at the level they're at. I'm worried about their
offensive line in general, but maybe I shouldn't be like
when you when you look at what they do from

(49:46):
a schematic perspective and kind of how they approach playing football,
do you think they need to be any different or
can they just be the same group that they always
are and kind of the same type of attack with
just Joe Burrow, you know, in that in that shot
and spread out and making decisions because when they try
to go under center JP it never works out very well.
The numbers are terrible. They're as pass happy as any

(50:09):
team in the league, and it's it has worked. So
can they be one of those teams that we remember,
like in two decades that is that consistently good every
year doing the same thing over and over.

Speaker 3 (50:21):
So I do think they need a little bit of
evolution from their offense. And it's not in any way
towards the passing game. It is like you said, it
is that. I guess you'd call it the siloing of
their undercenter versus shotgun, where if they're under center, they're
running it, if they are in shotgun, they're passing it.
I think involving a little bit more gun run is

(50:42):
going to help this team. If you're in the shotgun,
it can run the ball effectively. It's really hard to
do in the NFL or at any level of football,
to be in shotguns so exclusively and run the ball
well unless you have a running threat at quarterback or
the best offensive line in football. So I'm curious on
how they're going to do that. If they can just

(51:03):
add a little bit more variety to their run game
out of shutgun shotgun, it's going to really help them out.
But really, as a passing team, you don't really need
to do much like there's like you said, there's not
much evolution that has to come from this group when
you have the most dominant quarterback receiver threat in the
NFL right now. I think another thing that's gonna really

(51:25):
help this team is keeping Amarus Men's healthy right tackle.

Speaker 2 (51:29):
I think that he.

Speaker 3 (51:30):
Is such a talented, talented player, but he just can't
stay healthy. He can never stay on the field, and
that's an issue for an offensive line that is already
sort of operating by bits and bobs. We're gonna try
and bring in Dalton Risner for a visit here, We're
gonna try and put Cody Ford here, We're gonna try
Cordovolson there.

Speaker 2 (51:51):
Like there's there's so much of.

Speaker 3 (51:54):
The we're gonna try and just get by on the
offensive line because Joe Burrow was such a good sack
of void and you already have two of the best,
two of the best receivers in the league. But I
think they can evolve by just making Joe Burrow's life
a little easier.

Speaker 1 (52:13):
I totally agree. And yet it feels like we're a
little bit back in the twenty twenty one season where
to me, there are you know, the tackle positions better overall,
but there are major questions because if Mims misses any time,
it is a cliff to the third tackle. They're trying
to figure out who that would be, and it's probably
Cody Ford, who had been playing guard. And you know,
I listened to the local covers there and they think

(52:35):
it's it's already almost a five alarm fire in terms
of the injuries, of the depth that they have, and
the interior of their offensive line. And I and I
saw those Brady comments. You know, it's like he does
come off a little bit as an angry old man
talking about the quarterback position. And when he was talking
about that he doesn't want to be a quarterback. That's

(52:58):
you know, you got to be a quarterback. That's hands
off that you're doing. You're you're making these changes, You're
meeting with the coaches, You're you're you're saying what plays
that you want, You're yelling at people, And I was like,
who is he talking to? If you want to And
to me, I was like, is he talking did he
just watch quarterback? And is he talking to Joe Burrow?
Because Joe Burrow is very different Joe Burrow and is like,

(53:20):
I'm not going to be the guy that's going to
tell the guys that do it wrong that they would
need to do it wrong and the job's hard enough.
And I don't think if he was talking to Joe
Burrow that that's right to do so, But I do
get the feeling that Joe Burrow is is a little
more hands off. And yet they make sure to build
the offense like around his strengths. No one ever talks
about like what Zach Taylor does from a schematic perspective.

(53:43):
But I don't get the sense that it's it's Burrow
like dictating everything. I think it's them trying to play
to his strengths. And you mentioned the running game, like,
I'm huge on Chase Brown. Spoiler alert where you've got
a fantasy mock draft later this week coming up. I
love me some Chase Brown. A lot of that is
because of the receiving game. But I'm going to give
you some stats before we go to our next offense
that that is the most interesting of the of the season.

(54:06):
The Bengals versus expected in terms of passes and runs
led the league in passing versus expected JP on second
and long in power situations, while ahead while behind, Like
that is everything, every single thing that there is basically

(54:28):
like well ahead a and while behind, you lead the
league in passing versus expected. The only stat that I
could find, and this is all from from the FTN Almanac,
that they weren't first was on first downs. They were
actually you know, second in terms of passing over expected.
So they are as you know, pass heavy as you
can possibly be. Let's do a speed round to wrap

(54:49):
it up. I'll give a quick one first. Seahawks. It's
not just because of the preseason. It's partly because our producer,
Christoph Bono wanted me to give a little love to them.
But they've got some talent on the offensive line between
Gray's Abel and Charles Cross and Abe Lucas. Look, it's
going to be two wide receivers on the field. Clint
Kubiak led the league in that last year with the Saints,

(55:11):
and it's going to be you know, Cup and JSN
on the field together. Do they fit together? I don't know.
Is Ken Walker a scheme fit? I don't quite know,
But to me, they're going to be really fascinating. Whether
they can make this offense work around Sam Darnold, whether
he can build just career arc wise off what he
did a year ago.

Speaker 3 (55:30):
The Seahawks are bringing sexy back, They're bringing the fullback
back to the NFL.

Speaker 2 (55:34):
This is the game that I am here for.

Speaker 3 (55:36):
Robbie Ootz has been one of my favorite rookies to
watch because you can tell when he comes into the game.

Speaker 2 (55:42):
I hope the.

Speaker 3 (55:43):
Seahawks fans really kind of play up to the Robbie
Oots name, kind of like the Packers David John Coole,
because I think that'd be incredible. But you can tell
that the offensive line really meshes a lot better with
this offensive scheme, with this system. The movement skills of
Anthony brad for Gray's abel has been really good. I
think Jalensendell is pushing Oluola for the center spot, and

(56:05):
that's because they can move really well on those wide
zone runs, and that's really where Sam Donald is effective.
You want to mitigate the amount of time Sam Darnald
has to be the You want to mitigate the amount
of times that Donald has to take the reins of
the offense and move the ball by himself. And I
think you do that through a successful and efficient run game.

(56:27):
And everything that I've seen this preseason has been leading
up to that point of them becoming a really effective
team on the ground.

Speaker 1 (56:34):
All right, give me your last one, one you gotta get.

Speaker 2 (56:38):
I have unfortunately fallen from the Jerry Jones propaganda train.
I'm going to the Dallas Cowboys. I am so.

Speaker 3 (56:43):
Fascinated by what they can be, and it's partially because
of who they brought in is offensive coordinator Clayton Adams,
the former offensive line coach at Arizona. I am all
four offensive line coaches. Being a promoted offensive coordinator, they
are going to do a whole lot more twelve personnel,
thirteen gap scheme. That is what Arizona did. But I
think that's gonna help in Dak Prescott not having to

(57:05):
do everything in the offense. I've talked so much about
widening the margin for error for your quarterback, and I
think Dak's margin for error was so small in that
offense because they had no running game. They had no
commitment to the run game. They had one receiver. And
now you have compliments like a run game that should
on the offensive line. The offensive line should be good enough.

(57:27):
I know Tyler Guiden's gonna miss some time, but when
Guidon is back, that run game, that offensive line should
be fun. I'm worried about what they're gonna do with
running back, but the receiving group, if George Pickens has
his head on straight, that is an incredibly complimentary group.
You're thinking of. When you think of George Pickens fit
in this offense, you're thinking of the best years of

(57:49):
Michael gallup where you throw the ball to him on
the sideline. Every fifty to fifty ball becomes seventy thirty.
You know, I think that's something that the offense has
really missed. But I'm excited to see what this offense
does and I'm intrigued to see what they do in
Towy twenty five.

Speaker 1 (58:04):
Yeah, one of the They're one of the teams in
Week one that I'm most curious because I don't what
is the Clayton Adams effect going to be? Is it
going to be more Shotenheimer? What is a Brian Schottenheimer
offense in twenty twenty five? I don't really know. And
that's why I think they totally fit on this list.
And who knows, maybe one of those Jaguars running backs
bigs Be or Etn, maybe they shake loose before the
beginning of the season and the Cowboys would be a
logical landing spot for then JP, you did a fantastic job.

(58:29):
Appreciate you and check out JP's work at s B Nation.
We'll get you on again soon. Of course, we will
be back in the studio next for QB Island, but
that's not the next show that you're going to hear
in the feed forties in free agents with me and
Daniel Jeremiah talking about all the pickups in the offseason.

(58:50):
That's next, then QB Island Me, Jordan Rodrieg, Steve Weisch.
By the way, I owe you Atlanta Falcons and your fans.
Later this week, I'm going to talk about you and
your offense because you are fascinating football's back