September 7, 2023 • 50 mins
On today’s episode of The NFL Report, Steve Wyche & James Palmer discuss the impact of Nick Bosa’s massive contract extension, the impact on Chris Jones’ contract hold out, and the different playing styles of the 49ers and Chiefs.
Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware joins the show to talk about his 2023 induction and whether he thinks Micah Parsons can break his Cowboys all-time career sack record. NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger also jumps on to discuss how defensive lineman are adapting to the current NFL.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to the NFL Report. I'm Steve White.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Here is my guy, James Palmer JP. We've got our
debut show launching on the same day that the NFL
season kicks off.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
My brother, Yeah made in voyage. Here we go. And
here's the funny part for everybody at home. We actually
are friends and talk on a personal basis about that.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, we're actually good. You know, there's some shows and
people have to worry about that. But me and JP
were good. I mean, you know, JP's even so much
of a superstar. He got to speak of his son's
career day recently. Yeah, and I'm sure with a smash
hit JP.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
They squeezed me in between a lawyer and a and
an ear doctor, but everybody was pretty awesome. I'm not
gonna lie, Steve. The best question I had was what's
my favorite chicken nugget? So I'm kind of curious what
yours is? I said, Wendy Spicy chicken nuggets. And the
second one was what's your favorite route? A kid was
dressed in full football gear, shoulder pads. How everything he goes?
(01:01):
Mister Palmer, what's your favorite route? I'm a wide receiver.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
And I'm sure you hit him with a fifteen yard
dig with a bang eighty going up that way. But anyway,
enough of this NFL season is underway, James, And what's crazy.
Normally we're talking about sleepers, we're talking about Super Bowl favorites,
we're talking about quarterbacks. But this NFL season actually kicks
off and we're talking.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
About edge rushers. They are all the news, my man.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
And look, we got to start right here with Nick
Bosa of the San Francisco forty nine ers.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
He holds out all.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Off season up until this week and signs a five year,
one hundred and seventy million dollar deal, a buck twenty
two guaranteed and fifty million at signing highest paid defensive
player now and he's earned it.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Man, we could hit her lap I want. He's that guy.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
He is him, he is He is that guy. And
it's funny. I was in Denver right now, but I
was at the Broncos practice yesterday. They're on the field
when this deal goes down, they come into the locker room.
It's media portion. You know, we're in there for forty
five minutes with these guys, and all you can hear
across the Broncos locker room is just like how much
(02:14):
one seventy? How much guarantee? One twenty Like just screaming
this at each other across locker room, just going like, Holy,
I can't believe that Nick Bosta just got this. It's funny.
I went over to my fellow dude from the area
in the Philadelphia AIA and Mike McGlinchey and also a
former San Francisco forty nine er oo. I said, Mike,
have you seen have you seen the deal yet? Have
(02:36):
you seen Nick? Deely goes, what do you get? One
seventy one? Was it twenty two guarantee? See? He goes,
Oh my god, he deserved every penny of that. I
was like, you went against him in practice. He goes,
I know, he's the best in the game, man, he
deserves every penny of that. It was kind of cool
to get his perspective. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Look, I was in charges practice and I call over
Derwin James.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
He's signed a big deal last year and I was like,
d you know, here's the numbers on the deal.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
He's like, this just happened. I was like, it just happened.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
He was like, yes, yes, another guy gets paid and
this is what really cool, right, and this is this
is really cool about what we do. This we're gonna
bring you on the show. I mean, James and I
we know people, we know this brotherhood. We're telling you
about this, this fraternity that NFL players have. I mean, yeah,
there's probably gonna be something people are gonna hate on
him making the money, but most people celebrated because the
(03:24):
next guy up is gonna get the next biggest deal.
And we're gonna have Brian Baldinger and DeMarcus where on
later in the show to talk about who.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
That next guy up is.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
But James, you know, let let's talk a little bit
about Nick Bosha and and why he is that guy
and why he is so good.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
And I'll tell you this.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
You know, in that locker room, people see the videotapes
of Nick, like I just want to sack him.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
I'm kind of that sirve for dude. His signmates, his
teammates love him.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I mean I remember talking to Deebo Samuel Guys on
the Offensive sign like, this guy's different, right, Everything he
does so meticulously to take care of himself is so different,
and he's so good.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
You hear former teammates Richard Sherman, these guys like we
love Nick Bosa. We love Nick Bosa.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
So they had to get him back, the Niners do.
They had to get him back, not just because he
is a great player, but because he's a great guy
in that locker room. And James, you know, when we
talk about this guy being in shape, he's probably gonna play.
On that he's probably gonna play against the Steelers a
little bit.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Oh, he's gonna play. He's gonna play. We'll get to
Kyle Shanan's comments on whether he's gonna play or not
in just a second, but you're right to speaking on
it really quickly. What he is as an athlete, what
he is as an irreplaceable member of this team. They
don't get to the NFC Championship Game without Nick Bosa.
Obviously wins Defensive Player of the Year. He was in
a position Steve to have all the leverage this past offseason,
(04:51):
and we saw his brother do it before. And they've
been very good at football, and they've been very good
at the negotiating table. Those are two places that the
Bosa family has to throw. And I'm curious when you
mentioned the diet, you mentioned how in shape he is,
if that made this dragon a little bit further. Listen
to me, like it's the forty nine ers. Knew and
John Lynch and Kyle Shannon, everyone involved that he was
(05:12):
going to come ready to play. John Lynch believes it
takes a player roughly two three weeks to be ready
for an NFL game. They didn't think that with Nick Bosa.
I was curious if that allowed this to get even
further in terms of both teams standing their ground and
butting up right against the start of the regular season,
because they knew he would arrive on time. If it
took extra time to get this deal done, there was
no fear of maybe really losing him on the first game.
(05:35):
Now obviously missing all this time. Who will see how
many snaps he plays. But listen to Kyle Shanahan because
he's playing and he knows the type of shape that
Nick Bosa is arriving in. There any questions and at
this point whether he's going to.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
Be in uniform on Sunday, I mean there is question
because we haven't seen him. But thank you guys know
how I'm talking. Have to be I have to have
a beer belly and be out of shape for some
let's switch. That's not in in Bosa's DNA.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Yeah, he's playing off the jump, Steve.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
The image, the image of Nick Bosa having a beer
belly is like something I don't think any of us
could even like, we couldn't even.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Draw a cartoon of it. Because this guy is absolute superman.
I will say this.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
I mean we've seen it before where guys coming late,
they're in great physical shape, their specimens, maybe not like
Nick Bosa, but you know they may get nicked up
a little because they're hyped up. They want to come
out and play. How about this factor.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
They're going up to Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
It's supposed to be a rainy field on Sunday and
the University of Pittsburgh has a game on that same
field on Saturday. So I wonder if these field conditions
and just maybe some of this, you know, you know,
the the Niners might have to say, well, let's let's
kind of figure.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Out how this is going. But it's not just Nick Bosa.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
You know, they're gonna have to say, you know, the
field conditions, whatever about because James the star power, the
star power on the defensive lines, on the defensive side
of the ball for these two teams, let's just let's
just go through this. Nick Bosa, last year's Defensive Player
of the Year, TJ. Watt, the previous years defensive player
of the Year. You've got Cam Hayward, You've got Highsmith
(07:16):
for the Steelers, and then you've got Javon Hargrave for the.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Eric Armstead for the four.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I mean, anyone who thinks there's gonna be more than
like a combined thirty points score in this game might
be out of their head because you look at the
defensive fronts for these teams and where both of these
teams have sunk their money. That is absolutely kind of
dictates with this opener for both the Steelers and the
forty nine Ers, two potential Super Bowl teams. That's where
(07:48):
they that's where they rest their value.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
I love you said sunk their money there because we're
gonna transition this into Chris Jones in a sense, because
I do think there's a real connection between these two.
Early in the negotiations a couple months ago, I was
kept hearing, you know, Nick Bosa's deal separate from Chris Jones.
This deal, these do not connect with one another, right
won an interior pass rusher one an edge Rusher. But
(08:12):
now that this deal's done and I'm starting to hear
our premier defensive player market, the group that you would say,
Steve is probably what irreplaceable for However, many games that
you would play without them, you don't really replace a
Chris Jones with anybody else in your ross. You don't
replace or an Aaron Donald or a TJ. Watt or
any of these guys in that top group. Now that
(08:34):
the ceiling of that group has gone up, how does
that impact Chris Jones? Because what we're seeing is what
the forty nine ers have done. They have come out
with this contract and said what to us, Steve, we
are putting all the chips on the table. We want
to go to a super Bowl. This is our super
Bowl spot. We paid George Kittle, we paid Trent Williams,
(08:56):
we paid Deebo Samuel, even though that even got contentious
at times, a way to get deals done because we
have players like Nick Bosa that are irreplaceable. It's a
different school of thought with the Kansas City Chiefs right
now with what's going on with Chris Jones' contract.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
I thought Chris just wanted to raise you know, I
just he said he just wanted to raise.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
I wonder, as you mentioned the Bosa deal, might say
I want a bigger raise than I initially told you.
But the standoff JP to me also shows the discrepancies
on where these teams lie. We have seen the Chiefs
let tyreek Hill go, they let Orlando Brown go. I
don't think they're gonna let Chris Jones go, But if
they're not trying to pay him right now, that's them
(09:36):
saying we are going to keep our salaries under a
certain way because we've got a very high priced quarterback
so we can have sustained success. The forty nine ers
are saying, we're gonna go out and give Nick Bosa
all this money right after we paid defensive tackle Javon
Hargrave a four year, eighty four million dollar contract, and
we're gonna put all of our money in.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Look, the Niners have nine.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Guys making more than fifteen million dollars because you know,
right now is their windows. It seems like the Chiefs
are playing the fairways whereas the Niners are playing the greens.
And look, it works for both teams, and right the
Niners been knocking on the door while the Chiefs have
been winning Super Bowls, so different philosophies, but it kind
of shows where each team stands and where maybe how
(10:19):
different each owner kind.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Of approaches this as well.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
It is and I yeah, you don't want to question
the Chiefs thinking, Steve, but you could think, is there
a ben of Hubris here that we're going to keep
flying closer and closer to the sun because we've gotten
through it, as you mentioned, they've gotten through moving on
from Tyreek Hill, which by the way, was a move
that they were making to make sure they had enough
money to pay Chris Jones, which apparently hasn't alleviated that situation,
(10:46):
and they move on to two new tackles after winning
a Super Bowl. I think the thought there, honestly is, well,
we have Patrick Mahomes, we have a Hall of Fame coach,
and Andy Reid. We have the greatest tight end of
all time. I think they have a very good offensive line.
I think we can keep They've been drafting well, so
there's almost maybe a thought that's going on there, like, well,
maybe we could lose the next one and still be fine.
(11:07):
I think Chris Jones is one of those irreplaceable type
of players that is, I don't want to say in
the realm of Nick Bosa, but he's in the area.
He finished third in Defensive Player of the Year. He's
done stuff at the t tivin Taftas spot that we've
never seen before. It's going to be interesting when he's
sitting there at Arrowhead in a suite watching the Chiefs
go out there and play against the Lions. I find
(11:30):
that very interesting. I'll leave you with this part. It
is my understanding that he is very comfortable missing four games.
This deal could get done tomorrow, This deal could get
done anytime between now in those four games. But my
understanding is he has no problem missing at least four
games to prove his value. And right now it's a
(11:52):
matter of who values who more.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
JP.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
He must be comfortable if he's got the type of
bread to miss four games and those million dollars worth
of all.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Right, lastly, before we get out of here, we started
this conversation on Nick Bosa.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
But have we forgotten about his brother Joey, who just
a couple of years ago. Here's his Joey's deal he
signed a couple of years ago, five years, one hundred
and thirty million dollars, one hundred and thirty five million
dollars with one hundred and two million guaranteed. He reset
the market. Then he only played in five games last year.
(12:26):
Jpi was out of Chargers practice. And you talk about
somebody who's in like a different category.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
You know.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
We talked Earli about how the Niners players say how
Nick Bosa is just all alone, how he takes care
of himself and stuff like that. He's not all alone
because Joey is the same way. This is somebody who
is so determined to come out and redeem himself after
an injury plague twenty twenty two, who alongside Khalil Mack,
they could end up being the best pass rushing tandem
(12:52):
in the NFL. We're not talking about these two. Why
wouldn't they when they when the Charges acquired Khalil Mack
last year, that's what we expected. Both players got nicked up.
They only played three games together last year. If they
can stay healthy, we will be talking about them at
the end of the season and the Chargers potentially challenging
the Chiefs for a FC dominance.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Wow, I like it. I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
I did one of their games early, which is a
game that they actually both played in I think it
was against the Kansas City Chiefs Week two, and that
was all the talk. When I talked to Derwin James
at length, it was just, now, we're gonna have Khalil
somebody who can close games in very favorable matchups because
Joey gets just as much attention as Nick does in
terms of a pass rush and in terms of what
an offensive line needs to slide over and help out on.
(13:39):
And they thought this was gonna put Khalil Mack in
a lot of favorable situations. They didn't get a chance
to see that at all. Now they're gonna get a
chance to have those moments that even though Khalil max
in the second half of his career, they believe with
Joey Bosa on the other side, Steve, he's gonna have
opportunities in fourth quarters to end drives into end games
because he's gonna have a favorable matchup because of Bosa
on the other side.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yeah. Look, and they open up against Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Their defense put some hands on the Dolphins last year,
and now with Mac and Bosha, they'll have some opportunities. JP,
why don't you get us to our next guest, because
our next block, We've got a whole lot of things
to make people think.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Listen, Judy Batista rode article. I think it has seven
hundred thousand things about the NFL season in twenty twenty three. No,
it's only fifty eight for super Bowl fifty eight, but
three could alter the entire landscape of the NFL. Here
what she has to say.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
Next, Welcome back to the NFL Report, and as the
season kicks off, here's the path to super Bowl fifty
eight in Las Vegas.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
You're seeing thirty two storylines as to how the season
could play out some of the elite players. But our
Judy Bautista has written a column that has shown up
at NFL dot com this week on fifty eight storylines
we should pay attention to in case we're drawing the
line to Super Bowl fifty eight.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Judy, Welcome to the NFL Report and JP.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Real quick, you know, Judy and I have known each
other since what Judy about nineteen ninety one?
Speaker 6 (15:13):
Oh yeah, that suggests we're old, which well.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
You should have asked Judy about that before we started
the second.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Wait a minute, No, but I mean like we were
Judy and I we used to work at the Miami
Herald in the Fort Lauderdale Bar in the neighbors section
JP covering community sports together. And now look at how
big Judy. Judy's all grown up and she's granted enough
time to share with us. But Judy, I just talked
about your column on the fifty eight things to look
(15:42):
out for, and you've got one in there.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
It's number three on the list.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
And this is about the running game, which really kind
of blew my hair back, the little gray.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Hair that I have. And I read this, why don't
you tell us about the rushing game?
Speaker 6 (15:57):
So last year sort of incongruously, the running game took
off in the NFL. I've got the stats, and I
think what makes it so incongruous is, of course, we
just came out of an off season which was just
terrible if you were a veteran running back looking for
new contract, right, the market just cratered on them. But
last season teams averaged one hundred and twenty one point
(16:18):
six rushing yards per game. That's the most since nineteen
eighty seven, which we all sort of think of as
like the a day of the running game before quarterbacks
just completely took over the league and teams averaged twenty
seven point three rushing attempts per game. That was the
most since twenty eleven. So again you're thinking like, how
can that be, Well, this is how it can be.
It's because quarterbacks rushing accounted for fifteen point five percent
(16:43):
of all rushing yards, which was by far the highest
in NFL history. So it was not really a demonstration
of the power of the running back.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
It was rather a.
Speaker 6 (16:53):
Demonstration of the different ways that teams generate the running game,
which really doesn't do anything to help running back seeking contracts.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
So Judy, at first, this is like a wolf in
sheep's clothing, right, you were gonna tell us that running
backs where now contracts are on the rise. Here we go,
we're running the ball more than ever. No, Now, the
it's funny. When I looked at it, and I looked
and I started researching everything that you put out there,
I was like, let me take a look at this.
And when you go and look down, like biggest rushes
(17:25):
in terms of success rate, right, what you gain on first, second,
or third down, a lot of those rushes are from
quarterbacks in key situations. Quarterbacks are being used eve in
the run game, and obviously the evolution of our game
has played a factor in this. In the RPO and
all those other sides, when there's a key third down
(17:45):
and it's third and short, some of these quarterbacks are
getting those instead of the running back.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Yeah, I do.
Speaker 6 (17:53):
I feel bad for the running backs, right like you know.
I mean, I think we all wish running backs were
paid as much as they could get. But this, I
think this statistic is sort of just a demonstration of
how you can see you can still have a really
proficient running attack, and it can be a big part
of your game, but it doesn't necessarily have to come
(18:14):
from a running back. And that is why teams when
they're dolling out the contracts, just don't value the running
back position. They may value the running game, but they
can generate those running yards from other positions, most spectacularly
right now in the NFL, from you know, the quarterbacks
that are just so dynamic, but they have as a result,
(18:34):
caused a minimization of the role of the running back.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Yeah, here's what I'm interested to watch when it comes
to that.
Speaker 7 (18:40):
Though.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
We've got three rookie quarterbacks starting right now. We've got
Josh Dobbs starting a quarterback at Arizona. There are teams
where the quarterback play is a little and all we're
hearing is about is they need the support of a
run game. And not all of these quarterbacks, I mean,
only Anthony Richardson's the running quarterback of these rookie quarterbacks.
So I'm just kind of seeing if maybe the playing
(19:01):
of the younger quarterback and maybe some of these other
quarterbacks who aren't a mobile increase the role of.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
The running back.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Knowing that the running game is important, here's another element
where the running game could be important. And this gets
to another element of your column. Duty scoring is down.
Please explain, make it make sense.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
Yeah, well, you can bet that this is not something
that the NFL wants, and it's certainly not something that
the NFL wants for two years in a row, but
scoring went down last year. Averaged forty three point eight
points per game in twenty twenty two. That was a
five year low. Related to that is that it was
also a drop in defensive pass interference and roughing the passer.
(19:48):
And those are obviously the two calls that affect offense
the most dramatically because they are such big penalties. So
not surprisingly so, it points of emphasis. They want officials
to call those things consistently across all officiating cruise. That
was their concern last year with roughing the pastor. I
(20:08):
remember there was some early calls in roughing the passer
that generated a lot of controversy. Well, what the league
was really concerned about is it doesn't get called uniformly
across all officiating cruise. They want uniformity, and they also
want those called the way they want them called, the
way they think they should be called, because the last
thing this league wants is a drop and.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Scoring real quick, JP, real quick.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
And I want to go back to our previous point then,
about the rushing quarterbacks. How can you call it uniformly
when you don't know if Deshaun Watson is running or passing,
or if Josh Allen is running or passing. And you
may say the quarterbacks are runner, I can't call roughing
the pastor on that.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
That's what I'm curious about, Steve. Honestly, Judy, I think
that we're seeing a rise in the quarterback carrying the football.
I had to get this out of love the Steve
went back. Listen to this twenty twenty, first time we've
ever had eight thousand total rushing yards from quarterbacks twenty
twenty one, first time we've ever had nine thousand yards
from rushing from quarterbacks and twenty twenty two, first time
we've ever broken ten thousand yards from quarterbacks. So they're
carrying the football, Judy, do you think the increase yards,
(21:12):
the increase carries is because of the protection they're getting
within the rules. I almost look at a dual threat
quarterback now as possibly having a greater chance of a
longer NFL career than say a dual threat quarterback twenty
years ago because of the rules.
Speaker 6 (21:30):
Yeah, there's no question that if you are a coach,
you would not send your franchise quarterback out running this
much if they were not getting protection from the officials.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Right.
Speaker 6 (21:40):
I mean, if Lamar Jackson was getting clocked every time
he ran the ball, right, John Harbaugh would say that's
enough with Lamar. Just let him stay in the pocket
and throw the ball, which he can also do really well.
But yes, the rules are designed to protect quarterback. It
is trying to find the balance, right, the tension between
You got to let defenders. If he's taking off, he's
(22:02):
a runner, You've got to let the defenders take them
out and tackle them versus you've got to protect the
most important assets that the league has, the starting quarterbacks.
So that is a fundamental issue. And again, the concern
of the NFL is that it gets called the way
it's supposed to get called, and that it gets called
the way they want it called across the board. So
(22:24):
they don't want one crew offering more protection to Patrick
Mahomes when on the same day Joe Burrow is not
getting the same level of protection. Right, it's got to
be the same, and that's the problem. But again, we've
been around the league long enough to know scoring is
the most important thing. That is the stat that they
(22:45):
look at most closely, because they know fans love scoring.
They do not want scoring down. So you better believe
we're going to see more calls go in favor of
the offense because the last thing they want is a
consecutive year of scoring going down.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
And Judy, we're going to see fans continue to complain
that Patrick Mahons is getting protected more than say their
quarterback in terms of how the officiating crew is going
about it. And the third one we want to hit
is coaches upset about something. What I've never heard that
before the new kickoff rule. Right, they are not happy
with this kickoff rule for this season. And you're hinting
there could be more changes coming after this season to
(23:23):
what happens on kickoffs. Please elaborate on that second part.
Speaker 6 (23:27):
They're not just hinting that there are going to be
more changes. I mean they have basically said this is
just a stopgap measure. More to come. So the kickoff
is the most dangerous play in football, right, Like, there's
a disproportionate number of concussions suffered on the kickoff, and
that is because of the speed of the collisions with
the coverage team and the returner, right, and they just
blast into each other. You've heard players describe it as
(23:48):
like running into a garage door. Obviously, the NFL is
in an era where it is very concerned about head
injuries and they need to do everything they can to
address concussions. So what they can up with this year
and the Competition Committee is if you fair catch on
a kickoff, the ball automatically comes to the twenty five
(24:09):
yard line, that's where your drive starts. The twenty five
yard line doesn't matter where you fair catch it from
the twenty five yard line. In so if you were
standing on a one yard line and you fair catch it,
you're at the twenty five. Needless to say, coaches, especially
the traditionalists in the group, say, are you trying to
take the foot out of the game. I have been
(24:30):
in meetings with the Competition Committee and special teams coaches
for years where they've had this argument going back and forth.
How do you keep the foot in the game while
making it safer. So this is what they came up
with this year. They have been very clear they are
not done changing the kickoff. They don't want to eliminate
the kickoff, but they once it's positioned as a player
(24:54):
safety situation, there are going to be more changes until
they drive the number of concussions down. And one thing
that they are looking at is the way they do
it in the XFL, which is only five yards.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
I have no problem.
Speaker 6 (25:06):
If that's what keeps the kicker kick in the game, Sure,
let's do it. It's only five yards, so you can't
get the high speed collisions.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Sure, whatever about And let me just quickly explain the
XFL rule because I love watching it.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Right, Okay, the kicker lines up at his thirty yard line.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
The other ten numbers of the kickoff team lineup at
the opponent's thirty five while the return team lines up
at the thirty, so you'll get.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Five yards for the collision.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
But we've also seen a significant amount of kickoff returns
for touchdowns or big plays in the XFL, so it
can work.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Judy, you got us thinking, we got to bring you back.
What's the flesh?
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Away?
Speaker 2 (25:44):
These things out and some more stuff because we've got
fifty five other things you wrote about that we eventually
have to cover. And for more on Duty's column, go
to NFL dot com slash Batista and coming up next,
Class of twenty twenty three Hall of Famer DeMarcus where
he's about to tell us.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Who is him? Back on the NFL Report. All right, JP,
we are officially blessed.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Right now we are in the presence of Class of
twenty twenty three Pro Football Hall of Famer DeMarcus Where
d were what's up?
Speaker 7 (26:31):
What is going on? Fellas? How y'all been?
Speaker 1 (26:34):
We're good, We're good.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
We're wonderful.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Man.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
It's great to see that smile. I miss it. I
used to see it in Denver all the time back
in the day, and now I get to see it again.
It's wonderful. I gotta ask you, do you whear like
you went into pretty much every hall of Fame this summer.
I think it was high school, college, Sunbelt, the NFL.
You're gonna be in the ring of Like do you
have a favorite? Do you have a favorite? What went on? Man?
Speaker 1 (26:57):
You know what?
Speaker 3 (26:58):
I I.
Speaker 7 (27:00):
Don't have a favorite.
Speaker 8 (27:02):
And the thing is I have favor And I think
that's like the coolest thing to see all your hard
work has really paid off and you're seeing that finally.
So it's one of the coolest things that you know,
you know, just to experience it from high school level,
college level all the way to the ultimate Hall of
(27:23):
Fame level in the NFL. And Wisch was there to
take witness that and there it was. Man, that was
a cool opportunity.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yeah, from from from the door knock to the incredible
Hall of Fame speech.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
I want to circle back to the speech in just
the second d where but as.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
We kick off the season this week, we know we
got the Chiefs and Lions and and everything kicks off.
I kind of want to get your take on the
two teams that you played for the Dallas Cowboys. You're
gonna be defensive led team. And the Broncos with Sean Payton,
the coach that you tormented a few times when you
were playing.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
For the Cowboys, Let's start with the Cowboys where.
Speaker 8 (28:03):
You know the Cowboys. From what I see and have
seen in the locker room and eating rooms, I've seen
character for the first time. I've seen, you know, guys
really wanting it. And I can actually pinpoint the captains.
And when you can pinpoint the captains, you can pinpoint
the tenacity of the team. And I think that's what's
going to take them to where they need to be.
(28:25):
And it's all about this thing healthy for the postseason.
If they can, you know, stay healthy, they can go
a long way. And then the transition over to the
Denver Broncos, I knew Sean Payton was going to be
a great move. And you can see how they're scoring
points now. They're not turning the football over, They're playing
fundamentally sound football.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Pre season dware, it's pre season dware.
Speaker 7 (28:50):
Listen.
Speaker 8 (28:50):
But the thing is, if you play bad in the preseason,
it can carry over to the regular side. But if
you see glints is in the preseason some of it
that can happen in a regular season, and I got
to see.
Speaker 7 (29:02):
Some of that, so I'm like, all right, all right,
I see change. I saw change so change on both teams,
and I can't wait to see what they're going to
do this year.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
I'm curious, do you think Michael Parsons breaks your Cowboys
sack record? Does he have a chance to do that?
Speaker 8 (29:21):
He has a chance to do that if he stays healthy,
I stay healthy for eight or nine years and really
really consistent. If Mike Coho can play like he's been playing,
I mean he's been averaging what over you know, thirteen
sacks a year.
Speaker 7 (29:36):
It's hard to get double digit sat. So if he
can do that, yeah, the.
Speaker 8 (29:42):
Record will be shattered. And I know if he can
get that pressure like that, but they'll end up winning
the Super Bowl. I'm just throwing it out. I'm just
throwing that nugget out there for Michael.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Okay, we got record chattered and super Bowl Okay, okay, okay,
throwing it out.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Hey, DeMarcus, real quick, we're short on time.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
I really would love to talk more about that, but
I want to get to something that really stood out
from that great Pro Football Hall of Fame weekend in Canton,
and that was this moment from your Hall of Fame speech.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Let's take a listen.
Speaker 8 (30:15):
This might sound crazy, but the NFL taught me how
to forgive. First I forgave myself, and then I forgave
my dad. Dad, all the times I didn't understand why
you weren't there, it doesn't matter. You're here. Now, I've
(30:41):
learned that guilt rocks in a person, and forgiveness heels.
How can I expect God to forgive me if I
don't forgive you? You once said it's two simple words
to me. I'm sorry. I'm not sure if I was,
but I'm telling you now on the biggest platform of
(31:03):
my life, I forgive you.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
The market size is blown away, then I'm blown away.
Now what is your relationship now with your dad?
Speaker 8 (31:24):
We've always had a close relationship, but we never talked.
And it's one of those things where that was the
moment for me to where I had to release something
like I really had to release a lot of the
anger that I had as a child towards my dad
and that experienced that story and what I was trying
(31:44):
to do and let the world know that you know
what you have to let go sometimes to live and
that was one of those moments for me. I mean,
it still gives me chills because that was my first
time ever saying dad. And you probably notice how like
quivered in my voice a little bit. But there was
a moment for me, and I know everybody felt that,
(32:07):
and there was a moment I know everyone's going to remember.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
It was incredible. It's amazing if you were to see
you move forward and move on. I want to move
forward also to this season. I mean, what is your
take on edge rushers now in today's NFL? Is it
is it with the ball coming out so quickly?
Speaker 1 (32:28):
What is it like?
Speaker 3 (32:28):
Would you have to change your game? What is it
like rushing from the edge with the ball out under
two seconds? Now?
Speaker 8 (32:34):
You know, I would probably have to change my game
a lot, because you there's not a lot of five
step drops anymore. It's you know, RPO, there's three step drop.
There's a lot of screams to keep you on your feet,
and so I would actually just really be in the
cornerback room telling those guys, listen, I need one more second,
(32:55):
you know, I need you out a bump and run. Okay,
can y'all just bump and run, get back, give me
an extra second. That's why I'll be telling the defensive coordinators, hey,
can we draft our corner some free safeties because I
need more time. It doesn't matter the quarterback has he
said throw the ball off and it doesn't matter what
(33:16):
kind of pressure you get.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
You got to disrupt the timing of those receivers. Well,
the markets, we know you're also here on behalf of
Direct TV. What do you got going on with them?
Speaker 8 (33:26):
You know, I'm with Direct TV for business and ever
past media, and we're talking about football, right, Football on
the Sunday ticket in businesses. And when you start trying
to affect the masses, when you start thinking about football,
you go into that restaurant, you go into that bar,
and if they don't have the Sunday ticket, I'm walking out.
Speaker 7 (33:45):
And so I'm just letting.
Speaker 8 (33:46):
Everybody know that it's here, right, they got it with
three hundred thousand locations and we're trying to do it big,
just like the Hall of Fame. So I'm here and
how to tell everybody that the NFL ticket is back.
It's in the businesses everywhere, and go watch some football
because it's about to get started.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
There we go, Dware, We appreciate your time, and everybody
remember and the words of Devarcus Ware save this tape
that Micah Parsons could shatter his record and the Cowboys
could go to the super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
Appreciate the Dware.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Can see to unreal from Dware Right there, he's got
Michaeh Parsons right there breaking his sack record with the Cowboys.
What cowboys going to the super Bowl? What about edge
rushers in today's game? What about tackles in today's game?
We have Brian Balding or Baldy coming up to break
the trenches down. There's nobody better in the business. Stay tuned,
(34:53):
Welcome back to the NFL Report, James Palmer, Steve Whitch
and the next guy, Steve. Our next guest needs no introduction,
but I'll do it anyway because this is also a podcast.
Baldy joins us. Brian Baldinger. I almost feel like I
gotta go one more button down, Baldy to join you
in the salad right there? What was your thoughts, because
(35:13):
you know Dware you played with them, Like, what what
did you take out of what what he had to say?
Speaker 9 (35:20):
Well, I thought the most eye opening thing outside. He
thinks that, you know, Micah Parson is going to break
and shatter his sack record in jacks. But I thought
I thought he said, for the first time in a
long time, the Cowboys have the right character in the
locker room. And that's something that reporters like yourself, analysts
(35:41):
like myself, we can't always gauge.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
We can kind of see it.
Speaker 9 (35:44):
It gets revealed sometimes, but we can't really feel the
locker room the way players and guys that are used
to it see it. So I thought that was a
good sign for any Cowboy fan out there. What Dwear
had to say about that.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
Yeah, hey, Bald, you know we heard him talking to
him about edge rushers too. And I want to pick
your brand because you work with so many, you know,
you see so many. We know the great ones, right,
we know Max Crosby, we know Cam Jordan, TJ Watt,
Nick Bos, Joey Bosa, Miles Garrett, players like that. But
who are maybe some of the players you've seen that
are kind of on the cusp of kind of joining
(36:21):
that club.
Speaker 9 (36:23):
Well, I mean Brian Burns right off the bat, you know,
I don't know what his contract status is in Carolina
right now. I mean he's he's an electric player and
you have to game plan for him. Rashaun Gary before
he got hurt, was arriving in Green Bay. You know,
he's he's a big edge rusher. He's two hundred and
eighty two hundred and eighty five pounds. He has a
(36:44):
little size to him. And I know, I watched about
ten or twelve snaps in the final preseason game of
Tyree Wilson with the Raiders, and you just go, wow,
Like he opened like he coming off of foot surgery,
all this kind of stuff, Like you see his side,
his length.
Speaker 3 (37:00):
We saw it at Texas.
Speaker 9 (37:01):
Tech, but now you saw it even in a preseason game.
You go, there's something there. And then I think I
think people recognize that Jalen Phillips could easily break out
in Miami this year. He looks like he could be
a really special player.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Hey, Roal quick bald, No, Chase Young.
Speaker 9 (37:18):
I need to see Chase on the field. Steve, we
haven't seen him on the field. You know, He's got
to get on the field to get my eyes and
to get my breakdowns. I love breaking them down. His
rookie year. I mean, he's had seven and a half sacks,
but he his speed and his athletic building change direction
was there. He's got a sack in half in the
last two years, like you know, and he's missed a
(37:39):
lot of games. So I need to see Chase on
the field. I know Warren Sapp was working with them
during training camp. He said, get your butt in a
four point stance and a three point stance. Get be
like a jet taken off. He rushed from a two
point stance all the time. He's standing straight up like
I don't think people felt his power. So I want
to see Chase on the field. And though I want
(38:01):
to see I want to see a better pass rush
array of moves from Chase right now.
Speaker 3 (38:07):
Boy, I'm stuck on this because we talked about it
with d Ware. You heard it in kind of how
today's game has evolved. I remember being in Philly during
camp and talking to Brandon Graham, who's been around forever, right,
and just talking to him about the frustration that you
have as an edge rusher when the ball's just out
and it's and it keeps coming out. You mentioned a
bunch of different guys with different sizes skill sets. Is
(38:29):
there a premiere size and skill set that fits today's
game better than maybe it did in the past. That
you see a certain maybe body type or does does
that not matter in terms of what guys can be
successful with now?
Speaker 9 (38:43):
I don't think it matters, you know. I mean, Dwight
Freeney was different than Reggie White, was different than Michael Strahan.
Speaker 7 (38:51):
You know.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
Uh, but but they put up huge numbers.
Speaker 9 (38:54):
Jason Taylor put up big numbers and he was long
and lean, and I don't know that Jason Taylor Waite
and I remember playing with Reggie and we had an
electronic scale in Philadelphia back then, and sometimes in December,
Reggie would get on the scale and he would jump
off as it was rising past three thirty.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Five, like I don't know when to tip it off back.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
So I think we're always you know, and really just
not edge rushers either.
Speaker 9 (39:21):
By you know, great football players will always come in
different shapes and sizes. You know, their greatness is how
they play the game, whatever they've been gifted with.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
So Paul, let me let me ask you this. De
wear said he'd have to change his game a little bit.
I was talking to Khalil Mack at charges practice shows
today about this quick passing game, and he said, it's
so frustrating, you know, because you know, you just can't
get to the quarterback. He said, but that's where you
have to be patient because hopefully the defense keeps the
opponent out of the end zone, the offense scores points.
So at some point the opposing team you've got to
(39:53):
try to drive the ball downfield. I mean, what about
the patients these pass rushers have to play with now?
Speaker 9 (39:59):
And I asked to say question of Miles Garrett about
a month ago, Steve when the Browns were scrimmaging against
the Eagles, and he said, you can't pick and choose
when the pass rush, like, you just have to go
and then you know, if it's a if it's a
bubble screen, turn and run and go make to play.
I mean the screen game should be the defensive lineman's game,
like flip your hips, turn and run like that's what
(40:20):
you're expected to do. That's what the great ones do.
Go make to play, don't let it get started. Tackle
before it does get started. But you you know, when
you get to third and seven, third and ten, third
and twelve, third and fifteen, Steve, I mean, it's like
pin your ears back, all right? Did you know you
might have fewer rushes because of the way the game
is played now, but you have to maximize the rushes
(40:42):
that you get. But if it's first and ten, a
bubble screen comes out and they're throwing it to the sideline,
just run and chase. But if you're there trying to go, Okay,
I'm gonna go harden this time because I think it's
gonna be a deep set and then the you know,
like you just you can't do that. You have to
play hard every play and just react to what the
play is.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
But we had Judy Batista on a little earlier talking
about honestly, teams are running the football more than ever,
but the quarterbacks running the football are a big part
of that because they're running it themselves more than ever.
What does that do for offensive linemen in terms of now,
more than any previous season, we're seeing guys take off
and run or it's designed run, or it's an RPO,
(41:25):
or it's just the mindset you have to have. I
guess as an offensive lineman now that that part of
the game is just continues to grow. That the quarterback
is going to carry the football.
Speaker 9 (41:36):
Well Okay, a couple of things here, James, Because it's
a loaded is a valid question, it is topical one.
Speaker 3 (41:41):
The NFL can take it.
Speaker 9 (41:45):
You're a reporter, James, you know the NFL can only
take what the college game gives us. So it gives
us Justin Fields, it gives us Jalen Hurts, it gives
us Lamar Jackson. That's what it's given us. Okay, So now, okay,
now we've now figured out how to incorporate. Right before
he came on, I broke down the Patriots last year
against Justin Field and Lamar Jackson. They were awful, like
they hadn't seen raid option. They tried to spy them,
(42:07):
it didn't work. And here comes Jalen Hurts coming into town.
So you have to defend all six basically skilled players
on any given play, and your eyes have to be right.
And you can say, okay, well, it's just numbers. Somebody's
got to pitch, somebody's got the quarterback, somebody's got to dive,
all right, until you're in that position and you're Matt
(42:28):
Judahon this weekend and Jalen Hurts is coming down the
line with DeAndre Swift and you don't know who's got
the ball where it's going and you just have to
freeze for a second against these guys are right by it.
I think we all remember that play of Justin Fields
against Green Bay last year. The entire pack or defense
was chasing him into the end zone. It was too
late by the time they figured it out. I think
(42:50):
it's a problem and there isn't one answer for it.
And you can drop all the defense you want. You
can rush three, drop eight, you can do all this stuff.
These guys are skilled running backs. Their vision tells them
where to go. It's not like they're just running blind
in a meathouse.
Speaker 6 (43:07):
Like.
Speaker 9 (43:08):
They know how to set guys up. They know where
the pursuit's coming from, they know where the daylight is.
Speaker 3 (43:13):
Like.
Speaker 9 (43:13):
These are skilled running backs with the ball in their hands.
And I would say just the three guys I mentioned
amongst others. But you know, Lamar, Justin and Jalen this
weekend be something to watch and just track how they
perform this weekend.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
Yeah, Baldy is a scrub outside linebacker. Had to play
assignment football back in the Big Eight days. It is
so tempting to take the dive back when you come
and unblocked. But the next thing, you know, the quarterback
pops out. Hey, Baldi, we gotta let you go. We
got to talk about your interesting life. Because James Palmer
spoken is on his career day. We want to see
what it'd be like for you to speak at a
career day since you do fifteen million awesome things. We
(43:49):
got to catch you next time because coming up next
on the NFL report, is it prime time in Colorado?
And could us see quarterback Kleb Williams actually when he
might be the number one pick. We're back on the
(44:15):
NFL Report, but right now we're going to talk some
college football.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
That's because the biggest story.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
Coming out of last weekend is NFL or Pro Football
Hall of Famer Dion Sanders coaching the Colorado Buffalo's to
an upset victory forty five forty two over TCU. And
oh boy, James, you know this because you live in Colorado.
The sports world lost his mind. This guy coaching at
Jackson State just went up there and took his team
(44:43):
with an eighty percent roster turnover and knocked off the
team that played in the National Championship. I want to
get your Colorado I view of exactly what the reaction
was semi locally up there, and just kind of how
Dion Sanders has been elevat into a credible head coach,
even though he shouldn't have to be elevated he already was,
(45:05):
but elevated to.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
That degree nationally where he's created all this conversation.
Speaker 3 (45:11):
Let's start with locally, Steve. It has been the dominant
sports landscape conversation in the state of Colorado this entire summer.
It really has. And we have Sean Payton coming to Denver,
Kenny fixed Russell Wilson, major Broncos storylines in anything that
I'm told locally. In terms of a discussion about Deon Sanders,
this entire summer, ratings are through the roof and he's
(45:34):
just up the road and Boulder, and everybody was curious
how this opening week was going to go, because we
have to remember what Dion did, Steve. He went and
did exactly what everybody in the college landscape didn't wantim
to do, which is flip his entire roster. Which also
be clear, he wasn't the only one that did that
correct this past season, but he got most of the scrutiny,
if not all of it for what he did and
maybe the way he went about it. But he goes
(45:57):
out in that first game against TCU and being here
in Colorado with the state absolutely exploding, when they go
out and they knock off the horn Frogs, who were,
even if they're not the same team, they were in
the National Championship last year, and Colorado won one game
a season ago. I think what happened most Steve is
we had a chance to see Dion do things his way,
(46:18):
and what did he get in this first game? He
got validated everything that he wanted to go out and
do in terms of empowering his players, letting a player
like Travis Hunter come and play both ways who wanted
to come and play both sides of the football, That
came out as a success. His son comes out and
throws a football over all over the arm and throws
her five hundred and ten yards and breaks the CU record,
(46:41):
all of that happening in a successful manner. I don't
know if that just jettisons this into another stratosphere in
what Dion's putting together at CU. Because everyone was watching,
everyone in the NFL game was watching, everyone in college
football was watching, and maybe most importantly, every high school
rec cruit was watching, Yes, sir, and I think that's
(47:02):
the biggest aspect of this.
Speaker 1 (47:04):
That's a great point, okay.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
And it's funny because I remember back when I was
a scrub at University of Missouri, uh Colorado that multiple times.
Speaker 1 (47:10):
Ye I was no good. I was no good. I
mean that's how I ended up transferring and stopped playing football.
Speaker 2 (47:15):
But anyway, Colorado comes down to Columbia and their old uniforms.
They look like UCLA, right, they were blue and gold.
We mopped the floor with them.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
Bill McCartney comes in next year.
Speaker 2 (47:25):
It's about nineteen eighty five because the black uniform starts
turning over the roster and next thing you know, Colorado
is a powerhouse. That's what Dion is doing. But here's
before we move on. This is to me what Dion's
biggest accomplishment is about to be. You mentioned SHITTERR. Sanders,
you mentioned Travis Hunter, They.
Speaker 1 (47:41):
Had a couple other players. Soon we're gonna be talking.
Speaker 2 (47:44):
About his players and things other than Dion and the
Colorado program. Once people stopped talking about Dion and they
start talking about the players in the program, that's where
Prime is really going to establish himself as a legitimate guy,
because right now he's personality leading a program.
Speaker 1 (48:01):
Which is unfortunate how he's viewed that way.
Speaker 2 (48:03):
Once the program starts being the personality, that's when he
gets a dumb Speaking of personalities, In a GQ article
this week, Caleb Williams, the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback from
the USC had his father come out and say that
if he doesn't like the situation, he could potentially be
drafted into in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1 (48:23):
He may return to USC. All right, GP, this is
kind of crazy, not feeling it whatsoever. Don't want to
get your take.
Speaker 3 (48:32):
A couple of things jump out of me, Steve, the
first one being I think the carts ahead of the
horse a little bit. Here. Is this a preemptive strike
to put this out prior to really this season up
and going and three? You're really making a lot of
assumptions about what you're expecting to happen. And that was
a lot of what this article was about. Kayleb Williams
himself was saying, I've really never had the choice out
(48:54):
of my hands before. I've always had a choice in
everything that's going on in my football life. This is
an opportunity. I wouldn't. I'm just fascinated by the idea
of them just already knowing what's gonna happen. At the
top of the draft. You made a couple of points
to throw them out real quick at the top of
the draft. Things can get a lot different each and
every year, and things can change quickly in the NFL,
(49:15):
very very quickly.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
Right this year, she got Goa have the worst record,
but Carolina came up and traded. You get the top
pick to take the top quarterback. You maybe have a
team all of a sudden, you have a new head coach.
You don't know the situation of what you can be in.
But I'm not saying it. But I'm saying it because
in the article his dad listed, look, a player like
Baker Mayfield went to a certain situation and then it
(49:37):
didn't work. A quarterback like Kyler Murray went to a
certain situation where organizationally, it was a disaster.
Speaker 1 (49:43):
Kyler Murray played for the Arizona Cardinals. Arizona Cardinals could
have the first overall pick.
Speaker 2 (49:47):
Who is Caleb Wims quarterback coach Clif Kingsbury, who no
longer is the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 1 (49:53):
I didn't say it, but I'm saying it.
Speaker 3 (49:55):
You did say. It's Steve and on the debut episode
right here of the NFL Report Remembers tem fifteen Eastern
every Monday every Thursday. We're also a podcast. Catch us
wherever you catch your podcast. We're on the NFL channel
to be broku Pluto to name it Steve, We're on it.
Welcome to the NFL Report. I'm Steve White.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Here is my guy, James Palmer JP. We've got our
debut show launching on the same day that the NFL
season kicks off.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
My brother, Yeah made in voyage. Here we go. And
here's the funny part for everybody at home. We actually
are friends and talk on a personal basis about that.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, we're actually good. You know, there's some shows and
people have to worry about that. But me and JP
were good. I mean, you know, JP's even so much
of a superstar. He got to speak of his son's
career day recently. Yeah, and I'm sure with a smash
hit JP.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
They squeezed me in between a lawyer and a and
an ear doctor, but everybody was pretty awesome. I'm not
gonna lie, Steve. The best question I had was what's
my favorite chicken nugget? So I'm kind of curious what
yours is? I said, Wendy Spicy chicken nuggets. And the
second one was what's your favorite route? A kid was
dressed in full football gear, shoulder pads. How everything he goes?
(01:01):
Mister Palmer, what's your favorite route? I'm a wide receiver.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
And I'm sure you hit him with a fifteen yard
dig with a bang eighty going up that way. But anyway,
enough of this NFL season is underway, James, And what's crazy.
Normally we're talking about sleepers, we're talking about Super Bowl favorites,
we're talking about quarterbacks. But this NFL season actually kicks
off and we're talking.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
About edge rushers. They are all the news, my man.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
And look, we got to start right here with Nick
Bosa of the San Francisco forty nine ers.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
He holds out all.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Off season up until this week and signs a five year,
one hundred and seventy million dollar deal, a buck twenty
two guaranteed and fifty million at signing highest paid defensive
player now and he's earned it.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Man, we could hit her lap I want. He's that guy.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
He is him, he is He is that guy. And
it's funny. I was in Denver right now, but I
was at the Broncos practice yesterday. They're on the field
when this deal goes down, they come into the locker room.
It's media portion. You know, we're in there for forty
five minutes with these guys, and all you can hear
across the Broncos locker room is just like how much
(02:14):
one seventy? How much guarantee? One twenty Like just screaming
this at each other across locker room, just going like, Holy,
I can't believe that Nick Bosta just got this. It's funny.
I went over to my fellow dude from the area
in the Philadelphia AIA and Mike McGlinchey and also a
former San Francisco forty nine er oo. I said, Mike,
have you seen have you seen the deal yet? Have
(02:36):
you seen Nick? Deely goes, what do you get? One
seventy one? Was it twenty two guarantee? See? He goes,
Oh my god, he deserved every penny of that. I
was like, you went against him in practice. He goes,
I know, he's the best in the game, man, he
deserves every penny of that. It was kind of cool
to get his perspective. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Look, I was in charges practice and I call over
Derwin James.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
He's signed a big deal last year and I was like,
d you know, here's the numbers on the deal.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
He's like, this just happened. I was like, it just happened.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
He was like, yes, yes, another guy gets paid and
this is what really cool, right, and this is this
is really cool about what we do. This we're gonna
bring you on the show. I mean, James and I
we know people, we know this brotherhood. We're telling you
about this, this fraternity that NFL players have. I mean, yeah,
there's probably gonna be something people are gonna hate on
him making the money, but most people celebrated because the
(03:24):
next guy up is gonna get the next biggest deal.
And we're gonna have Brian Baldinger and DeMarcus where on
later in the show to talk about who.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
That next guy up is.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
But James, you know, let let's talk a little bit
about Nick Bosha and and why he is that guy
and why he is so good.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
And I'll tell you this.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
You know, in that locker room, people see the videotapes
of Nick, like I just want to sack him.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
I'm kind of that sirve for dude. His signmates, his
teammates love him.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I mean I remember talking to Deebo Samuel Guys on
the Offensive sign like, this guy's different, right, Everything he
does so meticulously to take care of himself is so different,
and he's so good.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
You hear former teammates Richard Sherman, these guys like we
love Nick Bosa. We love Nick Bosa.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
So they had to get him back, the Niners do.
They had to get him back, not just because he
is a great player, but because he's a great guy
in that locker room. And James, you know, when we
talk about this guy being in shape, he's probably gonna play.
On that he's probably gonna play against the Steelers a
little bit.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Oh, he's gonna play. He's gonna play. We'll get to
Kyle Shanan's comments on whether he's gonna play or not
in just a second, but you're right to speaking on
it really quickly. What he is as an athlete, what
he is as an irreplaceable member of this team. They
don't get to the NFC Championship Game without Nick Bosa.
Obviously wins Defensive Player of the Year. He was in
a position Steve to have all the leverage this past offseason,
(04:51):
and we saw his brother do it before. And they've
been very good at football, and they've been very good
at the negotiating table. Those are two places that the
Bosa family has to throw. And I'm curious when you
mentioned the diet, you mentioned how in shape he is,
if that made this dragon a little bit further. Listen
to me, like it's the forty nine ers. Knew and
John Lynch and Kyle Shannon, everyone involved that he was
(05:12):
going to come ready to play. John Lynch believes it
takes a player roughly two three weeks to be ready
for an NFL game. They didn't think that with Nick Bosa.
I was curious if that allowed this to get even
further in terms of both teams standing their ground and
butting up right against the start of the regular season,
because they knew he would arrive on time. If it
took extra time to get this deal done, there was
no fear of maybe really losing him on the first game.
(05:35):
Now obviously missing all this time. Who will see how
many snaps he plays. But listen to Kyle Shanahan because
he's playing and he knows the type of shape that
Nick Bosa is arriving in. There any questions and at
this point whether he's going to.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
Be in uniform on Sunday, I mean there is question
because we haven't seen him. But thank you guys know
how I'm talking. Have to be I have to have
a beer belly and be out of shape for some
let's switch. That's not in in Bosa's DNA.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Yeah, he's playing off the jump, Steve.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
The image, the image of Nick Bosa having a beer
belly is like something I don't think any of us
could even like, we couldn't even.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Draw a cartoon of it. Because this guy is absolute superman.
I will say this.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
I mean we've seen it before where guys coming late,
they're in great physical shape, their specimens, maybe not like
Nick Bosa, but you know they may get nicked up
a little because they're hyped up. They want to come
out and play. How about this factor.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
They're going up to Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
It's supposed to be a rainy field on Sunday and
the University of Pittsburgh has a game on that same
field on Saturday. So I wonder if these field conditions
and just maybe some of this, you know, you know,
the the Niners might have to say, well, let's let's
kind of figure.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Out how this is going. But it's not just Nick Bosa.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
You know, they're gonna have to say, you know, the
field conditions, whatever about because James the star power, the
star power on the defensive lines, on the defensive side
of the ball for these two teams, let's just let's
just go through this. Nick Bosa, last year's Defensive Player
of the Year, TJ. Watt, the previous years defensive player
of the Year. You've got Cam Hayward, You've got Highsmith
(07:16):
for the Steelers, and then you've got Javon Hargrave for the.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Eric Armstead for the four.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I mean, anyone who thinks there's gonna be more than
like a combined thirty points score in this game might
be out of their head because you look at the
defensive fronts for these teams and where both of these
teams have sunk their money. That is absolutely kind of
dictates with this opener for both the Steelers and the
forty nine Ers, two potential Super Bowl teams. That's where
(07:48):
they that's where they rest their value.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
I love you said sunk their money there because we're
gonna transition this into Chris Jones in a sense, because
I do think there's a real connection between these two.
Early in the negotiations a couple months ago, I was
kept hearing, you know, Nick Bosa's deal separate from Chris Jones.
This deal, these do not connect with one another, right
won an interior pass rusher one an edge Rusher. But
(08:12):
now that this deal's done and I'm starting to hear
our premier defensive player market, the group that you would say,
Steve is probably what irreplaceable for However, many games that
you would play without them, you don't really replace a
Chris Jones with anybody else in your ross. You don't
replace or an Aaron Donald or a TJ. Watt or
any of these guys in that top group. Now that
(08:34):
the ceiling of that group has gone up, how does
that impact Chris Jones? Because what we're seeing is what
the forty nine ers have done. They have come out
with this contract and said what to us, Steve, we
are putting all the chips on the table. We want
to go to a super Bowl. This is our super
Bowl spot. We paid George Kittle, we paid Trent Williams,
(08:56):
we paid Deebo Samuel, even though that even got contentious
at times, a way to get deals done because we
have players like Nick Bosa that are irreplaceable. It's a
different school of thought with the Kansas City Chiefs right
now with what's going on with Chris Jones' contract.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
I thought Chris just wanted to raise you know, I
just he said he just wanted to raise.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
I wonder, as you mentioned the Bosa deal, might say
I want a bigger raise than I initially told you.
But the standoff JP to me also shows the discrepancies
on where these teams lie. We have seen the Chiefs
let tyreek Hill go, they let Orlando Brown go. I
don't think they're gonna let Chris Jones go, But if
they're not trying to pay him right now, that's them
(09:36):
saying we are going to keep our salaries under a
certain way because we've got a very high priced quarterback
so we can have sustained success. The forty nine ers
are saying, we're gonna go out and give Nick Bosa
all this money right after we paid defensive tackle Javon
Hargrave a four year, eighty four million dollar contract, and
we're gonna put all of our money in.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Look, the Niners have nine.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Guys making more than fifteen million dollars because you know,
right now is their windows. It seems like the Chiefs
are playing the fairways whereas the Niners are playing the greens.
And look, it works for both teams, and right the
Niners been knocking on the door while the Chiefs have
been winning Super Bowls, so different philosophies, but it kind
of shows where each team stands and where maybe how
(10:19):
different each owner kind.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Of approaches this as well.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
It is and I yeah, you don't want to question
the Chiefs thinking, Steve, but you could think, is there
a ben of Hubris here that we're going to keep
flying closer and closer to the sun because we've gotten
through it, as you mentioned, they've gotten through moving on
from Tyreek Hill, which by the way, was a move
that they were making to make sure they had enough
money to pay Chris Jones, which apparently hasn't alleviated that situation,
(10:46):
and they move on to two new tackles after winning
a Super Bowl. I think the thought there, honestly is, well,
we have Patrick Mahomes, we have a Hall of Fame coach,
and Andy Reid. We have the greatest tight end of
all time. I think they have a very good offensive line.
I think we can keep They've been drafting well, so
there's almost maybe a thought that's going on there, like, well,
maybe we could lose the next one and still be fine.
(11:07):
I think Chris Jones is one of those irreplaceable type
of players that is, I don't want to say in
the realm of Nick Bosa, but he's in the area.
He finished third in Defensive Player of the Year. He's
done stuff at the t tivin Taftas spot that we've
never seen before. It's going to be interesting when he's
sitting there at Arrowhead in a suite watching the Chiefs
go out there and play against the Lions. I find
(11:30):
that very interesting. I'll leave you with this part. It
is my understanding that he is very comfortable missing four games.
This deal could get done tomorrow, This deal could get
done anytime between now in those four games. But my
understanding is he has no problem missing at least four
games to prove his value. And right now it's a
(11:52):
matter of who values who more.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
JP.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
He must be comfortable if he's got the type of
bread to miss four games and those million dollars worth
of all.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Right, lastly, before we get out of here, we started
this conversation on Nick Bosa.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
But have we forgotten about his brother Joey, who just
a couple of years ago. Here's his Joey's deal he
signed a couple of years ago, five years, one hundred
and thirty million dollars, one hundred and thirty five million
dollars with one hundred and two million guaranteed. He reset
the market. Then he only played in five games last year.
(12:26):
Jpi was out of Chargers practice. And you talk about
somebody who's in like a different category.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
You know.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
We talked Earli about how the Niners players say how
Nick Bosa is just all alone, how he takes care
of himself and stuff like that. He's not all alone
because Joey is the same way. This is somebody who
is so determined to come out and redeem himself after
an injury plague twenty twenty two, who alongside Khalil Mack,
they could end up being the best pass rushing tandem
(12:52):
in the NFL. We're not talking about these two. Why
wouldn't they when they when the Charges acquired Khalil Mack
last year, that's what we expected. Both players got nicked up.
They only played three games together last year. If they
can stay healthy, we will be talking about them at
the end of the season and the Chargers potentially challenging
the Chiefs for a FC dominance.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Wow, I like it. I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
I did one of their games early, which is a
game that they actually both played in I think it
was against the Kansas City Chiefs Week two, and that
was all the talk. When I talked to Derwin James
at length, it was just, now, we're gonna have Khalil
somebody who can close games in very favorable matchups because
Joey gets just as much attention as Nick does in
terms of a pass rush and in terms of what
an offensive line needs to slide over and help out on.
(13:39):
And they thought this was gonna put Khalil Mack in
a lot of favorable situations. They didn't get a chance
to see that at all. Now they're gonna get a
chance to have those moments that even though Khalil max
in the second half of his career, they believe with
Joey Bosa on the other side, Steve, he's gonna have
opportunities in fourth quarters to end drives into end games
because he's gonna have a favorable matchup because of Bosa
on the other side.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yeah. Look, and they open up against Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Their defense put some hands on the Dolphins last year,
and now with Mac and Bosha, they'll have some opportunities. JP,
why don't you get us to our next guest, because
our next block, We've got a whole lot of things
to make people think.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Listen, Judy Batista rode article. I think it has seven
hundred thousand things about the NFL season in twenty twenty three. No,
it's only fifty eight for super Bowl fifty eight, but
three could alter the entire landscape of the NFL. Here
what she has to say.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
Next, Welcome back to the NFL Report, and as the
season kicks off, here's the path to super Bowl fifty
eight in Las Vegas.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
You're seeing thirty two storylines as to how the season
could play out some of the elite players. But our
Judy Bautista has written a column that has shown up
at NFL dot com this week on fifty eight storylines
we should pay attention to in case we're drawing the
line to Super Bowl fifty eight.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Judy, Welcome to the NFL Report and JP.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Real quick, you know, Judy and I have known each
other since what Judy about nineteen ninety one?
Speaker 6 (15:13):
Oh yeah, that suggests we're old, which well.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
You should have asked Judy about that before we started
the second.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Wait a minute, No, but I mean like we were
Judy and I we used to work at the Miami
Herald in the Fort Lauderdale Bar in the neighbors section
JP covering community sports together. And now look at how
big Judy. Judy's all grown up and she's granted enough
time to share with us. But Judy, I just talked
about your column on the fifty eight things to look
(15:42):
out for, and you've got one in there.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
It's number three on the list.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
And this is about the running game, which really kind
of blew my hair back, the little gray.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Hair that I have. And I read this, why don't
you tell us about the rushing game?
Speaker 6 (15:57):
So last year sort of incongruously, the running game took
off in the NFL. I've got the stats, and I
think what makes it so incongruous is, of course, we
just came out of an off season which was just
terrible if you were a veteran running back looking for
new contract, right, the market just cratered on them. But
last season teams averaged one hundred and twenty one point
(16:18):
six rushing yards per game. That's the most since nineteen
eighty seven, which we all sort of think of as
like the a day of the running game before quarterbacks
just completely took over the league and teams averaged twenty
seven point three rushing attempts per game. That was the
most since twenty eleven. So again you're thinking like, how
can that be, Well, this is how it can be.
It's because quarterbacks rushing accounted for fifteen point five percent
(16:43):
of all rushing yards, which was by far the highest
in NFL history. So it was not really a demonstration
of the power of the running back.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
It was rather a.
Speaker 6 (16:53):
Demonstration of the different ways that teams generate the running game,
which really doesn't do anything to help running back seeking contracts.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
So Judy, at first, this is like a wolf in
sheep's clothing, right, you were gonna tell us that running
backs where now contracts are on the rise. Here we go,
we're running the ball more than ever. No, Now, the
it's funny. When I looked at it, and I looked
and I started researching everything that you put out there,
I was like, let me take a look at this.
And when you go and look down, like biggest rushes
(17:25):
in terms of success rate, right, what you gain on first, second,
or third down, a lot of those rushes are from
quarterbacks in key situations. Quarterbacks are being used eve in
the run game, and obviously the evolution of our game
has played a factor in this. In the RPO and
all those other sides, when there's a key third down
(17:45):
and it's third and short, some of these quarterbacks are
getting those instead of the running back.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Yeah, I do.
Speaker 6 (17:53):
I feel bad for the running backs, right like you know.
I mean, I think we all wish running backs were
paid as much as they could get. But this, I
think this statistic is sort of just a demonstration of
how you can see you can still have a really
proficient running attack, and it can be a big part
of your game, but it doesn't necessarily have to come
(18:14):
from a running back. And that is why teams when
they're dolling out the contracts, just don't value the running
back position. They may value the running game, but they
can generate those running yards from other positions, most spectacularly
right now in the NFL, from you know, the quarterbacks
that are just so dynamic, but they have as a result,
(18:34):
caused a minimization of the role of the running back.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Yeah, here's what I'm interested to watch when it comes
to that.
Speaker 7 (18:40):
Though.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
We've got three rookie quarterbacks starting right now. We've got
Josh Dobbs starting a quarterback at Arizona. There are teams
where the quarterback play is a little and all we're
hearing is about is they need the support of a
run game. And not all of these quarterbacks, I mean,
only Anthony Richardson's the running quarterback of these rookie quarterbacks.
So I'm just kind of seeing if maybe the playing
(19:01):
of the younger quarterback and maybe some of these other
quarterbacks who aren't a mobile increase the role of.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
The running back.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Knowing that the running game is important, here's another element
where the running game could be important. And this gets
to another element of your column. Duty scoring is down.
Please explain, make it make sense.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
Yeah, well, you can bet that this is not something
that the NFL wants, and it's certainly not something that
the NFL wants for two years in a row, but
scoring went down last year. Averaged forty three point eight
points per game in twenty twenty two. That was a
five year low. Related to that is that it was
also a drop in defensive pass interference and roughing the passer.
(19:48):
And those are obviously the two calls that affect offense
the most dramatically because they are such big penalties. So
not surprisingly so, it points of emphasis. They want officials
to call those things consistently across all officiating cruise. That
was their concern last year with roughing the pastor. I
(20:08):
remember there was some early calls in roughing the passer
that generated a lot of controversy. Well, what the league
was really concerned about is it doesn't get called uniformly
across all officiating cruise. They want uniformity, and they also
want those called the way they want them called, the
way they think they should be called, because the last
thing this league wants is a drop and.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Scoring real quick, JP, real quick.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
And I want to go back to our previous point then,
about the rushing quarterbacks. How can you call it uniformly
when you don't know if Deshaun Watson is running or passing,
or if Josh Allen is running or passing. And you
may say the quarterbacks are runner, I can't call roughing
the pastor on that.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
That's what I'm curious about, Steve. Honestly, Judy, I think
that we're seeing a rise in the quarterback carrying the football.
I had to get this out of love the Steve
went back. Listen to this twenty twenty, first time we've
ever had eight thousand total rushing yards from quarterbacks twenty
twenty one, first time we've ever had nine thousand yards
from rushing from quarterbacks and twenty twenty two, first time
we've ever broken ten thousand yards from quarterbacks. So they're
carrying the football, Judy, do you think the increase yards,
(21:12):
the increase carries is because of the protection they're getting
within the rules. I almost look at a dual threat
quarterback now as possibly having a greater chance of a
longer NFL career than say a dual threat quarterback twenty
years ago because of the rules.
Speaker 6 (21:30):
Yeah, there's no question that if you are a coach,
you would not send your franchise quarterback out running this
much if they were not getting protection from the officials.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Right.
Speaker 6 (21:40):
I mean, if Lamar Jackson was getting clocked every time
he ran the ball, right, John Harbaugh would say that's
enough with Lamar. Just let him stay in the pocket
and throw the ball, which he can also do really well.
But yes, the rules are designed to protect quarterback. It
is trying to find the balance, right, the tension between
You got to let defenders. If he's taking off, he's
(22:02):
a runner, You've got to let the defenders take them
out and tackle them versus you've got to protect the
most important assets that the league has, the starting quarterbacks.
So that is a fundamental issue. And again, the concern
of the NFL is that it gets called the way
it's supposed to get called, and that it gets called
the way they want it called across the board. So
(22:24):
they don't want one crew offering more protection to Patrick
Mahomes when on the same day Joe Burrow is not
getting the same level of protection. Right, it's got to
be the same, and that's the problem. But again, we've
been around the league long enough to know scoring is
the most important thing. That is the stat that they
(22:45):
look at most closely, because they know fans love scoring.
They do not want scoring down. So you better believe
we're going to see more calls go in favor of
the offense because the last thing they want is a
consecutive year of scoring going down.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
And Judy, we're going to see fans continue to complain
that Patrick Mahons is getting protected more than say their
quarterback in terms of how the officiating crew is going
about it. And the third one we want to hit
is coaches upset about something. What I've never heard that
before the new kickoff rule. Right, they are not happy
with this kickoff rule for this season. And you're hinting
there could be more changes coming after this season to
(23:23):
what happens on kickoffs. Please elaborate on that second part.
Speaker 6 (23:27):
They're not just hinting that there are going to be
more changes. I mean they have basically said this is
just a stopgap measure. More to come. So the kickoff
is the most dangerous play in football, right, Like, there's
a disproportionate number of concussions suffered on the kickoff, and
that is because of the speed of the collisions with
the coverage team and the returner, right, and they just
blast into each other. You've heard players describe it as
(23:48):
like running into a garage door. Obviously, the NFL is
in an era where it is very concerned about head
injuries and they need to do everything they can to
address concussions. So what they can up with this year
and the Competition Committee is if you fair catch on
a kickoff, the ball automatically comes to the twenty five
(24:09):
yard line, that's where your drive starts. The twenty five
yard line doesn't matter where you fair catch it from
the twenty five yard line. In so if you were
standing on a one yard line and you fair catch it,
you're at the twenty five. Needless to say, coaches, especially
the traditionalists in the group, say, are you trying to
take the foot out of the game. I have been
(24:30):
in meetings with the Competition Committee and special teams coaches
for years where they've had this argument going back and forth.
How do you keep the foot in the game while
making it safer. So this is what they came up
with this year. They have been very clear they are
not done changing the kickoff. They don't want to eliminate
the kickoff, but they once it's positioned as a player
(24:54):
safety situation, there are going to be more changes until
they drive the number of concussions down. And one thing
that they are looking at is the way they do
it in the XFL, which is only five yards.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
I have no problem.
Speaker 6 (25:06):
If that's what keeps the kicker kick in the game, Sure,
let's do it. It's only five yards, so you can't
get the high speed collisions.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Sure, whatever about And let me just quickly explain the
XFL rule because I love watching it.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Right, Okay, the kicker lines up at his thirty yard line.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
The other ten numbers of the kickoff team lineup at
the opponent's thirty five while the return team lines up
at the thirty, so you'll get.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Five yards for the collision.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
But we've also seen a significant amount of kickoff returns
for touchdowns or big plays in the XFL, so it
can work.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Judy, you got us thinking, we got to bring you back.
What's the flesh?
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Away?
Speaker 2 (25:44):
These things out and some more stuff because we've got
fifty five other things you wrote about that we eventually
have to cover. And for more on Duty's column, go
to NFL dot com slash Batista and coming up next,
Class of twenty twenty three Hall of Famer DeMarcus where
he's about to tell us.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Who is him? Back on the NFL Report. All right, JP,
we are officially blessed.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Right now we are in the presence of Class of
twenty twenty three Pro Football Hall of Famer DeMarcus Where
d were what's up?
Speaker 7 (26:31):
What is going on? Fellas? How y'all been?
Speaker 1 (26:34):
We're good, We're good.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
We're wonderful.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Man.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
It's great to see that smile. I miss it. I
used to see it in Denver all the time back
in the day, and now I get to see it again.
It's wonderful. I gotta ask you, do you whear like
you went into pretty much every hall of Fame this summer.
I think it was high school, college, Sunbelt, the NFL.
You're gonna be in the ring of Like do you
have a favorite? Do you have a favorite? What went on? Man?
Speaker 1 (26:57):
You know what?
Speaker 3 (26:58):
I I.
Speaker 7 (27:00):
Don't have a favorite.
Speaker 8 (27:02):
And the thing is I have favor And I think
that's like the coolest thing to see all your hard
work has really paid off and you're seeing that finally.
So it's one of the coolest things that you know,
you know, just to experience it from high school level,
college level all the way to the ultimate Hall of
(27:23):
Fame level in the NFL. And Wisch was there to
take witness that and there it was. Man, that was
a cool opportunity.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yeah, from from from the door knock to the incredible
Hall of Fame speech.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
I want to circle back to the speech in just
the second d where but as.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
We kick off the season this week, we know we
got the Chiefs and Lions and and everything kicks off.
I kind of want to get your take on the
two teams that you played for the Dallas Cowboys. You're
gonna be defensive led team. And the Broncos with Sean Payton,
the coach that you tormented a few times when you
were playing.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
For the Cowboys, Let's start with the Cowboys where.
Speaker 8 (28:03):
You know the Cowboys. From what I see and have
seen in the locker room and eating rooms, I've seen
character for the first time. I've seen, you know, guys
really wanting it. And I can actually pinpoint the captains.
And when you can pinpoint the captains, you can pinpoint
the tenacity of the team. And I think that's what's
going to take them to where they need to be.
(28:25):
And it's all about this thing healthy for the postseason.
If they can, you know, stay healthy, they can go
a long way. And then the transition over to the
Denver Broncos, I knew Sean Payton was going to be
a great move. And you can see how they're scoring
points now. They're not turning the football over, They're playing
fundamentally sound football.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Pre season dware, it's pre season dware.
Speaker 7 (28:50):
Listen.
Speaker 8 (28:50):
But the thing is, if you play bad in the preseason,
it can carry over to the regular side. But if
you see glints is in the preseason some of it
that can happen in a regular season, and I got
to see.
Speaker 7 (29:02):
Some of that, so I'm like, all right, all right,
I see change. I saw change so change on both teams,
and I can't wait to see what they're going to
do this year.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
I'm curious, do you think Michael Parsons breaks your Cowboys
sack record? Does he have a chance to do that?
Speaker 8 (29:21):
He has a chance to do that if he stays healthy,
I stay healthy for eight or nine years and really
really consistent. If Mike Coho can play like he's been playing,
I mean he's been averaging what over you know, thirteen
sacks a year.
Speaker 7 (29:36):
It's hard to get double digit sat. So if he
can do that, yeah, the.
Speaker 8 (29:42):
Record will be shattered. And I know if he can
get that pressure like that, but they'll end up winning
the Super Bowl. I'm just throwing it out. I'm just
throwing that nugget out there for Michael.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Okay, we got record chattered and super Bowl Okay, okay, okay,
throwing it out.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Hey, DeMarcus, real quick, we're short on time.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
I really would love to talk more about that, but
I want to get to something that really stood out
from that great Pro Football Hall of Fame weekend in Canton,
and that was this moment from your Hall of Fame speech.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Let's take a listen.
Speaker 8 (30:15):
This might sound crazy, but the NFL taught me how
to forgive. First I forgave myself, and then I forgave
my dad. Dad, all the times I didn't understand why
you weren't there, it doesn't matter. You're here. Now, I've
(30:41):
learned that guilt rocks in a person, and forgiveness heels.
How can I expect God to forgive me if I
don't forgive you? You once said it's two simple words
to me. I'm sorry. I'm not sure if I was,
but I'm telling you now on the biggest platform of
(31:03):
my life, I forgive you.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
The market size is blown away, then I'm blown away.
Now what is your relationship now with your dad?
Speaker 8 (31:24):
We've always had a close relationship, but we never talked.
And it's one of those things where that was the
moment for me to where I had to release something
like I really had to release a lot of the
anger that I had as a child towards my dad
and that experienced that story and what I was trying
(31:44):
to do and let the world know that you know
what you have to let go sometimes to live and
that was one of those moments for me. I mean,
it still gives me chills because that was my first
time ever saying dad. And you probably notice how like
quivered in my voice a little bit. But there was
a moment for me, and I know everybody felt that,
(32:07):
and there was a moment I know everyone's going to remember.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
It was incredible. It's amazing if you were to see
you move forward and move on. I want to move
forward also to this season. I mean, what is your
take on edge rushers now in today's NFL? Is it
is it with the ball coming out so quickly?
Speaker 1 (32:28):
What is it like?
Speaker 3 (32:28):
Would you have to change your game? What is it
like rushing from the edge with the ball out under
two seconds? Now?
Speaker 8 (32:34):
You know, I would probably have to change my game
a lot, because you there's not a lot of five
step drops anymore. It's you know, RPO, there's three step drop.
There's a lot of screams to keep you on your feet,
and so I would actually just really be in the
cornerback room telling those guys, listen, I need one more second,
(32:55):
you know, I need you out a bump and run. Okay,
can y'all just bump and run, get back, give me
an extra second. That's why I'll be telling the defensive coordinators, hey,
can we draft our corner some free safeties because I
need more time. It doesn't matter the quarterback has he
said throw the ball off and it doesn't matter what
(33:16):
kind of pressure you get.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
You got to disrupt the timing of those receivers. Well,
the markets, we know you're also here on behalf of
Direct TV. What do you got going on with them?
Speaker 8 (33:26):
You know, I'm with Direct TV for business and ever
past media, and we're talking about football, right, Football on
the Sunday ticket in businesses. And when you start trying
to affect the masses, when you start thinking about football,
you go into that restaurant, you go into that bar,
and if they don't have the Sunday ticket, I'm walking out.
Speaker 7 (33:45):
And so I'm just letting.
Speaker 8 (33:46):
Everybody know that it's here, right, they got it with
three hundred thousand locations and we're trying to do it big,
just like the Hall of Fame. So I'm here and
how to tell everybody that the NFL ticket is back.
It's in the businesses everywhere, and go watch some football
because it's about to get started.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
There we go, Dware, We appreciate your time, and everybody
remember and the words of Devarcus Ware save this tape
that Micah Parsons could shatter his record and the Cowboys
could go to the super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
Appreciate the Dware.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Can see to unreal from Dware Right there, he's got
Michaeh Parsons right there breaking his sack record with the Cowboys.
What cowboys going to the super Bowl? What about edge
rushers in today's game? What about tackles in today's game?
We have Brian Balding or Baldy coming up to break
the trenches down. There's nobody better in the business. Stay tuned,
(34:53):
Welcome back to the NFL Report, James Palmer, Steve Whitch
and the next guy, Steve. Our next guest needs no introduction,
but I'll do it anyway because this is also a podcast.
Baldy joins us. Brian Baldinger. I almost feel like I
gotta go one more button down, Baldy to join you
in the salad right there? What was your thoughts, because
(35:13):
you know Dware you played with them, Like, what what
did you take out of what what he had to say?
Speaker 9 (35:20):
Well, I thought the most eye opening thing outside. He
thinks that, you know, Micah Parson is going to break
and shatter his sack record in jacks. But I thought
I thought he said, for the first time in a
long time, the Cowboys have the right character in the
locker room. And that's something that reporters like yourself, analysts
(35:41):
like myself, we can't always gauge.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
We can kind of see it.
Speaker 9 (35:44):
It gets revealed sometimes, but we can't really feel the
locker room the way players and guys that are used
to it see it. So I thought that was a
good sign for any Cowboy fan out there. What Dwear
had to say about that.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
Yeah, hey, Bald, you know we heard him talking to
him about edge rushers too. And I want to pick
your brand because you work with so many, you know,
you see so many. We know the great ones, right,
we know Max Crosby, we know Cam Jordan, TJ Watt,
Nick Bos, Joey Bosa, Miles Garrett, players like that. But
who are maybe some of the players you've seen that
are kind of on the cusp of kind of joining
(36:21):
that club.
Speaker 9 (36:23):
Well, I mean Brian Burns right off the bat, you know,
I don't know what his contract status is in Carolina
right now. I mean he's he's an electric player and
you have to game plan for him. Rashaun Gary before
he got hurt, was arriving in Green Bay. You know,
he's he's a big edge rusher. He's two hundred and
eighty two hundred and eighty five pounds. He has a
(36:44):
little size to him. And I know, I watched about
ten or twelve snaps in the final preseason game of
Tyree Wilson with the Raiders, and you just go, wow,
Like he opened like he coming off of foot surgery,
all this kind of stuff, Like you see his side,
his length.
Speaker 3 (37:00):
We saw it at Texas.
Speaker 9 (37:01):
Tech, but now you saw it even in a preseason game.
You go, there's something there. And then I think I
think people recognize that Jalen Phillips could easily break out
in Miami this year. He looks like he could be
a really special player.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Hey, Roal quick bald, No, Chase Young.
Speaker 9 (37:18):
I need to see Chase on the field. Steve, we
haven't seen him on the field. You know, He's got
to get on the field to get my eyes and
to get my breakdowns. I love breaking them down. His
rookie year. I mean, he's had seven and a half sacks,
but he his speed and his athletic building change direction
was there. He's got a sack in half in the
last two years, like you know, and he's missed a
(37:39):
lot of games. So I need to see Chase on
the field. I know Warren Sapp was working with them
during training camp. He said, get your butt in a
four point stance and a three point stance. Get be
like a jet taken off. He rushed from a two
point stance all the time. He's standing straight up like
I don't think people felt his power. So I want
to see Chase on the field. And though I want
(38:01):
to see I want to see a better pass rush
array of moves from Chase right now.
Speaker 3 (38:07):
Boy, I'm stuck on this because we talked about it
with d Ware. You heard it in kind of how
today's game has evolved. I remember being in Philly during
camp and talking to Brandon Graham, who's been around forever, right,
and just talking to him about the frustration that you
have as an edge rusher when the ball's just out
and it's and it keeps coming out. You mentioned a
bunch of different guys with different sizes skill sets. Is
(38:29):
there a premiere size and skill set that fits today's
game better than maybe it did in the past. That
you see a certain maybe body type or does does
that not matter in terms of what guys can be
successful with now?
Speaker 9 (38:43):
I don't think it matters, you know. I mean, Dwight
Freeney was different than Reggie White, was different than Michael Strahan.
Speaker 7 (38:51):
You know.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
Uh, but but they put up huge numbers.
Speaker 9 (38:54):
Jason Taylor put up big numbers and he was long
and lean, and I don't know that Jason Taylor Waite
and I remember playing with Reggie and we had an
electronic scale in Philadelphia back then, and sometimes in December,
Reggie would get on the scale and he would jump
off as it was rising past three thirty.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Five, like I don't know when to tip it off back.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
So I think we're always you know, and really just
not edge rushers either.
Speaker 9 (39:21):
By you know, great football players will always come in
different shapes and sizes. You know, their greatness is how
they play the game, whatever they've been gifted with.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
So Paul, let me let me ask you this. De
wear said he'd have to change his game a little bit.
I was talking to Khalil Mack at charges practice shows
today about this quick passing game, and he said, it's
so frustrating, you know, because you know, you just can't
get to the quarterback. He said, but that's where you
have to be patient because hopefully the defense keeps the
opponent out of the end zone, the offense scores points.
So at some point the opposing team you've got to
(39:53):
try to drive the ball downfield. I mean, what about
the patients these pass rushers have to play with now?
Speaker 9 (39:59):
And I asked to say question of Miles Garrett about
a month ago, Steve when the Browns were scrimmaging against
the Eagles, and he said, you can't pick and choose
when the pass rush, like, you just have to go
and then you know, if it's a if it's a
bubble screen, turn and run and go make to play.
I mean the screen game should be the defensive lineman's game,
like flip your hips, turn and run like that's what
(40:20):
you're expected to do. That's what the great ones do.
Go make to play, don't let it get started. Tackle
before it does get started. But you you know, when
you get to third and seven, third and ten, third
and twelve, third and fifteen, Steve, I mean, it's like
pin your ears back, all right? Did you know you
might have fewer rushes because of the way the game
is played now, but you have to maximize the rushes
(40:42):
that you get. But if it's first and ten, a
bubble screen comes out and they're throwing it to the sideline,
just run and chase. But if you're there trying to go, Okay,
I'm gonna go harden this time because I think it's
gonna be a deep set and then the you know,
like you just you can't do that. You have to
play hard every play and just react to what the
play is.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
But we had Judy Batista on a little earlier talking
about honestly, teams are running the football more than ever,
but the quarterbacks running the football are a big part
of that because they're running it themselves more than ever.
What does that do for offensive linemen in terms of now,
more than any previous season, we're seeing guys take off
and run or it's designed run, or it's an RPO,
(41:25):
or it's just the mindset you have to have. I
guess as an offensive lineman now that that part of
the game is just continues to grow. That the quarterback
is going to carry the football.
Speaker 9 (41:36):
Well Okay, a couple of things here, James, Because it's
a loaded is a valid question, it is topical one.
Speaker 3 (41:41):
The NFL can take it.
Speaker 9 (41:45):
You're a reporter, James, you know the NFL can only
take what the college game gives us. So it gives
us Justin Fields, it gives us Jalen Hurts, it gives
us Lamar Jackson. That's what it's given us. Okay, So now, okay,
now we've now figured out how to incorporate. Right before
he came on, I broke down the Patriots last year
against Justin Field and Lamar Jackson. They were awful, like
they hadn't seen raid option. They tried to spy them,
(42:07):
it didn't work. And here comes Jalen Hurts coming into town.
So you have to defend all six basically skilled players
on any given play, and your eyes have to be right.
And you can say, okay, well, it's just numbers. Somebody's
got to pitch, somebody's got the quarterback, somebody's got to dive,
all right, until you're in that position and you're Matt
(42:28):
Judahon this weekend and Jalen Hurts is coming down the
line with DeAndre Swift and you don't know who's got
the ball where it's going and you just have to
freeze for a second against these guys are right by it.
I think we all remember that play of Justin Fields
against Green Bay last year. The entire pack or defense
was chasing him into the end zone. It was too
late by the time they figured it out. I think
(42:50):
it's a problem and there isn't one answer for it.
And you can drop all the defense you want. You
can rush three, drop eight, you can do all this stuff.
These guys are skilled running backs. Their vision tells them
where to go. It's not like they're just running blind
in a meathouse.
Speaker 6 (43:07):
Like.
Speaker 9 (43:08):
They know how to set guys up. They know where
the pursuit's coming from, they know where the daylight is.
Speaker 3 (43:13):
Like.
Speaker 9 (43:13):
These are skilled running backs with the ball in their hands.
And I would say just the three guys I mentioned
amongst others. But you know, Lamar, Justin and Jalen this
weekend be something to watch and just track how they
perform this weekend.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
Yeah, Baldy is a scrub outside linebacker. Had to play
assignment football back in the Big Eight days. It is
so tempting to take the dive back when you come
and unblocked. But the next thing, you know, the quarterback
pops out. Hey, Baldi, we gotta let you go. We
got to talk about your interesting life. Because James Palmer
spoken is on his career day. We want to see
what it'd be like for you to speak at a
career day since you do fifteen million awesome things. We
(43:49):
got to catch you next time because coming up next
on the NFL report, is it prime time in Colorado?
And could us see quarterback Kleb Williams actually when he
might be the number one pick. We're back on the
(44:15):
NFL Report, but right now we're going to talk some
college football.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
That's because the biggest story.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
Coming out of last weekend is NFL or Pro Football
Hall of Famer Dion Sanders coaching the Colorado Buffalo's to
an upset victory forty five forty two over TCU. And
oh boy, James, you know this because you live in Colorado.
The sports world lost his mind. This guy coaching at
Jackson State just went up there and took his team
(44:43):
with an eighty percent roster turnover and knocked off the
team that played in the National Championship. I want to
get your Colorado I view of exactly what the reaction
was semi locally up there, and just kind of how
Dion Sanders has been elevat into a credible head coach,
even though he shouldn't have to be elevated he already was,
(45:05):
but elevated to.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
That degree nationally where he's created all this conversation.
Speaker 3 (45:11):
Let's start with locally, Steve. It has been the dominant
sports landscape conversation in the state of Colorado this entire summer.
It really has. And we have Sean Payton coming to Denver,
Kenny fixed Russell Wilson, major Broncos storylines in anything that
I'm told locally. In terms of a discussion about Deon Sanders,
this entire summer, ratings are through the roof and he's
(45:34):
just up the road and Boulder, and everybody was curious
how this opening week was going to go, because we
have to remember what Dion did, Steve. He went and
did exactly what everybody in the college landscape didn't wantim
to do, which is flip his entire roster. Which also
be clear, he wasn't the only one that did that
correct this past season, but he got most of the scrutiny,
if not all of it for what he did and
maybe the way he went about it. But he goes
(45:57):
out in that first game against TCU and being here
in Colorado with the state absolutely exploding, when they go
out and they knock off the horn Frogs, who were,
even if they're not the same team, they were in
the National Championship last year, and Colorado won one game
a season ago. I think what happened most Steve is
we had a chance to see Dion do things his way,
(46:18):
and what did he get in this first game? He
got validated everything that he wanted to go out and
do in terms of empowering his players, letting a player
like Travis Hunter come and play both ways who wanted
to come and play both sides of the football, That
came out as a success. His son comes out and
throws a football over all over the arm and throws
her five hundred and ten yards and breaks the CU record,
(46:41):
all of that happening in a successful manner. I don't
know if that just jettisons this into another stratosphere in
what Dion's putting together at CU. Because everyone was watching,
everyone in the NFL game was watching, everyone in college
football was watching, and maybe most importantly, every high school
rec cruit was watching, Yes, sir, and I think that's
(47:02):
the biggest aspect of this.
Speaker 1 (47:04):
That's a great point, okay.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
And it's funny because I remember back when I was
a scrub at University of Missouri, uh Colorado that multiple times.
Speaker 1 (47:10):
Ye I was no good. I was no good. I
mean that's how I ended up transferring and stopped playing football.
Speaker 2 (47:15):
But anyway, Colorado comes down to Columbia and their old uniforms.
They look like UCLA, right, they were blue and gold.
We mopped the floor with them.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
Bill McCartney comes in next year.
Speaker 2 (47:25):
It's about nineteen eighty five because the black uniform starts
turning over the roster and next thing you know, Colorado
is a powerhouse. That's what Dion is doing. But here's
before we move on. This is to me what Dion's
biggest accomplishment is about to be. You mentioned SHITTERR. Sanders,
you mentioned Travis Hunter, They.
Speaker 1 (47:41):
Had a couple other players. Soon we're gonna be talking.
Speaker 2 (47:44):
About his players and things other than Dion and the
Colorado program. Once people stopped talking about Dion and they
start talking about the players in the program, that's where
Prime is really going to establish himself as a legitimate guy,
because right now he's personality leading a program.
Speaker 1 (48:01):
Which is unfortunate how he's viewed that way.
Speaker 2 (48:03):
Once the program starts being the personality, that's when he
gets a dumb Speaking of personalities, In a GQ article
this week, Caleb Williams, the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback from
the USC had his father come out and say that
if he doesn't like the situation, he could potentially be
drafted into in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1 (48:23):
He may return to USC. All right, GP, this is
kind of crazy, not feeling it whatsoever. Don't want to
get your take.
Speaker 3 (48:32):
A couple of things jump out of me, Steve, the
first one being I think the carts ahead of the
horse a little bit. Here. Is this a preemptive strike
to put this out prior to really this season up
and going and three? You're really making a lot of
assumptions about what you're expecting to happen. And that was
a lot of what this article was about. Kayleb Williams
himself was saying, I've really never had the choice out
(48:54):
of my hands before. I've always had a choice in
everything that's going on in my football life. This is
an opportunity. I wouldn't. I'm just fascinated by the idea
of them just already knowing what's gonna happen. At the
top of the draft. You made a couple of points
to throw them out real quick at the top of
the draft. Things can get a lot different each and
every year, and things can change quickly in the NFL,
(49:15):
very very quickly.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
Right this year, she got Goa have the worst record,
but Carolina came up and traded. You get the top
pick to take the top quarterback. You maybe have a
team all of a sudden, you have a new head coach.
You don't know the situation of what you can be in.
But I'm not saying it. But I'm saying it because
in the article his dad listed, look, a player like
Baker Mayfield went to a certain situation and then it
(49:37):
didn't work. A quarterback like Kyler Murray went to a
certain situation where organizationally, it was a disaster.
Speaker 1 (49:43):
Kyler Murray played for the Arizona Cardinals. Arizona Cardinals could
have the first overall pick.
Speaker 2 (49:47):
Who is Caleb Wims quarterback coach Clif Kingsbury, who no
longer is the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 1 (49:53):
I didn't say it, but I'm saying it.
Speaker 3 (49:55):
You did say. It's Steve and on the debut episode
right here of the NFL Report Remembers tem fifteen Eastern
every Monday every Thursday. We're also a podcast. Catch us
wherever you catch your podcast. We're on the NFL channel
to be broku Pluto to name it Steve, We're on it.
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Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.