July 23, 2024 • 39 mins
Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks are back with a new episode of Move the Sticks. For the first half of the show, the guys look at every AFC South team and break down the team building blocks and championship foundations for each team in the division with help from the NFL Research team (5:44). For the rest of the show, the pair focus on every AFC West team and then break down the team building blocks and championship foundations for each team in that division (19:57).
Move the Sticks is a part of the NFL Podcasts Network.
NOTE: timecodes approximate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And now move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
What's up, everybody?
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to move the sticks, DJ, Bucky back with you.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Buck.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
We are. We're polishing it up today. We are going
to finish this Championship Foundation series here with the AFC
South and the AFC West. But first of all, how
you do man, Man?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
I'm good.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Look, I'm really excited about training camp kicking off. I'm
excited to get back to the season and this little
exercise that we're taking on where we're looking at all
the rosters, checking out the blues and just discussing it.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Kind of West appetite for when the football really kicks
off in a week and a half.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Yeah, looking forward to getting out to practice, getting out
in the grass. There's something about that, just smelling the
grass and really the excitement that's in the air and
the optimism that's in the air. For those that don't
know from our day's scouting, Buck, I know we've mentioned
it before, but it was always interesting to me when
we would go on those August visits, difference in mood
(01:01):
versus when you would go in there maybe in a
in October or November visit after some of the scars
had shown up on some of these coaches.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yeah, no, it is always kind of funny to get
to this part of it. But right, like you get
all the great nation, all the stuff ahead of time,
and then it inevitably changes once the wins and losses
start pelling up.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Oh, this guy's gonna have a great year.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
You're gonna love him.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
He gonna play in the NFL for ten years.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
One of the toughest guys.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
I mean, he's gonna be I think he'll be the
best player in the conference. And then you come in
there in November, you're like, this guy, Now he doesn't work,
he's not tough. You know in this game, he didn't
do that game. Like what happened to this guy being
the best player on the planet, the best leader that
you've ever seen.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Yeah, it is funny, and I just remember because like
a scouts, we always keep notsing you. You are one
who uses multiple pins. But you have the first visit
written in one pin and you get the background information.
Then you take another pin.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
But this visit and sometimes sometimes the information is different.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Even though we ask the same questions, the information is
a little different a second go around, depending on how
many losses the team is taken.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Yeah, a lot of times too, it's like, you know,
we can't block this guy, we can't block him, and
it turns out, yeah, it wasn't that he was good.
This is the guys you got blocking are any good?
And now we've seen that over the course of a
few games. But anyways, I always enjoyed that time of
the year. All right, Buck, to reiterate, if you're just
checking us out here, we are doing a Championship Foundation series,
which is where NFL research our buddies there have come
(02:34):
up with the with the categories here to put these
guys in. It was kind of something we spearheaded, something
that we talked about on the pod for a long
time is what is a championship Foundation? And the way
we came up with it was, Okay, what's the core
you need to win? You need a quarterback. You need
three offensive playmakers, could be a variety of running backs, receivers,
tight ends however, but you need three of those. You
(02:54):
need three quality offensive linemen. You need two pass rushers,
could be outside guys, inside guys or common nation. And
you need three defensive playmakers in the back end. So
linebackers and secondary, so we limit it to just those spots.
You've got to put a name in each one of
those slots here, and that's what we've determined is kind
of the championship foundation. So then we have colors to
(03:16):
give you an example of what each team looks like.
So Blue blue chip player, top five to top ten player
at his position in league. Elite player. Green is a
very solid starter. You're not looking to replace him. He's
a very capable, good player. Yellow has some type of concern,
whether it's injury, whether it's age, whether it's a contract concern,
(03:36):
so it could be in the last year of his deal.
Pink is an unproven young player. And then Purple is
an unproven young player but has some blue chip potential.
A lot of those are first round picks, high draft picks,
rookies that have that blue. So Pink and Purple really
verdict still out on them. Then you've got Yellow, some
type of a concern. Green, solid blue is what you're
(03:57):
striving for here. So that's how we break this thing down,
and that's where we find ourselves Buck today, looking at
the AFC South and the AFC West. Before we get
to these teams, has there been anything like theme wise
that stood out to you. Any big picture takeaway from
where we are in this process at this point in time.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
I mean, I think the teams that are really committed
to the draft and developed model have done a really
good job of having a team that has sustainable success.
Meaning we spend a lot of time on the last
podcast talking about the Cincinnati Bengals, and it's not a
coincidence that the Cincinnati Bengals have been one of the
better teams in the league when you look at how
they've drafted, how they've developed their players, and even though
(04:38):
all those players having a sentence to the blue level,
they have enough green players that they're always in the conversation.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
I think as a team builder, look, everyone would love.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
To win the title each and every year, but what
you would like to do is have a team that
is always in the conversation. And the best way to
do it in today's game is to draft well, to
really commit to the development part of it, and then
to supplement those those solid nucleus or foundational pieces with
really good players, and that gives you a chance to
play at the championship.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Love.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Yeah, and so far where we are, and again we've
got these last two divisions to do. There's been two
teams that have been a cut above everybody else that
would be in the NFC, the forty nine Ers from
their roster, their collection of blue chip players is pretty outstanding.
And then it's been the Baltimore Ravens. Those have been
the two teams with the deepest collection of blue players.
(05:28):
But we have yet to get to the AFC West,
and there is a team in the AFC West that's
won a few chips, so we'll see how they stack
up with the Ravens and the forty nine Ers roster wise,
we'll get to them after we finish up the AFC South.
That's where we're going to start today. We're going to
start with the Houston Texans, coming off of a ten
and seven season which saw them win the AFC South.
(05:51):
They are led by a I believe, the only twenty
two year old blue that we have in the league
right now, so that's pretty special. You have that at
the quarterback position, with c J. Stroud to already be
in the blue category in his second season. You've got
Nico Collins, who I would argue as a blue buck.
He's listed as a green here I'll send that to
(06:13):
you to the judge. On Nico Collins, are you ready
to put him in the blue category or is he
a really good green?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
No?
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Look, man, I think he can be in the blue
category because I don't know if there's a better number
two receiver in the league than what he does. I mean,
Nico Collins is a terrific playmaker on the outside.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
He can be a number one for most teams.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah, I think he is a number one. So that's
that's an interesting one. That's a debate. But twenty five
years old, really good player there, then you know you've
got to pick your next guy.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Here.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
I'm going to actually go and this is crazy because
Stefan Diggs, what he's accomplished is insane. But he's a
thirty year old. So if we're talking about, you know,
the foundation, true definition of a foundation player, Tank Dell
is twenty four years old. Both these guys are going
to be yellows. I think Diggs probably on the age
side of things. Tank Dell coming off of an injury.
(07:01):
But I think if you're looking at what this offense
looks like into the future, it's twenty two year old
c J. Stroud, It's twenty five year old Nico Collins,
it's twenty four year old Tank Dell. And then the
other offensive playmaker, You've got Dalton Schultz, who's a rock
solid green at twenty eight. You've got Joe Mixon at
twenty eight. So I'll let you make this decision, Buck
for the third spot. If we have Nico Collins and
(07:23):
Tank Dell, if you're talking about a true foundation piece,
are you going to go with Stefan Diggs, Dalton Schultz
or Joe Mixon.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
I'm gonna go with Stefan Diggs.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
And the reason I'm gonna do that is because Stefan
Diggs has been a tested one thousand yard receiver and
even though he went a right at the end of
his tenure with the Buffalo Bills, he still is a
really good player.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Is he what he was? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Maybe he's descending a little bit, but him descending still
puts him in that category where he can be an
impact player on this team with that quarterback.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Yep, I think that's a smart move. So we've got
Nico Collins, Tank Dell, and Stefan Diggs. No one in reserve.
You've got a good tight end and a good back.
We get to the three quality offensive lineman. Army Tunzel
is a blue at thirty years old. You get your
choice there between Titus Howard and Shaq Mason. There's some
injuries there, but those guys are both yellows for that reason.
Then you've got the young guys with Kenyon Green at
twenty three and Juice Scrugs at twenty four. So let's
(08:13):
go with Titus Howard there is a yellow, and let's
go with Kenyon Green there as a pink. So that's
their offense. You get over the defense. We've got a
lot of guys that are blues. We've got Will Anderson
as a twenty two year or sorry, a lot of
guys that are greens. I should say Will Anderson twenty
two year old green with blue potential, Daniel Hunter coming
over as a green at twenty nine. You've got Petrie
(08:35):
or Christian Harris both as greens. You've got Aziz Al
Shaier is a green. You've got Stingley who is listed
as a yellow. I'm guessing that the other injury, but
I'm I'm gonna I think the blue. Yeah, I think
you can make a case that him and Sauce Garden
are in the same class. You could be talking about
(08:56):
the top two corners in the league for the next
seven eight years. So uh yeah, let's make Stingley a Blue.
And then let's make the decision here with these playmakers
between Petrie, Christian Harris, and Al Shaier. I'm going to
go with Petrie and Harris as both greens there that
would be the choice to pair up there with Derek
(09:16):
Stingley as a blue. That's a you know what sneaky
good roster man. Like, you think about their turnaround last year,
but now you look at it and there's blues and
there's quite a few guys with blue potential.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Yeah, what's crazy is how quickly this happened. How quickly
they mean being able to flip it, because this is
a team that was a laughing stock. We had look,
no one thought that they would make the run that
they made last year to now completely flip this roster
and we're talking about one of the best rosters in football.
Hats off to Nick Casario and what Dimiko Ryans have done.
They've done a really good job and not only changing
(09:50):
the cost, so they've changed the personnel and the talent
that this team has. This is why everyone is excited
about what they could be this season.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
I like that group a lot they have there. Let's
get to your Jags here, coming off a nine and
eight season. You've got Trevor Lawrence is a Green at
twenty four, etn is a Green at twenty five. Then
you've got Evan Ingram at twenty nine. They also brought
over Gabe Davis at twenty five, but those, you know.
Then you've got Christian Kirk is a yellow. I believe
we're coming off of injury there, buck, Is that what
(10:19):
we've got coming.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Off in yellow? Yes, coming off an injury.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
And then we get to the offensive lineman, Ezra Cleveland
is a green. You've got shurf or Cam Robinson would
be Yellows, Anton Harrison, he's got a nice bright future there,
but he's a pink as a young player. And then
you get to the defensive side. You've got I got
it used to it's Heinz Allen now right, Josh Heinz.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Yeah, Josh Josh heines Allen. Yeah, he Chang's his last name.
I wanted to make sure both sides will represented.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah, good for that's cool. He's a twenty seven year
old blue. And then you've got some greens here with
Trayvon Walker still twenty three man, he's a baby, Olua
Khan is a green at twenty nine, Devin Lloyd is
a green at twenty five years old, and then you
got your choice between Campbell and Cisco twenty four year
olds there for the last spot. Buck, you make the
call there in terms of the foundational pieces, sure for
(11:10):
Cam Robinson, who's going to be there longer and be
more impactful on the long term. And then Tyson Campbell
or Andre Cisco, you got to pick one.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Okay, So I'm gonna say Cam Robinson right now because
Brandon Schriff is on the decline and injuries that really
beat him to a pulp. And then when it comes
to the two guys at the bottom, Typing Campbell and
Andre Cisco both a good but give me andre Cisco
because I think Andre Cisco has an opportunity to be
a difference maker as a ballhawk in the back end.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yeah, I like that. So again, a lot of a
lot of green. There's a lot of really solid players
there for the Jags need some of those guys, and
I'm looking at guys like Trayvon Walker. Can he climb
into that blue category? Can he make that leap? Christian
Kirk coming back healthy, can he get more into that
green category? So then now you're talking about a rock
solid group of guys, and then, more important than anything else,
(11:56):
the guy they just paid at the quarterback position in
Trevor Lawrence, four year old buck feels like he's around
for a minute. He's twenty four years old.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Yeah, he's getting like the conversation is very similar to
the conversation we had on the last spot about Deshaun
Wison in terms of being the lynch fan. Trevor Lawrence
is the lynch fan to this team's title hopes. He's
aman to the rest of the guys on the offense
playing better. When Trevor Lawrence plays well, Christian Kirk, Evan Ingram,
those guys can ascend to being blue chip players when
(12:24):
he is protected. That offensive line certainly has to do
a really good job. But I think a lot of
the hopes and dreams for the Jaguars are tied to
number sixteen. Number sixteen plays well. This team is going
to be a surprise team in AFC.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
YEP, It's going to be a fun team to watch.
You're gonna have a front row seat for it all
year long. Indianapolis Colts coming off a nine to eight
year interesting team to look at. Here, you've got Anthony
Richardson is a twenty two year old Purple, so again
got hurt last year's ricky campaign, but Purple signifying as
a young, unproven player with blue chip potential. Got Jonathan
Taylor is a Blue at twenty five years old. You've
(12:59):
got Michael Pittman as a Green at twenty six. You've
got ad Ni Mitchell at twenty one years old, one
of the youngest players in the league. He is a Purple.
Then you look at the offensive lineman. You've got Quentin
Nelson as a Green, You've got Braden Smith as a Green,
and you've got Ryan Kelly as a Yellow. So that's
(13:20):
the offensive line. And then you get to the pass rushers.
Quitty pay is really good young player at twenty five,
and you've got Buckner at thirty to go along with Ebukam,
but let's keep Buckner there. And then the defensive playmakers.
You've got Kenny Moore twenty nine, You've got Julian Blackman
(13:40):
and EJ.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Speed.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
You've got your choice there of a couple of yellows
and Juju Brince as a purple. So when I look
at this team, Buck, the three things that stand out
to me are the high upside young guys they have
that haven't proven anything yet, but man Anthony Richardson, ad
Ni Mitchell, Juju Brince, These guys are athletic freaks with
(14:01):
literally limitless potential. So what can they get out of them?
How close do the guys like that get to their
stealing I think that determines what we get with the Colts.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Yeah, the Colts frontal because we talked about their draft
process and how these are. This is a team that
has really going after all the athletic freaks the last
couple of years in the draft, and what they really
put their hopes on is that their coaching staff can
develop them. And you see very quickly that they have
certainly developed these guys to a point. They have some
intriguing pieces, some pieces that have the potential to go
(14:33):
to the next level, but they need some more seasoning
and a lot of the Colts success will be tied
to Anthony Richardson. Anthony Rigison is the big, biggest freak
of them all. When it comes to his athletic gifts.
They've talked about what he's done in the off season,
how he's really dug into the quarterback position, and if
he's able to take that natural talent and put it
(14:54):
together where we see it in the performance and the production.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
The sas Coast team is tough man.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Because they some people that can really tilt the field
just with their explosiveness due to their athletic attributes. But
if the quarterback, if the quarterback develops like they expect
them to develop, their problem, they can be a problem.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
I'm looking at these teams in this division and I'm
kind of summarizing it this way. Houston Texans ready made.
They have they have a lot of blue and green
on their on their foundation here. They are ready made.
They are ready to roll. The Jacksonville Jaguars, the theme
would be that the Jim Collins book good to great. Right,
They've got a lot of good. They need some of
those guys to transition into the great category. That's how
(15:33):
it summarized. The Jags, the Indianapolis Colts. It is the
it is wide open. It is it is boom or bust,
it is take the driver out of the bag. It
is hero or zero, however.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
You want to phrase it.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
But they have the most variance of like of what
they can be at their best and what they could
be at their worst. I feel like there's more distance
between those two than than the other teams we've mentioned.
We'll get to the Titans here in a second.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
I mean they're going for it.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
They have the ability to go for and look man,
no risk and no biscuit. That's the approach that they're taking.
And if their guys hit, they're gonna hit in a
major way. Because we talked about site size, speed warriors.
They have all of those guys. It's just a matter
of putting together and teaching those guys how to play
football and play as a unit.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Let's get to the last team here, the Tennessee Titans,
coming off a six and eleven finish. Will Levis is
a pink twenty five years old at quarterback. You've got
Tony Pollard, Calvin Ridley, and d Hop You've got two
greens and one yellow there with their playmakers. You get
to the offensive line, you've got a couple of purples
here and Scarronsky and J. C. Latham at twenty three
(16:38):
and twenty one years old. So man, good young players,
but we got talented players. We got to see them
and what they can accomplish. And then I would put
Lloyd Cushionberry as the third guy there. He is a green.
Then we get to the defensive side of the ball.
Jeffrey Simmons is a blue all day every day at
twenty seven years old. Harold Landry is the other pass
rusher at twenty eight he is a green. And then
(16:58):
you get to the defensive play makers. Leagerius Sneid is
listed as a green here. I would nominate him for
a Blue buck. Would you agree he's a top five.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yes, yes, yeah, he should be in the conversation. Yes,
he has to be up to here.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Yeah, so we're gonna make him a blue. A Woozia
is a green. And then you've got Armani Hooker as
a yellow at twenty six years old. So there's a
couple of blue chippers there. But I would say, when
you look at this team again, if I was going
to be hopeful on the Tennessee Titans, I would look
at three players. I would look at these two young
offensive linemen and Skuransky and JC Latham twenty three and
(17:35):
twenty one years old, and then I would look obviously
at the quarterback at Will Levis at twenty five years old.
Those are three young players, a lot of talent, a
lot of ability, But that team's going to go as
those guys go. Those guys hopefully you're seeing that group,
that little triangle players getting better as we go throughout
the year.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
No, They're funny because they have the young players in
players that are ready to go to the next level,
and then they have some older.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Players who have to continue to play at a high level.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
And I would say this, I would say Calvin Ridley
has to play in a blue category for them to
get what they want. On offense from Will Levis, DeAndre
Hopkins continues to defy expectations and ours because most of
us thought that he would be a descending player at
this stage of his career. But he continues to play well.
So if Hopkins and Ridley play well, they're going to
help the quarterback play well. Then on defense, Thenard Wilson,
(18:23):
defensive coordinator, he has to find a way to get
these young guys to be more impactful around Jeffrey Simmons.
Jeffrey Simmons is the strawtest stirs to drink, but he
needs Harold Landry and those guys around him to also contribute.
But to move to get lugerious, sneed a true number
one corner on the outside who can play man demand
because this team wants to put their hands on wideouts
(18:44):
on the outside. If they can bring back and you know,
because you're with the Baltimore Ravens, if they can bring
back that Tennessee Tyrants attitude where they felt like they
could beat everybody up, that's when the Titans are at
their best when they're playing that brand to play. And
even though you may have a new coach, I think
some things are like franchise traditions and that style of
play has always been traditional when it comes to the
(19:05):
Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
No doubt that it's a team that I think when
you stack it up in the division just in this exercise,
feels like the fourth team. I don't think there's you know,
tremendous pressure on them right now. New coach, new general
you know, newist general manager there, and ran So hadn't
been there too long, so I think there'll be some
patience here, especially the Dereck Henry era being over. I
(19:30):
think there's going to be a little bit of transition here,
but hopefully again, what you see at the end of
the year with these young guys better than what you
see at the beginning of the year. Like that's got
to be the hope if you're a Tennessee Titans fan.
All right, let's take a break when we come back.
I mentioned the Niners and the Ravens have been the
most talented, the most blue laden teams that we've gone over.
Will they be overtaken by the Kansas City Chiefs. We'll
(19:51):
get to them in the AFC West right after this.
All right, Buck, let's roll through it here. The Kansas
City Chiefs a lot of blue here. Patrick Mahomes twenty
eight year old blue. He's the bluest of the blue.
Travis Kelcey, it's you know, look, it's he's thirty four
years old. But I don't see drop off there, so
(20:13):
he's still a blue, still an elite, elite player. The
other offensive playmaker spot, you've got Rashie Rice or Mark
He's brown, both as yellows, you know, for for different reasons.
But you know you've got talent there. I think Rashie Rice,
what he showed last year as a player on the field,
there's a lot to be excited about. Just needs to
(20:34):
he needs to be a little bit better off the field.
Then we get to Pa Checko is a Green. Then
you get to the three quality offensive lineman Creed Humphreys
of Blue, Tray Smith's a Blue, and then you've got
Joe Tooney, who is a to me is a You
know he's listed as a yellow here, but I would
you can make a case so when he's at his best,
he's a greenish bluish player. Then you get to the
(20:55):
defensive side of the ball. Chris Jones is a Blue,
Carl Loftis is a Green at twenty three years old,
Trent McDuffie is a twenty three year old blue. Nick
Bolton is a twenty four year old Blue. And then
you've got your choice there between Cook, Justin Reed, and Leoshanal.
I probably go Leo Shanal, just a twenty four year
old is a really good players at green. A lot
(21:17):
of blue, buck that's a lot of blue represented there
with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Yeah, a lot of blue, and a lot of times
people are being disrespectful when they just kind of painted
like its Pat Mahomes in company. Pat Mahlmes is terrific,
but this is also a very well thought out, well organized,
and choreographed roster where the pieces of the puzzle fit.
You talked about the offensive line, and that's where I
kind of like to focus Freed, Humphrey, Trey Smith, Joe Toney,
(21:43):
like those guys you're talking about, potentially three blues at
the line of scrimmage. They make life easy for not
only Pat Mahomes, but for Isaiah Pacheco to be able
to do his thing. The question mark that you have
is what is Rashid Rice.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Going to be?
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Because for them he's playing like the number one receiver
last year. You have the issues off the field, but
if he comes back, he's available. You now put him
with Hollywood Brown, you have Xavi Worthy. This offense has
been perditioned in the last couple of years. They could
go back to being what they look like when Tyreek
Hill and Travis Kelsey were in their primes. Defensively, christ
(22:18):
Jones is the guy, but Carl loftis, Finn McDuffie, Bowden,
Leno Chana.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
They have a really good defense.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
This team is tough and they could pull off what
has not been done to three peet just because the
roster is really stacked.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
From top to bottom.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
We could talk about their motivation and can they avoid complacency,
but talent wise, they certainly have the talent.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
In place to pull it off.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
It's kind of funny because you know, the narrative had
been Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes can kind of carry a group,
and then when you step back and look at it,
and you look at the just the individual talent and
the foundations of these teams not a mystery. You know,
while they're winning it. We have them and the and
the Ravens tied with seven Blue players a piece, forty
nine ers just behind him, but those being the two
(23:04):
most talented teams, I don't think that people necessarily talk
like that, and maybe that changed last year just because
you couldn't avoid what they were doing with their defense
was so dominant. But this is a team that not
only has the best you can make a case has
the best quarterback and the best coach in the entire league.
They have continuity because they've been together and they also
just happen to have the best championship foundation. Aside from
(23:26):
those two pieces of anybody else in the entire league,
them and the Baltimore Ravens are stacked.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Yeah they are.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
And they just continue to get better and better and better.
And I say what's scary about them is they remove
some pieces around Pat Mahomes the last couple of years,
and I think that made him better now when you
reinsert talent around him. He has the ability I would
say as a basketball player, he can hit you with
(23:55):
the layup, in the drive, he can hit you with
the mid range and then you can do a three
point shot. He has all of the those things at
his disposal this year that he didn't have in previous years.
That is problematic for defensive coordinators trying to come up
with it. And he has the look you're knowing I
don't have the forest things because I have a defense
that's good enough to get stops and give me more
opportunities at it.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
You look at not only the number of blue players
for them, and then we'll move on after this thought.
But to me, the fascinating thing is you look at
Creed Humphrey being twenty five, Tray Smith being twenty five,
McDuffie being twenty three, Bolton being twenty four. Those four guys,
and then I go back to when we talked about
on a previous episode with the Jets with Garrett Wilson
(24:37):
twenty four, Breisee Hall twenty three, Quinnin Williams twenty six,
Saus Gardner twenty four. If you're looking at just the
best collection of young blue players, those would be the
two teams there. I don't think that people think of
Jets like that, but that's it's fascinating.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
It is fascinating, and it's one of the things that
you look for when you wonder about how can team
go on the these championship runs. So what we're saying
right now, we're talking about the Kansas City Chiefs, a
team that is what three out of the last four,
a team that's in the middle of a back to
back looking for a three peet, and we're saying that
their best is still out in front of them based
(25:16):
on the young players that they've assembled. So for the next,
let is see, three to five years, this team is
gonna be in the conversation, not just because of the
quarterback and the coach, but because of the other young
players around those guys. Makes it like it makes it
fascinating to watch and to see how much are they
going to win? How many are they going to win
with the talent that they have in place.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
I mean, the quarterbacks get another ten years of prime.
I mean he's going to be in the late thirties
and still be playing at a very high level. It's
really the two players you keep an eye on there.
If you're looking at what's the hope that people may
have is that maybe this at thirty or thirty four
years old, this is the time we start to see
some drop off with Kelsey. Maybe at thirty years old
Chris Jones, maybe there's some signs of slippage there. But
(26:00):
even with that being the case, we've referenced it, they
still have a lot of other good, strong, core talented
young players there. For the Kansas City Chiefs, all right,
let's get to the next team here, the Raiders coming
off an eight to nine year Aidan O'Connell is a
pink twenty six years old. Davante Adams is a hanging
on There is a blue at thirty one, Jacoby Myers
is a green at twenty seven, and then you've got
(26:22):
Brock Bowers as a twenty one year old, one of
the youngest guys here is a purple. Excited to see
him play. Get to the offensive line. You've got a
solid green there with Colt Miller at twenty eight Jackson
powers Johnson with a rookie again at twenty one year old,
will be a purple. And then we'll go with Gosh,
we go with parhum there, I guess with The next
one is a pink at twenty five. Get to the defense.
(26:43):
Max Crosby is a blue all day long. At twenty seven,
Christian Wilkins buck he's a green on here. I mean,
I would argue that he's a blue. Would you fight
that notion? You got paid as a blue. He's a blue.
He's a blue.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Eight and a half sacks from interposition.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Yeah, he's a blue player.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Yep, I'm with him. So then you get to the
playmakers in the back end. Here's where you need some
some guys to step up here. Jack Jones is, Jack Jones,
merrig and Nate Hobbs all listed as yellows here. So
for different reasons, Jack Jones has just had some stuff
off the field, but he's you know, he is very,
very talented since he came into the lineup there. I
(27:24):
saw a first end of the Chargers game. But you
look at this team, I think, to me, that's the
thing that jumps out is they need secondary players, and
they need their back half, linebackers and secondary. They need
some some guys to emerge there and prove that they're
better than we expect. And I also think they're going
to rely on two rookies with Brock Bauers, Jackson Powers Johnson.
(27:45):
You know, I would argue, you know, Jacoby Myers is
a really solid player, but you could also keep an
eye on. You know, they've got another tight end there
from Notre Dame they could throw in the mix there.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Michael Mayer, Yeah, the the Raiders are intriguing just because
of some of the players around DeVante Adams that can
still emerge. Brock Bauers being what some of us would
say was maybe the best player in the draft, so
you have an opportunity to put him and Michael mra
together to give you really a dynamic twelve personnel package.
(28:15):
Jacoby Myers playing at a green level alongside DeVante Adams,
all those things are good. You hope that you can
get some emergence from their offensive line where they can
just play better than what the expectations are based on
the color code. Defensively, to me, Max Crosby and Christin
Wilkins could be the best one to two punch that
we've seen inside and outside.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
If they played to.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
The level, they're gonna make everybody behind them play that
much better. It's a team that's not quite there, but
they're just good enough to snatch down teams that are
better than them.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
I e.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
The way that they played the Knas City Chiefs last season.
I think on Christmas Day when they were able to
get a win, they can knock off some of those teams.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
And so we'll see if AP can get it going.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
But right now they have just enough to be a
dangerous threat in the AFC, not necessarily to win it,
but to make every game very very competitive, and then
for them to knock off a couple teams that might
be listed as better than them.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Yeah, duel wise, I don't know there's a better one
in the league inside outside than Max Crosby and paired
up with Christian Wilkins, that's gonna be fun to watch
those guys play together and see what that looks like. Defensively,
for the Raiders again. Need some young guys in the
linebacker secondary positions to emerge and step up. Let's get
to the Denver Broncos coming off an eight nine season
as well.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Bo Nix.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
We're gonna go ahead and throw him in there as
a starter as a twenty four year old. He is
a pink right now. Javonte Williams and Courtland Sutton would
be yellows. Marvin Mims Junior is a pink, so Javonte
Williams twenty four years old, Mims twenty two, Ston twenty eight.
Then we get to the three quality offensive lineman. Quinn
Miners just got paid good for him, twenty five years old,
(29:53):
Green mcglench. He's a green at twenty nine. Garrett Bowles
is a yellow at thirty two. We get to the
two pass rushers. You've got Zach Allen's a really good
young player at twenty seven years old. You've got Nick
Benito or Jonathan Cooper, got your choice there, they would
be pinks twenty four and twenty six. Pats or Tan
is still twenty four years old. Man, he's young. He's
(30:15):
a blue. Alex Singleton as a playmaker at thirty and
then You've got Cody Barton as a playmaker. He is
twenty seven, So you need some complimentary pieces to step
up around Pats or Tan in the secondary buck and
then otherwise, I mean all sites, all eyes are going
to be on bo Nicks in that quarterback position. However
(30:36):
that shakes out. They need those guys to play well.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Yeah, they do need those guys to play well.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
And you know this is a rossa that is, i
would say, in transformation like they're trying to kind of
make it over. They're trying to figure out what the
pieces are around him, and Chompagne is opening that he
can coach him well enough that he can manage the
game and sneak out a few wins. Bow Nicks is
gonna be interesting because Bownicks should be the day one starter.
Bownix comes with more collegia star than anyone in NFL history.
(31:02):
He should be able to jump in there. And if
he's able to jump in there and play what we
call small ball, dink and dunk, get it to some
of the playmakers on the outside while they run the football.
They should be able to stay in games. We just
saw Manners get paid. They paid big money a season ago.
For Mike mcclinchey. They got to get those guys playing.
They need Garrett Bowles to hold on and just play
at a solid level. And then defensively, it's on Vance
(31:24):
Joseph to try and take these pieces and find a
way to get some production. They don't have a high
level pass rusher, which is difficult, so they may be
more coverage than rush. It can be done in the league,
but it's a lot harder to cover these guys on
the outside given the way the rules are. But Vance
Joseph can trick it and kind of scheme it up.
But Pastor ten is the lynchpin to the way they
(31:44):
will have to pro using it. Have to play with
this approach where they have to be more coverage based
and pressure based.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's interesting to look at.
You know, a lot of their best players are really young,
so that's the encouraging thing. They need these guys to
be taught properly. As you mentioned, some of the pieces
they have in place on the coaching staff are well
known for being good developers, so that's going to be
huge for them those young guys starting to climb and develop.
For the Denver Broncos. I think it could be a
(32:11):
step back before a step forward, though you use the
term transition, that would not be a surprise to me.
Let's get to the Los Angeles Chargers coming off a
six and eleven season, the Jim Harbaugh era kicks off.
You've got a blue quarterback and twenty six year old
Justin Herbert. The offensive playmakers. This is where the questions
are right. You've got Gus Edwards slash JK. Dobbins wherever
(32:33):
you want to go with there. I guess you probably
have to go with Gus Edwards based off of, you know,
recent health and production as a twenty nine year old yellow.
Josh Palmer coming off of an injury. He's a twenty
four year old yellow. And then you've got Lad McConkie
or Quentin Johnson. I would go Ladd McConkie here as
a twenty two year old pink. You get to the
quality offensive lineman. You've got Slater's a twenty five year
old blue. You've got Joe Alter rookie as a twenty
(32:55):
one year old man, just a baby. He's a purple
there pro. You know he's got blue potential as a
rookie haven't seen him play yet. Zion Johnson's a twenty
four year old Pink. Then you get to the pass rushers, really,
I mean, you've got Toy Poloto, who's a he's a
foundational piece for them as a twenty one year old,
he's a young kid. And then you've got Bosa and
Mac as yellows coming off of an injury for Bosa,
(33:18):
the age for Mac. Then the back end, you've got
Derwin James as a twenty eight year old Blue, not
coming off of his best season, but the talent still there.
Sante Samuel is a twenty four year old Yellow, and
then you've got just Sir Taylor as a twenty five
year old pink is their nickel. So takeaways there. When
you look at the Chargers.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Buck.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
Talented team, a team that there's a lot of excitement
about because of the coaching and coaching matters in this league.
Because this team has been regarded as one of the
franchises with the most talented rosters. I mean, last five years,
everyone has talked about how talented they are. It's funny
that now that they have a high level coach to
everyone respects, you don't hear as much talk about the roster,
(33:57):
but what you pointed out is a roster still pretty talented. Yes,
they've dumped a lot of the I would say the
marquee weapons that have been household names.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
No Keenan Allen, no Mike Williams.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
But what they've done, I believe is kind of flipped
it where they really invested in the offensive line. They're really,
i would say, hanging their offensive hopes on the offensive line.
And when I look at Zion Johnson and Joe aut
and Rashaan Slater, there are three guys that should be
able to play at blue levels, particularly the young guys
blue levels early in their respective careers.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
If they get that.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Then they can run the football behind I would say
a Hodgepod's collection of running backs Gus that was in JK.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Dobbins. You've talked about it.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
I think you called Joshua Palmer the fantasy football sleeper
that if you looking for someone that can be better
than many expect, look for him to be the guy
that kind of becomes the focal point of the offense
when they throw it. I've heard a lot of reports,
not from you, but reports they're talking about him having
a prominent role and we may not see Quinn Johnson
(34:56):
as much, so I'm excited to see that.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
And then on defense, I.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Know Joey Bosaying Khalil Mack are older, but still both
are very capable of getting done.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Just look at the numbers. And then Derwin James. If
Derwin James comes back and plays like the Derwin James
that we know and love, Yeah, it's two pass rushers.
A guy is a defensive playmaker. That's more enough to
be able to get it done in national football.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yeah, and again it's uh, you know, I guess for
this exercise just because it will get crushed if we
don't do it otherwise. But you know, for the two
pass rushers, you have to put Bosa and Mack there,
even though if you're talking about a foundational piece tow
we pull out to as a younger player is going
to be here for a longer period of time, But
that's the decision to be made there. And then you
(35:39):
know you need a Sante Samuel Junior to play well.
I think that behind this pass rush, in this defensive scheme,
they're going to generate a lot of legitimate but one
on one pressure wins and they're going to have some
deception deception type pressures there with Jesse Menner, So I
think that pressure playing top down for Sante Samuel using
his eyes and instincts, I think he has a good year,
gets his hands on a lot of footballs, and then
(35:59):
you took the words out of my mouth. Offensively, If
this team's good, if they flip this record, they go
from six and eleven to eleven and six, it'll be
because Rashaun Slater will be back to being healthy and
being the Pro bowler that he is. Joe Alt will
play at a Pro Bowl level, and Zion Johnson, who
by all accounts has had a wonderful offseason as a
twenty four year old former first rounder, is a big,
powerful guard. Those three guys will be Pro bowlers. That
(36:22):
to me, if you're going to say how do they
flip their record, people will say, well, who are the
receivers going to emerge? And what's the crowded backfield? And
you know the question marks there, who's the running back?
To me, if those three guys are blue players, if
those three guys are you know, Pro Bowl caliber players,
that's how they flip their record.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Yeah, that's how they flip it.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
Those guys have to play well, they have to embrace
i'll say, a different brand that we're not necessarily used
to seeing with the Charge was his physicality and toughness,
kind of a rough and rugged demeanor and approach. And
Jim Harbor has already said it, don't let the powder
Blues fool you. This is a team that's not going
to be soft. Heard everything about them. We have seen
(37:02):
the product that he has produced and how he's turned
around teams, whether it's in college or the pros. I
spec to see the same thing from the Charges. A
lot of buzz, a lot of positivity. They got that
brand new facility, the boat. I'm sure you got a
nice little office there, so I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
I'm excited. I'm excited to kind of see what it
looks like you and your name plate.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
You probably have like access to the infrared sona and
cold plunge tub.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
You can be all you me and Elsa Gunda all
the time. Yeah, I know.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
I think That's what I'm gonna do now is I'm
gonna leave NFL Network, which is not far from the
Charges new facility, and then just get a little cold
plunge in before I get in the contract. Wake me
up a little bit, a little natural nature's caffeine. There
have you done that? By the way, you did it
when you played oh.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
No like So it's so funny.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
I was just telling Oh, I was trying to get
my daughter to ice and I was telling her my
whole approach.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
To getting in the ice tub. I would I would
take a big towel.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
And I dump it in the hot tub, and then
I would wrap it around me up top while I
was to merge in the uptight uptight I'm warm, and
then by the time I numb, doubt it didn't matter.
But yeah, that that was the thing. But I've heard
I've heard everyone talk about the contrast between the infrared
sona and in the cold plunch. I still just don't
have the I don't have the wherewithalught. I don't know
(38:16):
if I'm tough enough just to cold plunch without.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
So my brother, my brother has one. He lives ten
minutes away, so we've been doing it. My I take
my son, who's had some back stuff. So we've been
going over there almost every day and doing it. It
doesn't matter how many times you do it. That first
step into that thing is just you gotta summon some courage. Man,
you gotta summon some courage to get in that thing.
But I do feel good after you get out of it,
(38:39):
So I do buy some of the hype on that thing.
I remember when we were playing, like we get trash
cans and we get into like those little those metal tins,
you know.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
Oh yeah or whatever.
Speaker 3 (38:48):
Yeah, I mean I'm a long way now, yeah, I
mean a long long way.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
That is not very sanitary, coming to think of it,
back back in the day, by the way, I mean,
don't don't overthink it was back in the day.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Try not to overthink of course.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
All right, that's gonna do it for us today. Hope
you guys have enjoyed this series. Here Championship Foundations, fun
way to look at these rosters. And again we'll see
how these these colors change as we go through this season,
see which guys are on the come up and which
guys start to slip a little bit. We'll revisit this
all the time here. We will keep you up to
date here on the show. But that's gonna do it
for us today. We'll be back one more episode this
(39:25):
week and we'll see you here on Move Sticks
And now move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
What's up, everybody?
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to move the sticks, DJ, Bucky back with you.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Buck.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
We are. We're polishing it up today. We are going
to finish this Championship Foundation series here with the AFC
South and the AFC West. But first of all, how
you do man, Man?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
I'm good.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Look, I'm really excited about training camp kicking off. I'm
excited to get back to the season and this little
exercise that we're taking on where we're looking at all
the rosters, checking out the blues and just discussing it.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Kind of West appetite for when the football really kicks
off in a week and a half.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Yeah, looking forward to getting out to practice, getting out
in the grass. There's something about that, just smelling the
grass and really the excitement that's in the air and
the optimism that's in the air. For those that don't
know from our day's scouting, Buck, I know we've mentioned
it before, but it was always interesting to me when
we would go on those August visits, difference in mood
(01:01):
versus when you would go in there maybe in a
in October or November visit after some of the scars
had shown up on some of these coaches.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yeah, no, it is always kind of funny to get
to this part of it. But right, like you get
all the great nation, all the stuff ahead of time,
and then it inevitably changes once the wins and losses
start pelling up.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Oh, this guy's gonna have a great year.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
You're gonna love him.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
He gonna play in the NFL for ten years.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
One of the toughest guys.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
I mean, he's gonna be I think he'll be the
best player in the conference. And then you come in
there in November, you're like, this guy, Now he doesn't work,
he's not tough. You know in this game, he didn't
do that game. Like what happened to this guy being
the best player on the planet, the best leader that
you've ever seen.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Yeah, it is funny, and I just remember because like
a scouts, we always keep notsing you. You are one
who uses multiple pins. But you have the first visit
written in one pin and you get the background information.
Then you take another pin.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
But this visit and sometimes sometimes the information is different.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Even though we ask the same questions, the information is
a little different a second go around, depending on how
many losses the team is taken.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Yeah, a lot of times too, it's like, you know,
we can't block this guy, we can't block him, and
it turns out, yeah, it wasn't that he was good.
This is the guys you got blocking are any good?
And now we've seen that over the course of a
few games. But anyways, I always enjoyed that time of
the year. All right, Buck, to reiterate, if you're just
checking us out here, we are doing a Championship Foundation series,
which is where NFL research our buddies there have come
(02:34):
up with the with the categories here to put these
guys in. It was kind of something we spearheaded, something
that we talked about on the pod for a long
time is what is a championship Foundation? And the way
we came up with it was, Okay, what's the core
you need to win? You need a quarterback. You need
three offensive playmakers, could be a variety of running backs, receivers,
tight ends however, but you need three of those. You
(02:54):
need three quality offensive linemen. You need two pass rushers,
could be outside guys, inside guys or common nation. And
you need three defensive playmakers in the back end. So
linebackers and secondary, so we limit it to just those spots.
You've got to put a name in each one of
those slots here, and that's what we've determined is kind
of the championship foundation. So then we have colors to
(03:16):
give you an example of what each team looks like.
So Blue blue chip player, top five to top ten player
at his position in league. Elite player. Green is a
very solid starter. You're not looking to replace him. He's
a very capable, good player. Yellow has some type of concern,
whether it's injury, whether it's age, whether it's a contract concern,
(03:36):
so it could be in the last year of his deal.
Pink is an unproven young player. And then Purple is
an unproven young player but has some blue chip potential.
A lot of those are first round picks, high draft picks,
rookies that have that blue. So Pink and Purple really
verdict still out on them. Then you've got Yellow, some
type of a concern. Green, solid blue is what you're
(03:57):
striving for here. So that's how we break this thing down,
and that's where we find ourselves Buck today, looking at
the AFC South and the AFC West. Before we get
to these teams, has there been anything like theme wise
that stood out to you. Any big picture takeaway from
where we are in this process at this point in time.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
I mean, I think the teams that are really committed
to the draft and developed model have done a really
good job of having a team that has sustainable success.
Meaning we spend a lot of time on the last
podcast talking about the Cincinnati Bengals, and it's not a
coincidence that the Cincinnati Bengals have been one of the
better teams in the league when you look at how
they've drafted, how they've developed their players, and even though
(04:38):
all those players having a sentence to the blue level,
they have enough green players that they're always in the conversation.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
I think as a team builder, look, everyone would love.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
To win the title each and every year, but what
you would like to do is have a team that
is always in the conversation. And the best way to
do it in today's game is to draft well, to
really commit to the development part of it, and then
to supplement those those solid nucleus or foundational pieces with
really good players, and that gives you a chance to
play at the championship.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Love.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Yeah, and so far where we are, and again we've
got these last two divisions to do. There's been two
teams that have been a cut above everybody else that
would be in the NFC, the forty nine Ers from
their roster, their collection of blue chip players is pretty outstanding.
And then it's been the Baltimore Ravens. Those have been
the two teams with the deepest collection of blue players.
(05:28):
But we have yet to get to the AFC West,
and there is a team in the AFC West that's
won a few chips, so we'll see how they stack
up with the Ravens and the forty nine Ers roster wise,
we'll get to them after we finish up the AFC South.
That's where we're going to start today. We're going to
start with the Houston Texans, coming off of a ten
and seven season which saw them win the AFC South.
(05:51):
They are led by a I believe, the only twenty
two year old blue that we have in the league
right now, so that's pretty special. You have that at
the quarterback position, with c J. Stroud to already be
in the blue category in his second season. You've got
Nico Collins, who I would argue as a blue buck.
He's listed as a green here I'll send that to
(06:13):
you to the judge. On Nico Collins, are you ready
to put him in the blue category or is he
a really good green?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
No?
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Look, man, I think he can be in the blue
category because I don't know if there's a better number
two receiver in the league than what he does. I mean,
Nico Collins is a terrific playmaker on the outside.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
He can be a number one for most teams.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah, I think he is a number one. So that's
that's an interesting one. That's a debate. But twenty five
years old, really good player there, then you know you've
got to pick your next guy.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Here.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
I'm going to actually go and this is crazy because
Stefan Diggs, what he's accomplished is insane. But he's a
thirty year old. So if we're talking about, you know,
the foundation, true definition of a foundation player, Tank Dell
is twenty four years old. Both these guys are going
to be yellows. I think Diggs probably on the age
side of things. Tank Dell coming off of an injury.
(07:01):
But I think if you're looking at what this offense
looks like into the future, it's twenty two year old
c J. Stroud, It's twenty five year old Nico Collins,
it's twenty four year old Tank Dell. And then the
other offensive playmaker, You've got Dalton Schultz, who's a rock
solid green at twenty eight. You've got Joe Mixon at
twenty eight. So I'll let you make this decision, Buck
for the third spot. If we have Nico Collins and
(07:23):
Tank Dell, if you're talking about a true foundation piece,
are you going to go with Stefan Diggs, Dalton Schultz
or Joe Mixon.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
I'm gonna go with Stefan Diggs.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
And the reason I'm gonna do that is because Stefan
Diggs has been a tested one thousand yard receiver and
even though he went a right at the end of
his tenure with the Buffalo Bills, he still is a
really good player.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Is he what he was? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Maybe he's descending a little bit, but him descending still
puts him in that category where he can be an
impact player on this team with that quarterback.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Yep, I think that's a smart move. So we've got
Nico Collins, Tank Dell, and Stefan Diggs. No one in reserve.
You've got a good tight end and a good back.
We get to the three quality offensive lineman. Army Tunzel
is a blue at thirty years old. You get your
choice there between Titus Howard and Shaq Mason. There's some
injuries there, but those guys are both yellows for that reason.
Then you've got the young guys with Kenyon Green at
twenty three and Juice Scrugs at twenty four. So let's
(08:13):
go with Titus Howard there is a yellow, and let's
go with Kenyon Green there as a pink. So that's
their offense. You get over the defense. We've got a
lot of guys that are blues. We've got Will Anderson
as a twenty two year or sorry, a lot of
guys that are greens. I should say Will Anderson twenty
two year old green with blue potential, Daniel Hunter coming
over as a green at twenty nine. You've got Petrie
(08:35):
or Christian Harris both as greens. You've got Aziz Al
Shaier is a green. You've got Stingley who is listed
as a yellow. I'm guessing that the other injury, but
I'm I'm gonna I think the blue. Yeah, I think
you can make a case that him and Sauce Garden
are in the same class. You could be talking about
(08:56):
the top two corners in the league for the next
seven eight years. So uh yeah, let's make Stingley a Blue.
And then let's make the decision here with these playmakers
between Petrie, Christian Harris, and Al Shaier. I'm going to
go with Petrie and Harris as both greens there that
would be the choice to pair up there with Derek
(09:16):
Stingley as a blue. That's a you know what sneaky
good roster man. Like, you think about their turnaround last year,
but now you look at it and there's blues and
there's quite a few guys with blue potential.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Yeah, what's crazy is how quickly this happened. How quickly
they mean being able to flip it, because this is
a team that was a laughing stock. We had look,
no one thought that they would make the run that
they made last year to now completely flip this roster
and we're talking about one of the best rosters in football.
Hats off to Nick Casario and what Dimiko Ryans have done.
They've done a really good job and not only changing
(09:50):
the cost, so they've changed the personnel and the talent
that this team has. This is why everyone is excited
about what they could be this season.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
I like that group a lot they have there. Let's
get to your Jags here, coming off a nine and
eight season. You've got Trevor Lawrence is a Green at
twenty four, etn is a Green at twenty five. Then
you've got Evan Ingram at twenty nine. They also brought
over Gabe Davis at twenty five, but those, you know.
Then you've got Christian Kirk is a yellow. I believe
we're coming off of injury there, buck, Is that what
(10:19):
we've got coming.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Off in yellow? Yes, coming off an injury.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
And then we get to the offensive lineman, Ezra Cleveland
is a green. You've got shurf or Cam Robinson would
be Yellows, Anton Harrison, he's got a nice bright future there,
but he's a pink as a young player. And then
you get to the defensive side. You've got I got
it used to it's Heinz Allen now right, Josh Heinz.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Yeah, Josh Josh heines Allen. Yeah, he Chang's his last name.
I wanted to make sure both sides will represented.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah, good for that's cool. He's a twenty seven year
old blue. And then you've got some greens here with
Trayvon Walker still twenty three man, he's a baby, Olua
Khan is a green at twenty nine, Devin Lloyd is
a green at twenty five years old, and then you
got your choice between Campbell and Cisco twenty four year
olds there for the last spot. Buck, you make the
call there in terms of the foundational pieces, sure for
(11:10):
Cam Robinson, who's going to be there longer and be
more impactful on the long term. And then Tyson Campbell
or Andre Cisco, you got to pick one.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Okay, So I'm gonna say Cam Robinson right now because
Brandon Schriff is on the decline and injuries that really
beat him to a pulp. And then when it comes
to the two guys at the bottom, Typing Campbell and
Andre Cisco both a good but give me andre Cisco
because I think Andre Cisco has an opportunity to be
a difference maker as a ballhawk in the back end.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yeah, I like that. So again, a lot of a
lot of green. There's a lot of really solid players
there for the Jags need some of those guys, and
I'm looking at guys like Trayvon Walker. Can he climb
into that blue category? Can he make that leap? Christian
Kirk coming back healthy, can he get more into that
green category? So then now you're talking about a rock
solid group of guys, and then, more important than anything else,
(11:56):
the guy they just paid at the quarterback position in
Trevor Lawrence, four year old buck feels like he's around
for a minute. He's twenty four years old.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Yeah, he's getting like the conversation is very similar to
the conversation we had on the last spot about Deshaun
Wison in terms of being the lynch fan. Trevor Lawrence
is the lynch fan to this team's title hopes. He's
aman to the rest of the guys on the offense
playing better. When Trevor Lawrence plays well, Christian Kirk, Evan Ingram,
those guys can ascend to being blue chip players when
(12:24):
he is protected. That offensive line certainly has to do
a really good job. But I think a lot of
the hopes and dreams for the Jaguars are tied to
number sixteen. Number sixteen plays well. This team is going
to be a surprise team in AFC.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
YEP, It's going to be a fun team to watch.
You're gonna have a front row seat for it all
year long. Indianapolis Colts coming off a nine to eight
year interesting team to look at. Here, you've got Anthony
Richardson is a twenty two year old Purple, so again
got hurt last year's ricky campaign, but Purple signifying as
a young, unproven player with blue chip potential. Got Jonathan
Taylor is a Blue at twenty five years old. You've
(12:59):
got Michael Pittman as a Green at twenty six. You've
got ad Ni Mitchell at twenty one years old, one
of the youngest players in the league. He is a Purple.
Then you look at the offensive lineman. You've got Quentin
Nelson as a Green, You've got Braden Smith as a Green,
and you've got Ryan Kelly as a Yellow. So that's
(13:20):
the offensive line. And then you get to the pass rushers.
Quitty pay is really good young player at twenty five,
and you've got Buckner at thirty to go along with Ebukam,
but let's keep Buckner there. And then the defensive playmakers.
You've got Kenny Moore twenty nine, You've got Julian Blackman
(13:40):
and EJ.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Speed.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
You've got your choice there of a couple of yellows
and Juju Brince as a purple. So when I look
at this team, Buck, the three things that stand out
to me are the high upside young guys they have
that haven't proven anything yet, but man Anthony Richardson, ad
Ni Mitchell, Juju Brince, These guys are athletic freaks with
(14:01):
literally limitless potential. So what can they get out of them?
How close do the guys like that get to their
stealing I think that determines what we get with the Colts.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Yeah, the Colts frontal because we talked about their draft
process and how these are. This is a team that
has really going after all the athletic freaks the last
couple of years in the draft, and what they really
put their hopes on is that their coaching staff can
develop them. And you see very quickly that they have
certainly developed these guys to a point. They have some
intriguing pieces, some pieces that have the potential to go
(14:33):
to the next level, but they need some more seasoning
and a lot of the Colts success will be tied
to Anthony Richardson. Anthony Rigison is the big, biggest freak
of them all. When it comes to his athletic gifts.
They've talked about what he's done in the off season,
how he's really dug into the quarterback position, and if
he's able to take that natural talent and put it
(14:54):
together where we see it in the performance and the production.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
The sas Coast team is tough man.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Because they some people that can really tilt the field
just with their explosiveness due to their athletic attributes. But
if the quarterback, if the quarterback develops like they expect
them to develop, their problem, they can be a problem.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
I'm looking at these teams in this division and I'm
kind of summarizing it this way. Houston Texans ready made.
They have they have a lot of blue and green
on their on their foundation here. They are ready made.
They are ready to roll. The Jacksonville Jaguars, the theme
would be that the Jim Collins book good to great. Right,
They've got a lot of good. They need some of
those guys to transition into the great category. That's how
(15:33):
it summarized. The Jags, the Indianapolis Colts. It is the
it is wide open. It is it is boom or bust,
it is take the driver out of the bag. It
is hero or zero, however.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
You want to phrase it.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
But they have the most variance of like of what
they can be at their best and what they could
be at their worst. I feel like there's more distance
between those two than than the other teams we've mentioned.
We'll get to the Titans here in a second.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
I mean they're going for it.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
They have the ability to go for and look man,
no risk and no biscuit. That's the approach that they're taking.
And if their guys hit, they're gonna hit in a
major way. Because we talked about site size, speed warriors.
They have all of those guys. It's just a matter
of putting together and teaching those guys how to play
football and play as a unit.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Let's get to the last team here, the Tennessee Titans,
coming off a six and eleven finish. Will Levis is
a pink twenty five years old at quarterback. You've got
Tony Pollard, Calvin Ridley, and d Hop You've got two
greens and one yellow there with their playmakers. You get
to the offensive line, you've got a couple of purples
here and Scarronsky and J. C. Latham at twenty three
(16:38):
and twenty one years old. So man, good young players,
but we got talented players. We got to see them
and what they can accomplish. And then I would put
Lloyd Cushionberry as the third guy there. He is a green.
Then we get to the defensive side of the ball.
Jeffrey Simmons is a blue all day every day at
twenty seven years old. Harold Landry is the other pass
rusher at twenty eight he is a green. And then
(16:58):
you get to the defensive play makers. Leagerius Sneid is
listed as a green here. I would nominate him for
a Blue buck. Would you agree he's a top five.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yes, yes, yeah, he should be in the conversation. Yes,
he has to be up to here.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Yeah, so we're gonna make him a blue. A Woozia
is a green. And then you've got Armani Hooker as
a yellow at twenty six years old. So there's a
couple of blue chippers there. But I would say, when
you look at this team again, if I was going
to be hopeful on the Tennessee Titans, I would look
at three players. I would look at these two young
offensive linemen and Skuransky and JC Latham twenty three and
(17:35):
twenty one years old, and then I would look obviously
at the quarterback at Will Levis at twenty five years old.
Those are three young players, a lot of talent, a
lot of ability, But that team's going to go as
those guys go. Those guys hopefully you're seeing that group,
that little triangle players getting better as we go throughout
the year.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
No, They're funny because they have the young players in
players that are ready to go to the next level,
and then they have some older.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Players who have to continue to play at a high level.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
And I would say this, I would say Calvin Ridley
has to play in a blue category for them to
get what they want. On offense from Will Levis, DeAndre
Hopkins continues to defy expectations and ours because most of
us thought that he would be a descending player at
this stage of his career. But he continues to play well.
So if Hopkins and Ridley play well, they're going to
help the quarterback play well. Then on defense, Thenard Wilson,
(18:23):
defensive coordinator, he has to find a way to get
these young guys to be more impactful around Jeffrey Simmons.
Jeffrey Simmons is the strawtest stirs to drink, but he
needs Harold Landry and those guys around him to also contribute.
But to move to get lugerious, sneed a true number
one corner on the outside who can play man demand
because this team wants to put their hands on wideouts
(18:44):
on the outside. If they can bring back and you know,
because you're with the Baltimore Ravens, if they can bring
back that Tennessee Tyrants attitude where they felt like they
could beat everybody up, that's when the Titans are at
their best when they're playing that brand to play. And
even though you may have a new coach, I think
some things are like franchise traditions and that style of
play has always been traditional when it comes to the
(19:05):
Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
No doubt that it's a team that I think when
you stack it up in the division just in this exercise,
feels like the fourth team. I don't think there's you know,
tremendous pressure on them right now. New coach, new general
you know, newist general manager there, and ran So hadn't
been there too long, so I think there'll be some
patience here, especially the Dereck Henry era being over. I
(19:30):
think there's going to be a little bit of transition here,
but hopefully again, what you see at the end of
the year with these young guys better than what you
see at the beginning of the year. Like that's got
to be the hope if you're a Tennessee Titans fan.
All right, let's take a break when we come back.
I mentioned the Niners and the Ravens have been the
most talented, the most blue laden teams that we've gone over.
Will they be overtaken by the Kansas City Chiefs. We'll
(19:51):
get to them in the AFC West right after this.
All right, Buck, let's roll through it here. The Kansas
City Chiefs a lot of blue here. Patrick Mahomes twenty
eight year old blue. He's the bluest of the blue.
Travis Kelcey, it's you know, look, it's he's thirty four
years old. But I don't see drop off there, so
(20:13):
he's still a blue, still an elite, elite player. The
other offensive playmaker spot, you've got Rashie Rice or Mark
He's brown, both as yellows, you know, for for different reasons.
But you know you've got talent there. I think Rashie Rice,
what he showed last year as a player on the field,
there's a lot to be excited about. Just needs to
(20:34):
he needs to be a little bit better off the field.
Then we get to Pa Checko is a Green. Then
you get to the three quality offensive lineman Creed Humphreys
of Blue, Tray Smith's a Blue, and then you've got
Joe Tooney, who is a to me is a You
know he's listed as a yellow here, but I would
you can make a case so when he's at his best,
he's a greenish bluish player. Then you get to the
(20:55):
defensive side of the ball. Chris Jones is a Blue,
Carl Loftis is a Green at twenty three years old,
Trent McDuffie is a twenty three year old blue. Nick
Bolton is a twenty four year old Blue. And then
you've got your choice there between Cook, Justin Reed, and Leoshanal.
I probably go Leo Shanal, just a twenty four year
old is a really good players at green. A lot
(21:17):
of blue, buck that's a lot of blue represented there
with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Yeah, a lot of blue, and a lot of times
people are being disrespectful when they just kind of painted
like its Pat Mahomes in company. Pat Mahlmes is terrific,
but this is also a very well thought out, well organized,
and choreographed roster where the pieces of the puzzle fit.
You talked about the offensive line, and that's where I
kind of like to focus Freed, Humphrey, Trey Smith, Joe Toney,
(21:43):
like those guys you're talking about, potentially three blues at
the line of scrimmage. They make life easy for not
only Pat Mahomes, but for Isaiah Pacheco to be able
to do his thing. The question mark that you have
is what is Rashid Rice.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Going to be?
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Because for them he's playing like the number one receiver
last year. You have the issues off the field, but
if he comes back, he's available. You now put him
with Hollywood Brown, you have Xavi Worthy. This offense has
been perditioned in the last couple of years. They could
go back to being what they look like when Tyreek
Hill and Travis Kelsey were in their primes. Defensively, christ
(22:18):
Jones is the guy, but Carl loftis, Finn McDuffie, Bowden,
Leno Chana.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
They have a really good defense.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
This team is tough and they could pull off what
has not been done to three peet just because the
roster is really stacked.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
From top to bottom.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
We could talk about their motivation and can they avoid complacency,
but talent wise, they certainly have the talent.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
In place to pull it off.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
It's kind of funny because you know, the narrative had
been Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes can kind of carry a group,
and then when you step back and look at it,
and you look at the just the individual talent and
the foundations of these teams not a mystery. You know,
while they're winning it. We have them and the and
the Ravens tied with seven Blue players a piece, forty
nine ers just behind him, but those being the two
(23:04):
most talented teams, I don't think that people necessarily talk
like that, and maybe that changed last year just because
you couldn't avoid what they were doing with their defense
was so dominant. But this is a team that not
only has the best you can make a case has
the best quarterback and the best coach in the entire league.
They have continuity because they've been together and they also
just happen to have the best championship foundation. Aside from
(23:26):
those two pieces of anybody else in the entire league,
them and the Baltimore Ravens are stacked.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Yeah they are.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
And they just continue to get better and better and better.
And I say what's scary about them is they remove
some pieces around Pat Mahomes the last couple of years,
and I think that made him better now when you
reinsert talent around him. He has the ability I would
say as a basketball player, he can hit you with
(23:55):
the layup, in the drive, he can hit you with
the mid range and then you can do a three
point shot. He has all of the those things at
his disposal this year that he didn't have in previous years.
That is problematic for defensive coordinators trying to come up
with it. And he has the look you're knowing I
don't have the forest things because I have a defense
that's good enough to get stops and give me more
opportunities at it.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
You look at not only the number of blue players
for them, and then we'll move on after this thought.
But to me, the fascinating thing is you look at
Creed Humphrey being twenty five, Tray Smith being twenty five,
McDuffie being twenty three, Bolton being twenty four. Those four guys,
and then I go back to when we talked about
on a previous episode with the Jets with Garrett Wilson
(24:37):
twenty four, Breisee Hall twenty three, Quinnin Williams twenty six,
Saus Gardner twenty four. If you're looking at just the
best collection of young blue players, those would be the
two teams there. I don't think that people think of
Jets like that, but that's it's fascinating.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
It is fascinating, and it's one of the things that
you look for when you wonder about how can team
go on the these championship runs. So what we're saying
right now, we're talking about the Kansas City Chiefs, a
team that is what three out of the last four,
a team that's in the middle of a back to
back looking for a three peet, and we're saying that
their best is still out in front of them based
(25:16):
on the young players that they've assembled. So for the next,
let is see, three to five years, this team is
gonna be in the conversation, not just because of the
quarterback and the coach, but because of the other young
players around those guys. Makes it like it makes it
fascinating to watch and to see how much are they
going to win? How many are they going to win
with the talent that they have in place.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
I mean, the quarterbacks get another ten years of prime.
I mean he's going to be in the late thirties
and still be playing at a very high level. It's
really the two players you keep an eye on there.
If you're looking at what's the hope that people may
have is that maybe this at thirty or thirty four
years old, this is the time we start to see
some drop off with Kelsey. Maybe at thirty years old
Chris Jones, maybe there's some signs of slippage there. But
(26:00):
even with that being the case, we've referenced it, they
still have a lot of other good, strong, core talented
young players there. For the Kansas City Chiefs, all right,
let's get to the next team here, the Raiders coming
off an eight to nine year Aidan O'Connell is a
pink twenty six years old. Davante Adams is a hanging
on There is a blue at thirty one, Jacoby Myers
is a green at twenty seven, and then you've got
(26:22):
Brock Bowers as a twenty one year old, one of
the youngest guys here is a purple. Excited to see
him play. Get to the offensive line. You've got a
solid green there with Colt Miller at twenty eight Jackson
powers Johnson with a rookie again at twenty one year old,
will be a purple. And then we'll go with Gosh,
we go with parhum there, I guess with The next
one is a pink at twenty five. Get to the defense.
(26:43):
Max Crosby is a blue all day long. At twenty seven,
Christian Wilkins buck he's a green on here. I mean,
I would argue that he's a blue. Would you fight
that notion? You got paid as a blue. He's a blue.
He's a blue.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Eight and a half sacks from interposition.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Yeah, he's a blue player.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Yep, I'm with him. So then you get to the
playmakers in the back end. Here's where you need some
some guys to step up here. Jack Jones is, Jack Jones,
merrig and Nate Hobbs all listed as yellows here. So
for different reasons, Jack Jones has just had some stuff
off the field, but he's you know, he is very,
very talented since he came into the lineup there. I
(27:24):
saw a first end of the Chargers game. But you
look at this team, I think, to me, that's the
thing that jumps out is they need secondary players, and
they need their back half, linebackers and secondary. They need
some some guys to emerge there and prove that they're
better than we expect. And I also think they're going
to rely on two rookies with Brock Bauers, Jackson Powers Johnson.
(27:45):
You know, I would argue, you know, Jacoby Myers is
a really solid player, but you could also keep an
eye on. You know, they've got another tight end there
from Notre Dame they could throw in the mix there.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Michael Mayer, Yeah, the the Raiders are intriguing just because
of some of the players around DeVante Adams that can
still emerge. Brock Bauers being what some of us would
say was maybe the best player in the draft, so
you have an opportunity to put him and Michael mra
together to give you really a dynamic twelve personnel package.
(28:15):
Jacoby Myers playing at a green level alongside DeVante Adams,
all those things are good. You hope that you can
get some emergence from their offensive line where they can
just play better than what the expectations are based on
the color code. Defensively, to me, Max Crosby and Christin
Wilkins could be the best one to two punch that
we've seen inside and outside.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
If they played to.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
The level, they're gonna make everybody behind them play that
much better. It's a team that's not quite there, but
they're just good enough to snatch down teams that are
better than them.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
I e.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
The way that they played the Knas City Chiefs last season.
I think on Christmas Day when they were able to
get a win, they can knock off some of those teams.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
And so we'll see if AP can get it going.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
But right now they have just enough to be a
dangerous threat in the AFC, not necessarily to win it,
but to make every game very very competitive, and then
for them to knock off a couple teams that might
be listed as better than them.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Yeah, duel wise, I don't know there's a better one
in the league inside outside than Max Crosby and paired
up with Christian Wilkins, that's gonna be fun to watch
those guys play together and see what that looks like. Defensively,
for the Raiders again. Need some young guys in the
linebacker secondary positions to emerge and step up. Let's get
to the Denver Broncos coming off an eight nine season
as well.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Bo Nix.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
We're gonna go ahead and throw him in there as
a starter as a twenty four year old. He is
a pink right now. Javonte Williams and Courtland Sutton would
be yellows. Marvin Mims Junior is a pink, so Javonte
Williams twenty four years old, Mims twenty two, Ston twenty eight.
Then we get to the three quality offensive lineman. Quinn
Miners just got paid good for him, twenty five years old,
(29:53):
Green mcglench. He's a green at twenty nine. Garrett Bowles
is a yellow at thirty two. We get to the
two pass rushers. You've got Zach Allen's a really good
young player at twenty seven years old. You've got Nick
Benito or Jonathan Cooper, got your choice there, they would
be pinks twenty four and twenty six. Pats or Tan
is still twenty four years old. Man, he's young. He's
(30:15):
a blue. Alex Singleton as a playmaker at thirty and
then You've got Cody Barton as a playmaker. He is
twenty seven, So you need some complimentary pieces to step
up around Pats or Tan in the secondary buck and
then otherwise, I mean all sites, all eyes are going
to be on bo Nicks in that quarterback position. However
(30:36):
that shakes out. They need those guys to play well.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Yeah, they do need those guys to play well.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
And you know this is a rossa that is, i
would say, in transformation like they're trying to kind of
make it over. They're trying to figure out what the
pieces are around him, and Chompagne is opening that he
can coach him well enough that he can manage the
game and sneak out a few wins. Bow Nicks is
gonna be interesting because Bownicks should be the day one starter.
Bownix comes with more collegia star than anyone in NFL history.
(31:02):
He should be able to jump in there. And if
he's able to jump in there and play what we
call small ball, dink and dunk, get it to some
of the playmakers on the outside while they run the football.
They should be able to stay in games. We just
saw Manners get paid. They paid big money a season ago.
For Mike mcclinchey. They got to get those guys playing.
They need Garrett Bowles to hold on and just play
at a solid level. And then defensively, it's on Vance
(31:24):
Joseph to try and take these pieces and find a
way to get some production. They don't have a high
level pass rusher, which is difficult, so they may be
more coverage than rush. It can be done in the league,
but it's a lot harder to cover these guys on
the outside given the way the rules are. But Vance
Joseph can trick it and kind of scheme it up.
But Pastor ten is the lynchpin to the way they
(31:44):
will have to pro using it. Have to play with
this approach where they have to be more coverage based
and pressure based.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's interesting to look at.
You know, a lot of their best players are really young,
so that's the encouraging thing. They need these guys to
be taught properly. As you mentioned, some of the pieces
they have in place on the coaching staff are well
known for being good developers, so that's going to be
huge for them those young guys starting to climb and develop.
For the Denver Broncos. I think it could be a
(32:11):
step back before a step forward, though you use the
term transition, that would not be a surprise to me.
Let's get to the Los Angeles Chargers coming off a
six and eleven season, the Jim Harbaugh era kicks off.
You've got a blue quarterback and twenty six year old
Justin Herbert. The offensive playmakers. This is where the questions
are right. You've got Gus Edwards slash JK. Dobbins wherever
(32:33):
you want to go with there. I guess you probably
have to go with Gus Edwards based off of, you know,
recent health and production as a twenty nine year old yellow.
Josh Palmer coming off of an injury. He's a twenty
four year old yellow. And then you've got Lad McConkie
or Quentin Johnson. I would go Ladd McConkie here as
a twenty two year old pink. You get to the
quality offensive lineman. You've got Slater's a twenty five year
old blue. You've got Joe Alter rookie as a twenty
(32:55):
one year old man, just a baby. He's a purple
there pro. You know he's got blue potential as a
rookie haven't seen him play yet. Zion Johnson's a twenty
four year old Pink. Then you get to the pass rushers, really,
I mean, you've got Toy Poloto, who's a he's a
foundational piece for them as a twenty one year old,
he's a young kid. And then you've got Bosa and
Mac as yellows coming off of an injury for Bosa,
(33:18):
the age for Mac. Then the back end, you've got
Derwin James as a twenty eight year old Blue, not
coming off of his best season, but the talent still there.
Sante Samuel is a twenty four year old Yellow, and
then you've got just Sir Taylor as a twenty five
year old pink is their nickel. So takeaways there. When
you look at the Chargers.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Buck.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
Talented team, a team that there's a lot of excitement
about because of the coaching and coaching matters in this league.
Because this team has been regarded as one of the
franchises with the most talented rosters. I mean, last five years,
everyone has talked about how talented they are. It's funny
that now that they have a high level coach to
everyone respects, you don't hear as much talk about the roster,
(33:57):
but what you pointed out is a roster still pretty talented. Yes,
they've dumped a lot of the I would say the
marquee weapons that have been household names.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
No Keenan Allen, no Mike Williams.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
But what they've done, I believe is kind of flipped
it where they really invested in the offensive line. They're really,
i would say, hanging their offensive hopes on the offensive line.
And when I look at Zion Johnson and Joe aut
and Rashaan Slater, there are three guys that should be
able to play at blue levels, particularly the young guys
blue levels early in their respective careers.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
If they get that.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Then they can run the football behind I would say
a Hodgepod's collection of running backs Gus that was in JK.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Dobbins. You've talked about it.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
I think you called Joshua Palmer the fantasy football sleeper
that if you looking for someone that can be better
than many expect, look for him to be the guy
that kind of becomes the focal point of the offense
when they throw it. I've heard a lot of reports,
not from you, but reports they're talking about him having
a prominent role and we may not see Quinn Johnson
(34:56):
as much, so I'm excited to see that.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
And then on defense, I.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Know Joey Bosaying Khalil Mack are older, but still both
are very capable of getting done.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Just look at the numbers. And then Derwin James. If
Derwin James comes back and plays like the Derwin James
that we know and love, Yeah, it's two pass rushers.
A guy is a defensive playmaker. That's more enough to
be able to get it done in national football.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yeah, and again it's uh, you know, I guess for
this exercise just because it will get crushed if we
don't do it otherwise. But you know, for the two
pass rushers, you have to put Bosa and Mack there,
even though if you're talking about a foundational piece tow
we pull out to as a younger player is going
to be here for a longer period of time, But
that's the decision to be made there. And then you
(35:39):
know you need a Sante Samuel Junior to play well.
I think that behind this pass rush, in this defensive scheme,
they're going to generate a lot of legitimate but one
on one pressure wins and they're going to have some
deception deception type pressures there with Jesse Menner, So I
think that pressure playing top down for Sante Samuel using
his eyes and instincts, I think he has a good year,
gets his hands on a lot of footballs, and then
(35:59):
you took the words out of my mouth. Offensively, If
this team's good, if they flip this record, they go
from six and eleven to eleven and six, it'll be
because Rashaun Slater will be back to being healthy and
being the Pro bowler that he is. Joe Alt will
play at a Pro Bowl level, and Zion Johnson, who
by all accounts has had a wonderful offseason as a
twenty four year old former first rounder, is a big,
powerful guard. Those three guys will be Pro bowlers. That
(36:22):
to me, if you're going to say how do they
flip their record, people will say, well, who are the
receivers going to emerge? And what's the crowded backfield? And
you know the question marks there, who's the running back?
To me, if those three guys are blue players, if
those three guys are you know, Pro Bowl caliber players,
that's how they flip their record.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Yeah, that's how they flip it.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
Those guys have to play well, they have to embrace
i'll say, a different brand that we're not necessarily used
to seeing with the Charge was his physicality and toughness,
kind of a rough and rugged demeanor and approach. And
Jim Harbor has already said it, don't let the powder
Blues fool you. This is a team that's not going
to be soft. Heard everything about them. We have seen
(37:02):
the product that he has produced and how he's turned
around teams, whether it's in college or the pros. I
spec to see the same thing from the Charges. A
lot of buzz, a lot of positivity. They got that
brand new facility, the boat. I'm sure you got a
nice little office there, so I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
I'm excited. I'm excited to kind of see what it
looks like you and your name plate.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
You probably have like access to the infrared sona and
cold plunge tub.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
You can be all you me and Elsa Gunda all
the time. Yeah, I know.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
I think That's what I'm gonna do now is I'm
gonna leave NFL Network, which is not far from the
Charges new facility, and then just get a little cold
plunge in before I get in the contract. Wake me
up a little bit, a little natural nature's caffeine. There
have you done that? By the way, you did it
when you played oh.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
No like So it's so funny.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
I was just telling Oh, I was trying to get
my daughter to ice and I was telling her my
whole approach.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
To getting in the ice tub. I would I would
take a big towel.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
And I dump it in the hot tub, and then
I would wrap it around me up top while I
was to merge in the uptight uptight I'm warm, and
then by the time I numb, doubt it didn't matter.
But yeah, that that was the thing. But I've heard
I've heard everyone talk about the contrast between the infrared
sona and in the cold plunch. I still just don't
have the I don't have the wherewithalught. I don't know
(38:16):
if I'm tough enough just to cold plunch without.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
So my brother, my brother has one. He lives ten
minutes away, so we've been doing it. My I take
my son, who's had some back stuff. So we've been
going over there almost every day and doing it. It
doesn't matter how many times you do it. That first
step into that thing is just you gotta summon some courage. Man,
you gotta summon some courage to get in that thing.
But I do feel good after you get out of it,
(38:39):
So I do buy some of the hype on that thing.
I remember when we were playing, like we get trash
cans and we get into like those little those metal tins,
you know.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
Oh yeah or whatever.
Speaker 3 (38:48):
Yeah, I mean I'm a long way now, yeah, I
mean a long long way.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
That is not very sanitary, coming to think of it,
back back in the day, by the way, I mean,
don't don't overthink it was back in the day.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Try not to overthink of course.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
All right, that's gonna do it for us today. Hope
you guys have enjoyed this series. Here Championship Foundations, fun
way to look at these rosters. And again we'll see
how these these colors change as we go through this season,
see which guys are on the come up and which
guys start to slip a little bit. We'll revisit this
all the time here. We will keep you up to
date here on the show. But that's gonna do it
for us today. We'll be back one more episode this
(39:25):
week and we'll see you here on Move Sticks
Hosts And Creators
Jamie Erdahl
Jason McCourty
Kyle Brandt
Peter Schrager
Popular Podcasts
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.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.