The Top 59 (!) Position Battles of NFL Training Camp

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to NFL Daily, where we are officially reporting for
training camp.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Yes, I am back state side.

Speaker 1 (00:11):
In my garage four now and training camp is beginning
this week. I am joined today by my friend Nick Shook,
and we are going to fire through a lot, a
lot of news over the weekend as some teams are reporting,
some players are signing. We are going to go through
the best position battles of the twenty twenty five training camp.
I have fifty nine written down. We will see if

(00:33):
we can get to all fifty nine in this show.
But I thought that we have to start this show.
The first word for training camp should go to the
man who is coaching the team who started training camp,
the Santa Clausa Football Jim Harbaugh.

Speaker 3 (00:47):
How you feeling oh so excited?

Speaker 4 (00:49):
It's a homecoming. You know, I mean all the best
words in the English language. I mean, I associate to
the first day of football. You know, it's being reborn
in football, It's the start of the year. It's the
someone think it's January first, you know, those are espoused
to Catholicism Christianity would think it's the birth of christ Us.

(01:11):
In football, it's the first day of training camp. Homecoming.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
So I love Jim Harbaugh like no one else is saying.
If you espouse to Christianity, it is like the birth
of Jesus Christ.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
But that's what I'm feeling, SHOOKI. We finally have some
football to talk about. Looking forward to doing it with you.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
Yeah, birth of football.

Speaker 5 (01:34):
I just think about the Wilson Football Factory and all
the footballs that they produced every year, you know, the
birth of the Duke. It's a new era upon us.
Another season is here.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yeah, and we will be hitting your feed every Sunday
evening actually during training camp, me and Shook recapping all
the news from around the league that's happened over the weekend,
get you caught up, and then once the preseason starts,
it's all those takeaways on the preseason game. So that's
part of our schedule moving forward. But now NFL Daily

(02:05):
is back to being daily. We'll have a show for
you every day this week. Looking forward to it. Let's
get to the news. I could start in a million
places here, but just kind of playing catchup, Shook. I
thought it was interesting that von Miller is back in
the NFL. He got a six point one million dollar
base to sign with the Washington Commanders, and it makes

(02:26):
me kind of wonder, like, what are these Washington Commanders,
Because one hand, they have Jayden Daniels. On the other hand,
they were one of the oldest teams in the league
and they needed help at the edge rush position.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
You think von Miller can help him out.

Speaker 5 (02:37):
Yeah, I mean, they lost Dante Faller in free agency,
was one of the most economical pickups last year. They
needed to probably throw another body in there, so they
give von Miller an affordable deal. He's back in the NFL.
But you're right, I think about Bobby Wagner being back there.
I think about the trader Marshawn Latimore. Like, they have
a ton of veterans, so it doesn't surprise me at all.
But it is an interesting dichotomy of this relatively young

(02:58):
offense and this veteran defense. Dan Quinn and just collecting
guys he knows he can count on, right.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
And von Miller. Last year he was a situational pass
rusher for the Bills.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
They cut him. The PFF numbers said he got a
lot of pressure. I think on tape he just didn't
seem that impactful to me. And then you look at
their edge position. It's Dorin's Armstrong, who was pretty solid
for them last year, and then it's Von Miller, Cleland Ferrell,
Dietrich wise In, Jacob Martin. I mean, those are those
are some guys who have been around and they've seen

(03:30):
some things. It's not a young, dynamic group, and I
thought it was interesting they did not report any guaranteed
money with this deal, at least that I've seen so far,
So I'd be very interested to see that. It's my
guess that Von Miller has to actually make this team,
that there's at least a chance that he shows up
and doesn't look right, and they at least wanted to
have that in their back pocket and potentially cut him

(03:52):
if he doesn't look good, but they're obviously hoping he
looks good. Six point one million dollars is not a
ton of money, at least in current NFL terms compared
to the top of the market like TJ Watt. So
since we last taped the show, I was in Tokyo.
I'm now back that jet lag is still hitting like
a truck this morning, Shook. It's two in the morning
right now in Tokyo. It's tomorrow. And after we take

(04:16):
that show.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
TJ.

Speaker 1 (04:17):
Watt signed a contract that was fascinating to me. He
gets one hundred and eight million dollars guaranteed in the
first three years of a four year deal.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
What were your thoughts on that.

Speaker 5 (04:27):
I mean, this was the contract that I thought, Look,
they need to get this done because it makes all
the sense in the world for t J. Watt to
be as Cam Hayward called him, a one helmet guy
and finished his career with the Steelers.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
And yet with the age.

Speaker 5 (04:39):
And the market exploding this offseason, there were some barriers
to get this done.

Speaker 3 (04:43):
Not at all surprised that it's one million more per.

Speaker 5 (04:45):
Year than what Miles Garrett got, because that's how the
market works, and especially in a rivalry between two AFC
North teams, So.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
That makes all the sense in the world.

Speaker 5 (04:52):
It also makes all the sense in the world for
him to stay with the Steelers, as you know, one
of the most impactful defensive players of this era and
of many eras. But yet and the three years points
to the reality of it, which is we also know
he's not exactly a spring chicken anymore. And it also
points to the fact that they are still all in

(05:13):
on this year with Aaron Rodgers and all the veterans
they've collected on that team.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah, they are spending money. The three years actually was
a lot. It was a better deal than Garrett's ultimately
because he got that third year guaranteed. I think for
people that are interested in the contract manutia of it all,
most players, unless they're really young, do not get that
third year guaranteed.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
TJ.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
Watt will make one hundred and eight million dollars. That's
the most ever for a non quarterback. It's actually in
terms of fully guaranteed money. It shook more than Brock
Purdy got, who's a quarterback, and more than Miles Garrett got,
like into that third year where it's fully guaranteed. He's
going to be thirty three that year. I thought TJ.
Watt had his worst season last year. In the second

(05:54):
half of the season, he looked a little worn down.
To me, this is a highly risky deal. I would
hate to doubt TJ. Watt, but the fact that he's
going to be making thirty six to forty, you know,
million dollars in his age thirty three season is a
big time risk.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
But the Steelers stepped up.

Speaker 1 (06:12):
They are very deep at the edge rush position and
t J.

Speaker 2 (06:16):
Watt Stain, which is good.

Speaker 1 (06:16):
You want you want the great players to stay as
long as possible. Will levis not a great player for
the Titans last year. We're taping on Monday. This morning,
he randomly was announced that he's out for the season.
Anything stand out to you there.

Speaker 5 (06:32):
No, I mean, it's it's unfortunate because he's had such
a tumultuous time in Nashville with this team and as
they've gone through so much transition, and he has been
known to, you know, cause a lot of self afflicted
errors and mistakes for that team. I mean, there's the
whole shot of Brian Callahan, what are you doing on
the sideline last year? Like that is basically that typifies
his entire time in Tennessee. It's a bummer though, because

(06:53):
you knew they were moving on to camp Ward, but
you always had Will back there is just in case
and you never know. It could be a trade chip,
you never know, And now all that's out the window
because he can't participate at all this year, which is
a bummer for him, and we'll set him down this
path where maybe hands up with another team as a backup.

Speaker 3 (07:09):
But that's essentially his fate is sealed. That's that's his future.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
So I should have given credit to our guy the
Insider Game. It's back on Ian Rappaport broke this exclusively,
so good job by Ian, and I thought the wording
was very interesting and it said after consulting with his
doctors and his representatives, and that was from I believe
the team, you know, Levis decided to do this, and

(07:35):
just makes you wonder he had this injury last year.
He supposedly was having good training him. I'm sure it
was bothering him, of course, but if he was the starter,
would he be having this surgery. It almost sounded like
the team was caught unawares. And there was a funny
tweet out there which I wish I could credit it
was it was a Titans you know content creator who said, oh,

(07:56):
will Levis like waiting and waiting and waiting till the
last decision and then you know, making a choice that
the Titans organization didn't like.

Speaker 2 (08:04):
This doesn't seem unlike him at all.

Speaker 3 (08:05):
So I mean, like I said, self inflicted airs.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah, they have Brandon Allen is their next quarterback up
and they might be looking for more depth there, because
that's not great. You would like some more depth behind
the rookie. All right, just flying through some of the
veteran news. Then we have some off field news, and
again we're getting to fifty nine position battles today. Mike
Williams retired at the beginning of Chargers training camp. They

(08:32):
drafted Trey Harris Shook in the second round, and this
I didn't think this wide receiver group looked better enough,
at least not in terms of the upgrades.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
I was expecting this.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
Offseason before Mike Williams retired, and now he retires.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
He's thirty.

Speaker 1 (08:48):
He had recurring injuries and just didn't feel good coming
off of this latest injury that they said he'd be
ready for training camp. I think they surprised him by retiring.
And what do you think about, like what's around her
right now? Yeah, I didn't feel great about it last year.
You know, obviously he wasn't there. He was with the
Jets to start the year before he ended up back there,
but it just didn't feel good.

Speaker 5 (09:09):
It was Lad McConkey and trying to run Josh Palmer deep,
which did not work for them. And I don't feel
much better about where they stand right now. I mean,
you have McConkey and Trey Harris, so I guess that's
a little bit better. But at the same time, it's
just a lot of it's a big question mark. This
is not there, you know, for having a quarterback as
good as Justin Herbert. That is not their identity. We
know where they've invested, and it's been in the running
back room, in the offensive line. They want to be

(09:29):
a tough, throwback, physical team. That's the Harball identity. It
just doesn't make me feel good about this group. But
also it gave me like a reason to dive into
Mike Williams' career picture for a second. Okay, and for
as much as we you know, valued him as a
receiver who came out of Clemson, who was a big
time player and everything else, he only had two thousand
yard receiving seasons in his career. And I know he

(09:50):
dealt with a lot of injuries over the course of
his career, which is always the big knock on him.
And he had one where he flirted whether he finished
with eight ninety five. Another one was seven fifty six
and fifteen games. Kind of surprising for me. I think
that we held him in higher esteem than his stats
maybe suggested he should have been. But hey, nonetheless, a
career I guess well played and ends where it started.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
Yeah, you feel for him. He struggled with the injuries
with the Jets last year. You're right, I think it
was because he stepped up, and Herbert talked about this
a lot in big moments. He definitely timed his best
season well with that seventy six yard season where he
had nine touchdowns in over eleven hundred yards and got
the contract after that, and he tended to make the

(10:34):
biggest plays when it mattered. He made very highly difficult plays.
But yeah, kind of a bee, I would say, in
terms of a guy that got taken seventh overall. But
you feel for him, I think you could sound you
could hear Herbert was a little heartbroken because Mike Williams
was hoping to have kind of a renaissance here and
he was just frustrated with another injury. And yeah, the Chargers,
they're out there not too far away from me.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
Right now.

Speaker 1 (10:57):
It's like rainy and kind of cold on the West
side Los Angeles.

Speaker 5 (11:01):
That I was told by Tony Tony Tony that it
never rains in southern California.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
It's rainy and it's like sixty five degrees or whatever.
And they're down there in El Segundo and it's Monday.
As I mentioned, they're already on day five of their
training camp. They are in pads on Monday. So the
first team to get in pads. They showed up three
days before the Lions, who are also in that Hall
of Fame game. So those are the first two teams
to get going. The rest of the league will show
up the rest of this week. Speaking of the Lions,

(11:27):
got some injury knees levi on woz Rique will miss
the entire season. He was a free agent this year
and they brought him back. He's had ups and downs
in his career because of injuries, and he has a
tourney cl I guess that happened in the offseason, so
that it's just like starting out a little bit how
last season ended, which is a bummer. I saw Josh Pascal,

(11:48):
who's there another edge rusher on Wozouriquez more of an
inside guy, is out until at least September. And then
they also revealed that Taylor Decker, they're starting left tackle,
is coming off of a knee surgery that we didn't
know anything about in his started training camp is delayed,
although they think he is gonna be fine. So just
like it's one of those things you want to be

(12:10):
able to turn the page. I feel like though this
happened to the Ravens for a few years in a row,
they'd be the most injured team in the league, and
then the next training camp they'd show up and they'd
be the most injured team in trade. And it's just
like a bummer of a way to start out, to
lose a guy that you really were counting on and
that you re signed in the off season before before
training camp even starts.

Speaker 5 (12:27):
Yeah, and I believe Alee McNeil is also coming back
from injury too. Yeah, So like the on paper depth
that you thought you might have had by bringing him
back suddenly is not there. And this is an injury
that surprised them. They didn't know this until after free
agency that he was dealing with this, and then it
just became clear that he needed an address.

Speaker 3 (12:44):
Now.

Speaker 5 (12:44):
I remember talking about this signing on the show and
we thought, well, that's a pretty low cost.

Speaker 3 (12:49):
I think it was three and a half million for
a year.

Speaker 5 (12:50):
And it was like, well, why wouldn't you get more
because nobody was really interested because of his own injury history.
He had the back issues before and now this. So
it's a bummer. You hate to see guys careers get
interrupted by injury, but I guess it's not entirely surprising.
It does make me a little bit worried about the Lions,
just like you said, because that was always the Ravens
big hang up. Like they had good teams, it's just
it was usually their secondary was always banged up, incredibly

(13:11):
banged up. They throw everything at the wall to try
to get super deep at the position and still run
into injury issues. I hope the same fate isn't ahead
for the Lions this season.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
Yeah, the whole idea, But behind this Lion season is
sure that maybe the offense doesn't come out firing as
much with the changes in their offensive line and there's
a new offensive coordinator, and like, maybe they're not the
top of the top right off the bat, but the
improvement from the defense is gonna make up for it.
And this is obviously a disappointing start, and I'm gonna

(13:40):
keep an eye on that. Taylor Decker injury too, but
no one panic. We've got about six weeks till week one,
so we've got a lot of time we'll be having
much of I mean six weeks. It's okay, you're not
getting onn to Zorique back. But I'm saying, like Taylor Decker,
and you know, sometimes I found that I've panicked over
like late July injuries, and sometimes they're they're fined by

(14:01):
like mid to late August, and that's.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
All that really matters.

Speaker 1 (14:05):
We're gonna get a lot of contracts over the next
couple weeks of good young players getting paid. One of
them was George carloftis the chiefs edge rusher who is
part of that great draft class they had what now
four years ago with Trent McDuffie as well. He gets
thirty two million dollars guaranteed, not a ton sixty one

(14:26):
million dollars guaranteed for injury on a four year, eighty
eight million dollar extension.

Speaker 2 (14:30):
But if you include the two years he.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
Still had left on his deal, it's six for one
oh five, so a very rare that's under twenty million
a year, like middle class contract where he gets a
ton of security and they got a good player, a
plus starter long term.

Speaker 2 (14:44):
That's good for him.

Speaker 1 (14:45):
I noticed that the Patriots did not put Stefan Diggs
on the pup list to start camp, So he's coming
off a torn acl but he is literally ahead of schedule.
And we'll talk about the Patriots wide receivers a little
later in the position battles.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
But that's good news for him.

Speaker 1 (14:59):
And then I noticed his brother, we're combining the Digs here,
was docked five hundred thousand dollars by the Cowboys for
not working out with the team enough. He had a
bonus in his contract where he had to like be
rehabbing or being with the team at the facility enough,
and he wasn't there. And there's been a whole story
of how he wasn't at the team facility enough to

(15:20):
rehab and they're not going to pay him five hundred
thousand dollars. That's their choice, like they have the right
to do that, but they could have also just ignored it.
It speaks a little to a larger issue maybe between
Digs and the Cowboys right now.

Speaker 3 (15:32):
Yeah, an interesting one.

Speaker 5 (15:33):
It's also an interesting one because when you look at
contracts and you break them down, you just assume that
the workout bonus, which is usually like five hundred grand,
is going to just pay through because.

Speaker 1 (15:42):
Unless you're Lamar Jackson. He didn't take it again this year.
By the way, it shows how rich he is that
he's just like, nah, I don't need that half a
million dollars.

Speaker 5 (15:51):
I'm fine with that. Yeah, that's totally fine. But yeah,
I think it's definitely worth keeping an eye on, especially
because the Cowboys again being the team that struggles with
contract situations and roster management. Just when you compare it
against conventional wisdom, and it always, you know, raises an eyebrow.

Speaker 3 (16:04):
What do things really go? You know, what do they
like in that building with some of these key players.

Speaker 1 (16:08):
Yeah, I just wonder when is he going to be
ready to play again? Is it going to be in
the twenty five season? Is he going to play again?
They're a team that has a lot of question marks
in that secondary. Just a couple other little news items,
Seahawks released Noah Fan who is scheduled to make seven
million dollars and I thought was going to be their starter.
So that's a sign of you know, confidence, I guess

(16:31):
in their two guys who are left over. Who is
it Elijah Royo and aj Barner, so they'll get some
extra run. The Bengals brought back Desmond Ridder, the former
Cincinnati Bear Cat. I know the Westling Brothers are going
to be fired up. He's now with the Bengals. And
I mentioned the Chargers and Trey Harris, who they haven't
been using to replace Mike Williams. And that's one of

(16:52):
the reasons I was frustrated about, you know, and just
disappointed with that retirement, was Quinton Johnson is now back
in that expot, which it just doesn't seem like he's
made for. They're using Trey Harris kind of as you
said at the Josh Palmer spot, moving him around. He
was among a flurry of second round signings. I was
never really worried about this standoff where the entire league

(17:16):
of second rounders were not signing, but they have all
almost signed. Now there are only four second rounders left
a lot of them got fully guaranteed deals, including Tyler Schuck,
the Saints quarterback Luther Birding as deep as like the
thirty ninth forty pick, and everyone else has basically signed
your guy. Quinchin Junkins is one of the players who

(17:38):
didn't sign. He is facing a different situation. I guess
let's put pivot now to the off the field stuff
and we'll hit these quick. But just a number of
off the field news. Quinchin Junkins is not showing up
to training camp. I think the team basically told him
to stay away until he handles his off the field issues.
We mentioned on the show last week that he was

(17:58):
arrested on a charge of misdemeanor domestic violence, So you
know something that the Browns in the league are going
to take seriously. It might be a while before we
see him in uniform.

Speaker 2 (18:08):
Shook.

Speaker 5 (18:09):
Yeah, I would agree, and the proper way of going
about these things. But everything gets stored out on that end,
and whether he ends up playing football for them or
not remains to be seen. But there's no reason to
keep him around. And really, I think from a team
standpoint too, you don't need guys, you know, being asked
questions about him either while he's there, So it's the
right way to go about it as they handle this.

Speaker 2 (18:27):
Yeah, and.

Speaker 1 (18:30):
You know, he he's unsigned. I mentioned there were three
other second rounders unsigned. I expect they'll be signed before
the Veterans report on Tuesday. And then there is that
one first rounder that's unsigned Samar Stewart with the Bengals,
who's part of our one of those position battles. So
the very last other first rounder today, Baron did sign

(18:50):
before Bronco's camp started. Another item to update you on
is the NFLPA chief Lloyd Howell resigning over the weekend.
I believe it was on Friday or Thursday night, and
this was according to the Associated Press, that he resigned
as executive director of the NFLPA, citing distractions that his

(19:11):
leadership caused in recent weeks. And then that was followed
up on Sunday by the NFLPA Chief Strategy Officer, J. C. Trettter,
he used to be the head of the players, resigning
from his position and withdrawing himself from consideration for the
NFL's PA's interim executive position. Howell came under scrutiny since

(19:33):
ESPN reported he maintained a part time consulting job with
the Carlisle Group, a private equity firm that holds legal
approval to seek minority ownership in NFL franchises. And man,
this all comes on the heels. It is so complicated,
but it all comes on the heels of Pablo Tory

(19:53):
and my old boss Mike Floria helping him out by
Pablo Torri unearthing this document that the NFLPA in the
league had a confidentiality agreement to keep quiet over an
arbitrator's ruling about possible collusion over quarterback salaries. And then
there were a number of other investigations and revelations about Howell.

Speaker 4 (20:14):
And the.

Speaker 1 (20:17):
Really logline of this all is that, look, time flies,
We're already halfway through this collective bargaining agreement. They're gonna
be able to redo the TV deals in a few years.
It's a new CBA in another five years, and so
the NFLPA is looking for an executive director and just
a lot of upheaval within their organization. Man, this section

(20:39):
is my least favorite section of the show. We got
Trump talking about the Washington Commanders possibly changing their name
back Shook to their old name, and I was like,
is this worth even mentioning on the show. It's just,
you know, a social media post, but there is some
actual football relevance here because there's a threat the the

(21:00):
federal government is helping to potentially fund a new stadium
and part of what Trump put in the social media
post was that could potentially be contingent on them changing
the name back. The mayor was asked about it on
Monday morning, So I don't think there's much to say here, Shook,

(21:21):
But it's just a story that maybe going away. I
just say, bring the Washington football team name back that
everyone could agree with.

Speaker 3 (21:27):
I think it's fine.

Speaker 5 (21:28):
I just think that it may be a product of
boredom and being online too much, because how does it matter.
I understand how it matters because they're trying to build
a stadium and for the first time in seemingly forever,
this franchise has a ton of positive momentum, so of
course something.

Speaker 3 (21:44):
Like this has to get in the way.

Speaker 5 (21:45):
But yeah, hopefully this all just blows over in a
week from now, it's not a topic anymore.

Speaker 1 (21:51):
We'll see like they are wearing some of the old
throwback uniforms you've seen in social them, kind of embracing
their history as you would expect. It's a proud franchise.
But I thought we were done talking about the name
of the team. I thought Commanders was actually going.

Speaker 3 (22:08):
To be fine.

Speaker 5 (22:09):
It's totally fine, and the uniforms are fine, everything's fine.
Let's just move on.

Speaker 2 (22:14):
I'm saying it tongue in cheek. I think people would
be all for Washington football team. I liked it.

Speaker 1 (22:18):
Rashi Rice and this ends are off the field part
of the show. Finally received his punishment for the arrest
he had last offseason. He will be sentenced to thirty
days in jail and five years of probation after authorities
said he and another speeding driver caused a chain reaction

(22:39):
crash that left multiple people injured on the Dallas Highway
last year.

Speaker 2 (22:44):
That's it.

Speaker 1 (22:46):
It's like a down note to go into news. And
by the way, he's going to show up to training
camp and the Chiefs are just going to wait to
see how long he's suspended, assuming he is suspended, but
we haven't heard anything from the league yet. So for now,
Rashi Rice is just showing up and we'll be practicing
at training camp unless the league comes to a very
quick decision. Is such a sour note there to end

(23:07):
the news on that. I think we got to circle
back to these Chargers who are giving us a lot
of news. It's always an advantage you show up for
that first week, you just dominate the news.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
Cycle for a week.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
Herbo Shook showed up with those contacts, like the UV
rate contacts where you kind of look like. One of
the reporters there said he looked like the Sith Lord.
I'm not as familiar with the Star Wars, but I
kind of know what he's getting at. He looks a
little freaky in the huddle. Do you think that means
we get a better justin Herbert, Well.

Speaker 3 (23:36):
I can tell you one thing.

Speaker 5 (23:38):
Back in the day, I think it was Brian Roberts
of the Orioles used to wear these contacts.

Speaker 3 (23:42):
They were made by Nike at the time. I got
a pair.

Speaker 5 (23:45):
You could get a trial pair in your prescription because
I'm blind as a bat without contacts, and I wore
them playing high school baseball. It is incredible how vivid
the colors are and how it really helps it separates
you can see the ball. I could totally understand why
he do that. There doesn't mean he's gonna score more touchdowns.
They do play in a stadium with a translucent roof,
so I don't really But.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
It's not like is your vision better? Is your vision?

Speaker 3 (24:08):
It's like wearing contacts, but the colors are changed.

Speaker 5 (24:10):
It's like putting sunglasses on your eyes, Like if you
wear the top tier sunglasses, that just make things green
is more green, and.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
Things like that. The football pops that sort of thing.

Speaker 5 (24:20):
I don't think they're gonna score more points, but it's
kind of fun to watch, and it's cool to look
at when you look at the pictures of him up close,
because he looks crazy.

Speaker 1 (24:27):
It's funny you mentioned that there's multiple things that play here.
For me personally, I'm colorblind, so green isn't always exactly green,
or it kind of blends in a little bit with
brown and gray and purple. A lot of confusion, a
lot of making fun of me by my kids. I
in Tokyo got some prescription sunglasses, and this is making

(24:48):
me think of that. The thing is popping more than ever,
and I'm like, it doesn't really make any sense because
I wear sunglasses over my just normal contacts and shouldn't
not be the same. But you just explain something to me.

Speaker 2 (25:00):
I actually thought maybe the prescription in these are too strong,
cause it's like, I'm I feel like I'm in a
VR headset when I'm wearing these descriptions. It's the first
I ever got.

Speaker 5 (25:10):
And it opens your world up like it's just and
when you take them out or you take those sunglasses off,
you're like, got it. I think I want to put
these back on. Maybe it's not ultra realistic because they're tinted,
but it's amazing to experience.

Speaker 1 (25:21):
We've spent way too long on this, but shout out
to Japan, who is coming up with a way to
give me high quality and attractive products for like a
fraction of the price that you would get here.

Speaker 2 (25:34):
So let's like, let's step up.

Speaker 1 (25:36):
That's why I'm doing things like buying sneakers and prescription
sunglasses there.

Speaker 2 (25:40):
Everything is is way cheaper there. Shout out to uh,
shout out to Japan. Let's let's step it up America.
And with that, let's take a little break back on

(26:04):
NFL daily.

Speaker 1 (26:06):
I'm here in slightly rainy southern California and my backyard
is a little.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
Bit of a pond right now. And it's not because
the rain shook.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
It's because there's a broken water pipe deep within my ground,
which is a major problem. And I've got someone digging
the entire yard up in.

Speaker 3 (26:25):
My oh French drain.

Speaker 1 (26:27):
Like my water bill is gonna be like thousands of
dollars because it was leaking the entire time I was gone,
and then I came back to a lake in the backyard,
So that that's fun. Position battles. I wrote down fifty nine.
I just thought it'd be a good exercise for me
personally to just go through them all and like have
an idea of what we're dealing with, and write them

(26:47):
down as I went, and we'd talk about the top
shelf ones. And then I thought, why not take this
as a challenge, Shook, do you think we can get
fifty nine position.

Speaker 2 (26:57):
Battles in without this show being like insane? Lee Long?

Speaker 5 (27:01):
Well, I'm gonna have to really be economical with my words.
But really everybody should take away is that if they
ever't need an example of how Greg Rosenthal is a
football sicko, it's the fifty nine position battles that we're gonna.

Speaker 1 (27:13):
Okay, here we go, though, I'm gonna rank them in
order of how much I actually want to talk about them,
so we can talk pretty quickly about the top ten,
the top twenty, and then we'll really fly through the rest.
Just just pick out some highlights and some quick thoughts.
But we don't need to go too crazy. So I
think the position battle I want to talk about the

(27:34):
most is maybe this is obvious because it's not all
quarterbacks at the top, but Jamis and Russ and Jackson.
Dar is to me the perfect kind of dumb, chaotic
summer fair that I like, you know what I mean.
It's like a much better version of the Browns Quarterback Battle,

(27:57):
which just seems like kind of depressing to me. Like
this all just seems so funny imagining those three guys
in the room. They all have extremely chaotic playing styles.
None of them really seem like they fit with Brian
Dable to me exactly, maybe Winston. I don't even know
it's in New York. There's gonna be a good quote
like everything about it. I'm actually in on it. I'd

(28:18):
like it even more if I felt like it was
truly an open battle. But I guess it's Russ's job
to lose.

Speaker 2 (28:23):
What do you think?

Speaker 5 (28:23):
Yeah, it's the perfect quarterback training camp battle, Soux Flea, Like,
we just get the primary ingredients, we get the accoutrement,
we get the aromatics that make everything better, Like you
got your base is Russell Wilson, and then Jameis Winston's like, dude,
the interesting spicy thing that we threw on, and then
Jackson darts the unknown that ends up bringing out the
whole dish. It's it's Russ's job. This sound's gonna go.

(28:46):
Russ is gonna win the job because it's gonna be
his job. Jameis is gonna be your backup, veteran backup,
and Dart's gonna be the ooh.

Speaker 3 (28:52):
I don't know, we don't know anything about him.

Speaker 5 (28:55):
Let's see if we can get him all the If
things go really poorly, don't be surprised if Jackson darts
on the field. But I think for now that's the
way it lines up.

Speaker 2 (29:02):
See, I don't know. Like Russell Wilson was with Sean Payton,
Sean Payton couldn't wait to get rid of him.

Speaker 1 (29:08):
He didn't fit. He was with Arthur Smith and the Steelers. Ultimately,
in terms of the contract offers, they chose Justin Fields
as a guy they would rather have long term over
Russell Wilson.

Speaker 2 (29:18):
They did not want to keep Russell Wilson. He's not
getting paid like that much. Mounch. I guess he's probably
gonna be the starter. I'd feel better.

Speaker 1 (29:25):
I think Jamis would be the most interesting and maybe
give them the best chance to win. But I look
at them all and just think of the ups and
the downs Jamis has had since he was a number
one overall pick, like one of the characters Russell Wilson,
like one of the defining figures of his generation, like
so up and down, such a high ceiling in theory

(29:45):
but not anymore, and a really low floor. And that's
how I think of Jackson Dart too, who as a
prospect to me was completely boom or buss, had so
much to learn. I think he is playing to potentially
win the week one job, and if he plays well enough,
he's gonna get at that job in like week three
or week four at the latest. So we will see.
But I'm just ready for anything there. Number two on

(30:06):
my list is the Bucks wide receivers. So we got
Amika Agbuka, We've got Jalen McMillan, who we haven't talked
about much on the show, and then we've got Chris Godwin,
who's not going to be ready for the start of
training camp, so he's there with his health. Obviously it's
his job when he gets there. But I just didn't
want to sleep on McMillan because man, he ended sees

(30:27):
the last season really strong, and they've got some other
guys there, Trey Palmer and then my guy Sterling Shepherd
actually ended the season as like a nice role player,
So I just thought that was an interesting mix. Everyone
all automatically assumes the first round pick Agbuka comes in
there and has a great role. But this is where
training camp can can help you learn some things like
will he hit the ground running and it doesn't always

(30:48):
happen and you can pick this up with training camp
reports and kind of how the preseason is going.

Speaker 5 (30:52):
Yeah, but I love this group on paper, Like, I
know what we worried about Gobhin not coming back healthy,
you know immediately, but this is like the top six.
I'm good with this, like Evans, Gobin, Abuka, McMillan, Shepherd,
even Trey Palmer, Like I like all these guys. They
also drafted Ted Johnson who's very thin and slight for
forgot about that the NFL, but had a nice career
at Oregon. Like, I love this group, and I also
love the way that McMillan ended his season like he

(31:14):
in the back half basically from what is it week
twelve on he was pretty solid, like he okay, two
for twenty five in one game, but then you get
five for seventy five, five for seventy four in a touchdown,
four for fifty nine and two touchdowns. How much of
that is due to Baker Mayfield and Liam Cohen and
then offense and the fact that he's playing with Godwin
and Evans or at that point it was just Evans
and whoever else to get throw out there, including Shepard.

(31:36):
That remains me seen, but I think his upside is
very high. And adding Abuk into that group, I think
it's one of the stronger receiving cores in the NFL.
So I'm super excited, and frankly, I don't really necessarily
worry about how it's going to shake out.

Speaker 2 (31:47):
I just think they have a lot of options. I
agree McMillan, I think don't sleep on it. I was
a little like Bucky Irving, like he really picked up
his play late in the season and made some difficult
catches down the field, Like he is the speeds to.

Speaker 1 (32:00):
Of that group. And I just love that team. I
love that that group. The next couple are the Cowboys.
I don't want to go two long. We might be
doing a little Cowboys on Tuesday show with Colleen Wolf.
But man, when I was going through it, I realized
their edge position is awesome. Like, you have the best
player in the league, potentially, Micah Parsons. That's who I
would take, even over your guy Miles Garrett. I could

(32:20):
just kick someone. I would take the Parsons. And then
on the other side you have a battle of Sam Williams,
who tours ACL in what early twenty twenty four but
looked really good in twenty twenty three as like a
young rising edge rusher. You have a first round pick
I liked a lot in Donovan Ezerako. You have Dante Fowler,

(32:40):
who you just mentioned had a nice season for Washington
last year. And then you have Marshawn Nelan who's coming
off of an injury as well, but is expected, I
think to be ready for the start of the season.
He had a meniscus here, and I was thinking, like,
is this the bet just best edge group in the league.

Speaker 2 (32:55):
The Cowboys are a little frisky.

Speaker 1 (32:58):
That's a good group if everything worked out well and
those four are really fighting for snaps. Not everyone can play,
because you know Parsons is playing every snap.

Speaker 5 (33:05):
Yeah, you're gonna stay fresh, and you're gonna stay fresh
opposite Michael Parsons. But I think it's really an example
of you buying into and believing in the potential of
what all these guys could be collectively.

Speaker 3 (33:15):
And you know what, it's July. I'm on board with that.

Speaker 2 (33:18):
Only like two need to hit.

Speaker 1 (33:19):
And that's where the Cowboys running back situation doesn't make
much sense to me.

Speaker 2 (33:22):
They're next on my list.

Speaker 1 (33:24):
Their running back battle is Javonte Williams, who just did
not look good you know, most of the last couple
of years. Miles Sanders, who's sort of a journeyman at
this point, hasn't you know, really done And Jaden Blew,
a fifth round pick, who were already hearing whispers and
not positive ones about like how how he looked in

(33:45):
the off season. Just why, like why why it shouldn't
be this hard to find a running back, Shook.

Speaker 5 (33:52):
This is also a team that let Tony Pollard walk
and they let Rico Dawbell walk, and this is how
they responded.

Speaker 3 (33:57):
I think we've talked about this before. I hate this room.

Speaker 5 (34:00):
I think it's it's one of the lowest ceiling rooms
in the NFL, especially when you're putting that next to
Dak Prescott. You finally get another receiver next to Cede Lamb,
and then you have this to show for running back.

Speaker 3 (34:09):
I don't like it at all.

Speaker 5 (34:10):
I think about Jaden and Blue as the guy who
ran the wheel rout against Ohio State and the Cotton
Bowl for a touchdown like it's it's basically that's what
I see out of him and the rest of the group.
Miles Sanders has operated an anonymity in Carolina and like
you said about Javonte Williams, after being an exciting guy
out of North Carolina, has never really put it together
in the last couple of years.

Speaker 3 (34:27):
So low ceiling.

Speaker 5 (34:28):
Not excited about this group at all, and I think
it could hold them back pretty significantly.

Speaker 1 (34:31):
That it is a position, though you can find guys
from other teams. So could they be a Travis etn
team at the end of training camp, some sort of
veteran that you could, you know, send a sixth round pick,
you know, swap it the Cowboys love to do.

Speaker 2 (34:46):
That wouldn't surprise me. But just why number five.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
Let's go back to the quarterbacks, Tyler Shuck and Spencer Rattler. Again,
what I like in the summer is like it's like
popcorn movies. I like, I want it to be just
sort of dumb. This is what August is about. Like,
Spencer Rattler was all over the place last year, but
he's got a new head coach and Kellen Moore, who
I think will be a lot more organized, and he's

(35:12):
got that year of experience. In the offseason, supposedly he
looked better than Shuck, And yet we know Shuck, who
signed a fully guaranteed contract and is in camp on time,
is the heavy, heavy favorite. If it's anywhere close to
a tie, they'll give it to Shuck.

Speaker 3 (35:28):
I would assume Shuck. Yeah, investments in him. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (35:31):
Well I was kind of blew my mind when I've
heard some people pronouncing his name is Shuk even though
it spelled differently. Riddled me that, But yeah, it's it's
a little expectation team, and I think it starts at
quarterback because this is the guy that is the favorite.

Speaker 3 (35:44):
But the agenda still exists.

Speaker 5 (35:46):
The agenda continues to push Spencer Ratler into our consciousness,
and I like, you would totally sign up for chaos
that leads to Spencer Ratler being out there and putting
on a bit of a show with Kellen Moore.

Speaker 3 (35:57):
That would be fun.

Speaker 1 (35:58):
They they start the season with three NFC West teams,
which is not easy. Is there a chance that they
put Rattler out there at the beginning with some tough
games before the schedule opens up, just to just to
give him a chance, because you don't want to be
like flip flopping.

Speaker 2 (36:14):
Maybe the rest of our listeners, Art is interested in that, but.

Speaker 1 (36:17):
Like to me, that's what August is all about, like
finding a Week one starter.

Speaker 2 (36:20):
It's these two weird guys.

Speaker 1 (36:22):
You know, Shuck is significantly older than Rattler, but to
me had you know, very high ceiling tape in college
and yet couldn't handle pressure. It's just a lot going on.
I think it's fun. The Giant's Edge Battle was next
on my list because to me, it's just juicy that
you have the number two pick of the draft, Abdul Carter,
who just you just assume is gonna start. But you

(36:44):
have a guy in Keevon Thibodeaux who was a top
what's five pick and top seven pick, a hugely talented
hasn't really paid off that talent, but maybe he's got
a fire lit under him, he's got some experience, Like,
I'm not just assuming that Carter ends up ahead of him.
So to me, this is it's kind of fascinating. You

(37:06):
don't normally have two really high draft picks like that
going after each other at the same position.

Speaker 3 (37:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (37:11):
I mean, if you look at this group as a whole,
I mean, Brian Burns opposite them, like they're gonna be
good either way.

Speaker 1 (37:18):
It's just the Chauncey Golston too, who's like a good
he's a good fourth defensive end who they signed to
some money, who played for the Cowboys too.

Speaker 5 (37:26):
Yeah, so you want to talk about edge groups. I
mean I kind of like this group more than the
last group we talked about. It's just a matter of
his When they drafted Carter, it was a no brainer
because a lot of people thought he was the best
player in the draft, so it made sense. But on
a roster construction from that standpoint, not so much. But
then again, is it because Kevon Thibodau is not the
guy they thought they were getting.

Speaker 3 (37:44):
That's the question.

Speaker 5 (37:45):
I think Carter wins this job, and I think it
applies pressure to Thibodeau, who I mean, he had his
own endorsement deals a year ago. Now he's looking at
potentially having to split snaps or start behind a rookie
in Abdul Carter, which makes it very interesting, especially in
a market like New York.

Speaker 1 (37:59):
Yeah, I uh, I remember Cavon, you know on Draft front,
come in, we've made friend, We've made friends with him
on around the NFL, and I would say, yeah, the
Carter pick is not only was he the best pick,
And to me, they had two options, him or Travis Hunter.
I think they made the wrong choice personally, but I
think it had to be one of those two, and uh,

(38:21):
you had to take them for the talent. But part
of it is absolutely that that Thibodeau hasn't lived up
to his building. He's been like a good player, but
not a great player. And it's not like a quarterback battle.
They're both gonna play. It's just who's gonna be first
in line, who's gonna get more snaps? And if Carter
is playing a lot over Thibodeaux and Golston kind of
sneaks in there, and then it does. Does Thibodeau, you know,

(38:42):
honk a little bit. We'll see The next one is
a similar type of battle. I mentioned Shamar Stewart who's
holding out in Cincinnati. We presume the camp hasn't actually
started yet, but they were talking on Monday, just hopeful
that that he'll show up. And Trey Hendrickson also they're
not totally sure about, but I think he might show
up and hold in that. The edge battle opposite Hendrickson,

(39:05):
and if Hendrickson's not there is is pretty grim. It's
a former first round pick, Miles Murphy who hasn't done
anything in his first two years. It's Stuart who was
like the biggest workout wonder of the the league. And
it's another guy, Joseph Assai who they brought back, who
they've always had high hopes for. I remember him in
that in that Super Bowl making a couple of plays
against the Rams, But otherwise it has been mostly quiet and man,

(39:30):
that's it's kind of a thin group there, shook, especially
if Hendrickson's not there. But even if Hendrickson's there, that's
that's an interesting group with some first round picks after him.

Speaker 5 (39:40):
Yeah, I think that in such a what I think
it's going to be a pivotal season for the Bengals
that they've done themselves a massive disservice by letting this
Hendricksson thing last as long as it has, understandably because
money is involved. But the rest of the group, I mean, yeah, yeah,
you have to replace a guy or retired and suddenly
you can't figure out who's gonna be there, and so

(40:02):
you go with Osai. You hope you take trades guys
in Stuart and Murphy. Lack of production coming out of college,
especially Stuart, and you can't even get Stewart in the building.
Do you want to talk about grim? I would be
very worried if I was a Bengals fan about this,
especially if they can't figure it out with Hendrickson. And
this is a defense that was so bad lou An
Rubaul lost his job. This is gonna be an important
part of your team if you're gonna get back to

(40:23):
the playoffs and going into camp like this every year
there's something with them in camp.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
But this is not encouraging, right, just because I want to,
you know, combine them.

Speaker 1 (40:31):
At number twenty one on my list is the guard
situation with the Bengals too. It's just a really good
team to have some really big holes when you look
at their roster their cornerback position too. They have to
shake out but edge and then their guards, where really
both spots are up for grabs, and they're hoping some
of their draft picks pan out, and everyone just assumes

(40:53):
the draft picks are going to pan out. And then
you just look at Miles Murphy a year ago at
this time, he's the ad dresser.

Speaker 2 (40:58):
There are all these articles.

Speaker 1 (41:00):
Okay, after a quiet first year, first round pick, Miles
Murphy is ready to go and he's gonna be a
big contributor for the Bengals. And then we got nothing
from him basically for the second straight year, and so
they got to show that they can develop these guys.
So it's a really good team in theory because it's
got really great strengths, but man, they have some big

(41:21):
holes at edge and at guard. We got to mention
the Colts quarterback situation. Anthony Richardson sounds like he's gonna
be ready for training camp, so that's good. It'll at
least give him in theory. Even footing with Daniel Jones,
who do you think wins that battle?

Speaker 2 (41:36):
Shook?

Speaker 5 (41:38):
I mean, the messaging with Richardson was weird when it
was revealed that he was gonna be participating in mini camp.
It's encouraging that he's gonna be ready, or at least
we think he's gonna be ready.

Speaker 3 (41:49):
It sounds like he will be.

Speaker 5 (41:51):
I mean, this is an absolutely pivotal crossroads year for him.
He's got to come through this year, and losing your
job to Daniel Jones would be embarrassing for him, but
also embarrassing for the Colts for spending the fourth overall
pick on him.

Speaker 2 (42:05):
And yet they seem like they want to do it.
They can't do, you know, because thirteen million dollars.

Speaker 5 (42:09):
Just yes, because I think Shane Steichen is tired of it.
He needs somebody he can rely on. I don't know
if he can rely on Daniel Jones unless he just
needed a change of scenery, so Eileen Richardson because of
the investment in him, But I also don't think that
they are completely committed to him in that they would
overlook him being you know, outworked or outperformed by Daniel
Jones in this camp. So I think it's gonna be

(42:29):
one of the more fascinating ones outside of you know,
what we talked about in New York and what we
might talk about in Cleveland. Just because it's going to
matter so much for the entire state of this franchise.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
Right in post knee surgery, Daniel jos was not the
same as priest knee surgery. I know he was never
a Pro Bowl player, but he was worse last year
than he's ever looked and so maybe a year, you know, healthier,
he'll be better. But to me, Richardson should win this
bat out. They just be so much more interesting. There's
something weird going on there. I think they feel like
tough love is maybe like motivating Anthony Richardson, and so

(43:03):
that's why they've been so aggressive. We'll see the Jags
running backs that mentioned Travis Etn. Now I'm confusing the
Trevor and the Travis of the the Etn brothers who
are now in the NFL. You have the original one
is in Jacksonville and he's facing off against Tank Bigsby
and Bashall Tutan And I know who's a fourth round

(43:25):
pick this year. I know fantasy guys base everything off
last year, but sometimes sometimes guys show up different than
they were the year before, and who knows, maybe Etn
shows up this year and he looks better than Bigsby
and takes it back. It's an interesting group and if
Etn isn't the winner here and they like Tuton, then
maybe he's a trade chip at the end.

Speaker 5 (43:44):
Of Yeah, you know, that's been the rumor so much
that Liam Cohen had to come out and talk about
it months ago about how much they love him. And
he shows up, he's consistent and everything else, which is
kind of like the ownership vote of confidence right before
a coach gets fired, where it's like it's that last
little nudge that.

Speaker 3 (43:59):
We really like this guy, but we're also dangling him there.

Speaker 5 (44:02):
Bigsby out performed him last year and it was not
a good offense, so you know, take that with a
grain of salt. Tuton's the guy who's very fast, who
didn't produce like the most positive marks coming out of
you know, the spring activities. So it's gonna be an
interesting dynamic there with those three. But I think by
the end of camp, if Etn doesn't show that he's
on track for a bounce back year, he's in trade

(44:24):
talks and we're talking about a big sbeed Tuoton backfield
in Jacksonville.

Speaker 1 (44:27):
Yeah, Tutin was the guy who blew up the combine
with that four two or whatever, just just a big
boy running extremely fast. Finally our top ten. To wrap
up the top ten, we got forty nine more. After that,
we're going to fire through. It's the it's the Chiefs
tackle situation. So they're starting camp with Juwan Taylor. It's
been their right tackle on the pup list. I found

(44:49):
that really interesting because Josh Simmons, who fell in the
draft all the way to the Chiefs, very talented tackle
because he's coming off of a major neat construction, is
not on the pup list. So they have Simmons the
first round pick. They have Jalen Moore, who they gave
fifteen million dollars a year or two, who is the
backup to Trent Simmons over in San Francisco. And I

(45:13):
find this one really interesting because it's the Chiefs that
could impact the Super Bowl. But also like if Juan
Taylor takes a while to come back, like could both
of those guys start, Could Simmons be on one side
and on the right side maybe and Moore's on the
left side. In the end, you're kicking last year's second
round pick. Kingsley's wu a mattea inside to left tackle

(45:36):
maybe Jalen Moore, I mean to left guard rather actually
could move inside to left guard. There's been some talk
too if if they like Simmons at left tackle and
they pay them that way. So it's just a puzzle
that the Chiefs are trying to figure out. But Josh Simmons,
to me, is like a really big part of how
good this team could be this year.

Speaker 5 (45:54):
Yeah, and we also can't forget Mike Calando's role in
this too, because this is the assembly of a put
this offensive line. We saw how important it was to
find some sort of stability there, which they didn't. They
had to kick out Joe Tunia left tackle last year.
So they're just throwing a lot of options out there
and hoping that they find a starting five. And I
think that this could take on a number of different
appearances in terms of where a guy is playing or

(46:15):
who's playing you know what position by week, who's starting
who's not, which is not super encouraging for a team
that's been to the Super Bowl.

Speaker 1 (46:23):
But they're talented, Like there's a lot of investment that
least suck. It's like it's a first round pick who
a lot of people thought was the most talented tackle in.

Speaker 3 (46:31):
The draft, it's not without effort.

Speaker 1 (46:33):
It's Jalen Moore, who they're paying fifteen million dollars a year,
who's interesting. And Juwan Taylor, who's been overpaid the last
few years, and if he makes the team this year,
and I assume he will, I would guess this is
his last year with the Chiefs. So it's just it's interesting.
They they are making sure that Patrick Mahomes is protected,
or at least making sure they're doing everything possible, spending

(46:57):
a lot of most so supposedly they wanted Ronnie Stanley
and the Ravens stepped up and kept him. All Right,
we're gonna start going a little faster here, we're outside
the top ten. Our next three. We've got the Dolphins
cornerback situation. It's just wide open. Like the top candidates
to be their cornerbacks are Storm Duck, Cam Smith, Ethan Bonner.

(47:18):
Those are outside, so I think they're going to add
someone at some point. We have Cater Kohu, but he's
more of an inside nickel guy. So that's just like
a little worrisome. If you're a Dolphins fan, I'm gonna
be watching that. You got the Bill's second cornerback. They
drafted a first round pick in Maxwell Harrison, but Tredevius
White is back there. Dan Jackson is back on the team,
so I'll be interested to see if Harriston really steps

(47:39):
up as like a young draft pick they want him
to start.

Speaker 2 (47:43):
And then we got your Browns quarterbacks.

Speaker 1 (47:44):
I couldn't put them any higher than this on the
list just because it's just a little bit of like
it's it's gonna be interesting to watch, but.

Speaker 2 (47:54):
For who for what you know?

Speaker 3 (47:55):
Ses to what end? Is just two things, two things here.

Speaker 5 (47:59):
The Dolphins defense as a whole is concerning to me,
especially in a big year for them, And look no
further than quarterback, as you mentioned, but the Browns quarterback
situation comes down to a simple sentence. I tweeted, like
a week ago, well, we posted a picture maybe it
was two weeks ago of the four quarterbacks for the
AFC North Browns training camp preview, and I just said,

(48:19):
I'm sorry, but how do you not laugh at this picture?
Because I mean, these are your options, Like, you got
four of them. None of them are probably good enough
to start for most teams, but they got to figure
out and find one. So it's intriguing because if you
like chaos and you know, like you said, popcorn movies,
that sort of thing, you're gonna get that in Cleveland.

Speaker 3 (48:36):
But it's not super encouraging.

Speaker 1 (48:37):
I mean, let's go through them. How many of them
would be backups on most teams. Flacco probably would be
a backup on more than half the teams in the league.
He's I think, a good backup. But he was freely
available for not much money and no one wanted him,
so that, for the most part, like that says something.
I don't think Kenny Pickett would be a backup on
most teams necessarily the Eagles dumped him, and then yet

(49:00):
you have Dylan Gabriel and Shader Sanders, who are a
third and a fifth round draft pick wouldn't normally be
counted on to be a backup. So yeah, I just
want to kind of catch everyone up if you haven't
been listening to NFL daily and you're like plugging back
in at the start of training camp, just kind of
where everything is. And so we're going over all these

(49:21):
position battles. But man, I grouped a lot of these
wide receivers together. So I'm just gonna mention a bunch
of the teams, and the difference at wide receiver is
like it's kind of figuring out what the order is
going to be. But for the most part, a lot
of these guys are making the team. But all right,
let's go through the Jets wide receivers. After Garrett Wilson,

(49:41):
it's wide open. It's like Josh Reynolds, Malachi Corley, Tyler Johnson.

Speaker 2 (49:46):
It's not a bunch of good names.

Speaker 1 (49:47):
The Panthers wide receivers in general, you figure Adam Thielen
has a role, shook, Xavier Laguette probably has a role.
Teed McMillan was there, you know, top ten pick, you
have Jalen Coker, Hunter, renfro that could go anywhere like
one to five. I'm not sure what the order is
going to be. The Patriots wide receivers. I already mentioned

(50:08):
Stefan Diggs, He's obviously going to play if he's healthy.
To Mario Douglas, I think is going to have a
role for them if he's healthy. And then you have
like Mac Collins. You have my guy, the third round pick,
Kyle Williams. You have Jalen Polk, who was a high
second round pick a year ago, was a disaster, but
you can't totally give up on him. Supposedly he's looked
good when he actually practiced. It was the games that

(50:29):
you threw him up. You have Kendrick Bourne, who was
always like You have this guy Efton Chisholm Shook, who
supposedly is like the next Standium Mondola has been lighting
up practice. You have Keisha on Booty, like what is
going on? Like, it's just these teams where you can
just shake it all up and try to figure out,
like what stands.

Speaker 2 (50:48):
Out to you out of those three.

Speaker 5 (50:49):
It's a snow globe, and it's not because they play
in New England. It's an actual snow globe. You just
shake it up and figure out where it lands. I
actually like Carolina's top three if if yeah, Feeland can
be the guy that he was last year. He was
a pretty big part of that offense, and I like
I so like we get ted McMillan. We'll see, like
it was very mixed results on you know, depending on
who you talk to for his evaluation. But he's you know,
a bigger target, so that's good for them. But the Patriots, Yeah,

(51:11):
it's just complete battle Royale, like just drop them in
and figure out who wins these jobs. And frankly, for
a team that was terrible last year, I like that idea.
I like that approach, Like is Kai Shan Boody gonna
beat out Jalen Polk? Who knows is.

Speaker 2 (51:25):
To make the team? I just listed like nine names,
like yeah, and I didn't even there were there are
a couple more.

Speaker 1 (51:30):
It's crazy. It's essentially and I considered Digs more of
like a two slash three at this stage of his career.
It's more like they have eight, you know, guys who
could be two. Would you rather though? Would you rather
have their group or the Jets group who has Garrett Wilson,
But then after that it's Josh Reynolds, Tyler Johnson, Malachi Coraley.

(51:53):
And in theory you're thinking, okay, well they'll use two
tight end sets and they'll have you know, you'll use
their end. But their tight ends aren't really good receivers either,
Like man, it falls off a club. Would you rather
have the Patriots wide receivers or the Jets?

Speaker 3 (52:06):
Can I pick the Panthers out of both of those groups?

Speaker 1 (52:10):
The correct answer, by the way, is the Jets because
they have Garrett Wilson. You have one great young receiver
that's still worth more, I think than all the Patriots combined.
But either way it's not great all right, More wide
receivers Titans, Steelers, and Broncos. So the receivers for the
Titans after Calvin Ridley, it gets really thin in theory.

(52:31):
Tyler Lockett is their number two, but man like Van
Jefferson is there. They drafted a couple guys a human
Ore and Chameri DK are two mid round draft picks,
like who steps up. Trail On Burks is still on
this roster but always hurt. Xavier Rostrepo is like a
well known undrafted guy. But that's wide open really after

(52:52):
Calvin Ridley, similar to the Steelers, rather after DK Metcalf
you have Calvin Austin, you have Roman Wilson, you have
Ben Scronick, you have Robert Woods, you have Scotty Miller,
and then the Broncos. I think this is a better group.
But after Courtland Sutton it is pretty open. And it's
Marvin Mims Vley who did pretty well for them as

(53:14):
a rookie last year, Pat Bryant, who they drafted earlier
than expected, and Troy Franklin. So like, out of those
three groups, anything just stand out to you as the
most interesting of those groups. But another group where two
through five is kind of open tape dogs, the draft knicks.

Speaker 5 (53:34):
The college guys really like jimiy DK's tape, so keep
an eye on him.

Speaker 2 (53:38):
Fourth round pick. They need someone to step up, don't they.

Speaker 3 (53:41):
I mean, yeah, they do.

Speaker 2 (53:42):
But Alvin Ridley as you're like locked in number one,
and Brooks has been his way out. Like Burks, he
hasn't done anything. He never justified that take. He's on
his way out. So I don't really like the rest
of that group at all.

Speaker 5 (53:52):
The Steelers, I thought Roman Wilson was going to be
a pretty important playmaker for them, and then he had
an ankle injury and never got going last year, so
keep an eye on him.

Speaker 3 (54:00):
I still like him as well.

Speaker 5 (54:02):
And the Broncos I think probably the best of the three,
just because I at least saw some production from that
group last year.

Speaker 3 (54:08):
But yeah, if I had.

Speaker 5 (54:10):
To take, I mean, the Steelers have DK Metcalf now,
but DK Metcalf became just a go merchant in his
last year and a half in Seattle. So God, none
of these are really great I don't think they're.

Speaker 1 (54:21):
Terrible, but it's more like getting our listeners ready for
like a watch list. This is your watch list for
August that I think is going to be interesting. The
big advantage the Broncos have is they have Sean Payton
and he makes wide receivers look better. And they have
a solid young quarterback in bon Nicks. Whereas the Steelers
we'll see, we'll see what Aaron Rodgers brings to the table.

(54:41):
Wrapping up the top twenty, here shook is the Broncos
running back situation, and it's JK.

Speaker 2 (54:47):
Dobbins, RJ. Harvey and Odrich Estimate.

Speaker 1 (54:50):
I gave a little bump on this list to like
teams that are good because to me, this battle actually
is going to impact a team that has a real
chance to make the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (54:58):
Again.

Speaker 5 (54:59):
Yeah, I like the fact that they committed to Estimate,
who's like an old school power back and they used
him in short yarded situations last year.

Speaker 3 (55:06):
Dobbins always comes with the question mark.

Speaker 5 (55:08):
Of health, just because he's struggled with injuries so many
times over the last few years. R J. Harvey is
unless you watch the uc at football, you might not
know who he is. But he's the most intriguing of
the group. But I like this committee approach with a
blend of different styles that I think will balance well
with how they like to run their offense, which of
course is getting nicked out on the perimeter. I think
they'll have some opportunities to find some runn lanes.

Speaker 1 (55:28):
Yeah, it's a great candidate to have, like great fantasy
value compared to where he's going to get drafted. We
will do some fantasy in the coming weeks as we
get ready for the season. That's the top twenty so
and I already mentioned the Bengals guards, so technically that's
twenty one. I think that's a good spot. We're going
to take a quick break and then we are getting

(55:48):
through the fifty nine.

Speaker 2 (55:50):
It's two days. It's happening, Chuck.

Speaker 3 (55:52):
I feel like I'm in conditioning right now.

Speaker 1 (56:10):
My goal, Shook is not only to entertain a little bit,
but also informed. And I want our NFL Daily listeners
to be the most informed.

Speaker 2 (56:23):
Of all their friend groups, of their entire town.

Speaker 1 (56:27):
You know, of anyone they know, and so that's why
they need to know the top fifty nine position battles.

Speaker 2 (56:32):
I'm a sicko and.

Speaker 1 (56:33):
It's why we're gonna hit the news every day throughout
training camp and keep you up to date. It's one
of the times of the year. I love the daily
format because there's just these little things that if you're
a sicko, like you have to be to be an
hour into the position battles, then you want to know
all the information. So let's keep it going. We did
twenty one position battles so far. Our next group, the

(56:53):
Eagles in the secondary, their safeties pretty wide open. They
have a rookie Andrew mccouba. They have Sidney Brown. It's
more interesting to me because it's also like where does
Cooper dejing go. You assume he's staying at nickel, but
if the safety doesn't go well, like could they be rotatium.
They also have their other cornerback spot open. It's probably

(57:14):
Keey Ringo, but they have a Dori Jackson there. So
just their secondary. Because they're such a good team, to me,
they get a little higher on the list. Just keep
an eye on that. The Cardinals edge group I thought
was interesting because they're potentially really good players. But boom
or Bus bj Ojalari was a really promising rookie two
years ago before he tore his ACL last year. Baron
Browning came there in a trade and then re sign

(57:36):
on a pretty nice free agent contract. And then Zavin Collins,
who's kind of found a home as an edge rusher,
was a first round pick.

Speaker 2 (57:43):
Some interesting names.

Speaker 1 (57:43):
They're battling for their second spot opposite Josh Sweat. The
Jaguars cornerbacks are interesting just because Travis Hunter is part
of it. So how much is Davis hunder actually going
to play at cornerback? We know he's playing at wide receiver,
Jerry and Jones, Buster Brown is there, you assume Hunter
is going to be on the outside. Just everything Travis
Hunter is fascinating to me. We mentioned the Chargers receivers before,

(58:06):
but you know, I'm assuming Quentin Johnston is kind of
locked in there at the ex So then you have
Trey Harris the rookie, You have KeAndre Lambert Smith, you
have Darius Davis. They're all battling for snaps. And then
let's finish this little pack at number twenty six. The
running back position of the Patriots for Andre Stevenson, your
guy Trevion Henderson from Ohio State, and Antonio Gibson's still there.

(58:27):
They're all gonna play, but it's kind of figuring out
which snaps like out of that group, what stands out
to you.

Speaker 5 (58:33):
I mean, I love that the running back room in
New England. Yeah, I know that you gave money to
Remandre and you kind of need him to produce, but
I love the depth there, and again a difference in
styles a little bit too. I thought Gibson's time in
Washington was cut too short, is premature, and I'm glad
that he's got a home there, even if he's gonna
be fighting for snaps. Yeah, as much time as we
spend on the receivers and how it's a battle Royale,

(58:53):
I think this is a very solid top three at
that position.

Speaker 3 (58:56):
So I very much love that.

Speaker 5 (58:58):
The Eagles secondary is an interesting examination of what happens
in you draft well and you're so deep that some
of the guys that you would expect to make plays
earlier for other teams just don't see the field very much.
And then you get like three years down the line,
you're like, oh God, now we need those guys to play,
and we still don't know if they're any good or not.
Sidney Brown is.

Speaker 3 (59:14):
One of those guys, so I'm excited to see how
that kind of shakes out.

Speaker 1 (59:18):
And kie Ringo too, not that you would have expected him.
He's a talented cornerback who is I think a fourth
round pick maybe third but guy from Georgia that now
it's their development. But man, is that a young secondary
when you think about it, because you had the two
rookies last year getting the Rookies of the Year vote
in quinnyon Mitchell and Cooper dejen who to me, Dejeene's

(59:39):
already among the best at his position, in Mitchell might
not be that far behind.

Speaker 2 (59:43):
Like what a young, exciting group.

Speaker 1 (59:45):
But I like the Eagles kind of combination of change
because they do have some change on the defense, but
also continuity, especially on the offensive side. All Right, our
next group, I had to throw a kicker battle in
Justin Tucker has been suspended by the league. We didn't
mention that on the show. That happened during our break,
but we already knew that he was cut. And so

(01:00:05):
when you're replacing possibly the greatest kicker of all time,
I would say he is Justin Tucker. Vinitari obviously hit
more big kicks, but if Tucker was in the position
to do that I think he would have as well.
When you're replacing him and you're on a team that
could make the Super Bowl. Tyler Loop, their draft pick
will be the heavy favorite over John Hoylan.

Speaker 2 (01:00:26):
But you never know. It's a rookie. What if he
just thinks Tyler Loop.

Speaker 1 (01:00:29):
You have the Chiefs running back Isaiah Pacheco getting some
pop cream. Hunt is still there. Elijah Mitchell is on
this team from the forty nine ers. Brashard Smith is
a late round pick. I mean, Pacheco is a late
round pick. So I'm not going to rule anything out.
That's interesting to me because it is the Chiefs and
it's wide open. You have the Raiders wide receivers after
Jacoby Myers, you got Trey Tucker, you got Jack Besh

(01:00:52):
the second round pick. You have another rookie, Dante Thornton.
Like this is a team that kind of screams to
sign a veteran. I mean, I don't know what Keenan
Allen's going to bring at this point, but there is
a Tom Telesco connection there.

Speaker 2 (01:01:05):
Maybe he ends up there.

Speaker 1 (01:01:06):
The Falcons edge spot to me was interesting, shook because
they have two young draft picks that they took. You
know very high and James Pearce and Jalen Walker who
are battling for a time, but also some veterans Leonard
Floyd who's been around forever and Arnold Ebacehetty. So how
much time will the rookies get that and get there?
And then similar type of vibe in Washington at cornerback,

(01:01:28):
Trey Amos is competing to start there, but you have
Jonathan Jones, the former Patriots cornerback.

Speaker 2 (01:01:34):
A veteran.

Speaker 1 (01:01:35):
You have Noah Igbinoghany, is there, Ken Marshawn Lattimore ever
stay healthy? You know, I assume he's starting, but it's
he ever on the field. So that that's one of
the kind of like up in the air spots for Washington.

Speaker 2 (01:01:47):
What stands out to you from that big pack?

Speaker 5 (01:01:49):
Yeah, can he play well when he takes the field
on like the postseason last year? Yes, I gotta go
to two places here and one of the Raiders receivers,
because you are among them who love the Raiders just
be Geno's there and they feel like they're headed in
the right direction with Pete Carroll. But this is the
position group that worries me the most. I know they've
made additions there, But it's one that I'm going to
continue to keep my eye on, and it might be
a candidate for them to pick up some of these

(01:02:10):
other guys to get cut elsewhere. When we have these
massive receiver battles with other teams, you might see the
Raiders front of the line trying to add some of
those guys. So keep an eye just to see how
that shakes out. It's that, and it's the Falcons edge
group because they were They drafted two edge rushers in
the first round, and they did it so confidently that
I have to see it come to fruition. I need
to see this follow through. And James Pierce being one

(01:02:32):
of them, and you said Jaylen Walker being the other,
and Pierce had some questions coming out of Tennessee. So
got to keep a close eye on that because they
are deeper there than they were in previous years, which
is big because that was a huge weakness for them
last year.

Speaker 3 (01:02:44):
But a lot of it is unknown.

Speaker 1 (01:02:46):
We are rolling to fifty nine position battles and as
I look at the end, I probably could have cut
out like a couple of them, but you know, they
say leave them, you know, wanding more.

Speaker 2 (01:02:56):
Maybe we'll leave you wanding less.

Speaker 1 (01:02:59):
Number thirty two on this list is the what is
the Lions interior offensive line group? So you know now
that you've had the retirement of Frank ragnow there already
was going to be some change there. Can Tate Ratledge
start at center for them? Could he move over to guard?
You've got Graham Glasgau there. You've got some players who've

(01:03:19):
been there like that's an important spot for that team.

Speaker 2 (01:03:21):
The forty nine ers.

Speaker 1 (01:03:22):
Edge group has a top twelve pick and mikel Williams
against a guy they traded for Bryce Huff who's probably
going to be more of a situational passwatcher. You have
a veteran there, you Turre gross Matos, so that's opposite
Nick Bosa. That's a big spot that used to be
known for their defensive line, their edge group. Now it's
a little more of a question mark. But I think

(01:03:43):
it looks better than it did a year ago. That's
an interesting battle. I threw the Lions backup quarterback situation
in just because it's the Lions. That's Hendon Hooker. Is
he ever gonna become a guy? He's against Kyle Allen.
You have the Raiders cornerback we just talked about, you know,
wide receiver man cornerback is thin for them there? Who
is their cornerback? One to Cameron Richardson Jacorey and Bennett

(01:04:06):
Eric Stots, Darnay like Darning Holmes, like Darien Porter, like
who knows who knows? One, two, three? It's wide open.
They're a candidate to pick up a veteran. But I'll
just be curious to see how that shakes out. You
got your Browns running backs here. You will see if
quinch On Jenkins is a part of the team. I
don't think he will be necessarily early in the season.
So that leaves Jerome Ford and Dylan Sampson, who's an

(01:04:30):
interesting prospect, and then the Packers wide receivers will stop there.
I think you have to wait for the games to
see how the Patrick Packers wide receivers really shake out.
Like we know Romeo Dobbs is like a good player.
We'll see. I guess you could follow Matthew Golden. It's
their first round pick, like how his development is in camp?
Do they give a role to save On Williams a

(01:04:51):
third round pick? But we kind of know those Packers receivers.
Christian Watson not going to be ready for the start
of the season coming off of a torn acl I
kind of want to wait for the game for the
Packers wide receivers, which is why they were low on
my list.

Speaker 2 (01:05:03):
Who stands out? Who do you want to talk about
out of that group? Shooky?

Speaker 5 (01:05:06):
Well, no, I think it's smart to wait for the
games with the Packers just because they've just been so
inconsistent year to year with production. But you've seen flashes
from basically all of those guys, and then you add
in the first round pick, it becomes more interesting. You know, honestly,
I look at the forty nine Ers front seven. It's
not just the edge group, it's the entire front seven.
This is a team that used to have a lot
of household names and really their entire defense. They've had

(01:05:26):
so many guys leave, there's been so much turnover. That's
a transitional year for them. And they also invested a
lot in the front four. They drafted a couple of
defensive tackles. But like this front seventh that you looked
at now as opposed to previous years, the big names
are basically gone. You have Bosa and you have Warner
and the rest of it's like, all right, how are
these guys going to fit in? So I think that's
gonna be something that they're going to sort out in camp.

(01:05:47):
We're gonna see a lot of examples of it during
the preseason, but I think it's gonna be a point
of mild concern going to this year.

Speaker 1 (01:05:53):
Yeah, I mean I did not include their defensive tackle
battle on my list of fifty nine.

Speaker 2 (01:05:58):
You got to make some choices. Nick fifty nine.

Speaker 3 (01:06:01):
And C West the former Golden Flash.

Speaker 1 (01:06:04):
Yeah, they got two draft picks, Alfred Collins and CJ. West,
and then they've got a two veterans who have been
pretty forgettable, Kevin Gibbons and Jordan Elliott. Like, these are
not the forty nine ers that used to see. And
it's interesting how Vegas and the projection models have them
ranked so high. Football Outsiders used to be the name.
Now it's Aaron Shots at FDN and they have the

(01:06:28):
forty nine ers I think projected to win the third
most amount of games in the entire NFL. But man,
they have some questions up front.

Speaker 2 (01:06:34):
All right.

Speaker 1 (01:06:34):
Continuing on the list, we are down to thirty eight
on the list. We got the Bears number three, receiver.
So that could be the rookie Luther Burden who they
took in the second round. That could be Olomite Zekiist,
that could be Devin Duverney, just one of those that's
like everyone always slots in the rookie and it's like
these guys have actually been in the league for five
six years and they might not impress you that much.

(01:06:55):
But like we'll see if Luthor Burden lasts in the
NFL five six years, like you don't really, so that's
just one to watch. But if he pops off, he
has a nice high ceiling to add some juice to
that group. The Vikings wide receiver three, they drafted a kid,
Ty Felton in the third round. You have Jalen Naylor there,
you have Rondelle Moore. They all should have roles, but

(01:07:15):
I'll be keeping an eye on that. The Commanders are
looking for a right tackle. They drafted Josh Connerly, but
moving him positions to the right side. He'll probably be
against Andrew Wiley. That's something to watch. The center at
it for the Chargers, they're like rotating Bradley Boseman and
Zion Johnson between center and guard. Like I don't know
if they did enough at wide receiver or interior offensive

(01:07:37):
line to make me as hyped as I want to
be about the Chargers. You have the Panthers edge. Just
in general, the Panthers edge group is to me very
thin and wide open. Their linebacker is pretty thin as well.
I combine that with the Dolphins linebacker, which is guys
I know Terrell Dodson who's bounced around with Buffalo and Seattle.

Speaker 2 (01:07:59):
You have k J.

Speaker 1 (01:08:00):
Britt used to be with the Bucks, and then Willie Gay.
That takes us to number forty three.

Speaker 5 (01:08:05):
Nick Schouok, kJ Bridchard took Devin White's job in Tampa
back in the day. That's probably the group that I
like more other than their edge Russian component, considering who
they have still coming back. I mean, I look at
Carolina and what I see is is a lot of
chips being moved to the center of the table on
guys that you've drafted, Nick Gorton being one of them.
It's but this is what happens when you have a

(01:08:27):
team that you had to steadily rebuild over the years.

Speaker 3 (01:08:29):
You can't address everything in one or two offseasons.

Speaker 5 (01:08:31):
So it's gonna be a test to them, but they
did invest in the back end a lot with Travon
Merrig and j C. Horn, So you know, I think
that collectively they could probably be better, but they're not
going to be super you know. I mean, they have
Derek Brown still up there, and he's a hell of
a player. So they're just gonna expect a lot of
production from key guys without the collective group being super strong.

Speaker 2 (01:08:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:08:50):
See, like you mentioned the secondary there, I think is telling.
Like I'm with you. They made a nice signing Morg,
they paid to keep Horn, they brought back Mike Jackson,
and so that's three that actually feel pretty good about.
But then they're a team that when you look at
the depth chart, maybe these guys will step up, but
it falls off a cliff after that. And so you
need more than three defensive backs their linebacker position, like,

(01:09:13):
you need more than one or two edge that you
can count on, and I'm not sure who we can
count on.

Speaker 2 (01:09:17):
There a long way to go.

Speaker 1 (01:09:19):
Number forty four on the list, your old friend Nick Chubb,
the backup battle with the Texans, because I don't think
Nick Chubb is gonna start over Joe Mixon, but keep
an eye on him. And Demian Pierce is still there.
They drafted the running back marks from USC, so that's
an interesting backup battle. You're the Browns edge spot is

(01:09:40):
pretty wide open opposite Miles Garrett. Joe Tryon Show Inca,
the former Buccaneer is part of that battle with Alex Right.
The Texans offensive line, like they blew it up. They
got rid of Laramie Tunsel. It is a battle royale
for like almost all their spots, and so we'll see
how that works out. The line edge group is number

(01:10:01):
forty seven on the list, already got a cross off
a name Josh Pascal, at least for the start of
the year, and so you're county on Mark Marcus Davenport
to stay healthy.

Speaker 2 (01:10:10):
That is never the best position to be in.

Speaker 1 (01:10:12):
Still little thin, and you're you're counting on Aiden Hudginson
just coming back and being the guy that he has
been the Dolphins guard position. You drafted Jonah Sava and
Naya to take over that spot. But again you're you're
counting on a second round pick to start, and so
we'll see if he beats out.

Speaker 2 (01:10:27):
Liam Eikenberg got the Saints third receiver group. AMN. This
group is weird.

Speaker 1 (01:10:32):
And wide open, but Brandon Cooks is there, and then
we wrap up the top fifty with the Seahawks wide
receiver number three spot, and I just I wanted more
Bobo in this show, so I'm putting that spot there.
Jake Bobo, you got Marcus Valdez, Scantling, you got like
a third round pick in Tory Horton, and that wraps
up the top fifty there.

Speaker 2 (01:10:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:10:53):
Yeah, anytime you can get more Bobo in your life,
you have to capitalize on that.

Speaker 3 (01:10:57):
You have take advantage of it.

Speaker 5 (01:10:58):
And I would agree, you know, like a top three
that includes MVS. I'm just gonna say it right now.

Speaker 1 (01:11:04):
He probably isn't gonna win that group. I think he'll
be fourth or fifth.

Speaker 5 (01:11:07):
I would like to see more Bobo, I agree. I
know we have some people in the newsroom out in
LA that would agree with that as well. Really white
the third UNLV product i'd like to see. I don't know,
it gets pretty thin after the top three, but we
do have a lot of attention paid to Cooper Cup
and Jackson Smith the Jigy out there with Sam Darnold
Man tricky here for them coming off of you know,
making some significant changes and everything else could be a

(01:11:31):
bit of a danger.

Speaker 3 (01:11:32):
There could be walking on some mon steady footing there.

Speaker 1 (01:11:36):
Yeah, and I'm I'm really curious to see and hear
the reports about Cooper Cup. You would expect it to
be very positive. Sometimes you can't trust everything in camp.
Like I remember all the positive reports about Alan Robinson
with the Rams a couple of years ago, and it
didn't really happen when when the game started. But I
will be curious, really curious to see how Cooper Cup
season looks in Seattle. But he's not on this list

(01:11:56):
because he's not really battling the final names on these lists.
At least these final battles are lesser ones. I mean
I ranked them in order. But Rams linebacker is like
wide open the end of the roster. Texans wide receivers
after the top couple guys, I'm talking about guys like
John Metchi. You know Watson's there, justin Watson, the former

(01:12:19):
chief Braxton Barrios.

Speaker 2 (01:12:20):
That to me is interesting.

Speaker 1 (01:12:21):
The Browns wide receivers are pretty wide open after Judy
and maybe Cedric Tillman.

Speaker 2 (01:12:27):
The Titans edge group.

Speaker 1 (01:12:30):
We'll see if their second round pick Oladejo can immediately
like become a contributor. Arden Keys is there, Draymont Jones
is There're some interesting names. See who ends up on top.
You have the forty nine Ers defensive tackle lists we
already hit. I guess I did put them on the list,
they were just much lower. And the Chargers linebacker Junior Colson,
who they were hope they took in the third round,

(01:12:51):
one of the first picks with jun with Jim Harbaugh
his former Michigan player. Can he get on the field.
He's fighting an uphill battle against Denzel Perryman. And you
got your Browns tackle spots they're kind of wide open
because of health. The Colts off ball linebacker and yes,
the Tech Titans safety position. That was where I was like, okay,
I've gone too far. Xavier Woods did it. Third round

(01:13:14):
pick Kevin Winston. I was like, Okay, that's it. Kevin
Winston's maybe an interesting player. I think it needs to
wrap it up right there?

Speaker 2 (01:13:21):
They the Browns receiving Yeah, stop, well they have Deontay Johnson,
and to me, I find Deontay Johnson interesting.

Speaker 1 (01:13:30):
Can Deoncey Johnson actually become an NFL player again?

Speaker 2 (01:13:34):
Is you know in theory.

Speaker 1 (01:13:36):
Team, like if you had told me two years ago,
who would you take out of that entire group that's
on the team right now, including Jerry Judy and Cedric Tillman,
as like I would be like Deanty Johnson's probably the
best player, so you never know, maybe maybe he could
be wide receiver one.

Speaker 3 (01:13:51):
This is no shade towards Cedric Tillman.

Speaker 5 (01:13:53):
But the fact that you said after Judy and Tilman,
I was like, oh, yikes, because.

Speaker 2 (01:13:57):
Right, well, he's got to make the team. I think
he will.

Speaker 5 (01:14:00):
But like you got Jamari Thrash who was a draft pick,
Michael Woods who just hangs around every year. I don't
know how, David Bell, who I don't know how he's
still on the team. DeAndre Carter was a sneaky ad.
I mean, now, this is not a good group. This
is not going to be a good offense. Everybody should
prepare for that. But I think the Junior Colson thing
is interesting to me because for as good of a
linebackers who was at Michigan, I felt he was overvalued

(01:14:21):
coming into the NFL and that he ended up with
the Chargers at that pick because Harball was the coach there.
And so if there's going to be a year for
him to prove that he's worth it. I think he
starts toward that right now. And it's not a weak
group overall. It's just that he's going to battle some
guys who have a little bit more playing experience than him,
you know, Diane Henley being out there, Perryman, like you mentioned.

Speaker 2 (01:14:39):
I mean Henley, they're hoping and becomes an all pro.
He is a stud.

Speaker 3 (01:14:43):
He's a study.

Speaker 1 (01:14:44):
He was their breakout guy a year ago. And yeah,
and so Paraman's more of the run stopper. Can you
get it? I think I think Henley's kind of taken
his job. And it reminds me of our training camp
visit to the Chargers last year, and I asked Matt
money Smith, this was very early in Chargers camp, give
me one player that fans don't know about that could

(01:15:04):
that they should keep an eye on this year.

Speaker 2 (01:15:06):
And he said, dayon Henley. And he nailed that.

Speaker 1 (01:15:09):
Because Dan Henley became one of the best young linebackers
in the league, and I think he's stolen that spot
basically from Junior Colson. We will be heading out to
some training camps. We're working on the particulars we got
back together Saturday this weekend. NFL Network coming back on air,
so our trips will come after that. But I hope
we're going to be going to the Saints and the Cowboys,

(01:15:30):
and I believe the Rams this year, so I'm looking
forward to that. I'm looking forward to this entire season.
Our former Browns employee for a brief time, Nick Shook,
we got you back with the NFL, and we couldn't
feel any better about it. It's gonna be fun doing
this season, and we're going to be doing doing these
Sunday nights with you throughout training camp.

Speaker 2 (01:15:50):
Shookie.

Speaker 3 (01:15:50):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, looking forward to it. Years ago.
I used to sweat wearing a bucket.

Speaker 5 (01:15:53):
Hat and Beriah, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:15:56):
That's a hot one with you. That's a hot one.

Speaker 1 (01:15:59):
I'd rather be doing podcast with me, but I'm biased.
We will be back on Tuesday with Colleen Wolf. I'm
looking forward to getting back inside the Chris Westling podcast
studio with my friend Colleen check in on what her
summer is like. Yeah, like when the majority of the
NFL is literally reporting for training camp tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (01:16:20):
Like that is the definition of football. Being back

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