July 16, 2025 • 42 mins
NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero, Mike Garafolo and Judy Battista report on the Broncos agreeing to terms with rookie CB Jahdae Barron, Colston Loveland's recovery from shoulder surgery, and when Najee Harris is expected to return to the field. Judy shares her top five storylines to watch, and Bucky Brooks breaks down his 2025 All-Breakout Team Offense. Hall of Fame LB Brian Urlacher joins the show to share what he expects from the Bears with Ben Johnson at the helm. Next, the Insiders weigh in on which rookies are positioned to make the biggest impact for the Lions and play another round of Training Camp Competition Heat Index!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Just fifty short days until kickoff now, and we are
counting down the biggest storylines of the twenty twenty five
NFL season. Judy Matteiza will reveal her top five list tonight,
and key contract questions are just part of the picture.
Young quarterbacks are always a story this time of year,
and it is not just the rookies.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Could Michael Pennix Junior be a breakout star?
Speaker 1 (00:32):
And what can we realistically expect from JJ McCarthy after
the Vikings QB missed his entire rookie season. We will
break down new faces in the same places. One face
we never get tired of seeing Brian or Lacker who
is getting ready to board a boat with Bears fans
seriously and he will tell you why they should be
just a bit more merry than usual, open bar or
(00:55):
not welcome inside with the insiders alongside Judy Matista and
Mike Garafolo, I am Tom Pelisero.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
That is right.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
We got fifty days until kickoff. The Chargers today became
the first full squad to report to training camp. One
week from today, all thirty two teams will officially be
in camp. Football right around the court. For now, we've
still got some business to take care of off the
field to get some of those players on the field.
(01:24):
That's what the Denver Broncos did last night with their
first round draft pick, John A. Behren, the number twenty
overall pick, agreeing to terms on his four year, fully
guaranteed rookie contract that, like all those first round contracts,
includes a fifth year option. Only one first round pick
still unsigned. That is the guy taking three spots ahead
of him, Shamar Stewart, who remains in a standoff over
(01:46):
contract language with the Bengals. Coleston Loveland, the Bears rookie
tight end, another first round draft pick, went high in
the draft despite the fact that he underwent offseason surgery
on the AC joint in one of his shoulders, was
not able to do a whole lot during the spring.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
But sounds like Loveland is progressing well.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
It feels good, really good.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Yeah, mess it spell for sure.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
What's the difference in how in spell even since the
last time we talked to you in June, you feel
like it's made a lot of progress.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Yeah, strength strengths there.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
You know, the scars issue barely there anymore. So it's
just yes, it's all every everything is increasing which is good.
Speaker 5 (02:21):
Is the plan to be ready to go for the
started training camp?
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yes, the plan craft full go like you know, restrictions
are not.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Sure a plan.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Don't go down that water slide. Colston bears rookie's report
to training camp on Saturday. Charters full squad already in
the building. Say hello to Cameron Dicker, who looks like
he's ready to join the Tour de France, especially when
he's drinking that energy. Drake Lad McConkey also in the house,
predictably a slightly more low key for the Friend of
(02:50):
the Insider's arrival today out there in El Segundo. Na
Gie Harris mean while also expected to be in the
building today, but not going to be ready for these
training camp gm Joe Hortiz speaking with local reporters, including
Daniel Poppers, saying that Naji Harris is expected to begin
training camp on the non football injury list. He was
(03:11):
injured suffered an eye injury in a fourth of July
fireworks explosion. Hortes indicated that from what he has heard Mike,
they're not overly concerned with this injury based on the
feedback they've gotten from doctors at Stanford, but Hortiz said
something like this, there is also still a bit of
an unknown it being worth monitoring here exactly when Nagi
(03:33):
is able to get on the field.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
What more do we know?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Right when Hortiz spoke to the media, Nigi Harris had
not yet reported, so they haven't had a chance to
get their own look at the injury. They are taking
the word of the agent and those around him, And
we heard from Najie Harris's agent saying it's a superficial
wound to the eye or injury that he suffered, which
is his way of saying, you know, no big deal, right,
(03:58):
Everything's okay, But that's fine. That's what the agent is
supposed to say until Najie Harris gets in and until
the chargers get their own look at it and their
own doctors make an evaluation. And look, I did have
some people because I put out that news and said, hey,
this is the injury that his agent is saying is superficial,
and they were like, oh yeah, I go to the
hospital all the time and get treated by doctors all
the time for injuries that are superficial.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I get it.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
We're getting that solely from the agent. But now we
are going to get answers. The Chargers are going to
get answers, and we shall see what happens in the
meantime duty. It looks like Omari and Hampton, at least
the rookie is going to have a clearer path until
Najie Harris gets on the field to get more reps
and maybe make more of a statement early on.
Speaker 6 (04:37):
Right, Omar and Hampton was going to get a whole
lot of reps anyway, whether Najie Harris was there or not.
But certainly now he is going to get the overwhelming
amount of the workload. This is a team that wants
to lean into the run, right. Harpball could not be
any more in love with Justin Herbert, but he wants
a much more balanced offensive attack. He wants to be
(04:57):
able to run the ball. That is why they draft
Hampton so he will get an enormous amount of the workload. Now,
he was going to get a big amount even if
Najie Harris was there. And then hopefully they get Naji
Harris into camp very soon. Hopefully the eye injury is
indeed just superficial. The group that they're going to have
on the practice field initially is not going to look
(05:19):
much like the offensive group that they hope to have
on the field when the season kicks off. For instance,
obviously they hope Nagie Harris is healthy by then. Trey Harris,
the wide receiver they drafted in the second round, is
caught up in the same sort of contract situation that
so many other second rounders are caught up in, so
he is unsigned. And Mike Williams, the receiver who is
back with the Chargers, is also not going to be
(05:41):
on the field.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
So right now, it's sort of an incomplete group that
the Charger are going to put out there.
Speaker 6 (05:45):
Initially, of course they are reporting very early, but eventually
they hope to have this whole group together. Of course,
they hope to get Trey Harris signed, as all of
these second rounders hopefully gets signed in the next few days,
and then they will be cohesive, hopefully when Najie Harris
gets healthy.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Fifty one days away from the Chargers opener against the
Chiefs on a Friday night in Brazil. But then I
mentioned fifty days until the opener. It is Cowboys Eagles
in Week one. That is what we are continuing to
count down to. And with fifty days until the season
kicks off, it felt like a good time to talk
about some of the biggest storylines of the entire season,
(06:24):
not just the various contractual things we'll be working through
here leading up to most teams reporting for training camp
in the middle of next week. But Judy, we're talking
about actual football coming up soon. Giving your first of
the biggest five storylines ahead.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Of us in the twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 6 (06:41):
Well shocking it involves Aaron Rodgers, which has been the
biggest storyline for the last two years as well, but
this time it is Aaron Rodgers at the Steelers, and
he's a symbol of what the Steelers are doing.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
He's a big piece of what the Steelers are doing.
Speaker 6 (06:54):
They're going all in this season around Aaron Rodgers' veteran
Leyden team. Of course, they got DK Metcalf at wide
receiver as well. They are making a push for a
Super Bowl. They keep getting to the playoffs. We know this,
and then they get halted. They brought in Aaron Rodgers.
They weren't happy with their quarterback play last year. Aaron
(07:14):
Rodgers has made it pretty clear that he believes this
will be the final season of his career. Well, the
Steelers are going to make a push to try to
get him to another Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Judy, you're seeing that the work that he did at
mini camp, and there was not much work that he
did in mini camp. I was there Mike Tomlins speaking
to the media and we asked him about the fact
that Rodgers wasn't there for the entire spring, And it's
the confidence in Rodgers that they had that he was
going to be able to arrive at training camp and
hit the ground running and get caught up by week one. Well,
here we are and now here and I was thrown
(07:45):
with his guys on the side. He was thrown with
DK Metcalf all the way back in the spring. But
now comes the real work. Now comes the time at
which he has got to get caught up. So this
is definitely something we're going to be watching in training
camp to see how comfortable he is, how comfortable he looks.
Speaker 7 (07:57):
I don't think, well, well, maybe I shouldn't say that.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
I'll just say dont think we'll see him the preseason, but
Mike Toama loves to play his guys in the preseason,
so we shall see.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
It's going to be interesting to see how quickly he
can get caught.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slave is going
to be a vastly different group of stars at these
big names on that Steelers team. They don't necessarily need
Aaron Rodgers to be a star, Judy, they just need
him to play better than what they've had at the quarterback.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Position in recent years.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
What's your number two storyline for the twenty twenty five
NFL season.
Speaker 6 (08:29):
This is also a storyline we have talked about in
the past. Are Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson finally going
to get to a Super Bowl? They have both gotten
so so close both of course League MVPs. Josh Allen
is the defending League MVP. They've gotten so close to toppling
the Kansas City Chiefs, they haven't been able to do
it in the AFC Championship Game. Will one of them
(08:52):
finally get to a super Bowl? Both of them are
super Bowl caliber quarterbacks. Until they get that championship on
their resume, it's always going to be a black mark that,
of course, Patrick Mahomes has over them.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Let me give the graphics folks, by the way, and
everybody that control room props for throwing together these graphics
really quickly.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
These are cool. You know, he got some one, we
got the two.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
If looks like a down marker, even though the down
markers this year will just be there for show because
we're measuring first down. That's one of the storylines I'm
watching for twenty twenty five. We're measuring it hawkeye like
like they do in tennis. Anyway, Lamar Jackson, look, this
is easy for you to say, see that style of playoff,
that style of football doesn't win in the playoffs. Well,
if Mark Andrews, who's usually shorthanded, makes a catch there
(09:36):
in the postseason, maybe that game turns out differently.
Speaker 7 (09:38):
It's hard to put that on Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
But yeah, everybody's going to continue to be chirping until
he wins in the postseason.
Speaker 7 (09:44):
Advances far enough for people's life.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Kissing up to the control room a good way to
not get wrapped Mike in an extra few seconds right there,
so you finish off his answer. Lamar Jackson's contract also
something that he's potentially going to be addressed before the season. Here,
both sides of acknowledge they've add some back and forth.
Will that actually get done prior to the start of
the season. We all know we're on Lamar time number three.
Judy laid on me.
Speaker 6 (10:08):
Again a topic we have talked about the last few years.
What is the Giants quarterback situation going to wind up
looking like? Russell Wilson is the starter going into the
season Hunless, something very unexpected happens during training camp, but
Russell Wilson is going to be the starter.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
That is how they want it.
Speaker 6 (10:26):
The question is how fast is Jackson Dart going to
come along? The Giants have made clear that they would
prefer Jackson Dart the rookie.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
To sit and learn as much as possible. The question
is are the Giants going to be good enough?
Speaker 6 (10:41):
Is Russell Wilson going to be good enough to keep
Jackson Dart on the bench and at what point will
they want.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
To see him?
Speaker 6 (10:47):
One important piece of context here, the Giants have an
extremely difficult schedule this season. They have a really, really
difficult first half of the schedule, so the team could
be much better. The team certainly looks much better on paper,
and the results still may not be showing up in
the win column. And how will that impact the decision
on whether to get Jackson Dart onto the field this season.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
On July twenty sixth and twenty seventh, we do what's
known as Back Together Weekend. We're at all thirty two camps.
I believe Judy, you're with me. We're going to be
at the Giants. I think it's Sunday of that weekend.
Which when you get that assignment for that Back Together weekend,
you either want a Super Bowl contender or you want a.
Speaker 7 (11:26):
Team with juicy training camp storylines.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
And this team has got the juicy training camp storylines,
particularly at the quarterback spot.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Russell Wilson comes in.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
I know you could say some things about how things
have gone the last couple of years in Denver and Pittsburgh,
but there was a level of professionalism, there was a
level of call it swag, Like they always wanted Daniel
Jones to have that kind of swag.
Speaker 7 (11:45):
He never really had it.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
At least Russell Wilson had it.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
So the hopeful that number one, he'll bring it to
the quarterback room and to the position, but also potentially
help that reb revoff On Jackson Dart as.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Well, and Russell Wilson played pretty well out of the
gate last year in Pittsburgh. Obviously, didn't end well for
him or anybody else on the Steelers. He showed flashes
what we've seen him do, mainly pushing the football down
the field. Will that be enough to keep him on
the field? We shall find out. Number four storyline Judy Batista.
Speaker 6 (12:18):
Can the Dallas Cowboys and this is a perennial one
for sure. Can the Dallas Cowboys just be a normal
team without any drama? Could they just get Michael Parsons
under a contract. Can Dak Prescott stay healthy? Can they
just be a highly functioning team. It's a talented roster.
Dak Prescott is still one of the top quarterbacks in
(12:38):
the league. Of course, Brian Schottenheimer is the new head
coach this year. But can there be a measure of
calm around the Dallas Cowboys? Can they finally get rid
of the distractions and just play up to the level
that we think they should be capable of playing.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Did I hear Tom say no when you first posed
the question, I think, yeah, I did.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
I'll probably add the same, but that's fine.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
You lean into it now now Brian Schottenheimer added to
the mix is an interesting one for me because he's
just like, that's such a like a lovable guy like
he saw when Micah Parsons was calling him to say, hey, coach,
I'm just calling to say good night, which was a
social media meme, and.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
He's like, that's awesome, man, Yeah, good night.
Speaker 7 (13:17):
And he had no idea that he was being punk,
but he was totally fine with it.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
So he's gonna roll with the punches and one of
those punches might be early on.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
A little bit of a.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Contract snaffoo here with Michaeh Parsons, which I believe we
have a quote from him today there.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
It is from Fox four.
Speaker 7 (13:33):
I'm just going to get mine no matter what.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
He has made it clear he was willing to show
up for mini camp, even did a little bit of work,
but he said when it comes to training camp, I
want to be out there, but it's not up to me.
It's up to that guy right there in the hat
on the right side. So more work to be done
here with Michah Parsons. We shall see if Brian Schottenheimer
opens his first camp with a very big distraction.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Not pictured right there Michael Parsons agent. His name is
David Bullagett, which I'm sure Marry Jones knows. By this point,
I do anticipate that Michah Parsons will report to Oxnard,
California for training camp. The Cowboys certainly expect that. How
much does he do when he surprised me? Did some
stuff in OTAs we'll find out. But the Cowboys also
have shown, as is well documented, they're willing to wait
(14:16):
a little bit if that's what it takes to get
the type of deal that they ultimately would like to get.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
All right, Number five storyline, Judy.
Speaker 6 (14:25):
Did the Kansas City Chiefs do enough to get back
on top of the NFL? I think the nature of
their Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles b Because
it was such a bad loss, people think that dynasty
is over.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Well not quite. Think they've won three Super Bowls, they
lost two.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
The reason they lost those two was because of the
offensive line.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
They did a lot of work on the offensive line.
Speaker 6 (14:48):
They spent a lot of capital, draft capital, free agent
capital to address the offensive line.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Did they do enough?
Speaker 6 (14:55):
They've also hopefully got some healthy wide receivers. If they
can keep those guys on the the offense should be
more explosive. Again, the Chiefs are still the best team
in the AFC until proven otherwise, I know that the
Philadelphia Eagles handled them easily, But until somebody in the
AFC topples them, I will not believe that the dynasty
(15:18):
is over.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Yeah, Previously, when we saw them have offensive line issues
in the Super Bowls against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, we
saw what they did in the offseason offensive line at priority,
same kind of thing here.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
They had an issue at left.
Speaker 7 (15:30):
Tackle, had to throw Joe Tooney out there.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
Great guard overmatched that left tackle, that's not his natural position.
So they go out and they sign a free agent
in Jalen Moore, and then they go draft Simmons as
well to be their left tackle of the future. So
they feel like they've done enough to shore that spot up.
Tray Smith gets his deal at the guard position, so
they feel good about their offensive line and that it'll
be better than the last time we saw them on
the field.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Fifty days until kickoff, which means Judy's got forty nine
days to come up with forty five more big storylines
in the twenty two five seasons. Speaking of the games,
By the way, he did make one roster move earlier today,
wide receiver Justin Ross, who's been on the team mostly
on the practice squad over the past three years. Asper's
release last week, the Chiefs officially waived him. Today he
(16:14):
can be claimed he was a very good player at
Clemson at a serious injury coming out of school. Minunderstanding
is he should have the interest out there, certainly a
name that fans will be interested to see exactly where
he lands today.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
It would be a great day. Herd day yesterday, get
it down today, got you put down.
Speaker 8 (16:32):
The left and life to the goal lines has cutdown
forty five yard down jump hand off the streets, runs
out of a tackle.
Speaker 9 (16:43):
He's to the twenty fifty ten to the five to
the goal Life touchdown Giants, Tyron break game. What a
thirty three yard bird hand off. Thanks Man Betting with Tracy's.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
A going to morning starting five yard runs.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Time now for the scout Snopebook with our scout Bucky Brooks,
who's got a new story up right now NFL dot
Com Slash Brooks with his twenty twenty five all breakout
team on offense. Land on me, Bucky, give me a
few names that we should be watching for breakout seasons
here in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 10 (17:22):
Okay, we're gonna talk about the most important position in
fantasy football, and that'd be running back.
Speaker 5 (17:26):
So we can go Tyron Tracy from the New York Giants.
Speaker 10 (17:28):
And the reason why I expect him the breakout is
this offense is ready to explode and it'd be much
better than to Day's solved the quarterback situation where Russell
Wilson or Jameis Wilson or Jackson Dart and Tyron Tracy.
You have a former college receiver turn running back who
ran for over eight.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
Hundred yards last year.
Speaker 10 (17:45):
Well, now in this offense where Russell Wilson presumably leading away,
look for him to be a factor, not only as
a runner but catching the ball out the backfield. As
more defenses pay attention to the league neighbors, that's going
to create great opportunities for Tyron Tracy to be big
at wide receiver.
Speaker 5 (18:02):
How about roam A Doonza from the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 10 (18:05):
The Bears have been all about Ben Johnson and how
he's going to fig Caleb Williams. And so when I
think about the play calling, creativity, the growth and development
that we expect from Caleb Williams, more balls should head
in the direction of a Doomsay, big, physical playmaker, someone
who can get it done in the slot or a
wide look for him to have a big breakout season
(18:26):
in year two in.
Speaker 5 (18:27):
The Bears uniform.
Speaker 10 (18:29):
But the guy that I'm most excited about, it's the
quarterback down in Atlanta, Michael Pennox. I was a big
fan coming out of you Dub. I feel like he's
throw the best deep ball that we saw in that
draft class, and I think it really parlays.
Speaker 5 (18:43):
It translates into huge success for the Falcons.
Speaker 10 (18:46):
When I think about the weapons around him, the running
backs b John Robinson, Tyler Igier. On the outside, I
think about Drake London, Kyle Pitts, Darnielle Moody. There are
a lot of playmakers that should make the game e
for Michael Pennis And as we think about him suddenly,
because he just gave us a short sample size, now
that he knows exactly what he's doing, he understands the
(19:08):
scheme with all the mental reps, man, I think this
office is going to be explosive, and it's going to
be explosive because the deep ball is back in Atlanta
because Michael Pennix is at the him.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
I'm reading this story right now, Bucky NFL dot com
slash Brooks.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
You're tight end on here. Nobody go to.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
NFL dot com slash Brooks and read this because I
would not have thought of this name as a top
fantasy target. Nobody go to NFL dot com slash Brooks
and read Bucky's story. Bucky, thank you very much. As always,
speaking of Michael Pennick Junior, he of course took over
for Kirk Cousins down the stretch of the twenty twenty
four season, and while the win loss record was not
(19:45):
what anyone would have hoped, there were certainly flashes of
what Pennix can do. He recently sat down with Michael
Vick to talk about how he prepared to play even
when he wasn't on the field.
Speaker 11 (19:58):
Mental stuff that you take away from it. Obviously you
can't be in the game, but sitting on the sideline
playing the game in my head, you know the best I.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
Can because obviously you can't mental relate.
Speaker 11 (20:06):
Yeah, you can't assimilate the pressure and stuff like that,
but uh, you know, just minche Wot's hearing the play
card in my helmet, you know, and just thinking about
who I would throw it to in those situations.
Speaker 5 (20:15):
But it was good man.
Speaker 11 (20:16):
He like obviously Kurt, he did a lot of great
things in this league, and he was in his thirteen season,
so it was like it was good to be able
to be somebody by somebody that you know had that
experience and doing at a high level.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
All right, Mike Carafalo, Let's talk a little bit more
about the second year quarterbacks who did not get on
the field much or at all in their rookie seasons.
Michael Pennix junior in Atlanta and JJ McCarthy at the
Minnesota Vikings. Which one of them do you think is
in the best position for success this season.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
It's a tough one because you could look up there
at JJ McCarthy and see everything he's surrounded by.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
He's playing in.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
The dough while they're both playing in at home obviously,
and he's got a great offensive coaching stat But I'm
gonna go Michael for a few reasons.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Judy won. He had at.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Least that little bit of regular season experience, and he
didn't wilt.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
He played a Sunday night football game.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
This is the throw I was gonna talk about that Dart.
I think it was to tie the game or there
was a clutch situation, and he showed.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
His arm strength.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
He showed he was willing to rely upon that arm
strengthen and look at the guys he throw through. I mean,
I'll take Drake London, I will take Jon Robinson out
of the backfield.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
We'll see about Kyle Pitts. They're still waiting to cash
in on that.
Speaker 7 (21:27):
But Ray Ray McLeod made plays.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Darnell Mooney right there, he made plays as well, So
it's not like there's not a great supporting cast there.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
And there's a really good offensive line.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
So and I like what the offensive coaching staff their
their philosophy.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
It didn't quite work with Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Well now they've got an entire offseason to gear it
up on Penis. And you might say, maybe it's not
a great situation because Cousins is.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Behind him the minute he struggles.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
But I don't think Michael Pennix is worried about that
or he's gonna wilt because of that.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Give me Peedicks, Judy, all right, I will go the
other side.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
J J.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
McCarthy. I agree with you.
Speaker 6 (21:59):
This was not an easy choice, but I go with
JJ for a few reasons. First of all, he's going
to helm a team that won fourteen games last season,
and he's got really, really great receivers, Justin Jefferson one
of them to throw to, and maybe most of all
in his corner is Kevin O'Connell, who is the current
(22:20):
vogue in quarterback whispers and play callers in the NFL.
Think about what he did with sam Donold's career, and
now he has a quarterback that he can mold from
the very start of his career. And don't forget that
they are so sold on JJ McCarthy that they let
all the other quarterbacks leave in Minnesota. They made pursery
attempts to keep some of them, but certainly didn't bowl
(22:42):
any of them over. With the possibility of being the starter.
It is JJ McCarthy's team going forward. I like the
position he is in, Mike, thank you very much.
Speaker 5 (22:53):
And when we.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Return, yeah, I'm just going to start when you making
your point. Was one of the other points for me
for Penis is that, like, JJ McCarthy's got to hit
the ground running right. If this thing drops off a
little bit, it's gonna be like, well, this is a
team that was humming last year and winning all those
games again, the pressure on Pennix. His cousin's behind him
even if he didn't play well, He's an established guy.
They both have pressure. But JJ McCarthy's got to hit
(23:14):
the ground run. It's not gonna be like that game
with Penn State Michigan where they ran it like eight times. No,
you're gonna have to throw the ball thirty to forty times, JJ.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
No question.
Speaker 6 (23:23):
Enormous expectations at the Minnesota Vikings, and when we come back,
we're going to talk about another team that has enormous expectations,
the Chicago Bears, with someone who knows them really well
and will accomplish great things with the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Brian Orlaker will join me next on The Insiders.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Matt Right ruling your side, DJ morn get some down,
righter Locker with a takeaway craner. Locker ticks off Aaron
Rodgers or the red Zone the hashleback for sure.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
For the fun that's up, touchdown, look at the.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Dream of things.
Speaker 6 (24:10):
Well, if you're a Chicago Bears fan, this guy needs
no introduction. That music video told you everything you need
to remember about Brian Urlacker, Chicago Bears legend, Hall of
Famer and now guest on The Insiders, Brian, great to see.
Speaker 4 (24:23):
How have you been, Thanks having on. I appreciate Judie.
Speaker 12 (24:26):
I've been good, playing a bunch of golf, bringing out
with my kids, just do a little traveling. Kind of
enjoyed myself. Somemmers are nice. All it's always warm her
and are as long, especially in the summer, but we
get out here a little bit and go go see
a little bit of the country a little bit in
the summer.
Speaker 6 (24:41):
Well, we really appreciate you taking a few moments out
of your day to spend time with us. I want
to get to the football park right away because obviously
there have been a lot of changes around Hallis Hall
this all season, pretty big expectations for the season. Give
me your initial impressions of the changes, Ben Johnson, what
you're hoping.
Speaker 12 (24:59):
For for this I'm excited about the changes. I like
Ben Johnson. I like Dennis Allen as a de cordator.
I think he's done a really good job throughout his career,
especially down in New Orleans as a decordinator. You know,
people are kind of doubting Caleb. I think Caleb was
the guy for the quarterback there. You know, I think
his rookie year was tough, but he played pretty good.
His number if you just look at his numbers, he
didn't throw a lot of pigs, didn't turn them all
(25:20):
over that much, and made some big plays. So I'm
looking for a lot of him this year. They're in
a tough division. I think that's one thing we're going
to gainst him is a division is really tough, but
they're going to be better as well, So you got
to look at.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
That as part of that. He's going to be his
second year.
Speaker 12 (25:34):
They got better up front on both sides of the football,
which I needed to do.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
I'm excited.
Speaker 12 (25:38):
I just I think with Ben Johnson at the helm
calling the place and put them position to make place
and other guys have to make plays, they should be
a lot better.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Well, you mentioned Caleb.
Speaker 6 (25:49):
I know you've said in the past you think he
could have been the rookie of the Year if the
circumstances were a little bit better around him in Chicago
last season. From a defensive players of you, give me
a scouting report on Caleb.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
What does he do well? What does he need to
improve this season to get to the level we think
he will be.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
I think number one, get rid of the football.
Speaker 12 (26:09):
You know, you watch these great quarterbacks and how fast
the ball has gone just from spiking. From my perspective
when I played Rogers, the ball has gone so fast, Brady,
they threw a quick Peyton Manning breeze. The ball was
gone so fast they didn't take a bunch of sacks.
And I understand that has a lot to do with
the offensive line as well. But get rid of the
ball a little faster. He's dangerous though, you know. You
get him out of the pocket scrambling around back there,
(26:31):
he's gonna make some plays.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
And we saw that a little bit last year.
Speaker 12 (26:34):
I think, as a defensive player, keep him in the pocket,
keep him in front of you when he scrambles, hit
him if he doesn't slide. But he's a dangerous guy.
I think he has a lot of potential and a
chance to be really good.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
You mentioned also the defense.
Speaker 6 (26:49):
They hired Dennis Allen as the defensive coordinator the defensive
The defense certainly struggled a little bit last season. They
seem to focus this off season on shoring up the
pass rush. What are you hoping to see from that
defense and from Dennis Allen's scheme, I.
Speaker 12 (27:04):
Think As a defensive player, it starts up front. You know,
you get if you can get pressure with four and
not have the blitzer. Just put your secondary in your
linebacker better positions. You know, being able to get pressure
with four guys is a big deal. They didn't do
that a lot last year. Not as many takeaways as
you'd like to see from a defense, but the ads
an aggressive guy. He's going to get after the quarterback.
He's going to make sure he gets pressured and make
them uncomfortable. They have good players. I think that there's
(27:27):
no there's no doubt they have really good players on defense.
Does a matter of putting them in better positions I
see them taking a step forward to get this year.
It's they've always had a good defense. That's never been
an issue in Chicago. They've always had guys that can
get to the football and make plays. I don't see
that being any different this year.
Speaker 6 (27:43):
Is there one guy, either a new guy or a
returner that you're really looking forward to watching this season?
Speaker 12 (27:49):
O fan Tremaine Edwards as a four mili linebacker. Myself,
I like watching play. He's very similar body type to mind.
He's six five hours only six four, but he runs,
he hits, he tacked, he gets takeaway as he puts
on the quarterback. I think he's a guy that could
take a big step in his defense as well. But
he's always been when he was in Buffalo like watching
him now like and more now in Chicago, and I.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
Want to turn our attention to the Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame induction is coming up in just
a couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
You went in.
Speaker 6 (28:17):
Believe it or not, that with seven years ago does
not seem like it could have possibly been that long.
Here among the class is Jared Allen, who obviously, you
guys saw a lot of each other during your careers
in the NFC.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
North tell us why Jared Allen belongs in the Hall
of Fame.
Speaker 4 (28:34):
I was surprised to get all his first ballot.
Speaker 12 (28:36):
Honestly, I know it's hard to get in, but Jared,
you know, you look at his sacks per game throughout
his career. I think he's number two in sacks per
game in NFL history, which is a big deal. I
want to say Reggie was number one. I could be
wrong with Bruce Smith. They played a long time, but
just his motor was unbelievable and they played Kansas City, Chicago, Minnesota,
and I think he ended up at Carolina. But his
motor just never stopped running. As a as a guy
(28:59):
who explaining with guys who play that way, he would
have been fun to be teammates with. But he just
never stopped going. You see the effort every game. Just
a super high motor. Great guy. Great got to be around,
and he always produced. You know, no matter where he
was at, his sack numbers are always up there, fumbles.
Just just the guy that made plays, not only in
the passing game, but he played the run as well.
Speaker 4 (29:18):
So I'm happy for him. He deserved to be in there.
Speaker 12 (29:20):
I wish you would have been a little earlier, but
we want you to get in know that stuff really matters.
Speaker 6 (29:26):
All right, Brian, Before we let you return to your summer,
we know you got a pretty cool thing coming up.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Tell us what you're doing with city Cruises.
Speaker 12 (29:33):
Yeah, So on July twentieth Sunday, we're gonna got myself,
Alex Brown and Rex Grossman, three of the guys from
the two thousand and six Safty championship team and Super
Bowl losing team. We're gonna go like a little boat
cruise there in Chicago and city cruises and just meet
the fans. I think I'm not sure how many fans
are gonna be on there, but we're going to take
a cruiserund Lake, Michigan. We're gonna have Jeff jonniek on there,
(29:53):
who was the Bearers play by play guy, and just
talk about that season and what it was like, how
much fun we had, and just kind of in this
a little bit and kind of be it's kind of
an intimate setting because it's not it's not a big boat,
so you'll be it's not like it's a big ballroom
where you won't be able to see it. So we'll
be right around everybody and just talking about that season.
How much tell me and we'll be accomplished.
Speaker 6 (30:13):
Brian, that sounds like a blast. Thank you for taking
a few minutes to join us before you get on
the party. But we really appreciate it and we hope
you'll come back to the Insiders during the season again.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
Thanks for having on. I appreciate it had off.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Barry Sanders fight. Sanders like to tackle.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
I've been a better runner.
Speaker 7 (30:33):
Have ever seen it?
Speaker 5 (30:34):
You see Barry Sanders.
Speaker 10 (30:35):
Make the moves he makes on this run you know
why this is the best running back, if not the
best player in the National Football League.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
There goes your feet. He's got the ball, he's not running,
he's floating, he's not cutting.
Speaker 8 (30:46):
Back, and now he's gone the very spright.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
What's the wow?
Speaker 4 (30:52):
You think you gotta tackle some of those bolts?
Speaker 5 (30:55):
There's only one guy in this game that makes you
just saw that maybe.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
A summer fresh yet what an incredible.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Rore by the best back of the National Football like
Barry Shanders. Yeah, and by the way, all these years later,
we still haven't seen anybody like this guy, fifty.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Seven year old Barry Sanders.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
I don't know if he can maybe juke that way anymore,
but I'm sure he could probably break some ankles amongst
those in their fifties. Right now, Barry Sanders fifty seven
years old, he gets the cheesy insider's birthday music like
we all get. Congratulations Barry, Happy birthday to you, my friend.
Hey rookie, Hey rookies. Everybody get into the facility. We
(31:40):
had six teams report yesterday down to the bottom. Today
the Alliance and Broncos rookies joining the Chargers veterans.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Folks, I don't know if you noticed it, football season,
Baseball All Star Game is over, Judy.
Speaker 5 (31:55):
I mean, we'll talk.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
About the second half of your Mets and our Phillies
duking it out, but whatever, it's football season. That's the
point that I'm trying to make, Bucky Brooks as you're
back to join us. So let's talk about the rookies,
and let's talk about the Broncos rookies. Tell me which
Broncos rookie is going to have the biggest impact in never.
Speaker 10 (32:12):
Well, Jday Baron, the do it all playmaker in the secondary,
is going to join past or ten and help this
defense go to another level, which is hard because they're
already a top five unit. But this guy can play
anywhere in the back end, where the out wide, in
the slot, if he had to play safety.
Speaker 5 (32:28):
He can do all of those things.
Speaker 10 (32:30):
And what it's going to do is allow Vance Joseph
to heat up opponents to a new level. And remember,
this is a team that really get out to the
pascity a lot of creative things up front. But now
because they can play various coverages in the back end,
he could turn up the notch even more.
Speaker 5 (32:45):
Look for this defense to be even more.
Speaker 10 (32:48):
Impactful as he get a big time playmaker to put
as a centerpiece in the secondary.
Speaker 6 (32:56):
I am looking at another do it all playmaker and
that's our j hard Be the rookie running back. He's
not going to be there quite yet because he is
unsigned like so many other second rounders, but he is
a do it all guy.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
He can run the ball, he can catch the ball
out of the backfield.
Speaker 6 (33:12):
We know that Sean Payton would like to run the
ball a little bit more, and he is the kind
of guy who can take some of the pressure off
Bonnicks R. J.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Harvey when he gets there. Looking forward to watching him.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
So I'll picture Gedday Baron signing a paper that was
his contract, which leaves only one first round pick yet
to sign in Cincinnati.
Speaker 7 (33:30):
We shall see what happens with Tamar Stewart there.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
He's not going back to school. Everybody relaxed on that,
all right. The Lions the other team with rookies that
reported to camp today. Bucky which Lions rookie is going
to have the biggest impact and does he sport a mullett.
Speaker 5 (33:47):
A nice look about it.
Speaker 10 (33:48):
Tate Ratledge coming from Georgia being able to tip in
for Frank Ragnow the Lion's office line is going under
a little bit of a makeover, has some older guys depart,
and so Ratledge and mouse Fraser both guys who have
opportunities to play.
Speaker 5 (34:03):
And the thing that we know about the Detroit Lions,
for all the.
Speaker 10 (34:06):
Glitz and glamour, the flash to was az that was
their offense, really their blue collar unit that relies on
the offensive line to set the tone and as long
as Ratlede is able to step in there man the pivot,
make sure all the protections are solid, but also give
them some of their attitude. In the running game, the
Detroit lines are going to be the Detroit lines, meaning
they're gonna bully people at the point of attack, they're
(34:28):
gonna throw the ball all over the yard, and they're
going to light up scoreboards. But it starts with the
offensive line, which is why I like Ratlits and even
Mouse Razers to come in and contribute.
Speaker 6 (34:38):
All Right, I'm going to go a little bit off
track here and say the two rookies that I am
looking forward to are the new coordinators now in Detroit. Now,
John Morton is not technically a rookie offensive coordinator. He
was an offensive coordinator for one season with the New
York Jets. He had nowhere near the level of talent
that he's inheriting with the Detroit Lions and Calvin Sheppard,
who is a rookie defensive coordinat they are replacing two
(35:01):
guys who went on to become head.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Coaches in the NFL.
Speaker 6 (35:04):
Huge expectations for that team, huge pressure on that team
to stay at the level that they were at. I
am looking forward to seeing how these two coordinators perform
this year.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
Good answer, Judy, You got those creative juices flow, and
that's what you get this time of year. Once we
get into the season, that stuff all gets beaten down.
You're just trying to survive. But right now a creative
answer to the question. Nice job, Judy Batizda and Bucky Brooks.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Football is back.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Celebrate as teams across the league take the field for
Back Together Weekend, presented by YouTube TV, but two full
days of practices, player interviews, and behind the scenes axis.
It's a can't miss NFL reunion. July twenty sixth and
twenty seventh. Go to NFL dot com slash Back Together
Weekend for more information. A lot of those training camps
(35:52):
in is going to be hot, hot, hot, which brings
us to another training camp competition. Keyp index I admit,
welcome back to the insiders, Tom Pilaicero, Judy Battista, Mike Garatfolo,
and Bucky Brooks.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Here's the way that this works. It's your first time
seeing it.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Here we talk about one of the many battles we're
looking forward to see him playing out in train camp
and the preseason. And then are panelists here tell you
exactly how hot is it? No, that's not a Jerry
Seinfeld set up. Mike, I want to come to you
on Saints quarterbacks.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
How hot is it? Oh, it's about a seventy five,
that's what I put it.
Speaker 7 (36:31):
But if you've ever been to Metaree in July or August,
you know.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
It's not the heat, it's the humidity.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
And frankly, look, I'd probably put this a little bit
higher if we expected more out of the Saints this year,
but I'll peg it right into seventy five and it's
going to be a heated competition now. Right now, Tyler
Schuck is part of that cluster of second round picks
that isn't signed yet and Frankly, he's one of the
reasons that there's a big hold up because he's got
a shot at a starting job right out of the gate.
(36:57):
You don't usually see that with a second round quarterback.
So a lot of folks around them are saying, hey,
he may have the leverage to really get more guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Money than usually seeing these deals.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
In the meantime, Spencer Rattler has recently been thrown with
some of the guys. Tyler Shuck had a throwing session.
It's like, my throwing session is better than your a
throwing session, all that stuff. Throw it all in the mix,
and Jake Hayn, we got ourselves a solid seventy five
down a metory.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
All right, Judy, I come to you on something we'll
be talking about. I would venture to say, every single
day we've got every preseason game for this team live
on NFL Network. There is one very big reason, really
four reasons for that Browns quarterback battle.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
How hot this is a scorcher.
Speaker 6 (37:42):
I give this a full one hundred out of one hundred.
This is not just one quarterback battle. It's two quarterback battles.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
Really.
Speaker 6 (37:51):
It's a battle between the veterans Flacco and Kenny Pickett,
and then a battle between the rookies Dylan Gabriel and
Shador Sanders. Not only do we not know who is
going to be the starting quarterback, we don't know what
order they're going to finish in. We don't know how
it might change during the season. A few things to
keep in mind here. The Browns have a very, very
(38:11):
tough first half of the schedule. Maybe that influences the decision. Obviously,
all eyes are going to be on Shador Sanders. We
will see if he can move his way up the
depth chart. But this is a solid one hundred out
of one hundred in the dog Pound.
Speaker 1 (38:27):
I requested a sound effect and that was definitely funnier
even than I was thinking. Bucky one for you too.
Packers wide receive. Okay, now, Packers wide receiver one.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
How hot is this?
Speaker 10 (38:41):
Well, Tom, if you've been begging for the Package to
take a receiver in the first round for like twenty years, because.
Speaker 5 (38:46):
Said, there's one hundred out of one hundred. So the
Packers finally succumbed to public pressure.
Speaker 10 (38:51):
They take Matthew Golden from the University of Texas to
be their new number one receiver, and the competition is.
Speaker 5 (38:58):
Thick for the position. You think Jayden Reed and Christian Watson,
some of the other guys that they have.
Speaker 10 (39:03):
Christian Watson obviously he's injured, but some of the other
guys that they have battling for the spot.
Speaker 5 (39:07):
Matthew Golden has to be the guy that is in
the mix, and so all odds on him, and I
would be honest, this is self serving. He's weighing number
twenty two, my old number in Green Bay. So I
gotta Kevin have my guy the inside.
Speaker 10 (39:21):
Trent, because I want to see twenty two running around
making plays. But after we beg for the Packers to
finally do it when Aaron Rodgers was there, they waited.
Speaker 5 (39:29):
After Aaron Rodgers was gone. They got to be the
hottest battle that we've seen. Jord Love getting a new
number one receiver.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Matthew Golden, don't see a ton of number twenty two
wide receivers. You know you just since Hee a whole
lot of one hundreds on the training camp battle heat index.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Bucky, Mike Judy, thank you very much. Still want to come.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
On this edition of The Insiders, including a quote you're
gonna want to hear from that man.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
CJ.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Gardner Johnson.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
He once again he is no longer an Eagle, and
he doesn't sound overly thrilled about the logit.
Speaker 2 (40:03):
We'll explain after this. It's Ian Suders.
Speaker 1 (40:10):
The wait is over and the countdown to kickoff has begun.
Single game tickets for the twenty twenty five NFL season
are on sale now. Visit NFL dot com slash tickets
to purchase through the NFL ticket network including Ticketmaster, Seat Geek,
and Sports Illustrated Tickets. Some more news around the NFL today,
(40:31):
the Bengals inducting two more former players into their Ring
of Honor, Dave Lapham, who has been with the team
for coming up on a thousand games both as a
player and a broadcaster, and also one of the best
names nicknames in NFL history, Leap and Lamar Paris. They're
both headed into the Bengals Ring of Honor. Two more
names also revealed on the annual NFL Top one hundred,
(40:53):
Vita Villa, the Buccaneers defensive lineman checking at number seventy six,
Patrick Queen, a linebacker of the Steelers at seventy five.
Two more released every day through late August on X
and NFL plus Manny Paciow for some reason making a
visit to the Raiders facility. He's wearing sunglasses indoors, he's
(41:18):
dancing with a football. Yeah, does he think that's football? Like,
I'm not certain, but you know that's where we stand here.
Speaker 5 (41:30):
CJ.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Gardner Johnson, appearing on the Pivot podcast, recently asked why
he was traded from the Eagles and the Texans offered
up this quote, scared of a competitor, simple as that
second time as welcome you back to the insiders, Tom
Pellicero and Judy Batista as well as Mike Garafalo.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
That CJ. Gardner Johnson has moved on from Philadelphia. You
see that quote, Judy, your thoughts.
Speaker 6 (41:55):
I just went back and thought about when he was
when Howie Roseman got of him, didn't he tweet something
like they probably won't win a Super Bowl without me,
Like it's just all part of the thing. It's I
would miss him if I were a beat writer, CJ.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
I mean, listen, he left, he came back. They felt
like they needed this wag.
Speaker 3 (42:14):
Now they had to make it's a financial thing foremost,
like they had to make tough decisions across the roster.
And they get a guard back in Keny, hungry a
lot cheaper, but not scared of a competitor.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
They like to compete in Philly.
Speaker 1 (42:25):
Top another safety of chieves teams the off season can
bind them cold safety.
Speaker 2 (42:30):
He's on the show tomorrow, Roger McCurry's on the show tomorrow.
We're on the show tomorrow.
Speaker 10 (42:34):
What more do you need?
Speaker 2 (42:35):
See you tomorrow. Seventies
Just fifty short days until kickoff now, and we are
counting down the biggest storylines of the twenty twenty five
NFL season. Judy Matteiza will reveal her top five list tonight,
and key contract questions are just part of the picture.
Young quarterbacks are always a story this time of year,
and it is not just the rookies.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Could Michael Pennix Junior be a breakout star?
Speaker 1 (00:32):
And what can we realistically expect from JJ McCarthy after
the Vikings QB missed his entire rookie season. We will
break down new faces in the same places. One face
we never get tired of seeing Brian or Lacker who
is getting ready to board a boat with Bears fans
seriously and he will tell you why they should be
just a bit more merry than usual, open bar or
(00:55):
not welcome inside with the insiders alongside Judy Matista and
Mike Garafolo, I am Tom Pelisero.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
That is right.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
We got fifty days until kickoff. The Chargers today became
the first full squad to report to training camp. One
week from today, all thirty two teams will officially be
in camp. Football right around the court. For now, we've
still got some business to take care of off the
field to get some of those players on the field.
(01:24):
That's what the Denver Broncos did last night with their
first round draft pick, John A. Behren, the number twenty
overall pick, agreeing to terms on his four year, fully
guaranteed rookie contract that, like all those first round contracts,
includes a fifth year option. Only one first round pick
still unsigned. That is the guy taking three spots ahead
of him, Shamar Stewart, who remains in a standoff over
(01:46):
contract language with the Bengals. Coleston Loveland, the Bears rookie
tight end, another first round draft pick, went high in
the draft despite the fact that he underwent offseason surgery
on the AC joint in one of his shoulders, was
not able to do a whole lot during the spring.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
But sounds like Loveland is progressing well.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
It feels good, really good.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Yeah, mess it spell for sure.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
What's the difference in how in spell even since the
last time we talked to you in June, you feel
like it's made a lot of progress.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Yeah, strength strengths there.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
You know, the scars issue barely there anymore. So it's
just yes, it's all every everything is increasing which is good.
Speaker 5 (02:21):
Is the plan to be ready to go for the
started training camp?
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yes, the plan craft full go like you know, restrictions
are not.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Sure a plan.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Don't go down that water slide. Colston bears rookie's report
to training camp on Saturday. Charters full squad already in
the building. Say hello to Cameron Dicker, who looks like
he's ready to join the Tour de France, especially when
he's drinking that energy. Drake Lad McConkey also in the house,
predictably a slightly more low key for the Friend of
(02:50):
the Insider's arrival today out there in El Segundo. Na
Gie Harris mean while also expected to be in the
building today, but not going to be ready for these
training camp gm Joe Hortiz speaking with local reporters, including
Daniel Poppers, saying that Naji Harris is expected to begin
training camp on the non football injury list. He was
(03:11):
injured suffered an eye injury in a fourth of July
fireworks explosion. Hortes indicated that from what he has heard Mike,
they're not overly concerned with this injury based on the
feedback they've gotten from doctors at Stanford, but Hortiz said
something like this, there is also still a bit of
an unknown it being worth monitoring here exactly when Nagi
(03:33):
is able to get on the field.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
What more do we know?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Right when Hortiz spoke to the media, Nigi Harris had
not yet reported, so they haven't had a chance to
get their own look at the injury. They are taking
the word of the agent and those around him, And
we heard from Najie Harris's agent saying it's a superficial
wound to the eye or injury that he suffered, which
is his way of saying, you know, no big deal, right,
(03:58):
Everything's okay, But that's fine. That's what the agent is
supposed to say until Najie Harris gets in and until
the chargers get their own look at it and their
own doctors make an evaluation. And look, I did have
some people because I put out that news and said, hey,
this is the injury that his agent is saying is superficial,
and they were like, oh yeah, I go to the
hospital all the time and get treated by doctors all
the time for injuries that are superficial.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I get it.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
We're getting that solely from the agent. But now we
are going to get answers. The Chargers are going to
get answers, and we shall see what happens in the
meantime duty. It looks like Omari and Hampton, at least
the rookie is going to have a clearer path until
Najie Harris gets on the field to get more reps
and maybe make more of a statement early on.
Speaker 6 (04:37):
Right, Omar and Hampton was going to get a whole
lot of reps anyway, whether Najie Harris was there or not.
But certainly now he is going to get the overwhelming
amount of the workload. This is a team that wants
to lean into the run, right. Harpball could not be
any more in love with Justin Herbert, but he wants
a much more balanced offensive attack. He wants to be
(04:57):
able to run the ball. That is why they draft
Hampton so he will get an enormous amount of the workload. Now,
he was going to get a big amount even if
Najie Harris was there. And then hopefully they get Naji
Harris into camp very soon. Hopefully the eye injury is
indeed just superficial. The group that they're going to have
on the practice field initially is not going to look
(05:19):
much like the offensive group that they hope to have
on the field when the season kicks off. For instance,
obviously they hope Nagie Harris is healthy by then. Trey Harris,
the wide receiver they drafted in the second round, is
caught up in the same sort of contract situation that
so many other second rounders are caught up in, so
he is unsigned. And Mike Williams, the receiver who is
back with the Chargers, is also not going to be
(05:41):
on the field.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
So right now, it's sort of an incomplete group that
the Charger are going to put out there.
Speaker 6 (05:45):
Initially, of course they are reporting very early, but eventually
they hope to have this whole group together. Of course,
they hope to get Trey Harris signed, as all of
these second rounders hopefully gets signed in the next few days,
and then they will be cohesive, hopefully when Najie Harris
gets healthy.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Fifty one days away from the Chargers opener against the
Chiefs on a Friday night in Brazil. But then I
mentioned fifty days until the opener. It is Cowboys Eagles
in Week one. That is what we are continuing to
count down to. And with fifty days until the season
kicks off, it felt like a good time to talk
about some of the biggest storylines of the entire season,
(06:24):
not just the various contractual things we'll be working through
here leading up to most teams reporting for training camp
in the middle of next week. But Judy, we're talking
about actual football coming up soon. Giving your first of
the biggest five storylines ahead.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Of us in the twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 6 (06:41):
Well shocking it involves Aaron Rodgers, which has been the
biggest storyline for the last two years as well, but
this time it is Aaron Rodgers at the Steelers, and
he's a symbol of what the Steelers are doing.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
He's a big piece of what the Steelers are doing.
Speaker 6 (06:54):
They're going all in this season around Aaron Rodgers' veteran
Leyden team. Of course, they got DK Metcalf at wide
receiver as well. They are making a push for a
Super Bowl. They keep getting to the playoffs. We know this,
and then they get halted. They brought in Aaron Rodgers.
They weren't happy with their quarterback play last year. Aaron
(07:14):
Rodgers has made it pretty clear that he believes this
will be the final season of his career. Well, the
Steelers are going to make a push to try to
get him to another Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Judy, you're seeing that the work that he did at
mini camp, and there was not much work that he
did in mini camp. I was there Mike Tomlins speaking
to the media and we asked him about the fact
that Rodgers wasn't there for the entire spring, And it's
the confidence in Rodgers that they had that he was
going to be able to arrive at training camp and
hit the ground running and get caught up by week one. Well,
here we are and now here and I was thrown
(07:45):
with his guys on the side. He was thrown with
DK Metcalf all the way back in the spring. But
now comes the real work. Now comes the time at
which he has got to get caught up. So this
is definitely something we're going to be watching in training
camp to see how comfortable he is, how comfortable he looks.
Speaker 7 (07:57):
I don't think, well, well, maybe I shouldn't say that.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
I'll just say dont think we'll see him the preseason, but
Mike Toama loves to play his guys in the preseason,
so we shall see.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
It's going to be interesting to see how quickly he
can get caught.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slave is going
to be a vastly different group of stars at these
big names on that Steelers team. They don't necessarily need
Aaron Rodgers to be a star, Judy, they just need
him to play better than what they've had at the quarterback.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Position in recent years.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
What's your number two storyline for the twenty twenty five
NFL season.
Speaker 6 (08:29):
This is also a storyline we have talked about in
the past. Are Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson finally going
to get to a Super Bowl? They have both gotten
so so close both of course League MVPs. Josh Allen
is the defending League MVP. They've gotten so close to toppling
the Kansas City Chiefs, they haven't been able to do
it in the AFC Championship Game. Will one of them
(08:52):
finally get to a super Bowl? Both of them are
super Bowl caliber quarterbacks. Until they get that championship on
their resume, it's always going to be a black mark that,
of course, Patrick Mahomes has over them.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Let me give the graphics folks, by the way, and
everybody that control room props for throwing together these graphics
really quickly.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
These are cool. You know, he got some one, we
got the two.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
If looks like a down marker, even though the down
markers this year will just be there for show because
we're measuring first down. That's one of the storylines I'm
watching for twenty twenty five. We're measuring it hawkeye like
like they do in tennis. Anyway, Lamar Jackson, look, this
is easy for you to say, see that style of playoff,
that style of football doesn't win in the playoffs. Well,
if Mark Andrews, who's usually shorthanded, makes a catch there
(09:36):
in the postseason, maybe that game turns out differently.
Speaker 7 (09:38):
It's hard to put that on Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
But yeah, everybody's going to continue to be chirping until
he wins in the postseason.
Speaker 7 (09:44):
Advances far enough for people's life.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Kissing up to the control room a good way to
not get wrapped Mike in an extra few seconds right there,
so you finish off his answer. Lamar Jackson's contract also
something that he's potentially going to be addressed before the season. Here,
both sides of acknowledge they've add some back and forth.
Will that actually get done prior to the start of
the season. We all know we're on Lamar time number three.
Judy laid on me.
Speaker 6 (10:08):
Again a topic we have talked about the last few years.
What is the Giants quarterback situation going to wind up
looking like? Russell Wilson is the starter going into the
season Hunless, something very unexpected happens during training camp, but
Russell Wilson is going to be the starter.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
That is how they want it.
Speaker 6 (10:26):
The question is how fast is Jackson Dart going to
come along? The Giants have made clear that they would
prefer Jackson Dart the rookie.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
To sit and learn as much as possible. The question
is are the Giants going to be good enough?
Speaker 6 (10:41):
Is Russell Wilson going to be good enough to keep
Jackson Dart on the bench and at what point will
they want.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
To see him?
Speaker 6 (10:47):
One important piece of context here, the Giants have an
extremely difficult schedule this season. They have a really, really
difficult first half of the schedule, so the team could
be much better. The team certainly looks much better on paper,
and the results still may not be showing up in
the win column. And how will that impact the decision
on whether to get Jackson Dart onto the field this season.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
On July twenty sixth and twenty seventh, we do what's
known as Back Together Weekend. We're at all thirty two camps.
I believe Judy, you're with me. We're going to be
at the Giants. I think it's Sunday of that weekend.
Which when you get that assignment for that Back Together weekend,
you either want a Super Bowl contender or you want a.
Speaker 7 (11:26):
Team with juicy training camp storylines.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
And this team has got the juicy training camp storylines,
particularly at the quarterback spot.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Russell Wilson comes in.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
I know you could say some things about how things
have gone the last couple of years in Denver and Pittsburgh,
but there was a level of professionalism, there was a
level of call it swag, Like they always wanted Daniel
Jones to have that kind of swag.
Speaker 7 (11:45):
He never really had it.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
At least Russell Wilson had it.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
So the hopeful that number one, he'll bring it to
the quarterback room and to the position, but also potentially
help that reb revoff On Jackson Dart as.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Well, and Russell Wilson played pretty well out of the
gate last year in Pittsburgh. Obviously, didn't end well for
him or anybody else on the Steelers. He showed flashes
what we've seen him do, mainly pushing the football down
the field. Will that be enough to keep him on
the field? We shall find out. Number four storyline Judy Batista.
Speaker 6 (12:18):
Can the Dallas Cowboys and this is a perennial one
for sure. Can the Dallas Cowboys just be a normal
team without any drama? Could they just get Michael Parsons
under a contract. Can Dak Prescott stay healthy? Can they
just be a highly functioning team. It's a talented roster.
Dak Prescott is still one of the top quarterbacks in
(12:38):
the league. Of course, Brian Schottenheimer is the new head
coach this year. But can there be a measure of
calm around the Dallas Cowboys? Can they finally get rid
of the distractions and just play up to the level
that we think they should be capable of playing.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Did I hear Tom say no when you first posed
the question, I think, yeah, I did.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
I'll probably add the same, but that's fine.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
You lean into it now now Brian Schottenheimer added to
the mix is an interesting one for me because he's
just like, that's such a like a lovable guy like
he saw when Micah Parsons was calling him to say, hey, coach,
I'm just calling to say good night, which was a
social media meme, and.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
He's like, that's awesome, man, Yeah, good night.
Speaker 7 (13:17):
And he had no idea that he was being punk,
but he was totally fine with it.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
So he's gonna roll with the punches and one of
those punches might be early on.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
A little bit of a.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Contract snaffoo here with Michaeh Parsons, which I believe we
have a quote from him today there.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
It is from Fox four.
Speaker 7 (13:33):
I'm just going to get mine no matter what.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
He has made it clear he was willing to show
up for mini camp, even did a little bit of work,
but he said when it comes to training camp, I
want to be out there, but it's not up to me.
It's up to that guy right there in the hat
on the right side. So more work to be done
here with Michah Parsons. We shall see if Brian Schottenheimer
opens his first camp with a very big distraction.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Not pictured right there Michael Parsons agent. His name is
David Bullagett, which I'm sure Marry Jones knows. By this point,
I do anticipate that Michah Parsons will report to Oxnard,
California for training camp. The Cowboys certainly expect that. How
much does he do when he surprised me? Did some
stuff in OTAs we'll find out. But the Cowboys also
have shown, as is well documented, they're willing to wait
(14:16):
a little bit if that's what it takes to get
the type of deal that they ultimately would like to get.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
All right, Number five storyline, Judy.
Speaker 6 (14:25):
Did the Kansas City Chiefs do enough to get back
on top of the NFL? I think the nature of
their Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles b Because
it was such a bad loss, people think that dynasty
is over.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Well not quite. Think they've won three Super Bowls, they
lost two.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
The reason they lost those two was because of the
offensive line.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
They did a lot of work on the offensive line.
Speaker 6 (14:48):
They spent a lot of capital, draft capital, free agent
capital to address the offensive line.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Did they do enough?
Speaker 6 (14:55):
They've also hopefully got some healthy wide receivers. If they
can keep those guys on the the offense should be
more explosive. Again, the Chiefs are still the best team
in the AFC until proven otherwise, I know that the
Philadelphia Eagles handled them easily, But until somebody in the
AFC topples them, I will not believe that the dynasty
(15:18):
is over.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Yeah, Previously, when we saw them have offensive line issues
in the Super Bowls against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, we
saw what they did in the offseason offensive line at priority,
same kind of thing here.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
They had an issue at left.
Speaker 7 (15:30):
Tackle, had to throw Joe Tooney out there.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
Great guard overmatched that left tackle, that's not his natural position.
So they go out and they sign a free agent
in Jalen Moore, and then they go draft Simmons as
well to be their left tackle of the future. So
they feel like they've done enough to shore that spot up.
Tray Smith gets his deal at the guard position, so
they feel good about their offensive line and that it'll
be better than the last time we saw them on
the field.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Fifty days until kickoff, which means Judy's got forty nine
days to come up with forty five more big storylines
in the twenty two five seasons. Speaking of the games,
By the way, he did make one roster move earlier today,
wide receiver Justin Ross, who's been on the team mostly
on the practice squad over the past three years. Asper's
release last week, the Chiefs officially waived him. Today he
(16:14):
can be claimed he was a very good player at
Clemson at a serious injury coming out of school. Minunderstanding
is he should have the interest out there, certainly a
name that fans will be interested to see exactly where
he lands today.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
It would be a great day. Herd day yesterday, get
it down today, got you put down.
Speaker 8 (16:32):
The left and life to the goal lines has cutdown
forty five yard down jump hand off the streets, runs
out of a tackle.
Speaker 9 (16:43):
He's to the twenty fifty ten to the five to
the goal Life touchdown Giants, Tyron break game. What a
thirty three yard bird hand off. Thanks Man Betting with Tracy's.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
A going to morning starting five yard runs.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Time now for the scout Snopebook with our scout Bucky Brooks,
who's got a new story up right now NFL dot
Com Slash Brooks with his twenty twenty five all breakout
team on offense. Land on me, Bucky, give me a
few names that we should be watching for breakout seasons
here in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 10 (17:22):
Okay, we're gonna talk about the most important position in
fantasy football, and that'd be running back.
Speaker 5 (17:26):
So we can go Tyron Tracy from the New York Giants.
Speaker 10 (17:28):
And the reason why I expect him the breakout is
this offense is ready to explode and it'd be much
better than to Day's solved the quarterback situation where Russell
Wilson or Jameis Wilson or Jackson Dart and Tyron Tracy.
You have a former college receiver turn running back who
ran for over eight.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
Hundred yards last year.
Speaker 10 (17:45):
Well, now in this offense where Russell Wilson presumably leading away,
look for him to be a factor, not only as
a runner but catching the ball out the backfield. As
more defenses pay attention to the league neighbors, that's going
to create great opportunities for Tyron Tracy to be big
at wide receiver.
Speaker 5 (18:02):
How about roam A Doonza from the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 10 (18:05):
The Bears have been all about Ben Johnson and how
he's going to fig Caleb Williams. And so when I
think about the play calling, creativity, the growth and development
that we expect from Caleb Williams, more balls should head
in the direction of a Doomsay, big, physical playmaker, someone
who can get it done in the slot or a
wide look for him to have a big breakout season
(18:26):
in year two in.
Speaker 5 (18:27):
The Bears uniform.
Speaker 10 (18:29):
But the guy that I'm most excited about, it's the
quarterback down in Atlanta, Michael Pennox. I was a big
fan coming out of you Dub. I feel like he's
throw the best deep ball that we saw in that
draft class, and I think it really parlays.
Speaker 5 (18:43):
It translates into huge success for the Falcons.
Speaker 10 (18:46):
When I think about the weapons around him, the running
backs b John Robinson, Tyler Igier. On the outside, I
think about Drake London, Kyle Pitts, Darnielle Moody. There are
a lot of playmakers that should make the game e
for Michael Pennis And as we think about him suddenly,
because he just gave us a short sample size, now
that he knows exactly what he's doing, he understands the
(19:08):
scheme with all the mental reps, man, I think this
office is going to be explosive, and it's going to
be explosive because the deep ball is back in Atlanta
because Michael Pennix is at the him.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
I'm reading this story right now, Bucky NFL dot com
slash Brooks.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
You're tight end on here. Nobody go to.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
NFL dot com slash Brooks and read this because I
would not have thought of this name as a top
fantasy target. Nobody go to NFL dot com slash Brooks
and read Bucky's story. Bucky, thank you very much. As always,
speaking of Michael Pennick Junior, he of course took over
for Kirk Cousins down the stretch of the twenty twenty
four season, and while the win loss record was not
(19:45):
what anyone would have hoped, there were certainly flashes of
what Pennix can do. He recently sat down with Michael
Vick to talk about how he prepared to play even
when he wasn't on the field.
Speaker 11 (19:58):
Mental stuff that you take away from it. Obviously you
can't be in the game, but sitting on the sideline
playing the game in my head, you know the best I.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
Can because obviously you can't mental relate.
Speaker 11 (20:06):
Yeah, you can't assimilate the pressure and stuff like that,
but uh, you know, just minche Wot's hearing the play
card in my helmet, you know, and just thinking about
who I would throw it to in those situations.
Speaker 5 (20:15):
But it was good man.
Speaker 11 (20:16):
He like obviously Kurt, he did a lot of great
things in this league, and he was in his thirteen season,
so it was like it was good to be able
to be somebody by somebody that you know had that
experience and doing at a high level.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
All right, Mike Carafalo, Let's talk a little bit more
about the second year quarterbacks who did not get on
the field much or at all in their rookie seasons.
Michael Pennix junior in Atlanta and JJ McCarthy at the
Minnesota Vikings. Which one of them do you think is
in the best position for success this season.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
It's a tough one because you could look up there
at JJ McCarthy and see everything he's surrounded by.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
He's playing in.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
The dough while they're both playing in at home obviously,
and he's got a great offensive coaching stat But I'm
gonna go Michael for a few reasons.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Judy won. He had at.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Least that little bit of regular season experience, and he
didn't wilt.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
He played a Sunday night football game.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
This is the throw I was gonna talk about that Dart.
I think it was to tie the game or there
was a clutch situation, and he showed.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
His arm strength.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
He showed he was willing to rely upon that arm
strengthen and look at the guys he throw through. I mean,
I'll take Drake London, I will take Jon Robinson out
of the backfield.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
We'll see about Kyle Pitts. They're still waiting to cash
in on that.
Speaker 7 (21:27):
But Ray Ray McLeod made plays.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Darnell Mooney right there, he made plays as well, So
it's not like there's not a great supporting cast there.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
And there's a really good offensive line.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
So and I like what the offensive coaching staff their
their philosophy.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
It didn't quite work with Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Well now they've got an entire offseason to gear it
up on Penis. And you might say, maybe it's not
a great situation because Cousins is.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Behind him the minute he struggles.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
But I don't think Michael Pennix is worried about that
or he's gonna wilt because of that.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Give me Peedicks, Judy, all right, I will go the
other side.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
J J.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
McCarthy. I agree with you.
Speaker 6 (21:59):
This was not an easy choice, but I go with
JJ for a few reasons. First of all, he's going
to helm a team that won fourteen games last season,
and he's got really, really great receivers, Justin Jefferson one
of them to throw to, and maybe most of all
in his corner is Kevin O'Connell, who is the current
(22:20):
vogue in quarterback whispers and play callers in the NFL.
Think about what he did with sam Donold's career, and
now he has a quarterback that he can mold from
the very start of his career. And don't forget that
they are so sold on JJ McCarthy that they let
all the other quarterbacks leave in Minnesota. They made pursery
attempts to keep some of them, but certainly didn't bowl
(22:42):
any of them over. With the possibility of being the starter.
It is JJ McCarthy's team going forward. I like the
position he is in, Mike, thank you very much.
Speaker 5 (22:53):
And when we.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Return, yeah, I'm just going to start when you making
your point. Was one of the other points for me
for Penis is that, like, JJ McCarthy's got to hit
the ground running right. If this thing drops off a
little bit, it's gonna be like, well, this is a
team that was humming last year and winning all those
games again, the pressure on Pennix. His cousin's behind him
even if he didn't play well, He's an established guy.
They both have pressure. But JJ McCarthy's got to hit
(23:14):
the ground run. It's not gonna be like that game
with Penn State Michigan where they ran it like eight times. No,
you're gonna have to throw the ball thirty to forty times, JJ.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
No question.
Speaker 6 (23:23):
Enormous expectations at the Minnesota Vikings, and when we come back,
we're going to talk about another team that has enormous expectations,
the Chicago Bears, with someone who knows them really well
and will accomplish great things with the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Brian Orlaker will join me next on The Insiders.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Matt Right ruling your side, DJ morn get some down,
righter Locker with a takeaway craner. Locker ticks off Aaron
Rodgers or the red Zone the hashleback for sure.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
For the fun that's up, touchdown, look at the.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Dream of things.
Speaker 6 (24:10):
Well, if you're a Chicago Bears fan, this guy needs
no introduction. That music video told you everything you need
to remember about Brian Urlacker, Chicago Bears legend, Hall of
Famer and now guest on The Insiders, Brian, great to see.
Speaker 4 (24:23):
How have you been, Thanks having on. I appreciate Judie.
Speaker 12 (24:26):
I've been good, playing a bunch of golf, bringing out
with my kids, just do a little traveling. Kind of
enjoyed myself. Somemmers are nice. All it's always warm her
and are as long, especially in the summer, but we
get out here a little bit and go go see
a little bit of the country a little bit in
the summer.
Speaker 6 (24:41):
Well, we really appreciate you taking a few moments out
of your day to spend time with us. I want
to get to the football park right away because obviously
there have been a lot of changes around Hallis Hall
this all season, pretty big expectations for the season. Give
me your initial impressions of the changes, Ben Johnson, what
you're hoping.
Speaker 12 (24:59):
For for this I'm excited about the changes. I like
Ben Johnson. I like Dennis Allen as a de cordator.
I think he's done a really good job throughout his career,
especially down in New Orleans as a decordinator. You know,
people are kind of doubting Caleb. I think Caleb was
the guy for the quarterback there. You know, I think
his rookie year was tough, but he played pretty good.
His number if you just look at his numbers, he
didn't throw a lot of pigs, didn't turn them all
(25:20):
over that much, and made some big plays. So I'm
looking for a lot of him this year. They're in
a tough division. I think that's one thing we're going
to gainst him is a division is really tough, but
they're going to be better as well, So you got
to look at.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
That as part of that. He's going to be his
second year.
Speaker 12 (25:34):
They got better up front on both sides of the football,
which I needed to do.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
I'm excited.
Speaker 12 (25:38):
I just I think with Ben Johnson at the helm
calling the place and put them position to make place
and other guys have to make plays, they should be
a lot better.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Well, you mentioned Caleb.
Speaker 6 (25:49):
I know you've said in the past you think he
could have been the rookie of the Year if the
circumstances were a little bit better around him in Chicago
last season. From a defensive players of you, give me
a scouting report on Caleb.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
What does he do well? What does he need to
improve this season to get to the level we think
he will be.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
I think number one, get rid of the football.
Speaker 12 (26:09):
You know, you watch these great quarterbacks and how fast
the ball has gone just from spiking. From my perspective
when I played Rogers, the ball has gone so fast, Brady,
they threw a quick Peyton Manning breeze. The ball was
gone so fast they didn't take a bunch of sacks.
And I understand that has a lot to do with
the offensive line as well. But get rid of the
ball a little faster. He's dangerous though, you know. You
get him out of the pocket scrambling around back there,
(26:31):
he's gonna make some plays.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
And we saw that a little bit last year.
Speaker 12 (26:34):
I think, as a defensive player, keep him in the pocket,
keep him in front of you when he scrambles, hit
him if he doesn't slide. But he's a dangerous guy.
I think he has a lot of potential and a
chance to be really good.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
You mentioned also the defense.
Speaker 6 (26:49):
They hired Dennis Allen as the defensive coordinator the defensive
The defense certainly struggled a little bit last season. They
seem to focus this off season on shoring up the
pass rush. What are you hoping to see from that
defense and from Dennis Allen's scheme, I.
Speaker 12 (27:04):
Think As a defensive player, it starts up front. You know,
you get if you can get pressure with four and
not have the blitzer. Just put your secondary in your
linebacker better positions. You know, being able to get pressure
with four guys is a big deal. They didn't do
that a lot last year. Not as many takeaways as
you'd like to see from a defense, but the ads
an aggressive guy. He's going to get after the quarterback.
He's going to make sure he gets pressured and make
them uncomfortable. They have good players. I think that there's
(27:27):
no there's no doubt they have really good players on defense.
Does a matter of putting them in better positions I
see them taking a step forward to get this year.
It's they've always had a good defense. That's never been
an issue in Chicago. They've always had guys that can
get to the football and make plays. I don't see
that being any different this year.
Speaker 6 (27:43):
Is there one guy, either a new guy or a
returner that you're really looking forward to watching this season?
Speaker 12 (27:49):
O fan Tremaine Edwards as a four mili linebacker. Myself,
I like watching play. He's very similar body type to mind.
He's six five hours only six four, but he runs,
he hits, he tacked, he gets takeaway as he puts
on the quarterback. I think he's a guy that could
take a big step in his defense as well. But
he's always been when he was in Buffalo like watching
him now like and more now in Chicago, and I.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
Want to turn our attention to the Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame induction is coming up in just
a couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
You went in.
Speaker 6 (28:17):
Believe it or not, that with seven years ago does
not seem like it could have possibly been that long.
Here among the class is Jared Allen, who obviously, you
guys saw a lot of each other during your careers
in the NFC.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
North tell us why Jared Allen belongs in the Hall
of Fame.
Speaker 4 (28:34):
I was surprised to get all his first ballot.
Speaker 12 (28:36):
Honestly, I know it's hard to get in, but Jared,
you know, you look at his sacks per game throughout
his career. I think he's number two in sacks per
game in NFL history, which is a big deal. I
want to say Reggie was number one. I could be
wrong with Bruce Smith. They played a long time, but
just his motor was unbelievable and they played Kansas City, Chicago, Minnesota,
and I think he ended up at Carolina. But his
motor just never stopped running. As a as a guy
(28:59):
who explaining with guys who play that way, he would
have been fun to be teammates with. But he just
never stopped going. You see the effort every game. Just
a super high motor. Great guy. Great got to be around,
and he always produced. You know, no matter where he
was at, his sack numbers are always up there, fumbles.
Just just the guy that made plays, not only in
the passing game, but he played the run as well.
Speaker 4 (29:18):
So I'm happy for him. He deserved to be in there.
Speaker 12 (29:20):
I wish you would have been a little earlier, but
we want you to get in know that stuff really matters.
Speaker 6 (29:26):
All right, Brian, Before we let you return to your summer,
we know you got a pretty cool thing coming up.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Tell us what you're doing with city Cruises.
Speaker 12 (29:33):
Yeah, So on July twentieth Sunday, we're gonna got myself,
Alex Brown and Rex Grossman, three of the guys from
the two thousand and six Safty championship team and Super
Bowl losing team. We're gonna go like a little boat
cruise there in Chicago and city cruises and just meet
the fans. I think I'm not sure how many fans
are gonna be on there, but we're going to take
a cruiserund Lake, Michigan. We're gonna have Jeff jonniek on there,
(29:53):
who was the Bearers play by play guy, and just
talk about that season and what it was like, how
much fun we had, and just kind of in this
a little bit and kind of be it's kind of
an intimate setting because it's not it's not a big boat,
so you'll be it's not like it's a big ballroom
where you won't be able to see it. So we'll
be right around everybody and just talking about that season.
How much tell me and we'll be accomplished.
Speaker 6 (30:13):
Brian, that sounds like a blast. Thank you for taking
a few minutes to join us before you get on
the party. But we really appreciate it and we hope
you'll come back to the Insiders during the season again.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
Thanks for having on. I appreciate it had off.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Barry Sanders fight. Sanders like to tackle.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
I've been a better runner.
Speaker 7 (30:33):
Have ever seen it?
Speaker 5 (30:34):
You see Barry Sanders.
Speaker 10 (30:35):
Make the moves he makes on this run you know
why this is the best running back, if not the
best player in the National Football League.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
There goes your feet. He's got the ball, he's not running,
he's floating, he's not cutting.
Speaker 8 (30:46):
Back, and now he's gone the very spright.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
What's the wow?
Speaker 4 (30:52):
You think you gotta tackle some of those bolts?
Speaker 5 (30:55):
There's only one guy in this game that makes you
just saw that maybe.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
A summer fresh yet what an incredible.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Rore by the best back of the National Football like
Barry Shanders. Yeah, and by the way, all these years later,
we still haven't seen anybody like this guy, fifty.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Seven year old Barry Sanders.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
I don't know if he can maybe juke that way anymore,
but I'm sure he could probably break some ankles amongst
those in their fifties. Right now, Barry Sanders fifty seven
years old, he gets the cheesy insider's birthday music like
we all get. Congratulations Barry, Happy birthday to you, my friend.
Hey rookie, Hey rookies. Everybody get into the facility. We
(31:40):
had six teams report yesterday down to the bottom. Today
the Alliance and Broncos rookies joining the Chargers veterans.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Folks, I don't know if you noticed it, football season,
Baseball All Star Game is over, Judy.
Speaker 5 (31:55):
I mean, we'll talk.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
About the second half of your Mets and our Phillies
duking it out, but whatever, it's football season. That's the
point that I'm trying to make, Bucky Brooks as you're
back to join us. So let's talk about the rookies,
and let's talk about the Broncos rookies. Tell me which
Broncos rookie is going to have the biggest impact in never.
Speaker 10 (32:12):
Well, Jday Baron, the do it all playmaker in the secondary,
is going to join past or ten and help this
defense go to another level, which is hard because they're
already a top five unit. But this guy can play
anywhere in the back end, where the out wide, in
the slot, if he had to play safety.
Speaker 5 (32:28):
He can do all of those things.
Speaker 10 (32:30):
And what it's going to do is allow Vance Joseph
to heat up opponents to a new level. And remember,
this is a team that really get out to the
pascity a lot of creative things up front. But now
because they can play various coverages in the back end,
he could turn up the notch even more.
Speaker 5 (32:45):
Look for this defense to be even more.
Speaker 10 (32:48):
Impactful as he get a big time playmaker to put
as a centerpiece in the secondary.
Speaker 6 (32:56):
I am looking at another do it all playmaker and
that's our j hard Be the rookie running back. He's
not going to be there quite yet because he is
unsigned like so many other second rounders, but he is
a do it all guy.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
He can run the ball, he can catch the ball
out of the backfield.
Speaker 6 (33:12):
We know that Sean Payton would like to run the
ball a little bit more, and he is the kind
of guy who can take some of the pressure off
Bonnicks R. J.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Harvey when he gets there. Looking forward to watching him.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
So I'll picture Gedday Baron signing a paper that was
his contract, which leaves only one first round pick yet
to sign in Cincinnati.
Speaker 7 (33:30):
We shall see what happens with Tamar Stewart there.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
He's not going back to school. Everybody relaxed on that,
all right. The Lions the other team with rookies that
reported to camp today. Bucky which Lions rookie is going
to have the biggest impact and does he sport a mullett.
Speaker 5 (33:47):
A nice look about it.
Speaker 10 (33:48):
Tate Ratledge coming from Georgia being able to tip in
for Frank Ragnow the Lion's office line is going under
a little bit of a makeover, has some older guys depart,
and so Ratledge and mouse Fraser both guys who have
opportunities to play.
Speaker 5 (34:03):
And the thing that we know about the Detroit Lions,
for all the.
Speaker 10 (34:06):
Glitz and glamour, the flash to was az that was
their offense, really their blue collar unit that relies on
the offensive line to set the tone and as long
as Ratlede is able to step in there man the pivot,
make sure all the protections are solid, but also give
them some of their attitude. In the running game, the
Detroit lines are going to be the Detroit lines, meaning
they're gonna bully people at the point of attack, they're
(34:28):
gonna throw the ball all over the yard, and they're
going to light up scoreboards. But it starts with the
offensive line, which is why I like Ratlits and even
Mouse Razers to come in and contribute.
Speaker 6 (34:38):
All Right, I'm going to go a little bit off
track here and say the two rookies that I am
looking forward to are the new coordinators now in Detroit. Now,
John Morton is not technically a rookie offensive coordinator. He
was an offensive coordinator for one season with the New
York Jets. He had nowhere near the level of talent
that he's inheriting with the Detroit Lions and Calvin Sheppard,
who is a rookie defensive coordinat they are replacing two
(35:01):
guys who went on to become head.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Coaches in the NFL.
Speaker 6 (35:04):
Huge expectations for that team, huge pressure on that team
to stay at the level that they were at. I
am looking forward to seeing how these two coordinators perform
this year.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
Good answer, Judy, You got those creative juices flow, and
that's what you get this time of year. Once we
get into the season, that stuff all gets beaten down.
You're just trying to survive. But right now a creative
answer to the question. Nice job, Judy Batizda and Bucky Brooks.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Football is back.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Celebrate as teams across the league take the field for
Back Together Weekend, presented by YouTube TV, but two full
days of practices, player interviews, and behind the scenes axis.
It's a can't miss NFL reunion. July twenty sixth and
twenty seventh. Go to NFL dot com slash Back Together
Weekend for more information. A lot of those training camps
(35:52):
in is going to be hot, hot, hot, which brings
us to another training camp competition. Keyp index I admit,
welcome back to the insiders, Tom Pilaicero, Judy Battista, Mike Garatfolo,
and Bucky Brooks.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Here's the way that this works. It's your first time
seeing it.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Here we talk about one of the many battles we're
looking forward to see him playing out in train camp
and the preseason. And then are panelists here tell you
exactly how hot is it? No, that's not a Jerry
Seinfeld set up. Mike, I want to come to you
on Saints quarterbacks.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
How hot is it? Oh, it's about a seventy five,
that's what I put it.
Speaker 7 (36:31):
But if you've ever been to Metaree in July or August,
you know.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
It's not the heat, it's the humidity.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
And frankly, look, I'd probably put this a little bit
higher if we expected more out of the Saints this year,
but I'll peg it right into seventy five and it's
going to be a heated competition now. Right now, Tyler
Schuck is part of that cluster of second round picks
that isn't signed yet and Frankly, he's one of the
reasons that there's a big hold up because he's got
a shot at a starting job right out of the gate.
(36:57):
You don't usually see that with a second round quarterback.
So a lot of folks around them are saying, hey,
he may have the leverage to really get more guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Money than usually seeing these deals.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
In the meantime, Spencer Rattler has recently been thrown with
some of the guys. Tyler Shuck had a throwing session.
It's like, my throwing session is better than your a
throwing session, all that stuff. Throw it all in the mix,
and Jake Hayn, we got ourselves a solid seventy five
down a metory.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
All right, Judy, I come to you on something we'll
be talking about. I would venture to say, every single
day we've got every preseason game for this team live
on NFL Network. There is one very big reason, really
four reasons for that Browns quarterback battle.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
How hot this is a scorcher.
Speaker 6 (37:42):
I give this a full one hundred out of one hundred.
This is not just one quarterback battle. It's two quarterback battles.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
Really.
Speaker 6 (37:51):
It's a battle between the veterans Flacco and Kenny Pickett,
and then a battle between the rookies Dylan Gabriel and
Shador Sanders. Not only do we not know who is
going to be the starting quarterback, we don't know what
order they're going to finish in. We don't know how
it might change during the season. A few things to
keep in mind here. The Browns have a very, very
(38:11):
tough first half of the schedule. Maybe that influences the decision. Obviously,
all eyes are going to be on Shador Sanders. We
will see if he can move his way up the
depth chart. But this is a solid one hundred out
of one hundred in the dog Pound.
Speaker 1 (38:27):
I requested a sound effect and that was definitely funnier
even than I was thinking. Bucky one for you too.
Packers wide receive. Okay, now, Packers wide receiver one.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
How hot is this?
Speaker 10 (38:41):
Well, Tom, if you've been begging for the Package to
take a receiver in the first round for like twenty years, because.
Speaker 5 (38:46):
Said, there's one hundred out of one hundred. So the
Packers finally succumbed to public pressure.
Speaker 10 (38:51):
They take Matthew Golden from the University of Texas to
be their new number one receiver, and the competition is.
Speaker 5 (38:58):
Thick for the position. You think Jayden Reed and Christian Watson,
some of the other guys that they have.
Speaker 10 (39:03):
Christian Watson obviously he's injured, but some of the other
guys that they have battling for the spot.
Speaker 5 (39:07):
Matthew Golden has to be the guy that is in
the mix, and so all odds on him, and I
would be honest, this is self serving. He's weighing number
twenty two, my old number in Green Bay. So I
gotta Kevin have my guy the inside.
Speaker 10 (39:21):
Trent, because I want to see twenty two running around
making plays. But after we beg for the Packers to
finally do it when Aaron Rodgers was there, they waited.
Speaker 5 (39:29):
After Aaron Rodgers was gone. They got to be the
hottest battle that we've seen. Jord Love getting a new
number one receiver.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Matthew Golden, don't see a ton of number twenty two
wide receivers. You know you just since Hee a whole
lot of one hundreds on the training camp battle heat index.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Bucky, Mike Judy, thank you very much. Still want to come.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
On this edition of The Insiders, including a quote you're
gonna want to hear from that man.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
CJ.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Gardner Johnson.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
He once again he is no longer an Eagle, and
he doesn't sound overly thrilled about the logit.
Speaker 2 (40:03):
We'll explain after this. It's Ian Suders.
Speaker 1 (40:10):
The wait is over and the countdown to kickoff has begun.
Single game tickets for the twenty twenty five NFL season
are on sale now. Visit NFL dot com slash tickets
to purchase through the NFL ticket network including Ticketmaster, Seat Geek,
and Sports Illustrated Tickets. Some more news around the NFL today,
(40:31):
the Bengals inducting two more former players into their Ring
of Honor, Dave Lapham, who has been with the team
for coming up on a thousand games both as a
player and a broadcaster, and also one of the best
names nicknames in NFL history, Leap and Lamar Paris. They're
both headed into the Bengals Ring of Honor. Two more
names also revealed on the annual NFL Top one hundred,
(40:53):
Vita Villa, the Buccaneers defensive lineman checking at number seventy six,
Patrick Queen, a linebacker of the Steelers at seventy five.
Two more released every day through late August on X
and NFL plus Manny Paciow for some reason making a
visit to the Raiders facility. He's wearing sunglasses indoors, he's
(41:18):
dancing with a football. Yeah, does he think that's football? Like,
I'm not certain, but you know that's where we stand here.
Speaker 5 (41:30):
CJ.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Gardner Johnson, appearing on the Pivot podcast, recently asked why
he was traded from the Eagles and the Texans offered
up this quote, scared of a competitor, simple as that
second time as welcome you back to the insiders, Tom
Pellicero and Judy Batista as well as Mike Garafalo.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
That CJ. Gardner Johnson has moved on from Philadelphia. You
see that quote, Judy, your thoughts.
Speaker 6 (41:55):
I just went back and thought about when he was
when Howie Roseman got of him, didn't he tweet something
like they probably won't win a Super Bowl without me,
Like it's just all part of the thing. It's I
would miss him if I were a beat writer, CJ.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
I mean, listen, he left, he came back. They felt
like they needed this wag.
Speaker 3 (42:14):
Now they had to make it's a financial thing foremost,
like they had to make tough decisions across the roster.
And they get a guard back in Keny, hungry a
lot cheaper, but not scared of a competitor.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
They like to compete in Philly.
Speaker 1 (42:25):
Top another safety of chieves teams the off season can
bind them cold safety.
Speaker 2 (42:30):
He's on the show tomorrow, Roger McCurry's on the show tomorrow.
We're on the show tomorrow.
Speaker 10 (42:34):
What more do you need?
Speaker 2 (42:35):
See you tomorrow. Seventies
Hosts And Creators
Judy Battista
Tom Pelissero
Ian Rapaport
Mike Garafolo
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