- Baldy delights us with an NFL THEN vs NOW … oh my how times have changed!
- Cigarettes at halftime?
- Ash trays at every locker?
- QB or NOT QB, that is the question!
- once we get past the obvious teams in the top 5 who are expected to pick a QB in the draft … who else NEEDS TO Draft a QB? And who needs to PASS on a QB
- Giants, Vikings, Raiders, Seahawks & Rams … QB or NOT QB?
- OFF THE RADAR!
- Baldy name checks 2 QB prospects, a WR & 2 DBs who may prove to be among the STEALS of the 2024 NFL DRAFT
- ON THE CLOCK!
- Our countdown to the 2024 NFL Draft focuses on the NFC WEST …
- 49ers, Rams, Seahawks, Cardinals
- Team needs, draft strategies and fan shout outs.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The NFL.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Total Access is a production of the NFL in partnership
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
It's Monday, April first, and you're listening to NFL Total Access,
the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
That is the voice of today's special guest, a man
who played twelve years in the NFL at a glorious
time to be in the NFL. His was an era
that may have lacked the polish of modern uniforms, the
comfort of modern stadia, and the shredded silhouette of the
modern player. But don't be fooled. His was the era
(00:37):
in which the NFL began to take its modern shape.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
His twelve years in the league.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Early eighties to early nineties, were defined by innovation and
by evolution. His own career was defined by adaptation, playing
every position on the offensive line, and his post playing
days have been defined by education. By teaching himself and
teaching us the subtle details that create such drama in
this fascinating and ever changing game. He is the flip
(01:05):
flop wearing film room phenom. He is Brian Baldinger. Welcome
back to the pod, Baldy.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
Oh, I Andrew, that so good. It's good to be
with you, buddy.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Biggest change from your era in the NFL to this
era in the NFL. There are probably too many to recount,
so it's probably a stupid question. Very different league then
and now, and yet is it fair to say that
yours was the era of innovation, of evolution when we
started to see modern offenses take shape and we started
(01:35):
to see modern defenses start to have to react to
modern offenses.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
Oh, I don't think there's any question about it.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
I mean, the biggest innovation really is just a spread offense,
proliferation of passing. Just look at all the numbers, look
at the quarterback play and all the responsibilities that they
have and throwing the football. And really I've always said this.
Andrew announced college foot all for Fox for ten years,
(02:01):
and like all the innovation, whether it was the uptemple offense,
the no huddle offense, the spread, you know, all those
things that came out of so many different offenses. Really
the innovation came in college. That was the equalizer. I
played for Steve Spurrier at Duke, and we were throwing
the ball when everybody else is running the veer. And
(02:23):
that's how we could go to Clemson and beat Clemson,
or go to Tennessee and beat Tennessee when we didn't
have near the talent that those teams had.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
But that was the equalizer, was the passing gate. Now
we see it.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Now it's here, it's here to stay, and now it's
a question of fine tuning.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
A lot of this.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
You are famously a workout warrior. You keep yourself remarkably
fit still to this day. But I hear stories of
maybe more from the sixties and seventies, but I think
it probably crept into your era too, into the eighties,
of guys who were drinking a beer and having a
cigarette at halftime.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Is that is that real?
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Oh? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (03:05):
I mean my first team was Dallas Cowboys in nineteen
eighty two, and every locker had an ashtray, So you know,
you walk in and you know there's an ash.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Tray walk for real. So this is like, oh, this
is the old.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
This is the old, like pan Am flight where the
people were smoking on there's an ashtray at every seat.
There was an ashtray at every locker.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Every locker. Yeah, this is the before they built Valley Ranch.
Now they're up in Frisco at the Star, But the
Cowboys were on Forest Lane, Forest Lane, and Greenville Avenue
and Avans Road, and we had a facility there and
you walk in and you're in the locker room, and
there was an ashtray there, and there was certain guys
that you know, have a couple of coffee in the morning,
(03:50):
smoked cigarette, breather Wall Street Journal, get their ankle, state,
have a cigarette, you know, come in at halftime of
a game and light up a stick. So it was
the I mean, it's a different error. I won't name
the names just because maybe they don't want them out there,
but I mean, you know, there are half a dozen
guys that you know definitely had a pack of Marbles
(04:10):
in the top pocket there.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
You know, every day I am your host, you're non
smoking man. I miss it.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Host NFL Network senior writer Andrew Levian on today's show, Coop,
let's start that clock again there. It is twenty five
days to the start of the twenty twenty four NFL Draft,
presented by Bud Light, and we are on the clock already.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
We're going team by team.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Last week we started in the division of the AFC champs,
the Super Bowl Champs, of course, the Kansas City Chiefs.
Today we turn our attention to the division of the
reigning NFC champion San Francisco forty nine ers. We're talking
all teams in the NFC West. Team needs draft picks,
important storylines, And as I do every year, listener, I
went around the building here at NFL Media and I
(04:52):
polled my colleagues, each of whom has a team that.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
They root for.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
What did the NFC West fans around hear say when
I ask them what they want for their team in
the draft, what their biggest source of pride is, what
their biggest source of panic is. Well, those answers are
to come. There's even a bold prediction or two on
the way, and that is coming up in a moment.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
But first, this overthrown intercepted, another pick thrown by Daniel Jones.
It is becoming a feeding frenzy. Okay, baldy QB or
not QB.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
That is the question, a nod to the bard there
to William Shakespeare QB or not QB. That is the
question whether it' tis nobler in the mind too.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I haven't figured out the rest of it. We'll get
back to you on that one. That has to be answered,
and it will be answered for a surprisingly high number
of NFL teams in the draft QB or not QB.
Here's what we know, Listener, Bears, Commanders, and Patriots. That's
the first, second, and third pick in the draft, at
least as it stands right now. And yes, we expect
quarterbacks to be taken at those spots, either by those
(05:57):
teams or by teams with the capitol and the conviction
to move in to those spots. But once you get
past the Patriots at three, kind of hard to know
with any degree of certainty what the plan is or
what the plan should be. And that's why I'm so
glad to have Baldy with us today. Brian balding Er,
I'm going to throw some teams your way, and I
just want to know what you think about. Let's say
(06:19):
the Giants currently drafting in the sixth position. You and
I both know moving on from Daniel Jones as a
narrative that has been getting louder and more persistent since
before his four year, one hundred and sixty million dollars
deal was agreed to before the start of last season's
campaign New York Giants QB or not QB.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Well, I before I answer the question, let me just
throw one caveat here to what we're doing, because what
we what we can't anticipate yet. With twenty five days
away from the draft, Andrew Is trades last year, obviously
Caroline Chicago will make a blockbuster trade. All right, So
Carolina gets the first pick, Bryce Young. Go back to
twenty sixteen, both the Rams and the Eagles traded up
(07:03):
to the one and two spot to go get Jared Goffin,
you know, in Carson Wentz. So that remains to be
seen and that might very well happen. However, to get
to your question, if it's just status quo and the
Giants stay at six and you know QB or not
to QB, I say they have to QB. I mean
number one Daniel Jones. He wasn't drafted by Joe Shane
(07:26):
in this regime. Sometimes that makes a difference.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Not his guy drafted by the.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Regime before they've had two years to look at him.
A year where he played very well, ran the ball
very well, got the most out of their offense, won
a playoff game. Last year, it all crumbled, like literally
the first week of the season. It crumbled and they
never got any traction. And so you can say Okay,
Daniel Jones coming back from a serious knee injury right now,
Maybe he makes it back. Maybe they throw, you know,
(07:52):
some change at Drew Locke and he comes in there
and competes.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
But they're to me a quarterback needy team.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
I mean, they're looking up and have been look it
up at both Dallas and Philadelphia that looks stable at
that position. At least right now, they look stable at
the quarterback position. And nobody's unseating either one of those
teams until they get stability at the quarterback position and
an upgrade at that position. You're just not going to
win divisions without good quarterback play. And so I think
(08:19):
the Giants, yes, they should be in quarterback mode. And
the owners come out and said so, and he's basically
given the green light to Joe Shane, the general manager,
Brian Dable, the head coach, and said, if you feel
that your players there at this position, it's a value,
you have the green light to go take the quarterback.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I appreciate the caveat that you gave at the beginning
of this, and it is to remind us that there
are going to be trades, rumored trades, and then actual trades.
As we get closer to April twenty fifth. Thursday, April
twenty fifth, Round one of the twenty twenty four NFL Draft,
presented by bud Light, You can watch that on NFL
Network on NFL Plus. NFL dot Com will have you
covered as well. Moved down the ledger a little bit
(09:01):
to number eleven The Vikings, the Minnesota Vikings. They have
the eleventh pick and the twenty third pick. Less about
the machinations of what they could do packaging those two picks,
and more just about this team, this franchise. They have
Sam Donald on the roster, Kirk Cousins out the door,
QB or not QB in Minnesota.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Yes, absolutely, QB gone from Kirk Cousins. And really, I
mean they wanted Kirk Cousins. They just want to give
him a four year deal the way the Lanta Falcons did.
They want to commit to a thirty five year old quarterback.
And so look, you're going to get Sam Donald. It
comes in and maybe Sam rehabilitated himself this last six
weeks in Carolina, the backup in San Francisco starting one
(09:42):
game for him last year.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Maybe you know, a year with Kyle Shanahan.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Really helped them, but nobody really knows what Sam Donald's
going to be at this point.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Some people think that Hey put them in a stable
place with.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
A good defense and good receivers around him in him
and a good young coach and Kevin you know, coach O'Connell.
I like, maybe that can happen, but I still think
they have to build for the future. I mean, you're
looking up at the Green Bay Packers. They've got that
guy in Jordan Love. They made the move. Chicago's going
to make their move. You know, maybe in Detroit. Jared
(10:14):
Goff is a long term answer, but they certainly have
a very good team around Whoever the quarterback is three
or four years from now.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
That's where Minnesota's got to get to, you know.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
And so I think they have This is a good
draft to go find that guy if they have conviction
about it.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
So I think very much they're in the mode right now.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Broncos at twelve, I think the answer is quite obviously yes,
that is a QB needy team. So we should certainly
expect to see some sort of movement from Denver. Let's
move one pick past Denver. The Las Vegas Raiders sitting
there at thirteen. This is a tough one. They've got
(10:52):
Gardner Minshew on the roster, They've got Aidan O'Connell on
the roster, varying opinions about the viability of each of
those guys. Where do you stand on Raiders QB or
not QB?
Speaker 3 (11:05):
I think there's two camps when you're looking at building
a team. One team says, get your star quarterback and
just never stop building around them. And then the other
camp is, let's build the best possible team we can
and when the quarterback arrives, we plug them in. It's
sort of like what happened to Brock Purdy. The team
(11:25):
was great. Rock Purdy gets plugged in. Very good quarterback,
and I'm saying he's not a big part of it,
but Brock Perdy came in and ran the system. And
I feel like the Raiders are in that mode. They're
building their team. You can tell by what they did
Christian Wilkins, you know, Max Crosby, what the Tyree Wilson
last year. They're building their defensive front, they're upgrading their
(11:45):
offensive line.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
I feel like.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
They're building their team right now, and I think they
feel content, at least for right now with Aidan O'Connell
and Gardner Minshew. Minshew won seven games the back up
in Indianapolis. Nobody thought that could be in a playoff hunt.
He got him there. I feel like between those two guys,
they feel like they're good enough at that position to
win games and maybe even challenge Kansas City. But meanwhile,
(12:09):
let's take that thirteenth pick and let's add another blue
chip player to this roster.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Let's move down.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Seahawks at sixteen questions about the long term viability of
Geno Smith. He's been dogged by those his whole career,
and I love the fact that he continues to prove
his doubters wrong. But obviously time waits for no man.
They picked up Sam Howell from my Washington Commanders, who
I really like. Seahawks at sixteen. Long term vision suggests
(12:36):
a short term answer QB or not QB in Seattle
for John Schneider, I would say no.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
I would say no because I think Gino Smith can
still win games. When he was healthy last year, he
was still pretty good. There's a big regime change there,
you know, with Mike MacDonald coming in. But I think
they got Sam Howell. Yeah, he's still in a rookie contracts.
He started eighteen games for a while, the team around
him wasn't very good at all. He can't do anything
(13:04):
about that. But I know this when you go watch
Sam Haweill throw a football. The guy's got arm strength,
he's got arm talent, He's tough, he can take a hit. Heck,
he got sacked sixty times whatever. Like he just gets
up dust himself off, never complains. Learned an offense, learned
two offenses. So I just think I think they're content.
(13:25):
They're Their defense was really shaky last year and not
very good and not very competitive, and so I see
it feel like at sixteen there's gonna be a really
good defensive player on the board, and they've sort of
unloaded their linebacker and corps. Jordan Brooks has gone, Bobby
Wagner's gone, whether it's inside linebacker, pass rusher, like, I
just think they need an impactful player to help this defense.
(13:48):
That's Mike McDonald's specialty. Right now. I think they're okay
at quarterback with the idea that maybe Sam Hawe has
a lot to offer and maybe not quite what Caleb
can bring or Jayden daniel be but good enough right
now where they can win games with what they have
at quarterback.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Very interesting.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
And finally, in this first round, let's look at the
Rams sitting there at nineteen. This is the first time
in a long time that the La Rams even have
a first round pick. Do you see them attempting to
use that pick to get a quarterback? La Rams Brian
Baldinger QB or not QB.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Well, Ironically, the last time the Rams had a number
one draft pick, they used it to draft Jared Goff
with the first pick twenty sixteen. It's been eight years
since they've even had a first round pick. I don't
believe they'll use it on a quarterback. They got their
offensive line together last year, Kyra and Williams became a star.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
They found Kuka Nakua.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Defensively, our best defensive player in the league has just retired.
I think they did well last year in the draft.
They got Kobe Turner, they got Byron Young. I feel
like they need to go draft a blue chip player
at nineteen, and I maybe a defense van That's my guess.
I think that's a bigger need for them right now
(15:04):
than the quarterback position.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
And I would not.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
I would not forego building this defense up with a
lot of young players that brought back Darius Williams.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
They got corners like they look like they're.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
A star defensive van away from really competing in the division.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
So let's talk about that.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
I find that very interesting, Baldi, thank you for that.
So that was Giants, yes, QB, Vikings very likely, yes QB.
But Seahawks, Rams and Raiders. No, not right now, not
this draft class, not this year. You have bigger issues
to address and you have quarterbacks in house that may
kind of get you over the line in this campaign.
(15:43):
But let's talk about those teams like the Giants and
the Vikings, and yes, the Broncos, who we can assume
are going to make some play for a quarterback in
April's draft. What happens when you get past Caleb Williams
and Jaden Daniels and Drake May there's only one of
those guys. They can only go to one team. Once
you get past that presumed top three, it does get
a little bit tricky. Talk about guys like Michael Panics
(16:04):
and bow Nix and JJ McCarthy, who may be the
most bewildering of all. Here's my question to you. I'm
kind of fashioning it on the fly, Baldy. But for
those teams outside of the top three that do need
a quarterback, is it worth taking a quarterback if the
quarterback's available to you, even at six or eleven or beyond,
(16:25):
are simply not ready to be a week one starter?
Do you draft a project in those positions? Or is
the draft pick two valuable to waste it on a project?
Speaker 4 (16:37):
Well, if it's a project, it's too valuable.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
But if you have conviction about the player, I personally
love Michael Pennox and everything he stands for. Now you
can say as age works against him, and it might
be just going to be twenty four after the draft.
You could say the injury history works against him, and
it very well could, although he just started twenty seven
straight games for Washington and turn that program completely around.
(17:00):
Just ran a four four six forty and is fully healthy,
and his arm strength is as good, if not better
than everybody in this draft.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
So I mean, if you have.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Conviction, it's never a bad decision to draft a quarterback.
And we can slot these guys all we want, but
you just have to go back to two thousand and
five and Aaron Rodgers sitting there at number twenty five,
and he's just sitting there, just melting in the green room,
and nobody has picked him. And all these other guys
(17:29):
that went before m weren't anything close to Aaron Rodgers.
We get this wrong every year, Drew. So it's just
a question of what kind of conviction you have. I mean,
Sean Payton wouldn't be picking twelve for the Denver Broncos
right now if Kansas City didn't jump in front of them,
you know, in twenty seventeen and take Patrick Mahomes, you know,
with the tenth pick, like he was going.
Speaker 4 (17:51):
To take Patrick at a level. Kansas City supplanted that
and took them.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Otherwise they would have just kept rolling in New Orleans
with Mahomes.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
Taking over Drew. So it's just a question of you're
going to put your neck on the line.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
I don't care if you're picking one, or if you're
picking twelve, or if you're picking nineteen with the Rams,
if you're taking a quarterback, you're putting your your neck
on the line to coach the GM everybody, because when
they get it wrong, everybody gets fired anyways.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
So I mean, that's just the rule of the land
right now. In this lee.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
I love your Yelp review on Michael Pennix, and I'm
really starting to look more closely at him. The ball
just flies out of his hands. He just shreds it
when he spends it. Is something very very interesting about
his release. And I like the reminder that he has
been healthy for the last two years. I like the
reminder that he ran a sub four or five point
forty at.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
His pro day.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Michael Pennock's a very very interesting prospect. Let's finish on
JJ McCarthy here on this In terms of this topic,
one of the more bewildering prospects. It's hard to gauge him,
at least it is from my layperson's seat. You're not
a layperson. How do you project a guy who really
wasn't asked to do that much in college? Baldy, Where
(19:04):
do you go with a guy like JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Well, honestly, it's a projection for every one of these
guys because the league is so different from what they
just did in college. There's very few sure things at
that position. Joe Burrow was a sure thing. I think
we all saw it, and really he was a one
year I mean, he played two years at LSU, but
really the last year undefeated national championship.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
I mean, he looked special.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
He threw the NFL receivers, they had an NFL roster,
They went up against NFL players every week. He was
a pretty easy guy to evaluate. They spread the field out,
they let him just go through progressions because that was
his strength.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
How fast he went through it, and then how accurate
he was.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
There's very few Joe Burrows that we see Patrick Mahomes different.
He was a hard guy to evaluate two coming out
of Texas Tech because he was unorthodox. He didn't have
the mechanics that everybody's looking for. It was the projection,
and Andy Reid said, I'll take this projection.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
You know this is gonna work. And you know they
were patient with them too.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
They waited sixteen weeks before they let him play a
football game. And they had a guy in there that
you know, really taught them how to become a professional.
There's a lot of things in place for all these guys.
I mean, Kansas City, Green Bay, there's just a couple
of places where they just know how, they just know
the incubation system that you need to kind of help
these guys along and rather than just throw them out
(20:30):
there you know they did like they did Bright Young
last year and just go go sink or swim. There's
very few places that kind of know how to really
soften the landing for these guys when they make this adjudgment,
because if the offense is different, the defenses are different,
everything is different about them. So when you stay JJ McCarthy, look,
(20:52):
I mean, you go to Penn State, he didn't throw
a pass in the second half of the name that
they want. I mean, so what are you evaluating here?
His handoff, you know, his play action faith.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
So you hear a lot of talk about his leadership, right,
a lot of the intangibles people like to talk about
with JJ McCarthy. It's kind of a classic case of
somebody who you start to look at other things that
he's a real leader of men. And I don't mean
to say it in a way that's dismissive.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
He may well be. He clearly is a leader.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Of men, and then that is very important at the
next level. But it really is hard to evaluate his
skill set.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Do you see something.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
He was a top flight five star recruit coming out
of high school. Now like top flight you know, ended
up IMG Academy, which is basically a minor league for
the NFL, you know, in some ways. But I mean
he was thought of as an elite prospect. You know,
Ohio State was going to offer him obviously, and they
spurned him. All he did was stick it to the
(21:45):
buck Eyes every year he was there. You know, as
a result, he hates Ohio State. I mean, that stuff
is out there, But no, I mean he's being recruited
by the best schools in the country. You know, as
you know, Iowa State, Matt Campbell and Iowa State Offerhm
a contract like scholarship when he was in eighth grade.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
You know, it was that level of phenom.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
So it's not like he just ran this run based
system at Michigan. I mean, wherever he was going to go,
he was going to play quarterback. They just this was
the system at Michigan. I don't think it's hyperbole when
Jim Harball comes out says JJ McCarthy is the best
quarterback in this draft. Now, it might be like, obviously
he recruited him. They won a lot of games with
(22:25):
the National championship, you would expect that. But still he
doesn't have to say that.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
But he did now the question is who will say
the name JJ McCarthy on Draft Day.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Will it be Round one?
Speaker 2 (22:36):
I imagine it probably will be. The question is how
high in Draft one? Will it be the Giants at six,
will it be the Vikings at eleven, or will it
be somewhere else after a team makes one of the
moves that Baldy suggests and reminds us to look for
very very interesting to see what will happen for quarterbacks
on Day one of the draft. But let's widen our scope.
(23:15):
You are listening to NFL Total Access to podcast Andrew
Lavy with a film room phenom Brian Baldinger, the twelve
year NFL veteran Brian Boldinger. Let's not forget that, and
Baldi is the perfect man to ask questions about guys
who may be off the radar. In fact, let's turn
to a topic I'm calling not yet a blip. There
are some prospects ready to become pros who are at
(23:38):
this moment anyway, not yet a blip on the radar
of many NFL fans. Let's be clear, they are absolutely
firmly on the radar of NFL scouts if they're doing
their jobs correctly. And they are certainly on the radar
of today's special guest, Brian Baldinger. I want to start
with a cornerback. We talked about JJ McCarthy. Well, his
nemesis in practice there at Michigan was a guy by
(24:01):
the name of Mike Sandristol. And you really like this player.
It's a name that we need to get our heads around.
Am I saying the name correctly? And why do you
like this player so much?
Speaker 4 (24:10):
You are saying the name correctly.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
He's from Haiti port A Prince and you know, recruited
and went to high school the United States. But he
was a two time captain in Michigan for the best
defense in the country and coached, you know by guys
like Mike McDonald, you know, in Jim Harball. But he's
he is a I think he's as good a slot corner.
Speaker 4 (24:32):
As there is in this draft.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
And I don't believe any defense is a great defense
until you solidify that position. A lot of teams, like
the Eagles last year, could not get that position right.
What you know, Maddox got injured and then they tried
to replace, you know, four or five different guys. They
couldn't get that right. You got to be able to tackle,
You got to be tough. You've got to be able
to sift through the coffee, the coffee grinds of the
(24:57):
eggshell right into all that stuff. Guys, you know man
coverage and he's just a special player. You know, in a
National championship game, he had eight tackles, he had the
game clinching interception and return to basically solidify the Wolverines
as the national champs. I mean, he's he's got ball skills,
(25:17):
he could tackle, but he's a de side. He reminds
me a lot of indianapois as Kenny Moore. Kenny Moore
has been a Pro Bowl player there and he's earned
that strike. But you look at the guys Mike Kilton,
Kenny Moore, some really great slot defenders. They play on
good defenses.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Let the record show that this was the first compost
reference made on the podcast in a couple of years.
Thank you for the coffee grounds and eggshells. This is
a deep wide receiver class, Brian Baldinger. Only one team
can get Marvin Harrison Junior, only one team can get
Malik Neighbors, and only one team can get Rome Adunza.
(25:56):
But if those names are gone. Listener, by the time
your team is looking for a wide out, consider meeting
us at the corner of pedigree and performance to pick
up a kid named Luke McCaffrey Baldy. Your word for
this player is legit. What makes him so well?
Speaker 4 (26:13):
He takes the craft. He's a receiver. He's not like
his brother's on a running back. He's a receiver. He's
a slot receiver as an outside receiver.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
He's six y two and a little bit of change,
so he's got some length to him. But and he
runs faster than his brother. He played the last two
years at Rice after spending his first two years a
different position at Nebraska, so he's a converted wide receiver.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
But his he takes.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
I just don't understand why every receiver isn't a great
route runner.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
I don't know what they do like part of the job.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Of real interesting. Yes, yes he is.
Speaker 4 (26:47):
He You could tell he works on his craft.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
It's change of directions, it's change of speeds, it's hesitation,
it's understanding how to hesitate against a man coverage versus
his own coverage, versus bracket coverage. And then when you
look at him, how he used his body playing low
post basketball, how he puts the defender on his back,
the one handed sensational catches like he's a highlight reel
(27:09):
when you go watch now. I understand, Okay, Rice's conference USA.
It's not the Big Ten, it's not the SEC. But
I think if you put Luke in those conferences that
I just spoke of, you'd see very similar, if not
the same results.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Luke McCaffrey ran a four four six forty.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Quote of the day definitely from Brian Baldinger. I don't
understand why every wide receiver isn't a great route runner.
What else are you doing out there? We talked about
a natural slot corner in Mike Sandristol, but there is
another corner catching your eye out of Texas Tech. A
kid by the name of Dadrian Taylor Demerson. Tremendous ball
(27:47):
skills on this kid. He clocked a four to four
one forty. What jumps off the film about this young man.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
His versatility, his ball skills. You see his speed, his
ability to just to track people down in open space.
You see him just close the gap, suck up you know,
ball carriers. I think he plays with great awareness. He's
a half field safety. He's he drops down, he covers
players in the slot just fine. You know, he's he's
(28:15):
a guy that has versatility. He probably isn't a Day
one player, maybe even a Day two player, but you
know when you look at a guy like Hafanga, you know,
in San Francisco it's the fifth round pick, but you
can you can find these guys that have ball.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Skills and they were a different and they were a
different team when he got injured, that was a different
Niners defense without him in there.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
Well, he kind of reminds me of him in his aggressiveness,
his tackling ability, his versatility. I think you can play
him down in the box when you've got to drop
him down and run situations or against run teams.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
He looks, he looks the part. He looks like he's
ready for the next level.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
To me, he's just the way he sees the ball,
the way he reacts, the way he breaks on the.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
Ball in the air.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
Like these guys you don't get ten interceptions in college
because you got lucky, Like you've got to be able
to see the flight of the ball, see the release,
understand the route.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
Like I think he's kind of an advanced student. When
it comes to.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
That, passing the eye test of Brian Baldinger goes a
long way in my book, cornerback Dadrian Taylor Demerson out
of Texas Tech, Baldy said, don't expect his name to
be called on Day one in round one of the draft,
or even day two in rounds two and three of
the draft, but this may be a steal of the draft.
On Day three, rounds four, five, six, and seven, we
(29:35):
will definitely listen for his name. Lastly, on this not
yet a blip segment, I want you to name check
a couple of guys who are in fact quarterbacks because
in reference to our earlier conversation, there are so many teams.
Last year proves it how many quarterbacks started for NFL
(29:55):
teams in twenty twenty three. It was an astonishingly high
number you need at that position. And you are seeing
depth in this draft class that we may not be
talking enough about, especially with regards to guys who again
not Day one guys, maybe not even Day two guys.
But there's a quarterback out of Louisville named Jack Plumber
and a quarterback out of South Alabama named Carter Bradley,
(30:17):
both of whom are passing your eye test at least
in these early days.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
Well, I saw both of them live this year.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
I announced the Hula Bowl for CBS, and we were
in Orlando for four days with them.
Speaker 4 (30:29):
I got a chance.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
To talk to their head coaches, Brian Billick on one side,
Mike Smith and the other watching practice, watch them throw it,
watch them, you know, just do skeleton drills. Then watch
them game day and see their size the release. I
do think these are Day three players that are gonna
be on rosters next year. They're going to I think
both of will get drafted, and you just never know.
(30:51):
Like we saw so many teams last year, Arizona, Minnesota.
You look at these teams, the New York Jets use
three and more quarterbacks throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 4 (31:01):
And maybe that was just, you know, an anomaly this year,
but you have to be ready.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
I mean, they just changed the rule where you know,
your Day three quarterback now could be active and you know,
practice squad like we understand that you've got to have
depth at that position in this league. And you know,
there was a long time where teams just carry two quarterbacks.
I don't think you can just afford the rules have changed,
so you don't have to do that anymore. But I
think all teams will have three active quarterbacks. Cleveland right
(31:29):
now has four. They've got four quarterbacks on the roster.
You know, they've just you know, brought in a bunch
of them this offseason. So I think they're talking about
two guys that if they're on the roster and they're
competing in their running scout team on the practice squad,
they might get that opportunity to go and sometimes like
we found for brock Perty although evidently Kyle Shanahan saw
(31:50):
this pretty early in training.
Speaker 4 (31:51):
Camp his rookie year, they you won't know until they
get that chance.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
You are listening to NFL Total Access to podcast Andrew
Lavy with Brian Baldinger, and the next topic is the
countdown to the twenty twenty four NFL Draft. Coop, Let's
bring that clock back hell start the music as well.
Let's talk about the four teams in the NFC West.
I'd love to get your first response to the following questions.
(32:34):
Let's go top to bottom in the NFC West, starting with,
of course, the defending NFC champion San Francisco forty nine ers.
They finished the season twelve and five, they made that
playoff run.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
They got to.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
Super Bowl fifty eight. They had the lead in super
Bowl fifty eight, they came up short the third time
for Kyle Shanahan that he has come up short in
a Super Bowl. That's a narrative that dogs him. But
my question to you is less about our judgment from
the outside and more about what you're seeing on the inside.
San Francisco forty nine ers. What is their biggest weapon.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
Their defensive line, and they addressed it in free agency.
I'm no longer chase young Eric Armstead there. They weren't
good enough upfront. They want to be eight deep. So
any offseason right here, Leonard Floyd comes in, your ur
Gros Mattos comes in, Jordan Elliott comes in, Malie Collins
comes in.
Speaker 4 (33:23):
They want to be eighty.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
They don't need Nick Bosa going eighty percent of the
snaps all year. He's their best player, but they have
to be better across the board. Javon Hargrave, they need
more from him. They paid him a boatload of money
in free agency last year. They addressed their defensive line,
and they feel like that's what the biggest shortcoming in
the Super.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Bowl was depth at the defensive line position is the
biggest weapon for the San Francisco forty nine ers. What
is the San Francisco forty nine ers biggest worry?
Speaker 3 (33:51):
Well, I think the biggest worry is just the way
the offensive line performed. You know in the Super Bowl
against Kansas City. I mean, they came up short and
Rock per did not play poorly, but there was times
when they had a chance to win the game, especially
in overtime, and they had breakdowns up front, and the
breakdowns led to Chris Jones just ruining certain plays that
(34:11):
they could have easily won the game, and overtime won it.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
In regulation, the offensive line will be an issue.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
I mean, I don't think anybody worries about what Rock
Purty is or Christian McCaffrey or anybody else, but the
offensive line has to play big in a big spot,
and the bigger the spot, the more you have to
demand from that group.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Let's move to the Los Angeles Rams.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
They finished second in the NFC West in twenty twenty
three with a ten to seven record.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Rams. What is their biggest weapon.
Speaker 4 (34:39):
I think it's Sean McVay.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
I think it's just the way that he builds a
team in the way that his vision for the team
and how he wants to get them to play. They
built the offensive line last year. Steven Villee came in
at left guard, solidified the line. Kyron Williams came in
a fifth round pick the year before, became a monster,
led the National Football League in rushing yards per game.
They got the running game going. They found Pooka Naku.
(35:03):
They had a trust.
Speaker 4 (35:04):
And a belief. He became an overnight star in a sensation.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
Sean McVay just his relationship with less need the general manager,
how to build this team, how to fix the issues
the offense, lined the run game, because when that happens,
then Matt Stafford was got better.
Speaker 4 (35:23):
Puka became a star. They built the team in their eyes.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
The Seattle Seahawks had a very surprising twenty twenty two campaign.
Seahawks fans were hoping they would build upon that, and
they had a little bit of a disappointing year, but
they did finish nine to eight in twenty twenty three,
good for third in the NFC West. Seattle Seahawks Brian Bollinger,
what's their biggest weapon?
Speaker 4 (35:45):
I think the offensive line is going to be a strength.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
They drafted you know, Big Abe and some guys a
couple of years ago. They got hurt last year Charles Cross,
and they missed time. But I think they found depth
at that position. I think they you know, Big o'
lou at center. I mean, they found guys in the
draft last year. They've been hitting on their offensive line,
and I think regardless of the system they run, you know,
(36:10):
the Canine, Zach Charbonne, the running game, I think it's
going to be there.
Speaker 4 (36:13):
I think it's going to be a strength for this
football team right now.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Biggest weapon for the Seahawks the O line. Brian Boldinger,
what's the biggest worry for the Seattle Seahawks.
Speaker 3 (36:22):
Well, I think, you know, I think McDonald wants to
come in and run a similar matchup zone concept that
he ran in Baltimore. They just flushed out the whole
safety position. Basically Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams all gone.
They brought in Rayshawn Jenkins to go with Julian Love.
They got to We thought going into the season that
would be legion to boom too, and it was anything
(36:42):
but that Witherspoon got hurt.
Speaker 4 (36:44):
They weren't very good.
Speaker 3 (36:45):
The safeties they said, aren't good enough, and so they
got to rebuild that secondary. But the secondary is the
backbone of this matchup zone. Like you can't make mistakes
on the back end, you can't miss tackles on the
back end. When that happens, you give up big plays,
in give up touchdowns. So I think they've got a
concentrat on really fixing that part of it. And the
secondary always plays better if they're better up front, and
(37:08):
the pass rush gets better. So that's that's the weakness
right now. It's marrying a secondary with a pass rush
that has to get better.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
And finally, let's finish with the Arizona Cardinals four and
thirteen in twenty twenty three. Certainly a disappointing campaign for them,
dogged by injuries, dogged by transition, dogged by real adjustment
top to bottom in this franchise. Arizona Cardinals, Brian Baldinger,
what is their biggest weapon?
Speaker 4 (37:35):
Maybe it's James Connor.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
The way he ran the ball last year, like he
was a bounced back player and maybe he could have been,
you know, comeback player of.
Speaker 4 (37:42):
The year the way he played.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
I mean, remember they beat Dallas, ran the ball for
over two hundred yards. They went to Philly and beat
the Eagles and they ran the ball down their throats.
They've rebuilt their offensive line Paris Johnson Junior right tackle.
They've rebuilt their line, and they ran.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
The ball really good.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
And they're Austin fort is doing and Jonathan Gannon is
doing right now, is they're just ice. They're just finding pieces,
building blocks. McBride at tight end became a star. Hollywood
Brown is gone. They're looking for building blocks. And I
think if you look at building blocks and what they
did against the NFC East teams where they beat those teams,
(38:18):
I mentioned they ran the ball really good, and I
thought they played really well up.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Front James Connor.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
A rebuilt offensive line and a running game that you
can depend on and dominate with on your best days
is the biggest weapon, as Brian Baldinger sees it down
in the desert for the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
What is the Cardinals' biggest worry?
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Baldie, Well, I just.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
Think it's building a defensive line. I mean, you're not
you know, you have to however, you want to play deep.
I know Jonathan Gannon like he wants to have a
front four dominant defensive line. The last time he had
one in Philadelphia, they had seventy sacks and went to
a super Bowl and they were eight deep and asn
Reddick and you know all the names. I mean, he's
(38:59):
looked to build a group like that and they've got
work to do. And so you can look at, you know,
some of the players that they found on defense and
some of the pieces. But it's going to start with
building a defensive front.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
That's what the expert has to say.
Speaker 2 (39:15):
After the break on NFL Total Access to the podcast,
we'll hear from the fans and some bold predictions as well.
That's coming up after the break, along with Brian Baldinger's
predicted order a finish in the NFC West. After the
break on NFL Total Access the podcast. You are listening
to NFL Total Access the podcast, and it's time to
start that clock again.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Starts a music again. Let's get back.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
To our countdown to the twenty twenty four NFL Draft,
presented by Bud Light that begins April twenty fifth. That's Thursday,
April twenty fifth. That's round one. Well, we're on the
clock already. We talked AFC West at the end of
last week. Let's get this week started with the NFC West,
and let's begin with the defending NFC West champions, Sam
(40:00):
Francisco forty nine ers. The Niners won the West with
a twelve and five record. They of course, made it
all the way to the Super Bowl, all the way
to overtime in the Super Bowl. What will they do
for an encore? Well, the team needs, according to nfl
dot Com, cornerback, edgerusher, offensive tackle, interior offensive lineman, and
defensive tackle. They have ten picks with which to address
(40:23):
their needs. The thirty first overall pick at the end
of that first round. They've got a second round pick,
a third round pick, no fewer than three picks in
the fourth round, a fifth rounder, two in the sixth,
and one in the seventh. As for what Niners fans
would like to do with those picks, I started in
the neighborhood, just down the street, my neighbor and dear friend, Alfredo,
(40:46):
Pastor Alfredo. I always like saying that because it makes
me sound more pious than I really am. Pastor Alfredo
says that his perfect draft involves stocking up on offensive
linemen and addressing the secondary. For him, is a position
of particular concern. His biggest source of pride the offense
(41:06):
and the D line, who Baldy just reminded us has
crazy depth and crazy talented. His biggest source of concern, well,
no surprise that O line. That's his primary focus in
the draft. Alfredo said, I wouldn't be surprised if we
drafted a linebacker, even more D lineman and another tight end.
(41:27):
Two heads up, George Kittle, you may have some company
in that tight ends room. Here in a moment, my
colleague here at NFL Media, Jeremy Lewis, diehard Niners fans,
says his perfect draft plan addresses the defense, specifically the secondary.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
You see the thread.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
Knowledgeable Niners fans know the backside of their defense needs help.
Pastor Alfredo says that Jeremy Lewis says the same. He
is worried about opposing wide receivers, hitting the Niners for
big plays, taking the top off. Address the backside of
that defense job number one. According to Jeremy Lawise, his
biggest source of pride that he expects this offense this
(42:05):
year to be even better. He even expects Christian McCaffrey
to be better. It's hard to.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
Even imagine what that would look like.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
But the words Jeremy used to describe what he expects
from his Niners offense this year growth, sink, chemistry.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
His biggest concern.
Speaker 2 (42:23):
Coaching decisions in the big games. Jeremy was very quick
to say, look, I don't want to throw fuel on
the fire of the whole Shanahan Big Game narrative, but
I can't get it out of my mind. And finally,
he said, I wouldn't be surprised if my twenty twenty
four San Francisco forty nine.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
Ers won the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
I wouldn't be surprised either. Keep in mind they are
favorites to be Super Bowl champions for a reason. Let's
turn now to the Los Angeles Rams ten and seven
in twenty twenty three, good for second in the NFC West.
Team needs, according to nfl dot com cornerback, edge rusher, safety, quarterback,
and kicker. This is a young team in Sean mcvay's charge,
(43:06):
and they are gonna get even younger eleven picks with
which to address their needs. The nineteenth pick in the
first round. They have one pick in the second round,
two picks in the third round, two in the fifth,
no fewer than four picks in the sixth round, and
a pick in the seventh. A lot of Rams fans
(43:26):
around here. I only had to turn around to a
neighboring Cube to talk to my buddy Alex Wilke, who
says that his draft plan top end d lineman in
the first round, a linebacker in the second round, grabbing
some wide receiver and or running back depth late, finding
a quarterback to groom behind Matt Stafford, and getting one
(43:46):
or two more defensive starters late, probably defensive backs. Translation,
Alex wilk has a very specific plan for his La Rams.
His biggest source of pride having Aaron donn be a
Ram for life here here his biggest source of concern
replacing Aaron Donald. And he said, I wouldn't be surprised
(44:09):
if my twenty twenty four La Rams Wait for It
won the NFC. And Rams fan Kelly Moore says that
her perfect draft plan is to address the O line.
She said, Andrew, I always feel like we could use
some extra help on the O line because she worries
so much about poor Matthew Stafford, as she described him
(44:30):
always getting harassed. Her biggest source of pride as a
Rams fan. This franchise, which she described as a true
family franchise designed to help each other, her biggest source
of worry. Well, she kind of hinted at it with
her draft plan, Matthew Stafford getting hurt. No disrespect to
Jimmy g but she'd like Matt Stafford to play every
(44:52):
game this season. And finally, she said, I wouldn't be
surprised if, wait for it, we went to the Super Bowl.
She laughed when she said it, but she got serious
a beat later and said, seriously, Andrew, I have a
very good feeling about this season. And as I was
walking away, she said, hey, before you go, make sure
to give Aaron Donald a special thanks from all us
Rams fans. She said, thank you so much Aaron Donald
(45:14):
for a great career. She followed up with miss you,
big hug ouch. I think the ouch was anticipation of
what a hug from number ninety nine might feel like.
Speaker 1 (45:26):
Let's move to the Seattle Seahawks.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
They were third in the division in twenty twenty three
with a nine to eight record. Team needs, according to
nfl dot com, quarterback, linebacker, the inside of the O line,
defensive tackle, and edge rusher only seven picks in all
this season to address their needs, the sixteenth overall pick
in the first round. They have a third rounder from
(45:48):
the Saints through the Broncos. They have two fourth round picks,
two sixth round picks, and one seventh round pick. My
good buddy, golf fanatic Justin Young, who used to work
right here at NFL Media, says his perfect draft plan,
you gotta get some pass rush help. His biggest source
of pride the ability for his team to stay competitive
(46:09):
in a very difficult NFC West. His biggest source of
concern the quarterback position. Period, and Justin said, I wouldn't
be surprised if my twenty twenty four Seattle Seahawks didn't
make the playoffs. And finally, let's finish with the seller dweller,
at least in twenty twenty three Cellar dweller Arizona Cardinals.
(46:30):
They finished the twenty twenty three campaign with a four
and thirteen record. Team needs, according to nfl dot com
wide receiver, defensive tackle, the inside of their O line,
edge rusher, and cornerback. Now they have a haul of
picks eleven picks in all to address their needs. Two
in the first round.
Speaker 1 (46:49):
Don't forget.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
They have the fourth overall pick and the twenty seventh
overall pick that they acquired from the Texans. They have
a second round pick. They have three picks in the
third round, one in the fourth, two in the fifth,
one in the sixth, and one in the seventh. One
of our favorite colleagues here at NFL Media, Nick Bofman, said, well,
he said, first of.
Speaker 1 (47:09):
All, let's go.
Speaker 2 (47:11):
Gave a little brady to his let's go, he said,
his perfect draft plan drafting Marvin Harrison Junior at number
four and then get a solid backup quarterback and also
fortify the O line somewhere over the three days of
the draft. In terms of his biggest source of pride,
he said, well, if I'm being honest, there's not a
(47:32):
lot to be prideful about with the Cardinals right now.
And then he paused and said, ah, maybe the newish uniforms.
Biggest source of concern for Nick Boffman the front office
and what he sees as a lack of cohesion between
Kyler Murray and that offensive line. And finally, he said,
I wouldn't be surprised if my Arizona Cardinals had yet
another losing season. Their record should improve from last year,
(47:56):
he said, but I'm still not convinced that Kyler Murray
is the answer. So there you go, listener. That's how
a few NFC West fans see it. Curious to know
if those of you out there with emotional attachments in
the NFC West agree as for a predicted order of
finish this season in that division. Let's turn back to
Brian Baldinger. You are listening to NFL Total Access to
(48:19):
the podcast Andrew Lavy with Brian Baldinger and Baldi. Before
I let you go, I want to get your predicted
order of finish in the NFC West. That's the division
on the brain today. What is your predicted order of
finish for the NFC West in twenty twenty four?
Speaker 4 (48:35):
Not that much different from a year ago.
Speaker 3 (48:36):
San Francisco is still the team that everybody's shooting at
right now, and look it up at filed by the
Rams playoff team a year ago. Surprise a lot of teams,
but they got hot the second half of the season.
Speaker 4 (48:47):
Filed by Seattle and then Arizona.
Speaker 3 (48:49):
I think is building now they you might flip those
Arizona and Seattle. We're seeing some transition in this division.
What San Francisco is clearly the best team to meet.
The Rams will be more are very, very talented and
young in getting better, followed by Seattle.
Speaker 2 (49:06):
Arizona translation run it back. Twenty twenty three season ended
with the Niners, Rams, Seahawks, Cardinals in that order. In
the NFC West. Brian Baldinger says, expect the same again. Niners, Rams,
Seahawks and Cardinals may just be the order of finish
at the end of the twenty twenty four campaign. I
want to thank today's very special guest, Brian Baldinger. Baldi,
(49:26):
You're awesome. Thank you, Bud, Thank you Andrews, and I
want to invite the listener to join us next time
when we turn our attention to the NFC East. Long
considered one of the better divisions in the NFL. Now shoot,
as a commander's fan, I got to share with you
it's one of the most bewildering, head scratching divisions in
the NFL. Are we that good top to bottom or
(49:49):
are we disappointing? I'm not sure. The question, of course,
is what will we be? What will the NFC East
be in twenty twenty four. Well, we're going to put
some answers to that question next time. Till then, and
take care of you, take care of your crew and.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
Show for now.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
NFL Total Access is a production of the NFL in
partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
The NFL.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Total Access is a production of the NFL in partnership
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
It's Monday, April first, and you're listening to NFL Total Access,
the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
That is the voice of today's special guest, a man
who played twelve years in the NFL at a glorious
time to be in the NFL. His was an era
that may have lacked the polish of modern uniforms, the
comfort of modern stadia, and the shredded silhouette of the
modern player. But don't be fooled. His was the era
(00:37):
in which the NFL began to take its modern shape.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
His twelve years in the league.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Early eighties to early nineties, were defined by innovation and
by evolution. His own career was defined by adaptation, playing
every position on the offensive line, and his post playing
days have been defined by education. By teaching himself and
teaching us the subtle details that create such drama in
this fascinating and ever changing game. He is the flip
(01:05):
flop wearing film room phenom. He is Brian Baldinger. Welcome
back to the pod, Baldy.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
Oh, I Andrew, that so good. It's good to be
with you, buddy.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Biggest change from your era in the NFL to this
era in the NFL. There are probably too many to recount,
so it's probably a stupid question. Very different league then
and now, and yet is it fair to say that
yours was the era of innovation, of evolution when we
started to see modern offenses take shape and we started
(01:35):
to see modern defenses start to have to react to
modern offenses.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
Oh, I don't think there's any question about it.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
I mean, the biggest innovation really is just a spread offense,
proliferation of passing. Just look at all the numbers, look
at the quarterback play and all the responsibilities that they
have and throwing the football. And really I've always said this.
Andrew announced college foot all for Fox for ten years,
(02:01):
and like all the innovation, whether it was the uptemple offense,
the no huddle offense, the spread, you know, all those
things that came out of so many different offenses. Really
the innovation came in college. That was the equalizer. I
played for Steve Spurrier at Duke, and we were throwing
the ball when everybody else is running the veer. And
(02:23):
that's how we could go to Clemson and beat Clemson,
or go to Tennessee and beat Tennessee when we didn't
have near the talent that those teams had.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
But that was the equalizer, was the passing gate. Now
we see it.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Now it's here, it's here to stay, and now it's
a question of fine tuning.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
A lot of this.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
You are famously a workout warrior. You keep yourself remarkably
fit still to this day. But I hear stories of
maybe more from the sixties and seventies, but I think
it probably crept into your era too, into the eighties,
of guys who were drinking a beer and having a
cigarette at halftime.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Is that is that real?
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Oh? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (03:05):
I mean my first team was Dallas Cowboys in nineteen
eighty two, and every locker had an ashtray, So you know,
you walk in and you know there's an ash.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Tray walk for real. So this is like, oh, this
is the old.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
This is the old, like pan Am flight where the
people were smoking on there's an ashtray at every seat.
There was an ashtray at every locker.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Every locker. Yeah, this is the before they built Valley Ranch.
Now they're up in Frisco at the Star, But the
Cowboys were on Forest Lane, Forest Lane, and Greenville Avenue
and Avans Road, and we had a facility there and
you walk in and you're in the locker room, and
there was an ashtray there, and there was certain guys
that you know, have a couple of coffee in the morning,
(03:50):
smoked cigarette, breather Wall Street Journal, get their ankle, state,
have a cigarette, you know, come in at halftime of
a game and light up a stick. So it was
the I mean, it's a different error. I won't name
the names just because maybe they don't want them out there,
but I mean, you know, there are half a dozen
guys that you know definitely had a pack of Marbles
(04:10):
in the top pocket there.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
You know, every day I am your host, you're non
smoking man. I miss it.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Host NFL Network senior writer Andrew Levian on today's show, Coop,
let's start that clock again there. It is twenty five
days to the start of the twenty twenty four NFL Draft,
presented by Bud Light, and we are on the clock already.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
We're going team by team.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Last week we started in the division of the AFC champs,
the Super Bowl Champs, of course, the Kansas City Chiefs.
Today we turn our attention to the division of the
reigning NFC champion San Francisco forty nine ers. We're talking
all teams in the NFC West. Team needs draft picks,
important storylines, And as I do every year, listener, I
went around the building here at NFL Media and I
(04:52):
polled my colleagues, each of whom has a team that.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
They root for.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
What did the NFC West fans around hear say when
I ask them what they want for their team in
the draft, what their biggest source of pride is, what
their biggest source of panic is. Well, those answers are
to come. There's even a bold prediction or two on
the way, and that is coming up in a moment.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
But first, this overthrown intercepted, another pick thrown by Daniel Jones.
It is becoming a feeding frenzy. Okay, baldy QB or
not QB.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
That is the question, a nod to the bard there
to William Shakespeare QB or not QB. That is the
question whether it' tis nobler in the mind too.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I haven't figured out the rest of it. We'll get
back to you on that one. That has to be answered,
and it will be answered for a surprisingly high number
of NFL teams in the draft QB or not QB.
Here's what we know, Listener, Bears, Commanders, and Patriots. That's
the first, second, and third pick in the draft, at
least as it stands right now. And yes, we expect
quarterbacks to be taken at those spots, either by those
(05:57):
teams or by teams with the capitol and the conviction
to move in to those spots. But once you get
past the Patriots at three, kind of hard to know
with any degree of certainty what the plan is or
what the plan should be. And that's why I'm so
glad to have Baldy with us today. Brian balding Er,
I'm going to throw some teams your way, and I
just want to know what you think about. Let's say
(06:19):
the Giants currently drafting in the sixth position. You and
I both know moving on from Daniel Jones as a
narrative that has been getting louder and more persistent since
before his four year, one hundred and sixty million dollars
deal was agreed to before the start of last season's
campaign New York Giants QB or not QB.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Well, I before I answer the question, let me just
throw one caveat here to what we're doing, because what
we what we can't anticipate yet. With twenty five days
away from the draft, Andrew Is trades last year, obviously
Caroline Chicago will make a blockbuster trade. All right, So
Carolina gets the first pick, Bryce Young. Go back to
twenty sixteen, both the Rams and the Eagles traded up
(07:03):
to the one and two spot to go get Jared Goffin,
you know, in Carson Wentz. So that remains to be
seen and that might very well happen. However, to get
to your question, if it's just status quo and the
Giants stay at six and you know QB or not
to QB, I say they have to QB. I mean
number one Daniel Jones. He wasn't drafted by Joe Shane
(07:26):
in this regime. Sometimes that makes a difference.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Not his guy drafted by the.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Regime before they've had two years to look at him.
A year where he played very well, ran the ball
very well, got the most out of their offense, won
a playoff game. Last year, it all crumbled, like literally
the first week of the season. It crumbled and they
never got any traction. And so you can say Okay,
Daniel Jones coming back from a serious knee injury right now,
Maybe he makes it back. Maybe they throw, you know,
(07:52):
some change at Drew Locke and he comes in there
and competes.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
But they're to me a quarterback needy team.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
I mean, they're looking up and have been look it
up at both Dallas and Philadelphia that looks stable at
that position. At least right now, they look stable at
the quarterback position. And nobody's unseating either one of those
teams until they get stability at the quarterback position and
an upgrade at that position. You're just not going to
win divisions without good quarterback play. And so I think
(08:19):
the Giants, yes, they should be in quarterback mode. And
the owners come out and said so, and he's basically
given the green light to Joe Shane, the general manager,
Brian Dable, the head coach, and said, if you feel
that your players there at this position, it's a value,
you have the green light to go take the quarterback.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I appreciate the caveat that you gave at the beginning
of this, and it is to remind us that there
are going to be trades, rumored trades, and then actual trades.
As we get closer to April twenty fifth. Thursday, April
twenty fifth, Round one of the twenty twenty four NFL Draft,
presented by bud Light, You can watch that on NFL
Network on NFL Plus. NFL dot Com will have you
covered as well. Moved down the ledger a little bit
(09:01):
to number eleven The Vikings, the Minnesota Vikings. They have
the eleventh pick and the twenty third pick. Less about
the machinations of what they could do packaging those two picks,
and more just about this team, this franchise. They have
Sam Donald on the roster, Kirk Cousins out the door,
QB or not QB in Minnesota.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Yes, absolutely, QB gone from Kirk Cousins. And really, I
mean they wanted Kirk Cousins. They just want to give
him a four year deal the way the Lanta Falcons did.
They want to commit to a thirty five year old quarterback.
And so look, you're going to get Sam Donald. It
comes in and maybe Sam rehabilitated himself this last six
weeks in Carolina, the backup in San Francisco starting one
(09:42):
game for him last year.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Maybe you know, a year with Kyle Shanahan.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Really helped them, but nobody really knows what Sam Donald's
going to be at this point.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Some people think that Hey put them in a stable
place with.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
A good defense and good receivers around him in him
and a good young coach and Kevin you know, coach O'Connell.
I like, maybe that can happen, but I still think
they have to build for the future. I mean, you're
looking up at the Green Bay Packers. They've got that
guy in Jordan Love. They made the move. Chicago's going
to make their move. You know, maybe in Detroit. Jared
(10:14):
Goff is a long term answer, but they certainly have
a very good team around Whoever the quarterback is three
or four years from now.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
That's where Minnesota's got to get to, you know.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
And so I think they have This is a good
draft to go find that guy if they have conviction
about it.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
So I think very much they're in the mode right now.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Broncos at twelve, I think the answer is quite obviously yes,
that is a QB needy team. So we should certainly
expect to see some sort of movement from Denver. Let's
move one pick past Denver. The Las Vegas Raiders sitting
there at thirteen. This is a tough one. They've got
(10:52):
Gardner Minshew on the roster, They've got Aidan O'Connell on
the roster, varying opinions about the viability of each of
those guys. Where do you stand on Raiders QB or
not QB?
Speaker 3 (11:05):
I think there's two camps when you're looking at building
a team. One team says, get your star quarterback and
just never stop building around them. And then the other
camp is, let's build the best possible team we can
and when the quarterback arrives, we plug them in. It's
sort of like what happened to Brock Purdy. The team
(11:25):
was great. Rock Purdy gets plugged in. Very good quarterback,
and I'm saying he's not a big part of it,
but Brock Perdy came in and ran the system. And
I feel like the Raiders are in that mode. They're
building their team. You can tell by what they did
Christian Wilkins, you know, Max Crosby, what the Tyree Wilson
last year. They're building their defensive front, they're upgrading their
(11:45):
offensive line.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
I feel like.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
They're building their team right now, and I think they
feel content, at least for right now with Aidan O'Connell
and Gardner Minshew. Minshew won seven games the back up
in Indianapolis. Nobody thought that could be in a playoff hunt.
He got him there. I feel like between those two guys,
they feel like they're good enough at that position to
win games and maybe even challenge Kansas City. But meanwhile,
(12:09):
let's take that thirteenth pick and let's add another blue
chip player to this roster.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Let's move down.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Seahawks at sixteen questions about the long term viability of
Geno Smith. He's been dogged by those his whole career,
and I love the fact that he continues to prove
his doubters wrong. But obviously time waits for no man.
They picked up Sam Howell from my Washington Commanders, who
I really like. Seahawks at sixteen. Long term vision suggests
(12:36):
a short term answer QB or not QB in Seattle
for John Schneider, I would say no.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
I would say no because I think Gino Smith can
still win games. When he was healthy last year, he
was still pretty good. There's a big regime change there,
you know, with Mike MacDonald coming in. But I think
they got Sam Howell. Yeah, he's still in a rookie contracts.
He started eighteen games for a while, the team around
him wasn't very good at all. He can't do anything
(13:04):
about that. But I know this when you go watch
Sam Haweill throw a football. The guy's got arm strength,
he's got arm talent, He's tough, he can take a hit. Heck,
he got sacked sixty times whatever. Like he just gets
up dust himself off, never complains. Learned an offense, learned
two offenses. So I just think I think they're content.
(13:25):
They're Their defense was really shaky last year and not
very good and not very competitive, and so I see
it feel like at sixteen there's gonna be a really
good defensive player on the board, and they've sort of
unloaded their linebacker and corps. Jordan Brooks has gone, Bobby
Wagner's gone, whether it's inside linebacker, pass rusher, like, I
just think they need an impactful player to help this defense.
(13:48):
That's Mike McDonald's specialty. Right now. I think they're okay
at quarterback with the idea that maybe Sam Hawe has
a lot to offer and maybe not quite what Caleb
can bring or Jayden daniel be but good enough right
now where they can win games with what they have
at quarterback.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Very interesting.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
And finally, in this first round, let's look at the
Rams sitting there at nineteen. This is the first time
in a long time that the La Rams even have
a first round pick. Do you see them attempting to
use that pick to get a quarterback? La Rams Brian
Baldinger QB or not QB.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Well, Ironically, the last time the Rams had a number
one draft pick, they used it to draft Jared Goff
with the first pick twenty sixteen. It's been eight years
since they've even had a first round pick. I don't
believe they'll use it on a quarterback. They got their
offensive line together last year, Kyra and Williams became a star.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
They found Kuka Nakua.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Defensively, our best defensive player in the league has just retired.
I think they did well last year in the draft.
They got Kobe Turner, they got Byron Young. I feel
like they need to go draft a blue chip player
at nineteen, and I maybe a defense van That's my guess.
I think that's a bigger need for them right now
(15:04):
than the quarterback position.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
And I would not.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
I would not forego building this defense up with a
lot of young players that brought back Darius Williams.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
They got corners like they look like they're.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
A star defensive van away from really competing in the division.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
So let's talk about that.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
I find that very interesting, Baldi, thank you for that.
So that was Giants, yes, QB, Vikings very likely, yes QB.
But Seahawks, Rams and Raiders. No, not right now, not
this draft class, not this year. You have bigger issues
to address and you have quarterbacks in house that may
kind of get you over the line in this campaign.
(15:43):
But let's talk about those teams like the Giants and
the Vikings, and yes, the Broncos, who we can assume
are going to make some play for a quarterback in
April's draft. What happens when you get past Caleb Williams
and Jaden Daniels and Drake May there's only one of
those guys. They can only go to one team. Once
you get past that presumed top three, it does get
a little bit tricky. Talk about guys like Michael Panics
(16:04):
and bow Nix and JJ McCarthy, who may be the
most bewildering of all. Here's my question to you. I'm
kind of fashioning it on the fly, Baldy. But for
those teams outside of the top three that do need
a quarterback, is it worth taking a quarterback if the
quarterback's available to you, even at six or eleven or beyond,
(16:25):
are simply not ready to be a week one starter?
Do you draft a project in those positions? Or is
the draft pick two valuable to waste it on a project?
Speaker 4 (16:37):
Well, if it's a project, it's too valuable.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
But if you have conviction about the player, I personally
love Michael Pennox and everything he stands for. Now you
can say as age works against him, and it might
be just going to be twenty four after the draft.
You could say the injury history works against him, and
it very well could, although he just started twenty seven
straight games for Washington and turn that program completely around.
(17:00):
Just ran a four four six forty and is fully healthy,
and his arm strength is as good, if not better
than everybody in this draft.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
So I mean, if you have.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Conviction, it's never a bad decision to draft a quarterback.
And we can slot these guys all we want, but
you just have to go back to two thousand and
five and Aaron Rodgers sitting there at number twenty five,
and he's just sitting there, just melting in the green room,
and nobody has picked him. And all these other guys
(17:29):
that went before m weren't anything close to Aaron Rodgers.
We get this wrong every year, Drew. So it's just
a question of what kind of conviction you have. I mean,
Sean Payton wouldn't be picking twelve for the Denver Broncos
right now if Kansas City didn't jump in front of them,
you know, in twenty seventeen and take Patrick Mahomes, you know,
with the tenth pick, like he was going.
Speaker 4 (17:51):
To take Patrick at a level. Kansas City supplanted that
and took them.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Otherwise they would have just kept rolling in New Orleans
with Mahomes.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
Taking over Drew. So it's just a question of you're
going to put your neck on the line.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
I don't care if you're picking one, or if you're
picking twelve, or if you're picking nineteen with the Rams,
if you're taking a quarterback, you're putting your your neck
on the line to coach the GM everybody, because when
they get it wrong, everybody gets fired anyways.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
So I mean, that's just the rule of the land
right now. In this lee.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
I love your Yelp review on Michael Pennix, and I'm
really starting to look more closely at him. The ball
just flies out of his hands. He just shreds it
when he spends it. Is something very very interesting about
his release. And I like the reminder that he has
been healthy for the last two years. I like the
reminder that he ran a sub four or five point
forty at.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
His pro day.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Michael Pennock's a very very interesting prospect. Let's finish on
JJ McCarthy here on this In terms of this topic,
one of the more bewildering prospects. It's hard to gauge him,
at least it is from my layperson's seat. You're not
a layperson. How do you project a guy who really
wasn't asked to do that much in college? Baldy, Where
(19:04):
do you go with a guy like JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Well, honestly, it's a projection for every one of these
guys because the league is so different from what they
just did in college. There's very few sure things at
that position. Joe Burrow was a sure thing. I think
we all saw it, and really he was a one
year I mean, he played two years at LSU, but
really the last year undefeated national championship.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
I mean, he looked special.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
He threw the NFL receivers, they had an NFL roster,
They went up against NFL players every week. He was
a pretty easy guy to evaluate. They spread the field out,
they let him just go through progressions because that was
his strength.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
How fast he went through it, and then how accurate
he was.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
There's very few Joe Burrows that we see Patrick Mahomes different.
He was a hard guy to evaluate two coming out
of Texas Tech because he was unorthodox. He didn't have
the mechanics that everybody's looking for. It was the projection,
and Andy Reid said, I'll take this projection.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
You know this is gonna work. And you know they
were patient with them too.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
They waited sixteen weeks before they let him play a
football game. And they had a guy in there that
you know, really taught them how to become a professional.
There's a lot of things in place for all these guys.
I mean, Kansas City, Green Bay, there's just a couple
of places where they just know how, they just know
the incubation system that you need to kind of help
these guys along and rather than just throw them out
(20:30):
there you know they did like they did Bright Young
last year and just go go sink or swim. There's
very few places that kind of know how to really
soften the landing for these guys when they make this adjudgment,
because if the offense is different, the defenses are different,
everything is different about them. So when you stay JJ McCarthy, look,
(20:52):
I mean, you go to Penn State, he didn't throw
a pass in the second half of the name that
they want. I mean, so what are you evaluating here?
His handoff, you know, his play action faith.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
So you hear a lot of talk about his leadership, right,
a lot of the intangibles people like to talk about
with JJ McCarthy. It's kind of a classic case of
somebody who you start to look at other things that
he's a real leader of men. And I don't mean
to say it in a way that's dismissive.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
He may well be. He clearly is a leader.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Of men, and then that is very important at the
next level. But it really is hard to evaluate his
skill set.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Do you see something.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
He was a top flight five star recruit coming out
of high school. Now like top flight you know, ended
up IMG Academy, which is basically a minor league for
the NFL, you know, in some ways. But I mean
he was thought of as an elite prospect. You know,
Ohio State was going to offer him obviously, and they
spurned him. All he did was stick it to the
(21:45):
buck Eyes every year he was there. You know, as
a result, he hates Ohio State. I mean, that stuff
is out there, But no, I mean he's being recruited
by the best schools in the country. You know, as
you know, Iowa State, Matt Campbell and Iowa State Offerhm
a contract like scholarship when he was in eighth grade.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
You know, it was that level of phenom.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
So it's not like he just ran this run based
system at Michigan. I mean, wherever he was going to go,
he was going to play quarterback. They just this was
the system at Michigan. I don't think it's hyperbole when
Jim Harball comes out says JJ McCarthy is the best
quarterback in this draft. Now, it might be like, obviously
he recruited him. They won a lot of games with
(22:25):
the National championship, you would expect that. But still he
doesn't have to say that.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
But he did now the question is who will say
the name JJ McCarthy on Draft Day.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Will it be Round one?
Speaker 2 (22:36):
I imagine it probably will be. The question is how
high in Draft one? Will it be the Giants at six,
will it be the Vikings at eleven, or will it
be somewhere else after a team makes one of the
moves that Baldy suggests and reminds us to look for
very very interesting to see what will happen for quarterbacks
on Day one of the draft. But let's widen our scope.
(23:15):
You are listening to NFL Total Access to podcast Andrew
Lavy with a film room phenom Brian Baldinger, the twelve
year NFL veteran Brian Boldinger. Let's not forget that, and
Baldi is the perfect man to ask questions about guys
who may be off the radar. In fact, let's turn
to a topic I'm calling not yet a blip. There
are some prospects ready to become pros who are at
(23:38):
this moment anyway, not yet a blip on the radar
of many NFL fans. Let's be clear, they are absolutely
firmly on the radar of NFL scouts if they're doing
their jobs correctly. And they are certainly on the radar
of today's special guest, Brian Baldinger. I want to start
with a cornerback. We talked about JJ McCarthy. Well, his
nemesis in practice there at Michigan was a guy by
(24:01):
the name of Mike Sandristol. And you really like this player.
It's a name that we need to get our heads around.
Am I saying the name correctly? And why do you
like this player so much?
Speaker 4 (24:10):
You are saying the name correctly.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
He's from Haiti port A Prince and you know, recruited
and went to high school the United States. But he
was a two time captain in Michigan for the best
defense in the country and coached, you know by guys
like Mike McDonald, you know, in Jim Harball. But he's
he is a I think he's as good a slot corner.
Speaker 4 (24:32):
As there is in this draft.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
And I don't believe any defense is a great defense
until you solidify that position. A lot of teams, like
the Eagles last year, could not get that position right.
What you know, Maddox got injured and then they tried
to replace, you know, four or five different guys. They
couldn't get that right. You got to be able to tackle,
You got to be tough. You've got to be able
to sift through the coffee, the coffee grinds of the
(24:57):
eggshell right into all that stuff. Guys, you know man
coverage and he's just a special player. You know, in a
National championship game, he had eight tackles, he had the
game clinching interception and return to basically solidify the Wolverines
as the national champs. I mean, he's he's got ball skills,
(25:17):
he could tackle, but he's a de side. He reminds
me a lot of indianapois as Kenny Moore. Kenny Moore
has been a Pro Bowl player there and he's earned
that strike. But you look at the guys Mike Kilton,
Kenny Moore, some really great slot defenders. They play on
good defenses.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Let the record show that this was the first compost
reference made on the podcast in a couple of years.
Thank you for the coffee grounds and eggshells. This is
a deep wide receiver class, Brian Baldinger. Only one team
can get Marvin Harrison Junior, only one team can get
Malik Neighbors, and only one team can get Rome Adunza.
(25:56):
But if those names are gone. Listener, by the time
your team is looking for a wide out, consider meeting
us at the corner of pedigree and performance to pick
up a kid named Luke McCaffrey Baldy. Your word for
this player is legit. What makes him so well?
Speaker 4 (26:13):
He takes the craft. He's a receiver. He's not like
his brother's on a running back. He's a receiver. He's
a slot receiver as an outside receiver.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
He's six y two and a little bit of change,
so he's got some length to him. But and he
runs faster than his brother. He played the last two
years at Rice after spending his first two years a
different position at Nebraska, so he's a converted wide receiver.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
But his he takes.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
I just don't understand why every receiver isn't a great
route runner.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
I don't know what they do like part of the job.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Of real interesting. Yes, yes he is.
Speaker 4 (26:47):
He You could tell he works on his craft.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
It's change of directions, it's change of speeds, it's hesitation,
it's understanding how to hesitate against a man coverage versus
his own coverage, versus bracket coverage. And then when you
look at him, how he used his body playing low
post basketball, how he puts the defender on his back,
the one handed sensational catches like he's a highlight reel
(27:09):
when you go watch now. I understand, Okay, Rice's conference USA.
It's not the Big Ten, it's not the SEC. But
I think if you put Luke in those conferences that
I just spoke of, you'd see very similar, if not
the same results.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Luke McCaffrey ran a four four six forty.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Quote of the day definitely from Brian Baldinger. I don't
understand why every wide receiver isn't a great route runner.
What else are you doing out there? We talked about
a natural slot corner in Mike Sandristol, but there is
another corner catching your eye out of Texas Tech. A
kid by the name of Dadrian Taylor Demerson. Tremendous ball
(27:47):
skills on this kid. He clocked a four to four
one forty. What jumps off the film about this young man.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
His versatility, his ball skills. You see his speed, his
ability to just to track people down in open space.
You see him just close the gap, suck up you know,
ball carriers. I think he plays with great awareness. He's
a half field safety. He's he drops down, he covers
players in the slot just fine. You know, he's he's
(28:15):
a guy that has versatility. He probably isn't a Day
one player, maybe even a Day two player, but you
know when you look at a guy like Hafanga, you know,
in San Francisco it's the fifth round pick, but you
can you can find these guys that have ball.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Skills and they were a different and they were a
different team when he got injured, that was a different
Niners defense without him in there.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
Well, he kind of reminds me of him in his aggressiveness,
his tackling ability, his versatility. I think you can play
him down in the box when you've got to drop
him down and run situations or against run teams.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
He looks, he looks the part. He looks like he's
ready for the next level.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
To me, he's just the way he sees the ball,
the way he reacts, the way he breaks on the.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
Ball in the air.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
Like these guys you don't get ten interceptions in college
because you got lucky, Like you've got to be able
to see the flight of the ball, see the release,
understand the route.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
Like I think he's kind of an advanced student. When
it comes to.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
That, passing the eye test of Brian Baldinger goes a
long way in my book, cornerback Dadrian Taylor Demerson out
of Texas Tech, Baldy said, don't expect his name to
be called on Day one in round one of the draft,
or even day two in rounds two and three of
the draft, but this may be a steal of the draft.
On Day three, rounds four, five, six, and seven, we
(29:35):
will definitely listen for his name. Lastly, on this not
yet a blip segment, I want you to name check
a couple of guys who are in fact quarterbacks because
in reference to our earlier conversation, there are so many teams.
Last year proves it how many quarterbacks started for NFL
(29:55):
teams in twenty twenty three. It was an astonishingly high
number you need at that position. And you are seeing
depth in this draft class that we may not be
talking enough about, especially with regards to guys who again
not Day one guys, maybe not even Day two guys.
But there's a quarterback out of Louisville named Jack Plumber
and a quarterback out of South Alabama named Carter Bradley,
(30:17):
both of whom are passing your eye test at least
in these early days.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
Well, I saw both of them live this year.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
I announced the Hula Bowl for CBS, and we were
in Orlando for four days with them.
Speaker 4 (30:29):
I got a chance.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
To talk to their head coaches, Brian Billick on one side,
Mike Smith and the other watching practice, watch them throw it,
watch them, you know, just do skeleton drills. Then watch
them game day and see their size the release. I
do think these are Day three players that are gonna
be on rosters next year. They're going to I think
both of will get drafted, and you just never know.
(30:51):
Like we saw so many teams last year, Arizona, Minnesota.
You look at these teams, the New York Jets use
three and more quarterbacks throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 4 (31:01):
And maybe that was just, you know, an anomaly this year,
but you have to be ready.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
I mean, they just changed the rule where you know,
your Day three quarterback now could be active and you know,
practice squad like we understand that you've got to have
depth at that position in this league. And you know,
there was a long time where teams just carry two quarterbacks.
I don't think you can just afford the rules have changed,
so you don't have to do that anymore. But I
think all teams will have three active quarterbacks. Cleveland right
(31:29):
now has four. They've got four quarterbacks on the roster.
You know, they've just you know, brought in a bunch
of them this offseason. So I think they're talking about
two guys that if they're on the roster and they're
competing in their running scout team on the practice squad,
they might get that opportunity to go and sometimes like
we found for brock Perty although evidently Kyle Shanahan saw
(31:50):
this pretty early in training.
Speaker 4 (31:51):
Camp his rookie year, they you won't know until they
get that chance.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
You are listening to NFL Total Access to podcast Andrew
Lavy with Brian Baldinger, and the next topic is the
countdown to the twenty twenty four NFL Draft. Coop, Let's
bring that clock back hell start the music as well.
Let's talk about the four teams in the NFC West.
I'd love to get your first response to the following questions.
(32:34):
Let's go top to bottom in the NFC West, starting with,
of course, the defending NFC champion San Francisco forty nine ers.
They finished the season twelve and five, they made that
playoff run.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
They got to.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
Super Bowl fifty eight. They had the lead in super
Bowl fifty eight, they came up short the third time
for Kyle Shanahan that he has come up short in
a Super Bowl. That's a narrative that dogs him. But
my question to you is less about our judgment from
the outside and more about what you're seeing on the inside.
San Francisco forty nine ers. What is their biggest weapon.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
Their defensive line, and they addressed it in free agency.
I'm no longer chase young Eric Armstead there. They weren't
good enough upfront. They want to be eight deep. So
any offseason right here, Leonard Floyd comes in, your ur
Gros Mattos comes in, Jordan Elliott comes in, Malie Collins
comes in.
Speaker 4 (33:23):
They want to be eighty.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
They don't need Nick Bosa going eighty percent of the
snaps all year. He's their best player, but they have
to be better across the board. Javon Hargrave, they need
more from him. They paid him a boatload of money
in free agency last year. They addressed their defensive line,
and they feel like that's what the biggest shortcoming in
the Super.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Bowl was depth at the defensive line position is the
biggest weapon for the San Francisco forty nine ers. What
is the San Francisco forty nine ers biggest worry?
Speaker 3 (33:51):
Well, I think the biggest worry is just the way
the offensive line performed. You know in the Super Bowl
against Kansas City. I mean, they came up short and
Rock per did not play poorly, but there was times
when they had a chance to win the game, especially
in overtime, and they had breakdowns up front, and the
breakdowns led to Chris Jones just ruining certain plays that
(34:11):
they could have easily won the game, and overtime won it.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
In regulation, the offensive line will be an issue.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
I mean, I don't think anybody worries about what Rock
Purty is or Christian McCaffrey or anybody else, but the
offensive line has to play big in a big spot,
and the bigger the spot, the more you have to
demand from that group.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Let's move to the Los Angeles Rams.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
They finished second in the NFC West in twenty twenty
three with a ten to seven record.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Rams. What is their biggest weapon.
Speaker 4 (34:39):
I think it's Sean McVay.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
I think it's just the way that he builds a
team in the way that his vision for the team
and how he wants to get them to play. They
built the offensive line last year. Steven Villee came in
at left guard, solidified the line. Kyron Williams came in
a fifth round pick the year before, became a monster,
led the National Football League in rushing yards per game.
They got the running game going. They found Pooka Naku.
(35:03):
They had a trust.
Speaker 4 (35:04):
And a belief. He became an overnight star in a sensation.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
Sean McVay just his relationship with less need the general manager,
how to build this team, how to fix the issues
the offense, lined the run game, because when that happens,
then Matt Stafford was got better.
Speaker 4 (35:23):
Puka became a star. They built the team in their eyes.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
The Seattle Seahawks had a very surprising twenty twenty two campaign.
Seahawks fans were hoping they would build upon that, and
they had a little bit of a disappointing year, but
they did finish nine to eight in twenty twenty three,
good for third in the NFC West. Seattle Seahawks Brian Bollinger,
what's their biggest weapon?
Speaker 4 (35:45):
I think the offensive line is going to be a strength.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
They drafted you know, Big Abe and some guys a
couple of years ago. They got hurt last year Charles Cross,
and they missed time. But I think they found depth
at that position. I think they you know, Big o'
lou at center. I mean, they found guys in the
draft last year. They've been hitting on their offensive line,
and I think regardless of the system they run, you know,
(36:10):
the Canine, Zach Charbonne, the running game, I think it's
going to be there.
Speaker 4 (36:13):
I think it's going to be a strength for this
football team right now.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Biggest weapon for the Seahawks the O line. Brian Boldinger,
what's the biggest worry for the Seattle Seahawks.
Speaker 3 (36:22):
Well, I think, you know, I think McDonald wants to
come in and run a similar matchup zone concept that
he ran in Baltimore. They just flushed out the whole
safety position. Basically Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams all gone.
They brought in Rayshawn Jenkins to go with Julian Love.
They got to We thought going into the season that
would be legion to boom too, and it was anything
(36:42):
but that Witherspoon got hurt.
Speaker 4 (36:44):
They weren't very good.
Speaker 3 (36:45):
The safeties they said, aren't good enough, and so they
got to rebuild that secondary. But the secondary is the
backbone of this matchup zone. Like you can't make mistakes
on the back end, you can't miss tackles on the
back end. When that happens, you give up big plays,
in give up touchdowns. So I think they've got a
concentrat on really fixing that part of it. And the
secondary always plays better if they're better up front, and
(37:08):
the pass rush gets better. So that's that's the weakness
right now. It's marrying a secondary with a pass rush
that has to get better.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
And finally, let's finish with the Arizona Cardinals four and
thirteen in twenty twenty three. Certainly a disappointing campaign for them,
dogged by injuries, dogged by transition, dogged by real adjustment
top to bottom in this franchise. Arizona Cardinals, Brian Baldinger,
what is their biggest weapon?
Speaker 4 (37:35):
Maybe it's James Connor.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
The way he ran the ball last year, like he
was a bounced back player and maybe he could have been,
you know, comeback player of.
Speaker 4 (37:42):
The year the way he played.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
I mean, remember they beat Dallas, ran the ball for
over two hundred yards. They went to Philly and beat
the Eagles and they ran the ball down their throats.
They've rebuilt their offensive line Paris Johnson Junior right tackle.
They've rebuilt their line, and they ran.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
The ball really good.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
And they're Austin fort is doing and Jonathan Gannon is
doing right now, is they're just ice. They're just finding pieces,
building blocks. McBride at tight end became a star. Hollywood
Brown is gone. They're looking for building blocks. And I
think if you look at building blocks and what they
did against the NFC East teams where they beat those teams,
(38:18):
I mentioned they ran the ball really good, and I
thought they played really well up.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Front James Connor.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
A rebuilt offensive line and a running game that you
can depend on and dominate with on your best days
is the biggest weapon, as Brian Baldinger sees it down
in the desert for the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
What is the Cardinals' biggest worry?
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Baldie, Well, I just.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
Think it's building a defensive line. I mean, you're not
you know, you have to however, you want to play deep.
I know Jonathan Gannon like he wants to have a
front four dominant defensive line. The last time he had
one in Philadelphia, they had seventy sacks and went to
a super Bowl and they were eight deep and asn
Reddick and you know all the names. I mean, he's
(38:59):
looked to build a group like that and they've got
work to do. And so you can look at, you know,
some of the players that they found on defense and
some of the pieces. But it's going to start with
building a defensive front.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
That's what the expert has to say.
Speaker 2 (39:15):
After the break on NFL Total Access to the podcast,
we'll hear from the fans and some bold predictions as well.
That's coming up after the break, along with Brian Baldinger's
predicted order a finish in the NFC West. After the
break on NFL Total Access the podcast. You are listening
to NFL Total Access the podcast, and it's time to
start that clock again.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Starts a music again. Let's get back.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
To our countdown to the twenty twenty four NFL Draft,
presented by Bud Light that begins April twenty fifth. That's Thursday,
April twenty fifth. That's round one. Well, we're on the
clock already. We talked AFC West at the end of
last week. Let's get this week started with the NFC West,
and let's begin with the defending NFC West champions, Sam
(40:00):
Francisco forty nine ers. The Niners won the West with
a twelve and five record. They of course, made it
all the way to the Super Bowl, all the way
to overtime in the Super Bowl. What will they do
for an encore? Well, the team needs, according to nfl
dot Com, cornerback, edgerusher, offensive tackle, interior offensive lineman, and
defensive tackle. They have ten picks with which to address
(40:23):
their needs. The thirty first overall pick at the end
of that first round. They've got a second round pick,
a third round pick, no fewer than three picks in
the fourth round, a fifth rounder, two in the sixth,
and one in the seventh. As for what Niners fans
would like to do with those picks, I started in
the neighborhood, just down the street, my neighbor and dear friend, Alfredo,
(40:46):
Pastor Alfredo. I always like saying that because it makes
me sound more pious than I really am. Pastor Alfredo
says that his perfect draft involves stocking up on offensive
linemen and addressing the secondary. For him, is a position
of particular concern. His biggest source of pride the offense
(41:06):
and the D line, who Baldy just reminded us has
crazy depth and crazy talented. His biggest source of concern, well,
no surprise that O line. That's his primary focus in
the draft. Alfredo said, I wouldn't be surprised if we
drafted a linebacker, even more D lineman and another tight end.
(41:27):
Two heads up, George Kittle, you may have some company
in that tight ends room. Here in a moment, my
colleague here at NFL Media, Jeremy Lewis, diehard Niners fans,
says his perfect draft plan addresses the defense, specifically the secondary.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
You see the thread.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
Knowledgeable Niners fans know the backside of their defense needs help.
Pastor Alfredo says that Jeremy Lewis says the same. He
is worried about opposing wide receivers, hitting the Niners for
big plays, taking the top off. Address the backside of
that defense job number one. According to Jeremy Lawise, his
biggest source of pride that he expects this offense this
(42:05):
year to be even better. He even expects Christian McCaffrey
to be better. It's hard to.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
Even imagine what that would look like.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
But the words Jeremy used to describe what he expects
from his Niners offense this year growth, sink, chemistry.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
His biggest concern.
Speaker 2 (42:23):
Coaching decisions in the big games. Jeremy was very quick
to say, look, I don't want to throw fuel on
the fire of the whole Shanahan Big Game narrative, but
I can't get it out of my mind. And finally,
he said, I wouldn't be surprised if my twenty twenty
four San Francisco forty nine.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
Ers won the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
I wouldn't be surprised either. Keep in mind they are
favorites to be Super Bowl champions for a reason. Let's
turn now to the Los Angeles Rams ten and seven
in twenty twenty three, good for second in the NFC West.
Team needs, according to nfl dot com cornerback, edge rusher, safety, quarterback,
and kicker. This is a young team in Sean mcvay's charge,
(43:06):
and they are gonna get even younger eleven picks with
which to address their needs. The nineteenth pick in the
first round. They have one pick in the second round,
two picks in the third round, two in the fifth,
no fewer than four picks in the sixth round, and
a pick in the seventh. A lot of Rams fans
(43:26):
around here. I only had to turn around to a
neighboring Cube to talk to my buddy Alex Wilke, who
says that his draft plan top end d lineman in
the first round, a linebacker in the second round, grabbing
some wide receiver and or running back depth late, finding
a quarterback to groom behind Matt Stafford, and getting one
(43:46):
or two more defensive starters late, probably defensive backs. Translation,
Alex wilk has a very specific plan for his La Rams.
His biggest source of pride having Aaron donn be a
Ram for life here here his biggest source of concern
replacing Aaron Donald. And he said, I wouldn't be surprised
(44:09):
if my twenty twenty four La Rams Wait for It
won the NFC. And Rams fan Kelly Moore says that
her perfect draft plan is to address the O line.
She said, Andrew, I always feel like we could use
some extra help on the O line because she worries
so much about poor Matthew Stafford, as she described him
(44:30):
always getting harassed. Her biggest source of pride as a
Rams fan. This franchise, which she described as a true
family franchise designed to help each other, her biggest source
of worry. Well, she kind of hinted at it with
her draft plan, Matthew Stafford getting hurt. No disrespect to
Jimmy g but she'd like Matt Stafford to play every
(44:52):
game this season. And finally, she said, I wouldn't be
surprised if, wait for it, we went to the Super Bowl.
She laughed when she said it, but she got serious
a beat later and said, seriously, Andrew, I have a
very good feeling about this season. And as I was
walking away, she said, hey, before you go, make sure
to give Aaron Donald a special thanks from all us
Rams fans. She said, thank you so much Aaron Donald
(45:14):
for a great career. She followed up with miss you,
big hug ouch. I think the ouch was anticipation of
what a hug from number ninety nine might feel like.
Speaker 1 (45:26):
Let's move to the Seattle Seahawks.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
They were third in the division in twenty twenty three
with a nine to eight record. Team needs, according to
nfl dot com, quarterback, linebacker, the inside of the O line,
defensive tackle, and edge rusher only seven picks in all
this season to address their needs, the sixteenth overall pick
in the first round. They have a third rounder from
(45:48):
the Saints through the Broncos. They have two fourth round picks,
two sixth round picks, and one seventh round pick. My
good buddy, golf fanatic Justin Young, who used to work
right here at NFL Media, says his perfect draft plan,
you gotta get some pass rush help. His biggest source
of pride the ability for his team to stay competitive
(46:09):
in a very difficult NFC West. His biggest source of
concern the quarterback position. Period, and Justin said, I wouldn't
be surprised if my twenty twenty four Seattle Seahawks didn't
make the playoffs. And finally, let's finish with the seller dweller,
at least in twenty twenty three Cellar dweller Arizona Cardinals.
(46:30):
They finished the twenty twenty three campaign with a four
and thirteen record. Team needs, according to nfl dot com
wide receiver, defensive tackle, the inside of their O line,
edge rusher, and cornerback. Now they have a haul of
picks eleven picks in all to address their needs. Two
in the first round.
Speaker 1 (46:49):
Don't forget.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
They have the fourth overall pick and the twenty seventh
overall pick that they acquired from the Texans. They have
a second round pick. They have three picks in the
third round, one in the fourth, two in the fifth,
one in the sixth, and one in the seventh. One
of our favorite colleagues here at NFL Media, Nick Bofman, said, well,
he said, first of.
Speaker 1 (47:09):
All, let's go.
Speaker 2 (47:11):
Gave a little brady to his let's go, he said,
his perfect draft plan drafting Marvin Harrison Junior at number
four and then get a solid backup quarterback and also
fortify the O line somewhere over the three days of
the draft. In terms of his biggest source of pride,
he said, well, if I'm being honest, there's not a
(47:32):
lot to be prideful about with the Cardinals right now.
And then he paused and said, ah, maybe the newish uniforms.
Biggest source of concern for Nick Boffman the front office
and what he sees as a lack of cohesion between
Kyler Murray and that offensive line. And finally, he said,
I wouldn't be surprised if my Arizona Cardinals had yet
another losing season. Their record should improve from last year,
(47:56):
he said, but I'm still not convinced that Kyler Murray
is the answer. So there you go, listener. That's how
a few NFC West fans see it. Curious to know
if those of you out there with emotional attachments in
the NFC West agree as for a predicted order of
finish this season in that division. Let's turn back to
Brian Baldinger. You are listening to NFL Total Access to
(48:19):
the podcast Andrew Lavy with Brian Baldinger and Baldi. Before
I let you go, I want to get your predicted
order of finish in the NFC West. That's the division
on the brain today. What is your predicted order of
finish for the NFC West in twenty twenty four?
Speaker 4 (48:35):
Not that much different from a year ago.
Speaker 3 (48:36):
San Francisco is still the team that everybody's shooting at
right now, and look it up at filed by the
Rams playoff team a year ago. Surprise a lot of teams,
but they got hot the second half of the season.
Speaker 4 (48:47):
Filed by Seattle and then Arizona.
Speaker 3 (48:49):
I think is building now they you might flip those
Arizona and Seattle. We're seeing some transition in this division.
What San Francisco is clearly the best team to meet.
The Rams will be more are very, very talented and
young in getting better, followed by Seattle.
Speaker 2 (49:06):
Arizona translation run it back. Twenty twenty three season ended
with the Niners, Rams, Seahawks, Cardinals in that order. In
the NFC West. Brian Baldinger says, expect the same again. Niners, Rams,
Seahawks and Cardinals may just be the order of finish
at the end of the twenty twenty four campaign. I
want to thank today's very special guest, Brian Baldinger. Baldi,
(49:26):
You're awesome. Thank you, Bud, Thank you Andrews, and I
want to invite the listener to join us next time
when we turn our attention to the NFC East. Long
considered one of the better divisions in the NFL. Now shoot,
as a commander's fan, I got to share with you
it's one of the most bewildering, head scratching divisions in
the NFL. Are we that good top to bottom or
(49:49):
are we disappointing? I'm not sure. The question, of course,
is what will we be? What will the NFC East
be in twenty twenty four. Well, we're going to put
some answers to that question next time. Till then, and
take care of you, take care of your crew and.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
Show for now.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
NFL Total Access is a production of the NFL in
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