NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo reports on Robert Kraft's frustration as owner of the Patriots over the last couple of seasons and breaks down the rest of the AFC East with fellow insiders Cam Wolfe and Stacey Dales. Brian Baldinger stops by to talk about the 9th annual Sack Summit and reveal his top QB-TE duo to watch in 2025. Broncos tackle Garett Bolles stops by to talk about his partnership with USAA and why he's confident this will be his best NFL season yet. Then, Bucky Brooks evaluates the most impactful offseason moves in the AFC South, while Adam Rank identifies the make-or-break matchups for every AFC West team. Finally, Sam Schwartzstein brings an analytical lens to quarterback trends and what to expect league-wide this season.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
They've got their quarterback in New England. They also feel
like they've got their head coach as well. So Robert Craft,
the owner, looking forward to having some fun once again
up there in New England. Winning equals fun. Can they
start doing that elsewhere? The Kansas City Chiefs. We keep
saying that AFC West is loaded with veteran talent, veteran
coaches looking to come for them. Is this the year
(00:23):
somebody finally gets them? Adam Rank says, maybe so. Plus
Broncos offensive tackle Garrett Boles. He's a veteran on the
field and he knows what he's doing off the field
as well. Is this partnership with USAA. What's he doing?
We will tell you that, and we will also talk
some football with our buddy Garrett coming up here on
the program, Welcome Inside with the Insiders. Mike Garafalo here,
(00:49):
Stacy Dale's joining us, Cameron Wolf along as well Brian
Baldinger with US. Adam Rank, as I mentioned Sam Schwarz,
team Prime Videos analytics expert who joins us during the season,
going to have some big picture stuff for us when
it comes to the analytics right now, and I mentioned
Garrett Bowles, You're not gonna want to miss that interview
as well. But everybody with us today to talk what's
(01:09):
happening around the league in the NFL, and the latest
is Robert Kraft, Patriots owner, talking to ESPN and saying
that the last two years were the quote worst of
his thirty one years of ownership.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
He said, we have to change that.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Craft also promising that they are going to have more
fun up there in New England, which is sort of
ironic given that Lane Johnson, the Eagles offensive tackle, made
a crack a couple of years ago about yeah, they win,
but they never have fun. Now they have fun when
they win on game day. Just haven't done a whole
lot of that lately. So Stacy Dale's and Cameron Wolf
get on in here, let's talk about this because Robert Craft,
(01:48):
I know, like we're talking about the Patriots as the team.
The schedule sets up nicely, They've got a veteran coach
that has proven himself elsewhere. We feel good about the
additions that they've made. Talking about them is like could
they shocked the world to make the playoffs? Like are
we getting too far ahead of themselves? Because I know
Robert Krafft wants to hit the ground run in this year.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Stace, No, I'm shaking my head.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
No right, Cam, No think you agree with me.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
I think once you're the new England Patriots, every year
the expectations are playoffs, right, And I think it all
starts with your quarterback. I watched Drake Mega extensively last year,
and even though they didn't play to their record that
they wanted to, Drake May showed a lot of promise
throughout his struggles with talent around him, and that's why
I think the connection with Stefan Diggs is going to
(02:35):
be so important. Of Course, we've had some headlines of
Digs this offseason on boats, but when he's on the field,
he can do what he did for Josh Allen early
on in his career. Remember Josh Allen had struggled early on.
He needed that go to weapon, and Drake May now
has that weapon. I know that Josh Allen talked to
NBC's Boston and talked about how he watches Drake May,
(02:57):
how Stefan Diggs can be a great safety.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Valve for him.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
And I remember going down to Buffalo last year and
talking to them about the impact of Steph before and
after this era. They said, early on in Josh's career,
everything was so fast for him, and so he knew
that when Steph was on the field, he was always
the guy that if all fails, I can go to
Steph and he's going to run the right route. He's
going to be the responsible guy. That's what he now
(03:20):
is for Drake May. And I talked to someone with
the Patriots a few weeks ago when all this stuff
was going on with Diggs. They were talking about, Hey,
do you regret this move? They said, no, we had
to make take the chance on this move. But the
big thing with Stefan Diggs is he's a competitor. He's
a dog, and no one works harder than him six
straight one thousand yard seasons before he got injured last year.
(03:40):
And his quarterback is also a dog. I remember being
in there a couple of years ago.
Speaker 6 (03:44):
For the draft.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
The night before the draft, Drake May is playing no blood,
no foul basketball with his brothers, and so he and
Stefan Diggs will bring the dog that Mike Rabel loves
for the Patriots in year one.
Speaker 7 (03:57):
Absolutely, cam Listen, Drake May is going to be sneaky
good by any standard this year. He is freakishly athletic
at the quarterback position. And what's really cool is we
heard those comments Mike and Cam from Robert Kraft. I
love how candid he is. He always is candid, but
he's sleeping a little bit better at.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Night because he got his guy.
Speaker 7 (04:16):
That's Mike Vrabel, and Mike Vrabel automatically brings stability back
to the New England Patriots where he was as a player,
a three time Super Bowl champion. Not only does he
come back, but Josh McDaniels comes back. Imagine the comfort
level for these men coming back into Foxborough. And Terrell Williams,
the new defensive coordinator, was with Rabes that whole time
(04:39):
in Tennessee where they took that group to the playoffs
I believe three years straight in three straight seasons, So
that stability is back.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
You talk about Drake May, what do they do.
Speaker 7 (04:49):
They go into the first round and they grab Will
Campbell out of LSU. I think he's going to be
an All Pro at some point, the new left tackle
for the blindside protector for Drake May. And so when
I think about this offense and talking to people there
in Foxborough, the efficiency with how the operation has been
groomed this offseason. This team absolutely could be a playoff
(05:10):
group in the AFC East.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Running Mike to.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Talk about Will Campbell.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
I know a guy that is really high on Will
Campbell and he's listening to us right now.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
That's Brian Baldinger. He'll be with us shortly here.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
So that is a huge addition along with some of
the other ones that the Patriots have made this offseason.
Time to have fun, time to win once again, that
is the order from Robert Craft up there in New England.
The Jets have been trying to do both for quite
some time and just haven't been successful.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
So enter Justin Fields.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Look, I know we're thinking about him potentially as a
bridge quarterback, but Aaron Glenn has been extremely high on
fields so far this offseason. Well the CDC if he
can carry what he did in the spring into the
summer and then into the season, cam Wolf, So your
thoughts and what you're hearing right now on Justin Fields
and what's happening in Florham Park to engender some of
(06:00):
that confidence, Yeah.
Speaker 8 (06:01):
I can't wait to see that.
Speaker 5 (06:02):
Justin Phils and Aaron Glenn pairing confidence and trust are
some of the things you were kind of mentioning there.
That makes me have a different field about Justin Fields.
This way, Aaron Glenn did not hesitate quarterback one. He
also didn't hesitate by saying he is going to be
able to play quarterback. We're not going to put him
in a box and say he can only be a
one read guy who runs as he's had to do
in pass stops. And maybe more importantly, he is letting
(06:25):
him lead his own way. Justin Fields is not a
huge yell at you, but he's trying to communicate and
lead and find that niche within himself with his teammates.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
That's some of the things he's talked about.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
And as you see him running.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
One of the techniques the Jets have used with him
this offseason is this team helmet camp. It's a go
pro style camera they put on his head. The offensive
coordinator Tanner Exstroan had it in Detroit with Aaron Glenn.
They brought it here. A few other teams around the league.
Miami Atlanta have done it as well in the past
with their quarterback. What it does is you can watch
the film from the quarterback's views. They can see how
(06:59):
just Fields goes through its progressions, what receiver he looks
through first, what's his mindset, and they can work the
offense and frame it with them that way going better.
In the past Justin Fields the question has been can
he get the ball out quick enough to his receivers.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
This is hopefully going to help that process.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
They plan to continued it into training camp and the
hope is that he can maybe had that resurgence that
we saw from Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold other spots after
it didn't work out in their first team.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Yeah, we just got to figure out a way to
get that camera as part of the game day coverage.
Amazon Prime's been experimentally, you know Prime Video. Sam Schwarztein's
coming on later in the program. Maybe I can get
Sam to convince somebody get a little camera on top
of Justin Field's helmet that we can watch live on
game day camera. Well, thank you very much. It is
the summit time of the year in the NFL. You
(07:48):
got tight End University happening, and you got the Sack
Summit happening out there in Las Vegas where we can
find our Brian Vaaldinger. Look, I know during training camp
we do the rapaport plane where he put his little
stupid head in that small airplane. Is Oh, look at
all the places I've gone during training camp. I want
that for Baldy in the off season because he's been
(08:09):
everywhere and he's joining us now live from Las Vegas.
We're gonna call it Baldi's eleven. Right, that's like the offense.
You can get eleven guys, like Ocean is eleven. You
see where I'm going with that, Baldy, tell us what's
happening there at the SAC Summit.
Speaker 9 (08:21):
Well, at the moment, I'm being blinded by the desert
sun where it's one hundred and two outside, So forgive
me here for squinting.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
But no, this is great.
Speaker 9 (08:31):
My next Crosby von Miller has invited me a couple
of years now and I do all the video for it.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
But it's really a great think tank. It's a great
way for you.
Speaker 9 (08:39):
Know, the pass rushers is League, both defensive tackles and
ends to really talk about the techniques, the fundamentals, what
they're looking at and trying to really get after these quarterbacks,
you know, every Sunday in this business, and how important
that is affecting the quarterback.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
I just here.
Speaker 9 (08:55):
I am with Von Miller last year just talking about,
you know, some hand placement, some things that gone to do.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
We do a lot of drills on the field.
Speaker 9 (09:03):
We talked through a lot of different things that we
go in the film room and then we kind of
watch it and talk about it.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
So that's that I mean.
Speaker 9 (09:10):
And you know, just downstairs getting a couple of coffee,
I saw Trayvon Walker from the Jacksonville Jags. He's all
excited about being here in the new regime in Jacksonville.
But what I'm exciting about this year, Mike is we
haven't probably fifty to sixty players, but we have seven
or eight rookies that are coming here. And I remember
last year Brydon Fisk was a rookie with the Rams,
(09:31):
and he came here sitting in the front row the
way you know, rookie sometimes learned how to do got
a pen, got a notebook. He also led all rookies
defensive line in Sackson year go with eight and a half.
So Jalen Walker is here, mikeel Williams is here, Lannon
Jackson is here. You know, we've got rookies here. They're
gonna be learning from Max Crosby, Cam Jordan Kalaias Campbell
(09:52):
is here, you know, really an opportunity for young guys
to really mix it with a lot of older veteran
players that have figured this thing out out. And this
thing is just kind of mushrooming and growing year by
year right now.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Yeah, and you talk about two of those veterans, TJ.
Watt and Trey Hendrickson, two guys looking for new contracts.
We haven't heard a lot from TJ Watt, but this
Hendrickson one has been public and the sides I know
that they've tried this a couple of times to get
something done. Still not done at this point. We'll see
if right around training camp they can get to some
kind of agreement there. Same thing with Wat as well.
(10:27):
I'm confident that what one's going to get done, it
just needs a matter of you know, hey, training camps
around the corner. So in the meantime, Baldy, look at
these guys. You know they're worth every penny because you
see exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
What they're capable of doing right there.
Speaker 9 (10:41):
Well, I mean, look, I mean TJ is basically the
face of the franchise and has been. He's got he
fills up the stat sheet. You know his one hundred
and eight sacks and thirty three force fumbles and seven interceptions.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
I mean, he really does it all. I mean not
just a pass rusher.
Speaker 9 (10:55):
You know he's dropping the coverage intercepting the balls, but
you know his effort is just contage. And so you
talked about right tackles in this league that have to
face them, they have a lot of sleepless nights because
he can make you look real bad, real fast on
any given play, and then the effort is just going
to be sidelined sideline like we're watching right now.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
And so I think this should get done.
Speaker 9 (11:19):
I remember Nick Bosa after he was a defensive Player
of the Year in San Francisco, he got signed on
a Friday before the opening day of the season. One
thing we know about TJ now, whenever this gets done,
he's coming into camp, Latrobe, wherever it might be, in shape,
and so you're going to get him really at full speed.
I think whenever he does.
Speaker 7 (11:38):
Show up, Yeah, Baldy, and you see the numbers there
on the lower third of the sack numbers.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
It's pretty remarkable how good.
Speaker 7 (11:46):
These men have been over the years, and they just
don't come off the field. By the way, you're a
national treasure, Baldy. I think we all agree you're either
snorkeling somewhere in an ocean or you're at a sack summit.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
But when you look at these numbers.
Speaker 7 (11:59):
Since twenty twenty, over the last five seasons, this is
an interesting full screen here because TJ.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Watt obviously, yeah, he.
Speaker 7 (12:05):
Wants to be the highest defensive player in the National
Football League. He's in the final year of his contract currently,
and so is Trey Hendrickson. Nick Bosa was injured with
the ACL in twenty twenty, so he didn't play, but
that's probably maybe why that number is a little skewed.
And then Michael Parsons has only played four seasons in
the league, but those three at the top. Miles Garrett
currently the forty million dollar annual man, as he should be,
(12:27):
but Trey Hendrickson folks the third most sacks in the
National Football Leagues since twenty twenty. And then look at
the quarterback pressures Baldy and Mike. This is an important
stat to me simply because the motor never stops with
these superstars. And Trey Hendrickson is it because he was
a third round pick to the Saints eight years ago
(12:49):
out of Florida Atlantic. I'm not sure, but his production
for a guy that doesn't come off the field has
been masterful for the entirety of his career and certainly
for these Cincinnati Bengals, and for a defense fellas that
was not good last year. Al Golden is now taking
over as the defensive coordinator and to hear Duke Tobin
sort of the pseudo GM tell us all the way
(13:11):
back at the combine, I won't forget. We believe we
have a championship calor team. But specifically you said defensively,
our defense wasn't good enough. We couldn't get stops when
we needed to, we couldn't protect leads, we didn't get
off the field, we didn't win in critical moments. Defensively,
You've got to take this thing up with mister Hendrickson
because he is a fine player. And yeah he may
(13:33):
be thirty, but he's a focal point of that defense
and a headache for quarterbacks.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
They struggled in the secondary. You know what makes the
secondary even worse a pass rush. They can't get home,
So you want him there.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Obviously.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
As for what I know, the Steelers have felt really
good about their recent offers. They feel like they're there.
It's just a matter of training. Can't be in that
pressure point to get it done. So again, I feel
confident that TJ. Watt is going to have a deal
in the near future. Baldy, thank you very much. Back
with us in a little bit to tight End University
we Go where Taylor Swift performed and debuted her new single,
(14:08):
tight End of My Heart. I don't know my kids
listen to Taylor. That sounds like it could be a
Taylor song. Meanwhile, Trey McBride, who just got paid as
a tight end that catches the ball a lot.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
The Arizona Cardinals wide receiver.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Saying Mahomes and Kelsey, Yeah, that could be McBride and
Kyler that you're talking about. We can have that kind
of connection, which I'm sure McBride would like to happen
more in the end zone because we didn't see a
whole lot of that despite as many catches as he
made there. Yeah, jad Jaden Daniels and Zach Ertz there
another tight end quarterback connection that we saw last year
(14:44):
and could see plenty of this upcoming season. Stacy I
gave you a couple of combinations. There, give me one
quarterback tight end combination that you're looking forward to in
twenty twenty.
Speaker 7 (14:57):
I cannot Mike and Baldy gotta do this quick because
we've got to get to break soon.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
But I can't wait to see Gino Smith with Brock Bowers.
Speaker 7 (15:04):
After what we saw Brock Bauwers do as a rookie,
he shattered basically every record. He caught balls by the
way from footballs from three different quarterbacks throughout the season, O'Connell,
Ritter and Minshew, but he shatters Mike Dick's nineteen sixty
one record for catches by a rookie. I mean, he
was brilliant and what's really cool, in three seasons in Seattle,
(15:26):
when Gino Smith targeted tight ends, he was at about
an eighty percent completion clip. So I think this is
going to be a fun marriage in Chip Kelly's offense,
Baldy and certainly going to be exciting to watch.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
But I can't wait to hear your potential duo this season.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
Well, one little tag to Brock Bowers.
Speaker 9 (15:43):
They couldn't cover them and when they did and he
caught the ball, they couldn't tackle.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
That's a pretty good combination right there.
Speaker 9 (15:48):
I'm going to go to Minnesota, Stacey, JJ McCarthy and
TJ Hockinson. Just remember, now, TJ before that devastating k
the injury at the end of twenty twenty three, he
had ninety five catches the Vikings.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
I mean he was used as soon as he got there.
Speaker 9 (16:03):
He's fully back and recovered after finishing the second half
of the season on the field last year. But I
think TJ and JJ have a chance to be a
really good combination. We know the receivers on the outside
a special but I think TJ in the middle of
the field runs good routes. He's got great size and
I think he could be used quite a bit in
his Viking offense.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Those are some great duos. I'll give you a trio.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
How about this, Caleb Williams right there in your backyard
stayce with Cole Comett and now Coston Lovelin as well.
Interested to see how Ben Johnson uses those guys as well.
Stacey Dal's Brian Baldinger, thank you much. You guys are
back later on. You know, we'd like to do the
additions the losses for teams when it comes to the
off season. Here are the Broncos editions after a ten
(16:47):
and seven season That may have surprised a lot of
folks outside the building, but not those inside the building.
They knew with Sehn Payton and the talent that they had,
that they were going to be competitive. So how do
you now add to that and take the next step. Well,
here's what Denver has done this offseason. But you know what,
sometimes it's not about who you're adding, it's about who
you're retaining.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Who's coming back.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
This guy, offensive tackle Garrett Bolls back for season number
nine in the NFL with the Denver Broncos. Or it
just seems like the other day you were holding up Kingston,
your son at the draft. We're going to get to
all that in a second, but for right now, tell
us what you're.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
Doing with USAA.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
You said you were sweaty before we came on the
worry man. We can't smell a thing here.
Speaker 6 (17:26):
I hope you don't smell me.
Speaker 10 (17:27):
No, But I'm out here and I'm EGO Nests, Rance,
which is about thirty minutes outside of Parker, Colorado, just
out here clearing brush using chainshaws, machetes all the fun
things that you do on the ranch to prevent on wildfires,
which is Colorado's which is known for a high risk
state of wildfire. And then teaming up with Team Ubicon
(17:49):
and USAA to be able to be impactful to a
rants like this that provides therapy for PTSD veterans.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Yeah, for the Veteran's Voice initiative. Also this initiative as
far as clearing the brush, referenced the Protecting the Pocket
usaa's Protect the Pocket brush clearing event. When I say
protect the pocket, you know what that means. I mean,
that's what you do for a living, my friend, protecting
the pocket. So tell us where you are. I mean,
(18:19):
I mentioned it's year nine right now for you. A
lot of times we say, oh, guys, once they get
past thirty, they're on the downside of their career. But
offensive tackles, I mean, we've seen them play for a
long time. We see the way that you're still holding up.
The Broncos gave you an extension recently, so obviously they
believe there's a lot of good football left.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
And you tell us where you feel you are in
your NFL career.
Speaker 6 (18:39):
I feel right where I need to be.
Speaker 10 (18:42):
I feel like, you know, I'm in the best shape mentally,
physically and spiritually, and along with you know, just me
being comfortable in my position, you know, being me being
comfortable in the offense, being my thirty with coach Payton,
you know what a hell of a coach he is
and all that he does for us to provide for us,
and let's just situations to help us win, you know,
(19:02):
big time moments and big time games, which we did
what you saw us do last year, and we're just
hopefully we can build off of that this year. But
you know, he's smart. And then you know our ownership,
you know, the Walton Pinner group, and you know all
the amazing people that we have on that ownership group
by putting us, you know, with the great players and
the great coaching staff and you know, just so much
(19:23):
exciting things heading our way.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
I talked about it last season being the ten and
seven season that you guys inside the building expected. What's
been the talk amongst the players in the locker room
from coaches to players about Okay, that was great.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Now we got to build on it.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
Now We've got to strike No.
Speaker 10 (19:40):
For sure, I think you know, you know, as an
Iceberg you know, there's you only see the top of
the iceberg. You don't see the bottom of the iceberg.
And you know, I feel like that's just what they
tell us, is like, you know, we're we're right there,
and now we have a serious client that we have
to do. You know, being out west and being around mountains,
you got to climb in and you know the heart
of that you climb, you know, you're going to get
(20:01):
different obstacles and different things that you're going to have
to face, and it's only going to get harder from here.
But you know, we have so many young guys that
pushes us over guys. We have a hell of a
coaching staff and you know, just from top to bottom,
from you know, from the coach in the kitchen to
you know, the janitors, to the training staff, to the
equipment staff, to our coaching staff, to all of our
players and veterans on the team with me and Courtland,
(20:21):
and you know, it's just an awesome time to be
at Denver Bronco. And you know, I'm just looking forward
to the season and all the many things that we're
going to accomplish along the way.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
It takes everybody, dude, it does for everybody in the
entire building, just like you said. But if all that's
right and the quarterback position is wrong, we see that
it still doesn't go where it needs to go.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
So tell me about Bonicks.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
What he showed everybody in year one and then when
he shows up in the spring right now, all the
way through mini camp, does he got a little bit
more swag? Does he got a little bit more confidence
in him when he's in that huddle.
Speaker 6 (20:54):
Those a trenendous football player.
Speaker 10 (20:56):
Man, I'm so grateful I get to protect him and
you know, you know, being his blind side protector and
you know, giving them all the time in the world.
You know, he's he's a freaking nature. You know, you
look at the numbers that he put up last year.
You know, you know, between him and JT. Daniels, you know,
those were the two young quarterbacks in the league that's
going to be very successful. And you know, I have
one of them behind me. And you know his demeanor,
(21:16):
his composure, his you know, his work ethic, you know,
just always wanting to get better, and you know his arm,
talent and just the way he sees hey has swag. Man,
he really does. You would think, you know, a rookie
like that would come in, it would be hard for
him to adjust the NFL life. And I think it
just pays dividends to all the snaps that he had
in college and the coaching staffs that he had there
(21:37):
with Auburn and the Oregon and then coming to Denver
and just embracing his role and being the leader that
he is to lead our team down the field to
score points. You know, it spoke to us. You know,
we scored a lot of points last year, and we're
just we're ready to build off of what we did
last year and continue to get better each and every day.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
You mentioned him in his rookie season.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
That takes me back to what I referenced a short
while ago your draft when you held up in one
the hearts of everybody, including everybody in Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Which is not easy to do.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
By holding up your son Kingston then a baby there
it is right there. Man, What a great, great scene
that was. But now let's flash forward. Let's see what
Kingston's doing these days, because you posted this on your
Instagram a short while ago. Tell us what he's doing
here and tell us, you know how impressive that is.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Knowing that he had a baby anymore.
Speaker 6 (22:25):
No, he's not.
Speaker 10 (22:26):
He's eight years old now, can you believe that? It's
time fly? But that's my mini me. He's my riding
die soldier man. He loves football. He wants me to
play till I'm fifties. So that's what he tells everybody.
Dad's going to play till he's fifty. So you know,
he's it's just so much fun to be able to,
you know, have that relationship with him and him understand
(22:47):
that I'm playing football, and him being around the guys,
and him coming in the locker room and him being
old enough to understand football, and you know he wanted
to be a football player, and so coming to train
with me with my trainer, Brad Davison, and you know,
just pushing the sled around. You know, he's always working
out when I'm working out at home, and you know,
it's just a fun bonding time to be a dad
and you know, have your sell embraced. You know, your
job and your work that you do day in and
(23:09):
day out, and you know him wanting to do it
with you is just an awesome experience for both of us.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Listen, he works hard physically, He works hard mentally as well.
We've talked to you before about a praxia. He was
diagnosed with it. It's a speech disorder that he is
working through. I know he's combining some football with his
speech therapist to kind of reward what he's doing. You
see him here, he hits the button and the Fox
NFL music plays when he gets it right. How impressed
are you with what he's been able to do and
(23:35):
what the progress that he's made.
Speaker 8 (23:38):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (23:38):
Man, now you're going to make me emotional.
Speaker 10 (23:40):
No, it's it's been so cool to see with you know,
with him and you know miss she and Jenny Gan
Borham and you know what she's done, and you know,
signing a contract here knowing that you know, the most
renowned a practice beach therapist is twenty minutes away from
my home and you know, here in Colorado and being
able to connect with him, and you know, now he's
you know, saying full sentences and you know, full paragraphs
(24:03):
and just working so hard day in and day out.
Speaker 6 (24:05):
You know, he's an inspirational to me.
Speaker 10 (24:06):
And knowing that, you know, I want to play as
long as I can to provide him, you know, not
just step father relationship, but just a relationship with him
where he can come to me and ask me questions
and talk to me and know that's the safe environment
for him.
Speaker 6 (24:20):
You know, every single day he puts in that work.
Speaker 10 (24:22):
You know he's tired every day as he goes to
Miss Jenny's house and you know, and I'm just there
to love him and share him along the way. And
you know, every single year, every single month, he just
blows me away by the hard work he puts in
and the new words that he gains. And you know,
he's so excited to share those words with me and
my wife, and so we couldn't be more proud of him.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
You should be proud of him.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
And I know where he learned that work ethic from you, guys,
from you with what you've done on the field, what
you're doing right now, I mean taking your off time
and working with us A, USAA and Team Rubacan to
clear brush there. Protect the pocket, Garrett, protect the pocket
on the field, protect the pocket off the field. Congratulations,
Thank you for the work you're doing it, Thank you
for joining us here on the Insiders.
Speaker 6 (25:03):
Thank you so much. Brother. I hope you have a
go on.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Welcome back to the Insiders.
Speaker 7 (25:40):
It was cam Ward the first overall pick of this
year's draft to the Tennessee Titans. It told us in
this lay period leaning up to training camp that he
was going to throw the f out of the football.
And I have no doubt that was transpiring because the
Tennessee Titans went three to fourteen. As we welcome in
Brian Baldinger once again and Bucky Brooks. They went three
(26:01):
and fourteen a season ago. And you know, guys, the
nf AFC South excuse me, combined twenty five and forty
three last season, so we like to see some improvement
from this division. Houston took at Baldy, But let's start
with the Tennessee Titans. What's gonna you know, take them
to the place they want to go and make a
case for them.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
Well, I mean, you.
Speaker 9 (26:24):
Know, Brian Callahan starts the second year, and they got
their quarterback.
Speaker 4 (26:26):
They got cam Ward.
Speaker 9 (26:28):
I was there at his pro day in Miami Stacey,
and he's a mature kid that improved all five years
in college, really knows how to conduct himself. So I
think he's going to provide leadership. Can he provide you know,
the ability that we saw from Jayden Daniels last year
where he took the Commanders from four wins to twelve
wins into the NFC Championship game. Like, that's what you're
(26:50):
hoping you can get when you get a franchise quarterback.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Now he's got to go do it.
Speaker 9 (26:54):
He's got to build a relationship with Calvin Ridley, who's
had some good seasons. It'd be good to get that
going right now. They've addressed the offensive line. Brian Callahan
his father, of course, you know Bill Callahan will be
coaching that it should be better, it should be improved.
They should have a solid wall in front of them.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
And so I think.
Speaker 9 (27:13):
Offensively, can Tennessee right now take that jump up with
cam Ward the way we've seen other teams with young Cole.
If they can, I think that they can at least
be competitive in this division where you just address twenty five.
Speaker 4 (27:28):
Total wins for the four teams a year ago.
Speaker 11 (27:32):
Yeah, boy, it's gonna be tough. You talk about Tennessee
Titans climbing out of the basement. The Jaguars also have
a lot of work to do when it comes to
getting back.
Speaker 8 (27:39):
To respectable and really competing for the division.
Speaker 11 (27:43):
But the reason why They're optimistic in Jacksonville centers around
the quarterback and the three fiends that should elevate his play.
Speaker 8 (27:49):
The first few will be the play caller.
Speaker 11 (27:50):
Liam Coyn comes over after a very successful stint, really
helping Baker Mayfield go to the next level.
Speaker 8 (27:57):
Baker Mayfield played the.
Speaker 11 (27:58):
Best of his career with Liam Coyn into plays. If
you take that blueprint, that same recipe, man, you might
get the jump that you want to see from Trevor
Lawrence since he entered the league as a number one
overall pick. But it goes beyond the play caller. There's
some playmakers that can elevate Trevor Lawrence's play. Everyone is
talking about Travis Hunter, number two overall pick, being a
(28:18):
two way standout, but that first way he's going to
contribute is going to be on offense. Putting him beside
Brian Thomas Junior. You adding the Yanbie Brown, they now
have more speed and explosiveness on the outside, and then
the offensive line added Robert Hainsey, Patrick mccrury being able
to get Walker Little and these guys up and going
on the offensive line. If this offense plays to the potential,
(28:41):
the defense just has to be okay and this team
can overtake the Texans as a team to beat in
the AFC South.
Speaker 7 (28:49):
Bucky and Baldy is going to be fascinating to see
the snap count percent right for Travis Hunter on both
sides of the football this season and how kind of
time on task through the week, how they get him
ready for games every Sunday. Bucky, let's make a case
now for the Indianapolis Colts. We may or may not
see Anthony Richardson at training camp. He's kind of indicated
(29:10):
recently that that shoulder's getting better.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
Could be Daniel Jones. Make a case for those Colts.
Speaker 11 (29:16):
Well, look, I think Daniel Jones was going to be
in line to be the starter regardless of whether Anthony
Richardson was hurt or not. You don't go out and
get a backup, a former number one pick and pay
him the type of money that the coach paid him
if he wasn't going to be the starter. So now
that he's in play, it really gives Shane Stike an
opportunity to use his entire playbook because you have an
(29:36):
experienced quarterback, a guy who has won games and when
healthy and athletic quarterback that can do some of the
dual threat things that Shane Stykeing likes. That should give
Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman and some of the weapons
on offense a true opportunity to make contributions.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
So the offense should be better.
Speaker 11 (29:54):
And then defensively, lou and Aroumo coming over from the
Cincinnati Bengals, a well respect defensive coordinator who have an
opportunity to really expand on what this defense can do.
They won't be simple slatman, it will be diverse. There'll
be a hybrid defense. Look for them to create turnovers
and that should help them have more opportunities to.
Speaker 9 (30:13):
Take over and Bucky to the three teams we've just
talked about are all looking up at the Houston Texans,
which have won this division two years in a row,
but things do not end well in the playoff loss
to Kansas City.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
They made a big change.
Speaker 9 (30:25):
An offensive coordinate or offensive line coach Nick Keley comes
in to run the offense. Right now, it's really gonna
be a different way of doing things. And there's a
lot of changes on offense. And so we know that CJ.
Stroud can flat out ball. Now we've got changes at
the wide receiver position. We have changes that both tackles,
Cam Robinson, Trent Brown coming into tackle position. So there's
(30:46):
a lot of changes here. Now, are the changes going
to protect help protect CJ. Stroud better? Are they going
to be able to get the ball to you know,
their playmakers better than they did a year ago when
the offense can take a step up. Something in that
playoff loss was just dreadful. So a lot of changes
in the Houston Texans offense that it might take a
(31:06):
while before it starts to click.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
We don't know when that might happen, but it might
take a while.
Speaker 9 (31:12):
So the defense has to step up because they got
a lot of great talent on that side of the ball.
But I think Demko rans the changes he made were
made for the postseason when they want to start, you know,
going deeper and deeper into the playoffs.
Speaker 7 (31:26):
Yeah, and Baldy, it'll be fun to see Nick Cayley
come in, like you talked about, take over that offense,
coming from Sean mcvay's system there with the Rams as
the new OC marring with CJ. Stroud, great stuff, Brian Baldinger,
Bucky Brooks.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
All right joining us now, Adam Rank who is in
his own silent disco Johnny Listen. I should have bet
the guy's like on vacation. He was playing golf today saying,
you know what the Insiders want me, I'm coming.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
I'm coming on the insiders. And here he is with
his schedule predictor for the AFC West. Who are we
starting with him?
Speaker 1 (31:56):
We're starting with the Raiders because we're talking about the possibility.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Of the Chiefs being to threat.
Speaker 12 (32:01):
Yeah, let's start from the order of finish from last year,
and obviously the Raiders were the fourth place team. But
I really like a lot of what they've done over
the offseason. They go out there, they hire Pete Carroll,
they get Ashton gent heat falls to them.
Speaker 8 (32:14):
I don't know if that's the thing.
Speaker 12 (32:15):
And they also found a way to make Max Crosby happy.
So if the Raiders are going to be successful this year,
there's a couple of games that I've identified. Starting in
Week two, they play the Chargers. Now, last season, the
Raiders had a little bit of a problem with the Chargers,
got swept by them. This is a key game for
them to win. Week six against the Tennessee Titans. That's
going to be another one that they need to go
(32:36):
out there and take advantage of both the Titans and
the Raiders new quarterbacks. Both think they can make a
charge this season. So that is going to be one
to look for. But in Week thirteen, they go back
against the Chargers, then the Broncos, then the Eagles, then
the Texans. If the Raiders are going to make the
playoffs this season, they need to at least go five
(32:57):
hundred over that stretch. And speaking of playoff teams, I'll
talk about the Chargers here for a moment because last
year Jim Harbaugh was hired. I said, for the long
term success of the Chargers, this is a great move.
Speaker 8 (33:08):
But I thought it would have been a.
Speaker 12 (33:09):
Miracle if that Chargers team with that roster last year
won seven games. Well guess what miracles happened? They made
the playoffs. They didn't look good in the playoffs, but
we're not talking about that. But right now, I look
at their division, I look at their their schedule. Their
first three games of the season are all against divisional opponents.
And I know that I can't sit here and take
(33:31):
shots at Mike North, but like, what are you doing?
Why are they playing divisional opponents to open up the season.
Speaker 8 (33:37):
I don't think that's fair for them.
Speaker 12 (33:38):
As a matter of fact, I would say you shouldn't
play a divisional opponent till sometime later in the season.
But Week six, eight and six, seven and eight, there's
a real opportunity for them. They have the Dolphins, the Colts,
and the Vikings, three teams. Two of those one of
those teams made the two of those seas made the playoffs.
Speaker 8 (33:56):
What am I thinking? Those are opportunit unities to go
out there and make some noise.
Speaker 12 (34:01):
In the Week eighteen, they got the deadver Broncos, which
could be not only for the division, but for the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
All right, So now I'll move on to the top
two teams in their division. I don't know if we're
giving this specific order here, because it's important because the
team that finishes first, they win the division, and that
still matters despite the Lions' proposal to take away the
home game.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Regardless, take us through the top two teams.
Speaker 12 (34:24):
In the division, while start with the Chiefs, because I
think a lot of people are overlooking them. But they
still have Andy Reid, they still have Patrick Mahomes. Of course,
I don't know if if I botched this I put
it into my notes as the Chiefs, So I'm sorry
if I'm messing up the b roll. I was getting
ahead of myself apparently. But the Chiefs are going to
be very good this season. They open up, they got
(34:44):
the Chargers and the Eagles to open the season. A
Super Bowl rematch in Week two, you know, for a
defending for defending AFC champion.
Speaker 8 (34:54):
I feel that's a little rich for them.
Speaker 12 (34:55):
They're going out there and having to already start with
two of their toughest games. They have Denver after the
bye week in week eleven. We all know that Andy
Reid is great after the bye we all not in
the Super Bowl, but they have the Denver right there,
and then they close this season with the Denver Broncos.
And speaking of the Denver Broncos, they had one of
the best defenses last year, really good. And then they
(35:17):
go out there and they add green Law, they add
Baron Hufunga offensively, They've also added some firepower as well.
They bring in Evan Ingram, and I think tight end
was a huge issue for them last season. You bring
in every in Ingram, you redo the entirety of the
running attack of obviously Jabante Williams is now in Dallas.
Speaker 8 (35:38):
But you got JK. Dobbins and RJ.
Speaker 4 (35:40):
Harvey.
Speaker 8 (35:41):
For all you fantasy people out there, Mike Garrifolo. RJ.
Harvey is a name to keep track of this season.
Speaker 12 (35:48):
What does that all mean for the AFC West, Well,
you know what, I'll give you a little spoiler alert
of what I see as the finishing order of the
AFC West. Let's call this up right now because, and
this might shock you, but I have a Denver Robles
winning the division I did last year.
Speaker 8 (36:05):
Why are you so shocked?
Speaker 12 (36:07):
The Chiefs being very good, the Chargers also making the
playoffs at ten and seven, and the Raiders. I think
this is the best division in football when you look
at the coaches, when you look at the quarterback like
all teams have legitimate quarterbacks, Hall of Fame coaches. This
is the best division in football by far. I know
the NFC North get gets some run, but I think
it's a good division.
Speaker 8 (36:27):
Why why are you cackling? What's what's up?
Speaker 6 (36:29):
Look?
Speaker 4 (36:30):
Look?
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Look, I read I read a promo on this yesterday,
so I pretty much knew where you were going.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
I teased it earlier in the shows. I pretty much
knew where you were going.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
It's called showmanship, right, And I also like I like
to play into the fans that right now in Kansas
City are like you suck at them rank. You know,
usually it's the NFC North non Bears teams that are
saying that they're fan bases. But the Chiefs now are saying, hey,
disrespected dynasty like that. It's not a Kansas City. It's
not a Kansas City accent. But you know what Adam rank.
You know what they say if you can't stand the heat.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
You know, because you're in the kitchen.
Speaker 8 (37:04):
I'm in the kitchen. You're in the kitchen.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
You can stand the heat.
Speaker 8 (37:08):
Hey check this out? Hey look, bring me back. I
needed to be back on camera. Oh well we lost.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
I feel like we should we should slowly dial down
his audio.
Speaker 10 (37:17):
Like here.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
NFL dot Com Quarterback rankings by division by our guy
Nick shook.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Me all night long.
Speaker 4 (37:26):
Do you like that one?
Speaker 2 (37:27):
Chris Berman? Pretty good?
Speaker 1 (37:29):
Uh, he's got the AFC West number one, AFC South
down there at number eight. Trevor Lawrence got to get
that ranking to come up there, cam or TBD. Yeah,
we got to see who's quarterback for the Colts and
then CJ.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Shroud.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
It's pretty good, but you know, got to protect him better,
a little bit of a Changeing offensive coordinator Sam Schwarztein
is with US Prime Video on Thursday Night. Football is
analytics expert. He joins US during the season the preview
the Thursday Night Football matchups. But we wanted a little
thirty thousand foot view of the season here and some
numbers that could affect the season come up.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Let's talk about the last two number one overall picks.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Let's start with Cam Moore, who I just mentioned with Tennessee,
which the Titans fans expect this year.
Speaker 13 (38:08):
Yeah, I mean there's little to no fanfare for a
number one overall pick. When has that ever happened? It's
because Camlwore is kind of an unassuming guy.
Speaker 4 (38:16):
He came in.
Speaker 13 (38:17):
He played fifty seven snaps in college football. That's more
than Will Levis and his college an NFL career combined,
as well as Anthony Richardson in his NFL career. And
what they did to bring him in is that helps
what they need up front, the quarterback in the old
line play. What I spent most of my off season
looking at is how do they interact with each other.
And last year the Titans had a forty point two
(38:37):
per percent pressure rate and then they also feace the
third lowest blitz of only twenty four percent on drop backs,
so tinter gat Holm was four. What they want to
have Cam Moore do is able to be able to
work the pocket, get rid of the ball when you
need to, scramble when you need to, and that's what
they really didn't get a will Levis last year.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
Yeah, that's a fascinating look because we think pressure with
the offensive line letting some stuff up, but maybe quarterbacks
got to get it out faster.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
You've got to do a better job of diagnosing stuff.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
So he's got a role to play in the pressure
as well, which leads us to Caleb Williams.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
What does Ben Johnson have to do to help out
last year's not last year year? Yeah, last year's number
one overall pick.
Speaker 13 (39:16):
Well, last year Caleb Williams took the second most drawbacks
in the NFL. The Bears put a lot on him,
but what he did with those dropbacks, he was really proudable.
Speaker 8 (39:25):
And he's throwing six.
Speaker 13 (39:26):
Interceptions twenty touchdown six interceptions That might look good when
you look at EPA, which is expected points added, which
accounts for the sacks. How you're performing on third and long.
You can see that he really struggled. He's had so
much sack EPA, the worst in the NFL. He had
double what an average quarterback would has. Now, what does
Ben Johnson do? Provides the running game? Jared Goff the
(39:48):
third best total EPA in the NFL. He had one
hundred fewer dropbacks than camer than Caleb Williams. It's because
of things like this, where he can beat the bit Bliss,
an open rusher come to him, find the old guy quickly.
Ben Johnson will help scheme up Caleb Williams so he
doesn't have to rely on him. But he's also able
to now use his arm to beat the blitz and
(40:08):
not try and scramble just with his legs.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
Yeah, that's what Ben Johnson's looking at this offseason, to
try and get the best out of Caleb Williams. If
you think Sami Schartstein doesn't know about number one overall quarterbacks,
he once had one of his hands were right there
under him at center Andrew Luck at Stanford.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Tell him Sam, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6 (40:27):
I think this.
Speaker 13 (40:28):
There was this helmet and a lot of my personal athletes.
Thanks to Andrew Luck, GMO Stanford Football Fier season tickets.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
The shelves that Andrew Luck built. Sam Schwartstein, thank you
very much.
Speaker 8 (40:39):
Pal.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
We'd better see you again before the start of the season.
With that kind of great information.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Aaron Jones making his way around the field and making
his way around some camps in Minneapolis and elsewhere.
Speaker 2 (40:52):
We're going to tell you where Aaron Jones has been
with the youth of America. The football you get the
America next on the Insiders, Think it Out, Thinking out.
Speaker 1 (41:07):
So Hey, we know the Pope is a White Sox fan,
is an Alliance fan because here's Sam Laporta blessing.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
Get a blessing from the Pope for your for your
you and your bride.
Speaker 1 (41:17):
That is fantastic. Congratulations of Sam Laporta and a great
job there, Pope Leo. See what you can do about
your White Sox because they stink. You know who doesn't stink?
I was waiting for trying to get the transition Aaron Jones.
Here's Aaron Jones. A three day youth football camp tour
starting in Minneapolis, then traveling to Fargo, North Dakota and
(41:41):
Sioue Falls, South Dakota. That is awesome for a Minnesota
guy getting as much coverage to the Vikings fan based geographically.
Stacy Dale's your thoughts on Aaron Jones's traveling camp.
Speaker 3 (41:55):
We love Aaron Jones.
Speaker 7 (41:57):
I feel like every non married, by the way player
in the NFL got married this offseason, even Aaron Rodgers,
so that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (42:04):
Aaron Jones though, he's just awesome. He's one of our favorites.
Speaker 4 (42:07):
We love it.
Speaker 7 (42:08):
I mean even our buddy Matt Schneidman posted back during
draft week he went back to Green Bay Mike to
hand out pizzas to the new community shelter like that's
this Guy's just a jam.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Everybody.
Speaker 3 (42:20):
You got to have an Aaron Jones on your team.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
He is amazing. He comes out with the Sombreros on
game day. He is a physical player.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
He can run away from you. He showed that he
had good football left the Vike. He still believed in
him and killed the Packers in Matt Laflori to let
him go. So Aaron Jones continued success to you in
great job with everything that you are doing off the fields.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
Stacy Dales thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (42:42):
We are back one more time this week Thursday on
the Insenters.
Speaker 2 (42:46):
You better be there.
They've got their quarterback in New England. They also feel
like they've got their head coach as well. So Robert Craft,
the owner, looking forward to having some fun once again
up there in New England. Winning equals fun. Can they
start doing that elsewhere? The Kansas City Chiefs. We keep
saying that AFC West is loaded with veteran talent, veteran
coaches looking to come for them. Is this the year
(00:23):
somebody finally gets them? Adam Rank says, maybe so. Plus
Broncos offensive tackle Garrett Boles. He's a veteran on the
field and he knows what he's doing off the field
as well. Is this partnership with USAA. What's he doing?
We will tell you that, and we will also talk
some football with our buddy Garrett coming up here on
the program, Welcome Inside with the Insiders. Mike Garafalo here,
(00:49):
Stacy Dale's joining us, Cameron Wolf along as well Brian
Baldinger with US. Adam Rank, as I mentioned Sam Schwarz,
team Prime Videos analytics expert who joins us during the season,
going to have some big picture stuff for us when
it comes to the analytics right now, and I mentioned
Garrett Bowles, You're not gonna want to miss that interview
as well. But everybody with us today to talk what's
(01:09):
happening around the league in the NFL, and the latest
is Robert Kraft, Patriots owner, talking to ESPN and saying
that the last two years were the quote worst of
his thirty one years of ownership.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
He said, we have to change that.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Craft also promising that they are going to have more
fun up there in New England, which is sort of
ironic given that Lane Johnson, the Eagles offensive tackle, made
a crack a couple of years ago about yeah, they win,
but they never have fun. Now they have fun when
they win on game day. Just haven't done a whole
lot of that lately. So Stacy Dale's and Cameron Wolf
get on in here, let's talk about this because Robert Craft,
(01:48):
I know, like we're talking about the Patriots as the team.
The schedule sets up nicely, They've got a veteran coach
that has proven himself elsewhere. We feel good about the
additions that they've made. Talking about them is like could
they shocked the world to make the playoffs? Like are
we getting too far ahead of themselves? Because I know
Robert Krafft wants to hit the ground run in this year.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Stace, No, I'm shaking my head.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
No right, Cam, No think you agree with me.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
I think once you're the new England Patriots, every year
the expectations are playoffs, right, And I think it all
starts with your quarterback. I watched Drake Mega extensively last year,
and even though they didn't play to their record that
they wanted to, Drake May showed a lot of promise
throughout his struggles with talent around him, and that's why
I think the connection with Stefan Diggs is going to
(02:35):
be so important. Of Course, we've had some headlines of
Digs this offseason on boats, but when he's on the field,
he can do what he did for Josh Allen early
on in his career. Remember Josh Allen had struggled early on.
He needed that go to weapon, and Drake May now
has that weapon. I know that Josh Allen talked to
NBC's Boston and talked about how he watches Drake May,
(02:57):
how Stefan Diggs can be a great safety.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Valve for him.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
And I remember going down to Buffalo last year and
talking to them about the impact of Steph before and
after this era. They said, early on in Josh's career,
everything was so fast for him, and so he knew
that when Steph was on the field, he was always
the guy that if all fails, I can go to
Steph and he's going to run the right route. He's
going to be the responsible guy. That's what he now
(03:20):
is for Drake May. And I talked to someone with
the Patriots a few weeks ago when all this stuff
was going on with Diggs. They were talking about, Hey,
do you regret this move? They said, no, we had
to make take the chance on this move. But the
big thing with Stefan Diggs is he's a competitor. He's
a dog, and no one works harder than him six
straight one thousand yard seasons before he got injured last year.
(03:40):
And his quarterback is also a dog. I remember being
in there a couple of years ago.
Speaker 6 (03:44):
For the draft.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
The night before the draft, Drake May is playing no blood,
no foul basketball with his brothers, and so he and
Stefan Diggs will bring the dog that Mike Rabel loves
for the Patriots in year one.
Speaker 7 (03:57):
Absolutely, cam Listen, Drake May is going to be sneaky
good by any standard this year. He is freakishly athletic
at the quarterback position. And what's really cool is we
heard those comments Mike and Cam from Robert Kraft. I
love how candid he is. He always is candid, but
he's sleeping a little bit better at.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Night because he got his guy.
Speaker 7 (04:16):
That's Mike Vrabel, and Mike Vrabel automatically brings stability back
to the New England Patriots where he was as a player,
a three time Super Bowl champion. Not only does he
come back, but Josh McDaniels comes back. Imagine the comfort
level for these men coming back into Foxborough. And Terrell Williams,
the new defensive coordinator, was with Rabes that whole time
(04:39):
in Tennessee where they took that group to the playoffs
I believe three years straight in three straight seasons, So
that stability is back.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
You talk about Drake May, what do they do.
Speaker 7 (04:49):
They go into the first round and they grab Will
Campbell out of LSU. I think he's going to be
an All Pro at some point, the new left tackle
for the blindside protector for Drake May. And so when
I think about this offense and talking to people there
in Foxborough, the efficiency with how the operation has been
groomed this offseason. This team absolutely could be a playoff
(05:10):
group in the AFC East.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Running Mike to.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Talk about Will Campbell.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
I know a guy that is really high on Will
Campbell and he's listening to us right now.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
That's Brian Baldinger. He'll be with us shortly here.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
So that is a huge addition along with some of
the other ones that the Patriots have made this offseason.
Time to have fun, time to win once again, that
is the order from Robert Craft up there in New England.
The Jets have been trying to do both for quite
some time and just haven't been successful.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
So enter Justin Fields.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Look, I know we're thinking about him potentially as a
bridge quarterback, but Aaron Glenn has been extremely high on
fields so far this offseason. Well the CDC if he
can carry what he did in the spring into the
summer and then into the season, cam Wolf, So your
thoughts and what you're hearing right now on Justin Fields
and what's happening in Florham Park to engender some of
(06:00):
that confidence, Yeah.
Speaker 8 (06:01):
I can't wait to see that.
Speaker 5 (06:02):
Justin Phils and Aaron Glenn pairing confidence and trust are
some of the things you were kind of mentioning there.
That makes me have a different field about Justin Fields.
This way, Aaron Glenn did not hesitate quarterback one. He
also didn't hesitate by saying he is going to be
able to play quarterback. We're not going to put him
in a box and say he can only be a
one read guy who runs as he's had to do
in pass stops. And maybe more importantly, he is letting
(06:25):
him lead his own way. Justin Fields is not a
huge yell at you, but he's trying to communicate and
lead and find that niche within himself with his teammates.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
That's some of the things he's talked about.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
And as you see him running.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
One of the techniques the Jets have used with him
this offseason is this team helmet camp. It's a go
pro style camera they put on his head. The offensive
coordinator Tanner Exstroan had it in Detroit with Aaron Glenn.
They brought it here. A few other teams around the league.
Miami Atlanta have done it as well in the past
with their quarterback. What it does is you can watch
the film from the quarterback's views. They can see how
(06:59):
just Fields goes through its progressions, what receiver he looks
through first, what's his mindset, and they can work the
offense and frame it with them that way going better.
In the past Justin Fields the question has been can
he get the ball out quick enough to his receivers.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
This is hopefully going to help that process.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
They plan to continued it into training camp and the
hope is that he can maybe had that resurgence that
we saw from Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold other spots after
it didn't work out in their first team.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Yeah, we just got to figure out a way to
get that camera as part of the game day coverage.
Amazon Prime's been experimentally, you know Prime Video. Sam Schwarztein's
coming on later in the program. Maybe I can get
Sam to convince somebody get a little camera on top
of Justin Field's helmet that we can watch live on
game day camera. Well, thank you very much. It is
the summit time of the year in the NFL. You
(07:48):
got tight End University happening, and you got the Sack
Summit happening out there in Las Vegas where we can
find our Brian Vaaldinger. Look, I know during training camp
we do the rapaport plane where he put his little
stupid head in that small airplane. Is Oh, look at
all the places I've gone during training camp. I want
that for Baldy in the off season because he's been
(08:09):
everywhere and he's joining us now live from Las Vegas.
We're gonna call it Baldi's eleven. Right, that's like the offense.
You can get eleven guys, like Ocean is eleven. You
see where I'm going with that, Baldy, tell us what's
happening there at the SAC Summit.
Speaker 9 (08:21):
Well, at the moment, I'm being blinded by the desert
sun where it's one hundred and two outside, So forgive
me here for squinting.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
But no, this is great.
Speaker 9 (08:31):
My next Crosby von Miller has invited me a couple
of years now and I do all the video for it.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
But it's really a great think tank. It's a great
way for you.
Speaker 9 (08:39):
Know, the pass rushers is League, both defensive tackles and
ends to really talk about the techniques, the fundamentals, what
they're looking at and trying to really get after these quarterbacks,
you know, every Sunday in this business, and how important
that is affecting the quarterback.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
I just here.
Speaker 9 (08:55):
I am with Von Miller last year just talking about,
you know, some hand placement, some things that gone to do.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
We do a lot of drills on the field.
Speaker 9 (09:03):
We talked through a lot of different things that we
go in the film room and then we kind of
watch it and talk about it.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
So that's that I mean.
Speaker 9 (09:10):
And you know, just downstairs getting a couple of coffee,
I saw Trayvon Walker from the Jacksonville Jags. He's all
excited about being here in the new regime in Jacksonville.
But what I'm exciting about this year, Mike is we
haven't probably fifty to sixty players, but we have seven
or eight rookies that are coming here. And I remember
last year Brydon Fisk was a rookie with the Rams,
(09:31):
and he came here sitting in the front row the
way you know, rookie sometimes learned how to do got
a pen, got a notebook. He also led all rookies
defensive line in Sackson year go with eight and a half.
So Jalen Walker is here, mikeel Williams is here, Lannon
Jackson is here. You know, we've got rookies here. They're
gonna be learning from Max Crosby, Cam Jordan Kalaias Campbell
(09:52):
is here, you know, really an opportunity for young guys
to really mix it with a lot of older veteran
players that have figured this thing out out. And this
thing is just kind of mushrooming and growing year by
year right now.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Yeah, and you talk about two of those veterans, TJ.
Watt and Trey Hendrickson, two guys looking for new contracts.
We haven't heard a lot from TJ Watt, but this
Hendrickson one has been public and the sides I know
that they've tried this a couple of times to get
something done. Still not done at this point. We'll see
if right around training camp they can get to some
kind of agreement there. Same thing with Wat as well.
(10:27):
I'm confident that what one's going to get done, it
just needs a matter of you know, hey, training camps
around the corner. So in the meantime, Baldy, look at
these guys. You know they're worth every penny because you
see exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
What they're capable of doing right there.
Speaker 9 (10:41):
Well, I mean, look, I mean TJ is basically the
face of the franchise and has been. He's got he
fills up the stat sheet. You know his one hundred
and eight sacks and thirty three force fumbles and seven interceptions.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
I mean, he really does it all. I mean not
just a pass rusher.
Speaker 9 (10:55):
You know he's dropping the coverage intercepting the balls, but
you know his effort is just contage. And so you
talked about right tackles in this league that have to
face them, they have a lot of sleepless nights because
he can make you look real bad, real fast on
any given play, and then the effort is just going
to be sidelined sideline like we're watching right now.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
And so I think this should get done.
Speaker 9 (11:19):
I remember Nick Bosa after he was a defensive Player
of the Year in San Francisco, he got signed on
a Friday before the opening day of the season. One
thing we know about TJ now, whenever this gets done,
he's coming into camp, Latrobe, wherever it might be, in shape,
and so you're going to get him really at full speed.
I think whenever he does.
Speaker 7 (11:38):
Show up, Yeah, Baldy, and you see the numbers there
on the lower third of the sack numbers.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
It's pretty remarkable how good.
Speaker 7 (11:46):
These men have been over the years, and they just
don't come off the field. By the way, you're a
national treasure, Baldy. I think we all agree you're either
snorkeling somewhere in an ocean or you're at a sack summit.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
But when you look at these numbers.
Speaker 7 (11:59):
Since twenty twenty, over the last five seasons, this is
an interesting full screen here because TJ.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Watt obviously, yeah, he.
Speaker 7 (12:05):
Wants to be the highest defensive player in the National
Football League. He's in the final year of his contract currently,
and so is Trey Hendrickson. Nick Bosa was injured with
the ACL in twenty twenty, so he didn't play, but
that's probably maybe why that number is a little skewed.
And then Michael Parsons has only played four seasons in
the league, but those three at the top. Miles Garrett
currently the forty million dollar annual man, as he should be,
(12:27):
but Trey Hendrickson folks the third most sacks in the
National Football Leagues since twenty twenty. And then look at
the quarterback pressures Baldy and Mike. This is an important
stat to me simply because the motor never stops with
these superstars. And Trey Hendrickson is it because he was
a third round pick to the Saints eight years ago
(12:49):
out of Florida Atlantic. I'm not sure, but his production
for a guy that doesn't come off the field has
been masterful for the entirety of his career and certainly
for these Cincinnati Bengals, and for a defense fellas that
was not good last year. Al Golden is now taking
over as the defensive coordinator and to hear Duke Tobin
sort of the pseudo GM tell us all the way
(13:11):
back at the combine, I won't forget. We believe we
have a championship calor team. But specifically you said defensively,
our defense wasn't good enough. We couldn't get stops when
we needed to, we couldn't protect leads, we didn't get
off the field, we didn't win in critical moments. Defensively,
You've got to take this thing up with mister Hendrickson
because he is a fine player. And yeah he may
(13:33):
be thirty, but he's a focal point of that defense
and a headache for quarterbacks.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
They struggled in the secondary. You know what makes the
secondary even worse a pass rush. They can't get home,
So you want him there.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Obviously.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
As for what I know, the Steelers have felt really
good about their recent offers. They feel like they're there.
It's just a matter of training. Can't be in that
pressure point to get it done. So again, I feel
confident that TJ. Watt is going to have a deal
in the near future. Baldy, thank you very much. Back
with us in a little bit to tight End University
we Go where Taylor Swift performed and debuted her new single,
(14:08):
tight End of My Heart. I don't know my kids
listen to Taylor. That sounds like it could be a
Taylor song. Meanwhile, Trey McBride, who just got paid as
a tight end that catches the ball a lot.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
The Arizona Cardinals wide receiver.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Saying Mahomes and Kelsey, Yeah, that could be McBride and
Kyler that you're talking about. We can have that kind
of connection, which I'm sure McBride would like to happen
more in the end zone because we didn't see a
whole lot of that despite as many catches as he
made there. Yeah, jad Jaden Daniels and Zach Ertz there
another tight end quarterback connection that we saw last year
(14:44):
and could see plenty of this upcoming season. Stacy I
gave you a couple of combinations. There, give me one
quarterback tight end combination that you're looking forward to in
twenty twenty.
Speaker 7 (14:57):
I cannot Mike and Baldy gotta do this quick because
we've got to get to break soon.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
But I can't wait to see Gino Smith with Brock Bowers.
Speaker 7 (15:04):
After what we saw Brock Bauwers do as a rookie,
he shattered basically every record. He caught balls by the
way from footballs from three different quarterbacks throughout the season, O'Connell,
Ritter and Minshew, but he shatters Mike Dick's nineteen sixty
one record for catches by a rookie. I mean, he
was brilliant and what's really cool, in three seasons in Seattle,
(15:26):
when Gino Smith targeted tight ends, he was at about
an eighty percent completion clip. So I think this is
going to be a fun marriage in Chip Kelly's offense,
Baldy and certainly going to be exciting to watch.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
But I can't wait to hear your potential duo this season.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
Well, one little tag to Brock Bowers.
Speaker 9 (15:43):
They couldn't cover them and when they did and he
caught the ball, they couldn't tackle.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
That's a pretty good combination right there.
Speaker 9 (15:48):
I'm going to go to Minnesota, Stacey, JJ McCarthy and
TJ Hockinson. Just remember, now, TJ before that devastating k
the injury at the end of twenty twenty three, he
had ninety five catches the Vikings.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
I mean he was used as soon as he got there.
Speaker 9 (16:03):
He's fully back and recovered after finishing the second half
of the season on the field last year. But I
think TJ and JJ have a chance to be a
really good combination. We know the receivers on the outside
a special but I think TJ in the middle of
the field runs good routes. He's got great size and
I think he could be used quite a bit in
his Viking offense.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Those are some great duos. I'll give you a trio.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
How about this, Caleb Williams right there in your backyard
stayce with Cole Comett and now Coston Lovelin as well.
Interested to see how Ben Johnson uses those guys as well.
Stacey Dal's Brian Baldinger, thank you much. You guys are
back later on. You know, we'd like to do the
additions the losses for teams when it comes to the
off season. Here are the Broncos editions after a ten
(16:47):
and seven season That may have surprised a lot of
folks outside the building, but not those inside the building.
They knew with Sehn Payton and the talent that they had,
that they were going to be competitive. So how do
you now add to that and take the next step. Well,
here's what Denver has done this offseason. But you know what,
sometimes it's not about who you're adding, it's about who
you're retaining.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Who's coming back.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
This guy, offensive tackle Garrett Bolls back for season number
nine in the NFL with the Denver Broncos. Or it
just seems like the other day you were holding up Kingston,
your son at the draft. We're going to get to
all that in a second, but for right now, tell
us what you're.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
Doing with USAA.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
You said you were sweaty before we came on the
worry man. We can't smell a thing here.
Speaker 6 (17:26):
I hope you don't smell me.
Speaker 10 (17:27):
No, But I'm out here and I'm EGO Nests, Rance,
which is about thirty minutes outside of Parker, Colorado, just
out here clearing brush using chainshaws, machetes all the fun
things that you do on the ranch to prevent on wildfires,
which is Colorado's which is known for a high risk
state of wildfire. And then teaming up with Team Ubicon
(17:49):
and USAA to be able to be impactful to a
rants like this that provides therapy for PTSD veterans.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Yeah, for the Veteran's Voice initiative. Also this initiative as
far as clearing the brush, referenced the Protecting the Pocket
usaa's Protect the Pocket brush clearing event. When I say
protect the pocket, you know what that means. I mean,
that's what you do for a living, my friend, protecting
the pocket. So tell us where you are. I mean,
(18:19):
I mentioned it's year nine right now for you. A
lot of times we say, oh, guys, once they get
past thirty, they're on the downside of their career. But
offensive tackles, I mean, we've seen them play for a
long time. We see the way that you're still holding up.
The Broncos gave you an extension recently, so obviously they
believe there's a lot of good football left.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
And you tell us where you feel you are in
your NFL career.
Speaker 6 (18:39):
I feel right where I need to be.
Speaker 10 (18:42):
I feel like, you know, I'm in the best shape mentally,
physically and spiritually, and along with you know, just me
being comfortable in my position, you know, being me being
comfortable in the offense, being my thirty with coach Payton,
you know what a hell of a coach he is
and all that he does for us to provide for us,
and let's just situations to help us win, you know,
(19:02):
big time moments and big time games, which we did
what you saw us do last year, and we're just
hopefully we can build off of that this year. But
you know, he's smart. And then you know our ownership,
you know, the Walton Pinner group, and you know all
the amazing people that we have on that ownership group
by putting us, you know, with the great players and
the great coaching staff and you know, just so much
(19:23):
exciting things heading our way.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
I talked about it last season being the ten and
seven season that you guys inside the building expected. What's
been the talk amongst the players in the locker room
from coaches to players about Okay, that was great.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Now we got to build on it.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
Now We've got to strike No.
Speaker 10 (19:40):
For sure, I think you know, you know, as an
Iceberg you know, there's you only see the top of
the iceberg. You don't see the bottom of the iceberg.
And you know, I feel like that's just what they
tell us, is like, you know, we're we're right there,
and now we have a serious client that we have
to do. You know, being out west and being around mountains,
you got to climb in and you know the heart
of that you climb, you know, you're going to get
(20:01):
different obstacles and different things that you're going to have
to face, and it's only going to get harder from here.
But you know, we have so many young guys that
pushes us over guys. We have a hell of a
coaching staff and you know, just from top to bottom,
from you know, from the coach in the kitchen to
you know, the janitors, to the training staff, to the
equipment staff, to our coaching staff, to all of our
players and veterans on the team with me and Courtland,
(20:21):
and you know, it's just an awesome time to be
at Denver Bronco. And you know, I'm just looking forward
to the season and all the many things that we're
going to accomplish along the way.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
It takes everybody, dude, it does for everybody in the
entire building, just like you said. But if all that's
right and the quarterback position is wrong, we see that
it still doesn't go where it needs to go.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
So tell me about Bonicks.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
What he showed everybody in year one and then when
he shows up in the spring right now, all the
way through mini camp, does he got a little bit
more swag? Does he got a little bit more confidence
in him when he's in that huddle.
Speaker 6 (20:54):
Those a trenendous football player.
Speaker 10 (20:56):
Man, I'm so grateful I get to protect him and
you know, you know, being his blind side protector and
you know, giving them all the time in the world.
You know, he's he's a freaking nature. You know, you
look at the numbers that he put up last year.
You know, you know, between him and JT. Daniels, you know,
those were the two young quarterbacks in the league that's
going to be very successful. And you know, I have
one of them behind me. And you know his demeanor,
(21:16):
his composure, his you know, his work ethic, you know,
just always wanting to get better, and you know his arm,
talent and just the way he sees hey has swag. Man,
he really does. You would think, you know, a rookie
like that would come in, it would be hard for
him to adjust the NFL life. And I think it
just pays dividends to all the snaps that he had
in college and the coaching staffs that he had there
(21:37):
with Auburn and the Oregon and then coming to Denver
and just embracing his role and being the leader that
he is to lead our team down the field to
score points. You know, it spoke to us. You know,
we scored a lot of points last year, and we're
just we're ready to build off of what we did
last year and continue to get better each and every day.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
You mentioned him in his rookie season.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
That takes me back to what I referenced a short
while ago your draft when you held up in one
the hearts of everybody, including everybody in Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Which is not easy to do.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
By holding up your son Kingston then a baby there
it is right there. Man, What a great, great scene
that was. But now let's flash forward. Let's see what
Kingston's doing these days, because you posted this on your
Instagram a short while ago. Tell us what he's doing
here and tell us, you know how impressive that is.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Knowing that he had a baby anymore.
Speaker 6 (22:25):
No, he's not.
Speaker 10 (22:26):
He's eight years old now, can you believe that? It's
time fly? But that's my mini me. He's my riding
die soldier man. He loves football. He wants me to
play till I'm fifties. So that's what he tells everybody.
Dad's going to play till he's fifty. So you know,
he's it's just so much fun to be able to,
you know, have that relationship with him and him understand
(22:47):
that I'm playing football, and him being around the guys,
and him coming in the locker room and him being
old enough to understand football, and you know he wanted
to be a football player, and so coming to train
with me with my trainer, Brad Davison, and you know,
just pushing the sled around. You know, he's always working
out when I'm working out at home, and you know,
it's just a fun bonding time to be a dad
and you know, have your sell embraced. You know, your
job and your work that you do day in and
(23:09):
day out, and you know him wanting to do it
with you is just an awesome experience for both of us.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Listen, he works hard physically, He works hard mentally as well.
We've talked to you before about a praxia. He was
diagnosed with it. It's a speech disorder that he is
working through. I know he's combining some football with his
speech therapist to kind of reward what he's doing. You
see him here, he hits the button and the Fox
NFL music plays when he gets it right. How impressed
are you with what he's been able to do and
(23:35):
what the progress that he's made.
Speaker 8 (23:38):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (23:38):
Man, now you're going to make me emotional.
Speaker 10 (23:40):
No, it's it's been so cool to see with you know,
with him and you know miss she and Jenny Gan
Borham and you know what she's done, and you know,
signing a contract here knowing that you know, the most
renowned a practice beach therapist is twenty minutes away from
my home and you know, here in Colorado and being
able to connect with him, and you know, now he's
you know, saying full sentences and you know, full paragraphs
(24:03):
and just working so hard day in and day out.
Speaker 6 (24:05):
You know, he's an inspirational to me.
Speaker 10 (24:06):
And knowing that, you know, I want to play as
long as I can to provide him, you know, not
just step father relationship, but just a relationship with him
where he can come to me and ask me questions
and talk to me and know that's the safe environment
for him.
Speaker 6 (24:20):
You know, every single day he puts in that work.
Speaker 10 (24:22):
You know he's tired every day as he goes to
Miss Jenny's house and you know, and I'm just there
to love him and share him along the way. And
you know, every single year, every single month, he just
blows me away by the hard work he puts in
and the new words that he gains. And you know,
he's so excited to share those words with me and
my wife, and so we couldn't be more proud of him.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
You should be proud of him.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
And I know where he learned that work ethic from you, guys,
from you with what you've done on the field, what
you're doing right now, I mean taking your off time
and working with us A, USAA and Team Rubacan to
clear brush there. Protect the pocket, Garrett, protect the pocket
on the field, protect the pocket off the field. Congratulations,
Thank you for the work you're doing it, Thank you
for joining us here on the Insiders.
Speaker 6 (25:03):
Thank you so much. Brother. I hope you have a
go on.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Welcome back to the Insiders.
Speaker 7 (25:40):
It was cam Ward the first overall pick of this
year's draft to the Tennessee Titans. It told us in
this lay period leaning up to training camp that he
was going to throw the f out of the football.
And I have no doubt that was transpiring because the
Tennessee Titans went three to fourteen. As we welcome in
Brian Baldinger once again and Bucky Brooks. They went three
(26:01):
and fourteen a season ago. And you know, guys, the
nf AFC South excuse me, combined twenty five and forty
three last season, so we like to see some improvement
from this division. Houston took at Baldy, But let's start
with the Tennessee Titans. What's gonna you know, take them
to the place they want to go and make a
case for them.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
Well, I mean, you.
Speaker 9 (26:24):
Know, Brian Callahan starts the second year, and they got
their quarterback.
Speaker 4 (26:26):
They got cam Ward.
Speaker 9 (26:28):
I was there at his pro day in Miami Stacey,
and he's a mature kid that improved all five years
in college, really knows how to conduct himself. So I
think he's going to provide leadership. Can he provide you know,
the ability that we saw from Jayden Daniels last year
where he took the Commanders from four wins to twelve
wins into the NFC Championship game. Like, that's what you're
(26:50):
hoping you can get when you get a franchise quarterback.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Now he's got to go do it.
Speaker 9 (26:54):
He's got to build a relationship with Calvin Ridley, who's
had some good seasons. It'd be good to get that
going right now. They've addressed the offensive line. Brian Callahan
his father, of course, you know Bill Callahan will be
coaching that it should be better, it should be improved.
They should have a solid wall in front of them.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
And so I think.
Speaker 9 (27:13):
Offensively, can Tennessee right now take that jump up with
cam Ward the way we've seen other teams with young Cole.
If they can, I think that they can at least
be competitive in this division where you just address twenty five.
Speaker 4 (27:28):
Total wins for the four teams a year ago.
Speaker 11 (27:32):
Yeah, boy, it's gonna be tough. You talk about Tennessee
Titans climbing out of the basement. The Jaguars also have
a lot of work to do when it comes to
getting back.
Speaker 8 (27:39):
To respectable and really competing for the division.
Speaker 11 (27:43):
But the reason why They're optimistic in Jacksonville centers around
the quarterback and the three fiends that should elevate his play.
Speaker 8 (27:49):
The first few will be the play caller.
Speaker 11 (27:50):
Liam Coyn comes over after a very successful stint, really
helping Baker Mayfield go to the next level.
Speaker 8 (27:57):
Baker Mayfield played the.
Speaker 11 (27:58):
Best of his career with Liam Coyn into plays. If
you take that blueprint, that same recipe, man, you might
get the jump that you want to see from Trevor
Lawrence since he entered the league as a number one
overall pick. But it goes beyond the play caller. There's
some playmakers that can elevate Trevor Lawrence's play. Everyone is
talking about Travis Hunter, number two overall pick, being a
(28:18):
two way standout, but that first way he's going to
contribute is going to be on offense. Putting him beside
Brian Thomas Junior. You adding the Yanbie Brown, they now
have more speed and explosiveness on the outside, and then
the offensive line added Robert Hainsey, Patrick mccrury being able
to get Walker Little and these guys up and going
on the offensive line. If this offense plays to the potential,
(28:41):
the defense just has to be okay and this team
can overtake the Texans as a team to beat in
the AFC South.
Speaker 7 (28:49):
Bucky and Baldy is going to be fascinating to see
the snap count percent right for Travis Hunter on both
sides of the football this season and how kind of
time on task through the week, how they get him
ready for games every Sunday. Bucky, let's make a case
now for the Indianapolis Colts. We may or may not
see Anthony Richardson at training camp. He's kind of indicated
(29:10):
recently that that shoulder's getting better.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
Could be Daniel Jones. Make a case for those Colts.
Speaker 11 (29:16):
Well, look, I think Daniel Jones was going to be
in line to be the starter regardless of whether Anthony
Richardson was hurt or not. You don't go out and
get a backup, a former number one pick and pay
him the type of money that the coach paid him
if he wasn't going to be the starter. So now
that he's in play, it really gives Shane Stike an
opportunity to use his entire playbook because you have an
(29:36):
experienced quarterback, a guy who has won games and when
healthy and athletic quarterback that can do some of the
dual threat things that Shane Stykeing likes. That should give
Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman and some of the weapons
on offense a true opportunity to make contributions.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
So the offense should be better.
Speaker 11 (29:54):
And then defensively, lou and Aroumo coming over from the
Cincinnati Bengals, a well respect defensive coordinator who have an
opportunity to really expand on what this defense can do.
They won't be simple slatman, it will be diverse. There'll
be a hybrid defense. Look for them to create turnovers
and that should help them have more opportunities to.
Speaker 9 (30:13):
Take over and Bucky to the three teams we've just
talked about are all looking up at the Houston Texans,
which have won this division two years in a row,
but things do not end well in the playoff loss
to Kansas City.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
They made a big change.
Speaker 9 (30:25):
An offensive coordinate or offensive line coach Nick Keley comes
in to run the offense. Right now, it's really gonna
be a different way of doing things. And there's a
lot of changes on offense. And so we know that CJ.
Stroud can flat out ball. Now we've got changes at
the wide receiver position. We have changes that both tackles,
Cam Robinson, Trent Brown coming into tackle position. So there's
(30:46):
a lot of changes here. Now, are the changes going
to protect help protect CJ. Stroud better? Are they going
to be able to get the ball to you know,
their playmakers better than they did a year ago when
the offense can take a step up. Something in that
playoff loss was just dreadful. So a lot of changes
in the Houston Texans offense that it might take a
(31:06):
while before it starts to click.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
We don't know when that might happen, but it might
take a while.
Speaker 9 (31:12):
So the defense has to step up because they got
a lot of great talent on that side of the ball.
But I think Demko rans the changes he made were
made for the postseason when they want to start, you know,
going deeper and deeper into the playoffs.
Speaker 7 (31:26):
Yeah, and Baldy, it'll be fun to see Nick Cayley
come in, like you talked about, take over that offense,
coming from Sean mcvay's system there with the Rams as
the new OC marring with CJ. Stroud, great stuff, Brian Baldinger,
Bucky Brooks.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
All right joining us now, Adam Rank who is in
his own silent disco Johnny Listen. I should have bet
the guy's like on vacation. He was playing golf today saying,
you know what the Insiders want me, I'm coming.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
I'm coming on the insiders. And here he is with
his schedule predictor for the AFC West. Who are we
starting with him?
Speaker 1 (31:56):
We're starting with the Raiders because we're talking about the possibility.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Of the Chiefs being to threat.
Speaker 12 (32:01):
Yeah, let's start from the order of finish from last year,
and obviously the Raiders were the fourth place team. But
I really like a lot of what they've done over
the offseason. They go out there, they hire Pete Carroll,
they get Ashton gent heat falls to them.
Speaker 8 (32:14):
I don't know if that's the thing.
Speaker 12 (32:15):
And they also found a way to make Max Crosby happy.
So if the Raiders are going to be successful this year,
there's a couple of games that I've identified. Starting in
Week two, they play the Chargers. Now, last season, the
Raiders had a little bit of a problem with the Chargers,
got swept by them. This is a key game for
them to win. Week six against the Tennessee Titans. That's
going to be another one that they need to go
(32:36):
out there and take advantage of both the Titans and
the Raiders new quarterbacks. Both think they can make a
charge this season. So that is going to be one
to look for. But in Week thirteen, they go back
against the Chargers, then the Broncos, then the Eagles, then
the Texans. If the Raiders are going to make the
playoffs this season, they need to at least go five
(32:57):
hundred over that stretch. And speaking of playoff teams, I'll
talk about the Chargers here for a moment because last
year Jim Harbaugh was hired. I said, for the long
term success of the Chargers, this is a great move.
Speaker 8 (33:08):
But I thought it would have been a.
Speaker 12 (33:09):
Miracle if that Chargers team with that roster last year
won seven games. Well guess what miracles happened? They made
the playoffs. They didn't look good in the playoffs, but
we're not talking about that. But right now, I look
at their division, I look at their their schedule. Their
first three games of the season are all against divisional opponents.
And I know that I can't sit here and take
(33:31):
shots at Mike North, but like, what are you doing?
Why are they playing divisional opponents to open up the season.
Speaker 8 (33:37):
I don't think that's fair for them.
Speaker 12 (33:38):
As a matter of fact, I would say you shouldn't
play a divisional opponent till sometime later in the season.
But Week six, eight and six, seven and eight, there's
a real opportunity for them. They have the Dolphins, the Colts,
and the Vikings, three teams. Two of those one of
those teams made the two of those seas made the playoffs.
Speaker 8 (33:56):
What am I thinking? Those are opportunit unities to go
out there and make some noise.
Speaker 12 (34:01):
In the Week eighteen, they got the deadver Broncos, which
could be not only for the division, but for the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
All right, So now I'll move on to the top
two teams in their division. I don't know if we're
giving this specific order here, because it's important because the
team that finishes first, they win the division, and that
still matters despite the Lions' proposal to take away the
home game.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Regardless, take us through the top two teams.
Speaker 12 (34:24):
In the division, while start with the Chiefs, because I
think a lot of people are overlooking them. But they
still have Andy Reid, they still have Patrick Mahomes. Of course,
I don't know if if I botched this I put
it into my notes as the Chiefs, So I'm sorry
if I'm messing up the b roll. I was getting
ahead of myself apparently. But the Chiefs are going to
be very good this season. They open up, they got
(34:44):
the Chargers and the Eagles to open the season. A
Super Bowl rematch in Week two, you know, for a
defending for defending AFC champion.
Speaker 8 (34:54):
I feel that's a little rich for them.
Speaker 12 (34:55):
They're going out there and having to already start with
two of their toughest games. They have Denver after the
bye week in week eleven. We all know that Andy
Reid is great after the bye we all not in
the Super Bowl, but they have the Denver right there,
and then they close this season with the Denver Broncos.
And speaking of the Denver Broncos, they had one of
the best defenses last year, really good. And then they
(35:17):
go out there and they add green Law, they add
Baron Hufunga offensively, They've also added some firepower as well.
They bring in Evan Ingram, and I think tight end
was a huge issue for them last season. You bring
in every in Ingram, you redo the entirety of the
running attack of obviously Jabante Williams is now in Dallas.
Speaker 8 (35:38):
But you got JK. Dobbins and RJ.
Speaker 4 (35:40):
Harvey.
Speaker 8 (35:41):
For all you fantasy people out there, Mike Garrifolo. RJ.
Harvey is a name to keep track of this season.
Speaker 12 (35:48):
What does that all mean for the AFC West, Well,
you know what, I'll give you a little spoiler alert
of what I see as the finishing order of the
AFC West. Let's call this up right now because, and
this might shock you, but I have a Denver Robles
winning the division I did last year.
Speaker 8 (36:05):
Why are you so shocked?
Speaker 12 (36:07):
The Chiefs being very good, the Chargers also making the
playoffs at ten and seven, and the Raiders. I think
this is the best division in football when you look
at the coaches, when you look at the quarterback like
all teams have legitimate quarterbacks, Hall of Fame coaches. This
is the best division in football by far. I know
the NFC North get gets some run, but I think
it's a good division.
Speaker 8 (36:27):
Why why are you cackling? What's what's up?
Speaker 6 (36:29):
Look?
Speaker 4 (36:30):
Look?
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Look, I read I read a promo on this yesterday,
so I pretty much knew where you were going.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
I teased it earlier in the shows. I pretty much
knew where you were going.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
It's called showmanship, right, And I also like I like
to play into the fans that right now in Kansas
City are like you suck at them rank. You know,
usually it's the NFC North non Bears teams that are
saying that they're fan bases. But the Chiefs now are saying, hey,
disrespected dynasty like that. It's not a Kansas City. It's
not a Kansas City accent. But you know what Adam rank.
You know what they say if you can't stand the heat.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
You know, because you're in the kitchen.
Speaker 8 (37:04):
I'm in the kitchen. You're in the kitchen.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
You can stand the heat.
Speaker 8 (37:08):
Hey check this out? Hey look, bring me back. I
needed to be back on camera. Oh well we lost.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
I feel like we should we should slowly dial down
his audio.
Speaker 10 (37:17):
Like here.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
NFL dot Com Quarterback rankings by division by our guy
Nick shook.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Me all night long.
Speaker 4 (37:26):
Do you like that one?
Speaker 2 (37:27):
Chris Berman? Pretty good?
Speaker 1 (37:29):
Uh, he's got the AFC West number one, AFC South
down there at number eight. Trevor Lawrence got to get
that ranking to come up there, cam or TBD. Yeah,
we got to see who's quarterback for the Colts and
then CJ.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Shroud.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
It's pretty good, but you know, got to protect him better,
a little bit of a Changeing offensive coordinator Sam Schwarztein
is with US Prime Video on Thursday Night. Football is
analytics expert. He joins US during the season the preview
the Thursday Night Football matchups. But we wanted a little
thirty thousand foot view of the season here and some
numbers that could affect the season come up.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Let's talk about the last two number one overall picks.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Let's start with Cam Moore, who I just mentioned with Tennessee,
which the Titans fans expect this year.
Speaker 13 (38:08):
Yeah, I mean there's little to no fanfare for a
number one overall pick. When has that ever happened? It's
because Camlwore is kind of an unassuming guy.
Speaker 4 (38:16):
He came in.
Speaker 13 (38:17):
He played fifty seven snaps in college football. That's more
than Will Levis and his college an NFL career combined,
as well as Anthony Richardson in his NFL career. And
what they did to bring him in is that helps
what they need up front, the quarterback in the old
line play. What I spent most of my off season
looking at is how do they interact with each other.
And last year the Titans had a forty point two
(38:37):
per percent pressure rate and then they also feace the
third lowest blitz of only twenty four percent on drop backs,
so tinter gat Holm was four. What they want to
have Cam Moore do is able to be able to
work the pocket, get rid of the ball when you
need to, scramble when you need to, and that's what
they really didn't get a will Levis last year.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
Yeah, that's a fascinating look because we think pressure with
the offensive line letting some stuff up, but maybe quarterbacks
got to get it out faster.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
You've got to do a better job of diagnosing stuff.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
So he's got a role to play in the pressure
as well, which leads us to Caleb Williams.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
What does Ben Johnson have to do to help out
last year's not last year year? Yeah, last year's number
one overall pick.
Speaker 13 (39:16):
Well, last year Caleb Williams took the second most drawbacks
in the NFL. The Bears put a lot on him,
but what he did with those dropbacks, he was really proudable.
Speaker 8 (39:25):
And he's throwing six.
Speaker 13 (39:26):
Interceptions twenty touchdown six interceptions That might look good when
you look at EPA, which is expected points added, which
accounts for the sacks. How you're performing on third and long.
You can see that he really struggled. He's had so
much sack EPA, the worst in the NFL. He had
double what an average quarterback would has. Now, what does
Ben Johnson do? Provides the running game? Jared Goff the
(39:48):
third best total EPA in the NFL. He had one
hundred fewer dropbacks than camer than Caleb Williams. It's because
of things like this, where he can beat the bit Bliss,
an open rusher come to him, find the old guy quickly.
Ben Johnson will help scheme up Caleb Williams so he
doesn't have to rely on him. But he's also able
to now use his arm to beat the blitz and
(40:08):
not try and scramble just with his legs.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
Yeah, that's what Ben Johnson's looking at this offseason, to
try and get the best out of Caleb Williams. If
you think Sami Schartstein doesn't know about number one overall quarterbacks,
he once had one of his hands were right there
under him at center Andrew Luck at Stanford.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Tell him Sam, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6 (40:27):
I think this.
Speaker 13 (40:28):
There was this helmet and a lot of my personal athletes.
Thanks to Andrew Luck, GMO Stanford Football Fier season tickets.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
The shelves that Andrew Luck built. Sam Schwartstein, thank you
very much.
Speaker 8 (40:39):
Pal.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
We'd better see you again before the start of the season.
With that kind of great information.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Aaron Jones making his way around the field and making
his way around some camps in Minneapolis and elsewhere.
Speaker 2 (40:52):
We're going to tell you where Aaron Jones has been
with the youth of America. The football you get the
America next on the Insiders, Think it Out, Thinking out.
Speaker 1 (41:07):
So Hey, we know the Pope is a White Sox fan,
is an Alliance fan because here's Sam Laporta blessing.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
Get a blessing from the Pope for your for your
you and your bride.
Speaker 1 (41:17):
That is fantastic. Congratulations of Sam Laporta and a great
job there, Pope Leo. See what you can do about
your White Sox because they stink. You know who doesn't stink?
I was waiting for trying to get the transition Aaron Jones.
Here's Aaron Jones. A three day youth football camp tour
starting in Minneapolis, then traveling to Fargo, North Dakota and
(41:41):
Sioue Falls, South Dakota. That is awesome for a Minnesota
guy getting as much coverage to the Vikings fan based geographically.
Stacy Dale's your thoughts on Aaron Jones's traveling camp.
Speaker 3 (41:55):
We love Aaron Jones.
Speaker 7 (41:57):
I feel like every non married, by the way player
in the NFL got married this offseason, even Aaron Rodgers,
so that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (42:04):
Aaron Jones though, he's just awesome. He's one of our favorites.
Speaker 4 (42:07):
We love it.
Speaker 7 (42:08):
I mean even our buddy Matt Schneidman posted back during
draft week he went back to Green Bay Mike to
hand out pizzas to the new community shelter like that's
this Guy's just a jam.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Everybody.
Speaker 3 (42:20):
You got to have an Aaron Jones on your team.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
He is amazing. He comes out with the Sombreros on
game day. He is a physical player.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
He can run away from you. He showed that he
had good football left the Vike. He still believed in
him and killed the Packers in Matt Laflori to let
him go. So Aaron Jones continued success to you in
great job with everything that you are doing off the fields.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
Stacy Dales thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (42:42):
We are back one more time this week Thursday on
the Insenters.
Speaker 2 (42:46):
You better be there.
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