May 30, 2025 • 41 mins
NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Judy Battista break down the quarterback shake-up in New York as Jaxson Dart joins the Giants and Justin Fields lands with the Jets. Brian Baldinger joins to dive into Jets OTAs, evaluate the team’s new rookie class, and lay out the biggest remaining offseason priority for each NFC North team. Jeffri Chadiha joins to spotlight the young NFL players whose development could be the X-factor for their teams in 2025, and Adam Rank weighs in on which of those breakout candidates could carry Rapoport’s fantasy squad to glory. Plus, Omar Ruiz checks in with a report on DC Robert Saleh’s return to San Francisco and gives a big shoutout to Chargers Executive Director of Player Performance Ben Herbert for transforming bodies and the culture in L.A.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Quarterback landscape in New York has changed dramatically.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Out with the old in with these two new faces.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
That is justin Fields right there for the New York Jets.
That is Jackson Dart for the New York Giants. We
will get into both of them as you try to
figure out what is going to happen in New York
that's gonna be better than whatever happened last year. Still
in New York. Yes, Buffalo is actually in New York.
The other teams are in New Jersey. That's a whole
different issue. You don't want to get into any of that.
(00:38):
Which young member of the Buffalo Bills can get this
team over the hump? Jeffrey Chidia joins us to tell
you exactly which one that is, and he is not
going to be wrong.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
And I know, I know it is May. I think
it's still May.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Maybe June is coming sooner though the weather wouldn't agree,
But it is still time to talk about fantasy quarterbacks.
Who is your must draft fantasy quarterback? Adam Rank joins
us later in the show to tell us which one
of last year's rookies do you have to have? Absolutely,
we will get into all of it. Welcome inside with
(01:16):
the insiders. Ian Rappaport right here. Judy Batista there, Judy,
thank you very much for hanging out with me on
a Friday afternoon slash to night. Is there anything in
the world you'd rather be doing right now than doing
the show?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Since the weather here is so crummy? The answer is
actually no, there's nothing else I could be doing.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Perfect.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
You know what the Vikings would like to do, keep
all of the really good people.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
That is exactly what they did today.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Early in the offseason locked in coach Kevin O'Connell to
a multi year extension. Today Quacy Adolfo Mensa, the really
good general manager, he also was locked in to a
multi year extension. The two guys in charge of what
should be a really really good Viking team for several
years both now have their future secured. Very good news
(02:04):
for Minnesota, certainly richly deserved for Quasi Jackson Dart we
saw earlier one of the big time quarterbacks in New
York we are going to be discussing officially signed his
four year, sixteen point nine to seven million dollar contract,
almost nine million dollars in a signing bonus.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
These are all slotted. We knew he's gonna get it anyway,
but Judy, it.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Is now official Jackson Dart under contract, which really brings
us to what we want to talk about anyway, which
is what happens now. Like if you're the Giants, you
have all this excaven and I got to know plenty
of Giants fans as a new you do, especially in
your own household. Everyone's excited about Jackson Dart. They also
have Russell Wilson, who's certainly been through it. Also have
(02:44):
Jameis Winston who's also been through it. There's so many
different ways this can go for a team that really
sort of kind of does need to win. Now, what's
the best case scenario for the Giants and Jackson Dart
and their quarterback room.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
The best case scenario is that they win games with
Russell Wilson out of the gate and then they can
ease Jackson Dart in whenever.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
They feel he is ready.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
But as you said, there are so many variables that
are going to go into this decision, and this is
the question that's going to hang over really the entire
Giant season because we saw what Russell Wilson is last
year with the Pittsburgh News he was really good in spurts, right,
there were long stretches where he looked like the answer,
but then certainly at the end of the season, things
(03:29):
really sad, really declined, And so you wonder what you're
going to get from Russell Wilson.
Speaker 5 (03:34):
Can he be the guy.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Who looked really really good for a long time or
will he be the guy we saw at the end
of the season. And then the other part of this
is how fast has Jackson darted up from the minute
they drafted him. The Giants said they wanted him to
be able to sit on the bench and learn with
no pressure, no need to rush him onto the field.
Speaker 5 (03:53):
And I think that's the ideal scenario.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
But there just are not ideal conditions for this Giants team.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
Their schedule is very, very difficult.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
They have the hardest strength of schedule in the entire NFL,
and the first half of the schedule is especially brutal.
They face a string of playoff teams, a string of
teams that have very good defenses, and so obviously, even
if they're playing better than they were last year, they
could still be losing games, and Russell Wilson and the
offense could still be struggling, and then at what point
(04:23):
will they want to expose Jackson Dart to that is
the offensive line protecting well enough that you would feel
like you could put Jackson Dart on the field.
Speaker 5 (04:31):
It's going to be a very complex situation.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
As you mentioned, Ian, this franchise needs to win some games.
Sprain Trust needs to win some games, probably to keep
their jobs. It's going to be fascinating to see how
they manage this decision.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
What I keep thinking about, Look, obviously, there's a lot
of excitement for Jackson Dart, and it really seems like
we haven't seen him on the field of time.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
But if everything we've seen and heard mentally.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Seems like he's with it and got it and is
exactly what you want and what Brian Dables wanted, and
I know they're is excitement about playing. What I keep
thinking of if you feel like you have to play them,
if you're like, let's say you're two and four and
it's so loud in New York talk radio is going
crazy and everyone's like, when can we see and when
can we see and when can we see him?
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Is that the best situation to bring them in? And
who does that help?
Speaker 1 (05:17):
It is going to take Judy some unbelievable patience and
poise for the entire organization. I'm not even talking about
Jackson Art literally everyone else to say, yes, I know
everyone's calling for him, but this is not the right
time to play them, or this is the right time.
Like it's it's going to be a constant discussion, a
constant battle. The biggest storyline in New York right now
(05:38):
is when is he going to play? And we're really
going to find out a lot about the Giants of
how much they believe long term Judy and how much
they want to win short term.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
As far as their decision goes.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
One more point to make.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Their bye week comes very very late in the season.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
You usually look for.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
The bye week as a natural opportunity if you're going
to make a quarterback switch. Their by week comes I
think in week fourteen, so that's not the opening. There
is a mini by week, I believe after week six,
so maybe if things are not going oven, but that
would be.
Speaker 5 (06:06):
Very early to make the switch.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Well, we'll spend a little bit of time this season
talking about it. I have no doubt we will also
spend time talking about, of course, the Philadelphia Eagles the
champs who made a somewhat fascinating trade.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Today, it's not finalized.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
He had going to be finalized after June first for
contractual reasons. But Bryce Huff, who signed a three or
fifty one million dollar deal with the Eagles, did not
produce at all like they thought. Got injured. It was
not a fitness look. A lot of free agency, a
lot of things the Eagles do work out, this did not.
They're in the process of trading him to the forty
nine Ers for draft pick compensation. Eagles is going to
(06:41):
eat about nine million dollars, which tells you as much
about how much they just wanted to get rid of him. Meanwhile,
he reunites with Robert Salve for the forty nine Ers.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
He's their defensive coordinator. Sala loves Bryce Huff. Judy break
this down for me from both sides. Why this made sense.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Well, this was the very rare miss for Howie Roseman.
This was one of their big moves of last off season.
So much of last off season was a huge hit
for the Eagles, obviously, Saquon Barkley, Zach Bond, so many
things went well.
Speaker 5 (07:13):
This just did not.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
He was not a good fit as you said he
got injured. He really wasn't productive in that defense. It
sort of slid under the radar because so much else
was so good about the Eagles last year, and obviously
it didn't matter that they missed on Bryce Huff because.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
They won the Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Anyway, nobody was talking about the miss on Bryce Huff
at that point. But now it's time for them to
frankly cut their losses and move on.
Speaker 5 (07:35):
He clearly wasn't.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Going to be a fit there, and so they get
something in return. As you pointed out, the good news
for Bryce Huff is he is going to be reunited
with Robert Sala. Huff had his best season in twenty
twenty three when he played for Robert Salo, who was
at the time the head coach of the New York Jets.
That is when Huff had ten sacks. That was the
season that made him the money that he got from
(07:56):
the Philadelphia Eagles.
Speaker 5 (07:57):
So at least he.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Will be reunited with Robert Sala, who does love him,
knows how to use him, knows how to get the
best out of him. Let's bring in now our Omar Ruiz,
who certainly knows the San Francisco forty nine ers as
well as any.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
Of us hi Omar.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Obviously, Robert Sala is a familiar face in San Francisco,
returning to where he had such great success as defensive coordinator,
How do we expect.
Speaker 5 (08:22):
Him to impact that defense now that he's returned.
Speaker 6 (08:24):
Well, Getting guys like Bryce Huff will help, and especially
can get Huff like you mentioned in twenty two and
twenty three, according to Next Gen Stats, he led the
NFL in pressure percentage for all pass rushers. So if
Sala can get Bryce Huff opposite Nick Bosa, and you
think back to twenty seventeen, when Kyle Shanahan and John
(08:45):
Lynch first took over the forty nine ers, Robert Solo
was the defensive coordinator. They aspired to build a super
Bowl caliber defensive line, and they did it with all
those first round picks D FOURD, Nick Bosa, Eric Armstead,
DeForest Buckner. And you now look at what Sala is
doing for these forty nine ers. Now they get off
to add to Nick Bosa their first three of five
(09:08):
draft picks this season, including their first round pick, and
Mikel Williams Alfred Collins their second round pick, a defensive
Lineman out of Texas sixty six three hundred and forty
five pounds, really retooling that front.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
For Robert Sala's defense. And you see Fred Warner there.
Speaker 6 (09:23):
They talk about the violence, the relentlessness, chaos that they
want to play with. And it was Fred Warner who
said this week that Robert Sala brings a calmness to Hell.
They want to set this standard there, and of course
it was Sala who was leading that defense in twenty
nineteen when they first made that Super Bowl run in
this Kyle Shanahan era. Getting back to that style of play,
(09:46):
even though the defense is different, it's the standard they
want to get back to there. And when you look
at the forty nine Ers the last couple of years
they've turned through Steve Wilts Nick Sorenson as defensive coordinator,
they still finished in the top ten in the league
in defense.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
They don't feel that they're that far off.
Speaker 6 (10:02):
But Sala coming in with all the experience now as
a head coach with the New York Jets to implement
everything else that he brings to the table as defensive
coordinator will not only help that defense, but the entire
building there with the forty nine Ers.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Yeah, we're talking about a free agent miss from Philadelphia
Eagles in Bryce Huff. I'll tell you what, forty nine
ers are not going to miss with Robert Stolof. There's
one sure thing it is he is the man to
run that defense. Did it so well obviously it seems
like a little bit forgotten now. He was one of
the best defensive coordinators, probably the best defensive coordinator in
the NFL before he got the judge job. That is
in addition right there, and they've actually done a really
(10:36):
nice job of adding some pieces securing their guys despite
having all these contractual priorities like George Kiddo and Purdy
and and all these thing bringing in Bryce Huff for
kind of a relatively low amount surely solidifies that. The
reason why, by the way, guys, this deal is not
going to be finalized till after June first, is that
(10:57):
is the point when you could split up the cappit
over two seasons. So for the Philadelphia Eagles, they take
on some money tied on cap space forty nine ers
obviously two so you can split this up over the
course of two season. That's why we'll see some cuts
that we've known about become official after.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
June first, but we may see a trade.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
We'll see about Jalen Ramsey after June first as well,
because that is the time contractually when it makes.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
The most sense. Justin Fields in a Jets uniform.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
I gotta say it still feels a little strange to
me looking good, though, at least from these social media
videos the Jets are put out. These are actually some
of my favorite things of otis. The slimmo ones are
actually better. But nobody looks bad in these social media videas,
just like nobody.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Looks bad throwing to an old teammate.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
That is Justin Fields and Garrett Wilson, two friends from
Ohio State. They are back together again, and man, listen
to Fields talk about this one feels like home.
Speaker 7 (11:56):
You been good, you know, jeez, She's been my guy
for a long time now, so you know, I really
feel like we haven't skipped a beat out out on
the practice field. So yeah, I mean it's been great
so far.
Speaker 8 (12:08):
Just being here with him.
Speaker 7 (12:09):
I think I can be great, you know, and that's
you know, been the goal for me my whole life,
my whole career. So like I said, you know, I
think this guy's a limit, you know, for this team,
for this offense. But we do have a long way
to go.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
It is all about positivity and OTA's Ian Rapperford. Here
Juda Batista joined by Brian Baldinger hanging out with us
after hanging out with the Jets yesteryear.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Is that yesterday? Bald Is that right?
Speaker 8 (12:38):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (12:39):
You got an up close and personal look at Justin Fields. Okay,
we've all seen the social media eclipse. You saw it
in person.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
What do you think?
Speaker 8 (12:47):
What do we got? Uh? He looked exceptionally fast.
Speaker 9 (12:52):
Yeah, and there was a number of times he broke
uh you know, just on some scrambled things and took
it to the house. I mean, if it was flag football,
they went and ripped the flag off him. Looked, he
looked fast. He was on the move quite a bit,
being chased and do well on the move yesterday when
I saw him, I know, you just look at this
picture right here.
Speaker 8 (13:10):
I mean when he got that little lipstick camera on
his helmet.
Speaker 9 (13:14):
All the quarterbacks are wearing it with the Jets, so
don't think that's anything unusual.
Speaker 8 (13:18):
They all kind of watch themselves. But you know, I
mean you.
Speaker 9 (13:20):
See number seven and you saw him just basically piercing
the Jets defense routinely yesterday.
Speaker 8 (13:26):
But I thought to do the ball well on the run.
Speaker 9 (13:28):
He took all the number one repetitions with the starting offense.
Speaker 8 (13:33):
He got a lot of reps yesterday.
Speaker 9 (13:35):
They rotated other quarterbacks in, but he got all the
meaningful reps.
Speaker 8 (13:38):
So look for that to continue.
Speaker 9 (13:40):
But they used him in a variety of ways, but
running the ball he stood out yesterday for sure.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
You know, Justin Fields is the face of this.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
But this team has really undergone a massive youth movement.
Obviously they moved on from Aaron Rodgers and got to
Justin Fields, but it wasn't just that. Obviously, Defonte Adam, CJ. Moseley,
they really cleared out a lot of the older players
that they had tried to go all in with.
Speaker 5 (14:04):
They built around Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
They went all in, tried to win, it didn't work,
and now they've gone very very young under Aaron Glenn.
Speaker 5 (14:12):
I looked at the roster this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
They've only got, by my count on the roster right now,
three guys who are aged thirty or older, very very few.
Of course, that means that those young guys have to
come along very quickly. But the good part of it
is when you have a rookie head coach and a
rookie general manager, also is everybody can develop together and
not just develop physically, and not just develop chemistry on
(14:37):
the field, but develop a culture in a building that
quite frankly needed to change in a big way. That
is the direction they have decided to go at the Jets.
Very young, very fast, justin fields is the face of it.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Let's talk about some of those young guys, Baaldi, you
got a good look at MArmand Membo, Mason Taylor, some
of the young rookies. I know they're expecting to come
in and play. What did you think and what should
we expect from some of those young dudes from the Jets?
Speaker 9 (15:05):
I think immediate production, to be honest with you, Ian,
I mean I got there early yesterday and the first
guy that was on the field was armand Membu and
he was out there just working on a set of
introduced myself. I had never met him before, to a
lot of breakdowns on him to the draft process, but
introduced myself.
Speaker 8 (15:21):
He was the first one on the field.
Speaker 9 (15:23):
But you couldn't have watched yesterday's practice and not noticed
Mason Taylor. First of all, he is a very smooth runner.
He covers a lot of ground, and I think when
you see him up close, he's a lot bigger than
you might think at first. And then you saw him
not just catching passes and on the move, but I
saw him blocking the edge of the run game. I
(15:43):
saw him pass protecting in the pass game on various occasions.
And then you can't really talk about the Jet rookies.
He and without mentioning Arian Smith, their fourth round pick
from Georgia, who is just a burner.
Speaker 8 (15:57):
Now. He had drops at Georgia.
Speaker 9 (16:00):
People talked about, you know how dependable his hands are.
They tell me he's on the drug machine after every day.
But his speed is going to open up some windows
underneath for Garrett and Mason Taylor, I'm sure, because you
got to honor this guy that can cover a lot
of ground in a hurry.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Well, all of these young guys are also there to
try to help Justin Field's development. Aaron Glenn has said
he believes there is still a very very high ceiling
on Justin Fields that he hasn't reached. We saw glimpses
of it in Pittsburgh. We certainly didn't see the full development,
but Aaron Glenn is convinced that Justin Fields can reach
that high ceiling. And frankly, he is in a position
(16:37):
to know because he was the defensive coordinator for the
Detroit Lions and had to try to figure out how
to defend Justin Fields. He knows what Justin Fields can
do to a defense. That is what he plans to do.
He told me at the March Annual meeting that they
are going to use all of Justin Field's skills passing
and running, so I'm not surprised you saw him on
the move a lot in OTA's balding.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Of coordinators hate facing running quarterbacks who can run and
throw and create with their legs, and makes sense. The
first thing that Aaron Glenn did was go out and
find one of his own, maybe so he doesn't have
to face him. Baldy, great stuff as always, Judy obviously
coming back and hanging out with us.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
This is a speedy manner.
Speaker 8 (17:18):
Savior worthy to fast this man to even life. His
first time Kansas City touchdowns.
Speaker 5 (17:26):
You throw it like sideline? Why open touchdown?
Speaker 8 (17:30):
Make savor You're worthy.
Speaker 10 (17:31):
The second time in the end zone in the first
game of his Terrere.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
Man.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
I remember that game that was the season opener, Sheets
over Ravens, and I remember thinking, how many touchdowns is
Xavior Worthy going to score this season?
Speaker 5 (17:46):
Well, here is your answer.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Of rookies who had at least six receiving touchdowns and
at least three rushing touchdowns, there are three of them, Savi,
You're Worthy, Tyreek Hill and Hall of Famer Gail Sayers.
That is some pretty pretty good company for Xavier Worthy.
And now let's bring in our Jeffrey Chidio, who has
a column up right now on NFL dot Com eight
(18:09):
young players whose development could help propel their teams in
the upcoming twenty twenty five seasons.
Speaker 5 (18:14):
So let's start with the obvious one. Is Xavier Worthy?
Speaker 10 (18:17):
Yeah, you start with him when I know that left
tackle is a huge iss for the Kansasity Chiefs.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
They're trying to get that figured out.
Speaker 10 (18:23):
But receiver has been a problem for this team the
last couple of years as well. Obviously lastly they lost
for Shee Rice and Hollywood Brown the injuries, and Rice
is probably going to be suspended.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
This year, is still coming back from that knee injury.
Speaker 10 (18:35):
I think Xavier Willy is going to play a bigger
role in this offense, a bigger role than people realize,
especially with Travis Kelcey also getting older. You look at
what he did towards the end of last season in Judy,
where he was their leading receiver in the AFC Championship Game.
He obviously was one of the few highlights sperient with
the Square Bowl when he had one hundred and fifty
seven yard receiving and two touchdowns there.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
And he's been up more than a speech to Andrey.
Speaker 10 (18:57):
He loves his ability to run all types of different
routes in his offense, So don't be surprised if certain
stretches of the year you're seeing Zavier Worthy be the
number one target for Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
All right, let's go to the second person on your list,
Bill's tight end, Dalton kin Kid.
Speaker 4 (19:13):
Yeah, AC Championship game was not that great for him.
Speaker 10 (19:16):
The last time we saw him, he was dropping that
pass from Josh Allen on that hurried passed at.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
The end of that game. But you look at what
this guy was supposed to.
Speaker 10 (19:23):
Mean to this offense last year, and I think people
don't realize how banged up he was a lot of
reports about the collar bone injury he had in mid
season affecting him obviously, reports after the ANC Championship game
that the knee injury he suffered was a big problem
for him coming down to stretch THO a good chance
he gets back to the form he had as a
rookie when he had seventy three catches. He only had
forty four last year. But he is such a Nightmayer,
(19:45):
a matchup Nightmayre for this team, and Brandon, being their
general manager, drafted him with the idea of him being
a movement tight end who could create big plays with
his athletic ability. So I imagine you know, Khalil shakerg Kean Coleman,
Josh Palmer, all those guys look at their targets. But
but Dalton and Cave should be a big part of
this offense as well.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
I am looking forward to see how he recovers after
the way the season ended for him, because he is
a key component of a team that is oh so
close to toppling.
Speaker 5 (20:12):
To Kansas City Chiefs these last few years. All right.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
The third one that we're going to talk about, and
this one is a huge one, is Vikings quarterback and
JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 10 (20:22):
Yes, so much talk about Caleb Williams in the NFC North,
but a lot of expectations around JJ McCarthy given what
that team did last year when he had that knee
injury and preseason had opened the door for Sam Darnold
to take off and have that magical year with that team.
They were super excited about what JJ McCarthy could do
in the preseason last year. They left his charisma and
(20:43):
his leadership, his intelligence. He is a guy who's one
hundred percent positivity all the time, and he was on
track to be the player they hoped he was going
to be when he.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
Became a tenth overall pick. But I think losing that
year sitting behind Donald gave him a chance to really grow.
Speaker 10 (21:00):
We'll forget he was twenty one years old when he
came into this league, and he's gonna have the same
stuff that Sam Darnold had. He's gonna have Justin Jefferson
and Jordan Madison and TJ. Hockinson and a good offensive line,
a great defense, so that out there there, he's good
that he's going to have success, and he needs to.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
Have it, Judy, because that's the toughest division of football.
Every team has a great offense.
Speaker 11 (21:20):
J J.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
McCarthy has got to deliver for this team.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Definitely under a microscope after the kind of season that
the Vikings had last year with Sam Darnold and letting
him go and casting their luck with JJ McCarthy, Jeffrey,
thank you very much, and to read the entire list
NFL dot com slash Shadia.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Let's look at a list of players that are not
on my fantasy team.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
That's really what we should have called this.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
It says most fantasy points about second year players of
last year's second year players, which really it's like guys
that I didn't draft in probably should have. Thankfully I
get another chance this year. Hopefully my team will not
be as terrible as it was last year. Adam Rank,
welcome inside with the insiders. Thank you very much for
hanging out with us on a Friday, as you often
(22:07):
seem to do.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
So let's stay right there in the theme.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
I want you to take me through some young players
second year otherwise whose developments are going to help my
fancy team be less crappy than it was last year.
Speaker 8 (22:20):
I don't know, Ian, I don't know if there's any
help for that.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
No, we got you covered.
Speaker 12 (22:23):
I'm ready for this and it's going to be inside
for a change, because if you can tell by the
color of my face, I might have been spending too
much time.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
Out in the sun.
Speaker 12 (22:32):
Maybe I should wear a hat when I'm out of
the golf man. A lot of golf guys a little bit,
a little bit, they're not getting better.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
I don't know how that works.
Speaker 12 (22:38):
But one guy who was going to get better this
season is going to be Roman dunes E. And I
think that last year, when you look at the overall numbers,
they're not great. He averaged less than ten Fantasy points
per game. He was like the wide receiver fifty. It
wasn't great. And I think a lot of the issues
had to do with Shane Waldren. With everything that was
going on, the chaos that was happening with the Chicago Bears,
(22:58):
it was going to be difficult for anybody to put
up consistent numbers. But one thing that was consistent was
that he was getting targeted a ton in the in
the red zone and in the end zone, but still
wasn't able to contribute. I think that if that's something
that Ben Johnson can really hard us into, he could
be very successful this year. Last season he was one
(23:18):
of the biggest guys in unrealized air yards like he
was there getting open not getting him the ball. Again,
this might be a little bit of a big ass,
but if they can clean that up, it's going to
be a big year for Roma dunes A. Now, obviously
I would want to talk about Caleb Williams, but I
want to go back to somebody that Jeff was just
talking about with JJ McCarthy, and I think that this
is a guy to definitely look at this coming season.
(23:41):
When you look at the quarterbacks who have succeeded in
the Mike Shanahan coaching tree, and you think about the
guys like Nick Mullins and CJ. Bethard always come in
for spots starts and perform well. But when you have
good quarterbacks come in there, I'm thinking about brock Pertyes,
Sam Darnold. They go out there and they play exceptionally well.
And I think that that's where Jay McCarthy falls. When
(24:01):
you look at his college numbers at Michigan, they're not
going to be as gaudy as somebody else. However, he
was put in a position where he wasn't asked to
throw the ball a lot, and I think that the
scouting for him coming into the league shows that.
Speaker 8 (24:15):
He could be a good quarterback moving forward.
Speaker 12 (24:17):
JJ McCarthy is going to be a guy that I
have on my teams this summer. And another guy I
need to have on my teams is Brian Thomas Junior.
And I know that you're looking at this, You're like, Okay, yeah,
he was great last year.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
Absolutely he was.
Speaker 12 (24:30):
He was eleventh amongst Fantasy wide receivers in points per game,
put up a lot of great numbers, a lot.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
A ton of numbers.
Speaker 12 (24:38):
But the thing that I want you to focus in
on is last year, when Evan Ingram was on the field,
he was averaging about thirteen Fantasy points per game. Without
Evan Ingram, he was averaging over twenty Fantasy points per game.
And now Evan Ingram is going to be in Denver.
They brought in they brought in Travis Hunter. And I
know a lot of people have questions about that way,
what about Travis Hunt?
Speaker 4 (24:59):
Heideah, Okay, I get it. But the thing of it is.
Speaker 12 (25:01):
Having a explosive player like Travis Hunter will open it
up more for Brian Thomas Junior. So when you're looking
at Brian Thomas Junior. I look at it much the
same way is when Justin Jefferson was going into his
second season in Minnesota. Brian Thomas Junior, if he's not
drafted in the first round this year, and I'm talking
about the end of the first round, it's going to
(25:22):
be a mistake. He needs to be drafted in the
first round.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Well, luckily, in my league, he's not going to be
drafted in any round because he is a keeper.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
He's going to be one of my keepers. So let's go.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Hearing you talk about that really makes me happy. Which
I don't know why you're here except to make me happy.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
So this is perfect.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
That's right, right, Well, I'm here.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Thank you as always for hanging out with us. This
is great.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Go play some more golf. Maybe you can finally get
a little collar on that face and maybe they're you're
bald head of yours.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
The like.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
All we've heard about the Lions this offseason is how
hard their schedule is. Well to get there, to play well,
to be ready, they got to practice.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
This is what they're doing this week.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
The final day of OTAs has come and gone. All
of this Lions talk all of us getting ready for
how good they are going to be.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
We are not alone.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Dan Campbell, among others, certainly believes in his Lions and
in some of his big time young players. We planed
who he expects to emerge even more this coming season.
Speaker 13 (26:22):
We expect him to have a huge season. We really
do man so much versatility with him. There's so many
things that we can do just with his routes on
the outside. I mean we can do things inside, but
just with his speed and he's he's gotten so much stronger.
He's moving well, you don't see him favoring anything. I mean,
he's been and he's grabbing the grass. He's you know,
(26:44):
he looks confident. And there again that's without pads. So
there's nothing to tell me that man that the guy
has not recovered are going to be recovered.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Well, both those guys come out in that big time years.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Lions are going to be just as good as they
were last year, probably better. And welcome back with the
inside of Ian Rapaport, Judebatista Baldy joining us once again.
Our buddy Kevin Patrick has a big list on NFL
dot Com of every team's offseason priorities, so let's dig
in right now on these Detroit Lions. Baldy, I will
start with you, where do the Lions need to go
(27:20):
from here?
Speaker 9 (27:20):
And I can't look at pass rush and what they
have right now and say they need help still. I mean,
Aidon Hutchinson is certainly going to help. They drafted Tyler Williams,
who's an interior player that will help. But Market Davenport
is coming back. Marc's played eighty nine snaps last year
and he has a strong injury history.
Speaker 8 (27:40):
They released Sadaria Smith.
Speaker 9 (27:43):
I still feel like they could add somebody to their
pass rush right now to reinforce it, because they were
not good defensively down to stretch.
Speaker 8 (27:52):
They gave up forty five.
Speaker 9 (27:53):
At home and a playoff loss to Washington. They gave
up forty eight to Buffalo in a home loss in
December to the Buffalo Bills. They I think pass rush
is still a position of need for this defense, for
this team right now.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Well, let's say in this division. In fact, we're going
to go through the entire division. So Judy hit us
with the Minnesota Vikings what their priority is for this offseason.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Well, we've spent a bit of time in the last
few minutes talking about JJ McCarthy, and certainly that is
the overarching priority, is getting him ready. But I also
wonder about what they're going to do at safety because
they lost Cam Binam in free agency and they really
didn't replace him.
Speaker 5 (28:34):
Brian Flores uses.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Three safeties quite a bit, so I guess I'm curious
what they're going to do. Are they going to still
go out and get a veteran safety.
Speaker 5 (28:43):
Justin Simmons is still out there unsigned.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Is Brian Flores satisfied with what they've got on the roster.
Is he perhaps just going to use three safeties less
than he did last season? We will see, but that
is an area that I would keep an eye on
because it is still pretty unsettled from something that was
an area of strength for them last season.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
The Lions who've done Vikings Baldy, Let's go back to
you talk to me about the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Where do they go from here? What is their number
one offseason priority?
Speaker 9 (29:13):
Well, I mean they addressed their biggest need wide receiver,
you know, in the draft with Matthew Golden Sadie On Williams.
They were not strong at all in their playoff loss
to the Philadelphia Eagles. I mean they were throwing to
Malie Heath and to Bo Melton and they were not
getting it done, and they weren't getting it open. It
was and Jordan Love was struggling. So building that chemistry
with those receivers. And then I think, you know, last
(29:35):
towards the end of the season, they turned over the
mike linebacker position Edgrin Cooper. He was their second round
pick out of Texas A and M, and he was
an immediate upgrade. And so I thought in the new
defense that Jeff Haffley put in, Edrick Cooper is a
guy that we all should be paying attention to. This
guy's got elite speed. I call him urgent care because
(29:57):
his ability to diagnose an offensive play instant. And so
I think he's going to upgrade the defense. He'll get
out there full time, probably Kway Walker, you know, a
couple other guys, but that's going to be an upgrade
on the defense right now as they start this season.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Urging here is a great nickname.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
What I'd really like to know is all of Baldy's
like tape watching nicknames for all of these guys, please
just kind of mix it in a little bit when
you're for your Twitter analysis, which you know we all, yes,
we all tune into Judy one more from you the
Chicago Bears.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
You know, I've been in the news a little bit
over the course of the week.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Caleb Williams, K Williams father, books that are coming out,
all of those things. Take me through what the Bears
offseason priority is.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
Well, the big priority is all about Caleb Williams. He
is at the center of their universe and it is
all about giving him the best chance for success. A
big part of that is going to be the running attack.
Think about Ben Johnson's offense in Detroit and how multi
dimensional it was. Yes, it was Jared goffin those receivers,
but it was also.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
A really dynamic running attack.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
They don't quite have the caliber of running back that
the Detroit Lions had on their roster last season. They
have DeAndre Swift, they have ro Shawn Johnson. It's good,
it's just not that sort of elite explosiveness like he
had at the Lions.
Speaker 5 (31:19):
Is that okay?
Speaker 3 (31:20):
They also upgraded the offensive line, so do they believe
that with better blocking maybe they will.
Speaker 5 (31:24):
Get more production out of those running backs?
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Perhaps could they perhaps still sign a veteran running back.
Speaker 5 (31:31):
Maybe they do that too.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Certainly, everything that the Bears have done this offseason in
free agency in the draft has been all about enhancing
Caleb Williams and putting as many pieces around him to
allow him.
Speaker 5 (31:43):
To sort of restart his career.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
I would say the running back position is a key
part of that offensive success.
Speaker 8 (31:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
I mean, look, there's no doubt what the Chicago Bears
have done on their offensive line. They've spent capital, They've
done trades, they've spent money, contracts, all of the things
to make sure that Caleb Williams is comfortable and we
will see how it turns out. But'sternly that has been
their big time area of focus, just like Baldy's area
of focus this past weekend was not on football.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
But I'm yeah, I don't see Baldy him. Is that true? Baldi,
take us through what's happening here.
Speaker 9 (32:22):
They just I mean, look, this guy is like he's
just being a nuisance, so you just got to push
him away. I mean, like he's not in attack mode,
you know, he's just like feeling me out right here.
And I'm just like, look, I'm here to protect a quarterback.
Get off me, go do another, go someplace else. So
I was just getting them away from me right here,
like just doing what I was instructed to do, just
(32:43):
good coaching.
Speaker 8 (32:44):
I took it to the field, push him away if
they get a little too a little too bother something.
That's what we're doing.
Speaker 5 (32:51):
Are you sure?
Speaker 8 (32:55):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (32:55):
Oh, no cageous judy, No cages, just open open water,
just a couple of miles off the coast of Jupiter.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
Uh.
Speaker 8 (33:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (33:03):
We were trying to bring him around us, but they
got a little too close at times. But they were
not aggressive. You could see. They were just like bumping
into things.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Are you sure that the sharks nickname for you is
an urgent care like we I would.
Speaker 8 (33:18):
Like to know that. Yeah.
Speaker 9 (33:20):
I mean I didn't know that video was coming up,
but I got a bunch of video today that that
was taken. You know last week. I was like, I
was kind of like, oh, I forgot about when he
bumped into me right there. My little GoPro was filming
on my shit. That was pretty nice. That's a good
close up.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Sure, yeah, totally forgot about what.
Speaker 9 (33:38):
We had plenty of chump for him. They were well fed,
Blieve me, they didn't need us. They weren't interested.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
I wasn't nervous. Just so we're clear, I was not
scared that the sharks didn't have enough to eat.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Okay, good?
Speaker 7 (33:52):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
Coming up next, the Insiders.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
We know about Justin Herbert with the Los Angeles Chargers.
He is not the only key member of this franchise
named Herbert.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
And this is true. Let's get into it. Omar Ruiz
coming up. He's not gonna talk about sharks, but he's
going to talk about her.
Speaker 8 (34:13):
Right.
Speaker 11 (34:18):
My name is Hamza mad I'm the director of football
Operations here with the Jacksonville Jaguars, finishing up my twelfth
season here. I'm originally from Pakistan. I was born in
Saudi Arabia and was the only Pakistani kid on a
military base, so I grew up with a bunch of
military families and kids. My dad was an engineer and
helped build military bases out in Saudi Arabia. Food is
(34:40):
definitely a huge part of our culture and my dad
used to make chicken tikas and he made it on
the grill the right way. And somosa's were something that
my mom used to make and she used to send
it over to me and my roommate. The meat is
wrapped and it's typically from the unique part about working
for the Jaguars is that we have an owner that's
(35:01):
from where I'm from. That's definitely super cool for me
to come into the organization and have a role model
like that that has been successful and done well. There
aren't a whole lot of Pakistani Indian folks around the NFL.
It's always really really important for me to be able
to make that connection with them.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
The Chargers also marked aa NHPI month. That celebration wraps
up this weekend. Also at the Chargers, you definitely know
the name Herbert, Justin Herbert. Have you heard of a
guy named Ben Herbert. They want you to get familiar
with his work. Chargers executive director of player Performance. He
(35:39):
spent six seasons under Jim Harbott the University of Mission,
former Wisconsin defensive aligneman.
Speaker 5 (35:46):
Let's bring in our Omar Ruiz, who knows the Chargers
pretty well.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
I got to admit, Omar I did not know Ben
Herbert's game.
Speaker 5 (35:53):
I want to hear more about his impact on the Chargers.
Speaker 6 (35:56):
Yeah, because you know, Justin Herbert is obviously going to
impact the Chargers, but expecting a big impact from Ben
Herbert and being out there at OTAs. This week, we
heard his name brought up a couple times by DB's
and you know, Judy, DB's not the position group most
famous for wanting to work out in the weight room,
but there is an eagerness and an appreciation for Ben
(36:18):
Herbert and what he's done this offseason really since he's
been there coming in with Jim Harbaugh last year. In fact,
speaking to somebody in the building a couple weeks ago,
one of their hoping secret successes to this season is
that second.
Speaker 4 (36:31):
Year with Ben Herbert.
Speaker 6 (36:32):
And I heard Tony Jefferson, who's in his eleventh twelfth season,
longtime veteran safety in the NFL, said this is the
best strength and performance coach he's ever worked with. In fact,
he said, as long as he works with Ben Herbert,
he pens to continue to play in the NFL. He
feels here, he is refreshed, he's ready to go. And
(36:53):
even a guy like tarheb Still, who flashed as a
rookie there at cornerback position for the Chargers last season,
coming into his second year, he's been working out Monday
through Friday with that strength and performance coach in Ben Herbert,
and he said he was walking out on a Thursday
and he said see you later to Coach Herbert and
Khalil Mack was their said why don't you come here
(37:14):
on a Friday? So still they're working Monday through Friday.
And it's really because of the explanation that Herbert goes
through to the extent of the small microscopic muscles, some
muscles that Tony Jefferson said he's never even heard of,
but they're football specific with neck and shoulders, something that
maybe we take for granted, we just automatically assume they do.
Speaker 4 (37:35):
But they said it's not the case.
Speaker 6 (37:37):
This is different and unique for what they're doing there
with the Chargers. And we talked about it yesterday, Judy,
when Steve Whitch and I were out at practice. How big, strong,
physically impressive these Chargers are a lot of that has
to do with what Ben Herbert does here in the offseason.
Speaker 3 (37:52):
You know, usually in the NFL, don't the teams don't
want you to be talking about the behind the scenes guy, Right,
those are people we're not supposed to be paying any
attention to. But clearly we know availability and durability and
strength so important in a long NFL season, so he
will have surely a big impact on the Charger's home
aren't Ruiz?
Speaker 5 (38:12):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Get more of the NFL with NFL Plus.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Stay connected throughout the offseason with twenty four to seven
football news and coverage on NFL Network, and with NFL
Plus Premium Real have your favorite moments from the twenty
twenty four season with game replays and access to NFL
player stats with NFL Pro. Subscribe today at plus dot
NFL dot com.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
Terms and conditions apply.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
We got a little bit of news today from one
of our friends, Scott Hanson, who not only told us
it's one hundred days until the next NFL Red Zone,
he also told us that he will be there with
us a lot of touchdowns to watch together.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
As Hanson notes.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
I think it's fair to say there was some questions
about contractually Scott Hanson and confirms the news for anyone
else could tweet it.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
He is back.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
Speaking of back, Look how much is on the back
of Rams puncher Ethan Evans.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
Have you heard of Ethan Evans?
Speaker 1 (39:10):
You probably have now that is one two for seven
hundred and five pounds. I counted all the plates. It
is totally normal that he is squatting.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
That that is what I do. We call that Tuesday,
no big deal.
Speaker 1 (39:25):
But anyway, he's a punch, so certainly something we should
be impressed by. Speaking of things we don't always see.
Matthew Golden, the Green.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
Bay Packers first rounder, is wearing number twenty two, which
is a little odd. Let's hear him explain.
Speaker 8 (39:40):
Why twenty two so unique? Number four receiver Matthew gold wide.
Speaker 14 (39:46):
Receiver number twenty two become my great grandmother da favorite
number was two. That's the number award throughout college, makes
the church. The last time Packers took a receiver was
two thousand and two, and also twenty two teams passed.
Speaker 4 (39:59):
On me in the draft.
Speaker 14 (40:03):
For me, you just number keep me motivated to keep going,
and so I'll do a lot of great.
Speaker 8 (40:07):
Things in twenty two.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
I like it. That is some confidence in a very
very strange number.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
It makes sense when he says it like that, but still,
I mean, look, we've gotten.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Used to players wearing strange numbers.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
Because all the shackles are off, you could sort of
wear whatever you want, But twenty two is odd. I'm
sure he's going to do well, but it's just odd
to me, which leads to this question. And I'll start
with you, Judy, and then you can jump right in
after this.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
What's the worst number in the NFL?
Speaker 3 (40:35):
Well, I think this is the old newspaper reporter in
me thinking, don't give the headline writers any cheap material.
Do not wear number zero. The jokes just write themselves.
Don't do that to yourself. I mean, just a disaster.
If you drop a pass zero, it's don't do this.
Stay away from the number zero everyone.
Speaker 6 (40:55):
I'm an aesthetics person, and aesthetically I think.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
Nineteen looks funny. I know you at Johnny Unitis.
Speaker 6 (41:01):
When I was a kid watching Bernie Cosar, I thought
it was funny looking. But I think the headliner there
was Joe Montana in a Kansas City Chiefs uniform, and
so I don't know if it was so weird because
it was Joe Montana, not in his signature sixteen forty
nine er uniform, it was the nineteen itself. But nineteen
I think just looks funny on an NFL uniform.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
I'm sorry you're both wrong. The correct answer is forty.
Every number with a forty is awful and ugly for you.
I'm sorry to Gail Sayers, but that's the answer.
Speaker 4 (41:34):
Hi,
Quarterback landscape in New York has changed dramatically.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Out with the old in with these two new faces.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
That is justin Fields right there for the New York Jets.
That is Jackson Dart for the New York Giants. We
will get into both of them as you try to
figure out what is going to happen in New York
that's gonna be better than whatever happened last year. Still
in New York. Yes, Buffalo is actually in New York.
The other teams are in New Jersey. That's a whole
different issue. You don't want to get into any of that.
(00:38):
Which young member of the Buffalo Bills can get this
team over the hump? Jeffrey Chidia joins us to tell
you exactly which one that is, and he is not
going to be wrong.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
And I know, I know it is May. I think
it's still May.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Maybe June is coming sooner though the weather wouldn't agree,
But it is still time to talk about fantasy quarterbacks.
Who is your must draft fantasy quarterback? Adam Rank joins
us later in the show to tell us which one
of last year's rookies do you have to have? Absolutely,
we will get into all of it. Welcome inside with
(01:16):
the insiders. Ian Rappaport right here. Judy Batista there, Judy,
thank you very much for hanging out with me on
a Friday afternoon slash to night. Is there anything in
the world you'd rather be doing right now than doing
the show?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Since the weather here is so crummy? The answer is
actually no, there's nothing else I could be doing.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Perfect.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
You know what the Vikings would like to do, keep
all of the really good people.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
That is exactly what they did today.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Early in the offseason locked in coach Kevin O'Connell to
a multi year extension. Today Quacy Adolfo Mensa, the really
good general manager, he also was locked in to a
multi year extension. The two guys in charge of what
should be a really really good Viking team for several
years both now have their future secured. Very good news
(02:04):
for Minnesota, certainly richly deserved for Quasi Jackson Dart we
saw earlier one of the big time quarterbacks in New
York we are going to be discussing officially signed his
four year, sixteen point nine to seven million dollar contract,
almost nine million dollars in a signing bonus.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
These are all slotted. We knew he's gonna get it anyway,
but Judy, it.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Is now official Jackson Dart under contract, which really brings
us to what we want to talk about anyway, which
is what happens now. Like if you're the Giants, you
have all this excaven and I got to know plenty
of Giants fans as a new you do, especially in
your own household. Everyone's excited about Jackson Dart. They also
have Russell Wilson, who's certainly been through it. Also have
(02:44):
Jameis Winston who's also been through it. There's so many
different ways this can go for a team that really
sort of kind of does need to win. Now, what's
the best case scenario for the Giants and Jackson Dart
and their quarterback room.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
The best case scenario is that they win games with
Russell Wilson out of the gate and then they can
ease Jackson Dart in whenever.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
They feel he is ready.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
But as you said, there are so many variables that
are going to go into this decision, and this is
the question that's going to hang over really the entire
Giant season because we saw what Russell Wilson is last
year with the Pittsburgh News he was really good in spurts, right,
there were long stretches where he looked like the answer,
but then certainly at the end of the season, things
(03:29):
really sad, really declined, And so you wonder what you're
going to get from Russell Wilson.
Speaker 5 (03:34):
Can he be the guy.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Who looked really really good for a long time or
will he be the guy we saw at the end
of the season. And then the other part of this
is how fast has Jackson darted up from the minute
they drafted him. The Giants said they wanted him to
be able to sit on the bench and learn with
no pressure, no need to rush him onto the field.
Speaker 5 (03:53):
And I think that's the ideal scenario.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
But there just are not ideal conditions for this Giants team.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
Their schedule is very, very difficult.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
They have the hardest strength of schedule in the entire NFL,
and the first half of the schedule is especially brutal.
They face a string of playoff teams, a string of
teams that have very good defenses, and so obviously, even
if they're playing better than they were last year, they
could still be losing games, and Russell Wilson and the
offense could still be struggling, and then at what point
(04:23):
will they want to expose Jackson Dart to that is
the offensive line protecting well enough that you would feel
like you could put Jackson Dart on the field.
Speaker 5 (04:31):
It's going to be a very complex situation.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
As you mentioned, Ian, this franchise needs to win some games.
Sprain Trust needs to win some games, probably to keep
their jobs. It's going to be fascinating to see how
they manage this decision.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
What I keep thinking about, Look, obviously, there's a lot
of excitement for Jackson Dart, and it really seems like
we haven't seen him on the field of time.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
But if everything we've seen and heard mentally.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Seems like he's with it and got it and is
exactly what you want and what Brian Dables wanted, and
I know they're is excitement about playing. What I keep
thinking of if you feel like you have to play them,
if you're like, let's say you're two and four and
it's so loud in New York talk radio is going
crazy and everyone's like, when can we see and when
can we see and when can we see him?
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Is that the best situation to bring them in? And
who does that help?
Speaker 1 (05:17):
It is going to take Judy some unbelievable patience and
poise for the entire organization. I'm not even talking about
Jackson Art literally everyone else to say, yes, I know
everyone's calling for him, but this is not the right
time to play them, or this is the right time.
Like it's it's going to be a constant discussion, a
constant battle. The biggest storyline in New York right now
(05:38):
is when is he going to play? And we're really
going to find out a lot about the Giants of
how much they believe long term Judy and how much
they want to win short term.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
As far as their decision goes.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
One more point to make.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Their bye week comes very very late in the season.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
You usually look for.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
The bye week as a natural opportunity if you're going
to make a quarterback switch. Their by week comes I
think in week fourteen, so that's not the opening. There
is a mini by week, I believe after week six,
so maybe if things are not going oven, but that
would be.
Speaker 5 (06:06):
Very early to make the switch.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Well, we'll spend a little bit of time this season
talking about it. I have no doubt we will also
spend time talking about, of course, the Philadelphia Eagles the
champs who made a somewhat fascinating trade.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Today, it's not finalized.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
He had going to be finalized after June first for
contractual reasons. But Bryce Huff, who signed a three or
fifty one million dollar deal with the Eagles, did not
produce at all like they thought. Got injured. It was
not a fitness look. A lot of free agency, a
lot of things the Eagles do work out, this did not.
They're in the process of trading him to the forty
nine Ers for draft pick compensation. Eagles is going to
(06:41):
eat about nine million dollars, which tells you as much
about how much they just wanted to get rid of him. Meanwhile,
he reunites with Robert Salve for the forty nine Ers.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
He's their defensive coordinator. Sala loves Bryce Huff. Judy break
this down for me from both sides. Why this made sense.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Well, this was the very rare miss for Howie Roseman.
This was one of their big moves of last off season.
So much of last off season was a huge hit
for the Eagles, obviously, Saquon Barkley, Zach Bond, so many
things went well.
Speaker 5 (07:13):
This just did not.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
He was not a good fit as you said he
got injured. He really wasn't productive in that defense. It
sort of slid under the radar because so much else
was so good about the Eagles last year, and obviously
it didn't matter that they missed on Bryce Huff because.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
They won the Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Anyway, nobody was talking about the miss on Bryce Huff
at that point. But now it's time for them to
frankly cut their losses and move on.
Speaker 5 (07:35):
He clearly wasn't.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Going to be a fit there, and so they get
something in return. As you pointed out, the good news
for Bryce Huff is he is going to be reunited
with Robert Sala. Huff had his best season in twenty
twenty three when he played for Robert Salo, who was
at the time the head coach of the New York Jets.
That is when Huff had ten sacks. That was the
season that made him the money that he got from
(07:56):
the Philadelphia Eagles.
Speaker 5 (07:57):
So at least he.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Will be reunited with Robert Sala, who does love him,
knows how to use him, knows how to get the
best out of him. Let's bring in now our Omar Ruiz,
who certainly knows the San Francisco forty nine ers as
well as any.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
Of us hi Omar.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Obviously, Robert Sala is a familiar face in San Francisco,
returning to where he had such great success as defensive coordinator,
How do we expect.
Speaker 5 (08:22):
Him to impact that defense now that he's returned.
Speaker 6 (08:24):
Well, Getting guys like Bryce Huff will help, and especially
can get Huff like you mentioned in twenty two and
twenty three, according to Next Gen Stats, he led the
NFL in pressure percentage for all pass rushers. So if
Sala can get Bryce Huff opposite Nick Bosa, and you
think back to twenty seventeen, when Kyle Shanahan and John
(08:45):
Lynch first took over the forty nine ers, Robert Solo
was the defensive coordinator. They aspired to build a super
Bowl caliber defensive line, and they did it with all
those first round picks D FOURD, Nick Bosa, Eric Armstead,
DeForest Buckner. And you now look at what Sala is
doing for these forty nine ers. Now they get off
to add to Nick Bosa their first three of five
(09:08):
draft picks this season, including their first round pick, and
Mikel Williams Alfred Collins their second round pick, a defensive
Lineman out of Texas sixty six three hundred and forty
five pounds, really retooling that front.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
For Robert Sala's defense. And you see Fred Warner there.
Speaker 6 (09:23):
They talk about the violence, the relentlessness, chaos that they
want to play with. And it was Fred Warner who
said this week that Robert Sala brings a calmness to Hell.
They want to set this standard there, and of course
it was Sala who was leading that defense in twenty
nineteen when they first made that Super Bowl run in
this Kyle Shanahan era. Getting back to that style of play,
(09:46):
even though the defense is different, it's the standard they
want to get back to there. And when you look
at the forty nine Ers the last couple of years
they've turned through Steve Wilts Nick Sorenson as defensive coordinator,
they still finished in the top ten in the league
in defense.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
They don't feel that they're that far off.
Speaker 6 (10:02):
But Sala coming in with all the experience now as
a head coach with the New York Jets to implement
everything else that he brings to the table as defensive
coordinator will not only help that defense, but the entire
building there with the forty nine Ers.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Yeah, we're talking about a free agent miss from Philadelphia
Eagles in Bryce Huff. I'll tell you what, forty nine
ers are not going to miss with Robert Stolof. There's
one sure thing it is he is the man to
run that defense. Did it so well obviously it seems
like a little bit forgotten now. He was one of
the best defensive coordinators, probably the best defensive coordinator in
the NFL before he got the judge job. That is
in addition right there, and they've actually done a really
(10:36):
nice job of adding some pieces securing their guys despite
having all these contractual priorities like George Kiddo and Purdy
and and all these thing bringing in Bryce Huff for
kind of a relatively low amount surely solidifies that. The
reason why, by the way, guys, this deal is not
going to be finalized till after June first, is that
(10:57):
is the point when you could split up the cappit
over two seasons. So for the Philadelphia Eagles, they take
on some money tied on cap space forty nine ers
obviously two so you can split this up over the
course of two season. That's why we'll see some cuts
that we've known about become official after.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
June first, but we may see a trade.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
We'll see about Jalen Ramsey after June first as well,
because that is the time contractually when it makes.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
The most sense. Justin Fields in a Jets uniform.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
I gotta say it still feels a little strange to
me looking good, though, at least from these social media
videos the Jets are put out. These are actually some
of my favorite things of otis. The slimmo ones are
actually better. But nobody looks bad in these social media videas,
just like nobody.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Looks bad throwing to an old teammate.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
That is Justin Fields and Garrett Wilson, two friends from
Ohio State. They are back together again, and man, listen
to Fields talk about this one feels like home.
Speaker 7 (11:56):
You been good, you know, jeez, She's been my guy
for a long time now, so you know, I really
feel like we haven't skipped a beat out out on
the practice field. So yeah, I mean it's been great
so far.
Speaker 8 (12:08):
Just being here with him.
Speaker 7 (12:09):
I think I can be great, you know, and that's
you know, been the goal for me my whole life,
my whole career. So like I said, you know, I
think this guy's a limit, you know, for this team,
for this offense. But we do have a long way
to go.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
It is all about positivity and OTA's Ian Rapperford. Here
Juda Batista joined by Brian Baldinger hanging out with us
after hanging out with the Jets yesteryear.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Is that yesterday? Bald Is that right?
Speaker 8 (12:38):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (12:39):
You got an up close and personal look at Justin Fields. Okay,
we've all seen the social media eclipse. You saw it
in person.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
What do you think?
Speaker 8 (12:47):
What do we got? Uh? He looked exceptionally fast.
Speaker 9 (12:52):
Yeah, and there was a number of times he broke
uh you know, just on some scrambled things and took
it to the house. I mean, if it was flag football,
they went and ripped the flag off him. Looked, he
looked fast. He was on the move quite a bit,
being chased and do well on the move yesterday when
I saw him, I know, you just look at this
picture right here.
Speaker 8 (13:10):
I mean when he got that little lipstick camera on
his helmet.
Speaker 9 (13:14):
All the quarterbacks are wearing it with the Jets, so
don't think that's anything unusual.
Speaker 8 (13:18):
They all kind of watch themselves. But you know, I
mean you.
Speaker 9 (13:20):
See number seven and you saw him just basically piercing
the Jets defense routinely yesterday.
Speaker 8 (13:26):
But I thought to do the ball well on the run.
Speaker 9 (13:28):
He took all the number one repetitions with the starting offense.
Speaker 8 (13:33):
He got a lot of reps yesterday.
Speaker 9 (13:35):
They rotated other quarterbacks in, but he got all the
meaningful reps.
Speaker 8 (13:38):
So look for that to continue.
Speaker 9 (13:40):
But they used him in a variety of ways, but
running the ball he stood out yesterday for sure.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
You know, Justin Fields is the face of this.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
But this team has really undergone a massive youth movement.
Obviously they moved on from Aaron Rodgers and got to
Justin Fields, but it wasn't just that. Obviously, Defonte Adam, CJ. Moseley,
they really cleared out a lot of the older players
that they had tried to go all in with.
Speaker 5 (14:04):
They built around Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
They went all in, tried to win, it didn't work,
and now they've gone very very young under Aaron Glenn.
Speaker 5 (14:12):
I looked at the roster this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
They've only got, by my count on the roster right now,
three guys who are aged thirty or older, very very few.
Of course, that means that those young guys have to
come along very quickly. But the good part of it
is when you have a rookie head coach and a
rookie general manager, also is everybody can develop together and
not just develop physically, and not just develop chemistry on
(14:37):
the field, but develop a culture in a building that
quite frankly needed to change in a big way. That
is the direction they have decided to go at the Jets.
Very young, very fast, justin fields is the face of it.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Let's talk about some of those young guys, Baaldi, you
got a good look at MArmand Membo, Mason Taylor, some
of the young rookies. I know they're expecting to come
in and play. What did you think and what should
we expect from some of those young dudes from the Jets?
Speaker 9 (15:05):
I think immediate production, to be honest with you, Ian,
I mean I got there early yesterday and the first
guy that was on the field was armand Membu and
he was out there just working on a set of
introduced myself. I had never met him before, to a
lot of breakdowns on him to the draft process, but
introduced myself.
Speaker 8 (15:21):
He was the first one on the field.
Speaker 9 (15:23):
But you couldn't have watched yesterday's practice and not noticed
Mason Taylor. First of all, he is a very smooth runner.
He covers a lot of ground, and I think when
you see him up close, he's a lot bigger than
you might think at first. And then you saw him
not just catching passes and on the move, but I
saw him blocking the edge of the run game. I
(15:43):
saw him pass protecting in the pass game on various occasions.
And then you can't really talk about the Jet rookies.
He and without mentioning Arian Smith, their fourth round pick
from Georgia, who is just a burner.
Speaker 8 (15:57):
Now. He had drops at Georgia.
Speaker 9 (16:00):
People talked about, you know how dependable his hands are.
They tell me he's on the drug machine after every day.
But his speed is going to open up some windows
underneath for Garrett and Mason Taylor, I'm sure, because you
got to honor this guy that can cover a lot
of ground in a hurry.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Well, all of these young guys are also there to
try to help Justin Field's development. Aaron Glenn has said
he believes there is still a very very high ceiling
on Justin Fields that he hasn't reached. We saw glimpses
of it in Pittsburgh. We certainly didn't see the full development,
but Aaron Glenn is convinced that Justin Fields can reach
that high ceiling. And frankly, he is in a position
(16:37):
to know because he was the defensive coordinator for the
Detroit Lions and had to try to figure out how
to defend Justin Fields. He knows what Justin Fields can
do to a defense. That is what he plans to do.
He told me at the March Annual meeting that they
are going to use all of Justin Field's skills passing
and running, so I'm not surprised you saw him on
the move a lot in OTA's balding.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Of coordinators hate facing running quarterbacks who can run and
throw and create with their legs, and makes sense. The
first thing that Aaron Glenn did was go out and
find one of his own, maybe so he doesn't have
to face him. Baldy, great stuff as always, Judy obviously
coming back and hanging out with us.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
This is a speedy manner.
Speaker 8 (17:18):
Savior worthy to fast this man to even life. His
first time Kansas City touchdowns.
Speaker 5 (17:26):
You throw it like sideline? Why open touchdown?
Speaker 8 (17:30):
Make savor You're worthy.
Speaker 10 (17:31):
The second time in the end zone in the first
game of his Terrere.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
Man.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
I remember that game that was the season opener, Sheets
over Ravens, and I remember thinking, how many touchdowns is
Xavior Worthy going to score this season?
Speaker 5 (17:46):
Well, here is your answer.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Of rookies who had at least six receiving touchdowns and
at least three rushing touchdowns, there are three of them, Savi,
You're Worthy, Tyreek Hill and Hall of Famer Gail Sayers.
That is some pretty pretty good company for Xavier Worthy.
And now let's bring in our Jeffrey Chidio, who has
a column up right now on NFL dot Com eight
(18:09):
young players whose development could help propel their teams in
the upcoming twenty twenty five seasons.
Speaker 5 (18:14):
So let's start with the obvious one. Is Xavier Worthy?
Speaker 10 (18:17):
Yeah, you start with him when I know that left
tackle is a huge iss for the Kansasity Chiefs.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
They're trying to get that figured out.
Speaker 10 (18:23):
But receiver has been a problem for this team the
last couple of years as well. Obviously lastly they lost
for Shee Rice and Hollywood Brown the injuries, and Rice
is probably going to be suspended.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
This year, is still coming back from that knee injury.
Speaker 10 (18:35):
I think Xavier Willy is going to play a bigger
role in this offense, a bigger role than people realize,
especially with Travis Kelcey also getting older. You look at
what he did towards the end of last season in Judy,
where he was their leading receiver in the AFC Championship Game.
He obviously was one of the few highlights sperient with
the Square Bowl when he had one hundred and fifty
seven yard receiving and two touchdowns there.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
And he's been up more than a speech to Andrey.
Speaker 10 (18:57):
He loves his ability to run all types of different
routes in his offense, So don't be surprised if certain
stretches of the year you're seeing Zavier Worthy be the
number one target for Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
All right, let's go to the second person on your list,
Bill's tight end, Dalton kin Kid.
Speaker 4 (19:13):
Yeah, AC Championship game was not that great for him.
Speaker 10 (19:16):
The last time we saw him, he was dropping that
pass from Josh Allen on that hurried passed at.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
The end of that game. But you look at what
this guy was supposed to.
Speaker 10 (19:23):
Mean to this offense last year, and I think people
don't realize how banged up he was a lot of
reports about the collar bone injury he had in mid
season affecting him obviously, reports after the ANC Championship game
that the knee injury he suffered was a big problem
for him coming down to stretch THO a good chance
he gets back to the form he had as a
rookie when he had seventy three catches. He only had
forty four last year. But he is such a Nightmayer,
(19:45):
a matchup Nightmayre for this team, and Brandon, being their
general manager, drafted him with the idea of him being
a movement tight end who could create big plays with
his athletic ability. So I imagine you know, Khalil shakerg Kean Coleman,
Josh Palmer, all those guys look at their targets. But
but Dalton and Cave should be a big part of
this offense as well.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
I am looking forward to see how he recovers after
the way the season ended for him, because he is
a key component of a team that is oh so
close to toppling.
Speaker 5 (20:12):
To Kansas City Chiefs these last few years. All right.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
The third one that we're going to talk about, and
this one is a huge one, is Vikings quarterback and
JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 10 (20:22):
Yes, so much talk about Caleb Williams in the NFC North,
but a lot of expectations around JJ McCarthy given what
that team did last year when he had that knee
injury and preseason had opened the door for Sam Darnold
to take off and have that magical year with that team.
They were super excited about what JJ McCarthy could do
in the preseason last year. They left his charisma and
(20:43):
his leadership, his intelligence. He is a guy who's one
hundred percent positivity all the time, and he was on
track to be the player they hoped he was going
to be when he.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
Became a tenth overall pick. But I think losing that
year sitting behind Donald gave him a chance to really grow.
Speaker 10 (21:00):
We'll forget he was twenty one years old when he
came into this league, and he's gonna have the same
stuff that Sam Darnold had. He's gonna have Justin Jefferson
and Jordan Madison and TJ. Hockinson and a good offensive line,
a great defense, so that out there there, he's good
that he's going to have success, and he needs to.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
Have it, Judy, because that's the toughest division of football.
Every team has a great offense.
Speaker 11 (21:20):
J J.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
McCarthy has got to deliver for this team.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Definitely under a microscope after the kind of season that
the Vikings had last year with Sam Darnold and letting
him go and casting their luck with JJ McCarthy, Jeffrey,
thank you very much, and to read the entire list
NFL dot com slash Shadia.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Let's look at a list of players that are not
on my fantasy team.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
That's really what we should have called this.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
It says most fantasy points about second year players of
last year's second year players, which really it's like guys
that I didn't draft in probably should have. Thankfully I
get another chance this year. Hopefully my team will not
be as terrible as it was last year. Adam Rank,
welcome inside with the insiders. Thank you very much for
hanging out with us on a Friday, as you often
(22:07):
seem to do.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
So let's stay right there in the theme.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
I want you to take me through some young players
second year otherwise whose developments are going to help my
fancy team be less crappy than it was last year.
Speaker 8 (22:20):
I don't know, Ian, I don't know if there's any
help for that.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
No, we got you covered.
Speaker 12 (22:23):
I'm ready for this and it's going to be inside
for a change, because if you can tell by the
color of my face, I might have been spending too
much time.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
Out in the sun.
Speaker 12 (22:32):
Maybe I should wear a hat when I'm out of
the golf man. A lot of golf guys a little bit,
a little bit, they're not getting better.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
I don't know how that works.
Speaker 12 (22:38):
But one guy who was going to get better this
season is going to be Roman dunes E. And I
think that last year, when you look at the overall numbers,
they're not great. He averaged less than ten Fantasy points
per game. He was like the wide receiver fifty. It
wasn't great. And I think a lot of the issues
had to do with Shane Waldren. With everything that was
going on, the chaos that was happening with the Chicago Bears,
(22:58):
it was going to be difficult for anybody to put
up consistent numbers. But one thing that was consistent was
that he was getting targeted a ton in the in
the red zone and in the end zone, but still
wasn't able to contribute. I think that if that's something
that Ben Johnson can really hard us into, he could
be very successful this year. Last season he was one
(23:18):
of the biggest guys in unrealized air yards like he
was there getting open not getting him the ball. Again,
this might be a little bit of a big ass,
but if they can clean that up, it's going to
be a big year for Roma dunes A. Now, obviously
I would want to talk about Caleb Williams, but I
want to go back to somebody that Jeff was just
talking about with JJ McCarthy, and I think that this
is a guy to definitely look at this coming season.
(23:41):
When you look at the quarterbacks who have succeeded in
the Mike Shanahan coaching tree, and you think about the
guys like Nick Mullins and CJ. Bethard always come in
for spots starts and perform well. But when you have
good quarterbacks come in there, I'm thinking about brock Pertyes,
Sam Darnold. They go out there and they play exceptionally well.
And I think that that's where Jay McCarthy falls. When
(24:01):
you look at his college numbers at Michigan, they're not
going to be as gaudy as somebody else. However, he
was put in a position where he wasn't asked to
throw the ball a lot, and I think that the
scouting for him coming into the league shows that.
Speaker 8 (24:15):
He could be a good quarterback moving forward.
Speaker 12 (24:17):
JJ McCarthy is going to be a guy that I
have on my teams this summer. And another guy I
need to have on my teams is Brian Thomas Junior.
And I know that you're looking at this, You're like, Okay, yeah,
he was great last year.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
Absolutely he was.
Speaker 12 (24:30):
He was eleventh amongst Fantasy wide receivers in points per game,
put up a lot of great numbers, a lot.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
A ton of numbers.
Speaker 12 (24:38):
But the thing that I want you to focus in
on is last year, when Evan Ingram was on the field,
he was averaging about thirteen Fantasy points per game. Without
Evan Ingram, he was averaging over twenty Fantasy points per game.
And now Evan Ingram is going to be in Denver.
They brought in they brought in Travis Hunter. And I
know a lot of people have questions about that way,
what about Travis Hunt?
Speaker 4 (24:59):
Heideah, Okay, I get it. But the thing of it is.
Speaker 12 (25:01):
Having a explosive player like Travis Hunter will open it
up more for Brian Thomas Junior. So when you're looking
at Brian Thomas Junior. I look at it much the
same way is when Justin Jefferson was going into his
second season in Minnesota. Brian Thomas Junior, if he's not
drafted in the first round this year, and I'm talking
about the end of the first round, it's going to
(25:22):
be a mistake. He needs to be drafted in the
first round.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Well, luckily, in my league, he's not going to be
drafted in any round because he is a keeper.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
He's going to be one of my keepers. So let's go.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Hearing you talk about that really makes me happy. Which
I don't know why you're here except to make me happy.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
So this is perfect.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
That's right, right, Well, I'm here.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Thank you as always for hanging out with us. This
is great.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Go play some more golf. Maybe you can finally get
a little collar on that face and maybe they're you're
bald head of yours.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
The like.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
All we've heard about the Lions this offseason is how
hard their schedule is. Well to get there, to play well,
to be ready, they got to practice.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
This is what they're doing this week.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
The final day of OTAs has come and gone. All
of this Lions talk all of us getting ready for
how good they are going to be.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
We are not alone.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Dan Campbell, among others, certainly believes in his Lions and
in some of his big time young players. We planed
who he expects to emerge even more this coming season.
Speaker 13 (26:22):
We expect him to have a huge season. We really
do man so much versatility with him. There's so many
things that we can do just with his routes on
the outside. I mean we can do things inside, but
just with his speed and he's he's gotten so much stronger.
He's moving well, you don't see him favoring anything. I mean,
he's been and he's grabbing the grass. He's you know,
(26:44):
he looks confident. And there again that's without pads. So
there's nothing to tell me that man that the guy
has not recovered are going to be recovered.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Well, both those guys come out in that big time years.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Lions are going to be just as good as they
were last year, probably better. And welcome back with the
inside of Ian Rapaport, Judebatista Baldy joining us once again.
Our buddy Kevin Patrick has a big list on NFL
dot Com of every team's offseason priorities, so let's dig
in right now on these Detroit Lions. Baldy, I will
start with you, where do the Lions need to go
(27:20):
from here?
Speaker 9 (27:20):
And I can't look at pass rush and what they
have right now and say they need help still. I mean,
Aidon Hutchinson is certainly going to help. They drafted Tyler Williams,
who's an interior player that will help. But Market Davenport
is coming back. Marc's played eighty nine snaps last year
and he has a strong injury history.
Speaker 8 (27:40):
They released Sadaria Smith.
Speaker 9 (27:43):
I still feel like they could add somebody to their
pass rush right now to reinforce it, because they were
not good defensively down to stretch.
Speaker 8 (27:52):
They gave up forty five.
Speaker 9 (27:53):
At home and a playoff loss to Washington. They gave
up forty eight to Buffalo in a home loss in
December to the Buffalo Bills. They I think pass rush
is still a position of need for this defense, for
this team right now.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Well, let's say in this division. In fact, we're going
to go through the entire division. So Judy hit us
with the Minnesota Vikings what their priority is for this offseason.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Well, we've spent a bit of time in the last
few minutes talking about JJ McCarthy, and certainly that is
the overarching priority, is getting him ready. But I also
wonder about what they're going to do at safety because
they lost Cam Binam in free agency and they really
didn't replace him.
Speaker 5 (28:34):
Brian Flores uses.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Three safeties quite a bit, so I guess I'm curious
what they're going to do. Are they going to still
go out and get a veteran safety.
Speaker 5 (28:43):
Justin Simmons is still out there unsigned.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Is Brian Flores satisfied with what they've got on the roster.
Is he perhaps just going to use three safeties less
than he did last season? We will see, but that
is an area that I would keep an eye on
because it is still pretty unsettled from something that was
an area of strength for them last season.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
The Lions who've done Vikings Baldy, Let's go back to
you talk to me about the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Where do they go from here? What is their number
one offseason priority?
Speaker 9 (29:13):
Well, I mean they addressed their biggest need wide receiver,
you know, in the draft with Matthew Golden Sadie On Williams.
They were not strong at all in their playoff loss
to the Philadelphia Eagles. I mean they were throwing to
Malie Heath and to Bo Melton and they were not
getting it done, and they weren't getting it open. It
was and Jordan Love was struggling. So building that chemistry
with those receivers. And then I think, you know, last
(29:35):
towards the end of the season, they turned over the
mike linebacker position Edgrin Cooper. He was their second round
pick out of Texas A and M, and he was
an immediate upgrade. And so I thought in the new
defense that Jeff Haffley put in, Edrick Cooper is a
guy that we all should be paying attention to. This
guy's got elite speed. I call him urgent care because
(29:57):
his ability to diagnose an offensive play instant. And so
I think he's going to upgrade the defense. He'll get
out there full time, probably Kway Walker, you know, a
couple other guys, but that's going to be an upgrade
on the defense right now as they start this season.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Urging here is a great nickname.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
What I'd really like to know is all of Baldy's
like tape watching nicknames for all of these guys, please
just kind of mix it in a little bit when
you're for your Twitter analysis, which you know we all, yes,
we all tune into Judy one more from you the
Chicago Bears.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
You know, I've been in the news a little bit
over the course of the week.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Caleb Williams, K Williams father, books that are coming out,
all of those things. Take me through what the Bears
offseason priority is.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
Well, the big priority is all about Caleb Williams. He
is at the center of their universe and it is
all about giving him the best chance for success. A
big part of that is going to be the running attack.
Think about Ben Johnson's offense in Detroit and how multi
dimensional it was. Yes, it was Jared goffin those receivers,
but it was also.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
A really dynamic running attack.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
They don't quite have the caliber of running back that
the Detroit Lions had on their roster last season. They
have DeAndre Swift, they have ro Shawn Johnson. It's good,
it's just not that sort of elite explosiveness like he
had at the Lions.
Speaker 5 (31:19):
Is that okay?
Speaker 3 (31:20):
They also upgraded the offensive line, so do they believe
that with better blocking maybe they will.
Speaker 5 (31:24):
Get more production out of those running backs?
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Perhaps could they perhaps still sign a veteran running back.
Speaker 5 (31:31):
Maybe they do that too.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Certainly, everything that the Bears have done this offseason in
free agency in the draft has been all about enhancing
Caleb Williams and putting as many pieces around him to
allow him.
Speaker 5 (31:43):
To sort of restart his career.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
I would say the running back position is a key
part of that offensive success.
Speaker 8 (31:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
I mean, look, there's no doubt what the Chicago Bears
have done on their offensive line. They've spent capital, They've
done trades, they've spent money, contracts, all of the things
to make sure that Caleb Williams is comfortable and we
will see how it turns out. But'sternly that has been
their big time area of focus, just like Baldy's area
of focus this past weekend was not on football.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
But I'm yeah, I don't see Baldy him. Is that true? Baldi,
take us through what's happening here.
Speaker 9 (32:22):
They just I mean, look, this guy is like he's
just being a nuisance, so you just got to push
him away. I mean, like he's not in attack mode,
you know, he's just like feeling me out right here.
And I'm just like, look, I'm here to protect a quarterback.
Get off me, go do another, go someplace else. So
I was just getting them away from me right here,
like just doing what I was instructed to do, just
(32:43):
good coaching.
Speaker 8 (32:44):
I took it to the field, push him away if
they get a little too a little too bother something.
That's what we're doing.
Speaker 5 (32:51):
Are you sure?
Speaker 8 (32:55):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (32:55):
Oh, no cageous judy, No cages, just open open water,
just a couple of miles off the coast of Jupiter.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
Uh.
Speaker 8 (33:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (33:03):
We were trying to bring him around us, but they
got a little too close at times. But they were
not aggressive. You could see. They were just like bumping
into things.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Are you sure that the sharks nickname for you is
an urgent care like we I would.
Speaker 8 (33:18):
Like to know that. Yeah.
Speaker 9 (33:20):
I mean I didn't know that video was coming up,
but I got a bunch of video today that that
was taken. You know last week. I was like, I
was kind of like, oh, I forgot about when he
bumped into me right there. My little GoPro was filming
on my shit. That was pretty nice. That's a good
close up.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Sure, yeah, totally forgot about what.
Speaker 9 (33:38):
We had plenty of chump for him. They were well fed,
Blieve me, they didn't need us. They weren't interested.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
I wasn't nervous. Just so we're clear, I was not
scared that the sharks didn't have enough to eat.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Okay, good?
Speaker 7 (33:52):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
Coming up next, the Insiders.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
We know about Justin Herbert with the Los Angeles Chargers.
He is not the only key member of this franchise
named Herbert.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
And this is true. Let's get into it. Omar Ruiz
coming up. He's not gonna talk about sharks, but he's
going to talk about her.
Speaker 8 (34:13):
Right.
Speaker 11 (34:18):
My name is Hamza mad I'm the director of football
Operations here with the Jacksonville Jaguars, finishing up my twelfth
season here. I'm originally from Pakistan. I was born in
Saudi Arabia and was the only Pakistani kid on a
military base, so I grew up with a bunch of
military families and kids. My dad was an engineer and
helped build military bases out in Saudi Arabia. Food is
(34:40):
definitely a huge part of our culture and my dad
used to make chicken tikas and he made it on
the grill the right way. And somosa's were something that
my mom used to make and she used to send
it over to me and my roommate. The meat is
wrapped and it's typically from the unique part about working
for the Jaguars is that we have an owner that's
(35:01):
from where I'm from. That's definitely super cool for me
to come into the organization and have a role model
like that that has been successful and done well. There
aren't a whole lot of Pakistani Indian folks around the NFL.
It's always really really important for me to be able
to make that connection with them.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
The Chargers also marked aa NHPI month. That celebration wraps
up this weekend. Also at the Chargers, you definitely know
the name Herbert, Justin Herbert. Have you heard of a
guy named Ben Herbert. They want you to get familiar
with his work. Chargers executive director of player Performance. He
(35:39):
spent six seasons under Jim Harbott the University of Mission,
former Wisconsin defensive aligneman.
Speaker 5 (35:46):
Let's bring in our Omar Ruiz, who knows the Chargers
pretty well.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
I got to admit, Omar I did not know Ben
Herbert's game.
Speaker 5 (35:53):
I want to hear more about his impact on the Chargers.
Speaker 6 (35:56):
Yeah, because you know, Justin Herbert is obviously going to
impact the Chargers, but expecting a big impact from Ben
Herbert and being out there at OTAs. This week, we
heard his name brought up a couple times by DB's
and you know, Judy, DB's not the position group most
famous for wanting to work out in the weight room,
but there is an eagerness and an appreciation for Ben
(36:18):
Herbert and what he's done this offseason really since he's
been there coming in with Jim Harbaugh last year. In fact,
speaking to somebody in the building a couple weeks ago,
one of their hoping secret successes to this season is
that second.
Speaker 4 (36:31):
Year with Ben Herbert.
Speaker 6 (36:32):
And I heard Tony Jefferson, who's in his eleventh twelfth season,
longtime veteran safety in the NFL, said this is the
best strength and performance coach he's ever worked with. In fact,
he said, as long as he works with Ben Herbert,
he pens to continue to play in the NFL. He
feels here, he is refreshed, he's ready to go. And
(36:53):
even a guy like tarheb Still, who flashed as a
rookie there at cornerback position for the Chargers last season,
coming into his second year, he's been working out Monday
through Friday with that strength and performance coach in Ben Herbert,
and he said he was walking out on a Thursday
and he said see you later to Coach Herbert and
Khalil Mack was their said why don't you come here
(37:14):
on a Friday? So still they're working Monday through Friday.
And it's really because of the explanation that Herbert goes
through to the extent of the small microscopic muscles, some
muscles that Tony Jefferson said he's never even heard of,
but they're football specific with neck and shoulders, something that
maybe we take for granted, we just automatically assume they do.
Speaker 4 (37:35):
But they said it's not the case.
Speaker 6 (37:37):
This is different and unique for what they're doing there
with the Chargers. And we talked about it yesterday, Judy,
when Steve Whitch and I were out at practice. How big, strong,
physically impressive these Chargers are a lot of that has
to do with what Ben Herbert does here in the offseason.
Speaker 3 (37:52):
You know, usually in the NFL, don't the teams don't
want you to be talking about the behind the scenes guy, Right,
those are people we're not supposed to be paying any
attention to. But clearly we know availability and durability and
strength so important in a long NFL season, so he
will have surely a big impact on the Charger's home
aren't Ruiz?
Speaker 5 (38:12):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Get more of the NFL with NFL Plus.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Stay connected throughout the offseason with twenty four to seven
football news and coverage on NFL Network, and with NFL
Plus Premium Real have your favorite moments from the twenty
twenty four season with game replays and access to NFL
player stats with NFL Pro. Subscribe today at plus dot
NFL dot com.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
Terms and conditions apply.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
We got a little bit of news today from one
of our friends, Scott Hanson, who not only told us
it's one hundred days until the next NFL Red Zone,
he also told us that he will be there with
us a lot of touchdowns to watch together.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
As Hanson notes.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
I think it's fair to say there was some questions
about contractually Scott Hanson and confirms the news for anyone
else could tweet it.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
He is back.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
Speaking of back, Look how much is on the back
of Rams puncher Ethan Evans.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
Have you heard of Ethan Evans?
Speaker 1 (39:10):
You probably have now that is one two for seven
hundred and five pounds. I counted all the plates. It
is totally normal that he is squatting.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
That that is what I do. We call that Tuesday,
no big deal.
Speaker 1 (39:25):
But anyway, he's a punch, so certainly something we should
be impressed by. Speaking of things we don't always see.
Matthew Golden, the Green.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
Bay Packers first rounder, is wearing number twenty two, which
is a little odd. Let's hear him explain.
Speaker 8 (39:40):
Why twenty two so unique? Number four receiver Matthew gold wide.
Speaker 14 (39:46):
Receiver number twenty two become my great grandmother da favorite
number was two. That's the number award throughout college, makes
the church. The last time Packers took a receiver was
two thousand and two, and also twenty two teams passed.
Speaker 4 (39:59):
On me in the draft.
Speaker 14 (40:03):
For me, you just number keep me motivated to keep going,
and so I'll do a lot of great.
Speaker 8 (40:07):
Things in twenty two.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
I like it. That is some confidence in a very
very strange number.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
It makes sense when he says it like that, but still,
I mean, look, we've gotten.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Used to players wearing strange numbers.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
Because all the shackles are off, you could sort of
wear whatever you want, But twenty two is odd. I'm
sure he's going to do well, but it's just odd
to me, which leads to this question. And I'll start
with you, Judy, and then you can jump right in
after this.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
What's the worst number in the NFL?
Speaker 3 (40:35):
Well, I think this is the old newspaper reporter in
me thinking, don't give the headline writers any cheap material.
Do not wear number zero. The jokes just write themselves.
Don't do that to yourself. I mean, just a disaster.
If you drop a pass zero, it's don't do this.
Stay away from the number zero everyone.
Speaker 6 (40:55):
I'm an aesthetics person, and aesthetically I think.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
Nineteen looks funny. I know you at Johnny Unitis.
Speaker 6 (41:01):
When I was a kid watching Bernie Cosar, I thought
it was funny looking. But I think the headliner there
was Joe Montana in a Kansas City Chiefs uniform, and
so I don't know if it was so weird because
it was Joe Montana, not in his signature sixteen forty
nine er uniform, it was the nineteen itself. But nineteen
I think just looks funny on an NFL uniform.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
I'm sorry you're both wrong. The correct answer is forty.
Every number with a forty is awful and ugly for you.
I'm sorry to Gail Sayers, but that's the answer.
Speaker 4 (41:34):
Hi,
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