September 9, 2025 • 43 mins
In the second hour of the show, the guys go into the Campus Corner to talk about some of the biggest storylines in CFB, tell you if they believe the Panthers bargain shopped around Bryce Young in recent years and discuss Caleb Williams and the Bears losing to the Vikings.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 1 (00:52):
Welcome back, folks.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
This is the Wes and Walker Show on a do
It to It Tuesday from the Channel that Vote Studio
CB Injury that Cbeinjury Law dot Com. One call that's
all the Carolina's personal injury Lawyer. There is a lot
to talk about in the world of college football, so
let's get to it without further ado. Let's get to
the campus cod on a Tuesday. All right, A lot
(01:21):
has been made about arch Manning and the start to
his season. They took care of San Jose State on Saturday.
But a clip that went viral was not really and
Archmanning touchdown pass. It was a zoom end shot of
arch Manning after a pass in which he went mightily
and a lot of people are speculating is the young
sophomore quarterback hurt? And so Steve Sarkisian had a pretty
(01:45):
sark snarky response to the media about that.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Let's hear it. Arch Maanning seemed to be having some
throwing pains by the.
Speaker 5 (01:53):
According to who, arch Arch said that to you? No, oh,
according to who, it just looked like he was He
doesn't have.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Any Is there an explanation to why he was a
look like that? I don't know.
Speaker 5 (02:06):
I've never feled I've never filmed any of you guys
when you're using the bathroom, so I don't know what
faces you make when you're doing that.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
All right, So that clip went viral and a lot
of people got to kick out of that from him,
But listen, the truth is the truth. When he did
throw the football. It did look like he was in
a lot of pain. So for Sark to act like
he's completely oblivious, I get it.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
He's a coach.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
He doesn't want to give anything away to opponents and
things of that nature. For people to think that he
is hurt, but you can't act like you had your
head in the sand and don't know anything about what
he is talking about. But I thought Sart did what
a coach kind of should do, cover it up or
deflect to be able to go away from that. But
I'm not sure that Arch isn't hurt because the way
(02:46):
that looked to me, Maybe it was just that moment
in the game, Maybe it was just that particular throw
that he felt uncomfortable. But to me, that looked like
Arch is having a little bit of an issue, and
people have already been speculating if he will hurt before
this shot was gone viral.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
You said he did what he was supposed to do.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Let me ask you this, would we be talking about
Arch's potential injury if he just said, yeah, he's fine,
no health issues there he Yeah, you got a point, Dan,
for sure, But here we are talking about it because
you are weird about it. Yeah, all you have to
say is he's totally fine, just making some faces for
whatever reason. I'm not sure exactly what that was, but
he's a full go. He's one hundred percent no injury designation. Yeah,
(03:26):
and then we can move on. But you got to
say some weird stuff like I don't take pictures of
you when you're using the bathroom. Did you say that
arch Manning was having a bathroom situation in his pants
when he was making that face the pan? Is that
what you just told me. You made it weird. You
made it really weird when you decided to answer the
question that way. So, honestly, if you wanted this to
(03:47):
not be a big deal, you know what, a good
way of making not making a big deal out of
something is not making a big deal out of it.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
And I think also to you know, Stark is feeling
a little bit of a pressure because he's normally a
pretty upbeat guy that's normally pretty happy. So to hear
him give that kind of response, I was like, oh,
you know, so I didn't really give it up like that,
So I was like, he might be feeling that pressure
a little bit, you know what, I think I think
he's hurt because you said it that way.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Now I actually think he's hurt. Why else would you
get so salty? It makes no sense for me.
Speaker 6 (04:17):
Our college football coaches this year have been giving us
some really weird answers.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yes I have. It's more than an other years, all right.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
So the Clemson Tigers, they are installed as a nine
and a half point favorite on the road. Our confidence
should Georgia Tech fans be because Clemson has beaten them
nine in a row. With the win Saturday, Clemson would
produce his ninth all time winning streak of ten or
more games against a single opponent. Georgia Tech is two
and zero this season. Look good in their opening win
(04:46):
against Colorado. But this is a team they're playing a
little uncharacteristically because they are one hundred and twenty seventh
nationally minus four in the turnover margin category.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
And that's Ungeorgia Tech like.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
But Georgia Tech, we know that they've been picked as
a dangerous team coming into this season, a top five
pick by many.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Filling that nine and a half point line for.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
The Clemson Tigers or even them winning at all down
in Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
So I have been feeling very good about my or
my gut feelings have been pretty spot on with some
of these lines. Now, as soon as I put some
real money down on it, I know that my gut
feeling is immediately going to lead me astray. But I
see this line and I immediately think bet on Georgia
Tech to cover.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
I think Clemson's going to win this game.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
For as bad as they looked against LSU, that still
is a really good football team, and it's not like
they got shellacked. They were still in that game. So
I want to try to walk back all of my
concerns on Clemson in terms of still being an ACC
champion representative. But I walk all my national champion takes back,
Like I don't think that they're playing at that level
(05:55):
right now. Are they good enough to beat Georgia Tech?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Are they playing at a level right now where I
think they're going to cover. That's what I don't think
is going to happen. I would feel pretty good if
I'm the Yellow Jackets with all the talent that they
have coming back and some experience at every starter position.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Yeah, this is a tricky game for me, man, because
as much as I thought Clemson was going to run
rough shot through the league. I feel like, for one,
Georgia Tech a nine game winning streak, this could be
a team that's tired of being sick and tired. This
is a team that's getting them down at their place.
This is a team that has a lot of momentum
as far as being looked at as an ACC title contender.
So yeah, I think that for the Clemson Tigers, this
(06:30):
is a very dangerous matchup going down to Atlanta. I
think this will be a very raucous environment for them
as well. I think Georgia Tech fans should be very
confident after that performance against Troy back to back weeks,
with the offensive line not looking great. The pass rush
when you go look at advanced metrics for the Clemson
Tigers is not good. Their run defense it's okay, it's
not nearly what we thought it was.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Going to be.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
And so that's the thing that's most worrisome to me
is the fact that upfront, neither one of these units
is looking dominant. If you want to win a national championship,
if you want to run all over your confidence, you
need to be dominant upfront on both sides of the ball,
and Clemson is far from that so far, so that's
the thing that has me worried about them going into
this match.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
And now the big.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Thing here for this line is the injury status of
Haines King. So just twenty hours ago, Brent Key did
say that Haines King is doing well. We'll make decisions
once he gets into practice. Zach Pyron played a ton.
He's expected to practice this week, So if he's expected
to practice, I would hope for a game like this
that he'll give.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
It a goup. All right, Abs State are they in trouble?
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Okay, because they've got a game this week and they
lost three fumbles and had an interception against Lyndenwood. They
only won twenty to thirteen. They had a third fumble
loss by Nate Glance, which led to a twenty four
yard touchdown pants for Lyndon Wood that made it twenty
to thirteen with three and a half minutes to go
(07:53):
in the fourth quarter. They also recovered the onside kick,
but at Elijah mcantos interception all fourth down sealed the deal.
App State had five hundred and three yards of offense
but had four turnovers. Now, on the bright side, they
did have eight sacks in the game, so that's something
the hang you had on.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
But App State, my man, are.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
They in trouble going into their matchup this week?
Speaker 2 (08:17):
I think Appstate gets back on track. It was a
pretty lackluster game for them for sure. Going into Week two.
I just think that you had to have plans Southern
Miss Sarry. But that's that's the thing. It's that they're
playing Southern Miss. They are one and one. Their win
did come against Jackson State. But coming into the season
when we did App State Team Week, I think we
all had app State winning this game pretty handily, even
with some of the uncertainty with the Mountaineers, just because
(08:39):
of all of the new that the Eagles have going on,
and their offense was pretty atrocious last year. They were
terrible on third downs. So maybe all of that's fixed,
but I'm not going to bank on all of that
being fixed going into week three of the college football season.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
Yeah, that is a very terrible performance for App State
to come out against a team in Linda Wood where
there wasn't even a line for this game, and I
expected app State to win hand If they're going to
keep turning the ball over like this, I think they're
gonna make it very hard for themselves in this matchup
aj Swan, he threw for two hundred and ninety two yards.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
De Binion ran for one hundred and ninety four.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
So you got some of the big numbers that you
want from your stars, but they've got to cut down
on those turnovers or who knows, Southern miss might give
them a run for their money or beat them. And
then among the Boulder moves for last weekend, Dion Sanders.
He had Cayden Salter a big time heavily sought after
transfer quarterback, and then also Juju Lewis, a five started
(09:34):
a lot of people looked at as the successor to
Chador Sanders, but it was Ryan stab who came in
and delivered seven of ten passes for one hundred and
fifty seven yards two touchdowns in their thirty one to
seven win, and he will start this week versus Houston.
Salter has completed two hundred and sixty one yards worth
(09:56):
of passes, four touchdown. He's been sacked four times in
two games. Lewis Juju Lewis has two completions for eight yards.
Excuse me, that was Kayden Salter's numbers. Who has two
hundred and sixty one yards and a touchdown, and it
has been sacked for times in two games, missing routine
throws all the time in this offense. And so Dion said,
I'm not going to go with my number two quarterback.
(10:16):
I'm going to go straight to the number three. Just
how bold of a move was that? By prime time?
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I don't know how bold it was, because I guess
he's going with the quarterback that he feels is giving
him the best chance to win. It's a bold move
in terms of what we know for these stars to
be and what these starters are.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
How much do you care about losing Lewis?
Speaker 2 (10:37):
If you don't care all that much because you're not
going to start them as soon as you get to
Game three, then if you don't care, I guess it's
not all that bold. My question I guess is I
don't know, just because I'm not sure exactly what Deon
Sanders feels about his quarterbacks outside of his starter any Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
I think this was a very bow Rarely do you
hear about a third stringer taking over the starting spot
for a team, especially in today's era, where quarterbacks and
players in general get very sensitive and they will leave
at the drop of a hat. And for kid Juju Lewis,
with all of the hype that he had the announcement
and people thought that he was going to be the
guy to carry this Colorado program going forward. It does
(11:13):
show and I like the message that is sending Deon say, hey,
I'm going to play the best guy, regardless of who
I'm paying or what you think you might be.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
And this is right on brand to me with Deon Sanders.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
And so if Salter comes in and takes this job,
excuse me, if Stob comes in and takes this job,
this will be one of the better stories in college
football this year. And just showing a coach to say, hey, man, really,
the stars don't matter, doesn't matter how much fanfare you
come in with, I'm going to play the best guy.
Speaker 7 (11:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
And I think if Deon Sanders doesn't want to lose,
I'm one hundred percent with you, and I'm not even
really all that against you.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
What I wonder is.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
If you have a Nico Josh Heipel situation where Nico
feels like he can ask for more money than what
he's making, and Hypel can be called bold all he
wants to, but really he just didn't think Nico was
worth that much money, so he shows him the door
because he kind of wants an upgrade at quarterback as well.
If Juju Lewis makes a big stink of this and says,
(12:08):
I'm leaving if you don't start me, Deon' is like,
oh no, don't leave, and then he goes to another program,
it doesn't play all that well. I wonder if there's
something like that going on. If not, and he actually
really is talented, and he'll show you at his next
stop in that kind of scenario that he's the real deal.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Well, yeah, we'll be.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Looking back at this decision and saying, I know the
message you were trying to send, but man, it didn't
really help you in the long term.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
All right, folks, when we come back, we're gonna talk
about the building of the Carolina Panthers. Did the Panthers
bargain shot for Bryce Young in comparison to what other
teams did for their quarterbacks? On Sports Ready on ninety
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Speaker 1 (14:15):
And talking about the Carolina Panthers.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
And so last night we watched the Chicago Bears, a
game that we will get into in depth and just
a little bit, but we have seen how feverishly they
have built around Caleb Williams and all of the draft
selections that they have used. And we've seen other teams
around the league, the Texans, the Commanders that have those
young quarterbacks that have gone out and tried to get
(14:38):
them as many weapons as possible. Hell, even the team
that they just played in Week one, the Jacksonville Jaguars.
We've seen them off season after offseason going out getting
more wide outs, more tight ends, trying to revamp the
offensive line. And so when we look at Bryce Young
and what he has had here, we've seen some of
the statistics from the preseason about the guys who are
(14:59):
here for his first year and what they're doing now
and how they're no longer football. Are guys that are
way down the roster, you know, from Deontay Johnson, the
DJ Shark, you name it. There have been a lot
of weapons that came in that you thought was gonna
do a little bit of something but didn't end up
doing much here. And then they trade away Adam Feeling.
So let's start the conversation. Because when you look at Chicago,
(15:22):
they drafted six offensive players in the last two drafts.
They went out signed some more wide receivers, some of
them are Jags. But then they go out and they
get big ticket guys like Drew Domon on the offensive line.
Joe Tooney they trade for him. We know that when
Caleb got that. They signed DeAndre Swift and Joe Everett.
They got DJ Moore in the trade with the Panthers.
(15:43):
You look at the Texans and some of the guys
that they have gotten drafted Tank Dell at the you know,
recommendation of CJ.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Stroud. They've drafted nine guys.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
They traded for Cam Robinson, Christian Kirk, the Commanders, they
go get Laramie Tonsel, Deebo Samuel, they already had Terry McLaurin,
they signed Austin Eckler, and then not to mention the
investments that these teams made on their defense is going
out and getting big time guys on the other side
of the ball as well. So do you feel like
kind of retrospect and when you look at what some
(16:13):
of the other teams have done around the league in
comparison to the Panthers, that the Panthers kind of bargain
shot for Bryce Young instead of maybe going to get
some of the big ticket eye.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
I don't think so. I think they spent a lot
of money up front. They just valued offensive line more
than they did the wide receivers. They're investing more upfront
than they are than any other team in the NFL,
more than Chicago, more than any other team.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
I know.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
You mentioned Chicago spent six picks on offense each of
the last two drafts.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
The Panthers spent seven.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
And you're talking about some second round picks that they spent,
and first round picks, two wide receivers with Tim Mack
and Xavier Leaguead and then a second rounder right after
you select Bryce with Mingo. And these aren't even just
second picks like in the fifties or at the lower
part of the sixties. These are all top forty selections.
Jonathan Mingo thirty nine, Get thirty two, and t Mac
(17:02):
number eight. You also spent a pick on Jonathan Brooks
to bring alongside Cuba, who even invested a lot in
the running back position. I think they shopped at target,
but they bought faulty items with some of their not
so bargained spending.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
I was all in on trying.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
To figure out a way to go after T Higgins,
same thing for DK Metcalf. They made calls, there was
too much asked for, so they passed. But they used
a lot of resources on trying to bolster this offense,
which is why it's so frustrating that it looks like that.
That's why it's real frustrating is the fact that they
actually have allocated some of the resources towards offense.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
Yeah, and I think that some of that too can
come in hindsight about it being you know, guys that
you feel like maybe they should have gone here gone
there with some of the picks that they made, because
you are right that they did go out and try
to get guys first round receivers, which are regarded as
premium players. But I think that you know, when you
look at offensive line Robert Hunt, you go out and
(17:58):
spend a lot on him as well.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Well.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
And I think sometimes a little bit of that is
circumstanced because you had Ikey Kwanu already in place, who
you were trying to figure out what's going on there
and so I guess I just wondered because it felt
like that the Bears just went all out, because I'm
also including the defensive side of the ball and this
as well, and some of the moves that they made,
and how the Bears went on that offensive line and
(18:21):
they went all in for Drew Dalma and then made
a trade for a god like a Joe Tooney, where
they went out and really got two premium offensive linemen,
two guys that are regarded among the best at their position.
And so I guess that's some of what I was
thinking about as well. Did they try to go out
and maybe make a couple of moves for guys that
were at the tops of their positions, And so we're
going to get into that a little bit. I think
(18:43):
that building through the draft, I liked that for the
most part for an organization, So I won't necessarily say
that they bargain shop there. I felt like sometimes maybe
there were a few moves where some guys that were
on the higher end of things, maybe they could have
gone a little bit. So I guess we can go
to wide receiver there. And so the draft capital was spent,
(19:05):
But as far as them going out to maybe get
that number one guy. I've always, like I said, philt
like you trade, you build through the draft. But then
looking at it, just like some of the receivers out there,
do you feel any regret that they didn't go after
or really just make a move and pull the trigger
on any of the guys that were available.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
They could be helping them right now. Higgins T.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Higgins was always the toughest call for me because it
was going to require a first round pick to go
get him, and I really didn't want to get rid
of a first round pick dk Metcalf. My highest price
that I was willing to pay was a second rounder
and some other late but the second rounder being the
real prize possession there, that's the highest price I would
have taken. I forget what they got him for up
(19:46):
there in Pittsburgh, so I can look that up in
just a moment. Garrett Wilson was one I actually was
willing to give up a first round pick for it,
and that was still dicey. But yeah, I think wide
receiver is important for a young qure back, and I
think you see that over the last couple of years
with Bryce struggling mightily his rookie season, not having anybody
outside of theland to rely on, and then last year
(20:08):
with the first round pick like Xavier Lee get not
helping you out. You found money with Jalen Coker, and
Jalen Coker's a bargain bend pickup, but you actually got
good value on that. That's an antique that you invested
in and you're profiting on. So for me, I would
have liked possibly searching for the DK Metcalf value a
(20:30):
little bit more so. Could you have negotiated back and
forth a little more so? There the issue is the
contract coming back. Did you want to allocate so much
money not only towards DK Metcalf to the tune of
thirty million dollars a year, but also giving up that
second round pick. Now you don't have as much money
to spend on defense, which you desperately needed to improve,
and you don't have a pick to spend on defense,
(20:50):
which you desperately need to improve. So we can do
the hindsight stuff. I regret not going after DK a
little harder, but if Seattle was asked for a first
round pick from Carolina, I'm not going to give up
a first round pick for decap.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Yeah, they got the Stillers acquired DK metcalf and a
one hundred and eighty fifth overall pick from Seattle in
exchange for Seattle's fifty second and two hundred and twenty
third overall picks, So it second in the draft. Now,
what the kicker in that deal was giving him that
five year, one hundred and fifty million dollar extension, and
so that's where you kind of look at that. But
I feel like, when you got that young quarterback, that
(21:26):
you can afford to do that, because we know these
deals are about worth what's on toilet paper. When you
look at the NFL, it's all about the guarantees and
how many years those guarantees extend out. So five year
deal probably two or three years, and then you could
move off of them if you so desired. But it
just feels like that in a lot of ways because
when you look at the vets that they body and
(21:47):
like there was nobody really of notes that you were
just like, you know, wow, they went out and got
that guy and it didn't work for whatever reason. And
then you look at a lot of the young guys,
they do have kind of established ones for their quarterback
and so you're like, man, should the Panthers have maybe
pulled the trigger on some of those guys because you know,
I'm of the thinking that draft picks, obviously they matter,
(22:10):
but I always think about it in terms of could
you go out and find a guy in the draft
this better than the guy you're trying to trade for.
And I think that's something that you always have to
ask yourself out of money. Okay, cool? Does that swaar
you from doing it or not doing it as well?
But that's the thing that kind of wants you know that.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Let me ask you this, Have you changed your mind
on DK or T and Garrett Wilson like going out
you think they probably should have now in hindsight.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
The only thing, well, it's so easy to say now
because things are where they are. The only thing with
DCAP I'll decap DK metcalf. I don't like his attitude.
That would be the only thing for me with him
that I wasn't feeling. I feel like he puts his
team in bad spots with some of the stupid penalties
he gets and stuff because.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Of his attitude.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
But I think that I'm just saying the aggression with
which some of these teams went after building around their
young players.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
I don't know that Carolina.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
Either it was just in competence they didn't make as
shrewd a moves, or is the fact that they didn't
decide to go after some guys that were two difference makeers,
because if you look at Houston, some of the defensive
moves they may on top of offensive guys that they
went out and got as well.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yeah, so I know we talked about trading for these
wide receivers. I know you were against it then, and
I do get it, like building through the draft would
be fantastic. Yes, you just got to hit on these
draft picks. They didn't do that with Mingo. Wild miss
like not anything productive. Xavierly Get isn't a wild miss
like Mingo.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
But it's absolutely we're getting closed sail in towards no doubt,
we're getting very very close to it Temac.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Thank god, looks like it hit. But it's only game one.
Like I can feel all the confirmation bias in the world.
I want to it doesn't mean that it is one
hundred percent going to work out. So they've invested a
lot in the offensive line, which matters to a young quarterback,
and they've invested a lot with the draft picks at
wide receiver. The thing is, man, what you're talking about.
They tried that approach Bryce's rookie season. When David Tepper
(24:01):
wants to come behind from the backdrop and tell you
that he's a point guard.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
He doesn't really need separation like that. He doesn't need
a number one.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
What he can do as a point guard is he
can just pepper all these guys with all the targets
in the world, He's going to find the open player.
And Bryce Young we found a loophole.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
People.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
We don't need to spend all that much money on
wide receiver, except you do. That's the thing that I
can't stand about people thinking none of these quarterbacks need help.
You mentioned it all the time. Quarterbacks need help unless
you're Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
And by the way, they got some help.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Like the Buffalo Bills offensive line is good and they've
played together a bunch of different snaps and they win.
And they spent a decent high pick on Dalton Kincaid,
who maybe hadn't even hit all that much. But remember
they went out and got Stefan Diggs in order to
get him to the superstar status. Yeah, man, quarterbacks need help.
So I think they realized their mistake after the first year.
(24:54):
Then they used two no excuse me, one second round
pick and two first they traded up to go get
a wide receiver, and then they used a top ten
pick when there was desperate need for pass rusher and
there were a couple of them there for you to take.
You said, no, thank you, We're want to go after
a top ten wide receiver, and so that's what they selected.
They've done it with the draft picks outside of team act.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
They just had it hit.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
Yeah, And so for me wide receiver, I still stay
in the butt of Okay. I was cool with the
way they went about that, but I'm thinking more so
on the defensive side of the ball or the offensive line,
because you know, watching that Bears on line last night,
Caleb had all night to throw on several throws and
so when you look at that, you're like, man, you know,
Chicago really went all in, not just going to get
some guys because we talked about how Hunt he was
(25:38):
the number one guard and free agency you had to
go get him because he was the guy that was there,
but then really trying to maybe target some of those
premium players, but especially on the defensive side, like maybe
making a deal to go get in there Druscher, like
how the Texans went and got Danil Hunter or you know,
you see the Commanders, They've gone out and made several
pickups on that defensive side of the ball. So that's
(26:00):
kind of what I look at as well. So we
talk about Derek Brown and the Michael Parsons thing that
we talked about last week. We talked about the last
album we saw Derek Brown before his injury. Advanced Metrics
says he didn't play well and that when I throw
a game out, that's fine. But then again we hear
we sit now in the first game of this one,
and he's back in the sixties again. And so it's like,
(26:21):
if this play continues, which I'd said at that time,
that's a deal I would have made. If that was
the only deal I could get for Michael Parsons, I
probably do that. And so do you feel like, if
Derek Brown's play doesn't pick up, will you be upset
that they didn't make that deal for Michael Parson. Oh? I,
in hindsight, I guess if he continues to play the
(26:41):
way that he's playing, Like if he goes to the
season he's average or not close to what he once was,
would you be like, man, we should have made that deal. Yeah,
if he's sure, right, Like, if he's average, then I'm
not so egotistical to the point, Well, I was still right. Yeah,
but I can't make that decision because I don't have
a future outlook right now, what we know about Derek
(27:03):
Brown when he's healthy, the dude has been an absolute
beast against the run, and the pass rush has been
better than average.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Good.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Again, we just don't have the elite type of sac
numbers that we get from some of these other defensive tackles.
But if we're talking like and you're still are you
asking this question in the frame of helping Bryce Young
out as much as possible. Yes, So if that's the case,
you're paying a lot more to Micah than you are
to Derek. Mike is a better player than Derek Brown is,
(27:32):
for sure. But now you're talking about not allocating how
much difference in.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Money are they making? Now is it like twenty, is
it fifteen? It's a lot. It's a lot, man.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
And so now not only are you giving up at
least a first, you're also giving up probably a second
and Derek Brown, who is a leader in that locker room,
to go get Micah who if we talk about attitude,
a lot of concerns there, and you can't allocate your
fifteen million dollars or your first and second round pick
to other players that might help you, either offensively or defensively.
(28:05):
So like, I understand the thinking here because.
Speaker 4 (28:08):
I'm thinking about players who and I'm not And obviously
we have specific players that we're talking about, but I'm
just saying them pulling the trigger on difference makers who
can accelerate what you have going on instead of this
slow build to where now you're looking at man. Now,
we still have so much to be able to shop
for because if you go back and look at the
Brian Burns trade, they got a twenty twenty four second
(28:30):
round pick that turned into Jonathan Brooks, I guess you
would say, and then the two fifth round picks that
they got in the draft, one was a swap and
then one was a pick that turned into Cam Jackson
and Mitchell Evans for twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Yeah. Oh, and so you look at that and you're like, okay.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
Fans are always like, well, you know, we want the
draft picks, the draft picks, the draft picks.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
But it's like, what would you rather have right now?
Speaker 4 (28:47):
Jonathan Brooks, Cam Jackson and Mitchell Evans or Brian Burns?
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Not a question, it's Brian Burns. There is no defense
of the Brian Burns situation. Yeah, the way that they
turned down to first and a third or whatever it was,
it was something just ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Like wasn't it three first they thought? I think it
was two.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
I think it was a two ones from think I
think it was two ones.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
But but think about this real quickly. Look at what
Micah Parsons went for, and look at what Brian Burns
reportedly could have gone for, and that one's gonna sting
for a really long time. Dan Morgan wasn't the head
honcho at that point, but reportings suggests that Dan Morgan
was in favor of keeping Brian Burns. There is no
defense of that operation. What you did was you turned
(29:31):
to first and change. I think it was two first
and a third. I can't wrap my head around it. Right,
you turned down You turned that down for a second
and a fifth to give up somebody that would help
this defense. And I know Panthers fans soured on Brian
Burns because he wasn't a perennial double digit SAT guy.
He was a lot of pressures, not get home kind
of special pass rusher, but he'd still help you. No, man,
(29:55):
there's no defending the entire operation from Brian Burns.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
I'm not going to defend that.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
Yeah, And so, so the gist of the compliss just
it feels like that the teams who have these rookie
quarterbacks or had rookie quarterbacks and one time that they
felt like with a future of the organization, it feels
like they really sell out and go all in to
acquire as much premium talent as they can get to
put around them. And so I question whether the Panthers
(30:19):
have done that, Like I don't really feel like I
feel like they've gone to get talent, but I don't
feel like that they've necessarily been in win at all
costs where they've tried to go and get premium talent
and say, Okay, we're going to go all in while
Bryce is on this rookie deal and see what we
can get.
Speaker 7 (30:33):
Out of it.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Well, a couple of things there. One they they attempted
to do it. They didn't hit right. I think they
did show some recognition if we need to help our
quarterback outside of the whole point guard here, which was
always stupid in my opinion. The offensive line was terrible
after Bryce Shong's rookie season, so they went out and
they had to fix it. So they spent a bunch
of money on guards because the idea was that you
(30:56):
need to have interior your pass protection for your shorter
quarterback to be able to see al ways to throw
the ball downfield. And they even invested again in Taylor
Molten locking him up because he's the right tackle. He
can pass protected, don't have to worry about pressure coming
from that side. Let's throw some money at Taylor Moton.
The attempts for Carolina have been there. The actual hitting
on those attempts haven't really been there.
Speaker 4 (31:18):
But do you feel like with some of the trays
they got a little cheap because they felt like the
price was too high form like for some of the
big market like some of the big box office guys.
We were talking about that. They was like, uh no,
and I get it. Because you're a back football team.
You got a lot of holes to feel, so you
want to keep those draft picks and fill it with that.
But I'm just saying, do we feel like that they
(31:38):
got a little cheap with some of the trays, that
maybe they could have gone out and made a couple
of bigger deals to bring in a couple of guys
who are real difference make.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
I mean at wide receiver.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
We talked about it a lot, right, Like, I was
in on every wide receiver that was available, So I
was absolutely with the idea of trying to go get
an established number one. Do I think that they may
a mistake and not going after those guys? Well, T
Mac looks good. In a T Higgins trade, you wouldn't
have T Mac, so you would have T Higgins on. Again,
(32:08):
this always comes down to how much money you're willing
to spend on those players. So, Garrett Wilson T Higgins,
that costs you a first round pick and it cost
you thirty million dollars annually. Yeah, Instead, you chose a
wide receiver in the first round to go do that
Micah Parsons. You could have Derek Brown a first in
a second or you could have Micah and be in
the whole fifteen million more dollars like DK is the
(32:30):
one for me where you just put him next to
t Mac. You have two wide receivers you feel good
good about. But I yeah, I think I probably would
have pulled the trigger on the DK Metcalf trade the
first round picks for the other guys.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
That's a lot. That's a lot to give up for sure.
Speaker 4 (32:45):
Let me know, folks, did the Panthers do enough building
around Bryce Young? Whether they too cheap? Sometimes? Do you
like how this build is going? But when we come back, folks,
we're going to go around the NFL. We're going to
talk about Kayleb Williams last night. Is the jury now
officially out on him? After last night's game on Sports
Radio ninety two seven WFNZ.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
And just like that, folks, we returned.
Speaker 4 (33:12):
The West and Walker show rolls on here on a Tuesday.
And so that game last night, Man, that's a couple
of times now that those doll fell asleep on the game,
wake up and the outcome is completely different than what
I thought, because I think I once the Vikings threw
that picked six, I was like, yeah, man, this is
(33:33):
pretty much a done deal for them. I didn't think
that they were going to be able to come back
and win, and then I wake up to see that
they won. And so coming off of the heels of
that bears off the heels of that Bills Ravens game
as well. I guess the primetime games are getting off
to a good start to young quarterbacks. We saw out there,
but everybody was talking about Caleb Williams in this new
(33:54):
offense with Ben Johnson, and man, he came out hot,
completed his first ten throw. A lot of people thought, man,
this is going to be a start to show that
he is that guy. And then in the second half
he goes eight of nineteen, completed only forty two percent
of his passes, and they said that Ben Johnson wants
him to complete around seventy percent of his throws. And
(34:17):
then after that, he finished the game with an NFL
worst off target rate of twenty nine point four percent
in Week one. And this is starting to become a
theme with Caleb Williams. How hot and cold he runs,
the accuracy gets out of control, you keep him in
the pocket, he's not the same player. And so, man,
is the jury now officially out on Caleb Williams after
his first game in that Ben Johnson offense.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
Yeah, I don't think so, I'd rather have other quarterbacks
that went in that class now, like Jane Daniels. Of course,
if you don't take Jane Daniels, then you're crazy. Drake
may I'd probably rather have now then Williams.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
And then sounds being convinced he didn't play great the
other day.
Speaker 9 (34:54):
Well he wasn't, but he also he has a Meryon
started to gain ground on y'all because they played the
clip today him saying what he said about Cayleb Williams
and then uh oh, Drake got to get it going
to and Meryl gonna.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Be at us.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
Can I ask why they didn't play that clip from
Meryl Hodge last year? Is it because he looked pretty good?
He's talking about Kayla Williams. No, I'm talking about Drake May. Oh, yeah,
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
That's what I'm saying, right, Like he's mad a Pro
Bowl in this first year he's.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
Waited, Drake made it even make a Pro Bowl. Well,
this is the thing.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
I Yeah, Bryce Young had a terrible first season, first
season two, right, and so some of the issues you
could say with Bryce Young having a terrible season, but
now people believe in him. Maybe this happens with Caleb Williams,
who also had a terrible He wasn't even terrible last night.
It's just the second half was bad and the first
half was actually pretty good. You mentioned he went ten
(35:45):
of ten. Here's the thing, Yeah, yeah, So we were
just talking about the off season editions they had. Here's
the big ones. It's all up front, right, Joe Thuney
allowing four pressures, Jonah Jackson, who was trash five pressures
last night, Drew Dalmen four pressures.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
But I'm putting a lot of out on Caleb holding
that football too, though, man, because a lot of the
reps I watched with Caleb passed and he was back
there clean as a whistle.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Fair enough.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Pro Football Focus would say it's the offensive line playing
pretty terribly, but maybe it is on Caleb. From what
you saw, that's a lot of pressures. That's a lot
of bad grades that all those offseason acquisitions gave you.
The thing about Caleb that you're dead on that one
hundred percent agree with. There are some wild throws every
once in a while, like DJ Moore opened down the
left sideline later in that game, completely missed him. There
(36:37):
are some real accuracy issues where there are some wild
throws that he gives you and then there are some
weird ones where they just slip almost they're just wild.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Threat. Yeah, that was the knock on him before the draft.
Speaker 4 (36:46):
People said that, you know, don't get too caught up
in the highlights because when you get into the meat
and potatoes of his game, when it comes down to
the fundamental stuff, man, he's not great there.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
So that's still showing up. Do we want to be
out of the Caleb Williams business after one game with
Ben Johnson or not? I would say that's probably early.
But if it's that you didn't think that he was
all that great anyway, you probably don't need much pushing to.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Move off of Calbo.
Speaker 4 (37:13):
Yeah, because I'm like that because especially like we talked
about some of the stuff yesterday, attitude stuff when you
were talking about him talking to Thomas Brown and some
of those types of things. And yeah, and I just
think that when guys have that type of way that
they go about their business, that it makes it hard
for them to correct what's going on. Because you talked
about him comparing to Bryce and maybe if things don't
(37:36):
work out, could he bounce back or something like that,
But I just feel like Bryce has so much more
character than he does, and I feel like a kid
like that. Unless he just really really decides to humble himself,
I think that's going to be really difficult.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
Now.
Speaker 4 (37:49):
If you want to give him some grace, and if
you want to look on the bright side, you could say, hey,
his first game under Ben Johnson, YadA, YadA, YadA. But
then you can go look back at a lot of things,
and so you know, you know how much I hate
social media football, but a lot of people were pointing
out a lot of things from him in practice that
was horrible during the process, the fact that they felt
like the Bears were kind of hiding him in the preseason.
(38:11):
Because when I was watching that game last night, the
first thing I said was, I said, all right, he's
looking good right now because he's on the script. But
I said, once things change up and we get into
the real deal of this game, how is it going
to look? And again, in that second half, man, just
being as bad as he was, I was just like, man,
this is pretty tough. And yeah, he got blitch forty
three and a half percent of the time after halftime
(38:34):
as opposed to thirty percent in the first half, but
like you said, he had some tough plays and then
he got into some of those bad habits trying to
sprint out of the pocket and make some of those
usc plays that he made. But I think that it's
going to be intriguing. That's one of the stories of
the season for me. But yeah, I'm not feeling Kayler Williams.
I'm pretty much out on him, But I do think
(38:54):
he's got plenty of time to correct the ship if
he wants to still play good.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
Because remember, they did.
Speaker 4 (38:59):
Give Tyson Badge a decent little backup deal there as well,
so I think that they're committed to him as that
backup and I think that if Ben Johnson feels the
need to, he won't hesitate to go to Badge.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
And if things really.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
Get out of hand, I like Titan Agent as a
backup backup quarterback. Yeah, I think like they're they're gonna
work with Caleb Williams all year long. Whether it's you
could call it being stubborn not wanting to admit that
they missed on a first overall pick at QB, but
(39:31):
those guys don't get bench usually Bryce did last year
because you couldn't see that again. The way that he
played the first two games last year. He had protection,
that was the wild thing. He actually had all the
time in the world to throw. And Bryce was still
absolutely terrible. He comes back and flips everything on his head.
But the football character the big question. Yeah, Caleb Williams.
(39:52):
It seems like there's a lot of reports on people
just having their issues with Caleb Williams behind the scenes.
I'm inclined to believe those reports. You never hear that
about Bryce Yea. All you hear are great things, and
that's something easy to buy into. I think Caleb still
has a lot of talent, if you know.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
I know.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
We bring up pro football for focused grades a lot,
not the end all be all, Like I disagree with
their grade on Bryce Young. Caleb Williams got a seventy seven,
like the thirteenth best graded quarterback last night.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
I would have expected that to be lower. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Right, looks like they're putting a lot of the blame
on the offensive line for everything that took place. And
I'll say the second half misout a Vikings defensive line
just destroyed them. Not that there was one series in particular,
oh buddy ill, just the offensive line looked terrible in
the second half. Specifically, I'll say, so, you know, there's
some saving grades there as well. I'd rather have jayde Daniels.
(40:46):
I'd rather have Drake May right now. JJ McCarthy did
a nice job, especially in the second half.
Speaker 4 (40:52):
After looking bad for a lot of that. Act asked
what we think about JJ McCarthy in his first start.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
Way to keep battling, Man, it was bad at first,
and you give a nice dime to Aaron Jones on
the right sideline for the end zone, you step into
a throw far sideline for a two point conversion, you
stick one in the middle of the field the Jetta
to score the first touchdown. Like that was a real
comeback that you had against Chicago, And so you talk
(41:19):
about football character, JJ McCarthy seemed to show it there.
Speaker 4 (41:22):
Yeah, JJ McCarthy, Man, I thought he struggled a lot.
And I'm just like, man, these teams sometimes it cracks
me up because you have such a good offensive season
under Sam Darnold last year, and I get it when
he got to the playoffs it wasn't the same. But
I'm just like, man, you give up a guy to
put up that type of production in your offense for
a guy that you're not sure about, and the way
he came out there and looked last night. I think
(41:43):
McCarthy's got a long way to go to prove the
vikings right after that performance. But he did come back
and get the win. And if there's one thing Jady
McCarthy is known for, it is winning football game.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
And the difference between Caleb Williams and JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 2 (41:57):
JJ just played us first NFL game, sure, just like
cam Ward did, who didn't look great but I like him, yes,
but didn't didn't play well and it's his first.
Speaker 6 (42:08):
This offensive line sucks too. I mean cam Ward's offensive
line might be the worst in.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
The league, but they made additions there, to be honest
with you, and they were going up against Denver and yeah,
so like I actually think it'll play out better. Uh,
it's so young. It's these guys are so young. They're
playing their first ever starts with cam and JJ McCarthy.
Caleb Williams not to mention too, Cam had drops.
Speaker 1 (42:32):
Did you see Calvin Ridley's.
Speaker 4 (42:33):
Dad His dad, His dad was pretty upset about that drop.
Speaker 6 (42:39):
I want to make it clear, I thought that cam
Ward looked really good I just thought he was playing
behind an offensive line that was having a rough yees yea,
And part of that might be due to Denver, but
I mean, I think that offensive line is going to
be the thing that holds him back. I mean McCarthy, Yeah,
he was just making some decisions that weren't necessarily great.
He wasn't getting helped out by Adam Thielen, who ends
up having what we thought was going to be a
(43:01):
key drop that turned out to mean absolutely nothing in
that game. In the first half, I'll admit to you,
I thought to myself, God, why did they trade Sam
hal because he might be better than J. J.
Speaker 1 (43:12):
McCarthy.
Speaker 6 (43:13):
And then in the second half, I thought, oh, okay,
that's why they traded It was bad.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
He played well in the fourth quarter, straight up, he did.
He really did. Yeah on that run play to the outside.
Speaker 2 (43:23):
And most people would tell you Kevin O'Connell is very
very good at this, and just give him some more time,
the genius that he is.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
I know you love the term. Maybe he can help
JJ as well.
Speaker 4 (43:32):
All right, when we come back, folks, we start the
two o'clock. Ayeboy, this is Wes and Walker.
Speaker 3 (43:36):
Listen to the Wes and Walker Show we teas from
noon to three only on Sports Radio ninety two point
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Speaker 8 (43:44):
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You were listening to the Wes and Walker Show.
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And a big thanks to Kyle as well, because he
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It's Wes.
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Speaker 1 (00:52):
Welcome back, folks.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
This is the Wes and Walker Show on a do
It to It Tuesday from the Channel that Vote Studio
CB Injury that Cbeinjury Law dot Com. One call that's
all the Carolina's personal injury Lawyer. There is a lot
to talk about in the world of college football, so
let's get to it without further ado. Let's get to
the campus cod on a Tuesday. All right, A lot
(01:21):
has been made about arch Manning and the start to
his season. They took care of San Jose State on Saturday.
But a clip that went viral was not really and
Archmanning touchdown pass. It was a zoom end shot of
arch Manning after a pass in which he went mightily
and a lot of people are speculating is the young
sophomore quarterback hurt? And so Steve Sarkisian had a pretty
(01:45):
sark snarky response to the media about that.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Let's hear it. Arch Maanning seemed to be having some
throwing pains by the.
Speaker 5 (01:53):
According to who, arch Arch said that to you? No, oh,
according to who, it just looked like he was He
doesn't have.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Any Is there an explanation to why he was a
look like that? I don't know.
Speaker 5 (02:06):
I've never feled I've never filmed any of you guys
when you're using the bathroom, so I don't know what
faces you make when you're doing that.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
All right, So that clip went viral and a lot
of people got to kick out of that from him,
But listen, the truth is the truth. When he did
throw the football. It did look like he was in
a lot of pain. So for Sark to act like
he's completely oblivious, I get it.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
He's a coach.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
He doesn't want to give anything away to opponents and
things of that nature. For people to think that he
is hurt, but you can't act like you had your
head in the sand and don't know anything about what
he is talking about. But I thought Sart did what
a coach kind of should do, cover it up or
deflect to be able to go away from that. But
I'm not sure that Arch isn't hurt because the way
(02:46):
that looked to me, Maybe it was just that moment
in the game, Maybe it was just that particular throw
that he felt uncomfortable. But to me, that looked like
Arch is having a little bit of an issue, and
people have already been speculating if he will hurt before
this shot was gone viral.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
You said he did what he was supposed to do.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Let me ask you this, would we be talking about
Arch's potential injury if he just said, yeah, he's fine,
no health issues there he Yeah, you got a point, Dan,
for sure, But here we are talking about it because
you are weird about it. Yeah, all you have to
say is he's totally fine, just making some faces for
whatever reason. I'm not sure exactly what that was, but
he's a full go. He's one hundred percent no injury designation. Yeah,
(03:26):
and then we can move on. But you got to
say some weird stuff like I don't take pictures of
you when you're using the bathroom. Did you say that
arch Manning was having a bathroom situation in his pants
when he was making that face the pan? Is that
what you just told me. You made it weird. You
made it really weird when you decided to answer the
question that way. So, honestly, if you wanted this to
(03:47):
not be a big deal, you know what, a good
way of making not making a big deal out of
something is not making a big deal out of it.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
And I think also to you know, Stark is feeling
a little bit of a pressure because he's normally a
pretty upbeat guy that's normally pretty happy. So to hear
him give that kind of response, I was like, oh,
you know, so I didn't really give it up like that,
So I was like, he might be feeling that pressure
a little bit, you know what, I think I think
he's hurt because you said it that way.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Now I actually think he's hurt. Why else would you
get so salty? It makes no sense for me.
Speaker 6 (04:17):
Our college football coaches this year have been giving us
some really weird answers.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yes I have. It's more than an other years, all right.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
So the Clemson Tigers, they are installed as a nine
and a half point favorite on the road. Our confidence
should Georgia Tech fans be because Clemson has beaten them
nine in a row. With the win Saturday, Clemson would
produce his ninth all time winning streak of ten or
more games against a single opponent. Georgia Tech is two
and zero this season. Look good in their opening win
(04:46):
against Colorado. But this is a team they're playing a
little uncharacteristically because they are one hundred and twenty seventh
nationally minus four in the turnover margin category.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
And that's Ungeorgia Tech like.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
But Georgia Tech, we know that they've been picked as
a dangerous team coming into this season, a top five
pick by many.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Filling that nine and a half point line for.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
The Clemson Tigers or even them winning at all down
in Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
So I have been feeling very good about my or
my gut feelings have been pretty spot on with some
of these lines. Now, as soon as I put some
real money down on it, I know that my gut
feeling is immediately going to lead me astray. But I
see this line and I immediately think bet on Georgia
Tech to cover.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
I think Clemson's going to win this game.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
For as bad as they looked against LSU, that still
is a really good football team, and it's not like
they got shellacked. They were still in that game. So
I want to try to walk back all of my
concerns on Clemson in terms of still being an ACC
champion representative. But I walk all my national champion takes back,
Like I don't think that they're playing at that level
(05:55):
right now. Are they good enough to beat Georgia Tech?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Are they playing at a level right now where I
think they're going to cover. That's what I don't think
is going to happen. I would feel pretty good if
I'm the Yellow Jackets with all the talent that they
have coming back and some experience at every starter position.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Yeah, this is a tricky game for me, man, because
as much as I thought Clemson was going to run
rough shot through the league. I feel like, for one,
Georgia Tech a nine game winning streak, this could be
a team that's tired of being sick and tired. This
is a team that's getting them down at their place.
This is a team that has a lot of momentum
as far as being looked at as an ACC title contender.
So yeah, I think that for the Clemson Tigers, this
(06:30):
is a very dangerous matchup going down to Atlanta. I
think this will be a very raucous environment for them
as well. I think Georgia Tech fans should be very
confident after that performance against Troy back to back weeks,
with the offensive line not looking great. The pass rush
when you go look at advanced metrics for the Clemson
Tigers is not good. Their run defense it's okay, it's
not nearly what we thought it was.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Going to be.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
And so that's the thing that's most worrisome to me
is the fact that upfront, neither one of these units
is looking dominant. If you want to win a national championship,
if you want to run all over your confidence, you
need to be dominant upfront on both sides of the ball,
and Clemson is far from that so far, so that's
the thing that has me worried about them going into
this match.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
And now the big.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Thing here for this line is the injury status of
Haines King. So just twenty hours ago, Brent Key did
say that Haines King is doing well. We'll make decisions
once he gets into practice. Zach Pyron played a ton.
He's expected to practice this week, So if he's expected
to practice, I would hope for a game like this
that he'll give.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
It a goup. All right, Abs State are they in trouble?
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Okay, because they've got a game this week and they
lost three fumbles and had an interception against Lyndenwood. They
only won twenty to thirteen. They had a third fumble
loss by Nate Glance, which led to a twenty four
yard touchdown pants for Lyndon Wood that made it twenty
to thirteen with three and a half minutes to go
(07:53):
in the fourth quarter. They also recovered the onside kick,
but at Elijah mcantos interception all fourth down sealed the deal.
App State had five hundred and three yards of offense
but had four turnovers. Now, on the bright side, they
did have eight sacks in the game, so that's something
the hang you had on.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
But App State, my man, are.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
They in trouble going into their matchup this week?
Speaker 2 (08:17):
I think Appstate gets back on track. It was a
pretty lackluster game for them for sure. Going into Week two.
I just think that you had to have plans Southern
Miss Sarry. But that's that's the thing. It's that they're
playing Southern Miss. They are one and one. Their win
did come against Jackson State. But coming into the season
when we did App State Team Week, I think we
all had app State winning this game pretty handily, even
with some of the uncertainty with the Mountaineers, just because
(08:39):
of all of the new that the Eagles have going on,
and their offense was pretty atrocious last year. They were
terrible on third downs. So maybe all of that's fixed,
but I'm not going to bank on all of that
being fixed going into week three of the college football season.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
Yeah, that is a very terrible performance for App State
to come out against a team in Linda Wood where
there wasn't even a line for this game, and I
expected app State to win hand If they're going to
keep turning the ball over like this, I think they're
gonna make it very hard for themselves in this matchup
aj Swan, he threw for two hundred and ninety two yards.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
De Binion ran for one hundred and ninety four.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
So you got some of the big numbers that you
want from your stars, but they've got to cut down
on those turnovers or who knows, Southern miss might give
them a run for their money or beat them. And
then among the Boulder moves for last weekend, Dion Sanders.
He had Cayden Salter a big time heavily sought after
transfer quarterback, and then also Juju Lewis, a five started
(09:34):
a lot of people looked at as the successor to
Chador Sanders, but it was Ryan stab who came in
and delivered seven of ten passes for one hundred and
fifty seven yards two touchdowns in their thirty one to
seven win, and he will start this week versus Houston.
Salter has completed two hundred and sixty one yards worth
(09:56):
of passes, four touchdown. He's been sacked four times in
two games. Lewis Juju Lewis has two completions for eight yards.
Excuse me, that was Kayden Salter's numbers. Who has two
hundred and sixty one yards and a touchdown, and it
has been sacked for times in two games, missing routine
throws all the time in this offense. And so Dion said,
I'm not going to go with my number two quarterback.
(10:16):
I'm going to go straight to the number three. Just
how bold of a move was that? By prime time?
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I don't know how bold it was, because I guess
he's going with the quarterback that he feels is giving
him the best chance to win. It's a bold move
in terms of what we know for these stars to
be and what these starters are.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
How much do you care about losing Lewis?
Speaker 2 (10:37):
If you don't care all that much because you're not
going to start them as soon as you get to
Game three, then if you don't care, I guess it's
not all that bold. My question I guess is I
don't know, just because I'm not sure exactly what Deon
Sanders feels about his quarterbacks outside of his starter any Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
I think this was a very bow Rarely do you
hear about a third stringer taking over the starting spot
for a team, especially in today's era, where quarterbacks and
players in general get very sensitive and they will leave
at the drop of a hat. And for kid Juju Lewis,
with all of the hype that he had the announcement
and people thought that he was going to be the
guy to carry this Colorado program going forward. It does
(11:13):
show and I like the message that is sending Deon say, hey,
I'm going to play the best guy, regardless of who
I'm paying or what you think you might be.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
And this is right on brand to me with Deon Sanders.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
And so if Salter comes in and takes this job,
excuse me, if Stob comes in and takes this job,
this will be one of the better stories in college
football this year. And just showing a coach to say, hey, man, really,
the stars don't matter, doesn't matter how much fanfare you
come in with, I'm going to play the best guy.
Speaker 7 (11:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
And I think if Deon Sanders doesn't want to lose,
I'm one hundred percent with you, and I'm not even
really all that against you.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
What I wonder is.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
If you have a Nico Josh Heipel situation where Nico
feels like he can ask for more money than what
he's making, and Hypel can be called bold all he
wants to, but really he just didn't think Nico was
worth that much money, so he shows him the door
because he kind of wants an upgrade at quarterback as well.
If Juju Lewis makes a big stink of this and says,
(12:08):
I'm leaving if you don't start me, Deon' is like,
oh no, don't leave, and then he goes to another program,
it doesn't play all that well. I wonder if there's
something like that going on. If not, and he actually
really is talented, and he'll show you at his next
stop in that kind of scenario that he's the real deal.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Well, yeah, we'll be.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Looking back at this decision and saying, I know the
message you were trying to send, but man, it didn't
really help you in the long term.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
All right, folks, when we come back, we're gonna talk
about the building of the Carolina Panthers. Did the Panthers
bargain shot for Bryce Young in comparison to what other
teams did for their quarterbacks? On Sports Ready on ninety
two seven w f.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
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And just like that, folks, we return here on the
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Speaker 1 (14:15):
And talking about the Carolina Panthers.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
And so last night we watched the Chicago Bears, a
game that we will get into in depth and just
a little bit, but we have seen how feverishly they
have built around Caleb Williams and all of the draft
selections that they have used. And we've seen other teams
around the league, the Texans, the Commanders that have those
young quarterbacks that have gone out and tried to get
(14:38):
them as many weapons as possible. Hell, even the team
that they just played in Week one, the Jacksonville Jaguars.
We've seen them off season after offseason going out getting
more wide outs, more tight ends, trying to revamp the
offensive line. And so when we look at Bryce Young
and what he has had here, we've seen some of
the statistics from the preseason about the guys who are
(14:59):
here for his first year and what they're doing now
and how they're no longer football. Are guys that are
way down the roster, you know, from Deontay Johnson, the
DJ Shark, you name it. There have been a lot
of weapons that came in that you thought was gonna
do a little bit of something but didn't end up
doing much here. And then they trade away Adam Feeling.
So let's start the conversation. Because when you look at Chicago,
(15:22):
they drafted six offensive players in the last two drafts.
They went out signed some more wide receivers, some of
them are Jags. But then they go out and they
get big ticket guys like Drew Domon on the offensive line.
Joe Tooney they trade for him. We know that when
Caleb got that. They signed DeAndre Swift and Joe Everett.
They got DJ Moore in the trade with the Panthers.
(15:43):
You look at the Texans and some of the guys
that they have gotten drafted Tank Dell at the you know,
recommendation of CJ.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Stroud. They've drafted nine guys.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
They traded for Cam Robinson, Christian Kirk, the Commanders, they
go get Laramie Tonsel, Deebo Samuel, they already had Terry McLaurin,
they signed Austin Eckler, and then not to mention the
investments that these teams made on their defense is going
out and getting big time guys on the other side
of the ball as well. So do you feel like
kind of retrospect and when you look at what some
(16:13):
of the other teams have done around the league in
comparison to the Panthers, that the Panthers kind of bargain
shot for Bryce Young instead of maybe going to get
some of the big ticket eye.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
I don't think so. I think they spent a lot
of money up front. They just valued offensive line more
than they did the wide receivers. They're investing more upfront
than they are than any other team in the NFL,
more than Chicago, more than any other team.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
I know.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
You mentioned Chicago spent six picks on offense each of
the last two drafts.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
The Panthers spent seven.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
And you're talking about some second round picks that they spent,
and first round picks, two wide receivers with Tim Mack
and Xavier Leaguead and then a second rounder right after
you select Bryce with Mingo. And these aren't even just
second picks like in the fifties or at the lower
part of the sixties. These are all top forty selections.
Jonathan Mingo thirty nine, Get thirty two, and t Mac
(17:02):
number eight. You also spent a pick on Jonathan Brooks
to bring alongside Cuba, who even invested a lot in
the running back position. I think they shopped at target,
but they bought faulty items with some of their not
so bargained spending.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
I was all in on trying.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
To figure out a way to go after T Higgins,
same thing for DK Metcalf. They made calls, there was
too much asked for, so they passed. But they used
a lot of resources on trying to bolster this offense,
which is why it's so frustrating that it looks like that.
That's why it's real frustrating is the fact that they
actually have allocated some of the resources towards offense.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
Yeah, and I think that some of that too can
come in hindsight about it being you know, guys that
you feel like maybe they should have gone here gone
there with some of the picks that they made, because
you are right that they did go out and try
to get guys first round receivers, which are regarded as
premium players. But I think that you know, when you
look at offensive line Robert Hunt, you go out and
(17:58):
spend a lot on him as well.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Well.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
And I think sometimes a little bit of that is
circumstanced because you had Ikey Kwanu already in place, who
you were trying to figure out what's going on there
and so I guess I just wondered because it felt
like that the Bears just went all out, because I'm
also including the defensive side of the ball and this
as well, and some of the moves that they made,
and how the Bears went on that offensive line and
(18:21):
they went all in for Drew Dalma and then made
a trade for a god like a Joe Tooney, where
they went out and really got two premium offensive linemen,
two guys that are regarded among the best at their position.
And so I guess that's some of what I was
thinking about as well. Did they try to go out
and maybe make a couple of moves for guys that
were at the tops of their positions, And so we're
going to get into that a little bit. I think
(18:43):
that building through the draft, I liked that for the
most part for an organization, So I won't necessarily say
that they bargain shop there. I felt like sometimes maybe
there were a few moves where some guys that were
on the higher end of things, maybe they could have
gone a little bit. So I guess we can go
to wide receiver there. And so the draft capital was spent,
(19:05):
But as far as them going out to maybe get
that number one guy. I've always, like I said, philt
like you trade, you build through the draft. But then
looking at it, just like some of the receivers out there,
do you feel any regret that they didn't go after
or really just make a move and pull the trigger
on any of the guys that were available.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
They could be helping them right now. Higgins T.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Higgins was always the toughest call for me because it
was going to require a first round pick to go
get him, and I really didn't want to get rid
of a first round pick dk Metcalf. My highest price
that I was willing to pay was a second rounder
and some other late but the second rounder being the
real prize possession there, that's the highest price I would
have taken. I forget what they got him for up
(19:46):
there in Pittsburgh, so I can look that up in
just a moment. Garrett Wilson was one I actually was
willing to give up a first round pick for it,
and that was still dicey. But yeah, I think wide
receiver is important for a young qure back, and I
think you see that over the last couple of years
with Bryce struggling mightily his rookie season, not having anybody
outside of theland to rely on, and then last year
(20:08):
with the first round pick like Xavier Lee get not
helping you out. You found money with Jalen Coker, and
Jalen Coker's a bargain bend pickup, but you actually got
good value on that. That's an antique that you invested
in and you're profiting on. So for me, I would
have liked possibly searching for the DK Metcalf value a
(20:30):
little bit more so. Could you have negotiated back and
forth a little more so? There the issue is the
contract coming back. Did you want to allocate so much
money not only towards DK Metcalf to the tune of
thirty million dollars a year, but also giving up that
second round pick. Now you don't have as much money
to spend on defense, which you desperately needed to improve,
and you don't have a pick to spend on defense,
(20:50):
which you desperately need to improve. So we can do
the hindsight stuff. I regret not going after DK a
little harder, but if Seattle was asked for a first
round pick from Carolina, I'm not going to give up
a first round pick for decap.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Yeah, they got the Stillers acquired DK metcalf and a
one hundred and eighty fifth overall pick from Seattle in
exchange for Seattle's fifty second and two hundred and twenty
third overall picks, So it second in the draft. Now,
what the kicker in that deal was giving him that
five year, one hundred and fifty million dollar extension, and
so that's where you kind of look at that. But
I feel like, when you got that young quarterback, that
(21:26):
you can afford to do that, because we know these
deals are about worth what's on toilet paper. When you
look at the NFL, it's all about the guarantees and
how many years those guarantees extend out. So five year
deal probably two or three years, and then you could
move off of them if you so desired. But it
just feels like that in a lot of ways because
when you look at the vets that they body and
(21:47):
like there was nobody really of notes that you were
just like, you know, wow, they went out and got
that guy and it didn't work for whatever reason. And
then you look at a lot of the young guys,
they do have kind of established ones for their quarterback
and so you're like, man, should the Panthers have maybe
pulled the trigger on some of those guys because you know,
I'm of the thinking that draft picks, obviously they matter,
(22:10):
but I always think about it in terms of could
you go out and find a guy in the draft
this better than the guy you're trying to trade for.
And I think that's something that you always have to
ask yourself out of money. Okay, cool? Does that swaar
you from doing it or not doing it as well?
But that's the thing that kind of wants you know that.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Let me ask you this, Have you changed your mind
on DK or T and Garrett Wilson like going out
you think they probably should have now in hindsight.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
The only thing, well, it's so easy to say now
because things are where they are. The only thing with
DCAP I'll decap DK metcalf. I don't like his attitude.
That would be the only thing for me with him
that I wasn't feeling. I feel like he puts his
team in bad spots with some of the stupid penalties
he gets and stuff because.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Of his attitude.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
But I think that I'm just saying the aggression with
which some of these teams went after building around their
young players.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
I don't know that Carolina.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
Either it was just in competence they didn't make as
shrewd a moves, or is the fact that they didn't
decide to go after some guys that were two difference makeers,
because if you look at Houston, some of the defensive
moves they may on top of offensive guys that they
went out and got as well.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yeah, so I know we talked about trading for these
wide receivers. I know you were against it then, and
I do get it, like building through the draft would
be fantastic. Yes, you just got to hit on these
draft picks. They didn't do that with Mingo. Wild miss
like not anything productive. Xavierly Get isn't a wild miss
like Mingo.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
But it's absolutely we're getting closed sail in towards no doubt,
we're getting very very close to it Temac.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Thank god, looks like it hit. But it's only game one.
Like I can feel all the confirmation bias in the world.
I want to it doesn't mean that it is one
hundred percent going to work out. So they've invested a
lot in the offensive line, which matters to a young quarterback,
and they've invested a lot with the draft picks at
wide receiver. The thing is, man, what you're talking about.
They tried that approach Bryce's rookie season. When David Tepper
(24:01):
wants to come behind from the backdrop and tell you
that he's a point guard.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
He doesn't really need separation like that. He doesn't need
a number one.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
What he can do as a point guard is he
can just pepper all these guys with all the targets
in the world, He's going to find the open player.
And Bryce Young we found a loophole.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
People.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
We don't need to spend all that much money on
wide receiver, except you do. That's the thing that I
can't stand about people thinking none of these quarterbacks need help.
You mentioned it all the time. Quarterbacks need help unless
you're Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
And by the way, they got some help.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Like the Buffalo Bills offensive line is good and they've
played together a bunch of different snaps and they win.
And they spent a decent high pick on Dalton Kincaid,
who maybe hadn't even hit all that much. But remember
they went out and got Stefan Diggs in order to
get him to the superstar status. Yeah, man, quarterbacks need help.
So I think they realized their mistake after the first year.
(24:54):
Then they used two no excuse me, one second round
pick and two first they traded up to go get
a wide receiver, and then they used a top ten
pick when there was desperate need for pass rusher and
there were a couple of them there for you to take.
You said, no, thank you, We're want to go after
a top ten wide receiver, and so that's what they selected.
They've done it with the draft picks outside of team act.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
They just had it hit.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
Yeah, And so for me wide receiver, I still stay
in the butt of Okay. I was cool with the
way they went about that, but I'm thinking more so
on the defensive side of the ball or the offensive line,
because you know, watching that Bears on line last night,
Caleb had all night to throw on several throws and
so when you look at that, you're like, man, you know,
Chicago really went all in, not just going to get
some guys because we talked about how Hunt he was
(25:38):
the number one guard and free agency you had to
go get him because he was the guy that was there,
but then really trying to maybe target some of those
premium players, but especially on the defensive side, like maybe
making a deal to go get in there Druscher, like
how the Texans went and got Danil Hunter or you know,
you see the Commanders, They've gone out and made several
pickups on that defensive side of the ball. So that's
(26:00):
kind of what I look at as well. So we
talk about Derek Brown and the Michael Parsons thing that
we talked about last week. We talked about the last
album we saw Derek Brown before his injury. Advanced Metrics
says he didn't play well and that when I throw
a game out, that's fine. But then again we hear
we sit now in the first game of this one,
and he's back in the sixties again. And so it's like,
(26:21):
if this play continues, which I'd said at that time,
that's a deal I would have made. If that was
the only deal I could get for Michael Parsons, I
probably do that. And so do you feel like, if
Derek Brown's play doesn't pick up, will you be upset
that they didn't make that deal for Michael Parson. Oh? I,
in hindsight, I guess if he continues to play the
(26:41):
way that he's playing, Like if he goes to the
season he's average or not close to what he once was,
would you be like, man, we should have made that deal. Yeah,
if he's sure, right, Like, if he's average, then I'm
not so egotistical to the point, Well, I was still right. Yeah,
but I can't make that decision because I don't have
a future outlook right now, what we know about Derek
(27:03):
Brown when he's healthy, the dude has been an absolute
beast against the run, and the pass rush has been
better than average.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Good.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Again, we just don't have the elite type of sac
numbers that we get from some of these other defensive tackles.
But if we're talking like and you're still are you
asking this question in the frame of helping Bryce Young
out as much as possible. Yes, So if that's the case,
you're paying a lot more to Micah than you are
to Derek. Mike is a better player than Derek Brown is,
(27:32):
for sure. But now you're talking about not allocating how
much difference in.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Money are they making? Now is it like twenty, is
it fifteen? It's a lot. It's a lot, man.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
And so now not only are you giving up at
least a first, you're also giving up probably a second
and Derek Brown, who is a leader in that locker room,
to go get Micah who if we talk about attitude,
a lot of concerns there, and you can't allocate your
fifteen million dollars or your first and second round pick
to other players that might help you, either offensively or defensively.
(28:05):
So like, I understand the thinking here because.
Speaker 4 (28:08):
I'm thinking about players who and I'm not And obviously
we have specific players that we're talking about, but I'm
just saying them pulling the trigger on difference makers who
can accelerate what you have going on instead of this
slow build to where now you're looking at man. Now,
we still have so much to be able to shop
for because if you go back and look at the
Brian Burns trade, they got a twenty twenty four second
(28:30):
round pick that turned into Jonathan Brooks, I guess you
would say, and then the two fifth round picks that
they got in the draft, one was a swap and
then one was a pick that turned into Cam Jackson
and Mitchell Evans for twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Yeah. Oh, and so you look at that and you're like, okay.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
Fans are always like, well, you know, we want the
draft picks, the draft picks, the draft picks.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
But it's like, what would you rather have right now?
Speaker 4 (28:47):
Jonathan Brooks, Cam Jackson and Mitchell Evans or Brian Burns?
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Not a question, it's Brian Burns. There is no defense
of the Brian Burns situation. Yeah, the way that they
turned down to first and a third or whatever it was,
it was something just ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Like wasn't it three first they thought? I think it
was two.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
I think it was a two ones from think I
think it was two ones.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
But but think about this real quickly. Look at what
Micah Parsons went for, and look at what Brian Burns
reportedly could have gone for, and that one's gonna sting
for a really long time. Dan Morgan wasn't the head
honcho at that point, but reportings suggests that Dan Morgan
was in favor of keeping Brian Burns. There is no
defense of that operation. What you did was you turned
(29:31):
to first and change. I think it was two first
and a third. I can't wrap my head around it. Right,
you turned down You turned that down for a second
and a fifth to give up somebody that would help
this defense. And I know Panthers fans soured on Brian
Burns because he wasn't a perennial double digit SAT guy.
He was a lot of pressures, not get home kind
of special pass rusher, but he'd still help you. No, man,
(29:55):
there's no defending the entire operation from Brian Burns.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
I'm not going to defend that.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
Yeah, And so, so the gist of the compliss just
it feels like that the teams who have these rookie
quarterbacks or had rookie quarterbacks and one time that they
felt like with a future of the organization, it feels
like they really sell out and go all in to
acquire as much premium talent as they can get to
put around them. And so I question whether the Panthers
(30:19):
have done that, Like I don't really feel like I
feel like they've gone to get talent, but I don't
feel like that they've necessarily been in win at all
costs where they've tried to go and get premium talent
and say, Okay, we're going to go all in while
Bryce is on this rookie deal and see what we
can get.
Speaker 7 (30:33):
Out of it.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Well, a couple of things there. One they they attempted
to do it. They didn't hit right. I think they
did show some recognition if we need to help our
quarterback outside of the whole point guard here, which was
always stupid in my opinion. The offensive line was terrible
after Bryce Shong's rookie season, so they went out and
they had to fix it. So they spent a bunch
of money on guards because the idea was that you
(30:56):
need to have interior your pass protection for your shorter
quarterback to be able to see al ways to throw
the ball downfield. And they even invested again in Taylor
Molten locking him up because he's the right tackle. He
can pass protected, don't have to worry about pressure coming
from that side. Let's throw some money at Taylor Moton.
The attempts for Carolina have been there. The actual hitting
on those attempts haven't really been there.
Speaker 4 (31:18):
But do you feel like with some of the trays
they got a little cheap because they felt like the
price was too high form like for some of the
big market like some of the big box office guys.
We were talking about that. They was like, uh no,
and I get it. Because you're a back football team.
You got a lot of holes to feel, so you
want to keep those draft picks and fill it with that.
But I'm just saying, do we feel like that they
(31:38):
got a little cheap with some of the trays, that
maybe they could have gone out and made a couple
of bigger deals to bring in a couple of guys
who are real difference make.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
I mean at wide receiver.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
We talked about it a lot, right, Like, I was
in on every wide receiver that was available, So I
was absolutely with the idea of trying to go get
an established number one. Do I think that they may
a mistake and not going after those guys? Well, T
Mac looks good. In a T Higgins trade, you wouldn't
have T Mac, so you would have T Higgins on. Again,
(32:08):
this always comes down to how much money you're willing
to spend on those players. So, Garrett Wilson T Higgins,
that costs you a first round pick and it cost
you thirty million dollars annually. Yeah, Instead, you chose a
wide receiver in the first round to go do that
Micah Parsons. You could have Derek Brown a first in
a second or you could have Micah and be in
the whole fifteen million more dollars like DK is the
(32:30):
one for me where you just put him next to
t Mac. You have two wide receivers you feel good
good about. But I yeah, I think I probably would
have pulled the trigger on the DK Metcalf trade the
first round picks for the other guys.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
That's a lot. That's a lot to give up for sure.
Speaker 4 (32:45):
Let me know, folks, did the Panthers do enough building
around Bryce Young? Whether they too cheap? Sometimes? Do you
like how this build is going? But when we come back, folks,
we're going to go around the NFL. We're going to
talk about Kayleb Williams last night. Is the jury now
officially out on him? After last night's game on Sports
Radio ninety two seven WFNZ.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
And just like that, folks, we returned.
Speaker 4 (33:12):
The West and Walker show rolls on here on a Tuesday.
And so that game last night, Man, that's a couple
of times now that those doll fell asleep on the game,
wake up and the outcome is completely different than what
I thought, because I think I once the Vikings threw
that picked six, I was like, yeah, man, this is
(33:33):
pretty much a done deal for them. I didn't think
that they were going to be able to come back
and win, and then I wake up to see that
they won. And so coming off of the heels of
that bears off the heels of that Bills Ravens game
as well. I guess the primetime games are getting off
to a good start to young quarterbacks. We saw out there,
but everybody was talking about Caleb Williams in this new
(33:54):
offense with Ben Johnson, and man, he came out hot,
completed his first ten throw. A lot of people thought, man,
this is going to be a start to show that
he is that guy. And then in the second half
he goes eight of nineteen, completed only forty two percent
of his passes, and they said that Ben Johnson wants
him to complete around seventy percent of his throws. And
(34:17):
then after that, he finished the game with an NFL
worst off target rate of twenty nine point four percent
in Week one. And this is starting to become a
theme with Caleb Williams. How hot and cold he runs,
the accuracy gets out of control, you keep him in
the pocket, he's not the same player. And so, man,
is the jury now officially out on Caleb Williams after
his first game in that Ben Johnson offense.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
Yeah, I don't think so, I'd rather have other quarterbacks
that went in that class now, like Jane Daniels. Of course,
if you don't take Jane Daniels, then you're crazy. Drake
may I'd probably rather have now then Williams.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
And then sounds being convinced he didn't play great the
other day.
Speaker 9 (34:54):
Well he wasn't, but he also he has a Meryon
started to gain ground on y'all because they played the
clip today him saying what he said about Cayleb Williams
and then uh oh, Drake got to get it going
to and Meryl gonna.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Be at us.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
Can I ask why they didn't play that clip from
Meryl Hodge last year? Is it because he looked pretty good?
He's talking about Kayla Williams. No, I'm talking about Drake May. Oh, yeah,
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
That's what I'm saying, right, Like he's mad a Pro
Bowl in this first year he's.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
Waited, Drake made it even make a Pro Bowl. Well,
this is the thing.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
I Yeah, Bryce Young had a terrible first season, first
season two, right, and so some of the issues you
could say with Bryce Young having a terrible season, but
now people believe in him. Maybe this happens with Caleb Williams,
who also had a terrible He wasn't even terrible last night.
It's just the second half was bad and the first
half was actually pretty good. You mentioned he went ten
(35:45):
of ten. Here's the thing, Yeah, yeah, So we were
just talking about the off season editions they had. Here's
the big ones. It's all up front, right, Joe Thuney
allowing four pressures, Jonah Jackson, who was trash five pressures
last night, Drew Dalmen four pressures.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
But I'm putting a lot of out on Caleb holding
that football too, though, man, because a lot of the
reps I watched with Caleb passed and he was back
there clean as a whistle.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Fair enough.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Pro Football Focus would say it's the offensive line playing
pretty terribly, but maybe it is on Caleb. From what
you saw, that's a lot of pressures. That's a lot
of bad grades that all those offseason acquisitions gave you.
The thing about Caleb that you're dead on that one
hundred percent agree with. There are some wild throws every
once in a while, like DJ Moore opened down the
left sideline later in that game, completely missed him. There
(36:37):
are some real accuracy issues where there are some wild
throws that he gives you and then there are some
weird ones where they just slip almost they're just wild.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Threat. Yeah, that was the knock on him before the draft.
Speaker 4 (36:46):
People said that, you know, don't get too caught up
in the highlights because when you get into the meat
and potatoes of his game, when it comes down to
the fundamental stuff, man, he's not great there.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
So that's still showing up. Do we want to be
out of the Caleb Williams business after one game with
Ben Johnson or not? I would say that's probably early.
But if it's that you didn't think that he was
all that great anyway, you probably don't need much pushing to.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Move off of Calbo.
Speaker 4 (37:13):
Yeah, because I'm like that because especially like we talked
about some of the stuff yesterday, attitude stuff when you
were talking about him talking to Thomas Brown and some
of those types of things. And yeah, and I just
think that when guys have that type of way that
they go about their business, that it makes it hard
for them to correct what's going on. Because you talked
about him comparing to Bryce and maybe if things don't
(37:36):
work out, could he bounce back or something like that,
But I just feel like Bryce has so much more
character than he does, and I feel like a kid
like that. Unless he just really really decides to humble himself,
I think that's going to be really difficult.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
Now.
Speaker 4 (37:49):
If you want to give him some grace, and if
you want to look on the bright side, you could say, hey,
his first game under Ben Johnson, YadA, YadA, YadA. But
then you can go look back at a lot of things,
and so you know, you know how much I hate
social media football, but a lot of people were pointing
out a lot of things from him in practice that
was horrible during the process, the fact that they felt
like the Bears were kind of hiding him in the preseason.
(38:11):
Because when I was watching that game last night, the
first thing I said was, I said, all right, he's
looking good right now because he's on the script. But
I said, once things change up and we get into
the real deal of this game, how is it going
to look? And again, in that second half, man, just
being as bad as he was, I was just like, man,
this is pretty tough. And yeah, he got blitch forty
three and a half percent of the time after halftime
(38:34):
as opposed to thirty percent in the first half, but
like you said, he had some tough plays and then
he got into some of those bad habits trying to
sprint out of the pocket and make some of those
usc plays that he made. But I think that it's
going to be intriguing. That's one of the stories of
the season for me. But yeah, I'm not feeling Kayler Williams.
I'm pretty much out on him, But I do think
(38:54):
he's got plenty of time to correct the ship if
he wants to still play good.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
Because remember, they did.
Speaker 4 (38:59):
Give Tyson Badge a decent little backup deal there as well,
so I think that they're committed to him as that
backup and I think that if Ben Johnson feels the
need to, he won't hesitate to go to Badge.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
And if things really.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
Get out of hand, I like Titan Agent as a
backup backup quarterback. Yeah, I think like they're they're gonna
work with Caleb Williams all year long. Whether it's you
could call it being stubborn not wanting to admit that
they missed on a first overall pick at QB, but
(39:31):
those guys don't get bench usually Bryce did last year
because you couldn't see that again. The way that he
played the first two games last year. He had protection,
that was the wild thing. He actually had all the
time in the world to throw. And Bryce was still
absolutely terrible. He comes back and flips everything on his head.
But the football character the big question. Yeah, Caleb Williams.
(39:52):
It seems like there's a lot of reports on people
just having their issues with Caleb Williams behind the scenes.
I'm inclined to believe those reports. You never hear that
about Bryce Yea. All you hear are great things, and
that's something easy to buy into. I think Caleb still
has a lot of talent, if you know.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
I know.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
We bring up pro football for focused grades a lot,
not the end all be all, Like I disagree with
their grade on Bryce Young. Caleb Williams got a seventy seven,
like the thirteenth best graded quarterback last night.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
I would have expected that to be lower. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Right, looks like they're putting a lot of the blame
on the offensive line for everything that took place. And
I'll say the second half misout a Vikings defensive line
just destroyed them. Not that there was one series in particular,
oh buddy ill, just the offensive line looked terrible in
the second half. Specifically, I'll say, so, you know, there's
some saving grades there as well. I'd rather have jayde Daniels.
(40:46):
I'd rather have Drake May right now. JJ McCarthy did
a nice job, especially in the second half.
Speaker 4 (40:52):
After looking bad for a lot of that. Act asked
what we think about JJ McCarthy in his first start.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
Way to keep battling, Man, it was bad at first,
and you give a nice dime to Aaron Jones on
the right sideline for the end zone, you step into
a throw far sideline for a two point conversion, you
stick one in the middle of the field the Jetta
to score the first touchdown. Like that was a real
comeback that you had against Chicago, And so you talk
(41:19):
about football character, JJ McCarthy seemed to show it there.
Speaker 4 (41:22):
Yeah, JJ McCarthy, Man, I thought he struggled a lot.
And I'm just like, man, these teams sometimes it cracks
me up because you have such a good offensive season
under Sam Darnold last year, and I get it when
he got to the playoffs it wasn't the same. But
I'm just like, man, you give up a guy to
put up that type of production in your offense for
a guy that you're not sure about, and the way
he came out there and looked last night. I think
(41:43):
McCarthy's got a long way to go to prove the
vikings right after that performance. But he did come back
and get the win. And if there's one thing Jady
McCarthy is known for, it is winning football game.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
And the difference between Caleb Williams and JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 2 (41:57):
JJ just played us first NFL game, sure, just like
cam Ward did, who didn't look great but I like him, yes,
but didn't didn't play well and it's his first.
Speaker 6 (42:08):
This offensive line sucks too. I mean cam Ward's offensive
line might be the worst in.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
The league, but they made additions there, to be honest
with you, and they were going up against Denver and yeah,
so like I actually think it'll play out better. Uh,
it's so young. It's these guys are so young. They're
playing their first ever starts with cam and JJ McCarthy.
Caleb Williams not to mention too, Cam had drops.
Speaker 1 (42:32):
Did you see Calvin Ridley's.
Speaker 4 (42:33):
Dad His dad, His dad was pretty upset about that drop.
Speaker 6 (42:39):
I want to make it clear, I thought that cam
Ward looked really good I just thought he was playing
behind an offensive line that was having a rough yees yea,
And part of that might be due to Denver, but
I mean, I think that offensive line is going to
be the thing that holds him back. I mean McCarthy, Yeah,
he was just making some decisions that weren't necessarily great.
He wasn't getting helped out by Adam Thielen, who ends
up having what we thought was going to be a
(43:01):
key drop that turned out to mean absolutely nothing in
that game. In the first half, I'll admit to you,
I thought to myself, God, why did they trade Sam
hal because he might be better than J. J.
Speaker 1 (43:12):
McCarthy.
Speaker 6 (43:13):
And then in the second half, I thought, oh, okay,
that's why they traded It was bad.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
He played well in the fourth quarter, straight up, he did.
He really did. Yeah on that run play to the outside.
Speaker 2 (43:23):
And most people would tell you Kevin O'Connell is very
very good at this, and just give him some more time,
the genius that he is.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
I know you love the term. Maybe he can help
JJ as well.
Speaker 4 (43:32):
All right, when we come back, folks, we start the
two o'clock. Ayeboy, this is Wes and Walker.
Speaker 3 (43:36):
Listen to the Wes and Walker Show we teas from
noon to three only on Sports Radio ninety two point
seven FM UFNZ, the
Speaker 8 (43:44):
Official home of the Charlotte sports fan
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