August 6, 2025 • 33 mins
Terrin Waack, Tori McElhaney and Will McFadden come straight in from the Atlanta Falcons' first live scrimmage and get right into all of the highlights and storylines. From Penix's bomb to Ray-Ray McCloud III to Leonard Floyd turning up the heat, they cover the best things they saw and the players they saw shine the most. Brian Baldinger joins the show later to share his thoughts on how the Falcons have progressed throughout the offseason as well as why every fantasy owner should be looking at Drake London as WR1.
0:00 - Intro
1:52 - Scrimmage notes & standouts
15:40 - Preseason preview: Week 1
20:03 - Brian Baldinger on the Falcons Offense
26:45 - Atlanta's new look defense
32:30 - Outro
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dirty birds. What's up? Welcome back. We have the first
scrimmage of training camp to break down today. The Falcons
have their first preseason game of the twenty twenty five
season coming up on Friday night. They will take on
the Detroit Lions, like everybody's favorite team from last season,
so that's fun, fun to watch. They'll take them on
at seven o'clock and we will have our first Falcons
(00:21):
Final whistle coming Monday to recap you on the game. So, man,
we're getting right back into the flow of the regular season.
It feels like, and you know, the Falcons are gonna
see some big faces out there, I think on Friday night,
but there's gonna maybe be some familiar faces that we
don't see, Taren, What do we know about who is
and is not gonna be playing on Friday.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Timeline update on Monday, Marday said that I'm already blanked
on names.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Your cousins, Michael Pennocks, you know, like the.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Two important biggest names. Neither Kirk Cousins nor Michael PENNOCKX
Junior will play in Friday's game. That has already been announced,
he said it confidently. And then today, as in Wednesday,
he did say that rookies will play, but a big
takeaway from what he has said about everything in general
when it comes to Friday's game is that the decisions
(01:11):
aren't exactly finalized besides the two quarterbacks, because they wanted
to see what came out of Wednesday's scrimmage before making
any decisions, because if someone showed what they needed to,
there's no reason to risk an injury.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Yeah, So today Wednesday, Wednesday was about the guys who
we may not end up seeing on Friday. You know,
the players that you want to kind of take care
of throughout the preseason. You may have high expectations or
frankly you've seen enough and like you said, they don't
necessarily need to see anymore and they like to protect
the guys and prevent that risk of injury. So that
is why we saw in a more controlled environment. Yeah,
(01:46):
and Wednesday a really important scrimmage. So, Tory, who stood
out to you and really like the first kind of real,
live intense action. Yeah, So I.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Think for me what stood out the most right off
the bat, very early, and then it continued on through
all the entirety of the scrimmage was the fact of
how heavily rotated. The first team second safety position was,
and the first team nickel slot position was. And I
say that, I'm gonna kind of break it down into
(02:16):
the two positions. Going into this offseason or this preseason,
we knew that the Falcons had some spots up for grab,
mainly the starting starting safety position right beside Jesse Bates
the third and that nickel spot. Even though d Alford
has held that spot for the last two years, it's
kind of an open competition at this point in time,
(02:37):
and they're really wanting to challenge d as well as
see what happens with Billy Bowman. So we knew that
those were two positions of competition. I guess I did
not realize until this moment how heavily contested that those
two competitions truly are. And I say that because very
early on, you would see the first team defense go
(02:58):
out there and you would see Jordan Fuller alongside Jesse Bates,
and you would see d Afford in the slot and
you're like, Okay, there's that group there. They're going to
be running with that the whole time.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Veterans, Yeah, the veterans.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
That was not the case at all. It and when
it got to the like mamba period, which is first
team offense versus first team defense, they were rotating that
second safety spot and that nickel spot almost in consecutive plays.
So for that second safety spot, you had Jordan Fuller,
you had Xavier Watts, and you had DeMarco Hellams getting
(03:30):
significant reps with the first team alongside Jesse Bates. And
then at nickel you had with the first team Billy
Bowman Junior d of Afford, and you even saw a
little bit of Mike Cues in there as well early on.
So I guess, like for me, I it is one
of those things where it's like you knew all these
like competitions were happening, but seeing how each person really
(03:51):
does have a shot to establish themselves at that spot,
and it doesn't feel right now, based on what we
saw today in this scrimmage, that there is one person
who has a leg up in that Like I do
think this is me personally, Xavier Watts. It's his race
to win ultimately in the long run at that second
safety spot, and I think sometimes I think the same
(04:13):
thing with Billy Bowman Junior. But that's not the case
where they are right now in their rookie year, and
so I guess like that was something that stuck out
immediately to me of like, oh, this is a much
more significant camp battle than maybe even I originally thought.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
You gotta see it to believe it, right.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yeah, Well, I do think it makes sense for a
couple of reasons, right, Like you at why not at
this point, right, Like all you got going for air
camp battles his training camp. It's time for that, So
give them as much run. Let them either win it
or lose it, you know, kind of out there on
the field. But the second reason is if we think
back to kind of the dan Quinn era when Raheem
and Olbrich were last here, they rotated a lot of
(04:50):
guys as well, specifically on the defensive line, and that
requires a lot of kind of communication and coordination amongst
the players and the coaching staff. So I wouldn't be
surprised if there was like a little bit of an
element of let's dry run this and let's get these
guys in and out, because those are positions specifically that
I do think not only have we see camp battles,
but we could see specific strategic rotations throughout the season.
(05:11):
So just like the defensive line, you want to get
your slots in and you want to get your safeties
in there. But we kind of split up a little
bit for this practice, beautiful Weather. I loved how we
had some some freedom to move around the players were
on the sidelines, but it wasn't a huge massive clump
kind of like there is sometimes. So we haven't really
even talked about what this practice was. And there were
a lot of cool plays, a lot of big name
(05:32):
players making some plays, new faces making plays. Teraren, Like,
what was your vibe on this whole practice? Was it
back and forth? Was it one sided? Did the defense win,
offense win? What'd you see?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Oh gosh, my mind is like running one hundred miles
an hour a minute or whatever you want to call it,
really fast, since I just finished writing the camp report.
So now I'm like, it's like the matrix in my
mind trying to figure out what exactly I want a
pinpoint because you mentioned that in like our pre podcast
meeting of like once or the other this and that,
I'm like, I don't know. Necessarily, I think there were
(06:04):
peak moments from both sides, so I guess that would
be balanced. Yeah, Like I can't pick one or the other.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
I thought that very early on. I felt the offense
kind of got out to a hot start when Michael
Pinnox was in and there's this one place specifically that
you'll see it on our social media, but it was
this deep ball to Ray Ray McLeod down the right
sideline and I'm gonna I'm actually gonna show y'all this
photo of me, and I'm gonna send it to producer
(06:32):
Jared so he can kind of like put it up
as well.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
How much can he zoom in We're gonna find Well, that's.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Gonna be the question. But this was me when that
throw was made to I don't know if you can see.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Her cheeks are like puffed out, that is.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
It's the It's like literally just like that's what it was.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
It was because it was like so it was so
that's it was the most beautiful throw that like, and
everyone on the sideline Terran like some of our other
like reporters, Will was on well, I was almost like
flagged you down, like Titch, you see right, yeah, and
(07:15):
Arch I showed him that picture and You're like, that's hilarious,
and I it was the most beautiful throw that I
think we've seen all of camp and it was I
mean right and step right right, didn't slow down, he
was right in stride. I mean, it's we're talking about
a forty five yard flip the field moment and that
was right off the bat. So I thought that really
(07:37):
set the tone. But also you have to also talk
about the fact that Leonard Floyd picked off Kirk Cousins
the very first play of the defense. So it it
once we got into.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Boom, Yeah, it was.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
It was.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
It was big play, big.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Play, and then they kind of got into it and
you could tell they started to work on some things.
But overall, I I agree with kind of y'all where
it was like every each unit had their moments, and
even young Way, who I think made like a fifty yarder,
so like even special teams were on one today he
won five of six.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
There we go.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Yeah, even like after that first big play to to
where you're kind of mentioning like there were moments then
when the defense really buckled down in the red zone,
and I thought he kind of because you started with
the ones and the twos, the offense started really fast,
and then the starting defense started really fast. Like you mentioned,
and Leonard Floyd, like we'll get to I guess we
can transition out of our offensive and defensive standouts. To me,
(08:27):
like Leonard Floyd, I was trying the whole time, like
to not just give it to him and then another
player kind of I think took it wrestled it away
from him later in practice. And we'll get to that
when we get to the offensive guys. But I think
we've done all this talking about the rookies, and we've done,
you know, a lot of talking about even Divine Diablo.
To me, Leonard Floyd is going to be the newcomer
that makes the biggest impact on this Falcons team. And
(08:48):
we've just kind of like not talked about him a
ton because of some of these new younger prices that
are funny. And he's gonna be the guy.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Yeah, and we've only talked about him. I feel like
in the context of what he can be for James
frist Junior.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Right, Right, we have a veteran role player, right.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
And like how he can help him, how he can
be a mentor to him, But not the fact that
Leonard Floyd is someone who has had eight, nine, ten
sacks in the last four or five years.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Yeah, and he still got it. Like here's so much
veteran this whole like training camp. I've been kind of
watching him and he's been doing things where he's in
position to make the play, but he also understands the like,
right now, the rep is the most important thing. So
I'm gonna let the pass get completed to Baijan even
though I'm here in the flat and kind of knock
it down if I needed to. Well, on Wednesday, he
was like, now's the time to show y'all that I
(09:31):
can actually make the play. And he did that right
off the jump. And if the Falcons start Week one
against Tampa Bay and it is a Michael Pennix bomb
down the field, we punch it in with the run
game and then you turn right around and it's Leonard
Floyd picking off Baker and taking at the distance, I mean,
what better? What better way to start the season than that.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
You'll hear no complaints from me.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Did anybody else have any defensive standouts that we want
to call out?
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Defense? I'll let you go to defense, defense, defense, right.
I know, like I'm sorry, not that there was anything
wrong or anything right, you know, I felt like saying
something wrong but I guess I was just like so
(10:13):
focused on getting like play by play by yeah, by play,
I think look more big picture.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Yeah, I think for me, it wasn't again, it wasn't
necessarily like one person. It was how significant the rotation
was happening across that defensive front, Like they were running
people in and out every two plays, if not every
other play. And that's why I even tweeted, I'm like, hey, guys,
I'm not going to tell you what the defensive rotating
the defensive front rotation is right now, because I would
(10:40):
be sending I would be sending a tweet every thirty
seconds trying to keep up with it. But I think
this is finally, finally what the Falcons have ultimately wanted
from this defensive front and never had the opportunity to
have because of the bodies that they did not have
to this point. So I think this is something that
I go back two years to when Ryan Nielsen was here,
(11:01):
and I feel like this was the type of defense
he wanted. He wanted these like almost hockey lines of
significant rotation within this defensive front. But it got to
the point in the season where injuries happened. That was
the year that Grady Jarrett goes down and you really
he really couldn't. He didn't do the body he didn't
have the bodies, he didn't have the different body types.
He didn't have the personnel to do it. Whereas now
(11:23):
Jeff Oldbrigg, based on the moves that this front office
has made, whether it be in free agency or the draft,
he has those bodies and he has the capabilities to
have that steady rotation which we're actively seeing right now.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Though I can't pinpoint one exact person in this moment
in time, there were two things out will. So that
really like clicked or flipped switches in my brain where
when it does come to the rotation, I didn't even
think about how important it is to practice that so
you're not getting like the wrong person going on or
the right like too many people switching or too many on,
too many off kind of thing, like you.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Need to do that.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
That's the word I want again. You go matrix, matrix
in my mind and.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
You're those spinning wheel of the caffeine.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
That I had before this. I don't know if it's
hit or if it was not hit too hard, but
so that like clicked, and I think today allowed that
because while it is way too difficult, as Tory said,
to keep up with every single one rotating, Like I
got the first lineup and I was like, Nope, this
will never be set in stone. No never. And then
the second thing, when you were talking about like in
(12:24):
the red zone defense stepping up. I think one area
of concern I've had about this whole attack style front
is you're putting so much on rushing the past that
what about your run defense. And there I have asked
Nate Alli about that, the defensive line coach, and he's like, well,
it's a give and take game like.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Everything, even bodies.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
You have twenty two players on defense instead of eleven,
but there were It was right after the Ray Ray
throw actually because there are I think a few yards
short of the end zone. Ray Ray didn't exactly get it,
but he came close. And it was three in a
row by Bjhon Robinson that the defense just kept stuffing
him along the line. To be fair, you can't fully
tackle in this scrimmage, even though they're trying it to
(13:08):
be as game like as possible. So who knows that
Bujon would have been his way through, but it was
pretty impressive. And then they break Tyler and Tyler Algier
and those are just so different and they are used
in different ways. But yeah, that in that moment, it's like,
all right, maybe they got you can do a little
(13:29):
bit of both and be successful at both. It depends
what bodies were in there.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Yeah, I do think that the short the red zone
area did highlight some of the other players who stood
out on defense, Jesse Bates, Kate Ellis like what else,
Like what do you expect? But their communication and specifically
the ability to read off of the gaps and force
that flow was noticeable down there. But let's talk about
some of the offensive guys that stood out. We mentioned
the running backs. You know, it's always tough to tell
(13:54):
preseason wise, like we'll really get a better idea in
the preseason with some of the guys further down the roster.
But wide receiver I felt had a nice solid day
and I think that was led by number five, who
has kind of been like the standout of training camp
I think most consistently and once again put on a
show and ended the day with such a flourish tory.
What did you see from Drake Lemon? I thought Drake was.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Drake was a touchdown? Was it a touchdown?
Speaker 3 (14:18):
I was on the hill. I thought he was in
like I thought. I thought he had it. I thought
it was good.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
I thought his feet weren't on the ground.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Elbow and I was running to a meeting at the
very end, so all I heard I turned around right
as he was coming down.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
I was like, he did it.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
But even a team, I don't know they were. They
came together and watched the replay, so that was entertaining.
But regardless, it was a great gut.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
To jump all over who was jo.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
The end zone? One was my cues, but there was
one previously that he had a jump ball on a Yeah,
done anything different?
Speaker 3 (14:54):
There was nothing, just he high pointed the ball and
he Drake did Drake London's dove like he did what
he has paid the money to do. And I think, Drake,
I know, I believe you're talking to Baldy at the
end of this podcast, and I think even he was
just like, this is a guy who's gonna, you know,
one hundred and fifty catches. Like everyone's predicting Drake London
(15:18):
to have this crazy year and he's doing all the
right things right now. That makes sense why people feel
that way.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Toys like at Fantasy Hey, yeah, yes.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
All right. So we've talked about, you know, some of
the names and really a lot of the offensive players
I think played well out there. But who are some
guys that we should maybe be looking for on Friday
when they suit up for that preseason game that fans
may not be aware of that we haven't had a
chance really spotlight on the show that you are looking
forward to seeing out there on Friday. Terr And I'll
start with you.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
What I'm really curious now, because Carlos Washington Junior wasn't
at practice today, is who's going to carry the bulk
the load now on Friday? There are other options. Saw
a lot of Elijah Dotson, Joshua Corbin, and Nathan Carter.
Nathan Carter, So I'm like, who's gonna step up if
Carlos is indeed out We don't know, We have no
(16:10):
update there, but I noticed he wasn't there and was
kind of like, ooh circle. Another one I'm curious is
because Casey Washington has stepped up so much in the
past week, who's going to do so in the preseason
Because it's like everyone you thought was gonna be in
the game. Is now like taking a step later where
maybe Casey's out there for one or two, but I
don't think he's gonna be the predominant receiver. So who's next.
(16:32):
I'm really curious if David Sills, the fifth goes out there.
When you said Jesse Bates the third, I was like,
there we go. So David Sill's the fifth because he
has been one of Kirk Cousin's favorite targets and training
camp and even though Kirk isn't going to play, if
David gets more reps. He even got reps today with
the first team that I wonder if they like what
they're seeing out of him. He is a veteran. So
(16:54):
those are probably my two. I'm curious about the offensive
line cultivating depth because you never know, even though there's
such a veteran presence and so much experience knock on Wood,
who would be the next man up. So those are
like the three areas I'm looking, Aka, what have I
left left?
Speaker 3 (17:10):
No, you've left You've left me something. I So I
had three players that I was gonna pinpoint to tell
the people about, and it Wasnatron Brooks, David Sales, who
you you've touched down, touched on, and then Brandon Dorless.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Oh I only did offense.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
No, that's okay.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
So this works out that I'm doing defense. I'm doing defense.
So Notron Brooks. He has been He's had a great camp.
This is somebody who has been exceptionally competitive at outside corner.
I even talking to Cayden Ellis on Tuesday, kind of
asking him, like, who has embodied what Jeff Olbrick wants
this defense to be.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
And He's like, Noatron Brooks.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
He's out there running, he's out there making plays, He's
getting hands on balls. Like I think that Brooks is fighting.
It's obvious to me that this is someone who is
fighting to be a part of this fifty three man roster.
And I know right now, as I'm kind of pinpoin
what a fifty three man roster looks like, I'm having
a hard time keeping him off of the roster simply
(18:05):
because I think he is playing enough to warrant being
on that fifty three man as a piece of depth
behind Mike Cues aj Turell. And so he's somebody I'm pinpointing.
I hope that we do get to see a bit
of a run from him. In this preseason time. And
then Brandon Dorles is someone who I'm really curious to
(18:25):
see how much run we get of him in the preseason,
especially this first game, because he's someone who's what they're
doing across the defensive line with him, I think it
is a little bit different. I think that it kind
of plays to his strength as kind of this like
tweener of a defensive lineman where you can put him
inside if you need to, but he can also act
(18:46):
as this big end, which happened a few times early
on in the scrimmage today where they had a four
man front and it was Leonard Floyd, David Anyamata, I
believe it was Rugeroo, or maybe it was Zach Harrison,
and then it was Brandon Dorlyss and he was acting
as this like big, big defensive end more so than
he was and then a few plays later they rotated
(19:08):
back in Arnold A. Wakhatti and Brandon Dorlys slid back
into the interior a little bit. And so he's someone
who I'm curious to see what he does with this
opportunity in front of him and how they utilize what
they're asking him to do, because I do think he
has a skill set to be this kind of fluid
piece along that defensive front. So those are my two
(19:30):
defensive guys to go along with David Siels, who I'm
also really excited to see in the preseason.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Yeah, I think those are amazing names. Every one of
those are on my list. I'd also add interior offensive line.
How is the depth there now that newsl is among
the starters. Our guest on today's show, who is about
to hop on? You're gonna hear his voice a former
offensive lineman his self. He is NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger.
You may know him as Baldy. So let's go ahead
(19:55):
and throw it to our conversation with Baldy and we
will see you guys next Monday morning. Falcons final whistle,
coming back first preseason game. Here we go, very excited
to be joined now by NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger. Brian,
thank you for taking the time to join me.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
It's good to be in Flowery Branch. It's been a
little while since I've been here, so it's good. I
used to get down here to training camp quite a
bit back in the day announcing, you know, Falcon preseason
games when Smitty was here. But it was good. Today
was good. I mean from sitting down Raheem at eight
thirty this morning till right now, it's been a great
day here.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
You talk about the Mike Smith era, they had some
classic matchups against the Detroit Lions, the Calvin Johnson Matthew
Stafford era. They're going to be up against the Detroit
Lions in their first preseason game on Friday. We already
know that the quarterbacks Michael Pennock Junior Kirk Cousins not
expected to play. We'll be curious to see what the
starters are going to look like. But let's go ahead
(20:53):
and kind of look big picture, and I'm going to
start with the division. Last year, they were right there,
NFC South right at the top. Have they done enough,
in your opinion this offseason kind of get over the
hump and back into the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Well, I don't know if it's getting over the hump
means that you're overtake Tampa because I'm not ready to
just to see you can see the division to Tampa
right now. But but they you know, they they had
shootout games with Tampa. They you know, they gave up
a lot of points against them last year. They got
to play better, but I think they're much better defensively.
I feel like what Jeff Albrich is knowing Jeff, I
(21:26):
think the players will back him up. They really believe
in what he's doing. And so, uh, you know, you
look at the additions, whether it's Leonard Floyd or the
rookies throughout the defense, whether Xavier Wats or Bowman or
Jalen you know whatever. Like, I think the infusion of
youth is good, but some of the veterans they brought
in are really good in keeping Jesse in the back end,
(21:48):
Like this should be a much improved defense. And then
it's a question of can Michael you know, really play
like a veteran just take care of the football. But
yet they need to be explosive of offensively and they
need to take their shots and he's got all the
ability to do that. I feel like the Falcons are
being overlooked, maybe because Tampa has just been so consistent,
(22:11):
and we know that the quarterback there has gotten really
good and they got great pieces around him. But they
were good matchups last year with Tampa. They should be
good matchups this year. But they're better than the Saints
they're better than Carolina, so it should be a two
horse race this year.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
What do you expect to see from Michael Pennix Junior
this year? I mean, obviously, in his three starts last season,
we saw, you know, enough potential I think to get
really excited about what he can be. But starting the
course of seventeen games, you have to play with a
level of consistency that you know, a three game sample
size just isn't enough to have a true level of confidence.
(22:46):
And so what do you expect to see from Michael Pennicks.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
I'm a big fan. I'm a huge fan of Michael.
He's got a big arm. Any day you go out
to practice, you know, whether it's a deep ball or
whether it's a stick throw over the middle or swing
pass to Bijon, Like the guy has great accuracy in touch.
I believe in Michael Penis. Now he's had the whole
off season, you know, unlike last year, he's had. He
(23:08):
gets every you know, all the reps that he wants
that he needs, and so now it's a question and
you know he's he's kind of a he leaves in
a different way. He's not real vocal, but that's Okay,
you lead the way that you're built. But I believe
in Michael. I believe that he's got the talent and
physically he's got the talent, whether it's to elude the
rush take off with it like that guy is an
(23:29):
elite athlete and he's a very smart kid. Like can
he do what Jayden did last year? I don't know
if anybody that we're gonna see come in the league
can do what Jayden did last year and continues to do.
But I believe he's he's in that conversation that he's
got that type of ability. So I think they made
the right move last year. I think this is the
(23:49):
right move, and now it's question of he's got to
go out there and to your point, he's got to
be very consistent about.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
It, and he's he's getting plugged into a really ideal situation.
I mean, oftentimes a lot of these hydraft picks, they're
not going to a situation where you have arguably the
best offensive line in the league. We saw Cayleer McGarry
get signed to an extension earlier this week. You have
all of the skill weapons you would won. Uh what
do you what have you seen from Drake London. Actually,
I want to ask you about him in particular. He's
(24:16):
been somebody We've talked a lot about this this preseason.
The coaches have said he's a dirty work guy. Uh,
as a former offensive lineman, Like, how much do you
love to hear that about a wide receiver that he
loves to come in and shoulder to shoulder with you
in the trenches.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
All I saw him do was catch pass his day,
the ball, Like I don't know, you know, I'm not
in fantasy football, but I know people are like that
guy might be targeted more than any other player in
this league this year. Like there's a connection already between
him and Michael Uh. This Drake leunning, Like he's just
amazing to go out there and watch practice. He catches
every ball and so like he's he's just a talented guy.
(24:52):
He's got a big body, Like there's he's always open.
He's gonna he caught a hundred passes last year. He's
gonna catch more than that this year. He is an
elite player. You know, he might not have the separation
skills that some guys have, but he know he wins
in a different way. Like his size and length It's
really you could put the ball anywhere and he has
(25:12):
the radius to go get it. I'm a big believer.
Anybody out there in the fantasy world looking for wide
receiver number one, don't overlook Drake London.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
No, absolutely not. Darnell Mooney. We saw really mixed splash
last year too. He's going to be out for the preseason.
Hopefully he's going to be back for the raiular season.
But another player in the mix Kyle Pitts. He's been
kind of an enigma here I think the last few seasons.
What do the Falcons have to do, in your opinion,
to kind of get a consistent weekend, week out production
from Kyle pits Well.
Speaker 4 (25:40):
I don't know if he is ever going to get
the speed all the way back from the injury, but
that was always a question mark. Can he separate? Can
he you know, can he win his one on ones
with the guys out there?
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Today?
Speaker 4 (25:53):
He had a number of big catches that was encouraging.
Michael Pennix came to him late over the middle, put
the ball right on the te The hands look really good.
Sometimes you just need to change at that position, you know,
to be to become a part I never felt like
he was put in a position to be a part
(26:13):
of the offense. He always seemed to be an extracurricular piece,
even with the draft status and his size. It never
from the very beginning, I didn't feel like he was
a red zone target. I didn't feel he was like
a guy that they went to on third down. Sometimes
players need that confidence that they're coming to him in
order to emerge. It's never too late for a player
to catch fire and to catch confidence, and I believe
(26:36):
that's been part of the issue right here with Kyle.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
You mentioned the defense talking about how you know they
could be much improved from this year. A lot of
that is gonna have to do with the rookie class.
You said after the draft that you felt the Falcons
had the best draft class in the group. Why did
you feel that way at the time, and then after,
you know, hearing and learning what you've learned today and
seeing what you sat there on the field, you know,
do you still feel that way?
Speaker 4 (26:56):
Yeah? I do, because I think Billy Bowman is is
just you know, he's that slot defender that you know
that Brian Branches in Detroit. You go around the league,
guys that have just made to play certain positions, like
he's a super competitive guy. I love Xavier Wats coming out.
I don't know what his role is exactly yet to
see how he's gonna get on the field, but I
(27:17):
believe they're gonna everybody plays three safeties in this league,
so I think he's gonna be learning that. You know, look,
the two first round picks. It's one thing to get one,
it's another thing to trade up, you know, tradeing number
one pick next year to get two of them. And
so it's been an issue here forever trying to find
(27:37):
guys that can get to the quarterback and affect the quarterback.
And you have to have that. You can't just scheme
guys open, and so you need guys that can win
one on ones. And I believe that they finally have
guys that have that ability. Now. Generally pass rushers need
a red shirt year to figure it out, but I
have a feeling Number twenty seven is kind of advanced
(27:59):
right now. It might be he contribute right now. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
James Fierce Junior has really been kind of the talk
of training camp. He's he's given the offensive line and
run for their money week in week out, and veteran
like Jake Matthews. You know, I don't know if I've
seen him work as hard in a training camp in
a while. What what do you expect? I mean, you
just said that red shirt year can be beneficial. But
when you have traits the ability to win right off
the ball, and that's what Jeff Holbrick is going to
(28:23):
try to unleash. Is that a path to early results
for James p Yeah? Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
I mean if you look look, Jared Versus was the
defensive player of the year last year, he was first
round pick defensive end. Like, they're totally different players. But
I would say that, you know, James like he's already
getting underneath people's skin out there. You know, he's already
being irritant, you know, which you know you need that,
you need that personality, you know, jalens quiet, He goes
about his business in a different way. I saw him
(28:49):
at Sack Summit with Von Miller and Max Crosby. Told
me a lot about him, that he was out there
trying to learn from some of these guys at the
end of June when he could have been enjoying himself someplace.
So he looks like he's a serious student, he does
it in a different way. But look the whole group EBA, KT,
you know, Floyd, Like they've been drafting guys now for
(29:10):
a while, Like you've got to find guys that can
win one on ones and bring heat off the edge.
It doesn't always have to be a sack. It can
be flushing a quarterback, affecting a quarterback, moving a quarterback.
And I feel like James his length. I remember just
watching him at the Combine this year when he blew
that I don't know what he ran at four or
five two whatever, it was something crazy, two hundred and
(29:32):
fifty pounds. Like he has all the measurables and the talent.
Now it's a question of Okay, let's start building the
repertoire of plays because these these tackles in this league
are getting more difficult to beat, and so I want
to see what he can do against the elite guys
right now.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Yeah, it's something I'm fascinated about as well. And it's why,
you know, I asked him. He's going up against Kayla McGary,
then Jake Matthews, then Storm Norton, you know, then a
bunch of different people. And as he's starting to refine
a plan while going up against different styles, or is
he you know, just working on his natural.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
Well than just his natural abilities right now? Exactly, he
needs a plan.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
So somebody who had a plan a lot last year
at least in terms of pass rushing was Kaden Ellis.
He was incredibly efficient when used in that way. I
think he was a big reason the Falcons turned their
pass rush around after the bye week. I mean, where
do you think he kind of is he the perfect
type of middle linebacker for today's INFL because you know,
it kind of feels like him and Zach Bond, they're
(30:30):
they're in a little bit of that mold of do everything,
and that's what defensive coordinators are looking for.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
Yeah, I mean everybody. You can't line up against Joe
Burrow or Lamar Jackson. You can't line up against these
guys and just give them the same look. You just can't.
You've got to come from different You've got to give
them one thing and show them another thing. You've got
to keep them guessing. If they know what to snap,
what you're going to do, or have a pretty good
(30:56):
general consensus what you're going to do, they're going to
carve you up and so whether that's a modern day
thing or not, these guys are so good at the
pre snap reads right now that you've got to make
them think all the way up into the you know,
the shotgun snap or the snap and so I'm I'm
gonna and Jeff Waldbrick has that ability to do it,
and so Kayden fits that kind of a role right now.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Yeah, I want to ask you about that reunion of
Jeff Wulbrick and Raheem Morris. It is something where I
think their familiarity and their year of working together in
an interim capacity, you know, will pay immediate dividends for Atlanta.
You know, what do you think that could look like here?
Speaker 4 (31:31):
Well, I imagine that when things you know, got turned
around in New York that that phone call to Jeff
was pretty quick. And then just talking to Jesse Bates
today and some other guys like they, it's they They've
always said, it's gonna be night and day different from
last year. It's not to knock anybody that was here
last year. Jeff Oldbrook is a very passionate, creative defensive coordinator.
(31:52):
I've seen him when he was with the Jets down
his top three corner Sauce Gardner, DJ Reid, you know,
their slot defender, and they beat the Eagles with AJ
Brown and DeVante Smith, and he had guys off to
literally a practice squad playing corner and he came up
with the game plan where they took it away a
bunch of times that day to beat the Eagles. And
(32:12):
he just looked at me before the game, like, what
would you like? He had a plan, And so that
kind of made me believe that, Okay, we're gonna build
this defense about who we have and who's available, and
then we'll figure out what we're gonna do. But we'll
give him everything right now to learn it. And so
I think that you're gonna see some you know, game
to game game planning from Jeff this year, which is
(32:34):
going to be what you have to do in this business.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Awesome, buddy, that's all I got for you. Thank you
so much for taking a time to speak to our listeners.
It was a pleasure to have you on.
Speaker 4 (32:43):
Thank you have me on again. Like, I want to
see if any of these things I'm saying come true.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
All right, of course we'll have to do a media
check in with you.
Speaker 4 (32:50):
Let's check in later.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Awesome. Thank you again,
Dirty birds. What's up? Welcome back. We have the first
scrimmage of training camp to break down today. The Falcons
have their first preseason game of the twenty twenty five
season coming up on Friday night. They will take on
the Detroit Lions, like everybody's favorite team from last season,
so that's fun, fun to watch. They'll take them on
at seven o'clock and we will have our first Falcons
(00:21):
Final whistle coming Monday to recap you on the game. So, man,
we're getting right back into the flow of the regular season.
It feels like, and you know, the Falcons are gonna
see some big faces out there, I think on Friday night,
but there's gonna maybe be some familiar faces that we
don't see, Taren, What do we know about who is
and is not gonna be playing on Friday.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Timeline update on Monday, Marday said that I'm already blanked
on names.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Your cousins, Michael Pennocks, you know, like the.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Two important biggest names. Neither Kirk Cousins nor Michael PENNOCKX
Junior will play in Friday's game. That has already been announced,
he said it confidently. And then today, as in Wednesday,
he did say that rookies will play, but a big
takeaway from what he has said about everything in general
when it comes to Friday's game is that the decisions
(01:11):
aren't exactly finalized besides the two quarterbacks, because they wanted
to see what came out of Wednesday's scrimmage before making
any decisions, because if someone showed what they needed to,
there's no reason to risk an injury.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Yeah, So today Wednesday, Wednesday was about the guys who
we may not end up seeing on Friday. You know,
the players that you want to kind of take care
of throughout the preseason. You may have high expectations or
frankly you've seen enough and like you said, they don't
necessarily need to see anymore and they like to protect
the guys and prevent that risk of injury. So that
is why we saw in a more controlled environment. Yeah,
(01:46):
and Wednesday a really important scrimmage. So, Tory, who stood
out to you and really like the first kind of real,
live intense action. Yeah, So I.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Think for me what stood out the most right off
the bat, very early, and then it continued on through
all the entirety of the scrimmage was the fact of
how heavily rotated. The first team second safety position was,
and the first team nickel slot position was. And I
say that, I'm gonna kind of break it down into
(02:16):
the two positions. Going into this offseason or this preseason,
we knew that the Falcons had some spots up for grab,
mainly the starting starting safety position right beside Jesse Bates
the third and that nickel spot. Even though d Alford
has held that spot for the last two years, it's
kind of an open competition at this point in time,
(02:37):
and they're really wanting to challenge d as well as
see what happens with Billy Bowman. So we knew that
those were two positions of competition. I guess I did
not realize until this moment how heavily contested that those
two competitions truly are. And I say that because very
early on, you would see the first team defense go
(02:58):
out there and you would see Jordan Fuller alongside Jesse Bates,
and you would see d Afford in the slot and
you're like, Okay, there's that group there. They're going to
be running with that the whole time.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Veterans, Yeah, the veterans.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
That was not the case at all. It and when
it got to the like mamba period, which is first
team offense versus first team defense, they were rotating that
second safety spot and that nickel spot almost in consecutive plays.
So for that second safety spot, you had Jordan Fuller,
you had Xavier Watts, and you had DeMarco Hellams getting
(03:30):
significant reps with the first team alongside Jesse Bates. And
then at nickel you had with the first team Billy
Bowman Junior d of Afford, and you even saw a
little bit of Mike Cues in there as well early on.
So I guess, like for me, I it is one
of those things where it's like you knew all these
like competitions were happening, but seeing how each person really
(03:51):
does have a shot to establish themselves at that spot,
and it doesn't feel right now, based on what we
saw today in this scrimmage, that there is one person
who has a leg up in that Like I do
think this is me personally, Xavier Watts. It's his race
to win ultimately in the long run at that second
safety spot, and I think sometimes I think the same
(04:13):
thing with Billy Bowman Junior. But that's not the case
where they are right now in their rookie year, and
so I guess like that was something that stuck out
immediately to me of like, oh, this is a much
more significant camp battle than maybe even I originally thought.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
You gotta see it to believe it, right.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yeah, Well, I do think it makes sense for a
couple of reasons, right, Like you at why not at
this point, right, Like all you got going for air
camp battles his training camp. It's time for that, So
give them as much run. Let them either win it
or lose it, you know, kind of out there on
the field. But the second reason is if we think
back to kind of the dan Quinn era when Raheem
and Olbrich were last here, they rotated a lot of
(04:50):
guys as well, specifically on the defensive line, and that
requires a lot of kind of communication and coordination amongst
the players and the coaching staff. So I wouldn't be
surprised if there was like a little bit of an
element of let's dry run this and let's get these
guys in and out, because those are positions specifically that
I do think not only have we see camp battles,
but we could see specific strategic rotations throughout the season.
(05:11):
So just like the defensive line, you want to get
your slots in and you want to get your safeties
in there. But we kind of split up a little
bit for this practice, beautiful Weather. I loved how we
had some some freedom to move around the players were
on the sidelines, but it wasn't a huge massive clump
kind of like there is sometimes. So we haven't really
even talked about what this practice was. And there were
a lot of cool plays, a lot of big name
(05:32):
players making some plays, new faces making plays. Teraren, Like,
what was your vibe on this whole practice? Was it
back and forth? Was it one sided? Did the defense win,
offense win? What'd you see?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Oh gosh, my mind is like running one hundred miles
an hour a minute or whatever you want to call it,
really fast, since I just finished writing the camp report.
So now I'm like, it's like the matrix in my
mind trying to figure out what exactly I want a
pinpoint because you mentioned that in like our pre podcast
meeting of like once or the other this and that,
I'm like, I don't know. Necessarily, I think there were
(06:04):
peak moments from both sides, so I guess that would
be balanced. Yeah, Like I can't pick one or the other.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
I thought that very early on. I felt the offense
kind of got out to a hot start when Michael
Pinnox was in and there's this one place specifically that
you'll see it on our social media, but it was
this deep ball to Ray Ray McLeod down the right
sideline and I'm gonna I'm actually gonna show y'all this
photo of me, and I'm gonna send it to producer
(06:32):
Jared so he can kind of like put it up
as well.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
How much can he zoom in We're gonna find Well, that's.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Gonna be the question. But this was me when that
throw was made to I don't know if you can see.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Her cheeks are like puffed out, that is.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
It's the It's like literally just like that's what it was.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
It was because it was like so it was so
that's it was the most beautiful throw that like, and
everyone on the sideline Terran like some of our other
like reporters, Will was on well, I was almost like
flagged you down, like Titch, you see right, yeah, and
(07:15):
Arch I showed him that picture and You're like, that's hilarious,
and I it was the most beautiful throw that I
think we've seen all of camp and it was I
mean right and step right right, didn't slow down, he
was right in stride. I mean, it's we're talking about
a forty five yard flip the field moment and that
was right off the bat. So I thought that really
(07:37):
set the tone. But also you have to also talk
about the fact that Leonard Floyd picked off Kirk Cousins
the very first play of the defense. So it it
once we got into.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Boom, Yeah, it was.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
It was.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
It was big play, big.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Play, and then they kind of got into it and
you could tell they started to work on some things.
But overall, I I agree with kind of y'all where
it was like every each unit had their moments, and
even young Way, who I think made like a fifty yarder,
so like even special teams were on one today he
won five of six.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
There we go.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Yeah, even like after that first big play to to
where you're kind of mentioning like there were moments then
when the defense really buckled down in the red zone,
and I thought he kind of because you started with
the ones and the twos, the offense started really fast,
and then the starting defense started really fast. Like you mentioned,
and Leonard Floyd, like we'll get to I guess we
can transition out of our offensive and defensive standouts. To me,
(08:27):
like Leonard Floyd, I was trying the whole time, like
to not just give it to him and then another
player kind of I think took it wrestled it away
from him later in practice. And we'll get to that
when we get to the offensive guys. But I think
we've done all this talking about the rookies, and we've done,
you know, a lot of talking about even Divine Diablo.
To me, Leonard Floyd is going to be the newcomer
that makes the biggest impact on this Falcons team. And
(08:48):
we've just kind of like not talked about him a
ton because of some of these new younger prices that
are funny. And he's gonna be the guy.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Yeah, and we've only talked about him. I feel like
in the context of what he can be for James
frist Junior.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Right, Right, we have a veteran role player, right.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
And like how he can help him, how he can
be a mentor to him, But not the fact that
Leonard Floyd is someone who has had eight, nine, ten
sacks in the last four or five years.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Yeah, and he still got it. Like here's so much
veteran this whole like training camp. I've been kind of
watching him and he's been doing things where he's in
position to make the play, but he also understands the like,
right now, the rep is the most important thing. So
I'm gonna let the pass get completed to Baijan even
though I'm here in the flat and kind of knock
it down if I needed to. Well, on Wednesday, he
was like, now's the time to show y'all that I
(09:31):
can actually make the play. And he did that right
off the jump. And if the Falcons start Week one
against Tampa Bay and it is a Michael Pennix bomb
down the field, we punch it in with the run
game and then you turn right around and it's Leonard
Floyd picking off Baker and taking at the distance, I mean,
what better? What better way to start the season than that.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
You'll hear no complaints from me.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Did anybody else have any defensive standouts that we want
to call out?
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Defense? I'll let you go to defense, defense, defense, right.
I know, like I'm sorry, not that there was anything
wrong or anything right, you know, I felt like saying
something wrong but I guess I was just like so
(10:13):
focused on getting like play by play by yeah, by play,
I think look more big picture.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Yeah, I think for me, it wasn't again, it wasn't
necessarily like one person. It was how significant the rotation
was happening across that defensive front, Like they were running
people in and out every two plays, if not every
other play. And that's why I even tweeted, I'm like, hey, guys,
I'm not going to tell you what the defensive rotating
the defensive front rotation is right now, because I would
(10:40):
be sending I would be sending a tweet every thirty
seconds trying to keep up with it. But I think
this is finally, finally what the Falcons have ultimately wanted
from this defensive front and never had the opportunity to
have because of the bodies that they did not have
to this point. So I think this is something that
I go back two years to when Ryan Nielsen was here,
(11:01):
and I feel like this was the type of defense
he wanted. He wanted these like almost hockey lines of
significant rotation within this defensive front. But it got to
the point in the season where injuries happened. That was
the year that Grady Jarrett goes down and you really
he really couldn't. He didn't do the body he didn't
have the bodies, he didn't have the different body types.
He didn't have the personnel to do it. Whereas now
(11:23):
Jeff Oldbrigg, based on the moves that this front office
has made, whether it be in free agency or the draft,
he has those bodies and he has the capabilities to
have that steady rotation which we're actively seeing right now.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Though I can't pinpoint one exact person in this moment
in time, there were two things out will. So that
really like clicked or flipped switches in my brain where
when it does come to the rotation, I didn't even
think about how important it is to practice that so
you're not getting like the wrong person going on or
the right like too many people switching or too many on,
too many off kind of thing, like you.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Need to do that.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
That's the word I want again. You go matrix, matrix
in my mind and.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
You're those spinning wheel of the caffeine.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
That I had before this. I don't know if it's
hit or if it was not hit too hard, but
so that like clicked, and I think today allowed that
because while it is way too difficult, as Tory said,
to keep up with every single one rotating, Like I
got the first lineup and I was like, Nope, this
will never be set in stone. No never. And then
the second thing, when you were talking about like in
(12:24):
the red zone defense stepping up. I think one area
of concern I've had about this whole attack style front
is you're putting so much on rushing the past that
what about your run defense. And there I have asked
Nate Alli about that, the defensive line coach, and he's like, well,
it's a give and take game like.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Everything, even bodies.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
You have twenty two players on defense instead of eleven,
but there were It was right after the Ray Ray
throw actually because there are I think a few yards
short of the end zone. Ray Ray didn't exactly get it,
but he came close. And it was three in a
row by Bjhon Robinson that the defense just kept stuffing
him along the line. To be fair, you can't fully
tackle in this scrimmage, even though they're trying it to
(13:08):
be as game like as possible. So who knows that
Bujon would have been his way through, but it was
pretty impressive. And then they break Tyler and Tyler Algier
and those are just so different and they are used
in different ways. But yeah, that in that moment, it's like,
all right, maybe they got you can do a little
(13:29):
bit of both and be successful at both. It depends
what bodies were in there.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Yeah, I do think that the short the red zone
area did highlight some of the other players who stood
out on defense, Jesse Bates, Kate Ellis like what else,
Like what do you expect? But their communication and specifically
the ability to read off of the gaps and force
that flow was noticeable down there. But let's talk about
some of the offensive guys that stood out. We mentioned
the running backs. You know, it's always tough to tell
(13:54):
preseason wise, like we'll really get a better idea in
the preseason with some of the guys further down the roster.
But wide receiver I felt had a nice solid day
and I think that was led by number five, who
has kind of been like the standout of training camp
I think most consistently and once again put on a
show and ended the day with such a flourish tory.
What did you see from Drake Lemon? I thought Drake was.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Drake was a touchdown? Was it a touchdown?
Speaker 3 (14:18):
I was on the hill. I thought he was in
like I thought. I thought he had it. I thought
it was good.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
I thought his feet weren't on the ground.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Elbow and I was running to a meeting at the
very end, so all I heard I turned around right
as he was coming down.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
I was like, he did it.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
But even a team, I don't know they were. They
came together and watched the replay, so that was entertaining.
But regardless, it was a great gut.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
To jump all over who was jo.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
The end zone? One was my cues, but there was
one previously that he had a jump ball on a Yeah,
done anything different?
Speaker 3 (14:54):
There was nothing, just he high pointed the ball and
he Drake did Drake London's dove like he did what
he has paid the money to do. And I think, Drake,
I know, I believe you're talking to Baldy at the
end of this podcast, and I think even he was
just like, this is a guy who's gonna, you know,
one hundred and fifty catches. Like everyone's predicting Drake London
(15:18):
to have this crazy year and he's doing all the
right things right now. That makes sense why people feel
that way.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Toys like at Fantasy Hey, yeah, yes.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
All right. So we've talked about, you know, some of
the names and really a lot of the offensive players
I think played well out there. But who are some
guys that we should maybe be looking for on Friday
when they suit up for that preseason game that fans
may not be aware of that we haven't had a
chance really spotlight on the show that you are looking
forward to seeing out there on Friday. Terr And I'll
start with you.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
What I'm really curious now, because Carlos Washington Junior wasn't
at practice today, is who's going to carry the bulk
the load now on Friday? There are other options. Saw
a lot of Elijah Dotson, Joshua Corbin, and Nathan Carter.
Nathan Carter, So I'm like, who's gonna step up if
Carlos is indeed out We don't know, We have no
(16:10):
update there, but I noticed he wasn't there and was
kind of like, ooh circle. Another one I'm curious is
because Casey Washington has stepped up so much in the
past week, who's going to do so in the preseason
Because it's like everyone you thought was gonna be in
the game. Is now like taking a step later where
maybe Casey's out there for one or two, but I
don't think he's gonna be the predominant receiver. So who's next.
(16:32):
I'm really curious if David Sills, the fifth goes out there.
When you said Jesse Bates the third, I was like,
there we go. So David Sill's the fifth because he
has been one of Kirk Cousin's favorite targets and training
camp and even though Kirk isn't going to play, if
David gets more reps. He even got reps today with
the first team that I wonder if they like what
they're seeing out of him. He is a veteran. So
(16:54):
those are probably my two. I'm curious about the offensive
line cultivating depth because you never know, even though there's
such a veteran presence and so much experience knock on Wood,
who would be the next man up. So those are
like the three areas I'm looking, Aka, what have I
left left?
Speaker 3 (17:10):
No, you've left You've left me something. I So I
had three players that I was gonna pinpoint to tell
the people about, and it Wasnatron Brooks, David Sales, who
you you've touched down, touched on, and then Brandon Dorless.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Oh I only did offense.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
No, that's okay.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
So this works out that I'm doing defense. I'm doing defense.
So Notron Brooks. He has been He's had a great camp.
This is somebody who has been exceptionally competitive at outside corner.
I even talking to Cayden Ellis on Tuesday, kind of
asking him, like, who has embodied what Jeff Olbrick wants
this defense to be.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
And He's like, Noatron Brooks.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
He's out there running, he's out there making plays, He's
getting hands on balls. Like I think that Brooks is fighting.
It's obvious to me that this is someone who is
fighting to be a part of this fifty three man roster.
And I know right now, as I'm kind of pinpoin
what a fifty three man roster looks like, I'm having
a hard time keeping him off of the roster simply
(18:05):
because I think he is playing enough to warrant being
on that fifty three man as a piece of depth
behind Mike Cues aj Turell. And so he's somebody I'm pinpointing.
I hope that we do get to see a bit
of a run from him. In this preseason time. And
then Brandon Dorles is someone who I'm really curious to
(18:25):
see how much run we get of him in the preseason,
especially this first game, because he's someone who's what they're
doing across the defensive line with him, I think it
is a little bit different. I think that it kind
of plays to his strength as kind of this like
tweener of a defensive lineman where you can put him
inside if you need to, but he can also act
(18:46):
as this big end, which happened a few times early
on in the scrimmage today where they had a four
man front and it was Leonard Floyd, David Anyamata, I
believe it was Rugeroo, or maybe it was Zach Harrison,
and then it was Brandon Dorlyss and he was acting
as this like big, big defensive end more so than
he was and then a few plays later they rotated
(19:08):
back in Arnold A. Wakhatti and Brandon Dorlys slid back
into the interior a little bit. And so he's someone
who I'm curious to see what he does with this
opportunity in front of him and how they utilize what
they're asking him to do, because I do think he
has a skill set to be this kind of fluid
piece along that defensive front. So those are my two
(19:30):
defensive guys to go along with David Siels, who I'm
also really excited to see in the preseason.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Yeah, I think those are amazing names. Every one of
those are on my list. I'd also add interior offensive line.
How is the depth there now that newsl is among
the starters. Our guest on today's show, who is about
to hop on? You're gonna hear his voice a former
offensive lineman his self. He is NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger.
You may know him as Baldy. So let's go ahead
(19:55):
and throw it to our conversation with Baldy and we
will see you guys next Monday morning. Falcons final whistle,
coming back first preseason game. Here we go, very excited
to be joined now by NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger. Brian,
thank you for taking the time to join me.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
It's good to be in Flowery Branch. It's been a
little while since I've been here, so it's good. I
used to get down here to training camp quite a
bit back in the day announcing, you know, Falcon preseason
games when Smitty was here. But it was good. Today
was good. I mean from sitting down Raheem at eight
thirty this morning till right now, it's been a great
day here.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
You talk about the Mike Smith era, they had some
classic matchups against the Detroit Lions, the Calvin Johnson Matthew
Stafford era. They're going to be up against the Detroit
Lions in their first preseason game on Friday. We already
know that the quarterbacks Michael Pennock Junior Kirk Cousins not
expected to play. We'll be curious to see what the
starters are going to look like. But let's go ahead
(20:53):
and kind of look big picture, and I'm going to
start with the division. Last year, they were right there,
NFC South right at the top. Have they done enough,
in your opinion this offseason kind of get over the
hump and back into the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Well, I don't know if it's getting over the hump
means that you're overtake Tampa because I'm not ready to
just to see you can see the division to Tampa
right now. But but they you know, they they had
shootout games with Tampa. They you know, they gave up
a lot of points against them last year. They got
to play better, but I think they're much better defensively.
I feel like what Jeff Albrich is knowing Jeff, I
(21:26):
think the players will back him up. They really believe
in what he's doing. And so, uh, you know, you
look at the additions, whether it's Leonard Floyd or the
rookies throughout the defense, whether Xavier Wats or Bowman or
Jalen you know whatever. Like, I think the infusion of
youth is good, but some of the veterans they brought
in are really good in keeping Jesse in the back end,
(21:48):
Like this should be a much improved defense. And then
it's a question of can Michael you know, really play
like a veteran just take care of the football. But
yet they need to be explosive of offensively and they
need to take their shots and he's got all the
ability to do that. I feel like the Falcons are
being overlooked, maybe because Tampa has just been so consistent,
(22:11):
and we know that the quarterback there has gotten really
good and they got great pieces around him. But they
were good matchups last year with Tampa. They should be
good matchups this year. But they're better than the Saints
they're better than Carolina, so it should be a two
horse race this year.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
What do you expect to see from Michael Pennix Junior
this year? I mean, obviously, in his three starts last season,
we saw, you know, enough potential I think to get
really excited about what he can be. But starting the
course of seventeen games, you have to play with a
level of consistency that you know, a three game sample
size just isn't enough to have a true level of confidence.
(22:46):
And so what do you expect to see from Michael Pennicks.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
I'm a big fan. I'm a huge fan of Michael.
He's got a big arm. Any day you go out
to practice, you know, whether it's a deep ball or
whether it's a stick throw over the middle or swing
pass to Bijon, Like the guy has great accuracy in touch.
I believe in Michael Penis. Now he's had the whole
off season, you know, unlike last year, he's had. He
(23:08):
gets every you know, all the reps that he wants
that he needs, and so now it's a question and
you know he's he's kind of a he leaves in
a different way. He's not real vocal, but that's Okay,
you lead the way that you're built. But I believe
in Michael. I believe that he's got the talent and
physically he's got the talent, whether it's to elude the
rush take off with it like that guy is an
(23:29):
elite athlete and he's a very smart kid. Like can
he do what Jayden did last year? I don't know
if anybody that we're gonna see come in the league
can do what Jayden did last year and continues to do.
But I believe he's he's in that conversation that he's
got that type of ability. So I think they made
the right move last year. I think this is the
(23:49):
right move, and now it's question of he's got to
go out there and to your point, he's got to
be very consistent about.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
It, and he's he's getting plugged into a really ideal situation.
I mean, oftentimes a lot of these hydraft picks, they're
not going to a situation where you have arguably the
best offensive line in the league. We saw Cayleer McGarry
get signed to an extension earlier this week. You have
all of the skill weapons you would won. Uh what
do you what have you seen from Drake London. Actually,
I want to ask you about him in particular. He's
(24:16):
been somebody We've talked a lot about this this preseason.
The coaches have said he's a dirty work guy. Uh,
as a former offensive lineman, Like, how much do you
love to hear that about a wide receiver that he
loves to come in and shoulder to shoulder with you
in the trenches.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
All I saw him do was catch pass his day,
the ball, Like I don't know, you know, I'm not
in fantasy football, but I know people are like that
guy might be targeted more than any other player in
this league this year. Like there's a connection already between
him and Michael Uh. This Drake leunning, Like he's just
amazing to go out there and watch practice. He catches
every ball and so like he's he's just a talented guy.
(24:52):
He's got a big body, Like there's he's always open.
He's gonna he caught a hundred passes last year. He's
gonna catch more than that this year. He is an
elite player. You know, he might not have the separation
skills that some guys have, but he know he wins
in a different way. Like his size and length It's
really you could put the ball anywhere and he has
(25:12):
the radius to go get it. I'm a big believer.
Anybody out there in the fantasy world looking for wide
receiver number one, don't overlook Drake London.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
No, absolutely not. Darnell Mooney. We saw really mixed splash
last year too. He's going to be out for the preseason.
Hopefully he's going to be back for the raiular season.
But another player in the mix Kyle Pitts. He's been
kind of an enigma here I think the last few seasons.
What do the Falcons have to do, in your opinion,
to kind of get a consistent weekend, week out production
from Kyle pits Well.
Speaker 4 (25:40):
I don't know if he is ever going to get
the speed all the way back from the injury, but
that was always a question mark. Can he separate? Can
he you know, can he win his one on ones
with the guys out there?
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Today?
Speaker 4 (25:53):
He had a number of big catches that was encouraging.
Michael Pennix came to him late over the middle, put
the ball right on the te The hands look really good.
Sometimes you just need to change at that position, you know,
to be to become a part I never felt like
he was put in a position to be a part
(26:13):
of the offense. He always seemed to be an extracurricular piece,
even with the draft status and his size. It never
from the very beginning, I didn't feel like he was
a red zone target. I didn't feel he was like
a guy that they went to on third down. Sometimes
players need that confidence that they're coming to him in
order to emerge. It's never too late for a player
to catch fire and to catch confidence, and I believe
(26:36):
that's been part of the issue right here with Kyle.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
You mentioned the defense talking about how you know they
could be much improved from this year. A lot of
that is gonna have to do with the rookie class.
You said after the draft that you felt the Falcons
had the best draft class in the group. Why did
you feel that way at the time, and then after,
you know, hearing and learning what you've learned today and
seeing what you sat there on the field, you know,
do you still feel that way?
Speaker 4 (26:56):
Yeah? I do, because I think Billy Bowman is is
just you know, he's that slot defender that you know
that Brian Branches in Detroit. You go around the league,
guys that have just made to play certain positions, like
he's a super competitive guy. I love Xavier Wats coming out.
I don't know what his role is exactly yet to
see how he's gonna get on the field, but I
(27:17):
believe they're gonna everybody plays three safeties in this league,
so I think he's gonna be learning that. You know, look,
the two first round picks. It's one thing to get one,
it's another thing to trade up, you know, tradeing number
one pick next year to get two of them. And
so it's been an issue here forever trying to find
(27:37):
guys that can get to the quarterback and affect the quarterback.
And you have to have that. You can't just scheme
guys open, and so you need guys that can win
one on ones. And I believe that they finally have
guys that have that ability. Now. Generally pass rushers need
a red shirt year to figure it out, but I
have a feeling Number twenty seven is kind of advanced
(27:59):
right now. It might be he contribute right now. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
James Fierce Junior has really been kind of the talk
of training camp. He's he's given the offensive line and
run for their money week in week out, and veteran
like Jake Matthews. You know, I don't know if I've
seen him work as hard in a training camp in
a while. What what do you expect? I mean, you
just said that red shirt year can be beneficial. But
when you have traits the ability to win right off
the ball, and that's what Jeff Holbrick is going to
(28:23):
try to unleash. Is that a path to early results
for James p Yeah? Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
I mean if you look look, Jared Versus was the
defensive player of the year last year, he was first
round pick defensive end. Like, they're totally different players. But
I would say that, you know, James like he's already
getting underneath people's skin out there. You know, he's already
being irritant, you know, which you know you need that,
you need that personality, you know, jalens quiet, He goes
about his business in a different way. I saw him
(28:49):
at Sack Summit with Von Miller and Max Crosby. Told
me a lot about him, that he was out there
trying to learn from some of these guys at the
end of June when he could have been enjoying himself someplace.
So he looks like he's a serious student, he does
it in a different way. But look the whole group EBA, KT,
you know, Floyd, Like they've been drafting guys now for
(29:10):
a while, Like you've got to find guys that can
win one on ones and bring heat off the edge.
It doesn't always have to be a sack. It can
be flushing a quarterback, affecting a quarterback, moving a quarterback.
And I feel like James his length. I remember just
watching him at the Combine this year when he blew
that I don't know what he ran at four or
five two whatever, it was something crazy, two hundred and
(29:32):
fifty pounds. Like he has all the measurables and the talent.
Now it's a question of Okay, let's start building the
repertoire of plays because these these tackles in this league
are getting more difficult to beat, and so I want
to see what he can do against the elite guys
right now.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Yeah, it's something I'm fascinated about as well. And it's why,
you know, I asked him. He's going up against Kayla McGary,
then Jake Matthews, then Storm Norton, you know, then a
bunch of different people. And as he's starting to refine
a plan while going up against different styles, or is
he you know, just working on his natural.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
Well than just his natural abilities right now? Exactly, he
needs a plan.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
So somebody who had a plan a lot last year
at least in terms of pass rushing was Kaden Ellis.
He was incredibly efficient when used in that way. I
think he was a big reason the Falcons turned their
pass rush around after the bye week. I mean, where
do you think he kind of is he the perfect
type of middle linebacker for today's INFL because you know,
it kind of feels like him and Zach Bond, they're
(30:30):
they're in a little bit of that mold of do everything,
and that's what defensive coordinators are looking for.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
Yeah, I mean everybody. You can't line up against Joe
Burrow or Lamar Jackson. You can't line up against these
guys and just give them the same look. You just can't.
You've got to come from different You've got to give
them one thing and show them another thing. You've got
to keep them guessing. If they know what to snap,
what you're going to do, or have a pretty good
(30:56):
general consensus what you're going to do, they're going to
carve you up and so whether that's a modern day
thing or not, these guys are so good at the
pre snap reads right now that you've got to make
them think all the way up into the you know,
the shotgun snap or the snap and so I'm I'm
gonna and Jeff Waldbrick has that ability to do it,
and so Kayden fits that kind of a role right now.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Yeah, I want to ask you about that reunion of
Jeff Wulbrick and Raheem Morris. It is something where I
think their familiarity and their year of working together in
an interim capacity, you know, will pay immediate dividends for Atlanta.
You know, what do you think that could look like here?
Speaker 4 (31:31):
Well, I imagine that when things you know, got turned
around in New York that that phone call to Jeff
was pretty quick. And then just talking to Jesse Bates
today and some other guys like they, it's they They've
always said, it's gonna be night and day different from
last year. It's not to knock anybody that was here
last year. Jeff Oldbrook is a very passionate, creative defensive coordinator.
(31:52):
I've seen him when he was with the Jets down
his top three corner Sauce Gardner, DJ Reid, you know,
their slot defender, and they beat the Eagles with AJ
Brown and DeVante Smith, and he had guys off to
literally a practice squad playing corner and he came up
with the game plan where they took it away a
bunch of times that day to beat the Eagles. And
(32:12):
he just looked at me before the game, like, what
would you like? He had a plan, And so that
kind of made me believe that, Okay, we're gonna build
this defense about who we have and who's available, and
then we'll figure out what we're gonna do. But we'll
give him everything right now to learn it. And so
I think that you're gonna see some you know, game
to game game planning from Jeff this year, which is
(32:34):
going to be what you have to do in this business.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Awesome, buddy, that's all I got for you. Thank you
so much for taking a time to speak to our listeners.
It was a pleasure to have you on.
Speaker 4 (32:43):
Thank you have me on again. Like, I want to
see if any of these things I'm saying come true.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
All right, of course we'll have to do a media
check in with you.
Speaker 4 (32:50):
Let's check in later.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Awesome. Thank you again,
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