Big Blue Kickoff Live 7/16 | Raiders and Vikings Previews - Big Blue Kickoff Live | New York Giants

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
It's time for a Big Blue Kickoff line.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Nobody can ever tell you that you couldn't do it
because you're.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
On Giants dot Com.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Do you know what I saw to York Giant cry
and the Giants Mobile as seventeen fourteen.

Speaker 3 (00:17):
What tundown we are We're all taking part of the
Giants podcast network. Let's go on ahead on.

Speaker 4 (00:24):
The Welcome to another episode of Big Blue Kickoff Live,
presented by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle the Giants. John Schmelk,
Matthewstack with you as you continue our opponent previews series
with training Camp now believe it or not, less than
a week away and the chaos begins and now we
are happy to continue to go later on in the schedule.

(00:45):
We're into December now, folks, and we welcome in Vinnie
bon Signor from Vegas Nation dot com, Raider Nation Radio
and Las Vegas Review Journal. Vinie, you got johnsh Malcolm
Matthew Stack here and he's brother for the Giants facility.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
How you doing today, man, I'm doing great.

Speaker 5 (01:00):
Thanks for having me and man as quickly as or
as soon as Chinese Camp is here, it basically is here.
That game seems like such a far away away. I'm like,
I'm very curious to see where the Giants are and
where the Raiders are. What is that the second, second,
and last week of the season, So it might be
two completely different teams, and they might go on two
or three or four different journeys before we actually get

(01:22):
to that last game. Who's going to be the quarterback
for the Giants? What's the Raiders record? Going to be
a lot of intrigue even though that game feels like
forever away.

Speaker 4 (01:31):
Yeah, and I got to imagine Viddie that there's got
to be a lot of optimism for the Raiders, right.
You know, you're bringing Pete Carroll, who's a proven NFL
head coach, you bring in Geno Smith, who's a good
NFL quarterback. What's been just the general vibes around the building,
the fans and what kind of presence has Pete Carroll
been just renewing? And by the way, we love Antonio Pierce,
so I'm quite sure the culture on their peers was

(01:53):
also very good. But we know that's what Pete Carroll does, Right,
How has it been with with kind of Pete Carrow?
They're establishing a culture that only Pete Carrol can establish.

Speaker 6 (02:02):
Yeah, no question about it.

Speaker 5 (02:03):
But you really have to go back to last October
when Tom Brady was approved as one of the new
owners of the Raiders. It really kind of started there
a lot of what they're doing now setting the tone
being about, you know, everything that it takes to be
a winner. So I go back to that and the positivity,
the optimism is real here for the first time in

(02:24):
a long time. And yes, everybody does love Antonio Piers,
but even this time last year. All right, it's his
first training camp, it's his first full season in charge,
it's the first time he's put.

Speaker 6 (02:33):
Together a full staff.

Speaker 5 (02:34):
What is he going to be like game in and
game out on Sundays and the preparation, you know, for
every game. There were a lot of concerns with Antonio Piers.
There's really zero with Pete Carroll unless you're worried about
the age. Yes, he's seventy three years old. He'll be
seventy four years old during the season, But I say
seventy three years young because this guy is everybody a

(02:55):
run for the money when it comes to the energy level.
So the questions that were here last year, I can't
think of a single one you know, with Pete Carroll
this time last year, you're just like it was with
Josh McDaniels and maybe some other coaches that the Raiders
had here, you're wondering and thinking about reasons why this
is not going to work, why this is going to
be the same thing that's happened with so many other

(03:15):
coaching situations here with the Raiders.

Speaker 6 (03:17):
With Pete Carroll, we.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Know the feeling, Vinnie, by the way, we know the
feeling there.

Speaker 6 (03:21):
You go exactly.

Speaker 5 (03:23):
You know, for the first time in a long time,
there's really more reasons why this is going to succeed
than fell and I would be I would be surprised
if it didn't work out.

Speaker 6 (03:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
So one of the or the first big move that
Pete Carroll made and as head coach, was obviously bringing
in his former quarterback with the Seahawks in Gino Smith. Now,
Gino's coming off sort of a mixed bag last year.
You know, he set new career highs in pesten yards
and completion percentage, but also through fifteen interceptions with just
twenty one touchdowns.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
So I guess how did Gino look throughout the spring?

Speaker 2 (03:57):
And I guess what are expectations for both Gene know
and this Raiders offense overall.

Speaker 5 (04:03):
Well, and you're right about you know, the fifteen interceptions.
A number of those were in the red zone. You know,
when you when you when you watch the tape and
kind of peel back a little bit, you understand that
he was deal with one of the worst offensive lines
in the NFL and really a non existent running game.
So you do wonder was he trying to do too much?
If that was the case, then then hopefully for Gino

(04:24):
and the Raiders, you know, that gets fixed this year.
But if it wasn't, if it continues to be a
persistent problem, that will be a problem. But even that
year would have felt like nirvana. Here for the Raiders
last year, when you're talking about Gardner, Minshew and and
Aidan O'Connell, the floor of the quarterback room has been
lifted significantly. You could see that during OTA's in mini

(04:45):
camp there was no question who the starter was. This
time last year, there was a quarterback battle going on
and quite frankly, it was I mean for anyone that
was there day in and day out, and unfortunately or fortunately,
whatever you want to call it, I was there every
day it was bad. It was it was you under stood,
you know, even in mini caamp and OTAs and going
into training camp that it was going to be a
struggle for the Raiders of score points.

Speaker 6 (05:07):
Primarily.

Speaker 5 (05:08):
One of the main reasons was because of the quarterback
play that's changed this year. You can see that it's
that it's just you know, better equipped, better handled, and
in a better position to do better this year. So
even last year, with those struggles, that would have been
a pretty darn good year for the Raiders quarterbacks last year.

Speaker 4 (05:25):
There are three things you can count on in life,
Vinnie death, taxes, and Pete Carroll draftson running backs high
and he got a really good one this year in
Ashton genty. What did you see from him in the
spring And is this offense really going to revolve around him?

Speaker 6 (05:42):
Yes?

Speaker 5 (05:42):
And no, don't forget about a guy by the name
of Rock Bowers. I'm Rady nine.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
He's gonna be He's not bad.

Speaker 6 (05:46):
He's not bad. But I was kidding.

Speaker 5 (05:49):
But you know, it's it's interesting with with Ashton because
those of us who live here in Las Vegas, and
I've only been here about five years, but I did
get two years of Ashton genty against UNLV and the
Mountain West Conference, which is the conference here, and fortunately
the you know, UNLV was pretty darn good the last
couple of years and they've played Boise State in some
big games. This guy is just spectacular. There's no other

(06:11):
way to put it. And I've seen him live three
times now in addition to also seeing him, you know.

Speaker 6 (06:16):
During during practices.

Speaker 5 (06:18):
There's just I mean, it's you talk to Pete Carroll
about it. It's funny when you when he starts talking
about Ashton Genty because you know, when you talk about
Pete Carroll, he's been around since he coached with Bud Grant.
That just says it all so in his memory bank,
and you can see it in his face in his
eyes when he says Ashton, he kind of reminds me.
And he always stops short before he goes there because
I can only imagine in his head all the running

(06:39):
backs that he's either coached, coached or coached against in
NFL history that he's starting to picture when he's thinking
about Ashton and stopped short of you know, putting that
kind of pressure on him. But I will, I mean,
he does remind you of Barrys Anders He does remind
you of Marshall Fock. He does remind you of Laedaneian Tomlinson.

Speaker 6 (06:59):
This is just.

Speaker 5 (06:59):
A a guy that's a rare breed at running back.
And there was some internal debate, you know, with the Raiders,
do you draft a running back that high at number six?
But at the end of the day, he's just so
good and such a dynamic force both as a runner
and you'll see it in the passing game.

Speaker 6 (07:17):
They're gonna involve him there.

Speaker 5 (07:19):
He's just a home run at any time, at any
point in the field, and it goes to your point
right up Pete Carroll's alley and Chip Kelly's quite.

Speaker 6 (07:27):
Honestly the new offensive corner.

Speaker 5 (07:28):
They want to run the ball, They want to control
the line of scrimmage and control the game and.

Speaker 6 (07:32):
Play on their terms.

Speaker 5 (07:33):
Mark and I said, Marshall fuck and Ashton genty gives
them a chance to do that.

Speaker 6 (07:38):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
So you mentioned brock Bauers.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
Of course, the second year tight end is coming off
record setting rookie year one hundred and twelve receptions almost
twelve hundred yards. You know, the only reason why the
league neighbors didn't set the all time rookie record is
because of Rock Bauer's performance. Now, with Gino Smith here,
obviously you expect some improved quarterback play. Is it possible
that for brock Bowers to have and even better season?

Speaker 1 (08:02):
Like what are expectations for him in year two?

Speaker 6 (08:05):
Now?

Speaker 5 (08:05):
Yeah, it's a great question, and and you could kind
of see it going both ways. You could see the
numbers go up or you could see because there's Ashton
genty and they invested heavily in wide receiver in the draft,
where you could see the numbers going down but the
impact going up.

Speaker 6 (08:21):
You know.

Speaker 5 (08:22):
So, but it's hard for me to imagine that they're
not going to try earnestly to get the ball into
brock Bowers's hands. And when I say impact, I guess
what I'm saying is, you know, there were so many
times last year where we would talk to brock Bowers
after games and you could see him saying, you know
or thinking, and you can it was kind of expressing
how he talked about him stuff. You want me to

(08:43):
talk about myself right now? But we just lost again.
This is like the eighth straight week that we've lost.
With the tenth straight week that we lost. This is
the guy that lost what maybe maybe on one hand
you could count the losses that he had at Georgia
and he went back to back national championships. He doesn't
not like to lose, and so it was a grind
for him and a challenge for him to talk about
himself when they were losing. When they won games, I mean,

(09:06):
he was just a different person. So when I say impact,
I'm i if the Raiders can get this turned around
and all of a sudden, block Powers is making those
putting up those type of numbers in winning situations, getting
a game winning touchdown, you know, converting a key third
down in a fourth down drive that clocks the game.
Just big moments, and he's capable of the kind of

(09:28):
the moments that you saw him do at Georgia. So
while the numbers may stay the same or maybe even
dip a little bit depending on how they disperse the football,
I would imagine the impact is going to go up.

Speaker 6 (09:37):
And to me, that's how memories are made.

Speaker 5 (09:39):
When when Raider fans think of Block Powers fifteen twenty
years down the road, you know, they may be thinking
about a player that put up a lot of numbers,
but did so in some important situations that's going to
be the key to it all.

Speaker 4 (09:53):
We've had a lot of positives, you're Vinie, I'm going
to hit the two question marks, at least what I
think of question marks on the offense. Those are the
weapons and wide receiver. Just not a lot of proven
guys there. Jacoby Myers is a good, solid event. Other
than that, I think you're you know, Trey Tucker can
get deep, but you don't know what else you're getting
from him. And then protection on the offensive line we get.
We like Colton Miller. I love Jackson powers Johnson coming out.
I thought you guys got a really good value when

(10:15):
when you picked him where you did. Alex Kapak just
got brought in. Talk about the targets for Gino and
then the protection for Gino and what you're kind of
keeping an eye on this summer as to how those
two units could impact the overall success of this offense.

Speaker 5 (10:30):
Yeah, you're spot on with the wide receivers because outside
of Jacoby Myers and a little bit of Trey Tucker,
there's really nothing there. And it's no, it's nothing personal
against anybody, it's just that their rookies. You know, Jack
bashe's a rookie. Dante Thornton is a rookie, Tommy Mallott
is a rookie. There's promise, without question. You know, there's
a lot of potential there, but until it translates onto

(10:52):
the football field, that's all it is.

Speaker 6 (10:54):
So there is major concern at least.

Speaker 5 (10:56):
From a from from a reliability standpoint out. Some of
those guys don't forget Michael Mayer. I think he's going
to be much more involved this year, the second string
tight end. The Chip Kelly and the Raiders offense has
an intentionality to get to get him involved. So we'll
see how he kind of slots in there. The protection
fair question as well, and a fair concern. The offensive

(11:18):
line started getting better last year after they made the
offensive coaching change they fired Luke Getsi, their their offensive
coordinator and their offensive line coach. It started getting better
and it's and it really started getting better when Jackson
what became the full time center and Dj Glaze another
you know, had a really solid rookie season, third round

(11:38):
pick for Maryland, solidified right tackle. So there's there's actually
a lot of continuity outside of Alex Cappa, and we'll
see if he hangs on to his job at right guard.
He didn't have the greatest season last year, and if
he bounces back, great, If not, they're going to have
to figure that position out, and there's some candidates to
do that. But it feels like the continuity is better.

(11:59):
There's a lot more experience now with Jackson and DJ
having their solid rookie years, so there's reason to believe
that it can be better. And they weren't awful in
terms of pass protection. Where they really struggled was in
the run game, although you get an argument on whether
it was their fault or the running back's fault. I
guess we're going to find out there's no more excuses
with Ashton Genty. They need to run the ball and

(12:21):
if they can't with Ashton Genty, and then that's a
real offensive line problem. So we'll see that is a
concern right now. But what's interesting to me is that
when you look at the Raiders offense, and yes, the
wide receivers behind Jacoby Myers and Trey Tucker are a concern,
but when you have Brock Bauers and Jacoby Myers and

(12:42):
Ashton Genty and Michael Mayer, I think they feel pretty
good about where it is right now and where it
can potentially be if Jack Besh develops as they expect
and Dante Thornton becomes, you know somewhat maybe a rotational
or a situational wide receiver. But when you think about
this offense this year compared to last year, for it
to only really be hey, well, Jack best translate to

(13:04):
the NFL and is this offensive line, you know, going
to take a step back or continue the momentum that
it created last year for itself, it makes it a
far cry, you know from last year.

Speaker 6 (13:16):
Last year it was just like, oh boy, they're not
going to score any points, and they certainly didn't.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yeah, moving over to the other side of the ball now,
of course, when you talk about the Raiders defense, it
all starts with Max Crosby, and you know he got
rewarded with a humongous extension earlier in this offseason.

Speaker 1 (13:33):
But just talk about some of the.

Speaker 2 (13:35):
Other changes that the Raiders made on the defensive side
of the ball, some of the new guys that were
brought in, and why the Raiders could make a potential
stap or a leap on the defensive side of the ball.

Speaker 5 (13:45):
Yeah, and that that is a little bit of a
concern because there was a lot of change over. They've got,
you know, new starting linebackers a Landon Roberts and Devin White.
They've got a new safety and Jeremy Chin, new cornerbacks
Eric Stokes, and at least going off OTAs in mini camp,
Darren Porter, the rookie from Iowa State, was the starter
over over there. So it's it's a it's a really

(14:07):
revamped defense. They let a lot of guys walk that
that you know, that scored bigger contracts outside their building,
Robert Spuline, Chevon merreg Nate Hobbs. So so they're going
to have to figure out ways to replace some people
that put up some pretty decent numbers last year. But
it does kind of start with Max Crosby. He got
hurt in Week two against the Baltimore Ravens, a really

(14:29):
nasty ankle injury, kind of ironically the last play of
the game, I think it was, and it was really
never the same last year, and they finally shut him
down with about.

Speaker 6 (14:36):
Four games left.

Speaker 5 (14:38):
Getting him back healthy and he looked electric out there
during the spring will definitely help. Getting Malcolm Coots, who
they were relying on as you know as a as
a productive pass rusher last year, but he went down
with a season ending knee injury like two games two
three days before the season.

Speaker 6 (14:54):
Oper never had Malcolm.

Speaker 5 (14:55):
He's back on target to play, but really the big
concern right now as Christian Will. He suffered a foot injury,
a season ending foot injury in Week five, had surgery.
Was looking to come back toward the end of last year,
but they shut him down.

Speaker 6 (15:09):
There was really nothing to play for.

Speaker 5 (15:11):
But then in January he suffered some sort of a
setback and last week saw him he was in his
walking boot again, missed all of the spring, all of
midie camp.

Speaker 6 (15:22):
Don't know what his status is going to be.

Speaker 5 (15:24):
Going to find out here in about a week or so,
you know, whether he's ready to start training camp or
that there's going to be some delay. So they need
their big defensive tackle. He was their big free agent
signing last year to be healthy. If he's not, you know,
that's a problem right there.

Speaker 4 (15:39):
I feel like they're putting a lot of faith Vinnie
into Patrick Graham to make do with this secondary. I
mean they are. I mean, Jeremy Chin's a good player.
Darien Porter was not just a rookie a pretty raw rookie.
He what, he played cornerback what two years I think
after he converted over from wide receiver.

Speaker 1 (15:54):
Yeah, and only started one exactly.

Speaker 4 (15:57):
So you know, Darnay Holmes, I mean, we have a
lot of familiarity with Donny Holmes here. It's been a
while since he's been a starter in the league. Eric Stokes,
he couldn't hold a job in Green Bay.

Speaker 6 (16:07):
I know.

Speaker 4 (16:08):
Patrick Graham's a good coordinator and he plays a lot
his own. He's not gonna put these guys in man
demand situations. But boy, you're in a division with Patrick
Mahomes and Justin Herbert and with the you know, chown
paint with bon Nicks last year, I think your offensive
might have to score a lot of points with the secondary.

Speaker 5 (16:25):
Vintie Yeah, and uh, your part of that's going to
be ken Ken the front four create consistent pressure that'll
if they can, then that's certainly going to help the secondary.
But no question, there's there's concerns there. But you know,
you mentioned Pete, you mentioned excuse me, Patrick Graham, but
but don't forget this is Pete Carroll's team now and

(16:46):
and really his defense, and it'll be very interesting and
just talking to some people in the NFL how that
all works because Patrick Graham and Pete Carroll run two
different two different types of defenses, and from my understanding
talking to some people in the building, it's going to
be a blending of both philosophies and both schemes. So,
you know, we'll see how that plays out. And I

(17:06):
guess the one thing that that you know, probably should
give Raider fans a little bit of hope is that
at his core, Pete Carroll's defensive back. He played defensive
back in high school, in college, coached it in college,
coached it in the NFL, that's where he made his payway,
you know, and then becoming a defensive coordinator and the
great head coach. So he knows defensive backs, and he's
got a long track record in history of developing guys

(17:30):
and especially guys that you know, he drafted later on
in the draft, not just the first round picks, but
the fifths and the sixth and he undrafted free agents.
So we were here, you know, during during the spring,
wondering are they going to make a move another move
at cornerback or in the secondary. And there's some there's
some guys out there Mike Hilton is still out there,
you know, with the Cincinnati Bengals, and he's unsigned. But

(17:52):
as the days kept kept passing by and no movement
was made, you know, with the cornerback room, especially after
Taz and Mini Camp, you start to wonder, Okay, maybe
they saw what they wanted to see from from that group,
and maybe Pete with all his magic and all his
madness when it comes to the secondary, feels like they're
gonna be able to get that squared away.

Speaker 6 (18:14):
But for me, it's still a concern. And and uh
and I.

Speaker 5 (18:19):
Wouldn't be surprised if they did make another move, but
but as of right now, they haven't. So they must
like what they what they what they've seen so far
in that young secondary.

Speaker 1 (18:29):
You're good, Matt, Yeah, awesome.

Speaker 4 (18:32):
I want to ask about Tom Brady, but you mentioned
him at the top, Vinnie before we say goodbye. To
what extent does he present I guess is my question?
Like he's not a majority owner, but we know he's
you know, they're taking advice on football decisions. Is he
like the quasi general manager? Like, what's the level of
involvement in presence that Tom Brady has in that organization?

Speaker 1 (18:55):
Or do you or do people even know? To be
honest with.

Speaker 5 (18:57):
You, yeah, I would say I would I would classify
as omnipresent.

Speaker 6 (19:01):
You know, I know that.

Speaker 5 (19:02):
You know he's not in the building every day. He's
got a lot of other endeavors, you know that that
that he's a part of, But he's always a phone
call away or a text away, and that, to me,
that makes all the difference in the world.

Speaker 6 (19:13):
So he's a tone setter.

Speaker 5 (19:17):
He's somebody that look the general manager, John spy Tech
was his college teammate at Michigan. John spy Tech's not here,
you know if it wasn't for Tom Brady and and
and John has a nice track record and resume. Don't
get me wrong, He's very good at what he does.
Has been a part of some really good organizations, including
in Tampa when when Tom and and he and the

(19:37):
Tamay Buccaneers won a Super Bowl.

Speaker 6 (19:39):
But he's he's.

Speaker 5 (19:41):
Probably about as good a confidant, observer, a wealth of
knowledge that you can that you could possibly find. And
it's truly not just Tom. They brought in three others
that are that are big time kind of business people
that have run really successful businesses in their own right,
and they've changed how they're doing things on the business side.
But I but they were all part of the hiring

(20:03):
process for Pete Carroll, so so they're part of the
football side of it as well. But but to answer
your question, it's it's huge and and he's he's always available.
So it's not like, you know, they go months without
talking or weeks without talking. It's probably, I would say,
on a on a daily basis or a multi time
per week basis. So so he's he's, it's big time.

(20:26):
And there's been a noticeable change, uh since he and
the other new minority owners came aboard.

Speaker 4 (20:32):
Has there been avocado ice cream dispensers installed in the
cafeteria for you guys?

Speaker 5 (20:36):
Know, I have not seen any, but I would not
be a surprised. I know that he's he's, he's he's
he's made some changes on on that on that side
of things as well, and he's brought in some people
that he knows really well, uh, to help with the
nutrition and the and the and and you know, the
body building and and all of that type of stuff,
the strength, strength and conditioning. So so there's definitely been

(20:58):
changes along that the lines as well.

Speaker 6 (21:00):
I don't know about the alvacado.

Speaker 4 (21:01):
Though, Vinnie, tell all the folks who I think you
find all your stuff.

Speaker 5 (21:05):
Yeap vegasnation dot com if you want to read all
of our stuff.

Speaker 6 (21:09):
Our podcasts are up there as well. And then Raider
Nation Radio.

Speaker 5 (21:11):
I'm the co host of the Morning Tailgate Show seven
to ten am Pacific time on you can stream it
on raiders dot com.

Speaker 4 (21:19):
That is awesome, Vinny, awesome stuff, my friend. We'll see
in a few months. Enjoy the grind. In fact, what
do the Raiders do camp? Well, you guys in Vegas
or do you go somewhere?

Speaker 5 (21:27):
Well, well, they were they were supposed to go to
or leave they were. They were dabbling with going back
up to Napa Valley. Unfortunately that didn't work out. So
we're in Henderson, which is where their practice facility is.
So you can expect some very very very early morning
practices to beat the heat.

Speaker 4 (21:43):
So it is what it is, I would say, and
maybe some indoor practices as well. Anny, good stuff, my friend.
Enjoyed the grind. We see in a few months.

Speaker 6 (21:50):
All right, guys, take care, thanks for having me.

Speaker 4 (21:52):
We thank Vinnie Beunzingor for joining us. Great information there
on the Las Vegas Raiders that we turn attention to
another one of the Giants' opponents in December. Who knows
what to look like then, but we can least to
find out what they look like now from Matthew Kller,
who covers them for Purple Insider.

Speaker 1 (22:06):
Matt, good to talk to you again, man, how are you.

Speaker 7 (22:08):
I'm doing great? This is one of my favorite things.
I do this on my show as well. Let's talk
about a game that's gonna happen many many months from
now and what's going on in the offseason. And you
know what, we're also obsessed with football that everybody still loves.

Speaker 4 (22:21):
It all right, so much much like the Giants where
there's been just a ton of conversation about the quarterback
position this offseason, it's been the same for the Vikings.
Decide to move on from Kirk Cousins, they go to
Sam Donald and move on from Sam Donald and now
they're on to JJ McCarthy.

Speaker 1 (22:37):
So what did they see.

Speaker 4 (22:40):
From him in the spring And what do you think
expectations are for what JJ is going to bring to
the field this season.

Speaker 7 (22:45):
Yeah, the big thing with the spring was is he
back to one hundred percent health. I mean going through
a meniscus tear is really tricky. I mean he had
to have the full surgery, which means the total repair
better for him in the long term, but that's a
much longer and more challenging recovery that I think was
difficult for him, both physically and mentally. But to get

(23:07):
back on the field to start, it was around January
we actually got out there and started throwing again, So
he had four or five months before they started OTAs
in mini camp for him to feel like he was
fully recovered, fully back, And then on the first OTA
practice that was open to the media, first couple of throws,
he came out and let us know that he was back.

(23:28):
There was one throw where I think it was maybe
Jordan Addison was kind of coming right at us on
the sideline.

Speaker 3 (23:33):
You know how those the situations work.

Speaker 7 (23:36):
Yep, and he let it rip much harder than he
actually had to throw it, just gotta let us all know.
You guys see the velocity on my arm, which I
know has been something that people have debated. I don't
think there's a whole lot of question after seeing it
up close what JJ could do in terms of his
arm strength. But the big challenge for him is that
when you look at the rest of this team, it

(23:58):
is stacked. They have veterans players at every single position.
If you go through the people's positional rankings and things
like that, you're going to find the Vikings receivers, offensive line,
defensive line all over the place. And you have this
quarterback who's never played before. And that is a really
fascinating dynamic. But one thing that I should say from
what we saw from him in the spring is this

(24:20):
is not a rookie quarterback.

Speaker 3 (24:21):
You'll hear that a lot from people.

Speaker 7 (24:23):
Well, you know, he's basically a rookie, but not really
because he had all of last year. He learned the offense,
he learned what it meant to be an NFL quarterback,
and even though he couldn't practice due to the injury,
he got to see Sam Darnold run Kevin O'Connell's offense.
And he also got to see Sam Darnald deal with
the ups and downs of the NFL where one week

(24:43):
you're the hero and the next week you're the goat
in the bad way. And I think he learned a
ton from that last year. So he looked comfortable to
me in the offense, and I thought he looked physically
very very strong. And now it's kind of off we go.
It's really hard to tell in those minigam and OTA's
it's really not till we get into training camp till

(25:03):
we really see when they're out of that install period
and they're really trying to ramp things up. But McCarthy
was very, very good in training camp last year, and
I think that was a major reason that they were
comfortable moving on from Sam Darnold, and just judging by
the way that everybody was acting, the other players, the coaches,
I think that they feel like they made the right

(25:25):
decision as of right now, and then we're going to
find out going forward.

Speaker 2 (25:30):
Now we know the three of us know that quarterback's
best friend is a strong offensive line. And you know,
the Vikings offensive line last year wasn't the greatest, you know,
finish in the top ten and most sacks allowed, And
clearly that was a priority in the offseason to address
the offensive line with the additions of Ryan Kelly, Will
Frees and of course Donovan Jackson. So of course in

(25:52):
the spring they're no pads. He mentioned, there's no contact,
but how does the offensive line coming together? And on
a side note, where does a look like Donovan Jackson
is in his progress towards from last year's injury.

Speaker 7 (26:04):
Yeah, I think we had the sense right there in
Week one last year when Dexter Lawrence got about forty
seven pressures that maybe the interior offensive line wasn't going
to hold up if they faced the wrong team in
the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (26:16):
And that's really what happened.

Speaker 7 (26:17):
They went into that game against the Los Angeles Rams
feeling like they should have had a chance, and they
walked out of it feeling like if they had a
better interior offensive line, they would have had a chance.
And I would tend to agree with that. It's been
a bit of the bugaboo of the offense for I
would say years. I mean, who doesn't remember the Kirk
Cousins check down against the Giants in the playoffs?

Speaker 3 (26:39):
Well, why did that happen?

Speaker 7 (26:40):
Because Dexter Lawrence blasted through the left guard and was
in the backfield immediately. And you know, I think that
really sat poorly with Kevin O'Connell that he felt like,
maybe I'd have two playoff wins if we invested in
that interior line. And it's also getting I think harder
and harder around the league to play guard, to play center.
They went out there and they spent, and you know,

(27:02):
Ryan Kelly to me, is the key to the operation
here because he's not just a great player, a four
time pro bowler and if we go by PFF grades,
one of the best pass blocking centers in the NFL
over the last decade, but also this guy has seen
it all.

Speaker 3 (27:16):
He's done it all.

Speaker 7 (27:18):
I mean he has played with all sorts of different
types of quarterbacks, and I think what an underrated skill
is now in the NFL for centers is being able
to identify stunts, splitz's twists, all the things that we
know Brian Flores's defense loves to throw at people. But
it's a copycat league and you're seeing it week in
and week out with all sorts of different blitzes, especially

(27:40):
attacking the middle. And bringing in Ryan Kelly was bringing
in someone who knows how to sort those things out,
knows how to communicate, and knows how.

Speaker 3 (27:48):
To lead a young quarterback.

Speaker 7 (27:50):
I mean he was there for Andrew Lucky, was there
for Anthony Richardson and everybody in between.

Speaker 3 (27:54):
He's got a lot of experience doing that.

Speaker 7 (27:56):
And as far as your question of you know Donovan
Jackson in OTA's in mini camp, Kevin O'Connell truly does
not believe in contact for the big men, and I
agree with him. You got to stay healthy throughout the season.
So it's hard to say how he looked out there
just doing some individual patty cake drills with his friends.
But as far as his actual fit, I think there's

(28:17):
a few things that work really in Donovan Jackson's favor.
One is that he's got Ryan Kelly and Christian Darisaw
on his right and left, so it's not like the
Vikings brought him in to just be the offensive line
and save the offensive line. He's got a lot of
help on his left and right. The other thing is
too that he proved a lot to the Vikings, and
one of the reasons they loved him so much was

(28:38):
playing tackle last year for Ohio State and he had
to move from guard to tackle kind of on a
whim because of some injuries, and by the time they
got to the National Championship game, he was a top
notch college left tackle, playing against the best competition and
performing at an extremely high level. And I think that
that said a lot about how quickly he can learn

(28:58):
and adapt and his intelligence as a player, and also
his unselfishness, because there was some concern that that could
hurt his draft stock if he had a terrible year
at a position that he had never played.

Speaker 3 (29:10):
So he is the top notch athlete. I think they
love his character. But we all know this. I mean,
if he goes.

Speaker 7 (29:16):
You know, up against the best of the best defensive
tackles the NFL, right away, there will be a learning
curve for Donovan Jackson. But maybe by the time he's
facing off with the New York Giants, he's gotten into
the swing of things. And I think we see that
with offensive lineman a lot. The first couple of weeks
are pretty rough, and then as they develop along the way,
they can improve quickly if they're going to be a

(29:37):
good one in the NFL, and I think Donovan Jackson.

Speaker 4 (29:39):
Can be last one on the offense from me here, Matt,
you know, I think you talk about the pass protection,
bringing in those guards, but I think trying to get
the run game going was a big part of those
moves too. You know, Aaron Jones is a really good player,
but they just have not been able to consistently get
the running game going. I think they've been kind of
hunting and pecking in terms of what schemes gonna work

(30:00):
for them. And that's you know, Kevin O'Connell. For as
great of an offensive coach as he is, and he's
been a good head coaches too, obviously, he just has
to seem to figure out the running game. What do
you think that's going to look like this year? With
Jones back, they bring in Jordan Mason as well, and
is that really a priority for the offense this year,
especially with JJ McCarthy coming from such a heavy play
action scheme in college, to get that run game going.

Speaker 3 (30:22):
Yeah, I think that was a massive priority.

Speaker 7 (30:25):
And you're right with JJ McCarthy that where he thrived
a lot in college was running play action schemes of
Jim Harbaughs, and the Vikings want to do that as well.
Last year they had a ton of success running play
action with Sam Donald, but as the season wore on,
and especially when Christian Darrisaw got hurt and then they
had to replace their right guard at Ingram with Dalton Reisner,

(30:48):
who was a much worse run blocker but much better
pass blocker. They just were not able to intimidate anybody
with that run game. And I think, you know, the
way things played out last year is great. As Sam
Donald was throwing the foot ball, that could put it
on his shoulders. But he was a veteran quarterback and
you could do that, especially as he got totally comfortable
in the offense. I would not want to do that

(31:08):
with JJ McCarthy, where you're saying, Okay, go throw the
ball forty times a game, and I think that was
a major priority. And that's where Will Fryes comes in.
And it is pronounced Fries by the way, which is
awesome for an offensive lineman to have that as a pronunciation.

Speaker 3 (31:23):
We did double check with him, but that's.

Speaker 1 (31:25):
Funny, by the way.

Speaker 4 (31:26):
It's funny asked that because we had that debate literally
on our air last offseason, because the Giants have reported
interest in him too, and I literally heard it both
ways from like two or three different sources, and hell
if I could figure it out.

Speaker 7 (31:37):
Yeah, we checked with him on his initial call with us,
and hey, if I was an offensive lineman, I would
also go by fries as well. But but the thing,
you know, the thing with him though, is his reputation
in Indianapolis was a finisher, a physical player, bringing a
violent presence to the offensive line, and the Vikings last year,

(31:57):
if you guys think back, I know everybody in the
world watch that Week eighteen game where the Vikings melted down,
But one of the reasons they lost was that they
could not finish a drive in the red zone. If
they could have just run the ball from the five
yard line into the end zone, if they had any
physical presence at all toward the goal line, I mean,
that's a totally different ballgame. And that's another thing that

(32:19):
I think stuck with O'Connell. You gotta get nastyear. You
gotta get more physical, and you have to be able
to run the ball when you need to. And that's
the other part of bringing in Jordan Mason, who, by
the way, averages five yards to carry for his career.
I know that's in San Francisco where everybody tends to succeed.
But the Vikings have now built an offensive line that
should be able to run block in front of him.

(32:40):
So I think they're more dynamic, but especially just more physical.
And one of the issues last year was they would
get up in some games and let opponents back because well,
they throw an interception or they would have a three
and out where it's two passing completions and they're not
running any clock. Because I just don't think Kevin O'Connell
really believed, Hey, I could just pound their team's facing

(33:01):
and run the clock out.

Speaker 3 (33:02):
Well they've got that, at least in theory, they've got that.

Speaker 7 (33:04):
But I think that there still is that question of
the former quarterback O'Connell, who loves to pass the ball,
and he's admitted, Hey, we're always going to be a
pass first offense as long as I'm the head coach
of the Minnesota Vikings. So can he trust that run
game enough to lean on it, because I feel like,
even at times in the past where it's been working,

(33:25):
you can't keep him away from the pass button. He's
like me playing mad, I just just got to throw
it downfield.

Speaker 3 (33:31):
You can't just keep running the football.

Speaker 6 (33:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
So John covered the run game, so I'll ask one
last one about the passing game. Justin Jefferson. I mean,
his game speaks for himself itself. He's one of the best,
if not the best, wide receivers in the league. And
same goes for TJ. Hockinson a tight end. You know,
he came back from the injury last year, finished the
season kind of strong. I don't know if i'd call
it a question mark, but I guess the third option

(33:55):
of the passing game, Jordan otisid who had a little bit.

Speaker 1 (33:57):
Of an up and down year.

Speaker 2 (33:58):
You look at his final stats, they look pretty strong,
but if you follow it as you you obviously did
throughout the season, it was a it seemed like a
little inconsistent. So for Jordan Addison, how do you look
in the spring? What are expectations going into year three?
And this you might be able to answer, but are
there any updates on his legal situation that seemed to

(34:21):
finally be coming to a head now?

Speaker 7 (34:23):
Yeah, So he is going to have another court dates
on Thursday and then maybe we get some resolution by
next week. But this is the most dragged out case
I have ever seen in my life. I mean, it
happened last summer and then we're finally just getting resolution.
The expectation is that if he is found guilty, that
it will be a three game suspension, and more likely

(34:46):
than not that will come at the beginning of the season,
so it will not affect Vikings Giants towards the the
back end of the season, but as far as his
overall outlook, and that's no guarantee that that even happens.

Speaker 3 (34:58):
So we'll see the wheel of justice.

Speaker 7 (35:00):
Roger Goodell spins, we never really know so just but
in general with Addison, I thought last year he took
a pretty big step in the second half of the season.
And one of the things that teams were able to
do against him in his first year was they were
just able to play physical against him at the line
of scrimmage.

Speaker 3 (35:18):
He's not the biggest guy.

Speaker 7 (35:19):
He probably weighs about one hundred and seventy five pounds,
but he started, I think to understand how to play
through a little more contact that he put on a
little bit more muscle, and then just getting off of
the line of scrimmage against press coverage and against physical play.
But the advantage that Jordan Addison has is that I
don't know if I've ever looked at the All twenty
two copy of the tape the next day and seen

(35:42):
two people on Jordan Addison.

Speaker 3 (35:43):
I mean, he's always got one on one coverage.

Speaker 7 (35:46):
And he is so good at creating separation and winning
one on one battles down the field, that that option
is always there for the quarterback. But the thing is
that when you play with Justin Jefferson, this is kind
of like a fantasy stats versus real full ball thing
when Justin Jefferson is the other receiver. Some weeks you're
gonna get seven catches because they have thrown three guys

(36:06):
at Justin Jefferson, and some.

Speaker 3 (36:08):
Weeks you're gonna get two because he has thirteen.

Speaker 7 (36:10):
I mean, that's just gonna happen when you play alongside
the best wide receiver in the entire NFL. But I
think from Addison we were looking more for a like
does his skill set start to expand? And remember, like
you know, we see a lot of rookies coming in
at twenty four years old. Now, he came in just
turning twenty one years old, So he's twenty three now,
I mean, just starting to develop and get into his prime.

(36:32):
But I think if you're JJ McCarthy and you've got
that guy as your number two wide receiver, you are
feeling pretty darn good about things.

Speaker 4 (36:39):
I Matt, I think I only have one question on
the defense, and it's the same question that I just
asked to Vinnie who covers the Raiders.

Speaker 1 (36:47):
It seems like they're putting.

Speaker 4 (36:48):
An awful lot of faith in the defensive coordinator. In
their case was Patrick Graham. In your case is Brian Flores.
When it comes to putting the secondary together where there's
not a ton of resources being spent there you have
Harrison Smith, who's almost my age still playing safety. That
that that that's not a good thing. By the way,
I'm over forty. He's not quite that old, but he's
getting closer. Bira Murphy, obviously he's been successful. Josh Medalis

(37:10):
is kind of an around the line of scrimmage type
of guy. But man, I mean Jeffrey Okuda, Isaiah Rodgers.
I know he was better last year a lot of
people can credit for. But what do you think this
secondary is going to look like? And how is Brian
floor is going to try to utilize this group in
his sometimes you know, aiding coverage, sometimes blitzing everybody type
of Amoba defense.

Speaker 6 (37:32):
Hey.

Speaker 7 (37:32):
You know what's great, though, is that you could talk
ninety eight Yankees with Harrison Smith and he would remember them.

Speaker 3 (37:37):
Yes, so I'm not most NFL players have that.

Speaker 7 (37:41):
No, Yeah, it's that is probably the biggest question that
we're asking going into training camp is what is this
secondary going to look like? And are they going to
have to do anything with it. I wondered if they
would go after jay r Alexander. I wondered if they
would go after Jalen Ramsey because they've put so much
into every other position. You know, last offseason they signed

(38:02):
Jonathan Grenard, Blake Cashman, Andrew van Ginkel, and then they
add Javon Hargrave and they add Jonathan Allen to this thing.
I mean, it is a pretty beastly front seven, but
they are kind of leaning on some small sample sizes now.
Byron Murphy Junior got a huge contract in the offseason.
Well deserved six interceptions last year, but he's also a
leader for that group and a perfect kind of Brian

(38:24):
Flores player who can handle a lot mentally. But Makai
Blackman and Isaiah Rodgers have had more small sample success.
Makai Blackman was good as a third round rookie in
twenty twenty three, but then he tore his ACL on
the first day of training camp last year. So he's
been waiting an entire year for this opportunity to get
out there and we don't really know. I mean corners

(38:44):
sometimes they can play in the league for three four
years and we feel like we still don't really know
what they are. And with Isaiah Rodgers, he's such an
interesting case because he was suspended for a year for
a gambling incident and then he comes back with Philadelphie's
a part time play, but he was a good part
time player and the same win for when he was
with Indianapolis. And this is somebody that Brian Flores has

(39:06):
had his eye on for a long time and just
getting a small look at him.

Speaker 3 (39:10):
The athleticism is through the roof.

Speaker 7 (39:12):
I mean he's a guy that at a Pro day
ran a sub four to three So even if we
adjust that for pro day, that's still you know, probably
around four three four four speed. He's been a kick returner,
he's an explosive player, but it is a guy who's
never played a thousand snaps in a season before, So
there's a lot of trust there. I think what the
Vikings secondary though, has in their pocket for this year

(39:34):
that is helpful is a front four that can rush
the passer. In the past, it's been a lot of
blitzing and just sort of playing in zones and kind
of trying to rally to the tackle if you know,
the quarterback gets the ball out, you know, under pressure,
and all of it seemed to have to go back
to blitz blitz, blitz, blitz blitz, and then we know
how that is, live by the blitz and die by

(39:55):
the blitz. But I think now they're gonna be a
lot more getting getting help. I think from safeties, from
nickel corners, you know, things like that. So it's not
going to be just hey, Isaiah Rodgers, go be on
an island. Makai Blackman, go be on an island. And
then there's another question about the safety position too. Cam
Binen got fifteen million dollars a year from the Indianapolis Colts.

(40:16):
So now THEO Jackson is a guy that no one
outside of Minnesota has heard of, but had maybe the
best backup safety training camp I can ever remember last year,
and he really sold them on the idea of him becoming.

Speaker 3 (40:30):
A starter this year.

Speaker 7 (40:31):
So there is a lot of Brian Flores believing in
his own evaluations, and I think a lot of that
goes back to his scouting background, and he's got such
a reputation for hitting on these types of guys that
when he says Isaiah Rodgers is my guy, a lot
of our reaction is like, Okay, that'll probably work then,
because he's just been so good at this and you know,

(40:51):
you look at Cashman, you look at Van Ginkdel especially,
those are guys that he identified as being on the
upswing and they turned out to be big stars for
them last year.

Speaker 2 (41:00):
Yeah, so just one question on the defense for me.
The Vikings had a top five scoring defense last year
and the strength of it, looking at the numbers at least,
seemed to be in the run defense. And then, as
you mentioned, the Vikings went out and signed Jonathan Allen
and Javon Hargrave this offseason. So how I guess, what
do you think the ceiling is for this defensive front,

(41:21):
because on paper, it seems like they have the potential
to be, you know, one of the best.

Speaker 6 (41:25):
In the league.

Speaker 3 (41:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (41:27):
So the run defense is the biggest question by far,
because they are playing a schedule this year with Philadelphia
on it, with the Baltimore Ravens, with Washington, so they've
got some running quarterbacks mixed in, and then the Packers
and the Lions, two of the better running teams in
the league, and so they moved on from some run
stuffers Jerry Tillery and Jonathan Bullard, and they brought in

(41:48):
guys that could get into the backfield. Now, I think
that ultimately that's still the way to go the end
and getting pressure with that front four huge, But Jonathan
Allen has not been the same run defender over the
last couple of years, and Javon Hargrave is a little
bit on the undersize side. So I think what they're

(42:08):
hoping for on this defensive front is that some of
their rotational players that they've been developing start to emerge.
That would be like a Jalen Redmond or Takei Taiamani
or Levi Drake Rodriguez, guys that your audience hasn't heard
of yet, but maybe by the time the Vikings and
Giants play, these guys will be regular rotational players.

Speaker 3 (42:28):
So I think that they want to mix and match
a lot.

Speaker 7 (42:31):
And I also feel like Brian Flores believes in the
way that he schemes up run defense, which is not
so much guys overwhelming the offensive line, but being able
to move offensive linemen to allow nickel corners and linebackers
and safeties to shoot up into gaps and to make plays,
and that's really worked for them. I mean, you know,

(42:51):
Jerry Tillery was a high draft pick but hadn't really
worked out in a couple of locations. Did a really
good job for the Vikings, just kind of moving bodies
around upfront, maybe what they asked someone like Hargraves, someone
like Alan to do against the run. And then they
still do have a top notch run defender and Harrison
Phillips in the middle. But overall, I mean, when you
add that type of potential pressure, it can be a

(43:14):
better defense. The one thing that I would hold back
from saying that they'll be, like guaranteeing they'll be top
five again, is just the schedule that they're gonna play.
I mean, you guys know that NFC East is really,
really tough, and the NFC North might be the toughest
division in all football. And then the AFC North having
to play against the Ravens and the Bengals like they
have their work cutout for them. But I think that

(43:36):
that went into making those big signings up front.

Speaker 4 (43:39):
All right, final question quickie here expectations. You mentioned it.
The NFC North is extremely tough, The lines are awesome,
the Packers are very talented. The Bears I think could
have a really good year this year with Ben Johnson
and Caleb Williams in his second year. You guys won
fourteen games last year, thirteen games three years ago. You
didn't get over the hump in the playoffs. But I

(44:00):
think the roster, to your point, is absolutely stacked. But
your rookie quarterback. So how are people talking about this
team and how's it being viewed internally given how many
games you won last year, how talented the roster is,
but you have a quarterback that's never played an NFL snap.

Speaker 7 (44:15):
Yeah, I think that some Vikings fans are probably a
little bit nervous to say out loud how high the
expectations really are. I mean, because we have seen a
lot of young quarterbacks have success in the NFL in
recent years.

Speaker 3 (44:28):
I mean, even though CJ.

Speaker 7 (44:29):
Stroud didn't have the greatest year last year, they're still
in the playoffs, winning a playoff game.

Speaker 3 (44:33):
Brock Purty second year, they're in the Super Bowl.

Speaker 4 (44:36):
Jayda Dais went to the NFC title game last.

Speaker 7 (44:38):
Year exactly, And how about Jalen Hurts was in the
Super Bowl in his what third season, and then wins
it in his fifth season. So there are very high
expectations for JJ McCarthy to come in and run this thing.
And I also think too, when you had the option
of franchise tagging Sam Darnold and keeping him and running
it back and you decide not to and you decide

(44:58):
to put that money elsewhere, I'm not going to grate
on a curve.

Speaker 3 (45:02):
I mean, I think that when you spend this much money.

Speaker 7 (45:05):
I believe they spent more money this offseason than any
other team in the NFL in free agency. And when
you've extended Jefferson, you've extended Christian Darisa, like, you've built
this thing up. You've got the coach of the year,
You've got one of the best defensive coordinators in the league.
There are no excuses. I mean, go win. It doesn't
matter that it's a tough division you play in or
a tough schedule. You're matched up against those team if

(45:28):
we go position by position. And I think that there
is also a lot of signal in the decision that
they went with McCarthy. It shows you how much they
believe in him. And this isn't you know, it's not
a fourth round draft pick. This is a top ten
overall draft pick from a draft class that's proven to
be really, really good. So I think that the bar
is making the playoffs, winning the division, winning in the playoffs,

(45:50):
like all those things that win now teams are supposed
to do. Win now for me doesn't mean that this
is your only win now year. It just means that
the gas pedal is down, the xpections are high, and
if it's anything short of that, it's a disappointment.

Speaker 4 (46:04):
Matt, good stuff, my friend. Tell the folks that they
can find out your awesome work.

Speaker 7 (46:08):
Just type in Purple Insider wherever you are, if you're
on YouTube or iTunes or substack newsletter, Purple Insider, dot football,
anything called Purple Insider, that would be me.

Speaker 4 (46:19):
Matt.

Speaker 1 (46:19):
Good stuff.

Speaker 4 (46:20):
Enjoy the rest of your off season, Enjoy your last
bit of vacation before we get to training camp, and
we'll talk to you soon.

Speaker 3 (46:26):
All right, thanks so much for having me. Guys.

Speaker 4 (46:28):
We thank Matthew Koller and Vinnie bon Signor for joining
us on the Big Blue Kickoff Live that was pre recorded. Obviously,
they joined us on Zoom. We're still working, by the way,
on the phone system this is an upstairs issue, and
to give the guys credit upstairs, they were on this
at the end of last week. It's just it's literally
like an internal part of our phone system that they've

(46:50):
tried to find a replacement for. It's on its way,
I'm told so hopefully by the end of the week.
But luckily we had a bunch of guests and a
bunch of team previews to do this week, So much
rather now than in a couple weeks when we're trying
to get your reaction to what's happening at training camp.
So tomorrow we're gonna do all three of our NFC
East teams, and the hope is by Friday we're gonna
have the pardon and installed. It will be good to go.
If not, I'll come up with some other fun show

(47:11):
we can do on Friday that we can go for
an hour and we'll take some of YouTube comments. Johnny
Mack did a great job getting those up for you
guys on Monday's show, So Matt, two good previews there,
very informed guests. We try to get the best guys
on talking about some of these teams. And the one
thing that both the Vikings and the Raiders have in

(47:32):
common with the New York Football Giants is that they're
both gonna have new starting quarterbacks this year. The Raiders
brought in a veteran much like the Giants did. They
traded for Geno Smith. The Giants obviously signed Russell Wilson
as a free agent. Two veteran quarterbacks where you know
what you're getting out of the two of them, and
the Raiders going with a brand new quarterback again, as
Matthew pointed out, not a rookie, but a guy that

(47:52):
has never taken an NFL snap in a regular season game,
JJ McCarthy. So it'll be interesting to see how these
three quarters in different places impact three teams that are
really coming from different places.

Speaker 2 (48:04):
Yeah, I was gonna say all three teams, Giants, Raiders,
Vikings all in kind of different phases of their I
don't wanna call them rebuilds, because the Vikings clearly are
not in a rebuild, but yeah, they're just in three
completely different phases of I guess roster construction.

Speaker 4 (48:21):
Yes, I think roster construction is a great way to
put it.

Speaker 2 (48:24):
And it's funny that the Vikings, you would think would
be the closest to contending for a Super Bowl, but
they have the most inexperienced.

Speaker 4 (48:32):
Quarterback of the three, and that's why that was my
first question for Matt.

Speaker 1 (48:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (48:37):
I mean, look, if JJ McCarthy can play like he
did that last season in Michigan, then Minnesota won't skip
a beat. But we haven't seen him take one NFL
snap in the regular season yet, so that, you know,
kind of is a big if. He does have a
ton of talent around him, both playmaker wise, and the
Vikings clearly prioritized protection for JJ McCarthy because, as we discussed,

(49:00):
they went out and added took Donovan Jackson in the
draft in the first round and also signed Ryan Kelly and.

Speaker 1 (49:06):
Will Fries not freeze Will Fries. But yeah, and then
you look at the Raiders.

Speaker 2 (49:12):
In my opinion, the Raiders are kind of maybe the
furthest away from the three teams as the contending I know,
obviously the Raiders and Giants would be the closest of
those three teams just considering how last year went, but
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (49:26):
I look at the Giants roster.

Speaker 4 (49:27):
I agree with that. I think the Giants have a
deeper roster.

Speaker 2 (49:30):
There's just more talent and all over the place. On
the Giants roster than Las Vegas. Now, having a great
roster on paper only takes you so far, which is
not very far at all. You need to actually go
out there and compete and win. And I will say
the combination of Gino, Smith and Pete Carroll makes me
think that the Raiders, you know, they may not be

(49:50):
ready to contend for a Super Bowl, but they're not
going to be some pushover team.

Speaker 1 (49:54):
Pete Carroll is a fantastic coach.

Speaker 4 (49:56):
And by the way, it's Pete Carroll, Gino Smith's nort friends, Rupting, Ashton,
Gent and bro Like. Those are four really nice pieces,
especially an offense.

Speaker 2 (50:03):
Yes, I mean their Achilles Hill probably going to be
their offensive line, which agree the poor offensive line, I
don't know. I mean we saw Brock Bowers have a
ton of success last year with that poor offensive line.
But in terms of Gino and Nash and Genty especially,
you know, their success might depend on how, you know,
how much that offensive line can step up.

Speaker 4 (50:22):
Which now Gino coming from a poor offensive line a Seattle,
so he should be used.

Speaker 1 (50:25):
To it this. Yeah, that is true.

Speaker 2 (50:27):
And you know his Gino's stats were kind of mixed
last year because he did set new career highs and
some stat in completion percentage and passing yards, I believe,
but also I believe through a career high in interceptions,
and his touchdown to interception ratio was not good. So yeah,
well we're gonna have to see.

Speaker 1 (50:45):
How it does.

Speaker 2 (50:46):
But having a new quarterback for any NFL team has
the potential to just completely change your franchise's fortune. And
you know, we saw it. We see it every year,
but we saw it last year. And this might be
a little bit of an extreme example because he was
the number two pick and he was a rookie, but
we saw what Jaden Daniels did to turn around the

(51:07):
Washington Commanders overnight.

Speaker 1 (51:09):
Basically. Now it wasn't it.

Speaker 2 (51:10):
Justin dan Quinn obviously played a very big part in
that as well. But putting a new quarterback into the
mix can change everything. And you know, no one is
confusing twenty twenty five Russell Wilson for you know, twenty
fourteen Russell Wilson.

Speaker 1 (51:25):
He's clearly that's on.

Speaker 2 (51:27):
The older side, you know, the back nine of his
NFL career, but he's out out there and wanting to
prove everyone to this year that he.

Speaker 1 (51:38):
Still has a lot left in the take.

Speaker 2 (51:40):
He's not just someone that's gonna, you know, right off
into the sunset and you know, just hand the job
over a Jackson.

Speaker 1 (51:46):
Dard and you know, week three or something.

Speaker 2 (51:48):
He's gonna continue fighting and putting his best football out there,
and he's gonna probably give the Giants the best level
of quarterback play this franchise has seen since Eli Manning,
which at this point was six years ago, and that
was you know, in twenty nineteen, we only saw two
games of.

Speaker 4 (52:04):
Elie and that wasn't even like good Eli.

Speaker 1 (52:06):
That was the career Eli.

Speaker 4 (52:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (52:08):
Yeah, Like he's probably gonna give the Giants the best
quarterback play that the Giants have.

Speaker 1 (52:13):
Had in a decade close to a decade.

Speaker 4 (52:16):
Yeah, you know, even if you can make that argument,
if he.

Speaker 2 (52:18):
Just plays to the level that he did last year,
and I think he's in a much Russell Wilson is
in a much better situation this year than he was
last year in Pittsburgh because that Pittsburgh team, as we've
discussed many times, was extremely run heavy.

Speaker 1 (52:32):
They were run first.

Speaker 2 (52:33):
Arthur Smith wants to just pound the ball on the ground,
and you know, there were the reports, rumors that Russell
Wilson and Arthur Smith didn't see eye to eye on
how they wanted to run the offense, but that's not
doesn't seem to be an issue here. Russell Wilson and
Brian Dable seemed to very much be on the same page.
Russell Wilson looked great in the spring, and I can't

(52:54):
wait to see what he does starting next week in
training camp because he, at the very least, is going
to raise the floor of this offense. The Giants will
be able to sustain more drives, put together longer drives,
get the ball into all of their playmakers' hands. They're
not going to have to force feed my league neighbors
one hundred and seventy targets. Now, he might still, you know,
get one hundred and seventy targets just because the Giants

(53:16):
are holding onto the football for longer than they did
last year. But Russell Wilson is going to help raise
this offense and just give us consistent quarterback play, which
the Giants have been missing for years now.

Speaker 1 (53:28):
Yeah, and when you.

Speaker 4 (53:29):
Talk about these quarterbacks and you mentioned, I thought you
were right on the money. How these quarterbacks are going
to succeed and this includes Russell Wilson, has a lot
to do with what's going on around them, what the
supporting cast is. And I think what we've anyone that
pays attention knows that quarterbacks do not play football on
a vacuum. That's why wins are not a quarterback stat.
Wins or a team stat. The way a quarterback plays

(53:51):
gets impacted by what's going on around him. And I
think when you look at the Giants, the two things
that Russell Wilson does really well or make explosive plays.
Goes a great deep ball we know about the moon ball,
very accurate, and he's willing to take those shots down
the field. And the Giants have two speedstirts to get
deep in jail when Hyde and Darius Slayton, and a

(54:12):
good contested catch guy who also has speed in Malik Neighbors.
We also know Russell Wilson generally speaking, does not throw interceptions,
he does not turn the ball over. He's gonna limit
big mistakes. So you combine more big plays with fewer
really big negative plays, it's going to look better this year.
The big factor is going to be controlling the number

(54:32):
of sacks he takes, and that has to do with
Russell Wilson getting the ball, getting the ball out of
his hands quicker, and has to do with them protecting
him better. If you can do that combined with the
other two factors, the level of quarterback play is gonna
be much higher than what we've.

Speaker 1 (54:43):
Seen here one hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (54:46):
And you know, Russell Wilson is gonna help, I know
I just said before elevate the whole offense. But he's
gonna for the first time the Giants are gonna have
a quarterback that's going to make the guys around him better.

Speaker 1 (54:57):
You know, we saw a.

Speaker 2 (54:59):
Great phenomenal season from Eleague Neighbors last year and that
was what with let's just call it inconsistent quarterback play,
not the greatest quarterback play.

Speaker 1 (55:09):
You give a guy.

Speaker 2 (55:09):
That is just solid, just consistent at the quarterback position
from Leak Neighbors and the sky is the limit for him.

Speaker 1 (55:18):
And that's just one guy.

Speaker 2 (55:19):
We've seen Darius Slayton perform since he got to the
to East Rutherford. We've seen him perform the last six
years with again, not the greatest quarterback play, and especially
in terms of the deep ball, which obviously Darius Slayton
can do a little bit of everything, but a lot
of his success has been on catching those deep passes
down the field.

Speaker 1 (55:37):
And he's now going.

Speaker 2 (55:38):
To be playing with the quarterback that the best quarterback
that he has played with in the NFL at throwing
those deep balls. Same goes for Jalen Hyatt obviously, you know,
the first two years of his career has not gone
how he or any of us would have liked. But
he now has a quarterback that matches up the best
with his skill set, with his strengths. So I mean

(55:58):
you can spread it all round to the rest of
the playmakers as well with Theo Johnson, the two running backs,
I mean, Russell Wilson loves throwing the ball to his
running backs loves it, and the Giants now have two
running backs that are great pass catchers. Obviously, Tyron Tracy is.

Speaker 1 (56:13):
A former receiver. Cam Scataboo had so much success catching
the football at Arizona State.

Speaker 4 (56:18):
And not just checkdowns, by the way, like downfield stuff.

Speaker 2 (56:20):
Yeah like actually, you know, like wheel routes, like actual
routes and plays down the field.

Speaker 1 (56:24):
There will be passes thrown to the running backs in
that way.

Speaker 2 (56:27):
So yeah, I think Russell Wilson will help elevate the
guys around him, and quite frankly, these young nucleus of
playmakers that the Giants now have will also help bring
out the best of Russell Wilson. I believe I think
this was a a you know, we said it back
in March, in all offseason leading up to free agency,
but Giants signing Russell Wilson really was just a great

(56:50):
match with what both sides were kind of looking for.

Speaker 4 (56:53):
And now what it's gonna come down to. And I
feel like I might have said this before. Offensive line
play well enough to allow that to happen. Have we
had this conversation about the Giants over the past eight years.

Speaker 1 (57:07):
I'm not sure. Maybe once or twice. Maybe once or twice.

Speaker 4 (57:10):
And that's really what this is gonna come down to,
because if and we're gonna have an episode on the
Giants Total podcast coming up with Warren Sharp in the
next couple of weeks, and I will, you know, destroy
all the great data he has. But needless to say,
when Mush Wilson wasn't pressured the last last year with Pittsburgh,
well basically a top ten quarterback inwards, a VPA per

(57:31):
play that's how good he was on early downs without pressure.
So if you can and again he invites some of
that pressure himself with the way he holds the football
and stuff like that, So a lot of that is
on the quarterback. But if that, his ability to perform
is going to be largely dependent on how well he
can be protected. He's not Look, he's thirty seven. He's

(57:52):
not as mobile as he was when he was twenty seven.
That's just that's way of the world. None of us
are as mobile as we wore ten years ago.

Speaker 1 (57:57):
Okay, not unless you're Tom Brady.

Speaker 4 (57:59):
Yes, and even he will isn't quite as mobile. But
can the offensive line be good enough to allow Russell
Wilson to do his thing? And that is gonna go
a long way towards determining how the season is going
to go. I think if they all stay healthy, and frankly,
I think you could even survive an injury at one
of the spots that's not left tackle, based on what

(58:21):
we've seen, like if John Michael Schmidz gets hurt and
you have to move Greg van Road in the center,
you can survive that. Like great Van Rowin has shown
he can play center in the league. You can survive that.
I think we've seen enough from the Aaron Stinney's and
you hope Evan Neil ends up being the number one
guy that you can survive with one of those two
guys having the play guard for you, like, you'll be okay,
You'll be fine. And even James Hudson if he has

(58:43):
a step in for Jermain a luminar, I think you
can survive that de Andrew Thomas thing that the Giants
have shown that they have trouble surviving. You hope with
James Hudson here that that drop off is not as
big as it's been in past years. But you never
want to lose your franchise left tackle. So I think
if this group can stay healthy, and Andrew Thomas more
specifically can be healthy at the start of the year
and show that he can be on the field for

(59:05):
seventeen eighteen, for seventeen games, eighteen weeks, that this offensive
line should be good enough to allow the type of
things you were talking about with the playmakers to happen.

Speaker 2 (59:17):
Yeah, So for those of you that check Giants dot com,
we've been doing this series the last couple of weeks.
Twenty five questions in twenty five days leading up to
training camp, and that's myself, John and Dan Salam went
upstairs taking turns answering different questions.

Speaker 4 (59:30):
What do we down to, like question eight now or
something crazy like that.

Speaker 8 (59:32):
I leave today was eight, yeah, man, And I'm gonna
jump ahead and give it a little, just a tiny
preview at the last question because it pertains to this
conversation is basically, I don't.

Speaker 1 (59:44):
Remember word for word, but basically is what is the
key to success for the Giants this season?

Speaker 2 (59:48):
And I started writing my answer today, I move, that's
question one, That's.

Speaker 1 (59:51):
The number one question.

Speaker 2 (59:53):
I started writing my question day and then realized, you
know what, let me first look at what John wrote.
Just make sure I'm not writing on the same topic
we did not. We did it, but I'm not going
to go to too much detail because I don't want
to ruin it. But for yours, do you remember what
you wrote? I did all the quarterbacks?

Speaker 1 (01:00:08):
Correct?

Speaker 2 (01:00:08):
Yes, you wrote improved quarterback play and that matched perfectly
with what I began to write, which is improved offensive
line play because.

Speaker 1 (01:00:16):
The two go hand in hand together.

Speaker 2 (01:00:18):
If the offensive line can give Russell Wilson time in
the pocket.

Speaker 1 (01:00:23):
And I'm not saying they.

Speaker 2 (01:00:24):
Need to be an elite offensive line. We've discussed this
so many times. They don't have to be a top
five offense. Ave Lin just be between fifteen and eighteen. Yes,
you know, middle of the pack if they are a
middle of the pack offensive line, which let's not forget
twenty twenty two, the Giants had a middle of the
pack offensive line and it led to Daniel Jones having
the best season of his career. Now, obviously we hope

(01:00:46):
Russell Wilson's numbers this year are still better than what
Daniel Jones put up that season, but at least passing wise, yeah,
passing wise, yes, of course.

Speaker 1 (01:00:55):
But yeah, that's all the offensive line needs to do.

Speaker 2 (01:00:58):
And as you mentioned it, really the biggest, biggest thing
is just the health of Andrew Thomas. We saw the
last two years what happens when he goes down at
twenty twenty three, he gets hurt in that season, opener
misses the entire first half of the season and by
the time.

Speaker 1 (01:01:15):
He comes back, the season's done. It basically, it was done.

Speaker 2 (01:01:18):
It was done last year the first six weeks of
the season other than that Week one game against the Vikings,
which was just all around bad.

Speaker 4 (01:01:27):
The next five weeks.

Speaker 2 (01:01:28):
The offensive line was solid, again, not elite, but it
was not bottom ten. It was a middle of the
pack unit. They had the same five starters play every
single snap together until Andrew Thomas got hurt in Week six,
and then once he got hurt, everything sort of crumpled around.

Speaker 1 (01:01:44):
And then it was that rotating.

Speaker 2 (01:01:46):
Door at just about every position along the offensive line
that we've unfortunately grown somewhat accustomed to seeing around here
the last you know, however, many years. So if Andrew
Thomas can just stay on the field, we've seen what
he can do, what his ceiling is, and the ceiling
is an all Pro tackle.

Speaker 1 (01:02:05):
If he can.

Speaker 2 (01:02:06):
Stay on the field, I have no doubt that he's
just gonna play like he has been the last couple
of years when he's actually been on the field, and
the Giants have obviously made an effort to improve the
guys next to him and around him as well, just
about every position where there's the selection of John Michael
Schmidts a couple of years ago, which obviously again last

(01:02:28):
year may not have gone exactly has he or Giants
fans would have hoped, but he did take a step
from his rookie year, and you hope this year he
takes another step, a bigger step. And same goes for
you know, the guys around him, whether it's John Runyan
and Greg Van Rodin Runyan and Evan Neil. Who knows
the combination of interior line that will be surrounding John

(01:02:49):
Michael Schmidz.

Speaker 1 (01:02:50):
But they have improved.

Speaker 2 (01:02:52):
Joe Shane has improved the whole unit over the last
couple of offseasons, so improved offensive line play. If we
get that, we will see an improved Russell Wilson from
last year, I believe. And again no one's confusing him
with Russell Wilson from ten years ago. But the Giants
don't need him to be that Russell Wilson. They just

(01:03:13):
need a solid, consistent passer that can get the ball
to the to these young group of playmakers and not
turn the ball over. And if the offensive line can
stay healthy and give him time, I think we're gonna
get that from Russell Wilson this year.

Speaker 4 (01:03:27):
I know we're over, but let me ask you this
simple question. Yeah, if I told you today and I
gave you a contract, I know this is like like
a Lucifer style move here.

Speaker 1 (01:03:35):
But it's not. There's nothing bad that it's gonna happen
over this.

Speaker 4 (01:03:38):
But if I slide the paper, there's no funny language
in there, and it says this year, by some objective
measure that doesn't exist, the Giants have the nineteenth best
offensive line and Russell Wilson is the eighteenth best quarterback. Actually,
I'm would be less generous. He's the twentieth best quarterback
in the league this year. Nineteenth best offensive line, twentieth

(01:04:01):
best quarterback. Would you sign that paper right now?

Speaker 2 (01:04:05):
Can I just ask, at least in terms of Russell Wilson,
what metrics are.

Speaker 1 (01:04:10):
Being used there?

Speaker 4 (01:04:11):
About like EPA per play or something like that, or
the Giants pad With this Giants passing game, let's say
they have their twentieth in league in passing yards per game.
How about that?

Speaker 1 (01:04:24):
Yeah? I would take that.

Speaker 4 (01:04:26):
You would take that?

Speaker 1 (01:04:26):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (01:04:27):
And with this defense, I think you're gonna have a
pretty decent record.

Speaker 1 (01:04:30):
Exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:04:30):
You literally stole the words out of my mouth because
we all know is that I'm not breaking any news
here that the strength of this team this year is
most likely going to be on the defensive side of
the ball where that unit has the potential to be
an actual elite unit, one of the best in the
league potential.

Speaker 1 (01:04:45):
Obviously they are.

Speaker 2 (01:04:45):
All the pieces are there, but they need to put
it all together and actually perform on Sundays.

Speaker 1 (01:04:50):
So yeah, with what.

Speaker 2 (01:04:52):
I think this defense can be, give me the eighteenth
or twentieth best passing offense, middle of the pack offensive
line because I think the run game will be slightly
better if that's the case. And again with that defense,
I think that's all the offense.

Speaker 1 (01:05:08):
Needs to be.

Speaker 2 (01:05:09):
In twenty twenty two, It's not like the Giants had
an elite offense and that's what carried them to the playoffs. Again,
Daniel Jones do fourteen touchdowns that year and they still
made it.

Speaker 1 (01:05:18):
So yeah, sign me up for that.

Speaker 2 (01:05:21):
I would take that, especially the offensive line part, because
if the Giants can have the eighteenth best offensive line,
that will mean good things for this offense as a unit.

Speaker 4 (01:05:31):
And just to give you guys an idea in terms
of where the Giants have been in terms of passing
yards per game here, I'm gonna bring it up and
make sure that I have it here. I mean, I'm
sure they were near the bottom. I just don't have
it handy at the top of my head here, So
passing yards per game last year, the Giants ranked twenty eighth,

(01:05:52):
all right, so that would be a jump of about
nine spots. Probably, you know, that's a thirty percent ish
jump an improgement. I think we would all be happy
with that. In twenty twenty three, then this is probably
even worse. I would imagine the Giants were thirty first
at passing yards per game in one hundred and sixty nine.
And I'm curious. I don't remember this. I probably should.

(01:06:15):
I don't remember anything anymore because I have two young children.
That sucked the brain power out of me. Where do
you think the Giants ranked in passing yards per game
in their playoff season in twenty twenty two. I don't
know the answer to this either. I'm gonna say they
were twenty third.

Speaker 2 (01:06:27):
Well, if I remember correctly, Daniel Jones threw for about
a little over three thousand yards, so that must be.
My guess is twenty fifth.

Speaker 4 (01:06:40):
Let's say twenty sixth. Wow, So even in a year
that Giant fans remember fondly, they were just twenty sixth,
all right. I'm not gonna keep going back further than that,
because trust be, it doesn't get much better, so it
gets worse. That's probably the high watermark, sadly. So if

(01:07:02):
you could get to the nineteenth or twentieth and get
over like, can you average more than two hundred passing
yards per game? That's a pretty low bar here, folks
like to give you an idea if you average I
know we're going way over now, but I think the
but now, unfortunately, I'm interested in this conversation now, which
is a problem. If you just get to two hundred

(01:07:22):
and twenty passing yards per game, where do you think
you would have that's twenty twenty two. Let me look
at last year. If you averaged two hundred and twenty
passing yards per game last year, Matt, where do you
think that would rank you in the NFL in terms
of passing yards per game?

Speaker 1 (01:07:34):
Around twentieth maybe eighteenth, believe or not.

Speaker 4 (01:07:37):
That would rank you fifteenth in the league fifteen. Okay,
that was higher than I thought too, So let's be
a little less generous. If you're averaging two hundred on
the dot, you're twenty four. So this is that's the
meat of the curve you want to aim for, right
you want to aim for somewhere between. For example, there
are the Broncos were twentieth last year. They were too

(01:08:00):
in twelve. Mammy was fifteenth. Last year, they were two
hundred and nineteen point eight. So if you can get
to that two hundred and ten or higher, I think
that puts you in a pretty good spot based on
where we've seen the Giants been in seasons past. And
I think to your point, the running game is gonna
be good enough. So if you can get above two
hundred and ten passing yards per game, I think that's

(01:08:22):
a pretty darn good target for you to look at
when you're trying to based on kind of where the
Giants are.

Speaker 2 (01:08:28):
Yeah, and you know, going back to that twenty twenty
two year with Daniel Jones, he averaged almost two hundred
yards on the dot two hundred.

Speaker 1 (01:08:36):
Point three yards per game passing.

Speaker 2 (01:08:38):
But the biggest difference Russell Wilson is not no offense
to Russe Wilson. He's not rushing for over seven hundred
yards this year. I be shocked if that happens. That
aspect of his game is not there to the same
level as it was for Daniel Jones.

Speaker 1 (01:08:53):
A couple of years ago.

Speaker 2 (01:08:54):
So I would think you take some of that rushing
yards from Daniel Jones that year, you put it to
his passing for Russell Wilson this year, and all of
a sudden, you're gonna get into that that sweet spot
right there with two hundred, you know, two hundred ten
to two hundred twenty passing yards per game, because again,
Russell Wilson is not despite the fact that he did look,

(01:09:17):
you know, pretty spry out there in the spring, he's
not rushing running the ball?

Speaker 1 (01:09:21):
Was it twenty twenty two? One hundred twenty times like
Daniel Jones did.

Speaker 4 (01:09:25):
Here's a fun one. In Russell Wilson's rookie year, he
averaged one hundred and ninety five passing yards per game. Okay,
I'll throw that year raut. It's his rookie year. Other
than that rookie year, what do you think his low
watermark was for passing yards per game? And how many
times do you think he finished below two hundred and ten.

Speaker 1 (01:09:49):
His low mark? I guess close to two ten, men
to eight.

Speaker 4 (01:09:55):
His low mark was his second year with the Broncos,
believe it or not, where in fifteen games he averaged
two hundred and five passing yards per game.

Speaker 1 (01:10:04):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (01:10:04):
His second lowest mark was his second year in the NFL,
where here is a two hundred and nine point eight,
so nearly two hundred and ten. Last year with the
Steelers he was a two twenty five point six, and.

Speaker 1 (01:10:17):
Again that was with a run first offense.

Speaker 4 (01:10:20):
Correct. Now, I'm not sure if the passing yards per
game in the team stats that they subtract yards taken
for sacks in that number in his like personal No,
not the personal in the team rankings. Good question. I
don't know the answer to that.

Speaker 1 (01:10:39):
I want to say I think so, but I'm not.

Speaker 4 (01:10:42):
Okay, so that so that would have just then faceous.
He's gonna gonna lose twenty to twenty five yards on
sacks if he can sacked four times a game, right,
so that'll reduce it. But even so, look last year
two hundred twenty five for Pittsburgh. His first year in
Denver was two thirty five, two twenty two, two sixty three,
two fifty six, two fifteen two six three, two fifty one.
So these are bigger numbers than we've ever seen from

(01:11:06):
the giant quarterbacks in Sea Lineman a long time. So
the short and short of it is that it should
be better this year if he can get the help
that he needs around him. Now, So business before we go,
and stay tuned. This is important. You guys will be
interested in this. This is not just sponsor roads, which
you should also be interested in because they're awesome. Our
Sponsor's rule first and foremost. Johnsontle podcast went up today

(01:11:27):
our Link Kiffin podcast, uh Rookies reported. I thought would
be a good time to get to them inside the
Jackson Dart. So it's our final college coach. I did
got all the draft picks done. This year's been wat
since I got one from every school. I manage it
this year, uh link Kiffin gave me about seventeen minutes.
I think it was something like that. So go on
get a lot of good insight about Jackson Dart and
what do you did, Ole Miss. It's a great interview.

(01:11:47):
Go check that out. Also, there are still tickets avail
if you want to go see the giants at training
camp here at the Quest the Agnostis Training Center. Come
say hi to us, Yes you can say hi. I'm
you will see the bronze blur Paul Latina going up
and down the sidelines and out of the stands. I
believe mostly weekday seats are left, but go check. There
are multiple days left. There's a lot of days, so
go check it out. You could see abdual Quarter, you

(01:12:09):
could see Jackson Dart. You can go. Remember first few days,
you're not gonna have padded practices, So if you want
to be strategic, wait until after that first weekend. Then
you're gonna get more padded practices. If you want to
see guys like abdual Quarter work with their pads on
so giants dot com slash training Camp.

Speaker 1 (01:12:25):
Yeah, I know we're still going Pierson. Shut up.

Speaker 6 (01:12:28):
I know.

Speaker 1 (01:12:29):
We gotta do an interesting conversation. You're gonna have a
good teaser. Okay, I got you your teaser.

Speaker 4 (01:12:34):
That's the reason we went long. Yeah, we're going. I'm
doing promotions. I have to get the copy in Pierson.
A lot of fun stuff for the kids to do
at training camp. You have like you know, blow ups,
you have concessions, food activities for the kids. The kids
can get autographs from the current players after practice. Everybody
can line it to get tickets from the alumni before practice.

(01:12:54):
So for autographs, so high five lines, high five lines
as well, so giants dot com Slash Training Camp look
at to schedule, find your tickets, buy them. We hope
to see out there. And also the Giants are once
again doing their five k race and Kids Run presented
by Quest on Sunday, October twenty six, non am met
Live Stadium. That proceeds will benefit the Giants Foundation. All
participants will receive a commemorative T shirt after the race

(01:13:15):
day for a festival with appearances by Giants legends and
a live DJ post race. Register now at giants dot
Com Slash five k. Giants Foundation is a five oh
one C three nonprofit organization corporation. Pardon me and I
am trying to get Paul Datino to take on all
challengers for speed walking at the five k race to
see if you can beat Paul Latino as the speedwalks.

(01:13:37):
If you can, we'll get you some type of produit
good luck to you, maybe some posta or something like that,
something Paul can provide. That's all we have today and
again tomorrow. It's gonna be an all pre recorded show. So
are we gonna play that live here? So we're just
gonna post it, We're gonna play it live all right,
So we're gonna play that live at twelve thirty tomorrow
YouTube Giants dot com. That'll be our whole NFC East
and then we're done with our team previews, so it's

(01:13:58):
gonna be Dallas, which I recorded this morning, and we're
recording Washington and Philadelphia in about fifteen minutes here, so
those will be up on tomorrowshow, and then Friday, hopefully
the phones will be back up. We'll do a little
bit of a training camp deal or some other topic.
If it's not either way, we'll be with you on
Friday at twelve thirty with Tatino and I for Matthew Sitek,
I'm John Schmelck. That was fun. We'll see you next

(01:14:19):
time on Big Blue Kickoff Live presented by Cadillac, the
official luxury vehicle of the Giants from the Hackensack and
Maritey Hell podcast studio. Keep getting Better.

All Episodes

Big Blue Kickoff Live 7/16 | Raiders and Vikings Previews

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

The Breakfast Club

Crime Junkie

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Big Blue Kickoff Live 7/16 | Raiders and Vikings Previews