Saturday Sickos: All-Underrated Defense

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Ollie Connolly and Nick Shook to give you their All-Underrated Defensive Team starting with the defensive backs followed by the linebackers (18:00) and wrap things up with the defensive line (29:00). 

Note: time codes approximate. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's a tough sports, not for everybody. You gotta be

(00:01):
a little sick to love this game. And we got
some picos.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Welcome to NFL Daily.

Speaker 3 (00:07):
It's episode three of Saturday Sickos, and I brought in
a ringer today. Last week we did the All Underrated
Team on offense. This week we're doing the All Underrated
Team on defense. And strangely, my partner on Saturday, Olly Connelly,
the one requirement he had during contract negotiations to come
on board with NFL Daily, OLLI was, you need to

(00:28):
put me on a show with the man Nick Shook,
And now here we are I've done it.

Speaker 4 (00:33):
Yeah, Siko's on complete unless sho he's in town. That's
just the reality.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
I mean. I mean, look, I'm glad to be a ringer.
I'm usually a ringer on my friend's bowling team. I've
been a ringer on our old softball team. Why not
added to the list.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
It's too bad weightlifting isn't just like one of those
sports that you can just like play at recess or whatever,
because Chuck would have been like a great ringer for that.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Although there is still a lot of arm wrestling going around.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
I'm finding out in middle school and elementary school for boys,
so that that could have been a good one. All right,
So we did the all underrated offense last week with Ali.
I'm gonna say, let's build this defense back to front.
Let's go with the defensive back first. Let's start a cornerback. Actually,
why don't you get us going?

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Ali?

Speaker 4 (01:16):
I gotta go with Kamarai Lesta from the Texans, who
I think is probably one of the three best corners
in the NFL right now. I think you could, honestly
with this team build out everyone on the Texans defense
that just isn't Will Anderson and Daniela Hunter and Derek Stingley.
I still think is slightly understated given where he's at
in his development. But for me, it's Lesta as truly
like the picture textbook technique based core in the NFL,

(01:39):
with all the great athletic traits too, but he is
just like one for one down line, every rep is
picture perfect of how you would coach it up. And
he doesn't get any of the love because it's all
us swallow it into the same morphus. Like the Texans
are great, the past wish is great, and we kind
of forget they got two ole pro corners hanging out
there as well.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
Ooh, all pro that you're saying that would be a
top six overall cornerback in the league. If we're putting
three cornerbacks on each team, you're putting Lasseter in that category.

Speaker 4 (02:06):
I would have him right now. Satan lives in a
league of his own. He is, you know, just a
demi god. And then right after that, it's a conversation,
pick who you one, and I would have Luster right
there with anyone else.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
That is awesome.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
And if you think about like the value that they
get from having these guys. Now Stingley's on a second contract,
but you know when they had Stingley on his first
contract and then this one that's a thirty million dollar
plus type of player that you have on these low
cost rookie deals. That's a good shout out. And you
never know, like if the Texans finished really strong here,
this is becoming an extremely memorable defense where a lot

(02:39):
of guys might get rewarded with the postseason honors. But
he's already got a big one, all underrated team. All right,
give me one of your cornerbacks.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
Shook, Okay, we're gonna go with somebody that we actually mentioned,
I think after the Monday Night Show, which is Dante Jackson,
a guy who has you know, made multiple stops in
his career and is having a phenomenal year with the Chargers.
His targeted passer rating is forty point eight. It's among
the in the NFL according to Next Gen Stats. It
matches what you see with the tape, which is this
a guy who just is sticky coverage and fits perfectly

(03:06):
in this Chargers defense. It's funny because you go to
this exercise like I have another Texan that's gonna come
up in this secondary. I have multiple Chargers on this
on this group, or at least in consideration, and I
think it just fits with what we know about these teams.
These defenses are good, the Texans being the best in
the Chargers making a strong case for it, and it's
because of guys like Dante Jackson.

Speaker 3 (03:24):
Yeah, what do you think it is ali that Jesse
Minter does that seems like he finds a way to
get the best out of cornerbacks. Donte Jackson had some
moments in Carolina, it wasn't always healthy, did not have
a good season in Pittsburgh, and whoever they bring in
to Los Angeles.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
Seems like it just works.

Speaker 4 (03:40):
Yeah, it's interesting because that's not quite as wild and
creative as they were when he was at Michigan. It's
just a degree of like connectivity between all those guys.
They have some pretty tough zone based assignments that are
more detailed than complex I would say, like the standard
drop to space zone and stuff. And so when you're
passing all that stuff off and you've got to look
on the fly of Okay, that guy's justin Jeffson, he's
really fast. Oh, Nico Collins, he's really toll and really fast.

(04:02):
To have those wing wing connections on the fly are
essentially impossible in the NFL. It's why they don't have
complex zone covered structures a lot of the time, because
someone's always hit. You're bringing a practice squad guy up.
It used to be easy to do that stuff in
college when you had a guy with save him for
like three years, and it could be really detail oriented.
So to get that level like on the fly field
where guys are passing people off, is like an astonishing
achievement by all those plays Cam haw on down the line.

(04:25):
They just find guys and it's all I think more
in the brain and the feel and the connectivity between
all of them.

Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah, I'm counting on you guys to really make this
scheme good and carry me a long way.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
So I'm just leaning on your picks.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
I wanted to just bounce off what you guys said,
give me your other cornerback shook, and then just jump
right in after OLLI with yours.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
Okay, So this one like doesn't stand the test of
like rep BI rep tape. Like. He's got some ugly reps,
but his nose for the ball is fantastic. As Nashan
Wright from the Bears, He's had a phenomenal run over
the last month and a half of just making plays
on the ball. And I don't know if it's just me,
but I value guys who tend to show up in
the next gen numbers in ballhawk great, whether it's pass
defenses or interceptions. Those guys at the higher production. He's

(05:03):
had a great run as of late. He has a
great story too. You know, he was on the Laney
College team at Last Chance you you know that sort
of thing, and has fought his way into a role
with the Bears and a Bears team that's very fun
to watch with the defense that I think is underrated
but very strong in the back end, and it's because
he makes plays in key spots alongside some of the
better defensive backs that they have in that group. I've
just loved watching him thrive over the last month and

(05:24):
make key plays. It seems like every week he might
get burned on a play, but he's going to come
back and make a big play on the ball. And
that's why I love him.

Speaker 4 (05:30):
Imagine where they would be without him, given some of
the other issues they have, and he does just make play.
Show gets like these are some Hall of Fame all
time plays. You put the top five reel together of
just the tonovers alone, it's as preposterous as anyone can
ever have.

Speaker 3 (05:43):
And if you're looking for a good watcher into like
a sports reality show, that Laney College season. It was
actually Nason Wright's brother that was in that season, but
Nason Wright was kind of featured because it was like
the older brother who had made it big, and I've
always followed his career because of that.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
It's a great season of television.

Speaker 3 (06:00):
He's bounced around, you know, the Cowboys took him early
and he was with the Vikings and It's always cool
to see a guy kind of make his mark in
the NFL after sticking around for a few years.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Who else he got a cornerback.

Speaker 4 (06:09):
I've got DJ Turner. I wanted to give some love
to the fan bases who are like, we are miight
in the mudh can you give us any glimmer of hope?
And I'm saying to the Bengals fans, I know it's
a complete disaster, but I see DJ Turner and if
we're doing that all pro ballot, I think sneaky third
team selection.

Speaker 5 (06:24):
You do go rep by rep.

Speaker 4 (06:25):
You see him take on all the big boys where
it's DK Metcalf, where it's a Mom Ross Saint Brown.
He locks people down. He has unbelievable instincts and feel
on the move. He's got incredible makeup speed once he
does get b which is more than you would like
to see with a true tier one, top tier guy.
But he's had a sensational season when everything around him
is just being pretty much a disaster.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
Yeah, much to watch him develop, by the way, too,
sorry Greg, but like he was a late second round pick,
what you were gonna say? And like in year three,
like he's a testament to giving guys time to let
them get their feet underneath them, because he was not
the player that they expected him to be over the
first two seasons, and it wasn't really until about halfway
into this season where they realized, oh, now he's blossoming.
It's just a testament to giving guys the full runway

(07:07):
of the rookie deal before giving up on them.

Speaker 4 (07:09):
And they really thought he was going to be like
this versl in out corny, he'll go in the slot
for as. He's crazy explosive. Now he's basically Richard Sherman.
He's playing an assignment of defense, which is this like
weird press and trail technique which no one in the
league does anymore except for all Golden.

Speaker 5 (07:22):
That's going very well.

Speaker 4 (07:22):
Good job by l But he's asked to do this
really difficult almost throwback as Simon and is doing a
level that is just like career redefining for him.

Speaker 5 (07:29):
It's pretty cool.

Speaker 3 (07:30):
It is one of the like surprising stories and it's
a reminder these like cornerbacks, it's such an unpredictable position
and you can have these awesome seasons out of nowhere
and hopefully it sticks. Like Ajterrel's had a good career
since that twenty twenty one season. I think it was.
But sometimes like these guys pop up for these one
seasons and it's just such a position where there's ups,

(07:55):
there's downs. But he's going to get a big second contract.
He was a late second round pick. We'll move on
to safety. I had just written down names just in case,
just to give them a little bit of love.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
And these are almost lower.

Speaker 3 (08:07):
And I like your idea, by the way, Ali, of
having a third team all Pro I think you guys
do that on the podcast. Like I'm like, more positions,
more awards, like why not. I don't really trust the
fifty AP voters to go like third team at safety
or cornerback anyways, but it would be cool to have that.
These guys would not be on that list, but just
guys I enjoy watching that.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
I wanted to give a little love.

Speaker 3 (08:30):
How about a little come up for Buster Brown Monteric
Brown for the Jaguars. I've just been surprised. Did not
expect much out of him, and he's active. He's been
fun to watch this year. And I always was a
Tyson Campbell fan, and so far, I think the Browns
have won that trade. He's a good player, and he's
been a pretty good player since they traded Greg Newsom
for Tyson Campbell.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
Maybe not a perfect player, but cornerbacks.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
I enjoy watching Let's Go to Safety where Ali actually
built like a specialty tape and this will be a
fun show to watch on YouTube. We have some some
highlights and I think we're going to put one.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
Of these tapes up. Gives give us your safety.

Speaker 5 (09:06):
My first safety is Tyer Carter with the Seahawks, who is.

Speaker 4 (09:09):
Maybe the biggest revelation of any player given the demands
that have been placing him by his coach. Where Mike
McDonald gets with an undrafted guy from Montana State and says,
do you feel like being Kyle Hamilton in the NFL?
One of the most special versatyle dynamic players to walk
in the sport in the past decade. And this undrafted
guy says, I got a bust. Don't worry about me.
You want me to disguise coverage. You want me to
play half on the hash and drive dan. You want

(09:30):
me to fit the A gap from deep. I'll bring it, Buddy.
I can go into Bjon Robinson one on one in
the whole. Don't worry about that. I'll come and shut
down Trey McBride. I'll be the creative little disguise element
that allows Devin Weatherspoons to go and attack the backfield
the way they've used him, and him walking in and
playing it to that degree is probably the most shocking
thing I've seen from any single play this year. And
it didn't even row in my head just watching them weekweek.

(09:52):
I study them every week because I love Mike McDonald
and it never even popped in my eyes that a
guy who's played so little ball has played that well
until Mike macdoald himself went to the podium, is like,
are you guys seeing what this guy is doing?

Speaker 5 (10:03):
It's just the most sensational stuff.

Speaker 1 (10:05):
Oh. The beauty of this is that, you know, we
spend a lot of time talking about this whole defense, right,
and you have the household names, you have the Devin Witherspoon.
There's been a lot of attention paid to Nick emon Morey,
but I think it's the sum of all the parts, right.
It's the contributions of a guy like Tyl Kada that
allows these other players to make big differences in different roles.
Because you can count on a guy like that who's
just willing to sacrifice anything. This is the guy that

(10:27):
just sticks his nose in the fray all the time,
has no fear. I love he's kind of a throwback
in that regard where you just love watching him play
because he's flying around as no regard for his own safety.

Speaker 3 (10:36):
Yeah, we're watching this film and you put this clip together.
What stands out for you in these pass reps, especially
for Okada.

Speaker 4 (10:46):
The pass reps is just there is zero wasted movement,
sowding through traffic at real speed. And that's what you
get from the combine the time testing and Okay, how
quick can you're in a straight line speed? Well, most
reps in the league aren't in a straight line. If
you're a safety, there's some kind of angle you've got
to be as efficientess put, well, you're probably working through
bodies if you're coming from deb And if you just
watch him through this stuff, look at the way he
works through things, looking all through that and then go
and pin the thing in the fly, it's just it's

(11:07):
really remarkable. And just the distance he can cover forwards
and backwards allows them to be as creative as they
want the disguise as the coach does always get the credit.
We go to the nerd and say, what a genius
this guy is. Well, if the guys aren't good enough,
that's too slow. They can't feel it and read it
on the fly, it's completely irrelevant. You get you know,
Chris for fifty and you get fired. That's how it works.
To just drop a guy in undrafted and ask him
to be Kyle Hamilton is unlike anything I've I've seen

(11:29):
a long time.

Speaker 3 (11:30):
Yeah, Taia Katta is a is a great shout out.
I think he's a perfect, perfect one. If you're watching
this show, you know from the Seahawxy you want to
sound smart and.

Speaker 2 (11:38):
It's like, it's not just Devin Witherspoon back there.

Speaker 3 (11:41):
It's not just Julian Love who came back and we'll
see Because the way McDonald talked about Okada, I don't
think it's not like he's going to get benched down
the stretch now that they're a little healthier in the
back end. Who do you have as your two safeties, Nick.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
First one's Evan Williams, a guy who has come on
really strong, especially in the second half of the season.
I think that he has defined the I don't know
if it's the resurgence, but just the Packers' defense becoming
a more complete unit and really producing. Over the last
month and a half, he's been making plays. Another guy
with a nose for the ball, but also somebody who's
just making plays on the ball and getting involved in
the box. He's another guy that will come down and

(12:16):
stop the run. He's been one of those players that
when you watch the Packers week by week, you know
Michael Parsons is out there. You know they have for
Sean Geary, you know about Edge Cooper and all these
other guys. But ball goes over the top and next
thing you know, there's Van Williams making a play. He's
one of those players that I think people will come
to recognize more and more often if the Packers make
a deep run and he makes a key play, because
he's made plenty of them this season, whether it's intercepting passes,

(12:38):
breaking passes up, he just seems to be around the
ball all the time.

Speaker 3 (12:41):
Yeah, you're watching him make an interception of Jamis Winston,
which is what everyone does. But Ali, we were talking
after the Thanksgiving game, especially, it's his run defense and
it's just his firing to the ball and it's not
always perfect, which is probably maybe why he's not making
the All Pro team quite yet. But he does an
all underrated spot. Like what do you see in terms

(13:02):
of that run defense?

Speaker 4 (13:04):
Yeah, their run game enforced stuff. They have wild team speed,
like it just pops off. When you watch them, they
look quicker and more explosive. And if you remember back
to the Eagles game last season, they look slow on
the field compared to the Eagles in the playoffs. Now
they look so quick and so dynamic, and I think
he's a key element of that. We're kind of blessed
with these young safeties Antonio Johnson, cam Kinchin's Nick Cross,
but Williams has a little different degree to nasty. I

(13:24):
don't know if you saw when he got into the
one on what fight with Trent Williams. He stood up
to the big boy. He threw him into the den
and he was like, I will not back down from
anyone if it's in the whole one on one with
Jamye Gibbs is after the rep with Trent Williams, I
do not care. I'm he had to play big boy
football and he flies around like crazy.

Speaker 1 (13:40):
We're gonna go to another safety. By the way, We're
gonna go back to Houston real quick. Kaitlin Bullock has
been excellent and he was good last year. And I
know we pay attention to, you know, the lasteners of
the world that Derek Stingley and the Jalen Peatrees Bullock has.
I don't know how people missed this kid coming out
of USC. You want to talk about somebody, but again,
with a nose for a ball, just an innate sense
from me around the football, it's him. And like we've

(14:02):
talked about the big plays that he's made in recent weeks.
I think it was the Buffalo game where he made
a big play late in that one. But he's just
a guy that, again kind of like Evan Williams in
a different fashion, when the ball is headed toward the
back end of the defense, he always just seems to
be there. And he just seems like a natural fit
for this defense with so many stars around him that
he is the I don't know if I would call

(14:22):
him like the lynchpin or maybe the keystone to this
entire group. That he fills out that secondary and he's
somebody that deserves more attention Yeah.

Speaker 3 (14:30):
He's like a he has great ball skills. This secondary
is tricky because, like you said, I don't know if
you have another one of your picks is from this
safety group. Because yeah, like people do know about Jalen Peatree,
I think, who does everything for them in the back end,
But he still does seem underrated for like the level
of player. But Bullock absolutely fits the bill too. As

(14:51):
a guy with great ball skills. You don't necessarily see
that in the secondary that much.

Speaker 4 (14:55):
Ali, No, he's on a different level that Usually it's like, well,
if they can catch, you put them on the other
side ball and we go and score a bunch of points.
For some reason, he's like the only guy in the
secondary in the league who can consistently catch everything, has
unbelievable range. I do think he is one of the
all time great gamblers. And if you gamble then you're
playing for the Panthers, you might be in trouble. He's
playing in front of the most ferocious pass rush, and
like recent times with Jalen Peatree, with those two oll

(15:17):
Pro corners on the outside, you can get away with
some stuff and then when it pays off and it hits,
it looks pretty pretty good. But he's in the perfect
location and playing pretty well. Who else you got at
your safety spot? Ali, I gotta throw Tyke Smith in
here from the books. I know you've talked about him
on the pod this season, but we nick talked about
Evan Williams and just Ken the general, Tanasty and Ferosty.

(15:38):
I'm not sure there's anyone who plays as offended on
Sundays as Tyke Smith does. And everyone in the league
just like insults him between the snap, it feels like,
and he comes out and he hits everything, and he
hits everyone and does a thousand different roles. And they've
really now got a situation where it's almost like they
clone wim Field again and they can just mix and
match and flip flop what they want to do with
the two of those safeties.

Speaker 3 (15:59):
That's quite a compliment too, that you could be able
to be used in that way with Antoine Winfield. He
seems like a perfect Todd Bowles player. It's been fun
watching them, and yet it hasn't been consistent on that defense.
But you can't really fault the young guys in the secondary.
I want to just give it just a quick shout
to a couple of people. Well, Quintin with Lake when

(16:21):
he was healthy was having a great season for the Rams.
I think he's gonna get he deserves a good second contract,
and then the one that maybe this wouldn't be a
hipster pick. I'm sure all the coverage numbers aren't amazing,
but I'm just happy to see Kevin Byard having another
Kevin Byard type of season for the Chicago Bears.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
He's thirty two or thirty three.

Speaker 3 (16:41):
I feel like he's most known for Dion Sanders not
knowing his name back in the day.

Speaker 2 (16:46):
If you remember that.

Speaker 3 (16:48):
And yet he is a guy who's popped up with
two first team All Pro seasons like four years apart,
and he's an important part of that secondary who's been
so injured. So seeing a guy like that, who I
thought was kind of in his career was was just
about over. Just want to give him some love and
he'll be playing big time football down the stretch.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
Here, here's a little story about Kevin Byard real quick,
just to give you, like some context for how long
he's been doing it. He first rose to prominence with
the Titans back when I was still living out there
in LA and working in the newsroom with you in
Culver and yeah, I did a one on one with
him in the in the on the lot back then.
That's how long it's been. We've been in Englewood for years.
I've been gone and remote for years.

Speaker 4 (17:26):
I feel like he's almost most well known beyond Dion
for being every like analyst, trade deadline, go get candidate.
For like three years in a row, it's like, could
you go and get Kevin biod? Then the Eagles went
and did it and he was completely fried and cooked
when he got to Philadelphia and we all had to
egg on off Facebook a really good bounced by gearing
someone that Kaylen Bullock is like the true free ranging
middle of the field safety.

Speaker 5 (17:46):
That's that's the career.

Speaker 3 (17:48):
That's the career you want to have good comp Let's
go to linebacker for the uninitiated. This is the position
that gets Ali up in the morning or or or
get some up on East Coast hours, which he crazily
does during football season. He just he just switches and
pretends like he's living on the East Coast there in Manchester.

(18:09):
So what linebackers this year have you enjoyed watching the
most that deserve to be on the all underrated team.

Speaker 4 (18:16):
There's a lot this season which is a true bounce
back where last year you're digging through the rubble being like,
can we find so can we find a fourth, fifth
one here that could play pretty well? I went first
with Divine Diablo from the Falcons, who when he came
over from Vegas, I just thought that was a complete
whiff and a mistake to do. He's he's a converted
safety who was always like, oh, he can play in space.
You get all the coverage stuff and people say you

(18:38):
can't find coverage linebackers, Well you might get a plus
coverage linebacker who could do absolutely nothing for you in
the run fit. He comes to Atlanta and he's been
incredible around the ball and make him plays in the backfield,
and he's playing in that really mugged up kind of
linear path system where it's either blitz or drop, and
that's why I think he's at his best. But he's
added this new fresh element to his game where you
can really kind of dance and skip around the box

(19:00):
and slide through those crevices and go make plays in
the backfield, which is just not what his game was
like a toll before. He's got here, and he's been
super impactful, super productive, and now has the sick aesthetic
where he's got the club on one arm and he's
just swamming people away and he's going to make him plays.
So to mind the apoloij himself.

Speaker 3 (19:15):
For me, yeah, I think about that defense and how
many cool parts of it has and how they use
them well, and then I think, I don't know if
that defense is going to exist next year.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
It's kind of a shame.

Speaker 3 (19:27):
We'll see who ends up being their head coach next year.
But like so many guys seem like good fits and
we've seen development out of their rookie pass rushers. But
that's a good shout out coming from the Raiders. Everyone
like looks a little better after they leave the Raiders.
Who else you got shook?

Speaker 1 (19:43):
Well? First off, I wanted to think real quick, maybe
this is just like an association by uniform, but I
think it was a different defensive scheme. But like Diablo
going to the Falcons having a good year, it kind
of makes me think about when like Michael Walker, who's
no longer there. I always liked him with the Falcons,
different types of players, but it's just like I don't
know what it is about. At there's always a linebacker
that comes from Atlanta that I like, I'm gonna go with.

(20:04):
This might be a bit of a cherry pick, but
he's a rookie. He's having a great year. Carson Schwessinger
who's just been fantastic for the Browns. He has effectively
replaced Jeremiah Cormo as best as possible in this defense.
A former walk on at UCLA who ends up being
a top end of the second round draft pick. I
think he's still a strong candidate for Defensive Rookie of
the Year based on how he's performed in his first season.

(20:25):
He ranks in like the top twenty five among all
linebackers according to PFF. He's in the top twenty and
run defense and you just see it on the tape.
He's another guy who's not afraid to get dirty to
fire in with explosion. He's rangy, he can get from
sideline to sideline. He's decent in pass coverage. He's the
type of athletic linebacker that I think is a bit
of a dying breed, even as we turn toward more
sub packages. He's a guy that can play on all

(20:46):
three downs. And he's been a big part for that defense,
a big piece of it for sure.

Speaker 3 (20:49):
When you're watching him, like, did you expect Ali this
big of an impact right off the bat?

Speaker 5 (20:57):
No, not this big of an impact.

Speaker 4 (20:58):
I think he almost falls into that Diabolo boocket where
he was built as Okay, we're gonna get all the coverage, chops,
the coverage and rage, and Jiad Campbell has more of
the size and power and like physical strength and maybe
be more of the first down and force who can
then survive on third down. He just walks in the
league and it's just killing people at the point of attack.
Day one, stood up mugged ub and then they run
the ball at you when you're mugged up these days,
and he's like, I don't care about it. I'm just

(21:18):
gonna throw somebody to the floor and go get the ball.
I did not expect to have this kind of all
around impact. I thought he would really be a sub
packaged piece coming in on passing downs and you would
maybe figure out over time, how close can you get
into the line of scrimage, how much can you play
does in the trenches? Big boy on big boy football,
So thim to be this impactful right away.

Speaker 5 (21:34):
I agree with Shook.

Speaker 4 (21:34):
I think he's the kind of the runaway defensive rookie
of the year if you just go snap by snap,
who plays like an all around pro and then is
the position that takes three years to develop more than
any other position in the league outside of maybe quarterback.
And he's just stepped in day one as a top ten,
top twelve linebacker. That's basically impossible to do, and so
he deserves an award for that.

Speaker 3 (21:53):
This is not an official entry, but Devin Bush has
played pretty well for the time.

Speaker 1 (21:59):
It kills me. He didn't want to sound like a Homer,
but you're right, he's had a really good year.

Speaker 2 (22:03):
Am I crazy? I'm like, wow, is that Devin Bush again?
Devin Bush is pretty good at football? Suddenly.

Speaker 1 (22:08):
Yeah. I didn't want to sound like a Homer being
in Cleveland and everything else, but he's made I mean,
he even has his first interception in years in this season.
He's I don't know if he's found the fountain of
youth or if he's just in the right scheme with
Jim Schwartz defense, but he's having a probably his best
year or one of his best years.

Speaker 3 (22:24):
Maybe a little bit of both, which is like he's
he's in a perfect situation and what Olli was saying
in terms of sometimes you really do need that time
to develop at that position. But especially I think they're
Jim Schwartz in that defense helping him like focus on.

Speaker 2 (22:38):
What he does well, Ali, who else do you got?

Speaker 4 (22:41):
I was going to go with Justin Schernav from the Broncos.
He was truly my beloved, but he's once again being
bench because Drake Greenlaw has returned, and so I don't
think you can put a bench player on the all
underrated team, which is is sad. So I'm going to
throw something out to the Titans fans and say that
in Cedric Great, I believe you've found someone who can
actually stand up and play on the field fee on
so days behind Jeffrey Simmons, and that should be pretty exciting.

(23:02):
Now he's right up there and like the role, like
tackle date, the numbers, but none of it is empty
calories to me. His range, his fight, he is still
a complete roller coaster, particularly in coverage. He has lost constantly.
But if you just put in between the tackles and
in the box and allow him to kind of just
play sit and find and sift and find football, which
is a lot of early down stuff in the NFL.
He's playing about as well as you could ever hopeful

(23:25):
for a second year guy playing in that scheme behind
the front that he's playing with.

Speaker 3 (23:30):
That that is truly all underrated. I know this because
we were we were my son wanted to play a game.
I didn't want to bring the iPad to Chargers Eagles
on Monday night when we're stuck in traffic on the
way there, and he just wanted to play a game.
You give me a depth chart position and I'll like
name who the players are in the NFL, which is
you know, makes me very proud of the son as

(23:51):
a father that he suggested that game and I'm like,
Titans linebacker and he's like, there's there's no chance that he's.

Speaker 2 (23:59):
He's getting that. He threw it back on me and
I was like, actually that. I was like, that's pretty tough.

Speaker 3 (24:05):
I did know Cedric Gray, but I was like, I
would not have tabbed him for the all underrated team.
And I, off the top of my head, I don't
know who's even playing next to him right now in Tennessee.

Speaker 4 (24:13):
But Cody bought and doing an awful pointing at everyone
else saying that's where the ball is going to go.
And it's like, Cody, could you maybe fa over there
for as we're paying you some money to maybe get
a position to make some plays. Cedric Gray's play style
and demeanor is just as E's al Shay put into
another buddy. Now, that's always balderline. I'm reckless, and you
get all the dumb penalties. But if that's your kind
of linebacker, which is a throwback linebacker that you know,

(24:34):
the thirty of thirty two coaches in the league like, yes,
please sign me up for some of alha. Cedric Gray
is the next incarnation of that.

Speaker 3 (24:41):
Yeah, I've just been waiting for the Brandon Spikes style
of linebacker to come back into vogue. I mean, Alandon
Roberts is having a long career there and he's kind
of in that mold. All right, shuck, give me your
other linebacker.

Speaker 1 (24:56):
A late arrival to my radar. We're going to the
rams here in Nate Landman, who's having an excellent year.
I mean, obviously he benefits from playing behind one of
the top defensive fronts in football, but I'm not going
to use that to take anything away from him, And
the reason that he landed on my radar late was because, yes,
I'd known about him and I'd appreciate his contributions. But
he made one of the greatest interceptions I've seen from

(25:17):
a guy at linebacker against on Kobe Brissett against the
Cardinals last weekend. I just Johobe never saw him and
he just full extension picks him off and I'm like, oh,
And they had been talking about him on the broadcast
earlier and I was like, yeah, you are giving him
as due and he deserves that. But then he goes
and makes a play almost on que I think that,
you know, when you look at the Rams as a
complete team and defensively, we always talk about that front four.

(25:38):
We give credit to some of what they have in
the secondary, but we seem to, I don't know, maybe
overlook a bit of what they have at the second level.
We should stop doing that because Nate Lanman's having a
really good year.

Speaker 3 (25:48):
So Nate Landman signed a contract extension that I think
slipped under the entire NFL's radar because it was over Thanksgiving.
They got him in for three years, twenty two point
five million, dollars extension. They basically signed him for nothing
this offseason. I'd have to go check, but I'm guessing
it was like a million dollars or something, or close

(26:08):
to the minimum. The guarantee is only about fifteen million dollars.
That's like for the next three years. They just got
like a very low cost linebacker who can stay on
the field, who is doing a little bit of everything
if you want to know, like how to succeed while
you're paying Pukin Nakua's next contract and whatever you're paying

(26:30):
DeVante Adams if he's still on the team. It's like
getting deals like that. Less need has done a good
job drafting, and that was an amazing extension.

Speaker 2 (26:39):
Landman, I get it.

Speaker 3 (26:40):
I probably would do the same thing if I could
imagine myself as an NFL player. But like, he could
have made a lot more money, frankly if he if
he waited till till he got to the open market.

Speaker 2 (26:49):
I'm sure you've loved watching him play too, eli Oh.

Speaker 5 (26:52):
I love the Landman. How could you not.

Speaker 4 (26:55):
The thing that is interesting about them in that linebacks
in particular is that their threshold fringes, like just don't
make mistakes all the fun stuff we do is in
the front and then with the three safeties. Now not
with Quinton Lake, but when we have Quentin Lake, that's
where all the fun and games happens. Just be in
the right spots on time and never make a mistake.
And Nate Limon just duffed his cap and was like,
I will not do that and pay me twenty one
million dollars.

Speaker 5 (27:14):
And that's what they did.

Speaker 4 (27:15):
And that if that's the style of scheme you're running wedges,
which is we'll keep the lineback of clean and you
just float to the football and figure it out for us,
is really really, really valuable. And yet they got a
really cost effective deal.

Speaker 3 (27:28):
Yeah, he was with the Falcons previously and he has
had a knack for making big plays and they've it's
been interesting.

Speaker 2 (27:35):
They said goodbye to Ernest Jones.

Speaker 3 (27:37):
They had a lot of faith in Omar Spates, who's
playing pretty well for them.

Speaker 2 (27:41):
There that's our linebackers.

Speaker 3 (27:43):
So let's take a quick break and we'll come back
on the other side and we will do the defensive line.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
All underrated defense.

Speaker 3 (27:57):
Back on NFL Dailyday, Sickos just occurred to me.

Speaker 2 (28:02):
We're gonna have Saturday NFL Football pretty soon.

Speaker 3 (28:05):
That Bears Packers game is a Saturday night game in
a couple of weeks, a few days before Christmas. If
you're listening to this on Saturday, though it is officially
Rosenthal Christmas right now, celebrate it early.

Speaker 2 (28:21):
It's the last.

Speaker 3 (28:22):
Weekend day I have free before they leave for Japan
the following week. So you know, just just happy Rosenthal
Christmas to me. Let's go to the edge defenders. A
lot of options here. We'll start with Yushooki.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
Okay, So as we went into the season, we looked
at the Detroit Lions and we thought, all right, they
got Aiden Hutchinson, and they're already dealing with some injuries
on the defensive front. And who's going to play opposite
Aiden Hutchinson. Last year it was Zadarias Smith came in
the middle of the year. What are they gonna do.
I'll tell you what they're gonna do. They're gonna go
to Alkadeen Muhammad and say, get us nine sacks, make
some big plays in big spots on national television, and

(28:58):
become just about his perd him of an edge rusher
as Aiden Hutchinson this year, you don't believe me. I'll
tell you about the numbers. He's fourth in quarterback pressure
percentage among all edge rushers at sixteen and a half percent.
That is zero point zero one percentage points behind Aiden Hutchinson,
which means they're getting about similar production. And I talked
about the nine sacks he's made a difference. It hasn't
been entirely consistent from week to weeks. Sometimes he disappears,

(29:21):
but man, in those big spots when they need a play,
if it isn't Hutchinson, you see number ninety six and
you're like, oh, yeah, that is that guy that blew
up earlier this year. Look at him making a play again.
So I love what he's done for the Lions this year.

Speaker 3 (29:32):
I think of him too, as like a hustle guy
and he's going to clean it up. But we're watching
him beat Terren Steel clean in that Thursday night game. Look,
he started his career pretty well for the Colts, and
then he was reduced to a point where he was
just on the Lions practice squad. He was not even
on an active roster. Anyone could have picked him up
basically for free. But that's a good shout out, and

(29:55):
it's just like they needed to get production from somewhere,
and you can't count on Marcus Davin to stay healthy
for long.

Speaker 4 (30:02):
My fear with the Lions defense in general is that
they've become really siloed and really packaged. And we do
this on one down, then we kind of change the
defense on a sub down and we bring Mohammadan to
do his thing, and I think that's why the production
kind of ebbs and flows every week. The teams who
have a good plan for knowing we can kind of
get the lines into what we want to get them
do they start shifting the front round With McNeil and

(30:22):
Williams and Hutchinson, you can kind of dictate the terms
to them in a way that I think could get
you smoked in a playoff game, unfortunately. But he is
a full on effort and hustle player. Great high five guy,
great high five guy. He gets to the backfield, meets
aiden says come on, buddy, a good job. So I like,
I admire the effort, I admire the gumption. I think
he's got a bit more juice than maybe I'm giving
him credit for there. But as a one on one

(30:43):
winner in the playoffs, when you're kind of tipping your
hands on what you're doing as a defense. I have
some reservations as a kind of second option alongside Aiden.

Speaker 3 (30:51):
Forget the playoffs, how about Saturday, I mean Sunday this week,
get against the Rams. I am definitely concerned about how
that defense is gonna look.

Speaker 2 (30:58):
I'm looking forward to that one, though. Give it. Give
us an edge defender, Alley.

Speaker 4 (31:01):
I'm going with Nick Herbig with the Steelers, who I'm
not sure is in any way underrated anymore, but I've
had him listed on this team since he walked into
the league. So I'm just going to persist with it
until Mike Tomlin recognizes the brilliance before him and stops
rolling him off the field. Whenever Alex Highsmith becomes healthy
and available again. He is potentially the most explosive guy
off the ball in the entire league, particularly from a

(31:22):
two point stance. Miles lives in probably a tear of
his own, but just as a straight juice fly off
the ball. Herbig is right there with absolutely no defensive
architecture to help a pass rusher out zero, and yet
he flies off the ball. He wins inside, outside, spin, move,
dip and rip, whatever you want. He is I think
a massively difference making pass rusher, and yet he has

(31:43):
to spend half of the season begging for snaps and
so I find that very frustrating. Has played a lot
more this season and we've been able to see the
kind of impact he can make.

Speaker 3 (31:52):
Yeah, Like I you know, when I was just writing
down some names in case you guys didn't mention, just
to give little shout outs, I was like, does her
big still qualify? And Yeah, the answer is absolutely yes,
because I think on a national level, people still don't
realize he's that quality of a pass rusher. And if
Mike Tomlin is only going to play him a combined
I counted him up fifty six snaps the last two

(32:14):
weeks in money time, like when they absolutely need it,
then yes, he is still underrated.

Speaker 2 (32:22):
It I don't I don't get what it's fine buggling.

Speaker 4 (32:25):
And if you look at the way offenses treat him
in terms of like double team rate, chip rate, like
all the offenses get it. He's right there with like
Will Anderson in terms of like how offense is a
tribute resources to try to stop him while also having
to deal with TJ.

Speaker 5 (32:37):
Watt.

Speaker 4 (32:38):
And yet the coach near the sidelines, like take him
off the field. Alex Heisman is going back, and Alex
Heisman is a good player, but TJ. Wall has a
nick Hob excuse me, has a different level of juice
coming off the ball.

Speaker 2 (32:49):
Yeah, there was one.

Speaker 3 (32:50):
There was one snap I remember citing earlier this season
where I saw, you know, they're sending the help to
Herbig and Watt's on the field and what makes a
big play. And I was like, that's that's pretty cool
that like her Big is setting up lot and it
really says a lot.

Speaker 2 (33:05):
Who else do you got? Shock?

Speaker 1 (33:07):
So I found myself in this exercise kind of falling
on a bunch of rookies. And maybe it's just because
I'm like aspirational when it comes to this, and I'm
optimistic and I just like to project outward. But like
I look at both of the Falcons rookie edge rushers,
which they spent two first round picks on, which we
can argue about whether that was good for them long term,
and I kind of mix and match between the two,
Like I have Jalen Walker here because he's more consistent

(33:28):
than James Pierce, but then James Pierce has also had
a sack in each of his last five games. I'm
not like a sacks driven guy or anything, but I
do like the what Walker kind of brings to the
table that you're able to project outward because he's just
just very consistent. He's a PFF had a grading article
the other day where they said he's one of the
lowest negatively graded players in the rookie class, which I

(33:51):
think bodes really well for you long term. That even
if you're not showing up in the metrics or maybe
it's not a per play basis where you're making a difference,
disrupting the p or anything else, as long as you
can put together consistent reps as a rookie, I think
that bodes really well for you long term. So when
you kind of dive into that he looks better and
more reliable on a snap by snap basis. Then you
pair that with Pierce, who has become more productive over

(34:13):
the last month and a half, and I like the
direction that they're headed in, even if they're maybe headed
for a regime change as well.

Speaker 2 (34:17):
You got on the falcons for this trade. Ali.

Speaker 3 (34:21):
A lot of people did not the Jalen Walker pick,
but going for Pierce it kind of reminds me of
the Pelicans trade for any NBA fans out there, where
everyone absolutely killed them for trading away there first for
Derek Queen, and that was a bad trade. And yet
Derek Queen is looking pretty good. Has Pierce convinced you
at all that this trade wasn't completely insane.

Speaker 4 (34:42):
Not in the slightest No. I respect Shook's opinion mightily,
as you know. I still think he's a one track player,
and he is getting a tremendous amount of scheme protection
and scheme help. And if he was just left in
a one on one assignment in a downfall defense, I
think he would get swallowed up and he'd have the
three or four splash plays because he move off the
ball like a few people in the NFL.

Speaker 5 (35:02):
Jalen Walker, though Choke's pig.

Speaker 4 (35:04):
I've told you before, I think we're dealing with something
unbelievably special with this guy. I think he moves differently.
The brain is a completely different speed to most rookies
you see playing the block recognition, block destruction, as all
these guys speak about in the offseason. To these young guys,
no one sees it, reads it, and kills it as
quick as this guy as a rookie. So you add
that to then the physical makeup, which is all the

(35:24):
potential is like a put the hand of the dort
and get after it pass Russia.

Speaker 5 (35:28):
I think he's a truly, truly special which.

Speaker 3 (35:31):
Is crazy because they're asking him to do a lot
of new things. But maybe you guys are more college
guys than me. Maybe Kirby, I don't know. Maybe that
defense is so crazy that they're somehow mentally prepared to
do a lot of different things in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (35:45):
There's a reason how he Roseman keeps going back to
the Georgia Well to get defenders. And it's not just
you know, a circumstances. It's these players come NFL ready
and they tend to be specimens. They're four and five
star recruits. They spend three four years in Kirby's defense.
They're ready, and you pair that with the athleticism, the
natural talent, and you see why they produce as a
rookie like Walker.

Speaker 4 (36:05):
Has who else you got Ali, I've got josh heinz Allen,
who probably is not slightly as underrated now, but I
don't think he's being discussed quite the level he's reached.
Now he has the same number of quick pressures this
year as Miles Garrett. Now Garrett has all the sacks
and all the finishing and all the holy bleep did
he just do that moments that josh heines Allen doesn't
quite play that way. He's a bit more structured in

(36:27):
the rush, so you can kind of like go past
you if you don't have these, you know, breaking through
a triple team as Miles Garrett did against the Patriots,
if that's not quite there to like go viral or whatever.
But in terms of consistent down to down production, he
has just become a complete forceome menace. I watched last
weekend him throw Quintin Nelson into the backfield and on
the safety play that Riley Lennon had, that's josh heinz

(36:48):
Allen coming in on the stun and flattening there. He
goes throwing Quinton Nelson to the ground, give me the quarterback.
So his burst, his speed to power. As I said,
he's still kind of a in the bottom type pastorship,
but that buck is pretty dunproductive.

Speaker 3 (37:03):
He also, you know, signed a contract in the twenty
twenty four offseason, which is aging very well, like they
do if you make them long enough. I know it's
like an average per year over thirty four and a half,
but the first few years is very reasonable.

Speaker 2 (37:21):
And he's done something which I think is very hard
to do.

Speaker 3 (37:25):
He has probably been the Jaguars best player for three
years straight, like three four years straight, not just on defense,
just who is a better player on the jack like
he has been the best player for their franchise for
a number of years straight. And that kind of consistency
is awesome. And and you're right, he doesn't get thought
of as much. Who else should I should we just

(37:46):
throughout little names? If do you have any other guy?

Speaker 1 (37:48):
I have a name? And going back to the rookies again,
Donovan Azeraku in Dallas with the Cowboys. I love what
he's shown so far. I think his trajectory not quite limitless,
but pretty close. You know, he's good at pressuring quarterbacks,
he's good at run stopping like he's gonna be one
of the top rookies of this class. And I think
that while we have spent so much time talking about

(38:08):
how they got rid of Mike Parsons and everything else,
I think they've done a fairly good job of reconstructing
that front, and as a rock is going to be
a key part of it.

Speaker 5 (38:15):
He has really blurry speed.

Speaker 4 (38:16):
He does have a little bit of the thing where
if you're just really active of your hands and you
move a lot, it looks like you're doing an awful amount,
where sometimes better just be like controlled and understand what
you're doing. But I admire the hustle. I admire his
game an awful lot. The other guy I would throw
in there will be Aya Dabi, who I think is
in this Josh Haines Allen mode where it's like big, physical,
imposing and attack the inside shoulder from out to in
all power rush, and that is so incredibly valuable if

(38:39):
you can get someone with real speed up the arc
off the other side. And I think we saw it
early in the season when Hassan Reddick was healthy, how
different the books front look is at this like perfect
blend of a guy who goes out to win and
a guy who swoops around the arg And you kind
of have to build a pass rushing package together with
all the different skill sets. Not everyone's going to be
Miles Garrett, Micah Parsons and be able to do every
single thing for you, but Dabi is an incredibly effective

(39:01):
valuable passwords.

Speaker 3 (39:02):
Show yeah the Abby with with the Buccaneers, he's been
good Byron Young has had a breakout season for the
Rams as an edge who's pretty good on on every down.
And he's going to get a nice contract if it's
if it's not from the Rams. And then just a
shout to my beloved over the years, DeMarcus Lawrence, still
getting it done. You can pick a lot of Seahawks

(39:22):
really dark Larrence. Derek Hall is an interesting player who's
just a really good player and very powerful. So's Lawrence.
They they're different and yet they kind of remind me
of each other. And so those guys have been underrated too.
Let's go to the interior. We'll wrap it up here, Ali,
who do you like?

Speaker 5 (39:41):
I'm going to go with a guy I think was
on your old Vibes team.

Speaker 4 (39:43):
I'm going to go with Kobe Turner from the Rams
and I watch him and I think that he's kind
of the spiritual successor not quite this level. They'll want
to be too hyperbolic just because of plays I love watching,
but in kind of play style and how he sees
and views and executes the game, to cam Heywood, where
it's a lot of lateral quicks, it's a lot of
smart it's a lot of understanding the angles and throwing

(40:04):
guys the other way, and he's really quick moving laterally.
That's kind of way he makes most of his money.
But there's a real different level of understanding in tight
confined spaces of how to play, how to address a block,
how to free guys up to the limans of the
wolf and go and get paid you know, Lemish maybe
for you know, to a couple of dollars his way
for that contract. He's an absolute molar and killer inside.

Speaker 3 (40:27):
And and such a nice guy off the field, which
is why he made the Vibes team.

Speaker 2 (40:31):
Like just you you.

Speaker 3 (40:33):
Never know what, like the personality change is gonna be,
but he just seems like a fun loving guy who
loves to be out there playing ball.

Speaker 2 (40:40):
And he's like he's a wrecking ball. Who do you
got shook?

Speaker 1 (40:43):
I try to kind of dig deep on this just
because underrated. I wanted people that, like, you know, I
run to a guy at the gym and he's talking
to me about his team and like, yeah, but did
you notice this guy in your team? They're like, no,
I know his number though, and I'm going Jalen Redman,
the defensive tackle for the Vikings. He has had a
phenomenal season. Now, I know that they've had their struggles,
but it seems on a week to week basis, he
is always making a play in the backfield. He is

(41:05):
stuffing the run. He's sixth among all defensive tackles according
next Gen in run stops. His quarterback pressure percentage is
near ten percent, which, as we know, that's pretty difficult
to achieve as a defensive tackle if your name is
not Aaron Donald. And he's like right somewhere between Videvea
and John Franklin Myers in that category, which tells me,
first year in the NFL, you're gonna have quite a
good career. Not to mention, he's just a load, like,

(41:26):
he's a guy that plays with tenacity and unbridled enthusiasm
where he's just going at one hundred miles an hour
all the time, and he's producing big plays as a result.
So I think that you know, on a front that
they also added like Jonathan Allen and everything, Redman's been
the star and I think he's going to be continued
to be a star. For them for years to come.

Speaker 3 (41:43):
I love like the no name defensive tackles. I'll just
throw out, like the guys on the Texans, they're.

Speaker 2 (41:48):
Kind of nice.

Speaker 1 (41:49):
Yes, this is one of mine too.

Speaker 3 (41:51):
Okay, okay, just go go togy I, set Tim Settle
whoever whoever you want.

Speaker 1 (41:55):
Yeah, I was all TOGII. This is a guy who
came from Ohio State, who started with the Browns, who
I thought had a lot of potential in really solid
field in Cleveland. And he he's another guy where he's
just on a week two week basis. You watched the
Texans and suddenly out of nowhere, it's Tommy Togia I
making a play and then it's a test of Ken
the broadcaster properly pronounced his last name. There's a lot
of guys won't, but he just consistently is in the backfield.

(42:16):
He's great against the run, and he's another player that
just plays with violence and desire that is just like
never limited. And I think it's also because of the
depth that they have up front that he's able to
do that. But man, in so many key spots there's
Tommy Togia, the old Buckeye, making a difference.

Speaker 2 (42:30):
Holly, who do you got on your for your interior guys?

Speaker 4 (42:33):
The last one I'm gonna go with. I went through
about five or six different names. I'm gonna go with
Maliite Collins from the Browns because he just got shut
down for the season and I'm not sure we've ever
seen a tenth year breakout stuff a guy who've just
waited on and waited on on.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
Wait.

Speaker 4 (42:46):
I know he went to Kobe Bryant's clinic in Germany.
Web it did some kind of blood spitting, but he
came back with a level of burst off the ball
I've never seen him play with, which you've waited for
every ten years we've waited for this coming out of college,
say is that player ever gonna make it in the NFL?
He gets to Cleveland, they just say, hey, don't worry
about anything that we're doing over then attack the quote
about it. That's all we care about. And his into

(43:07):
play with Miles Garrett was a huge part of the
early season success they had, and it's going to be interest,
I think to see what they look like down the
stretch now that he's out.

Speaker 3 (43:16):
Disappointing that he was going to get rewarded for that too,
he was a free agent. Selfishly too, I'm making these
lists and just like the Raven signed Travis Jones on Thursday,
and it's like, oh there's another name to cross off.
Pretty good player, not perfect, but would have been a
fun guy. And it's just like any one decent, You're
just crossing them off these free agency lists. And unfortunately

(43:39):
Emily Collins is going to get hurt. What you said
you had five or six that the to chooser, I mean,
you could give me so give us some rapid fire,
even if they're not the official selections.

Speaker 2 (43:48):
Give give some people some love.

Speaker 4 (43:50):
I mean, we could keep going down with Christian Balmer
and the bounce back year in New England after he's
been being through health wise as being sensational. Claiuz Campbell,
I don't think still quite recognizing. Obviously he's a ginormous name,
but what he's doing in the production he's pinning up
in that unit this season, to me is just out
of control. You mentioned Tim Settle was a guy I

(44:10):
had on my long list. I like going with with
someone on that defensive line because everyone else gets all
the credit on that defense, including my you know, great
love Jalen Petree who is the glue that holds everything together.
But having that rotation of guys in the interior to
collapse the pocket up front is kind of what helps
those two superstars on the outside out.

Speaker 1 (44:28):
I got one more. We're gonna go over to New York.
We're gonna go to the Jets, a team that doesn't
have a lot to smile about. Joan Briggs has had
an excellent year for them in the interior. He's another
guy like Togya that just consistently makes plays. He's kind
of fits closer to the h Jalen Redmond mold. And
maybe it's because he also is a former Brown And
I've just had my eye on interior defensive lineman with potential.

(44:48):
But I swear man every week. He seems to be
one of the shining stars of this front. And there
aren't a lot of them at this point. I mean,
there were more on the edge than the interior. But
he just consistently blows plays up. He splits double teams,
he splits you know, zones games. He's got an innate
sense for what's going on in front of him, and
then he uses his strength and his power to finish
plays off. I really like where he's headed in his career.

Speaker 3 (45:08):
I like that vigorous head nod from Ali when he
heard Juwan Briggs.

Speaker 2 (45:12):
This is proof. It's the Saturday SIKO Show.

Speaker 3 (45:15):
Eric had Jwan Briggs tape ready, A national show is
talking Juwan Briggs.

Speaker 2 (45:20):
Why the vigorous headshake.

Speaker 4 (45:22):
I just did a deep evaluation of him this week.
I gotta believe show brought him up. It's so exciting. Yeah,
I can't believe how good and impactful he is. Down
to down now, there are some reps in the run game.
He tries to split every double team and sometimes you
do that and you get dog walked back into the linebacker.
You are yeah, yeah, black, that's just the life you live.
But he has really he has top end juice for it,

(45:42):
like undersized interior linemen. And I can't believe they just
kind of they lose Quinn Williams. He has replaced the
production Quinn Williams was giving to the Jets. Quinn's obviously
a significantly better player and is more impactful with the Cowboys,
but the production he was actually offering the team early
in the season has been replaced by Briggs.

Speaker 5 (46:00):
That was not something I was expecting.

Speaker 3 (46:01):
You know, Darren Mugie their GM weird offseason, but he
has had a lot of good trades that he was
a trade pick up. They by basically gave up nothing
to hear. They picked up Harris and Phillips in a
trade like he's been pretty useful like for them. And
then you know the Sauce Gardner trade, that was like
a little bit of a luckier that. You know, the
Colts traffick is getting better and better. But I think

(46:23):
he did pretty well in the Quinn Williams and Sauce
Garter trade. So Darren Moogie getting it done. I was
listening to the All phl Y podcast. They were talking
about who was their defensive MVP this year and they
had Jordan Davis on the podium.

Speaker 2 (46:38):
I was like, okay, he could.

Speaker 3 (46:39):
That seems a little a little much, but it has
been the best Jordan Davis season certainly. Eventually, I think
they settled on Yes, Cooper Deen Quinian Mitchell are better
players and more valuable, but in terms of like beating
expectations for what they thought and has been really important
to them, Jordan Davis has had a nice year. And
then an annual guy I always think is undert there

(47:00):
always like a couple of guys like this that they
just float around, they sign late, or just team brings
them back in the last seconds, like day Quon Jones
for the Buffalo Bills, Like you just put them back
in there and he'll eat some innings for you and
he'll be totally solid. And he's like been doing that
his entire Career's like one of those guys never gets
any respects.

Speaker 2 (47:16):
A little love for Daque.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
I'm gonna give one more shout out Tierre Tart with
the Chargers. I told you there are multiple Chargers here.
I just love what he's done this year. I love
the way he started this season battan down passes against
the Chiefs in Week one, and his grades are really
good too. And he's another guy that, like you got
to have to watch closely to see the difference that
he makes. But I'm a big fan. I don't know.
Maybe I'm just I'm partial to big interior lineman who
blow things up and make a difference that nobody really

(47:39):
pays attention to. That might just be my thing, I.

Speaker 2 (47:41):
Think it's everyone's thing.

Speaker 3 (47:42):
It we're dangerously close to just like a naming some
guys podcast.

Speaker 4 (47:46):
There's nothing that's excited to be mold and being on
a Dude's Naming Guys podcast with Nick Schoke, that's like
all I ever.

Speaker 5 (47:51):
Wanted in my career. It's finally happened.

Speaker 4 (47:54):
The last couple of names I would just like to
read out to you is the Denver Broncos guys get
I feel like zero love nationally. It's just it's just
penciled in that they are great. Vance gets a lot
of the credit, and deservedly so because he just operates
at a different level to most people in the league.
But you look through their roster, how deep they run,
the volume of packages they run, and how those guys
got to the team. One of them is just obviously

(48:15):
Zach Allen comes with Vans. It's like if I'm coming
to Denver, Zach is coming with me, or I'm not
taking the gig. But the rest of it is all
these undrafted guys. However, we mentioned justin Strnad earlier is
a late round pick. It's McMillan, it's Singleton, it's Tilman,
it's Roach. It's just all these undrafted guys leading this
historic level of defense. And yes, they've got Benito and
Cooper in these absolute speeds is off the edge. But

(48:35):
the pieces that tied together are all these just well coached,
well drilled, nowhere to be type players.

Speaker 3 (48:40):
Yeah, I can't wait to see what they look like
in this stretch run where they have like very difficult
game after very difficult game. It starts on Sunday against
the Packers. That's the next time will be in your
feed for the big time week whatever we have fifteen
recap the retron has started thanks to Ali, thanks to Shook.

(49:03):
Glad we got you tube together, made this magic happen.
But we can do it again. We can do another
name that some guys podcast, Ali and Shook. We will
see you on Sunday night. Shook will be there with myself,
Jordan and Patrick. We will see them