JGame On Rewind: John Kosko of PFF joins the show! 2024-11-4

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is John Costco from Pro Football Focus. His first
time he's been on. We've had his colleagues Max Chadwick in,
Trevor Sickham on many times, as well as Dalton Wasserman.
And we welcome John into the show. John. Sorry we
didn't connect during the break, but thanks for calling us back.
Welcome in, my friend.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I'm having my phone here
and I see, Oh I have two miscalls? What is that?
So I blame my technology for that? So I apologize.
I'm I'm glad I was able to get through.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
It's the nature of our show. Man. We're honored to
have you on, and thanks again for making time. Let's
start with the big news out of Dallas. Obviously we'll
get to some other teams as well, but this team
yesterday did not look good. They have not looked right
all season long, and the highest paid player in league
history now is going to be sidelined for quote weeks
as we learn that hamstring injury will keep Dak Prescott

(00:52):
out of the lineup. Your overall sense of where this
team is right now and what should they be doing
in advance of this trade deadline.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yeah, it's been a struggle for them, obviously three straight losses.
You know, they started the season three and two. Things
didn't look right for them, especially defensively. Micah Parsons has
been hurt, so that they've had a lot of issues.
And then coming into the season, you know that I
thought they had issues from an offensive weaponry standpoint beyond

(01:21):
Ceedee Lamb, Brandon Coots got hurt. You know, Jayleen tober is,
you know, maybe the next guy up for them, and
he hasn't really developed a way that they wanted him to.
And then obviously from the running back position, you know,
they've they've kind of had a hodgepodge of guys there.
They brought back a Zkolitor who you know, just hasn't
looked right, you know, since you know, for several years now,

(01:43):
you know, the situation is not obviously good. This year,
they they could, you know, you know, theoretically still have
a competitive team for the rest of the year, but
without Dot Dak Prescott, they're really not going to be
a playoff contending team, to be honest, and you know,
I think before the trade deadline, are they going to
be able to make any moves ahead of it? It's
tough to say, because you know, I haven't I haven't

(02:06):
specifically looked at you know, what their their salary cap
looks like for the guys that they have on their roster.
But they definitely need to to, you know, both, they
need to They need to make better picks and they
need to have more picks to make with them and
build that roster because they have a lack of offensive
weaponry beyond ceedee Lamb, like I said, and when you

(02:27):
don't have guys that you have you can trust beyond
your superstar wide receiver, it really makes it difficult to
have an efficient offense. And that's kind of what we're
seeing in Dallas this year. You know, they always drag
out these contract hawks and everything like that. So it's
it's a you know, things don't look great for them
right now. It's not the worst situation in the NFL,
that's for sure, but it's not it's not good for

(02:48):
them right now.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
Let's focus on a division real quick. John Costco joins
us from PFF dot com and it's a division that
fascinates me and I think in the long run, maybe
the forty nine ers with mccaff rebeck on the practice field,
now they get right and they take things over. But
you've got a Cardinals team that just put the wood
to the Bears yesterday and very impressive performance by Sean

(03:10):
mcvay's rams to rally from that slow start, great overtime
win last night in a tough environment. What's your assessment
of this division right now? I know the Niners are
always going to be there in the end. They always
start slow, it seems, and they ramp up into this
time of year. But what a wild division that's been
so far.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Yeah, I mean, it's a really strong division this year.
And you know obviously that these teams are sitting there
at you know four and four, five, you know five,
five and four, four and five basically, so they're all
neck and neck with each other. All of them have good,
really solid teams. I think, like you said, though the
forty nine ers have started slow, they're getting Christian McCaffrey back.
That's the best team in division until proven otherwise. It's

(03:49):
a team that you know, from a from a grading
standpoint that we have at PFF, they grade the best
of any team from an offensive efficiency standpoint, They're the
best in the you know, in that division and one
of the best in the NFL, and I think when
when they've had some injuries. Obviously Brandon Ayuk is out
for the this season. You know, Devas Samuel has missed
some games, George Kittle's missed some games. When they you know,

(04:11):
coming back from thereby with Christian mccaffley, that should still
be a very very good offense. Uh, they don't look
as strong as they were last year, but uh, they
it's a team that will It's a kind of wide
open NFC. You know, obviously Detroit is kind of leading
the charge in the NFC right now, but it's you know,
it's it's a bit open in terms of, you know
what the next best team is in the NFC, and

(04:34):
you know this division is you know kind of they're
they're duking it out with each other. The Rams are
you know, coming strong. You know, you're getting Cooper Cup
back now and poking the kula. So that will make
that that transformed that offense significantly as well. So it's it's, uh,
you know, they this division will have a good you know,
a couple of playoff teams in my opinion, and make
a good run for it in the end.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
Well, you mentioned the Lions, they win again in impressive fashion,
so much so that we saw that if ensive coordinator
Aaron Glenn's glasses were so fogged up he couldn't even
see its play sheet. And it didn't even matter. They
got They got to win twenty four to fourteen at
Green Bay. Bad stuff by Jordan loving that game. But man, Detroit,
you know, I look, I'm not breaking loose here, John.
That's just an impressive operation and they are just so

(05:17):
physically gifted on both sides. They probably need to add
an edge rusher. We know that they might do that
before the deadline here, but I don't know if there's
a more complete team in that conference right now than Detroit.
They're just so impressive across the board, and Golf is
playing mistake free football.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, and you know, you might be the most complete
team in the NFL. You know, here at PFF, they're
grading number one in the NFL, and in this overall
grading offensively, they're they're number one, you know, defensively. Obviously,
losing aid In Hutchinson is a big blow to them,
but they haven't they haven't lost the beat. They're not.

(05:53):
A defensive line is not as efficient obviously without him.
And then you know, the rumors are saying that they're
going to trade z that Arias Smith before the trade deadline,
which would be a great move for them because they
definitely need to add that edge position, like like you said.
But you know, from a you know, power ranking standpoint,
we have them as a top three team. You know,

(06:14):
obviously that they've looked really strong this year, and obviously
they had a big time leading in the NFC Championships
last year and you know, had a few untimely drops.
I don't blame at all, you know, you know, talking
about the the NFC champions I don't blame Dan Campbell
going for those four downs and that the execute that
that game is won by them, and they're they're playing

(06:36):
in the super Bowl. So this is a this is
a team that I think is gonna uh it's even
stronger than it was last year that was really close
to making to the Super Bowl. Uh. And they're they're
the front runners right now to make it to the
super Bowl in the NFC. UH, and it'll be you know,
wait wait to see if the Chiefs can can continue
to pull it off or the Ravens come in come

(06:57):
in strong. You know, basically in the Buffalo, those of
the team's probably contending for the Super Bowl in the AFC.
But yeah, I like the Lions and what they've done.
They've built a really strong roster off of the back
of that Matthew Stafford trade and this really you know,
are clicking in all cylinders right now.

Speaker 3 (07:15):
John, I'm I'm Trey. I'm the kind of I guess
residential Yenser here on the show. I do have a
quick question for you about this Steelers Definitely, it's it's
obviously a bye week. We see Russell Wilson, he's out
there practice and he's given it as all coming down
to the end of this trade deadline. Steelers think they
need a wide receiver too. I'm not really sure what

(07:35):
they got there with Van Jefferson Calvin Austin looking really good.
But how do you feel, I guess moving forward one
with Russ and this offense, but also, like, let's say
they don't make a trade at this deadline for a
wide receiver, maybe they go different route for some other
holes that they need to feel how do you feel
about this offense with say a Van Jefferson, a Calvin Austin,

(07:56):
George Pickens, with that wide receiving cord that they have,
you know, in a Pat Fryarmouth it kind of seems that,
at least with Russ, what we didn't get from Fields
is he's kind of getting everybody involved in this offense.
Do you think that's something that's sustainable going forward, especially
against teams that are kind of more your heavy hitters
like the Chiefs or the Ravens or some of your
your bigger matchups in the future.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
I mean, it'll it'll serve them well in the regular season.
I think if Russ is playing well, they'll do extremely
well in a regular season like we've seen so far.
But the thing is is that once you get into
the playoffs, you absolutely need to have better weapons beyond
your your top guy. Obviously, Friar Mouse, I think is
a solid receiving tight end. We know George Pickens what

(08:36):
he can be when he decides that, you know, you know,
to go up for the game and get involved with
this with the game plan, right, right, But he's a
tremendous talent, right. But beyond that, it's like, you need
you need some more weapons there. I think like Van
Jefferson's fine, he's not He's not really you know, He's
fourteen catches on the year. It's not not enough really

(08:58):
from a from a weapons stand point. Darnel Washington great
when he gets the ball, only eleven catches this year.
Nasea Harris out of the backfield just seven team catches.
So they definitely need somebody else there to to help
elevate that offense from a wide receiver position, and they're
not getting it right now. So I would they definitely
need to try to explore trade. I don't know who

(09:20):
else is out there right now. There's Adam Feelen potentially
that's been kind of rumored to go to be traded
out of UH. But the thing is that there's not
you know these you saw a couple of the trades
that have already happened at the wide receiver position. Year.
They kind of been sitting on their hands and they,
you know, if they were going to make a push
for the for the Super Bowl this year, really they
needed to do something. I think they're their defense is

(09:42):
definitely good enough to win a Super Bowl. I don't
think this offense is as it is UH. And you know,
unless Russell Wilson decides to turn into like Tom Brady
two point zero and starts playing like that, it's I
think there's too much uh, you know, power, star power
in that AFC with a bunch of teams ahead of
him that are you know, even though that this team

(10:02):
is obviously six and two in playing a sham Nua,
I think there's just too much in the se to
overcome John.

Speaker 1 (10:07):
We got to get a Panthers question in and it's
a better week to do that than most because now
they've got their fourth win over the past I guess
two and a half years now, and there was a
good win against a Saints team that's depleted. Obviously, they
fired Dennis Allin today and that's tough for him and
his family, and we wish him all the best. But
I thought Bryce played better. I thought he's been playing

(10:28):
some better football the last couple of weeks. Your assessment
of what they've done, I guess on the offensive line,
let's start there, because PFF has done some grading on
that and I think they're grading them favorably, and the
tape obviously supports that from what I can tell. And
then you see what's going on with Young back in
the lineup. Do you see a potential path for Young
staying on course? And becoming a franchise player. What's your

(10:50):
sort of feel for a very troubled team right now,
let's just face it.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yeah, so I've never I was not a huge fan
of Bryce Young coming out, I'll say that. But if
he can be protected and he's trusting that offensive line
because he has been getting protected, you know, we have
graded this offensive line as much better than it was
last year. Like he had all the excuses in the
world to say, hey, he's not playing well as a rookie.

(11:16):
The offensive line is not real good, so he's got
no time whatsoever. He now has that offensive line. We
saw it with Andy Dalton. It was a more efficient offense.
It still wasn't great because Andy Dalton is not a
near franchise quarterback. He's a guy that The reason he's
a backup in this league now is what we saw
after that first game when he came in and as
a starter. If Bryce Young can develop and trust that

(11:38):
up at the line and get the ball out on
the timely manner, he can make plays. He definitely can
do that. I don't is he going to become an
elite level quarterback. Maybe not, but he can still be
a viable franchise quarterback and keep this offense on schedule.
If he can trust that offensive line, what happens with
him is that he any slightest amount of pressure that

(11:59):
he gets, He's been really bad so far in the NFL.
He has to be able to stand tall in that pocket.
And I'm not trying to make a punch there because
he's not tall. But but it's just the standard. But
a quarterback has to do stand in the pocket, bear
down on a rush that's coming to you, and throw
it in the face of that rush when when you
need to be able to do that. So far in
the NFL, he hasn't shown to do that yet, and

(12:22):
but he does. I think he has an offensive line
that can protect him, and there's some weapons there. I
like Xavier Logette, I like Tuba Hubbard as a as
a running back there. They got some pieces, you know,
and Jatavian Sanders he's another guy I like coming out.
So it's gonna take some time. But I think if
he can trust that offensive line and develop, and you know,
Dave Canalis is a guy that I think can get

(12:43):
him there, you know, think good things will come. I
think I just don't know if he can never get
to that level that the Panthers need him to get to,
which is, you know, when you take a guy first
overall in the NFL draft, you're hoping that he's, you know,
a top five quarterback in the NFL. I don't know
if he can ever get to that level, but I
definitely think he can be at a at a you know,
say Cousins type of level of of you know, often sufficiency,

(13:07):
which you know, that's he's been a starting quarterback in
the NFL for over over a decade, so you know,
if he can do that, that's you know, that's obviously
great for the Panthers.

Speaker 1 (13:16):
Sure, we take that on a heartbeat. John Costco, PFF
data analyst from Pro Football Focus, promote some of your work, man,
where can we find you? And again, thanks for being
a part of the show here.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
Yeah, thanks for having me. It's been a pleasure. So
if you go to Twitter or x John Costco three
is my Twitter handle or x handle whatever it's called nowadays,
and I you know, I randomly tweet there, but I
do a lot of writing for for PFF. I have
a couple of articles a week. I do a weekly
cornerback ranking article and then also the defensive line article

(13:48):
every single week. Unfortunately for the Panthers, they've been at
the bottom of that list every single week this year,
so round one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL.
It does kind of hurt, so it does. It's been
it's been a rough year for Panthers fans, but they
played better this weekend, which is, you know, obviously encouraging.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
No doubt, my friend, Will, you're the best for joining us,
and again, best of luck to you. Will catch up
down the road, John

Speaker 2 (14:14):
Yeah, absolutely, thanks for having me.