0:09

Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're four days

0:11

into realizing Daily

0:14

is both a promise and a threat.

0:16

I am beyond lucky today to be joined by Bill

0:19

Barnwell of ESPN, the best

0:22

pro football writer on

0:24

the interwebs, the TV star from

0:26

Around the Horn, host

0:28

of the Bill Barnwell Show, the podcast,

0:31

and someone who is wearing a suit

0:33

right now coming straight from

0:35

NFL Live. Thank you for

0:38

just outshining me Bill

0:40

in the first week of this show.

0:41

You know what this is like. This is like when you have

0:44

ten people on the field out of play and

0:46

twelve people on the field out of play. The

0:49

average is a liven. The average is just straight.

0:51

I feel like the appropriate garbage halfway

0:53

between my outfit and your outfit for podcasting.

0:56

Yes for the YouTube bodying. Sorry, I keep starting

0:58

this week talking about what we look like when most y'all are

1:00

listening. I do have my Jerry from

1:03

Succession you Little Slim Puppy

1:05

T shirt, which I bought at like one in the

1:07

morning with a Twitter ad. They

1:10

work sometimes, Bill, I promise, I am not

1:12

going to bring up the time

1:14

I saw you speak at some bar in

1:16

Manhattan for Football Outsiders fifteen years

1:18

ago. But that shows

1:21

how long we've been doing this together.

1:22

Yes, do you know who was in the bathroom

1:25

when I gave that speech and I went

1:27

to the bathroom.

1:28

Absolutely not No Raiders head

1:31

coach Antonio Peers. Wow.

1:33

And Giant's great Antonio

1:36

Peers, who was also the subject

1:39

of the first question I

1:41

ever asked at a Super Bowl

1:43

press conference to Bill Belichick

1:46

in two thousand and seven. I just

1:48

thought, I know he likes talking about

1:50

other players nice more nicely

1:52

than his own players. So I had some sort of

1:54

Giants linebackers Antonio Piers the

1:57

history of Giants linebackers question, and he

1:59

totally gave me a great answers.

2:00

So there you go.

2:02

Love Antoni Appears, love the NFC, Love

2:05

this entire week of NFL Daily, and Bill, I thank

2:07

you for helping me wrap it up.

2:09

We're gonna go through every single

2:11

NFC team. We're gonna talk just

2:13

like I did with Mina yesterday, about

2:16

what we think is the most intriguing storyline about

2:19

this team heading into training camp. Could be part of training

2:21

camp, could be bigger picture. I'll

2:23

get going right now with

2:25

the NFC East, and I'm gonna

2:27

start with Jalen Hurts one of the quotes

2:30

that I found most interesting over

2:32

the last couple of months was from Jalen

2:34

Hurts talking about how it's

2:36

going to take him time to get ready

2:38

and comfortable with this offense and that need

2:40

to it, rep it, rep it until he really

2:43

knows what it is, because ninety five percent

2:45

of this offense is new, And

2:48

that told me this really is Kellen Moore's offense.

2:50

It's not Nick Sirianni's offense. And

2:53

that offense that they ran was wildly

2:56

effective. Should have won the Super

2:58

Bowl, Like had a much better defensive performance

3:00

in the Super Bowl then either of the teams last year. That

3:03

that's for sure. It didn't get it done

3:05

and then slowly eroded. And

3:07

it really does seem like Nick Sirianni is

3:09

handing over the keys two more and

3:11

I don't know how Jalen Hurts and the rest of this team is going

3:13

to handle it. It's going to take some time. But to me, that's

3:16

that's the most exciting thing and most

3:18

intriguing thing to me with this Eagles team

3:20

going into camp.

3:21

Yeah, a couple of things, I would say. Number one, I

3:24

want to see how it adjusts

3:27

in terms of what it keeps from the Sirianni

3:29

offense. I know, one of the big things that popped

3:31

up with the Sirianni offense is that they really do not have good

3:34

answers for the Blitz. They didn't have a lot

3:36

of like the built in adjustments that teams have a

3:38

lot of. It was just jailen, you know, make

3:40

a guy miss or pass the ball up to one of

3:42

your star receivers and let them figure it out. And

3:45

I'd like to see more built in answers for the blitz.

3:47

But I also wonder what happens if the offense

3:49

struggles early in the season, which adjusting

3:52

to a new offense is going to happen very

3:54

often. I think there's real concerns about, you

3:56

know, are they going to abandon what they didn't

3:58

go back to what worked in years with the Sirianni

4:00

style offense. Are they going to you

4:02

know, sort of be willing to endure

4:05

some of the growing paints that happened as you adjust

4:07

to a new offense, because we did see them

4:09

a couple years ago. Jalen Hurts his first full season

4:11

as a starter, really shift the offense as

4:13

the year went along, and it was for the better. I

4:16

wonder if they might do it again and have for the worse

4:18

this time.

4:18

Around, and the patients just

4:20

isn't going to be there. It's never a

4:22

great situation when it's a do or die

4:24

year for the coaching staff. Yet

4:27

there's new systems on both sides

4:29

of the ball. It's a weird combination. And yet I

4:32

do believe in the roster. The offense is

4:34

so talented. The defense I think is more

4:36

talented than people give credit for that. I think

4:38

they will figure it out. Another team obviously

4:41

at the top of the division. It's the Eagles and the Cowboys, and it's

4:43

everyone else. They're trying to figure out

4:45

who their running backs are, who their wide receivers

4:48

are. So this is one intriguing storyline to me

4:50

that is about camp because I want to see how

4:53

it shakes out. This is These are some position battles

4:55

that matter. People were a little more

4:57

surprised than I expected that Brandon

4:59

Cooks would in decline last

5:01

year because he had been declining in

5:03

decline for a couple of years. Yeah,

5:06

I don't know if he's done as an effective

5:08

receiver, but he's not a great number two. And then you have Jalen

5:11

Tover and Cavante Turpin and

5:13

Jalen Brooks. I don't know how that's

5:15

gonna shake out. At running back, at Zeke, it's doubtell

5:17

it's Deuce

5:19

Vaughan, it's Royce Freeman. Like I

5:22

don't know if if they're going to pick up someone during

5:25

camp for either of these positions, but I

5:27

am curious who ends up getting the reps.

5:29

It does feel like it would have happened by now right.

5:31

I mean, there's guys out there, and a Hunter Renfer is

5:33

out there who's a very viable slot receiver,

5:36

has been at his best of the past. There were running

5:38

backs out there who the Cowboys could have signed, could have drafted.

5:41

They did not address any of those

5:43

positions. They've been talking about playing Deuce Vaughn

5:46

in the slot, which feels like peak off season

5:49

in terms of stories. So I

5:52

actually ranked the Cowboys think seventeenth or

5:54

eighteenth in my playmaker rankings for ESPN

5:56

dot Com this offseason and expected

6:00

pushback than I actually got. I mean, CD Lamb

6:02

is a you know, a legit number one

6:04

star, and yet their below average

6:07

outside of tight end everywhere else. I mean they're maybe

6:10

top bottom five running next situation, maybe bottom

6:12

five wide receiver, two wide receiver three

6:14

situation. This offense would

6:16

be doa if CD

6:19

Lamb got injured, and that's

6:21

great leverage for CD Lambas he negotiates a new

6:23

contract.

6:24

And da if Dak Prescott wasn't

6:26

making them all look better and until

6:29

the playoffs getting underappreciated

6:31

Washington, this is an

6:34

answer we probably won't get fully till the regular

6:36

season. I'm curious, you know, what

6:38

does this version of Cliff Kingsbury's offense

6:41

look like? But more specifically, does

6:43

he have a little offensive line magic? The

6:46

nicest thing you can say about Cliff other

6:48

than you know, his handsomeness and his

6:51

houses and his ability to make

6:54

money. Let's face it, despite.

6:55

Like the opposite of me, I feel

6:57

like it every way. No.

7:00

I think they did a good job with their offensive lines

7:03

in Arizona that kind of got swept

7:05

under the rug like they always thought. They overperformed

7:07

in terms of the talent that they had in the running game and

7:09

pass protected Kyler Murray pretty well. So they're

7:12

gonna need to like He's this offensive

7:14

line is not that talented, And that to me is the number

7:17

one concern with Gane and Daniels. It's any rookie

7:19

quarterback that would be a concern and someone

7:21

that didn't always have great reps under pressure,

7:23

you know most college quarterbacks do. But he was

7:25

so good on the reps he was protected that

7:28

it was a big difference that I do worry

7:30

about that, But maybe Cliff can cook up some

7:32

schemes that's going to protect his young guy.

7:34

I'm really intrigued. I sort of wonder

7:37

is this going to be an offense where

7:40

it operates the same way it did in Arizona because

7:43

Arizona was one of the most empty friendly

7:45

teams in football. They ran empty at

7:47

one of the highest rates in the league, sent five

7:50

receivers out into routes

7:52

at one of the highest rates in the league, blocked

7:54

with five players at one of the highest rates

7:56

in the league. And you know, there's

7:58

ways to make that work. It's not as simple is just you

8:00

know, max protecting and sending as many blockers as

8:02

possible, because if you have more blockers,

8:04

that's usually they defenses will add on more rushers.

8:07

It isn't as simple as saying, hey, we're going to block

8:09

with eight send two guys out. That'll solve our problems.

8:12

But it also is easier

8:14

to block with extra people, and so they

8:16

did go out and sign zach Ertz. I

8:19

wonder if this is eight team that uses more too

8:21

tight end sets this year it was with Benson

8:23

O there as well. I wonder if they are a

8:26

team that goes out and you

8:28

know, tries to make Jandon

8:30

Daniels's life easier by having

8:32

more people in protecting than maybe

8:34

there were for Kyler Murray in Arizona.

8:37

M Yeah, that's a good point because they drafted

8:40

the tight end two and it just

8:42

isn't that talented. I mean this is these are positions

8:44

that they're not going to be stars, especially

8:46

in the offensive line. But you can find some veterans

8:49

maybe cuts. When I mentioned the Cowboys,

8:51

like if they're going to do it, they would have done it by now. It's

8:53

probably guys who couldn't make other teams rosters,

8:56

which is never how you want to build your team. But I have a feeling

8:58

guys who don't make other teams roster might

9:00

be able to make the Cowboys at least at running back and receiver,

9:02

and maybe the Washington offensive line. Finally,

9:05

the Giants. You're a recovering

9:08

Giants fan, you try to hide it. I

9:10

always like to bring it up. I could bring

9:13

up the QB battle because I think it's going to be a battle. That's

9:15

fine. I could bring up the Front four, which is awesome. That's

9:17

cool. Yeah, But I

9:19

do want to get your take on my take

9:22

that this Hard Knocks off season

9:25

is actually the best Giant season since

9:27

maybe Ben McAdoo, maybe even the Super Bowl.

9:30

What do you think?

9:32

Yes, I think it's better than the Ben macadow year.

9:34

I mean that was a good that was you know, Eli kind

9:36

of wasn't Eli kind of great that year? If I

9:38

if I remember, like that was kind of a fun year.

9:40

He was. He was actually impressive with

9:42

macadoo, really turned things around

9:45

after they went out and changed

9:48

change coordinators there. I

9:51

I've liked it because it feels honest to

9:53

me, or mostly honest to me, which you

9:55

know, I think there's one like this shock this shock

9:57

reaction to it of just like oh my god,

10:00

they're talking this way about these players, or like

10:02

that's how part officers talk about people.

10:05

That is what you get from people behind the scenes,

10:07

so I know they're hiding some stuff. It

10:09

does feel like I like Joe Shane a lot more

10:12

and don't disliked Joe Shane, But it does

10:14

feel like I like the people who are in charge of the Giants

10:16

more, and it's putting in a position where they

10:18

look like human beings, which after the Joe Judge

10:20

era, that was the exact day Vitamin err

10:22

I should say that was the exact opposite

10:25

of how I felt about the Giants' front office. So

10:27

it does feel like they're humanizing the people

10:29

who are making these decisions, which I think is nice.

10:31

Yeah, can we can we lay off Florio?

10:34

And I saw Albert Beer write about

10:36

it too. It's like, is this going too

10:38

far? Are they giving away too much info? And

10:41

now we're not going to get cool content. It's like they're not giving

10:43

away that much. This is selectively

10:45

edited. Everyone looks great. It's interesting,

10:48

like, let's not be a snitch here. Those

10:51

articles you're like speaking into existence

10:53

are the reasons why NFL

10:55

Films will be having some sort of meeting and they'll be

10:57

printing out Florio and Brier's article. It's just like,

10:59

let's calm down. It's interesting. I'm just pleasantly

11:02

surprised that to me, it's been more

11:04

compelling than a lot

11:06

of the n season hard knocks, or maybe maybe

11:08

even the camp hard knocks because we've gotten.

11:09

Yeah, I agree, I agree, And

11:11

you know what, seeing Drake May break down a play, it

11:14

doesn't have a secret into Drake May. It's

11:16

gonna be okay.

11:17

It's gonna be fine. All Right, I'm gonna have you take

11:20

care of the NFC North Bill

11:22

and tell me what you got for most intriguing

11:24

storylines.

11:25

We're going north. Okay, So let's start with the Chicago

11:27

Bears, where everyone's

11:29

talked about how great the receiving core is for

11:32

Caleb Williams, But what about the offensive

11:34

line. They traded a fifth round pick for Ryan

11:36

Bates, a guy they tried to sign us an RFA a

11:38

couple of years ago. Ryan Bates was benched

11:40

by the Bills after one year as a starter. He's

11:43

probably gonna start at center. He played

11:45

tackle and guard for the Bills. Nate

11:47

Davis, they're a big free signing for a year ago

11:49

at guard. Wasn't it mandatory? Mini camp

11:51

was not good last year. They're kind of

11:53

relying on him to be a regular up

11:56

front. Coleman Shelton figures in somewhere

11:58

here. But for all the talk we have this

12:00

offseason about how great Caleb Williams's situation

12:02

is and it is really great at receiver

12:04

and with the playmakers. Concerns

12:07

about whether the offensive buying is up to the task

12:09

on the other side of the offense.

12:11

Yes, absolutely, because we just

12:13

don't know with this coaching staff whether they

12:16

can provide like a schematic advantage

12:19

for them or not. Like I have,

12:21

I have high hopes because it's Caleb Williams, and like

12:23

you have a lot to work with at wide receiver, but

12:26

on paper it's not great. And

12:29

I appreciate your professionalism,

12:31

Bill and just trucking through us

12:33

playing like the Hard Knocks sound underneath the

12:36

giants, because I mean, like you're a TV pro now. You

12:38

literally came straight from the set. I almost feel bad

12:40

now that you just went from an hour live TV

12:42

to doing this. But yeah, Bears will be on Hard Knocks

12:44

too. It's a long way with me saying like that's

12:47

cool. It's fun to have a cool Bears team.

12:49

The Eberflus glow up is awesome,

12:52

and the defensive talent at least in

12:54

the back seven is great. But I absolutely

12:57

agree that is the number one concern for

12:59

me for that team, really both lines, and

13:01

it's why I'm not going to pick them to make the playoffs.

13:04

Spoiler alert for an article there

13:06

are a podcast like Months from Now,

13:09

because they're not. I always go like for the teams

13:12

that are kind of on the border line, which they would be, like

13:15

if who's the best offensive line defensive

13:17

line? That it's such a dorky thing to say, but it's kind

13:19

of true. It just feels like it provides a floor for

13:21

a team and they probably don't

13:23

have that floor on either side.

13:25

Yep, Detroit Lions. A

13:27

little more traditional fantasy

13:30

football analysis here, does the Jamison

13:32

Williams hype survive training

13:35

camp because it is easy to

13:38

hype a potential impact wide receiver

13:40

in May. This is the sky More

13:42

rule. If you want to go back to last year, not

13:45

so easy to hype them in training camp and

13:47

into the season. Jamison Williams. Of course,

13:49

we can say, hey, he was injured for most

13:52

of his rookie year. He was suspended for the

13:54

start of his second season. I know he

13:56

had a didn't He scored that reverse

13:58

touchdown for the Lions in the

14:01

championship, So that was just highlight. I say

14:03

pro so far, but this is a guy

14:05

of the Lions traded up in the first round tick Wrap.

14:07

They saw him as a superstar and it's

14:09

what they need. It's like the one piece on

14:11

offense they don't have is a guy who can win at

14:14

all three levels. So does

14:16

Dan Campbell still say he's the most improved

14:18

player on the roster by the training camp.

14:21

I hope so, because Dan Campbell love

14:24

him for this is very giving

14:28

in terms of not hiding

14:30

what where a player is at, like when

14:33

he has a player he doesn't like, I'm trying to think of who

14:35

it was. Was it Donovan, People's Jones? No, it was someone

14:37

that they ended up cutting, Denzel

14:40

Mims, And they're like, yeah, he's on the roster, like

14:42

when they ask him about him and they they they

14:44

let him. They let everyone know, like we're not

14:46

happy with Jamison Williams. And then they flipped

14:48

late last season and I remember going back and watching

14:51

a ton of Jamison Williams route hoping

14:54

to do a little segment on his growth,

14:57

like about what they're talking about, and I

14:59

don't know if it all there. There were some really

15:01

good just regular NFL

15:03

routes like comebacks where it was timed well

15:06

and it was like a seventeen yard catch by Jamison Williams,

15:08

and it's like, you hadn't seen a lot of that, and so that's nice,

15:11

but it wasn't a ton of them, So I

15:13

don't want to get too carried away. I was

15:15

surprised they didn't look for another receiver. So

15:17

usually teams speak with their actions, and they

15:20

spoke with a lot of confidence. And if you remember,

15:22

he also had a big time drop in the NFC Championship

15:24

game, but they also made an incredible catch and

15:27

I'm hoping I'm remembering this right to

15:30

essentially give them a chance to kick an on

15:32

side kick, you know, on fourth down when

15:34

they were wasting too much time at the end of the game. So it's like he's

15:37

given you some nice plays. He doesn't need to be the best receiver

15:39

in the league, but if you can give you eight hundred, nine hundred yards and

15:41

a bunch of big plays, they'd be thrilled.

15:43

Yeah. I mean, they did not replace Josh Reynolds

15:45

after they let him go to the Broncos.

15:47

This offseason in free agency, the

15:50

grimmind Packers really fascinating

15:52

what's happening here with their defensive

15:54

coordinator situation. They hired Jeff Hafley

15:57

from Boston College after he was the head coach there.

16:00

Over the last four years, Jeff

16:02

Haffley ran single high coverages

16:04

more than any other coach in college

16:07

football by a considerable margin.

16:09

I think he was like sixty seven percent. Someone

16:11

else is at sixty one. Nobody else was in the sixties.

16:14

He was head and shoulders about the competition

16:16

when it came to single high looks.

16:19

And this is a league where it's been talked about plenty

16:22

that the I have to use my Jarkin

16:24

correctly, sorry, single high

16:26

pour one

16:30

safety, one safety in

16:32

the center of the field. Typically,

16:34

teams have moved to playing more dual

16:36

safety coverages, more split safety coverages,

16:39

play two safeties back with the hopes

16:41

that you're taking away the big plays, but you're also

16:43

sacrificing something up front and the run game. Jeff

16:45

Haffley is going in the opposite direction, and

16:47

the Packers have spent accordingly. They used

16:50

a They spent a ton of money opening

16:52

free agency by signing Saviory McKinney, one

16:54

of their few free agents signings. They used the

16:56

second round pick on Javon Buller, who

16:58

was the free safety in Georgia last That's two

17:00

guys that can both play center field.

17:03

But in a league that

17:05

is more and more too high, are

17:07

the Packers going to thrive by

17:09

going to single hick coverages instead.

17:12

I'm fascinated to see

17:14

that too, and see because look,

17:16

Hafley wasn't working with a full deck at Boston

17:18

College and got a lot of love for his creativity

17:21

there. So I don't know if it was personnel issues

17:24

of that that's partly why he leaned so hard

17:26

into that, But we've seen

17:28

it. We saw it last year with Jim Schwartz,

17:30

and I think he had more talent to work with. But

17:33

defensive coordinators who take over someone

17:36

who is doing a bad job and can get everyone

17:38

on the same page and has a decent

17:40

amount of talent can go from

17:43

sub mediocre, which I think the Packers' defense was last

17:45

year, to good pretty quickly. And

17:47

so I'm optimistic because to me, they do

17:49

have enough really good players

17:52

on this defense to excel.

17:54

Rashan Gary's off the ACL. Kenny

17:56

Clark is still a dude. You

17:58

brought in Xavier McKinney, which was really nice. You still

18:00

have dire Alexander Like I like this defense

18:03

fine, and so they needed something new.

18:06

I'm excited for it any any They just need

18:08

to be average, and I think the offense takes care of the rest.

18:11

Yeah, but I feel like we've been saying for years,

18:13

like if the Packers just have an okay defense,

18:16

they're gonna make it to the super Bowl, And every year the

18:18

Packers have.

18:18

I thought they were gonna be awesome a couple of years ago, but

18:21

I choose to blame that all on the coaches.

18:23

Fair, not unreasonable. Last

18:26

one for the Vikings, very straightforward.

18:28

Would love to be a hipster and talk about

18:30

like, you know, is Ivon pay is gonna you know, be

18:32

the Green Dot and his second season? Like, no, is

18:34

Sam Donald going to make this an actual

18:37

race to week one? No?

18:39

I appreciate that, like you play the hits. Yeah,

18:42

I haven't had enough QB battle talk on these two shows

18:44

with Mina yesterday, And I do consider this a

18:46

competition between you and Mina it is. I'm

18:49

gonna You're both gonna be winning winning.

18:51

I'm the Sam Donalds of this,

18:53

this comparison with Mina Kimes.

18:56

I think Donald's gonna win Week one, don't you?

18:58

Yeah?

18:58

Who do you think starts week one?

19:00

I think Sam Donald starts week one? And I think

19:03

they have such a difficult schedule

19:05

early in the season that I could say

19:07

Sam Donald starting for a couple of weeks, a few weeks. They

19:10

gave him ten million dollars. I

19:12

think nine and a half was guaranteed,

19:14

like or eight and a half was guaranteed. They paid

19:16

him like he was going to be their

19:19

starter this year if they couldn't find

19:21

somebody else. They gave him more than backup

19:23

money to ensure that he was going

19:25

to go to Minnesota. And I

19:27

don't believe there's anything different about

19:29

Sam Darnald versus what he was a year

19:32

ago when he just threw some garbage

19:34

time passes and I think some week eighteen passes

19:36

for the forty nine ers. He was not especially great in those

19:38

situations. But we've seen Sam

19:41

Donald when things are perfect

19:43

around him, when he has protection, when he has

19:45

good receivers, when he's not trailing,

19:47

he's been fine. And so I

19:49

think in their head they believe, Hey, if we just

19:52

do right by Sam, he'll be okay. I

19:54

don't think that's going to play out in reality, but

19:56

I could see them talking themselves into that because

19:58

Sam Donald is going to look good in

20:01

camp, because he always looks good.

20:02

In camp, right, I was gonna say, like, there's very

20:04

little reason to think that JJ McCarthy

20:08

in his rookie season is going to

20:10

look better than Sam Donald at

20:12

picking up a new NFL offense

20:14

against air. Sam Donald's

20:17

issues come when the pass rush is

20:19

coming and he just does some inexplicable

20:21

things. And I do think he's gotten

20:23

better as a pro because he had that Panthers

20:25

season where until Week

20:27

eighteen he put together a

20:30

really strong string of games that was like, hey,

20:32

I can be a league average quarterback and he collapsed

20:34

in Week eighteen and that always stuck in my mind and

20:36

he'll throw that in there. But he's a

20:38

real dude, and he's more talented than JJ

20:41

McCarthy was coming out of college

20:43

too, So I think they're going to fall in love

20:45

with him. It probably will have more downs

20:47

than ups once you get over a long regular season

20:49

timeline and then you see J McCarthy. But

20:52

I have for long,

20:54

a long time kind of been annoyed by the Donald

20:56

hive, and I kind of want them to have

20:58

one moment going to give them that, and

21:01

I think this is it. I think he's gonna have a moment

21:03

because Kevin O'Connell's pretty awesome, and

21:05

I think the situation for either quarterback

21:07

is great. Yeah,

21:09

all right, that's AFC North, I mean

21:11

NFC North and NFC East. We

21:13

are going to take a quick break and

21:16

we're gonna come back with the other two divisions,

21:18

and even a little bit of news will be right

21:20

back back

21:37

on NFL Daily. Bill

21:40

Suit really fits that music. It's just it's

21:43

serious.

21:44

It looks like it came from Super Bowl five.

21:47

I love it. It honestly

21:49

just puts me in the mood. And let

21:52

me know if y'all agree out there.

21:54

We have an email address. I was gonna mention at the end of

21:56

the show, but why not now NFL Daily Podcast

21:59

at gmail dot com. Let us know what

22:01

you think of the music. We're gonna do news here for

22:03

the first time on this show. Look, this show's

22:05

gonna be a lot different. Bill. I launched

22:08

in maybe the last completely dead

22:10

week. Next week will be a hybrid week

22:12

where it's still pretty dead. And so these types

22:14

of shows to me, are their preview

22:17

type shows. They're different than it's gonna be once

22:19

the news is happening, and it's gonna be a real news

22:21

heavy show to start. But

22:25

We got a little bit of news on

22:27

Thursday, so Eric hit the

22:29

sound. Oh

22:36

wow, thank

22:41

you, Joe Buck. Yeah, the Titans sign Jamal

22:44

Adams. That came out of nowhere.

22:46

I like that.

22:48

Denard Wilson, who's

22:50

their defensive coordinator, was his position

22:53

coach with the Jets. I

22:55

do feel like Jamal Adams is still

22:57

a big enough star, and I know he's

23:00

like that's not his playing level right

23:02

now that he is worth having his own

23:04

little news items in a show like this.

23:05

What do you think though, Well, your

23:07

sound was seemingly dialing into

23:10

America Online. It kind of

23:12

feels like that was the last time Jamal Adams

23:14

was an impact player in the NFL, and

23:16

that's unfair. I do think

23:19

Adams at his best is

23:22

a player who can be really valuable, and I

23:24

think that can be really thoughtful about how you're

23:26

going to use him. Seattle seemed

23:29

like they went back and forth, like they found spots

23:31

for him as a blitzer his first year that were really

23:33

valuable. He got injured a bunch, he was

23:36

not good in coverage, and I think there's

23:39

a real question about whether he's going

23:41

to be a safety or

23:44

something closer to a linebacker or really

23:47

maybe best as some kind of hybrid player. I

23:49

actually really liked the idea of him being in Mike McDonald's

23:51

defense before they cut him, which

23:53

I had to cut him for cap reasons, for financial

23:55

reasons, he was making too much money. But I

23:58

do wonder, you know, going forward,

24:00

if he plays regularly, I would

24:03

assume he'll be, at least on paper, a

24:05

safety. But how often does he play in the box.

24:07

How often does he blitzing the quarterback? Because that's

24:09

really what his game is at this point.

24:11

You don't want him in coverage. You don't want him against tight ends, don't

24:14

find to want him against slot receivers, you don't want him

24:16

against Deebo Samuel. But rushing

24:18

the quarterback, being a guy who does you

24:21

know, factor in when you're blitzing,

24:23

I feel like that is kind of a useful player in the right

24:26

spot.

24:26

Yeah, Dinard Wilson, who, as

24:29

you know, Bill comes from Baltimore,

24:31

and the Mike McDonald tree. We're going to talk about

24:33

that on Monday actually with Nate Tyson and Jordan

24:36

Rodrige.

24:36

Like, oh wow, these coaches the

24:38

stars.

24:39

Yeah it is. We're going big in

24:41

the first week. I'm excited about that. Show.

24:44

This defense is weird. Kenneth Murray is

24:46

heavily involved. Also a player

24:48

that hasn't been great in coverage,

24:50

Like I love the lagarious need pick

24:53

up. It seems uneven. We don't

24:55

know much about Wilson. I think it's

24:57

a below average group in terms of talent. But I think

24:59

Jamal Adams is worth a shot

25:01

like these prices, like he absolutely

25:04

is worth a shot. Also worth a shot the NFC

25:06

West. I'm gonna do my most intriguing

25:09

thing to start with about the Arizona Cardinals

25:11

going into this year, and it's just Kyler

25:13

year two and Drew Petsig's offense.

25:16

Kyler Murray's twenty six years old, Like I could do

25:18

the whole like he's only this much older than Michael

25:20

Pennix. But it's a thing like we

25:23

do not need to write the book on Kyler Murray.

25:25

We have seen players that talented who

25:28

in their first four or five years of their career, they're

25:32

good and you see the talent, but they're maybe not

25:34

exactly what you expect, and they

25:36

get more mature, they get more football

25:39

intelligent, they get more emotionally intelligent.

25:41

They take big hits like a torn

25:43

acl that keeps

25:46

you out for half a season and you come

25:48

back, and I thought he was a nice fit last

25:50

year. I went back and watched his offseason tape

25:53

and I thought he did

25:55

some things just from a plane from the pocket

25:57

perspective and making good decisions that he hadn't

26:00

always done before. And he wasn't quite all

26:02

the way there physically, but he was pretty good

26:04

and a full year healthy

26:06

in this offense with Marvin Harris and

26:09

Junior. I'm really excited because to me, he

26:11

is still box office and like he gets

26:13

I believe slept on a little bit as a guy. That's

26:16

like, would it be that shocking if

26:18

Kyler Murray when Bill Barnwell

26:20

is writing his Week eight MVP, like

26:23

Ladder, I know you do that. I used to do that.

26:26

Like that, Kyler Murray's on it. He's literally been on it

26:28

like twice before. It would not be that shocking

26:30

if it happens again where he just like starts really

26:32

hot and is the old exciting Kyler Murray.

26:35

The way you said I used to like it

26:37

was, oh my god, Yeah, that was something that

26:39

was something you know. I don't I'm above

26:42

that now, but in the past I used to do that now.

26:44

I used to do it weekly. That's all that was in

26:46

my mind. I assigned it to myself. It was fun. I should

26:48

do it here, I should do it on the podcast.

26:50

It's fun. You have every right to do that. I

26:53

think the thing about Kyler Murray that makes that

26:55

so accurate is this isn't

26:57

like an Andy Dalton situation where Andy Dalton

27:00

was kind of okay for four or five years

27:02

and then just had that one year where everything went

27:04

right. The offensive line was healthy, he had great

27:06

playmakers, and he had a career year

27:08

that was so far beyond when he played at any level

27:11

for any significant period of time. Kyler

27:13

Murray was an MVP candidate earlier

27:16

in his career at mid season. I think that was

27:18

the year. I want to say, the Bills

27:20

hell Mary year, right where it was they beat

27:22

the Bills.

27:22

In the game. If things fell off a cliff

27:24

but yes, yes, no, but.

27:26

That was at that point of

27:28

the year. It would not have been shocking

27:31

in the slightest to go and talk

27:33

about Kyler Murray as a not

27:35

an MVP favorite, but certainly deep

27:38

in the MVP discussion, and we

27:41

have not seen him number

27:43

one. With all of all the following being true, we've

27:45

only seen him in a Cliff Kars offense before last

27:47

year, which Cliff might not be a great NFL

27:49

scene. That's not out of their own possibility that he's

27:52

upgraded. Massive offensive coindator Richard

27:54

Petsi, he has not been one hundred percent, which in

27:56

last year he was, like you said, he was better. He could

27:58

run, but he was not necessarily consistently

28:01

one hundred percent. And last year

28:04

I believe when he

28:06

came back Marquis Brown was

28:08

pretty much hurt for the vast jump that

28:11

stretch, about the entire stretch, which meant

28:13

he had probably bottom three NFL

28:16

wide receivers for that entire stretch.

28:18

He had Trimick Bride, which helps, and James Connor was really

28:20

good last year. But now you're adding a

28:22

legit potential number one receiver

28:25

in Marvin Harrison. To me, I think it's

28:27

so much better around him this year that

28:30

that's absolutely within the range of outcomes

28:32

for Kayler Murray is an MVP caliber

28:34

campaign. It's also he could

28:36

be the twenty fourth best quarterback in football.

28:38

And oh see, that's that's where I pushed

28:41

back. I don't think he could be. I mean, as

28:43

long as he's healthy. I think his

28:46

floor is middle of

28:48

the pack. And I know there's more good quarterbacks than you think. When

28:50

you actually write out the list, you're like, Wow, the seventeenth

28:52

best quarterback is pretty good. But to me, that's

28:55

his floor. That's how much I believe in him. And

28:57

I think this offense ran really well for the

28:59

most part schematically. It was a really

29:01

good running game at the end of the last

29:03

year. And he'll help that. And yeah, I

29:05

expect Marvin Harrison Junior to be awesome. Maybe I'm just

29:07

projected, but Trey McBride already is awesome

29:09

to me. He could be a top five quarterback. I

29:11

don't know why I went a top five tight end. I don't know why

29:14

I went MVP, Like I just I guess just put

29:16

a was not playing in that. You put a mic in front of me,

29:18

and it's like, I just feel like I gotta go first

29:20

take. I just I'm excited. I'm excited to see

29:22

what he does. Let's go to the Rams. Little

29:25

drum beat this offseason, gotta be careful

29:27

in OTA's this does tend to happen.

29:30

But the Cooper Cup revival

29:33

season is just it's

29:35

been sprinkled out there. We're friends with JB.

29:37

Long, who's there play

29:40

by play announcer, and I've seen in a couple of other

29:42

players, just people just who are there and they

29:44

just see what cups look like

29:47

this offseason, and maybe it's just hope. They're

29:49

hoping for this guy

29:51

who put together one of the all time great wide receiver

29:53

seasons only a couple of years ago, that he could get

29:55

back to where he even close to where he was because

29:58

he was so far from that last year and

30:00

just health wise, we're not gonna

30:03

learn much other than he needs to get to week one

30:05

like that. But by all accounts, he's

30:07

looking explosive in a way that he maybe

30:10

hasn't even in OTAs, even in practices

30:12

for a couple of years. So that's just one thing I'm

30:14

intrigued by and watching because I think they need

30:16

that to be as good as everyone

30:19

thinks their offense is going to be. Our friend Mina

30:21

had them, I think number two in her Air best offenses.

30:24

I think that that only happens if cupp

30:26

Is is close to where

30:28

he was a couple of years ago.

30:29

Showan Fay is going to make the Hall of Fame one day,

30:32

and I'm gonna be grumbling about the twenty

30:34

twenty two season when they were down

30:36

like two touchdowns on the fourth quarter and

30:39

he was still throwing like bubble screens to

30:41

Cooper cup And I'm like, you have as

30:43

the only good player on your offense. You're

30:45

going to get ruined if he gets

30:47

hurt. And then of course he did get hurt and then missed

30:50

the chunk of twenty twenty two, and then he

30:52

was even when he was playing last year at the restretch,

30:54

for he was on one hundred percent like the fake kepnsisting

30:56

he was healthy and Cooper cupperul go like the

30:58

entire game and get one target. So I'm

31:01

still skeptical he was one hundred percent for when

31:03

he was on the field last.

31:05

Year, absolutely wasn't. You could just tell what his

31:07

movement.

31:08

He wasn't And and to

31:10

me, having Pukinakua

31:12

goes a long way. I don't think he has to be the guy

31:14

from the crazy

31:16

season, which is loving more and more like a huge

31:19

outlier. But the other

31:21

factor here is I'm not sure

31:23

Kyon Williams is going to be there because Kyen

31:25

Williams has a history of

31:27

foot injuries. Sean mcvayh has

31:29

a history of downplaying or fight

31:31

out lying about the severity of injuries.

31:35

You know, if you have Kyen and

31:37

you have Nikua,

31:39

I think you can get by without Cup.

31:41

But when they had all three in the field last year, Matthew

31:44

Stafford would have been number two in the NFL

31:46

and QBR, which maybe relates to Iimena was

31:48

so optimistic about their chances. But I

31:51

think Cup, you can't count on Cup,

31:54

like, even if you're feel good about him right now, he's

31:56

a receiver. I think he's Is he thirty or thirty

31:58

one? Now? Is that's that my? Yeah? Say

32:00

that you know

32:03

you're not at that age.

32:05

I don't think you can count on any receiver to be

32:07

as good as they were three or four years ago. That is just the

32:09

reality of aging curves

32:11

in the NFL. I don't think he's going to fall off

32:13

a cliff, but I do think if you can

32:16

get what you got from him when

32:18

he was healthy last year for a full season,

32:20

I think you'd be happy with that.

32:22

I need more. I need more. He was not

32:24

he was just he was just a guy last year. I think

32:26

he would say that, and I think that's why the people around the team. They

32:29

knew what he was really going through, and

32:31

I think they feel, at least for now, that

32:33

he's not going through that in a way that probably

32:35

hasn't been true since Yeah, that season twenty

32:37

twenty one. He is thirty one years

32:40

old, so he can be a number He can even be a number

32:42

two. That's a great point about Kyrien Williams and

32:44

their actions drafting. Blake Korm

32:46

might speak to that, and he might do a pretty good

32:48

facsimile if Kiraen Williams isn't

32:51

right. I'm looking at the forty nine ers next

32:53

and just wondering if and how

32:55

they keep everyone happy, even in

32:57

a world where Brandon Ayu gets his contract.

33:00

There's just a lot there and

33:03

they've done a great job with it. But

33:06

George Kittle's coming off a pretty serious core

33:08

muscle surgery injury.

33:11

He doesn't seem like he'd be unhappy if he's not

33:13

getting enough targets. But I think he was having more fun

33:15

last year when he was back to being like George

33:18

Kittle. So you have Ayuk, you have Debo

33:20

maybe it's his last year with the team. You have a first round

33:22

pick in Pearcel, you have a guy in Juwan Jennings,

33:25

who's low drama certainly,

33:27

but just got a contract too. And it's just it's a lot of

33:29

mouths to feed. And I hate

33:31

it for the forty nine ers and their fans

33:33

that I think a team that's been this close year

33:35

after year after year, they have

33:38

a lot of the same negatives

33:40

of what happens when you win at Super Bowl

33:42

without actually having won the Super Bowl,

33:44

like the disease of more that pat

33:47

Riley likes to talk about, and the expectations

33:49

and you being circled on everyone's schedule,

33:51

and they have all of that stuff, and

33:53

it's just hard, and they've done a great job kind of keeping

33:56

it together. I give them so much respect for I think

33:58

that's the hardest thing to do in the NFL is like make

34:00

the Final four the Final eight almost every

34:02

year, and they've they've done it. But I do worry

34:04

about the human side of this and can they

34:07

kind of keep everyone happy with their

34:09

roles, especially the skill position guys.

34:11

So what I'm gonna say sounds dumb,

34:13

and usually when I say that, it actually is dumb,

34:16

but I swear it's not. They

34:19

benefit in a way.

34:22

Even thinking this in my head, I feel them. They

34:24

benefit in a way from how often

34:27

their star players get injured.

34:29

Yes, right, Like I get it, I get it, like

34:31

their.

34:31

Element of Okay, well, George is missing a couple

34:33

of games. I guess we're gonna have to go with more you know, more

34:35

Debo in the offensive playing camp by this week. Oh

34:38

deebo is hurt, well, George brand and I it's going

34:40

to be the focal point of the offense. CMC's

34:42

banged up. Okay, we're going to throw the ball more.

34:44

Like like it almost benefits

34:47

them in a way because you don't

34:49

want to lose those guys for the entire season. You want

34:51

to have them healthy for the postseason. But when

34:53

you have Deepo missed a couple of games, I think that has sort

34:56

of like natural built in windows for

34:58

other guys to get the ball more, and

35:00

it opens up opportunities for Juan and it opens

35:03

up an opportunity for Peer Salt to play more. I

35:07

don't want to see anyone get injured, but it feels

35:09

like that's the way to do it, or its split

35:12

faster or just just just turn into the

35:14

Chip Kelly Eagles and just play as fast as possible

35:16

and get as many plays as possible as the wait for the Numers

35:19

to do this.

35:20

Yeah, the positive spin to that, which is

35:22

is that they can survive injuries in a way that just other

35:24

teams can't and they're built for it, and

35:27

injuries are going to happen. So you're absolutely right, and

35:29

so that it's a great it's

35:31

a great retort, and it's absolutely true what you're saying

35:33

about people getting there is like, one of the reasons

35:35

the Celtics had one of the greatest seasons

35:38

in the regular season of all time is all

35:41

the guys that would take games out like they loved it when

35:43

two of their five best players were off

35:45

because then Jalen Brown and Derek White could

35:47

just eat for a night and then they'd be off for a couple of nights,

35:49

and Tatum and Holiday who

35:52

porzingis could eat for a night and it's like, yeah, it

35:54

kind of works better that way if everyone, yeah,

35:56

takes a turn. It's like this

35:58

podcast, you know, you eat I E the

36:01

Seahawks, E. They are the last team

36:03

in the NFC West I want to talk about and

36:05

yeah, I'm I just am intrigued by how

36:07

Mike McDonald is going to use

36:11

a handful of specific players in this defense

36:13

because he definitely has I think more tools to work

36:15

with than people really think, Like Draymond Jones was

36:17

a really compelling player before

36:19

last season in Seattle where he disappeared,

36:22

How is he gonna use him? Byron Murphy is

36:25

just a ball to watch on film. I think

36:27

the Rams wanted him and the Seahawks wound up

36:29

getting him, Like, how is he going to use him? Tyrel

36:31

Dodson had a run in Buffalo that

36:34

was really impressive at the end of last year and

36:36

is going to be playing linebacker. And

36:38

then mostly Devin Witherspoon, who Pete Carroll did

36:40

a great job and I think any coach would,

36:42

but especially Carroll's great with the secondary

36:45

and just how is this, you know, defensive

36:47

coordinator who is as good as anyone in the last two

36:49

years work with a group that

36:52

I think's above average. I think I think it's a better

36:54

defensive group than people give credit for the edge rushers

36:57

like not stars, but deep it

36:59

should be fun and I don't Again, it's another

37:01

team where I don't think they need to be great. I think the

37:03

offense will be good enough that if

37:05

the defense is just solid to good, they're

37:08

They're going to be much better than a year ago.

37:10

You know, we always talk about or I don't know if we eve and I

37:12

always talk about the idea that when

37:14

a team gets rid of a coach, they

37:16

typically go for the opposite coach with their next

37:19

higher So you know, you would figure Pete

37:21

Carroll kind of old school but players

37:23

coach, you know, but a defensive

37:25

minded coach. Maybe you flip it, maybe you figure

37:27

an offensive minded coach, a guy

37:29

who maybe is a little more of a

37:32

little more Coughlin esque maybe when it comes

37:35

to his personality. But they did

37:37

not do that. They hired another defensive

37:39

coach, which is going to lead to a

37:41

really fascinating kind

37:43

of reveal. Right, I mean on paper, you're right,

37:45

Seahawks will get They have a lot of

37:47

impressive pieces. I mean someone even like like

37:49

like Greek Wohlan, who was really good

37:52

as a rookie. She's going to take a step backwards

37:54

last year. Julian Love made the Pro Bowl

37:56

last year, if I'm not mistaken. You

37:58

know, they signed Jerome Baker, who

38:00

I think has been a good linebacker you

38:03

know in his career. Boy in Mafe was good last year.

38:05

There's a there's a lot

38:07

of stuff. I think that we're

38:10

gonna find out are those guys as good

38:12

as we expected? Are those guys as good as our

38:14

reputations? Just like mcdonald'll get the

38:16

most out of them. And Kinder revealed that maybe

38:18

Pete Carroll's defense is not all that great by

38:20

the time he left, or do

38:22

we find out that Pete Carroll actually still

38:25

a pretty darn good defensive coach. Maybe those

38:27

players are not as good as they seemed. I feel

38:29

like this is almost a referendum, strangely

38:31

on Pete Carroll on his way out the door

38:33

in Seattle.

38:34

I mean, I think Pete Carroll's was

38:36

a very good head coach over

38:39

the last five or six years, or a good head coach.

38:41

But I don't need Mike McDaniel to

38:44

tell me anything. The defenses are bad, Like

38:46

go to your old site, you know, go

38:48

to your go to DVOA.

38:50

You know.

38:50

Now you can see it at FDN, like they were

38:52

literally below average. I

38:54

think every year, or maybe

38:57

every year but one for seven years,

38:59

and he's a defensive coach, and they put a lot of

39:01

resources into it, and I think he

39:04

was so good at all the other aspects of coaching that

39:06

it made up for it, and they had enough offensive talent

39:08

too, and so you can't just look at

39:10

that number. But they weren't an effective defense, and so I

39:13

think it absolutely makes sense

39:15

that Mike McDonald's going to do a better job

39:17

with their defense. Let's take one last

39:19

break. We're gonna do our final division,

39:22

the NFC South, and then we're gonna wrap up

39:24

the week just a little bit after that. Back

39:44

on NFL Daily, running

39:47

through thirty two teams in two

39:49

days. My guy Bill

39:51

Barnwell handling the

39:53

NFC with me. We've

39:56

been doing this long time. Bill's it up and down business.

40:00

Bill Barnwell goes nowhere. He is a foundation

40:02

upon which this business is

40:04

built.

40:06

Don't go.

40:06

So I told you I had to get on with customer

40:09

service at ESPN plus just

40:11

to read your articles and Zachlow's. I gotta

40:13

admit it's both.

40:14

Good, exactly.

40:16

It really bothered me somehow my cookies

40:18

were messing it up, and I'm just too old and

40:20

I had to get into But yeah,

40:22

the best writer out there, you're gonna

40:25

help us go through the NFC South and then

40:27

we'll do a little little extra

40:30

and say.

40:30

Goodbye, beautiful. Let's start

40:32

with the new Orleans Saints because

40:36

there's like a weird game of reverse

40:39

life wage happening in New Orleans.

40:41

Alvin Kamara when he signed his deal with

40:43

the Saints, I think, was five years, seventy five

40:46

million, one to fifty million dollars

40:48

a year or his agent one to fifteen million

40:50

dollars a year on paper, So he had a

40:52

basically fake, unguaranteed

40:54

salary for his final year, a big leap in his final

40:56

season up to twenty two and a half million

40:58

dollars. He is not going to make that,

41:01

and there's noise going to make it on the open market,

41:04

but his agent hasn't holding

41:06

in, I guess because he can say, hey, listen,

41:09

I'll take a fifty percent pay cut if you guarantee

41:11

next year. But Alvin Kamara

41:14

has been below four yards to carry each

41:16

of the last three seasons without Drew Brees, and

41:18

he is not an eleven million dollar player at

41:20

this point of his career. But he

41:23

also has no trade value at He's making a little

41:25

under twelve million dollars this year. There's no real

41:27

trade value for him, so the Saints can't really get anything

41:29

for him. So to make him

41:31

happy, do the Saints who are generous

41:34

with their money, guarantee him eleven million

41:36

dollars next year. Does Kamara get

41:38

traded? Is there a team that suddenly wants him? I don't know,

41:40

but what happens with Alvin Kamara

41:43

in New Orleans?

41:44

Love that you brought this up because this

41:47

is one of those rare offseason stories that I

41:49

think actually could result

41:51

in a guy changing teams or real

41:54

holdout or something happening, because

41:57

I think multiple things can be true with him. Yeah,

41:59

he's now worth that right

42:01

now, and so hold out

42:04

seems a little crazy and maybe indicates

42:06

he's just not incredibly thrilled

42:09

about some aspects of what's going

42:11

on there in general. And he wouldn't be the first

42:13

player that that's true of. But

42:16

those numbers lie, and I trying

42:19

to check my bias because I love Alvin Kamara.

42:22

He's still a really good running

42:25

back. Now, maybe not above enough above

42:27

league average because the explosiveness

42:29

is not the same, but his intelligence,

42:32

his receiving ability, his ability to make

42:34

guys miss in a small area and

42:36

maybe turn three into seven versus

42:39

three into thirty like he used to. I really

42:42

do believe if he was on a better, more

42:44

cohesive run blocking team over the

42:46

last couple of years, those numbers would look

42:48

a lot different. But I also love that dude.

42:50

Man. I mean, so, maybe my

42:53

eyes are lying to me, but that's what I

42:55

believe, and I do believe this is a real thing

42:58

that you're bringing up in Marshaw Lattimore another

43:00

one. I know. He showed up for Mini Camp two and that does

43:02

seem to have settle down. I think they they want to

43:04

keep Latimore and they know how valuable is him. But the

43:07

Saints are a team more than any team in

43:09

the NFL. I feel like where you

43:11

could just see something like, oh wow,

43:13

that happened, kind of like the Chauncey Gardner Johnson

43:16

trade a couple of years ago, it wouldn't surprise me in

43:18

August.

43:19

M Yeah, I can see it. I

43:22

have a lot of running back and rushing related ones

43:24

for the NFC South. But Carolina

43:27

Panthers. Does Jonathan Brooks come

43:29

off of the pup list in camp?

43:32

This should be on paper, a much better rushing

43:34

situation. The Panthers spent a ton of money

43:37

at guard on Robert Hunt and Damian Lewis,

43:39

and if Brooks is healthy

43:42

ish, he's not really a lot of competition.

43:44

Miles Sanders is a sunk costs at this point.

43:47

Tuba Harbard has been fine, but it's not like they're going

43:49

to have Trooba Hubbard keep Jonathan Brooks from getting

43:51

onto the field. There's no reason

43:53

to rush him. I guess, like you don't want to have

43:56

him reinjure his knee. But on

43:58

paper, he's by farther their best running back, and

44:01

in reality, they want to do everything

44:03

they possibly can to get Bryce Young

44:06

back in a good place as quickly as possible.

44:08

Yeah, it's it's a shame to me that as

44:11

good as he looked, big power

44:13

back with nice you know, movement ability,

44:16

and he's coming off in ACL and it was in November, Like

44:18

that was not an early season injury,

44:20

and it just feels like

44:22

they're not going to be fighting and

44:24

playing with a full deck early in the year. I also

44:27

look at Xavier Legett as a guy that's like maybe,

44:30

but it's gonna take some time. You know,

44:32

it does not seem like he's a guy that's going to have a full

44:34

command of like the NFL route tree right off

44:36

the bat. And so the two guys you're adding

44:39

to really help with explosiveness along with Yantay

44:41

Johnson and try to make this offense more watchable.

44:43

Frankly, I'm just thinking of it from a selfish

44:45

perspective, like might not

44:48

be all the way who they are until twenty

44:50

twenty five. So that's my work with Brooks.

44:53

Fair legit Tampa.

44:56

I'll go with one more running game and then get to the Falcons

44:58

who are not rushing game related ken

45:00

Liam Cohen and first round pick Graham

45:02

Bardon on track what has

45:04

been a horrific Tampa Bay

45:06

Buccaneers running game, and I will

45:08

refer to the NFL's Next Gen

45:10

Stats project here. In twenty twenty

45:12

two, the Bucks ranked thirty first

45:15

in expected yards per carry, and

45:17

they were thirty second, and then in twenty twenty

45:19

three they were seventeenth in expected

45:21

yards per carry. They were thirty second

45:23

again in yards per carry in reality,

45:26

So maybe pin that

45:28

on Rashad White if you want to. You can pin it

45:30

on the general offensive

45:32

confusion losing Ryan Jensen to

45:34

a basically career ending knee

45:36

injury. But this

45:39

is a team that has had absolutely no

45:41

run game the last two seasons,

45:43

and they've changed the quarterback, they've changed the coordinator,

45:45

they've changed basically everything

45:47

but Tristan Wurf's and the receivers.

45:51

Does this new group get the

45:53

running game going for once in Tampa

45:55

Bay?

45:56

I hope so. But you know what,

45:58

this is their four coordinator

46:01

in four years, Is that right?

46:02

I believe? So?

46:04

No stability really since Arians left and

46:07

Liam Cohen is a

46:09

little bit like Alex Van Pelt in New England

46:11

as the guy that's like testing the bounds of do

46:13

all the McVeigh Shanahan Tree guys work

46:16

because they were the guys that mcveay and Shanahan

46:18

weren't picking really,

46:20

So Van Pelts the coordinator and

46:22

he was, you know, under Stefanski and

46:25

Liam Cohen only lasted

46:27

a year with the Rams and now he's with the Bucks. And

46:29

Canalis did a great job last year at least with the passing

46:31

game, and I think it was cohesive.

46:34

Yeah, I worry about that. I worry about

46:36

this team just kind of poor Bucks

46:38

fans. It's like they just won a Super

46:40

Bowl and they just won a playoff

46:43

game in the divisional round, and

46:45

yet they do care

46:47

about how much attention they get and they're just not going

46:49

to get much attention. They are like as off

46:51

the radar as a team with as much recent success

46:53

as as they've had and all these division championships

46:55

in a row could be And it's partly because, yeah, the offense

46:58

looks like it's gonna be blah at.

47:00

Yeah, it does feel like the post Kurt Warner Cardinals,

47:03

right, Like, you know, you

47:05

guys made it to the Super Bowl. But if

47:08

you asked fans to name thirty two teams, they'd

47:11

probably get thirty and forget the Buccaneers

47:13

unfortunately. I feel bad. They're a fun team to watch.

47:15

Their best defense is really fun.

47:17

They were last year.

47:18

Yeah, and if they had any sort of

47:20

running game, I think the offense would actually

47:23

be good. So hopefully they can just

47:25

get to like twenty fourth in yards

47:27

per carry. If they could just not average like three point four

47:29

yards per carry every single week,

47:31

that would be fun. Atlanta Falcons

47:34

thirty second and final team

47:37

in Gregg's breakdown. Are

47:40

the Falcons really gonna go into the season

47:42

with this as their pass rush? I

47:44

mean, their top two rushers last year

47:46

by sack total six and a half each,

47:49

Kaleas Campbell and Bud Dupree are both

47:51

gone. Their biggest additions is offseason

47:54

were James Smith, Williams from Washington

47:57

and Rooke o ro ro rooke Oh row

47:59

row row too many rows. Uh,

48:01

that's on me, I apologize, and Brilin Trice

48:04

So a couple of rookies to the front seven.

48:06

Not really a lot there at edge

48:08

rusher even last season with dupre

48:10

as their primary edge rusher. You know,

48:13

they have Lorenzo Carter, they have some

48:15

young guys. But for a team

48:17

that signed Kirk Cousins, which tells

48:19

me they think they're capable of

48:21

making the postseason this year, for a team

48:23

that has pieces in the secondary, kind

48:26

of shock, they did not do more to add

48:28

pass rushing in terms of veteran pass

48:31

rushers to this roster.

48:33

I love that you brought this up. I love that you've

48:35

been like a little more negative, I would say than

48:37

me and Mina in this exercise. And that's

48:39

that you need. That's I need to need a little bit of that

48:42

because when I when

48:44

I've heard like the Kirk Cousins like

48:46

Joins already made Super

48:48

Bowl roster, this team was lucky

48:50

to be average last year. I mean, I'm

48:52

not saying Arthur Smith like did a good

48:55

job maximizing their

48:57

talent. That's that's not my point. But they

49:01

were lucky to win as many games as they

49:03

were. They had a profile of more of a five or six

49:05

wing team like the rest of the NFC South.

49:07

That because their schedule was unbelievably

49:10

easy, not even in division, but out of division, they

49:12

all looked like a little better. They weren't average.

49:14

And defensively, you

49:17

know, Ryan Nielsen goes to Jacksonville and you get Raheem

49:19

Morris, who has done a great job as a

49:21

coordinator, but pure talent,

49:24

I think it's bottom five in just

49:26

pure defensive talent. And

49:28

so when you're a coordinator

49:30

for a team like that, especially with a pass rush

49:33

other than Jared and Onyamata are good

49:35

inside. But uh, I don't

49:37

know. I don't see it as some Super Bowl

49:40

made ready roster because the defense matters,

49:42

and there's there's some questions on the offense.

49:44

Obviously, cousins Is health is

49:47

number one, but it's more about the defense.

49:49

Yeah, I mean you named Jarrett and on your

49:51

moda, those are good players, but aren't they both on

49:53

the wrong side of thirty.

49:55

Yes, yes, and on your matter coming off coming

49:57

off two really good years, but also two really good

49:59

years in this style system, which isn't

50:01

quite the same in his best two years. So yeah,

50:04

and Jesse Bates is there and Ajterrell is there,

50:06

like they have dudes, but it's kind of like the Cowboys

50:09

receiver group. It's like it kind of doesn't

50:11

matter if you have two dudes in the secondary. If you

50:13

have two or three spots that are just

50:16

way below league average, those other two

50:18

can only help you so much, right,

50:22

All thirty two teams, we did it. We did it,

50:24

Bill, you did sixteen, but.

50:25

I did sixteen. I feel like I could have credit for this

50:27

one, but I'm happy to take credit for Mina's

50:29

accomplishments at any time. So I'm

50:32

happy I did all thirty two. Wonderful

50:34

work by.

50:35

Me, And yeah,

50:37

wonderful to spend this week

50:40

starting this show NFL Daily and

50:42

my after dinner Mint today. It's

50:45

a nice little way we wrap up

50:47

the show here. Bill is just answering

50:49

like some questions I've heard from the

50:51

listeners I've had won specifically from

50:54

a friend a friend of a friend Dallas, friends

50:57

with my guy Stephen, who is just like, can you tell? And I've

50:59

seen this from our listeners

51:01

too, just like, what's the regular season schedule gonna

51:03

be?

51:03

Like?

51:03

So I'm just doing some housekeeping here, Bill, and

51:06

I'm pointing out, like, yeah, of course we're

51:08

going to have a great preview

51:10

show and I'm really excited

51:12

about that, and the details of that are

51:14

coming, and we'll have our Sunday night recap

51:17

show. And I love as an NBA

51:19

fan, I love the shows that go live right after the

51:21

games and you can either watch it right afterwards

51:23

or you have it in your podcast feed like an hour

51:26

later, or at worst, if you're you know on the West Coast,

51:28

you know, you wake up and you play it. And so that we're

51:31

gonna do all that, like the Monday nights, Thursday nights

51:33

obviously preview the recap shows. And I've

51:36

told you who's who's going to be part of it. I told you

51:38

who's on Monday. I'm really excited. It's

51:40

a fun show coming on Tuesday with Colleen

51:42

Wolf and Patrick Claybon and a

51:45

special guest there. And so that

51:48

is it from a scheduling perspective. And

51:50

I want to thank you Bill for joining me and Mina

51:53

and everyone that's been

51:55

on this show this week and everyone that has

51:57

reached out those closest to

51:59

me, and then also the listeners look

52:03

it's been challenging. It's been a

52:05

week too, Like it's been a lot jumping

52:07

into this. But I'm so excited

52:10

about just making this show better and doing

52:12

it every day and like growing

52:14

with it because it's gonna get better and

52:17

it's fun right now. And I don't know, I'm

52:19

just so corny that like I love football,

52:21

like I really do, and I love

52:23

y'all, and like I love being able to do this, and

52:25

I appreciate everyone close

52:28

to me who's been reaching out this week. It does

52:30

mean a lot to me. And if you've made it this far

52:33

in the show, you are one of those people. You

52:35

are close to me. And Bill

52:37

is just laughing over there, but yeah, the email

52:40

addresses NFL Daily Podcast at

52:42

gmail dot com. Any thoughts, any questions, We're

52:44

gonna start integrating that into the show so listeners

52:47

can reach out. You're doing overtime,

52:50

Bill, You're off. You did an hour of television

52:52

and now an hour here. You are done.

52:54

Thank you, my friend, my longtime.

52:56

Friend of course. Greg. A lot

52:58

of people myself included, are

53:00

rooting for you. So hope you guys enjoyed

53:02

this week's shows. Hopefully it didn't

53:04

drag it down happily you to save you for the end

53:07

of the week. You got the stars out first, but

53:09

anytime, Greg.

53:11

Not at all. We wanted to go big first week, and I was

53:13

like, Meana and Bill would be

53:15

great. So yeah, we will be back on

53:17

Monday. As I mentioned earlier,

53:20

Jordan Rodrigue and Nate tay Tice

53:22

talking talking schemes, getting dorky,

53:25

getting at getting a little

53:27

dorky, I gotta admit, And then we'll have some fun with

53:29

Colleen and Patrick on Tuesday.

53:31

Until then, Greg Rosenthal for NFL

53:33

Daily, See you next time.