Hall of Fame Locks, Players Suddenly Important at Work and the Preseason Begins!

22:16but a man who I would have never guessed would have been in the position to be kind of an acting interim head coach for the 49ers. Although it is worth pointing out all the people there say Kyle Shanahan is doing more and more each day.

22:33Jourdan Rodrigue:He was sort of the start of the season, suddenly more important at work guy. Yes. Yes. And and like I said, you know, good comeback from him. I'll be quick on this, but I did want to say Stetson Bennett's right now, very important at work. You mentioned how he's right now the clear backup for the Rams. You know, they're not really rolling in Ty Simpson. And so he's because Matthew Stafford is not practicing every other day. It's him against this really great first team. And I made a quick rankings, Jordan, of the worst training camp practices I've ever seen from a quarterback offensive perspective.

23:14I'm sorry to do this. I know, you know. I would go 2024. Were you with me? Aiden O 'Connell, Gardner Minshew for the Raiders. They just could not get a pass completed. We went down there for NFL Daily. That would be number three on my list. Number two was our experience with the Rams. It was just tough to watch. I think that Ty Simpson, like they just couldn't operate the offense. That's the one where like it's a little bit cringeworthy to watch. There was just like penalties and he's super late and he's holding onto the ball. And the only thing that you could complete are check downs. And just like they were giving him hell.

23:57The defense was giving that second team offensive line hell. And I know it's not an easy spot, but like they just couldn't operate. Stetson Bennett was more like normal struggles. He actually had a handful of like decent throws, but he had a couple crazy groaner interceptions and near interceptions where he got a little over him. So that's number two on my list. And then number one, I know people are really curious about this, was the 2019 Colts, I believe. 2019, 2018. It was Scott Tolzien versus Stephen Morris versus P.J. Walker. And I think we counted three for 28 at like a practice that I went to.

24:32That was actually number one. So that was worse than the Rams. And so Stetson Bennett, very important at work.

24:38Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, I would say I've been to quite a few of those practices, especially so far as training camp started. It's interesting. This was the first one, I think, where I've seen that Stafford's not in that Miles Garrett's actually there. And so obviously, and he's been taking, you know, they're giving him a vet plan as well. And so that was an interesting wrinkle to me because, you know, Kevin Dotson was talking to us, you know, during our show when we were there. And And he was mentioning, you know, how much they still slide to miles in practice, even though he can't hit the quarterback and all of that.

25:14Jourdan Rodrigue:So I think that probably was a wrinkle for Stetson Bennett that was definitely probably new for him. The other thing, though, I do want to point out is that, I mean, I've I watched Stetson Bennett when he first started playing football for the Rams. And I just have to say, I'm really impressed with how far he's come. Like, I mean, you know, I know you didn't see those practices, Greg, but my God, he's come so far. And like, he's looked really good for most of training camp. Like he's, when he's really running the, the, the backups and doing the thing that, you know, he's going to be doing either in the preseason or you hope, you know, not in the regular season, but he has looked confident.

25:52Jourdan Rodrigue:He showed command. It's not like he's out there, you know, lighting up on go balls or anything or like those deep digs or anything like that. But he is operating the offense. it is, I will say too, so much notably slower of a practice when Matthew Stafford is not out there. Just because in part, I think it's an extra check to make sure everyone's getting the right amount of work in, including the defense and the offense. And your backup quarterback in a practice like that, that's their job is to make sure that all other, what, 21 players are the ones that are actually getting the work they need and you're just there to distribute kind of a thing.

26:31Jourdan Rodrigue:and but it's it's it's slow it's really really slow and the difference between when Stafford is out there playing and throwing it around and the defense is still giving them all they got and then this what we saw is is dramatic and that's it that's just a fact so I'm interested to see how that continues but I do have to say don't don't be too hard on on Stetson Bennett here because you know your your day of data versus you know the the four or five that I've seen are couldn't have been more different, I think. Yeah, they said it was the last couple of days. And I think one of them was with Stafford was the first ones that the defense is really just like dominate.

27:08So the first team. They're going to be good. And he's got Puka out there. Puka, it was outrageous. Puka pretty much caught everything, but Puka had like two just jaw dropping catches. No surprise there. Some other players, suddenly important network include Jayshon Barham of the Dallas Cowboys, who I think is growing into a bigger role, but he actually got banged up at practice on Thursday. So we'll follow up with that. But he's a rookie, a third round pick that I think is going to matter for them. A lot of punts so far in the Hall of Fame game. We're not missing too much.

27:42Jourdan Rodrigue:Big J.J. Jansen pop, you know? Yes, J.J. Jansen getting watched on a national stage. Appreciate the questions. Three AFC South playoff teams this year. That is from a Jags fan named Donovan. I think it's possible. The out-of-division schedule for the AFC South is tough. And if you do that, you just have to cross off, you know, multiple teams here. Or only one of the following. If all three AFC South teams make it, okay, Jordan? Only one of the following teams, let's say, let's give the AFC West to the Broncos, and let's give the AFC East to the Bills, and let's give the AFC North to the Ravens.

28:25then only one of the following teams can make the playoffs. If all three teams go from the AFC South, only one of these following teams, the Patriots, the Chargers, the Chiefs, the Steelers, the Bengals, like that. That's a long list. We're only one of those teams. Did I say the Chargers? I don't even know if I said the Chargers in there. So it's like, yeah, it's possible, but man, the AFC is deep and loaded and going to be really fun to watch.

28:53Jourdan Rodrigue:Jags fan Donovan5261, congrats to you. I saw John Shipley, who we love on this show. John Shipley posts today that this might be the most, the best team he's ever seen in training camp. So that's pretty exciting. It's that time of year. I love that. When I'm watching the Hard Knocks clip so far, and that Seahawks team coming back, I'm just like. I know. I feel like I got to catch up on Hard Knocks. It seems like it's actually good this year. I've skipped it for the most part for a couple of years because I found it a little boring, but they got right into it this year. So I am recommending it highly.

29:28That first episode was like the most exciting, really hardcore football episode I've seen in a while. Like meetings, good access. McDonald's interesting. They didn't waste any time off the field. They just like started rolling. One of my takeaways is a guy that's important at work is Jadarian Price. Like who knows where he could have gotten drafted. But Mike McDonald said no one is covering him yet. And even just watching Hard Knocks, like they are so high on him. Some other players, there's injuries for the Bears in the secondary. Kyler Gordon has not come back. Kobe Bryant at safety is going to be out a while.

29:56So they've got fill-ins there, Jalen Jones, Cam Lewis. There's a guy, Charles Demings, who's been taking starters reps, who's a rookie day three pick for the Vikings. Just someone to watch. They're calling him Chuck D right now. He's playing really well. We'll see if that's just a camp story or not. But they've had some injuries. And then let's wrap this suddenly important at work segment talking Packers. You were at the Packers. Yes. And I wanted to throw in Baron Sorrell is a name that not many people know. But Micah Parsons. The other day. Yeah, Micah Parsons talked him up as a guy that's really popping and could be starting at edge for them.

30:30Lucas Van Ness is going to be another guy that is probably starting. Man, they need help at the edge. So I point those two guys out just to give you just some thoughts. You were you were watching this team for a couple of days and just didn't know if you had any on the ground takeaways.

30:46Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, totally. I think that this pressure package early on is going to be a large percentage dependent on the corners and the safeties. And when I was at camp, there was an injury and Cisse, shoot, first name is escaping me right now, but C-I-S-S-E is his last name, Cisse. Yeah, Brandon Cisse. Brandon, yes. I was going to say Benjamin, but that's St. Juice. Yeah, Cisse. Yeah, he was like, he looked great. He looked awesome. he was filling in. The thing with this Packers defense is that it's safety's group is, you know, Evan Williams, Xavier McKinney, and Javon Bullard. It's like one of the best in the NFL.

31:26Jourdan Rodrigue:And I'd stand on that. And I do stand on that. And watching them play in Jonathan Gannon's scheme as it really lifted off the ground and out of the install portions because they put pads on for the first time when I was out there. It just was cool. I love safety play. I think it's magical when it looks good and you're standing behind the defense. so you can watch them all orbit around each other in a system like this. I think it's awesome. And I think Javon Bullard is going to be a player who is involved in a lot of these pressure packages because they're going to be so scheme dependent without Micah Parsons there.

31:59Jourdan Rodrigue:And as I said in my athletic article, I do think this will be two different defenses with like a Venn diagram in the middle. Oh, hey, that's so nice of you guys to put my article up on the screen. That's cool. Thank you for doing that. Yeah, it really is going to be a two sort of a two system. You guys, you know who's putting it up. It's it's our producer, Eric Roberts. He's got a name. I know. Thank you. Well, I know he doesn't like to always be on the show, so I appreciate that, Eric. That's really nice of you. It's, you know, at least someone on this show is nice, you know? No, but I I think it was really interesting to watch because what I'm watching here, obviously, Micah Parsons is not on the field.

32:40Jourdan Rodrigue:So I'm watching what I think the first few weeks of this defense is going to be. And it is very blitz heavy. It is very design and scheme heavy. It's the combination of three safety looks, which they're going to really, really amplify this year. And a lot of big safety in the nickel position. I was talking to Matt LaFleur about this, and he was very adamant that they just call it a nickel. They will not call it a star because he doesn't like, you know, to get too crazy with it. But yeah, that is what that is what a player like Javon Bullard, but then also X and Evan Williams can rotate into that position, too.

33:15Jourdan Rodrigue:There's a lot of pressure designed in that way that is not super characteristic of Jonathan Gannon in previous stops, but something that he's shown the ability to do and especially kind of pick his spots in a cool way. And he did that a lot with with Buda Baker. And I think I could tell this story now that a couple of days have passed. but like sky moore's on this team and sky moore's actually looks pretty solid and i think he's going to be there a lot of their like motions and sweeps player and and i think he he could factor in for this for this offense in that way uh with matthew golden playing more of a uh pure sort of x and z position which transfers pretty equally in this offense and sky moore was talking to one of the backup receivers who thought he had space on a play when it was it was twos versus one's defense he thought he had space on a play into the flat and all of a sudden Javon Bullard's there and Sky Moore pulls this guy aside he's talking to him on the sideline and he's like that's exactly what JG did with Buda Baker man they want to they want you to think that he's flipping his flipping his hips around he doesn't see you coming in the flat he's baiting the flat he really wants you to think that you have it and you don't have it just don't don't think that you have it because you don't and so for me it's sort of got the synapses firing right of like this could be really cool what Jonathan Gannon does with these safeties early on and they're counting on it because I was not super impressed with the pure edge rusher with the pure rush the interior defensive line they got in their hands on some passes which I think was cool and then obviously with Sorrell, there was a pick six, but it also is like, you know, they, they know that they're going to have to count on a lot of this scheme and a lot of this extra design pressure until Michael Parsons comes back.

35:00Jourdan Rodrigue:And, and that's just kind of the way it's going to have to be. But then I think a lot of those elements work when Michael Parsons is on the field, because they were also experimenting with edge Cooper out there as sort of their standup extra rusher as well. And he's, you know, he's a linebacker and, and seeing what he can do in tandem with some of these extra safeties looks. I don't know if you're, I don't know if you're texting me right now, Greg, but I'm just rambling. I'm trying to like send, send the show out for a second, but, um, I, which is very hard to do. I don't know if you were just texting me, shut up, shut up, shut up, another prompt for everyone to come, come join us.

35:33No, uh, Jonathan Gannon. And that's, it's all really well said that like the safeties, the scheme is going to have to make up for a lack of talent. So Jonathan Gannon, who's the new Packers defensive coordinator, um, he's been important the whole time. He's not suddenly important, but he might be even more important. It sounds crazy to say, but I don't think they have any more talent without Micah Parsons on the Packers defense than the Cardinals defense had a year ago. I got some breaking news though. As we're talking, Carson Beck is dotting people going up and down the field. We have like a potential Hall of Fame game MVP performance.

36:13Long throw, 35 yards to Jalen Brooks, you know, another like third and long into tight coverage where he catches a contested pass. They, you know, they pick up a third down, they get to the goal line. A very grown man. I'm going to get the fan base way too excited about my rookie quarterback performance here so far in the first quarter on the drive by Carson Beck. Shout out to him for giving everyone a little bit of entertainment. Okay, let's break up the rest of the show this way, Jordan. We'll do a little bit of news. We'll fly through that. And then we'll talk about just some like Hall of Fame thoughts as we enter Hall of Fame weekend.

36:52Like what current players could possibly make it. Maybe some thoughts about the guys that are in there now. There was a Bears player, Braxton Jones, their left tackle who was carted off on Thursday. Who's really important for them. It does not sound like it's going to be serious. But sometimes when they say that, it's still a multiple-week injury. So we'll keep an eye on that. Kieran Amagedazi is their next guy up, who was kind of an afterthought as a late-round pick, who was hurt last year, next up at left tackle for them. So that's really important to watch. Darnell Wright, since we last taped, signed a four-year,$116 million extension.

37:28Darnell Wright is freaking awesome. He's a mauler. He got$93 million guaranteed. I think he's worth a lot. But this is, again, sort of what I was getting at. He gets almost double the amount of guarantees as Bajon Robinson and Jameer gives. I'm just like, let's equal it out a little bit. But he has been a terrific development story and another player who's really benefited from Ben Johnson landing there because he's a perfect fit for their system. Chat GPT can do more than answer questions. It can help you get real work done. Chat GPT work is built for bigger projects with multiple steps. You bring the goal along with the information it needs, like briefs, notes, files, feedback, calendars, data sets, or project plans.

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39:54Jourdan Rodrigue:How's the new place? Get your Wi-Fi figured out? I got T-Mobile 5G home internet and I'm loving it. It's the fastest 5G home internet. My old provider was so slow. Mine is slow. And only 35 bucks a month. Do I need to try this? Try it for 15 days. Love it or get your money back. I love it already. There are over 250 reasons to join T-Mobile. Find yours and check availability at t-mobile.com slash home internet. This is according to Oculus Speed Test Intelligence. Date a second half of 2025. All rates reserved for T-Mobile. Impact guarantee within 30 days of cancellation. All right, it's time for the off-season ride-along, presented by Toyota.

40:29I love it what a camp battle Jordan has just decided. They just quickly just announced, like a week and a half in, oh, actually, Tyler Guyton for the Cowboys is playing awesome, and there's not going to be a battle. It's over. Tyler Guyton is your left tackle. We're keeping all our Tylers in their original spot. Tyler Booker, right guard. Tyler Smith, left guard. Tyler Guyton, left tackle. The Tylers are intact and they're not changing positions for 2026. Like an early camp battle decided. Just cross that one off.

40:58Jourdan Rodrigue:The Tylers are intact, I think, has got to be a drop or some sort of Cowboys slogan that we use all year. You know, it's it's basically like the way I mean, I heard some of that, you know, they were talking about it in with media and all that stuff. And basically exactly how all of the Tylers predicted that this would turn out is exactly how it turned out. So, you know, no more confusion. You start getting that offense going. I like it. And I like Brian Schottenheimer as a coach. I think he doesn't mess around too much with the media games of it all. If the battle's over, just say it. I think that I will look really, really good by the end of this year for my Brian Schottenheimer coach draft selection where a lot of our listeners were like, you know, or probably not our listeners.

41:48Jourdan Rodrigue:I like to think our listeners are like ride with us. But so, you know, when, when graphics are shared out on social media or whatever, and then people are like, oh my God, that was a quick poll. Are you kidding me, Eric? Disagreement can, can still be love, but yes, we, me, you and Ollie Connelly drafted our coaches. I have him at 14. I think he's low. That's not too high at all. I love that. I think that's great. And if it's not too high, someone else should have picked him, you know, but it was me. Well, I still like my picks there. Look, if we're patting ourselves on the back for, you know, takes that age well, which is we're known to do on this show.

42:25We love doing it on this show. Immediately after hiring Brian Schottenheimer, I said, I think he could be better as a head coach than he is as a coordinator. Let's see.

42:33Jourdan Rodrigue:You're right, Greg. Your takes are always the best takes. Good point. Henry Tooto is the linebacker for the Texans who signed a two-year$16 million extension. It's hard to find linebackers you like. So that is their fourth defensive kind of core piece that they've re-signed this offseason. Both linebackers, Al-Shair and Toto. So if D 'Amico Ryans loves you and you're a linebacker, why not keep him? And then both edge guys got extensions this offseason too. Will Anderson, a multi-year extension. And then Daniil Hunter got one year. Jalen Waddell for the Broncos. A little bit of concern that he left practice with like a pulled muscle.

43:10They say it's going to be four to five days. So no panic there. Jalen McMillan for the Bucs, who's a key receiver. We're going to keep an eye on that one because the way Todd Bowles spoke about him and Jalen McMillan is their third receiver. It sounds like it might be sometime before he's back. We will see. Kenyon Sadiq, the first round pick of the Jets at tight end, is going to be out at least a couple weeks, which is bad news. In good news, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is already back on the field. We've been in camp so long, Jordan. We're now getting guys returning, which is great. We're getting good news that Rasheed Rice is now in team drills.

43:41And then finally, what a relief. The Chiefs took G-E-H-A off Arrowhead Stadium. I don't even know if you knew that was the sponsor name. They still are like the sponsor, but like no one ever called it that. So now it's not going to be an eyesore when they have the CBS Chiefs games that you have to hear in an ear sore too. I don't know if that's a word, but Jim Nance would have to be, we're here at G-E-H-A at Arrowhead Stadium. That's gone. We're just back to Arrowhead Stadium.

44:09Jourdan Rodrigue:I actually never knew either what the correct AP style was. Like, is it a is it is it an acronym? Do you say it like a word? I don't know. We don't need to know anymore. It's fine. We don't need to care anymore. It doesn't matter. That was the offseason ride along presented by Toyota, because when people are the destination, your ride is important. Learn more at Toyota dot com and find the vehicle that fits your people. OK, we're here. It's Hall of Fame game weekend. if you're joining us live, you're watching like Drew Brees getting interviewed. I love this NBC tradition that they end up talking to all the Hall of Famers at some point.

44:47Jourdan Rodrigue:And they're all kind of teary, which is nice. Yeah, it's nice. They had Larry Fitzgerald on the pregame. This is an awesome class. Every Hall of Fame class, they deserve to be there. It's great. But some years just have a little more pop. And I like the diversity of this class in terms of the different types of players. You have Drew Brees, who along with Fitzgerald to me, like defines his team in a way that is really special. I mean, Breeze is another level of that just because of the history of the Saints and what he helped at that time in New Orleans history, but also just being as freaking amazing as he is.

45:27So there's Drew Breeze, there's Larry Fitzgerald, who really represents that for the Cardinals of just like individual greatness for that team and meaning so much the consistency. You have like the Veterans Committee guy in Roger Craig who gets his just due and a guy who was kind of a preview of the types of running backs that were going to be great pass catchers to come in the league. You have Luke Keekly with the Panthers who pure brilliance, the second youngest guy ever to get into the Hall of Fame because his career ended so short. But it was at the very tippity top. You knew he was a Hall of Famer like three or four years in.

45:58We're going to get to some of those guys. And then Adam Vinatieri, who I thought was interesting, had an interview. I didn't know this with NBC chose Carly Ursae Gordon as his presenter, which is fascinating because, you know, the daughter of Jim Ursae. And he said it was an easy decision for him. Even though he said he loved both organizations, he loved his experience with the Patriots and the Colts. I'm taking that just a little bit as a slight to the Patriots. But what he said was, it was really all about his love for Jim Ursae and what Jim Ursae meant to him and his family. He still lives in Indianapolis and, and it is easy to forget, look, it's the all time, you know, scorer that so much of that was with Indianapolis.

46:40He's a Superbowl champion with Indianapolis. And, um, yeah, I'll just throw it to you. That's a, it's a really. You know, cool honor that, that he's bestowing upon Carly Ursa Gordon. Um, and just a really great class. And we'll have some thoughts on Sunday about, about their speeches and everything and reflect a little deeper on them then that we're not going to do that too much here, but that would, that's a cool moment out of Vinatieri.

47:02Jourdan Rodrigue:Yes, I think so, too. I know I'm often the like big feelings person on this show, but I think that this is this is just one of those that made my heart smile, honestly, because it was there's a history is really rich tradition and a history of players who identified Jim Irsay as somebody who they wanted very much involved in their Hall of Fame process because of how close he was with players. And as I know our listeners know, and I know you know, Greg, like I spent a lot of time in Indianapolis last year trying to get to know what Carly or say Gordon was all about in a feature I wrote for The Athletic.

47:42Jourdan Rodrigue:And the thing that just came through over and over and over again in a genuinely authentic way was the level of care and consideration and attention to life detail and true earnest consideration for the players that Carly or say Gordon and her sisters and Kaylin Jackson, who is on site there working with her, that they have. And so I think for me, this is a two-sided thing from Adam Vinatieri and a very, very cool gesture with multiple layers to it, which is, I think the Patriots thing is notable too. That is one thing I am hashtag noticing. But also the Adam Vinatieri paying tribute to Jim Irsay by doing this, but then also saying you are carrying this part of his legacy forward by specifically choosing Carly or say Gordon to do this, I think is, it's powerful.

48:38Jourdan Rodrigue:It really is. It's badass. And yeah, look, it makes sense on a human level that the Patriots at that time did not want to pay him like top tier money. And the Colts did. And it was some of the best money that they ever spent. And the Patriots drafted his replacement and all that. And he ends up staying there. And so we'll get into some of these guys more after the induction ceremony on Sunday. We are going live Sunday evening. It's going to be 5 p.m. Pacific, 8 p.m. Eastern. We are going to do some early winners and losers, big takeaways from training camp, and then we'll also hit the Hall of Fame news.

49:15But I wanted to just do like kind of a speed round of a reaction to current players that could be Hall of Famers someday. It's going to be really cool. And I'm starting to see that because I've covered the league so long, Jordan, that like players now that I covered from the beginning or close to it, like Drew Brees, I was covering him, quote unquote, you know, at Roto World when he was still on the Chargers, when he had that huge comeback season to play better. And then he hurt his shoulder and like writing posts about like no one wanted to sign him and all that. And here he is all those years later.

49:48So I was thinking like, who are we going to be talking about in similar ways? And I'm going to do it framed with the help of our friend Bill Barnwell. He had an article on ESPN.com and he categorized all the players that he thought were worthy of these categories in the NFL in a bunch of different buckets. Guys that were already in the Hall of Fame, guys that were on the cusp, guys that had to keep it up, but they're kind of on track. Guys that had some work to do. And then guys he just thought like aren't going to make it. So I'm going to go through these and just ones that stuck out to me the most.

50:20Let's start with Stafford. I don't want to spend too much time on Stafford, but he put Stafford as totally in, which actually surprised me because I do feel like Stafford is going to be one of those guys if nothing more happened from here like that was great like that that people would nitpick including me the rest of his career where I don't think you could look at too many seasons that he would be in the top five quarterbacks in the league like maybe three four max and like those guys have had to wait like guys that haven't had the many all pros or pro bowls and he hasn't until last year but Bill makes a good point like that voters might not get too much more complicated than he won a Super Bowl and then he won an MVP.

51:00And like, are we really going to keep that guy out? Even if, you know, naysayers like me are like, yeah, but during like most of his career, Tony Romo was like a better quarterback than Matthew Stafford and Phillip Rivers, guys like that who are definitely guys that are going to have to wait if they even ever do get in.

51:16Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. I mean, I really disagree with you on this one. Yeah. I know you're shocked. That's why I wanted to bring it up. Yeah. I saw I saw you put him first in the rundown also. So I know you're totally shocked by my response. I agree with Bill. I think I don't think this is one that's going to be complicated. I think that I know we don't often talk about like the age factor when we're thinking about Hall of Fame and all of that. But to do the things he did and the arm talent only getting better and better as he ages, I think that's significant. I think that we don't he will represent the last of a certain era as well of of, you know, quarterbacks that just that the last versions of these quarterbacks that played, you know, all at the same time, the Rivers, the Mannings, you know, it's like he is he's he's of a different generation than a lot of the really exciting quarterbacks that are coming up.

52:06I think the poetry of that voters will be into as well.

52:09Jourdan Rodrigue:And I think that, you know, this is a this is a guy who I do already think is a gold jacket. And I that's when I when I even when I go back and I am sick in the head. And so, yes, I have gone back. And even when I go back and I watch some of the early the early seasons, I'm like, how did this guy and I know why nobody needs to explain this to me? I know how and why I'm sitting there thinking, like, how did most people never watch this guy? You know, and it just and it's it's just remarkable. and the fact that it's getting better, I mean, to me, it's a no-brainer to me. To me, I at least feel that I can have an informed opinion because I was assigned by myself, essentially, to watch every single game.

52:47Jourdan Rodrigue:Because you watched it live and not having to go back and rent VHS tapes from Blockbuster. No, I just mean that I watched every week. And to me, he was so up and down during the weeks. But it actually reminds me of your Cardinals hero here, Kurt Warner. When he had that run with the Cardinals, I remember saying in a similar exercise at the time, you know what? I think this is actually going to spike the football and he's going to make the Hall of Fame. This is the type of thing that changes it. And at the time, the thought was like, Kurt Warner did not have a long enough peak. He did not have a long enough career.

53:16Like he probably isn't going to make the Hall of Fame. And he did have to wait whatever it was, a handful of years, but not that long. And he did make it. And so Stafford is kind of at that level, maybe even a little higher. We have some important breaking news sound to play for you. We have the first touchdown of the NFL 2026 season, preseason, season. Let's go, Eric.

53:39Jourdan Rodrigue:Carson Beck on his second drive here with the Cardinals. Chris, six for six, 72 yards, and taking it from the shadow of their own goalpost to the one-yard line. Twelve plays already and really in total control of this offense. A couple receivers out wide. One comes back to the corner. The excited run. and Corey Kiner to the end zone. And the first touchdown of this NFL season.

54:09Jourdan Rodrigue:Okay. I mean, that was really impressive. Oh, Mike LaFleur, too. His first as a head coach. That's cool. Okay. Football is so freaking back. Corey Kiner, a person I was definitely familiar with until five seconds ago. with the first touchdown of the season. And you know what? Kenny Pickett doesn't take that line down. He drives him right back down the field on a 10-play drive to answer. We've got all sorts of action in the Hall of Fame game. Kenny Pickett's eight for 11. And A.J. Dillon, who I did know, was on the Panthers and fighting for a roster spot, possibly with Trevor Etienne, who was like a mid-round pick, the brother of Travis Etienne, I guess, we're going now with both brothers.

54:58It's not just, you know, Trevor, that changed it. This is so exciting.

55:02Jourdan Rodrigue:Okay. This is fun. Okay, I'll rattle through the other guys he had in that I just thought were interesting. It doesn't mean I disagree, agree or anything, but I just thought, you know, fans might find that interesting. Christian McCaffrey he had in. Yeah, the more I think about it, I think that's probably right that he's already in because the peaks are so high. Like three different seasons where he's the absolute best. And so he'd have my vote as well. Chris Jones, like he's in, which I just think throughout his career, I'm not sure people thought of him as like, yeah, he's going to get in early into the Hall of Fame.

55:34Khalil Mack, I think, has built up the resume to make it. Quentin Nelson is a guy, the all pros are just undeniable. He is a Hall of Famer. Lamar Jackson is in. Like if Matthew Stafford's in, of course, Lamar Jackson. It is weird to think about at this point, but like, of course, Lamar Jackson is in. And Derek Henry is in. Don't really have any quibbles with any of those. I just like it's interesting to think about those players. Let's go to the on the cusp list, which to me is just as interesting. He had George Kittle and Fred Warner at the top of this list. And I thought about those two guys quickly.

56:06And I thought I think Kittle's in actually already when I went through it. And Fred Warner, I think it's on the cusp is perfect, but it is fun to think about Fred Warner. Basically, if a guy is either the best at his position or second pretty definitively for at least a three-year period, like a three - to four-year period, you generally make the Hall of Fame, and those two guys would qualify on those grounds.

56:33Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, then why would Fred Warner still be on the cusp then? Yeah, probably because when I went and looked through it, there's only so many healthy seasons. But you're right. Like he he right now, he's going to achieve more, but he is coming off of an injury. He right now, if for some reason it didn't happen for him, his peak, I don't think has been as good as Patrick Willis. And so then he just turns out to be one of those guys that might end up waiting like six, seven, eight years, but gets in. So it depends how you want to like interpret on the cusp. If that's on the cusp, then that's sort of on the cusp.

57:06In line, you know, not the guy that's like getting rubber stamped right away. He just needs to be healthier. Justin Jefferson, to me, he's in already. He put him on the cusp. Like, I would just stamp him. It sounds crazy to say, but it's like, yeah, a guy with that many all pros at this point, like, he's in. The ones that I found fascinating, he put Buda Baker on the cusp. I think that's a stretch. Like, ball knowers love him, love Buda Baker. I don't know if he has that great a chance. Daniil Hunter, to me, was an interesting guy to think about. Cam Hayward and Jalen Ramsey, he also put on the cusp.

57:37Jalen Ramsey, to me, is a little bit like the defensive back CMC. I kind of think he's in. because the three pop-up seasons that he had were so extraordinary, even if it wasn't as consistent as some other all-time greats. And I think Cam Hayward is in too. So those were the ones I just want to shout out on the cusp.

57:55Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, I've said I already think Ramsey's a Hall of Famer. I think Cam Hayward's got as good of a shot as Kittle and Warner, and you think they're in eventually. I think Cam Hayward is in too. And it's easy for us to be like, okay, they're all in, but then you get to the voting. and you have to say some people are out. And that's why I try to be careful. I've really studied and watched this over the years. And like Ramsey and Hayward seem like guys that are gonna get in if they don't do that much more, like in their fourth year, in their third year, in their fifth year, but they will definitely get in.

58:28We have a hot take here from Dwayne. And yeah, as we're wrapping up, any final questions? Brandon Aubrey's already earned the jacket. The only question is how quickly he will eventually get it. I disagree with that. But he's on his way. He's on his way. uh kickers it's a it's a tough road how many kickers are in the hall of fame two three is it stenerud uh morton anderson and at vinatieri i think i was gonna say there's gonna be three i think there's about to be three this weekend uh carson beck by the way just absolutely lighting it up um it's official uh it's a quarterback battle um and uh absolutely fantastic touchdown pass to I think it's semi Paheco uh love it um yeah Paheco um in all seriousness it's just the first time of four times that Carson Beck is likely to play in the preseason but with rookie quarterbacks they're playing against the version of the quarterback that they're battling against and how they play in the regular season so right now this version of Carson Beck is battling against whatever Jacoby Brissett is doing in like week five.

59:43And that might be pretty intriguing for Michael Fleur. We got a question.

59:48Jourdan Rodrigue:I got some, I got some confidence in Jacoby Brissett. Okay. We got a question. Carson Beck QB one. When, what is your answer to that one? Well, you just said what you think. I mean, I think, you know, I, I think you probably, unless Jacoby Brissett, like really, really tanks it like I think you've got to roll with Jacoby Brissett you paid him and it's not like you're trying you know I don't know I just I think Jacoby I I'm probably higher on Jacoby Brissett as a distributor of the ball I love Jacoby and I know you're high on him too I'm just saying then I think consensus what they are looking for here is developing Carson Beck in the sort of security of what this is right now, and also distributing the football around to the many great skill players.

1:00:36Jourdan Rodrigue:The one who's going to be able to distribute the ball around is Jacoby Brissett. By week is week 14, and then they finish. So they have the last by week possible, and they finish with Jets, Saints, Raiders, 49ers. To me, that is the latest possible answer to QB1 Carson Beck. I tend to think it's harder for first-time head coaches to stick to that plan. So let's say Jacoby actually plays pretty well. Then I'm going to go week 12 and a half as my over-under. Hall of Fame, on the cusp we handled. He also had some players that they just got to keep it up and keep going. He writes down Joe Tooney, which I just thought was an interesting one to think about.

1:01:15I think Joe Tooney has a really strong chance to make the Hall of Fame already. He could retire right now, and I think he'll have a case that at some point maybe gets him in, and just winning titles with multiple teams, all pros with multiple teams, popping up late in his career. I think he's got a chance. I like that he, Bill Barnwell, put the Lions four-pack of young players on this keep it up. It's crazy to think about. It's possible right now, Jordan, the Lions are starting four Hall of Famers in the middle of their prime. Amon Ross St. Brown, Jameer Gibbs, Panay Sewell, and Aiden Hutchinson, which at first I was like, whoa, Bill, that's a little crazy.

1:01:55But the way they've started their careers, if they go on a normal trajectory of players their age who have made all pros that early and establish a baseline of consistency that they have, it's actually not that crazy. Gibbs probably has like the most to do and they all have a lot to do. But it's not that crazy. We could be watching a team with four Hall of Famers. They should be winning a lot of games if they got four Hall of Famers in the middle of their prime.

1:02:18Jourdan Rodrigue:My favorite thing is that you're saying that Fred Warner is on the cusp because he might just have to wait. And then you're like, but we should definitely wait for all of these guys to do this much more in their career. And then they're definitely making that. No, so I think. Different careers. But they've already almost matched Warner with some of their peaks right now. I think that this quadfecta is placed exactly in the right place. And I love the idea here on this. I think it's great. That's what I mean. Keep it up means you have a ways to go. But it's cool to think about them on that track.

1:02:50Kyle Hamilton was the other guy that stuck out to me. It was just like, oh, yeah, that guy could be a Hall of Famer someday. He had A.J. Brown in the work to do category, which hurt my feelings because that's a long way to go. I would put it at the keep it up. I feel like A.J. Brown has been a top five wide receiver for long enough for most of his career that I think he has a really strong chance. And then missing out, he has Cooper Cup and Derwin James just like no. So Cooper Cup, probably when you dig down, like it hasn't been consistent enough at the highest of levels, but he'll get a lot of credit for that 2021 season.

1:03:28And then Derwin James, I absolutely think should be at a higher list. I think he has, he has a real chance. I would put him closer to like work to do or keep it up. So just bumping them up a little level, but good job by Bill Barnwell. There's a lot of work that goes into that. And, and I'm just pointing out the ones that I thought were kind of conversation starters and interesting.

1:03:46Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, well, I think Cooper is going to have a good argument when it comes time for it, because I understand there's a huge backlog of receivers and it gets tougher every year. And I think about like the Torrey Holtz of the world who I think should be in, but the logistics of what the hall is right now and the backlog of players. But I think when you think about, I would have put him in keep it up. I know that's crazy because of his age, although he's not really that much older. I don't think that AJ Brown, but obviously there's a, you know, so I think that he could go and keep it up because it's like people really forgot that triple crown season that quickly first of all I mean that was he was the best receiver we'd seen in a while in football that season and I think he'll have a compelling case because of the two Super Bowls as well people will will argue on his behalf for that and then I think he'll have an argument too for all the things he did and has done away from the ball that helped usher in a new way that we're looking at football in this era.

1:04:42Jourdan Rodrigue:So I'm not necessarily making this argument. I'm just giving people some material when they do make the argument. But I think he will have a truly fascinating argument when it does come time. He feels like a guy that will be brought up by the veterans committee someday when he's like 70 years old, which is really weird to think about as we're talking about as one of those guys that strikes out for 15 years and then you bring up because the high was so high. But the numbers are tough to ignore, which is only two seasons over 1 ,000 yards, one Pro Bowl, which was that magical season, one All-Pro.

1:05:16And so it's like a really great player, like a Rams Ring of Honor guy for sure, and a guy that might be tough to put in over those Torrey Holtz, over those Derwin James, over those A.J. Brown types of players. All right. We totally went over an hour. You were right. I owe you, I don't know, a bottled water. I owe you a free apple from the NFL snack. I mean, the NFL, you can say what you want about the NFL. The snacks at the NFL offices are outrageous and they're everywhere and they're plentiful. We love them, including the fresh fruit. because we're not trying to finish the show now in double digits.

1:06:02Our producer, Eric Roberts, is begging to finish this show with a Carson Beck back-to-back highlights sequence. Let's listen to the big bomb. Carson Beck's big arm, center stage at the Hall of Fame game.

1:06:18Jourdan Rodrigue:Beck shot downfield. Got a man. And it's cut. Big hit. And it's going on to. Wow. One more time. Let's go. That hit. That was outrageous. Moves his feet a little bit in the pocket as the pressure's coming left. Delivers it at the perfect time. Hits Brooks in stride, who's, by the way, three catches for 99 yards. Already, we have two strong candidates between Jalen Brooks. Former Cowboy, is that right? Yeah. Former Cowboy. preseason MVP is not necessarily a fair award a lot comes down to how many games do you play they get an extra game in Arizona and are you in big time spots like NBC Carson Beck and Jalen Brooks delivering but the big time hit after he gets uh the catch football is totally back including this dime by Beck following that up

1:07:31when you're making goal line fades work uh the hardest play in football you know you know something's happening i'm in i'm in on carson beck being like the next mike glennon let's mark it

1:07:41Jourdan Rodrigue:down one one one and a half or one and a third quarters into the very first preseason game of the NFL season against the Panthers third string defense Greg Rosenthal is all the way in on Carson Beck I'm not all the way in but it is fun it's fun to watch I love it I mean this is making me all this makes me really happy the NBC when you get on NBC you get sick graphics by the way yes I've production. Yeah, you get the whole thing. It's great. Shout out to my buddy, Matt Casey, producing his first football night in America of the season tonight. And yes, they're going back and forth. It is now a couple of touchdowns apiece.

1:08:23We're not going to hang and watch this game, but we the rest of it. I'm going to watch it offline, Jordan. We do exist offline and you're going to be traveling around, but you're going to be on our show as well coming up. As I mentioned earlier we are going to do a Sunday night show this is going to be more about the whole league we're going to dig deep into all the notes all the work that you don't want to do as fans of who's winning who's losing in training camp just like players that are getting more playing time players who are not there are wins and losses in training camp I don't know if you

1:08:55Jourdan Rodrigue:knew that Jordan he's laughing we're gonna go exactly as long as I predicted we would go 8 o 'clock Eastern, 5 o 'clock Pacific. That's Sunday night. Thank you for everyone for joining us this week. It was really fun with the Rams and tonight, of course, with the Hall of Fame game. We've got to end the show the same way. Football's back.

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