NFC West Hierarchy, Rams GM Les Snead, OC Mike LaFleur and Darious Williams

23:34So that's one of the keys is making sure there's a lot of people, not only that bring an edge to the Rams, but are willing to, at some level along the way, sacrifice for the good of the Los Angeles Rams.

23:53Jourdan Rodrigue:We were talking to Darius Williams, and he was reiterating some of our opinion that you guys told the league and told the fans, told us in the media kind of what you were and what you planned to be this offseason with some of the moves you made in free agency, Puna Ford, Devontae Adams, the draft, the way you drafted, drafting for depth in key areas, drafting for a change-up, a little bit of a change-up skill set in other areas. Drafting and bringing people in in free agency as if you're a contention team, believe you're a contention team, but it started with making sure Matthew Stafford was back in the building.

24:33Jourdan Rodrigue:and you called it a vow renewal, which I think was the quote that lasts from it. What did that set off in terms of the ripple effect for going about maybe your A-plus plan in free agency and then the draft? And when will we see him throw? You like that? I threw that in there at the end. I like that. Time will tell when we see him throw it. You can tell he's chomping at the bit. I was joking with him today as he was at practice. and there has been some times where standing around a practice can be a little bit of a negative. Your hamstrings get tight, but you can tell he's antsy. He wants to get out.

25:13The key is when we renewed our vows, we then knew, okay, as you mentioned, you call it contenders. There's an element of what window you're in the last few years as we've remodeled this thing, back when you were covering us as a beat writer and since you've moved on to the big time. Was that like two months ago? So we were on a Zoom and they were like, you were rebuilding. I'm like, this is a remodel. We got Matthew Stafford. And they're like, no, you're rebuilding. And I was trying to, you know, but they weren't, I say they, our writers. So we had fun talking about that. The point I'm trying to make is we have efficacy in that both years we've started in a hole.

25:54Both years we've got out of that hole. One year we made the playoffs. one year we've won the division so there's an F now again that means nothing all that does is show that the core we have knows they can go compete for division it means nothing uh in 2025 because we haven't kicked off yet we hadn't played a game yet we aren't who we are going to be yet but when Matthew came back and we said you know what uh hey let's try to go do something special whatever that is, again, we're going to take it moment to moment, day to day, and then that just, again, sets the blueprint of what you might do next to add, fill in holes, whatever you want to call it, in our continuing of the remodel.

26:36Yeah, to that end, like, when did Devontae come on your radar? Is that something where your pro personnel department are already thinking he's possibly going to be available or looking at him during the season? Or what point in the offseason are you thinking, like, we can maybe get this done? I think, again, they were going through a regime change in New York. The Jets there knew his contract situation. So there's an element of this person might or has a chance to come available, depending on what they do there. And, again, maybe what they do with their, let's call it, reimagining of their regime there.

27:13So you always prepare, but until he's free or until it's communicated he is going to be free, that's when you go, you know what? There's an opportunity here that's presented itself, and do we want to take advantage of it?

27:29Jourdan Rodrigue:Les, one of the themes of just not only the football side, but also the scouting and talent identification sides over the past couple of years in this building has been sort of this fluidity or able to shape shift, able to evolve as the league evolves and changes and challenges you guys in certain ways in both of those areas. What do you think it is about that sort of collective personality? Like, where does that come from? I know you have it and Sean has it, but how does it really kind of permeate? How do you guys effectively get everybody to be of that? Really good question. I'm not sure. It's interesting when you are who you are.

28:08You don't. I think it's as simple as this, and a lot of teams try to do it. We try. I call it if you're we've all seen it in the NFL, whether it's a certain player or concept, some team's going to present it for the first time. and there's going to be an element a lot of teams are copying that. And if you're copying it, you're already behind. But that concept can live for a little bit. But even over the course of 18-week, 17-game season, if that concept is really punishing opponents, people are going to try to, let's call it, suffocate that concept. So you're always just naturally in a 32-team lead where the margin of victory and margin of loss is not a lot of points.

28:56So it's just in your DNA if you get in this that, okay, we have to somehow attempt to stay ahead of the curve. And the interesting thing is you're not sure when you try to stay ahead, whether it's going to work or not. But you do know staying pat and doing the same thing is probably going – eventually people are going to catch up with you and probably pass you. Jordan actually went back and listened to the old interviews you had done on our old podcast before, and it got me thinking on the way here, too. Is there such a thing as watching too much tape? Because to me, that's too much preparation.

29:29She doesn't need to go listen to the old interviews. She knows you. She knows the Rams. Like, what is that? Is there such a thing in your business watching too much tape? At a certain point, is it too much? There probably is an element of paralysis by analysis. I think we were having our kind of front office get together before we all disperse or a lot of our guys disperse to go do their thing, preparing for the draft or in the pro scouting department. But at the end of the day, we did joke, though, that kind of toward the end there, when you get into the playoffs, and it could be Oregon versus Ohio State.

30:07And because that game was recent and it was a big game and there's a lot of players in it, You end up thinking like, boy, we watched a lot of tape. But really, it was the Oregon-Ohio State game a thousand times. I remember the year before, Michigan, Washington, Washington, Texas, those final four games. Because when you get everybody involved, it's like, oh, we want to go to – we just saw that game on television. It's good. And usually there's a lot of players on it. So, yeah, the answer to your question is preparation is key. There is an element where, okay, just put the clicker down, make a decision.

30:40I feel like I'm getting scolded. Yeah, an indirect way just for me to take a little shot at Jordan. But I think you did very well following what it says on that note card that you just threw down. Yeah, you got to throw it down, and then you just got to go. It was very entertaining, but you gave away nothing. Talking about the draft, it did make me think about your guys' situation. What if I took your card? It's fine.

31:04Jourdan Rodrigue:Take it. Do it. No. There's nothing bad on there, but no. Is there a little feeling of you that's going to feel bad this year rooting against your old friends Raheem Morris and the Atlanta Falcons because you have this extra first-round pick, and let's be real, if that pick, the higher it is, the better it is for the Los Angeles Rams. And will that possibly change how you're evaluating this draft in general? Business is business. So you won't feel bad rooting against the Falcons? Business is business. You got it. No, I didn't tell you whether I'd feel bad or not. Yeah. Yeah, I think we could discern the answer based on your facial expression.

31:45Jourdan Rodrigue:I will say a couple of people you might have to be rooting against, whether it's during the season or in the draft. You got a bit of a GM tree, an executive tree at this point, Brad Holmes in Detroit. What I think is so cool is how he and Dan Campbell built that team together very methodically, sort of into a crescendo that it is now. And then James Gladstone in Jacksonville for the first time, friend of the show, been on the show. I invited him on before me. I mean, you're welcome. You're always welcome to come on. Come on. You're right here. We can go back. James is Jordan's favorite. Is he?

32:23Jourdan Rodrigue:I have no favorite. I have no favorite. In the pulling, like, are we going to pull against right? When we go to London. Business is business. Like, we want to punch James. Jordan's pulling for James. Business is business. You know what? I'm going to go there. You got to look. Probably one of the toughest things to do in sports is go somewhere and engineer an identity. Now, they're just starting in Jacksonville, but going to Brad and his partnership with Dan and, again, everyone else who's been through there. And now they have two head coaches, you know, and Ben and Aaron in Chicago and New York.

33:03But to go and do that, that's easier said than done. Give them credit. Because now it just fills Detroit, what they've done, right? I don't know if we could. Maybe ChatGPT could articulate it. But it just fills Detroit. We're anti-ChatGPT on this show. We've decided to take that stance. I don't know how you feel about that.

33:25Jourdan Rodrigue:But I will ask. I will say, Les. No comment. It is interesting because everybody does it in a different way. And I guess I wonder, as we kind of get you out of here, and thank you for your time today, what's one thing maybe you told them about that? Not the team building, not the pitfalls, not the things to look out for, not the doing the media all the time, whatever. The advice that maybe you gave each of them respectively about what it takes and what it really means to build an identity. Because you and Sean did that when you guys went out and hired Sean. It's interesting. The number one is go be who go be authentic, be who you are.

34:03Again, in both cases, you're going to partner with a with a head coach who's going to bring it all to life. Or that is his and his staff's responsibility to bring it life. So that partnership has to begin. And then and then they have to combine the DNAs and engineer. That's number one. You can't take the Rams and take it somewhere else because because Sean and I, my partner we're in everyone in the building we're nine ten however many years into it so there you can't go and do what we're doing now they're day one that takes time so that's that's the two things be who you are partner with uh right your head coach y 'all come up with who y 'all are going to be that organization's going to be under uh their leadership and then number two remember just don't You can't just take us there.

34:56And number three, you can't beat us in London because that would – that feels like – already you're the one that brought it up. It feels like you're competitive. You're competitive just over trying to be Jordan's favorite. No way you want to lose to the – Oh, yeah, I'd lose some sleep.

35:12Jourdan Rodrigue:Paralysis by overanalysis. That is Lesley, general manager of the Los Angeles Rams. We really do appreciate your time. And we're going to have your offensive coordinator, smart man by the name Mike LaFleur, coming up next. You saw him on a card. He was on a card. Here with Mike LaFleur, the third-year offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams, fixing the mic before. He says he's coachable, so we will learn on this interview. It is great to have you on the show, and I'm looking out as you guys are going through your walkthrough, and I'm thinking, what is it like to be in your position and to be coaching Devontae Adams and Puka Nakua at the same time, and how are you looking to kind of make them the best that they can be together?

35:56Yeah, I don't think I have too much to do in that in terms of making them the best they can be, right? Because those guys are self-motivated and they just love being out there. They're incredible football players. But it's cool to have those guys out there and with Tutu. I mean, those three right there, I think they play so well off each other in terms of what their skill sets are. And I know our quarterbacks like to have them.

36:19Jourdan Rodrigue:Mike, you've coached so many receivers, so many different types of receivers. I know you like to learn just as much as you like to coach. What has Devontae done through his movements, his actions, the way he's interacted with Puka, the way that he just operates from start to finish of a practice and preparation? What have you kind of learned from him and how he likes to be? Yeah, I think, you know, I've been fortunate enough to be around a lot of really good receivers. And, you know, dating back with Julio and Miles Austin in 2014, and there's so many great receivers in this league. But being able to see all these different guys and now to be with Devontae, obviously had a semi-history with him because obviously paying attention to him in Green Bay and always thought he was one of the best, if not the best receivers.

37:03And what I've learned at, you know, north of 30 now is the dude can still play, you know. And what's really cool about him and what I see from, in my opinion, the best receivers is just the consistency and how they approach the day-to-day. You know, how he approaches the meetings, you know, what questions he's asking, how he's helping the younger guys. I'm sure that's what he was getting from guys like Randall Cobb and stuff when he first got in. So it's just been a pleasure to have him. He's such a fun dude to work with. I know he is in a really good place mentally, physically, and, you know, we're happy to have him.

37:35I think about your role as the offensive coordinator. Of course, listeners will know Sean McVay, he calls the plays here. But I think about how this Rams offense changes so much over the years. And I was thinking from your perspective as a coordinator, maybe explain to listeners the coordinator's role in the offseason starting to build those changes and how that all works. Yeah, I mean, first of all, it's all collaborative all the time, right? Sean's awesome with that in terms of just delegating responsibility, not just to the coordinator, but obviously the position coaches in the whole building for that matter.

38:11So, you know, as a coordinator, non-play caller, all you're trying to do is make Sean's job easier. And because it's already hard enough, right, with having to be the head coach and be, you know, the face of this organization and in charge of so many different things that come across his desk. Comes across my desk is football stuff, schematic stuff. Right. And I got the relationship with those offensive guys. Well, smaller amount of responsibilities than what he has. So you just always try to stay ahead of him, making sure that he has what he needs when he needs it, whether it be cut-ups, whether it be studies, whether it be write-ups, you know, and just go.

38:49And what I always like to tell him is if you don't come in tomorrow, the show would go on. You know, that's what I feel like my responsibility is to make sure that we're ready to go at all times, no matter what Sean has going on.

39:01Jourdan Rodrigue:Okay, like you do say it so casually, but staying ahead of that maniac pace wise, I mean, you have to be wired a little strangely up there in your noggin there, Mike, to be able to stay ahead and make sure that he has basically your lead blocking for all of the install, all the things that he has to do, the notes that he needs, the install, the cutout, all the things that you guys are going to build and create. You have to also be one step ahead of the person who is ahead of most other teams in this league. Are you okay? First of all, do you sleep? Are you well? I do. You know, he's obviously, I mean, if there's a 25th hour in the day, he's going to find that hour.

39:36But no, you know, I mean, I think going into year three, it's the familiarity with the organization, with working with him, with working with, you know, Ryan Wendell, our offensive line coach for the third year, with working with Stafford. So, I mean, you just get used to, you know, the way things are ran. And obviously, you know, again, having history with Sean via my brother and then just knowing him, you knew what you're getting yourself into in a good way. But it's not as crazy as you think. I mean, he finds his time, especially now that he's got little Jordan at home and stuff like that. If it's not football, he's with his family.

40:08In the offseason, he's got his family by him all the time.

40:10Jourdan Rodrigue:He's also got your chair wired. So, you know, if you didn't say that it wasn't as bad that I think it is, then maybe your chair just blows up all of a sudden. You'd rather have it that way. You guys have changed this offense almost, I mean, really, since you got here, you guys have been able to change this offense every single season. And I expect some changes going into the 2025 season as well. You could really see that near the end with what you all were trying to do schematically. My constant question with teams that innovate is how do you know when it's time to pivot? How do you know when it's time to not just adjust the small things, but really start to make the ripple effects toward the philosophical shifts?

40:50Jourdan Rodrigue:going from the wide zone to the gap scheme when you came in and then also doing different layers in the route combinations now that you guys will be doing with Puka and Devontae and Tutu. How do you know when it's time to move to that new thing? Well, one, I think the last part of what you just said is so vital, right? Like it's still always going to come down to our players. We have a different set of players this year. Like Tutu knows exactly, not that he didn't know what his role was, but Tutu's a starter. You know, he's going into this thing and obviously you got Puka and Tay. So you always start it.

41:20There's a foundation, no doubt, within all our offenses. And then you build it around the skill set of these guys. Like what we're going to do with Tay is just going to be different than what we've done with, you know, in years past. I'm talking anywhere we've been, you know, whether it be, you know, New York or San Francisco, whatever. So it'll always start with them. And then to answer the kind of the question in terms of when it is time, you know, you just I don't there's it just naturally organically starts to happen. Right. Like, you know what you put on tape? You study yourself so much. You pair it with what you're seeing from the defense.

41:52Some of it you feel like you have a good idea going into. Other times you're like, I don't know. I think this is what they're going to do. But so much of this thing is, you know, the defenses around the league now, like I don't know what coverage they're in half the time. They're showing shell. They got so many different, like you cut a split, you know, or you're outside the numbers. It can change so many things even though it's just one call. So what does that mean from an offense perspective? They've given these guys, and talking quarterbacks, but the whole offense, universal plays that are just, you know, can you pick a coverage, we're going to be all right, there's going to be an outlet to it.

42:24So, you know, I think it just kind of all goes hand in hand, but it'll always start with the players. How often is that in season too? Because when I think about what I'd like to know, what I think fans would like to know of like what you're doing, building the game plan from week to week, to Jordan's question, how often is it that, you know, fans think like, oh, they made their adjustments in the offseason and they've solved this thing. How do you know within the season what you're seeing on tape to start building different aspects to the offense? Yeah, I think when you start back up in, say, February and you're building this thing before the players get there and then you start working in OTAs and what I like to call flag football because obviously it's different than having the actual pads on.

43:06But you give yourself enough of a menu to be able to attack all the different coverages and structures you're seeing from the defense. again, tying it to what your players can do best. So, you know, if you give yourself that menu, not trying to be the jack of all trades, master of none, but enough that you are, you know, diverse enough to attack all these different coverages and front structures, then you just kind of piece it together. And I just think, again, organically, it just kind of starts like, what are we doing best and why? And then you just, you know, try to pivot off of that plays off of plays, doing a lot of the same plays and same concept, but just dressing them up, the illusion of complexity.

43:43So again, I think it's just, you just live in it week to week. And by the end of the year, like, wow, I forgot we were even doing that in week two. And it's kind of out of sight, out of mind now, you know, what's something about Matthew Stafford. You came here now a couple seasons ago that maybe you wouldn't have known about him, but before you got a chance to work with him every day, how much time you got?

44:02Jourdan Rodrigue:Oh, how much time do you have? We'll keep you as long as you can. We can talk golf game. We can talk about whatever. Chase, Chase looks busy right now so I'm waiting for the old finger to come on off um you know I I've always always really respected his game from afar um from Michigan so you always just kind of always paid attention to Detroit because that's what you grew up with and um shoot when he got uh when he got drafted I was you know in college as well so you're paying attention to it and um what always stuck out was the toughness obviously the talent like I mean this guy was five star followed through with it in college, number one pick.

44:41And look at what he's done in his professional career going into his 37th year or whatever it is, 17th. But so all that talent stuff, all that, the toughness is, but like, what a good dude. Like it's, he's just a guy's guy. He's an awesome dad to the four girls and awesome husband, Kelly. So he's just, he's just a cool dude. You just root for him. You you love working for him because I don't like I don't I'm not as good like I just work for him like whatever we can do to make his jobs hard enough and whatever we can do to make it as easy

45:17Jourdan Rodrigue:as possible for him that's what you do that's a cool mindset too Mike as a coach to have is you're serving the players one thing that I don't think people know enough about with Matthew is he's actually quietly very funny he's the dry sense of humor that's something I almost wanted wish I could be a fly in the wall in the rooms because Sean doesn't strike me as a dry, funny person. He's like a kind of person. But Matthew's like very one liner, sneaky, kind of like little cutting dry sense of humor. And I'm kind of curious what your take. Did you sit back at first? Did you jump in? No, there's no doubt about it.

45:51Sean likes his jokes. You know, he's got he's got him and Higby. They got they got a whole book full of jokes that can come out at any time. But But you're right about Matthew. I think that's really smart.

46:04Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. Not just on the field when the ball snapped, but he's so smart that he doesn't even show it on people because he has a lot of life skills and street smarts that unless you knew him, you probably wouldn't know that. So my brother, he conducts experimental classical music. That's what he writes. And I'm in sports. And my sister is a marine biologist. Was going to throw that out there. I'm way better than my brother. I was thinking, though, you mentioned your brother a couple of times. You ever just kind of wish he was like an engineer that's in the crowd at training camp? And he's like, it's going to be so cool.

46:41I'm going to bring my kids and you're going to meet like my cool bro, Mike. That's like the coordinator. How cool is that? Does it ever kind of annoy you that you guys are doing the same stuff? I mean, he's somewhat of an engineer conductor. He's always trying to get the fans all up at Lambeau and stuff like that. So, no, but no, I'm so happy for him and proud of him. You know, obviously, on a Sunday, I want the L.A. Rams to win more than anyone else. But I always have a close eye on what's going on in Green Bay. You know, I'm his biggest fan, and I'd like to say he's my biggest fan. And, you know, we support each other, and it's just him and I.

47:19Jourdan Rodrigue:And so he's he's losing the overall battle to you and injuries suffered weightlifting, kind of overshooting. Yes, overshooting his boundaries there. Yeah. We got a torn pec. We got an Achilles. There's countless. If you ever up in San Francisco, ask Kyle about all the rehab you would have to do. My brother. So I get mad at Love and all them and our staff because we always do all these like warm up. We don't get into the weight training until like 20 minutes in, and it's because he doesn't want me to tear an Achilles or a pet, which I appreciate. Yeah, your brother Matt is at the forefront of like the coaches are a little too jacked these days.

47:55It makes me like uncomfortable. He's not jacked. He's in good shape. He's in good shape. It's like I liked it when the coaches, where they looked one way in August, and then they had totally fallen apart by like November, December. Those are my kind of coaches. Appreciate all the time that you've given us. Mike LaFleur, good luck to you this season. offensive coordinator. Welcoming in Darius Williams, cornerback of the Los Angeles Rams, a veteran who's been through a few training camps now. It's second time around with the Los Angeles Rams. Just got off the field from his first day in pads and had a little star moment there with a pass deflection at the end, right?

48:33Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

48:35Jourdan Rodrigue:You know, you had to end it on your terms. Right. Feels good to be back on the grass. I was told by my son Walker to let you know immediately He's, you're his favorite player to use in Madden. Are you aware that, like, you bring it in Madden in the secondary? A little circle triangle, like, making a lot of picks. He loves playing as Darius Williams. Oh, no, that's cool. So, I haven't played Madden since I got into the league. I told myself if I could play a video game, I probably am going to blow it in the playbook. So, I probably need to focus more on the playbook. Oh, that's amazing. Yeah, I was, he was FaceTiming with Walker.

49:13Jourdan Rodrigue:right before we got into our show planning today when he told him that you were going to come on with us. Oh, my gosh, I was on the other side. I heard his yelling of excitement, and I was like, oh, my – he said, Darius Williams, my favorite player. I was like, he's also my favorite player. So glad you're here with us today, Darius. Obviously, it's the first day of real football out here. You guys have been at camp for a while, ramp-up period. But you've also watched Devontae Adams, your new teammate, for years in the league, and you've watched him with his craft. and when you are studying him, what does it also spark creatively for you of different new things?

49:48Jourdan Rodrigue:You have all the tools at this point, but does he spark anything creatively for you? Yeah, I mean, we even talked about it on the bus going to Maui for our mini camp, just chopping it up on releases and vice versa. He, of course, like he was giving us tips. But yeah, I mean, the dude's one of the best. He's been, if not the best in the league at releases, getting open separation, all that. So, I mean, with him, you've got to come to the line with a different approach. You can't approach him every single time the same way. And I think that's going to help me personally. It's going to help all our DBs be the best we can be.

50:24Jourdan Rodrigue:I've covered you for years. I'm grateful to do it. And you're so scheme versatile. This defense has changed a lot. And you've done a little bit of everything in it. man, man match, match zone, some of the shell rotating coverages. When you play a receiver and you have to think about what he's going to do off the line immediately of that talent level and that caliber, where do you pull from in your memory bank? How do you – you have such a massive file of defense in your brain. Right. I think you've got to just – sometimes you can't worry about the number. Sometimes you've just got to focus on your training, and trust and rely on your training and go out there and just within the defense and knowing where your help is and whatnot just go out there and be able to handle that side but I mean the biggest thing for me especially when I first started playing is you got to blot out the jerseys because if you if you focus on one specific person you know they're that good like you might psych yourself out so as long as you can just rely on your training rely on your technique and worry about where your help is in the defense you'll be all right so I think when people think of the Rams, they think offense.

51:31And then, you know, the young pass rush group really came on. You're back there in the secondary. And I know this is an improving defense in general, maybe from an insider perspective of which you are. Give me the identity of what you think this secondary can be in the defense as part of the defense. Yeah, I think everybody's young and everybody's smart and everybody's athletic. And I think that's what you need. I mean, we got our front seven. They're going to do their job. I think our back seven, as long as we continue to communicate and grow. I think this unit is one of the closest units I've ever been a part of.

52:02So that plays a huge role. But I think, man, we got so much depth on our team, and it goes all the way down to the last player on our roster. I think any coach would probably feel comfortable at least after a couple of preseasons throwing them out there. So, I mean, the big thing is we're close and we all push each other to be the best.

52:22Jourdan Rodrigue:Darius, I know you love team building on a track someday, hopefully a long time from now, because we'd like to watch you play for many more years, but on the general manager track, on an executive track, you love team building and strategy and all of that. Watching the way that the Rams drafted this year, to me, it felt like they were telling us what they felt this roster was because they found a couple of depth guys. They found players who could develop over the course of years because of the starters already ahead of them. It felt like they were showing us how they felt about what this team build was.

52:54Jourdan Rodrigue:Did you get the same sense watching from the outside? Yeah, I think so. I think, you know, they and I've been telling like my guys like just go out there and play ball because I mean, they chose this group for a reason. They could have went out and got anybody. You know, these are executives are are from the GM to the scouting to coach McVay and the coaches. They know what to look for. Like this is a organization that knows how to produce talent. They know how to develop talent. So I just always tell the guys like you're in a good spot, like you just continue to grow, continue to get better. and if there was a weakness somewhere, they would have pointed it out.

53:28Jourdan Rodrigue:Do you ever shock some of the younger guys when they first come in that you were once an undrafted free agent? Does that shock them? Yeah, that's what I tell them. I mean, Josh is like one of my biggest guys. I'm like, Josh who? Josh Wallace. Okay. Yeah, so, I mean, it's a process. And like I said, it's different if, I mean, you have undrafted guys and we're just thrown out on the field and we're running and we don't know what to do. But like I said, like this organization, the coaches, like they really know how to develop you. And I feel like they bring the talent they know how to develop. Wait, so did you just drop some news?

54:02You want to be a GM or something?

54:05Jourdan Rodrigue:No, not will be. Let's be clear on that. You know, Madden is pretty good, like dynasty mode. You know, you're making the game. He's trying to get you on the same time to see if you. Just saying, it's good practice. Yeah, if the opportunity presents itself, I mean, I would gladly take that road. But, you know, I'll go wherever God sends me. Darius, I wanted to ask you, you've played. This defense has evolved a few times. When you were here, it evolved a few times. When you left, it evolved again. When you came back, you've been in two different, three different versions of it again, even coming back.

54:33Jourdan Rodrigue:What is it about this defense that's sort of meeting what offenses are doing around the league in this moment? What is it about this defense that's sort of ready for how offenses have innovated right now? I think, man, you just, you got to have the dogs up front. And I think you got to have the guys who can cover in the back room. and as versatile as this defense is, as many pieces as you can move around and things that you can do, I mean, as long as you got the dogs up front and as long as you got the cover guys in the back, I think you're going to be good. I think you can do whatever you want with it.

55:03I mean, sometimes you got to cover this guy Puka Nakua in practice who's causing a riot about 100 feet away from you signing some things, just going crazy. He's like a matinee star. Like, what's he like to cover? I mean, Puka's a dog. I mean, one thing that makes Puka super special is his explosiveness. He's got just a sudden explosiveness. And then obviously after the catch. So, I mean, the timing with the quarterbacks is obviously a big help. But, I mean, he's got a great explosive step. So that's big. And then it just stops. That was what got me today watching just like the start to stop. It's just that's got to be tough to deal with.

55:44But that's why you've stuck around and done such a great job over the years. still rolling back with the Los Angeles Rams. And you don't play Madden, but I'm telling you, you're a baller in Madden. Appreciate you, Darius Williams.

55:56Jourdan Rodrigue:We're not sponsored by Madden. You should know that. We're not. I'm just saying you're delivering for my son, so that just makes me like you even more. Darius Williams, appreciate you. Well, tell him he's one of my biggest fans now, too. Okay. Oh, he's listening now. Thank you, Darius. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you to Darius Williams. What a day of guests. Les Snead was fantastic. your buddy Mike LaFleur and Darius Williams wrapping up the show here. We did watch practice. First day in pads. First day in pads. That seems exciting, but the Rams being like ultimate Rams, Devontae Adams isn't even practicing.

56:32He just has a veteran day off. Matthew Stafford is out. It was a very short practice. It felt like a ramp up to the pads. So I didn't have a ton of huge takeaways, ways, but it is fun to see all the different, I mean, they don't line up in the same formation two plays in a row ever, ever, ever. And it was interesting to see Terrence Ferguson working in with the ones at some point and sometimes in the back, the backups as well, that second round pick at tight ends, like Jimmy G with a shot down the field to a Terrence Ferguson. So just little, little things that are interesting and a whole lot of Tutu Atwell in motion.

57:09Jourdan Rodrigue:Literally every Every single play, Tutu Atwell was in motion. Tutu Atwell, though, not a great day. Had a drop and couldn't get open on another play that Jimmy G was trying to hit him. They are putting a lot on him and trying to use his speed, a lot of that with the pre-snap and at-snap motion. This is more usage than he has had since he got here a few years ago, second-round pick. And it's interesting because the Terrence Ferguson thing does not surprise me at all. He was one of Sean McVay's favorite players coming out in the draft. Favorite players, period. His favorite tight end as well. And he wants to use him as a mismatch in the passing game.

57:45Jourdan Rodrigue:And I think this team is going to use more multiple tight end sets. They increased that usage last season, especially near the end of the season when Tyler Higbee returned. And I think you're going to see more of it. And also on defense, by the way, it may look like they're showing the same front and the same coverage structure. But they're really never in the same front and structure after the snap from one play to the next either. So this is going to be interesting to watch this unfold. Very multiple team on both sides of the ball. Yeah, they are one of the most fascinating teams. And for a minute, you know, on Monday, I believed, you know, I saw Jimmy G come out and he sees Rampage, the mascot, and seems like so genuinely happy to see him.

58:25A lot of the different players have, like, unique handshakes that they do with Rampage every single day. And he clearly has a command of the offense. Who, Rampage? No, Jimmy G, and they're talking like if we need to use Jimmy G. And then they start doing like the real live bullet type of plays and the ball's floating a little bit and he's having a hard time getting it done. But seemed comfortable in the pocket. And then I feel like, oh, yeah, I feel a little less. But they're hoping that doesn't happen.

58:53Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, I think that for me, I'm not necessarily worried too much about the Stafford thing and not throwing in the back soreness until these joint practices start with the Cowboys on August 5th and then further down the road as well because those are going to be really, really important. He's got to get in here with this offense, and the ball coming out of Matthew Stafford's hand is not really like most, so it does make a huge difference. The install is there. That's part of the reason why Jimmy G's here is because the install is super functional with him. You can get the same amount of work done.

59:23Jourdan Rodrigue:They just throw differently. Yes, and he did have some nice connections, really the best plays they had. No surprise with Tepuka Nakua, who's just a rock star. Like, the fans are going nuts. It's Southern California. It's very windy and just like a perfect 74-degree weather. And he just looks like a matinee idol. And I mentioned it. Puka Nekuru. Yes. I mentioned it to Darius Williams. And just seeing Puka cause a five-alarm fire in that secondary because everyone got a little panicked. It was Cam Curl. It was a couple of the players that he was about to just bust through all of them and go deep.

59:59And they're panicked. And then he throttles down in a second. And he is just wide open. So it doesn't matter how slow that Jimmy G pass was kind of getting to him. And he was wide open for like Jimmy G catching a straight. Yeah. I mean, you go to camp and that's what you can judge is like how pretty the passes are. We will be back in the studio. Really excited about the show that will be going up overnight Tuesday into Wednesday. We will hit all the NFC notes with our friend, Patrick Claibon. We'll be talking about Tyler Guyton, by the way, the left tackle, the Cowboy is going to be out four to six weeks.

1:00:31got that news late in the day. That's disappointing, but it's hard to be disappointed out here in the sunshine when you're wearing the NFL Network polo, football's back.

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1:01:25There's nothing like the American Express Platinum Card. Find out your welcome offer after you apply, which could be as high as 175 ,000 points. Learn more and find out your offer at americanexpress.com slash explore dash platinum. Terms apply. The entire draft room groans because you just took the guy they wanted. There's no better feeling than crushing your fantasy football league. I'm JJ Zachary Eason, host of the award-winning Late Round Podcast. Before your draft, our players to target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. Listen to the Late Round Fantasy Football Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

1:02:10Jourdan Rodrigue:This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.