The Most Interesting NFL Defenses of 2025

21:25They have a second year guy in Tyrese Knight who also gets some snaps. But, you know, what's fascinating to me is how the coverage and the front match up with this team, because there is a lot of talent in both spots, especially the front. It's just so deep. And I'm trying not to fall for the thing of just like, man, I just like a lot of names I like. How can you not like a defense with Demarcus Lawrence and Leonard Williams on the same team? And then you do have some younger players like like Boye Mafé. And we'll see if a Chenin Nuoso gets healthy in terms of the edge guys. But there's a lot of like really smart football players.

21:59And yeah, you hope it's that combination of continuity and talent that arrive in year two, kind of like, you know, they did in Baltimore for Mike McDonald because it took a little while for it to get going there, too.

22:12Ollie Connolly:Yeah, it's a weird one because I understand what you're saying about that the guys couldn't pick up a linebacker, but the system is purposefully built to be kind of idiot proof. That's how Mike McDonald does what he does. he approaches defensive football the same way the offensive guys do where it's i'll run the same stuff over and over again we just package it slightly different so everything is really easy to teach and i don't have you know like spagnola or van's choice have 15 20 different pressures for every single front and everything that could get thrown at them mcdonald isn't built that way he's like these are the three for the week we'll dress it up eight different ways so it looks different to everyone else so it's really easy to get across they just had no communication between linebacker level and the front even when ernest jones got there i actually thought that it was kind of an easy out for everyone to write during the season like well he arrived they got better whereas if you watch them play he was constantly all over the place communicating poorly particularly to the front he was really good on the ball and impacting the game particularly in coverage but actually getting people lined up was a real issue for them last season so just being able to be in the right spots maybe be able to roll out more of the of the old Baltimore system I think will help but they would they finished fourth in pressure rate anyway and they weren't running an awful lot of the mcdonald's stuff by the end of the season so i think they can just go out and play baseball ball and hammer people honestly and then if they can sprinkle some some new stuff on that's maybe where they get to that more elite level yeah the biggest question to me is kind of the secondary the boomer bus nature of it i think we know who devin witherspoon is you know he's a great young player but you think of reek woolen and you think of their draft picnic and and wari who they drafted to kind of be a you know safety linebacker hybrid whatever he is going to be and those two guys have a very high ceiling and they might have a low floor and then the depth behind them kind of at the other outside corner spot like right now it's josh job in in training camp and they're kind of searching a little bit there that the secondary just feels like a little boomer bust potentially for me like what do you think about that that group in general i agree with you i do think that the way they play is really just like see ball get ball which should make it easier for everyone else and having witherspoon means you can do some funky coverage stuff that can kind of correct an awful lot of issues for you and emin warry just feels perfect to me for the first year you may not be where we need you to be in terms of all the different stuff we want to do but as a guy who is just like head down charge ahead you know i think that he can have an impact for him so there's some concerns there but if you just go throughout the league every single depth shot you look at you go wow the cornerback room does not look so strong i've been trying to find who are the back in the roster guys you maybe trade for you you know who are going to get cut and it's worth giving them a shot a draft buster than the flamed out, it's really difficult to find.

24:48Ollie Connolly:All these teams feel one or two guys shy. Yeah, you're reminding me of a point. I was listening to a team-specific podcast. I always want to give a shout-out to who I'm getting some of this information from. It's called Blue58. And the host of it does a great job. It's just one guy talking about the Packers. And they were talking about possible concerns of what could be their problem this year. And he was talking about the offensive line depth, especially counting on these guys like Belton and Jordan Morgan are their first guys off the bench, but they really don't know if they're good or not in some of the depth in the secondary too.

25:22And I'm just thinking that's every team. Actually, the Packers, to be have like, literally there's not a team that feels good. I was like, you've got high drafted picks with a little bit of experience as your backups. That's actually a plus because there is no team out there that feels good. And you're absolutely right at the cornerback position. We went long a little bit there. We've only hit three teams so far. We're going to take a quick break. It's why I don't think I'm getting that job on first take. They don't want to do like nine minutes on why Brian Flores is the new Rex Ryan. But that's fine.

25:52We'll be back right after this.

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28:47Ollie Connolly:Available on Plus and Pro plans. How's the new plays? 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 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 B test intelligence data. Second half of 2025. All rates reserved. Redeemed money back guarantee within 30 days of cancellation. Back on NFL Daily.

29:24and yeah you mentioned like the Brian Flores Rex Ryan influence I was thinking well maybe I mean not to be reductive but in terms of changing game plans week to week and showing up with some crazy stuff I mean he's he's still showing the Bill Belichick legacy he is the next generation of Bill Belichick on some level I mean that was Belichick's advantage too back in the aughts the ability to change the game plan that much on a week-to-week basis in a way that other teams could not so Flores is maybe like the new generation Belichick too. Would that game a second job can bill make the call give him a crack his head coat somewhat i don't think i don't think that's gonna help i don't think i don't think bill can get a job um in the nfl anymore which is a crazy world we're living in but uh time comes for everyone all right who should i go with next i'm gonna choose a team okay in the packers that are interesting to me in a way because they're not that interesting like every year they are the team for years like where we looked at and I thought like man this is a top 10 talented defense this is the defense this is the year it's finally going to happen for them and then it never happened they're less than the sum of their parts everyone just blames Joe Barry well Joe Barry's now been gone for 18 months everyone just blames Joe Barry and I wanted to talk about him and see what you thought too Ali because they just seem really important and I don't think we've talked about them almost at all on this show, like all offseason, the Packers defense.

30:49They're just there. And I don't know how many other defenses in the NFL are literally starting four first-round picks on the defensive line, but the Packers are. And yet the expectations are a little lower than they should be to me. You watched everything they did last year. Obviously some disappointing play by the personnel up front, but what did you think about Jeff Halfley's influence coming from Boston College back into the NFL and coaching up this Packers team and kind of what it means for where they're at. Because this is a team that some people think will be in the Super Bowl. And I'm like, is this a defense I can imagine in the Super Bowl?

31:27Ollie Connolly:That's the tricky thing. I was really down on the Jeff Halfley hire to begin with. And he impressed me way more than my expectations were going into here. He was way more innovative and creative than I had given him credit for coming to the team. It was a lot of the best of what we're talking about with Minter and McDonald and that style of system where it's pressure in disguise and marrying pressure with disguise. And that, I think, can game around some of the fact they don't have as many dynamic one-on-one winners as they should do, given they invested four first-round picks in the defensive line, given that their starting linebacking core is a first-round pick and a second-round pick, you'd think it would just be filled with dynamic one-on-one winners.

32:02Ollie Connolly:They, to me, just scream as they have to be a takeaway defense, that they're not going to be able to pressure quite consistently enough without it being a game plan-based pressure to be able to just take over a game in the postseason. So relying on takeaways is like a fun thing in theory. But even last year, their takeaways where they started the season really hard, that was a lot of like individually great plays. It wasn't so much like disguising and freaking out quarterbacks by scheme. So it's tricky to just bank on. Well, Xavier McKinney is going to have two of the wildest interceptions you are ever going to see in pro football just as back-to-back weeks.

32:33Ollie Connolly:It's just difficult to bank on that. The only thing they really have that's like, okay, where does the development come from? I thought Nate Hobbs was a really smart, savvy pickup in Frantzy. And then it's Edge Cooper, who I truly believe has a chance talent-wise to be the best linebacker in the NFL. Now, whether that comes along early enough is a real question. He is way behind where you'd want him to be. I know he got an all-pro vote or whatever, but his eyes are all over the place. He just is the quickest player in the league from basically any level. Like pound for pound, the most explosive player in the league.

33:06Ollie Connolly:And they've messaged all offseason. and we've got this Quay, this Edge Cooper package. You've got a Quay Walker package. We're going to get those guys way more involved in the pass rush. And that's kind of a tell to me that one, he still can't do all just the fundamental things. You've got to build a specific package. And then two, our pass rush isn't quite good enough that we have to build a separate thing to get maybe our most impactful behind the line of scrimmage player on the field ball. That is fascinating on Cooper. And that linebacker group is like a wild boomer bust group because you're saying you think Adrian Cooper can be the best linebacker in football.

33:38Do you think he is a guy that's going to be able to stay on the field every down and like survive on passing downs? You think he can become that player?

33:46Ollie Connolly:I think he can become that player. The main thing for the passing downs, now all these guys stinking coverage, go through the best linebackers in the NFL. There's like six good ones. That's basically it. So to stay on the field now, the most effective thing you can do is be an effective blitzer. And I think he's going to become, if not this season, the following year, the best blitzing linebacker in the NFL. So that is already a wash that that works for us. We'll figure the rest out on the back end. If we can just get a coverage body on the field or we put an extra defensive backfield, that's what we'll do.

34:11Ollie Connolly:Being able to blitz and drop is the name of the game and just fall to the right spot and we'll figure the rest out. That I think should be easy and on the cards for him this season. It's more of the subtleties in the run game and the communication. That's where he's just pretty clueless still. He is a straight line. If the gap is open, charge through the thing, and he does it at frightening speed, it's more the mechanics of the position that I mean it takes all these guys now three years it's why linebackers fall so far in the draft because they draw this draft again develop them over three seasons right and so for him to show you that and show the Packers that first step and the explosive ability just jumps off the screen that he they could have something really special in year three or four but it might be the toughest position in the entire NFL to adapt quickly so I've mentioned the four first round picks, just to name them.

34:57Rashawn Gary, who's now another year removed from another serious injury. And so maybe he's got a little more juice. They kind of need him to. Kenny Clark is coming off one of his worst seasons. He was actually drafted by the Packers before Brian Gunekunst, I believe. He has been there a long time. That was 2016. And then Devontae Wyatt and Lucas Van Ness. And they could really use, you know, Wyatt had improved play, I think, last year. and they could really use him to keep progressing. And then they could really use to get to something out of Lucas Van Ness and to help that pass rush. Kind of this big, strong guy who hasn't really come through for them so far.

35:36So that's up front. I guess if you're looking at the upside, and I'm not as worried about the cornerback position as some Packers fan, the safety group of McKinney and Evan Williams is frisky and a lot of fun. I mean, McKinney's an all-pro, and Evan Williams, I think, was really interesting as a rookie. And so that's maybe where this group could have a little higher ceiling. How did you see how Helpfully kind of used that group last year?

35:59Ollie Connolly:Yeah, I'm not in any way concerned about the secondary, honestly. I think they'll be able to piece it together. We just talked about the Vikings, who may be the best defense in football, are going to start Jeff Okuda, who could have been out of the league at this point in his career. The thing they lack is just speed off the ball up front. It's that simple. They don't have enough explosive dip and rip speed. It's all power rushes. It all takes an extra step that it needs to. It's all effort, Lucas Van Ness, or design pressure. I don't know why they weren't involved in the Hassan Reddick thing other than like an organizational philosophical thing that we don't throw cash at, kind of want away for agents.

36:35Ollie Connolly:That to me is what they truly need. The secondary stuff is it's all kind of coverage and disguise based and then McKinney solves all our problems. That's kind of how they built the thing on the back end and I think McKinney is so talented that's not going to go away. so long as they get, they can up the quick pressure rate, which is just really, really poor last season. For all the grief that the Giants front office and Joe Shane took for hard knocks and letting Saquon Barkley go, they really didn't take enough grief for the Xavier McKinney just letting him walk and not being interested at all.

37:05That totally like, that would have been a good guy to keep too. They could really use him. All right, you go give me another defense that you find interesting.

37:13Ollie Connolly:The Niners is the one for me where they are the prototypical example in the offseason of we write down they have problem x they address problem x with resources we assume that it's been solved and i just don't buy that this idea that they can stay in this this base defense they have which is to me now just three years out of date with the rest of the league that they dip back into the family tree and they say bob salla please come back and i think robert salla is a a good coach but it just felt like keeping everything within the family rather than trying to iterate and try something different and they want to still play with a wide four down front even on rundowns and they've just been cooked year after year and so their solution is understandably let's get younger more athletic and we're going to draft all these guys but those guys are all going to play heavy snaps in year one and you just don't solve such a critical issue which is both structural based and personnel based by saying we'll throw three rookies on the field they'll solve it for us it never works that way the rams were able to get away with it slightly last season but that's just an anomaly i just don't think you can bank on our own run defense which triggers everything for us defensively, will be fixed by three rookies.

38:19Ollie Connolly:Right. Michael Williams, great edge setter that they take top 15, and they're hoping that the young defensive tackles, Alfred Collins, C.J. West. We talked about C.J. West on 40s and free agents with Daniel Jeremiah. Everyone subscribe, by the way, this week that he's had a good camp. But you're right. It's risky. And I want to go back to what you said about Robert Sala and you thinking that maybe that scheme is a little out of date and isn't going to bring about the good old days for the 49ers? I think a lot of the fans. Why do you think that is? Playing in a 4-2-5 defense right now in the league, which other teams are doing, people still take the Robert Sala influence, not being involved in the blitz-heavy or blitz-in-disguise world with basically all the other defenses we've talked about, just feels like you're way too static for the modern game.

39:10Ollie Connolly:and to do it if you look at the teams who are doing that's the texans unbelievable defense uh the eagles unbelievable defense they're a bit more disguised based than the niners the thing they have is a linchpin maybe best player in our defense nickel corner who's often like a safety hybrid cooper de jean jalen petrie both of them can truly play weak side linebacker for you so the 425 can just blend to a 4-3 whenever you need it to fix is the wrong game element for you you go through the niners defense they let telenoa hofanga go i like jay brown but He is not just like a complete linebacker for you.

39:41Ollie Connolly:They're really excited about Upton Stout, a player I really, really liked coming out of the draft, but he's 5 '8". He's not going to walk down for you and play linebacker. So to just say you're going to play for an even front in an era where all these offenses are saying, we are going to play two-back power football. We're going to pull and move everyone all the time. We're just not going to put the extra back on the field, so we're going to overwhelm you up front. And you'll say, we'll put four big guys down there and try and match up with that. That's a reason why no one else is doing that. Vic's not doing that.

40:08Ollie Connolly:none of these other teams are doing that it works for them in the pass rush element structurally i think it's a real issue for them in the run game because of the marriage of the safety to the front and i just don't believe robert sal's the kind of guy who's going to have like a personality transplant overnight and change the system i could be wrong and i hope i'm wrong on that and that he can change the front on early downs and then switch it to the traditional one for the pass rush i just don't buy it because they've kept it so in house now for so long Right. It is. It's a crazy just changing of the guard.

40:37If the 49ers of all teams like not that they're not mentally and physically tough, but ultimately if they can't hold up like up front, because to me, when I think of them at their best, that that is what they're so great at is this just like team of absolute beasts that will just destroy you up front. But the league is changing. I won't throw out the Texans then. I was thinking about the Texans because just watching them on a week-to-week basis, like they are the most interesting, but it's mostly just like their players are awesome. Oh, my God. Like the energy that they play. All right, let's talk a little, Texans.

41:12Their players are just so awesome. And then the combination of the like talent and just the full field aggression that they play with is just a treat to watch.

41:21Ollie Connolly:Yeah, I mean, only the Eagles. like it's just so strange to watch a pro game and see like a different level of speed and physicality like i always think back to the eagles versus the packers in the playoffs it's like they look so much quicker more athletic this is the pros that shouldn't happen and you see that with i think the texans all the time that secondary is outrageous i don't know how they've been able to get away with that that could be like the best position group of any in the league that's not quarterback to caleb bullock is going to become a super duper star i think this season petrie is probably the most impactful nickel corner in the league for a team who's running that same system as the Niners.

41:57Ollie Connolly:He's their most impactful player. And that's on a defense that has Derek Stingley, that has Kamari Lester, that now has Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. It's got the two edge rushers, who are probably the two most famous names that they have and are both really impactful too. So it's just wire to wire. It's like there's talent everywhere. And they have the thing, which this is where I'm basic. And I don't know if this translates as much on film. Maybe it doesn't. I do think with defenses, you can see there is a real quality of which defense is just playing faster and harder. It was one of the reasons why I wasn't totally shocked by the run of the Bengals a few years ago, because even early in that season, they weren't a perfect defense.

42:39But they just played with such an aggression and speed that even though they were average, that makes up for below average talent. And the Texans are enviable. They have the best of both worlds. where I think they have that in spades and they have like the best players too. But if we were ranking the teams, I think ultimately I would have to go with Texans as just like my favorite to be number one.

43:01Ollie Connolly:Yeah, but the two deep is maybe a little rough and it's another team that kind of rattles through players outside the secondary. The two deep doesn't look quite as strong as it did do last year, but just like the frontline starters, it would be impossible to come up with a group that has a better four down as they do in a better secondary group. Okay, one group I would say is close, at least up front, is the Steelers. So I'll throw out them as my next one. The Texans, we'll throw them in too. To me, this is a big season for Tomlin because it's like, okay, let's go. You do have everything, I think, that you really would want.

43:37You have this older group of great players like Cam Hayward and Jalen Ramsey. And I'd even throw TJ Watt at this point. He's obviously getting paid a lot of money, but he has less great years ahead of him than he has behind him. Darius Slate is there. And then you do have a nice younger group. You want Nick Herbig and Joey Porter Jr. to step up. Keanu Benton's a fun player. They're talking up Peyton Wilson, the second-year linebacker, a lot. And so you have this nice mix. Highsmith is right in the middle of his peak. To me, you got everything you want. If Mike Tomlin is that dude right now, they need to be great, I think, because of their offense.

44:15And they do have the potential to be great. Like I'm not totally buying that it's going to happen, but they kind of have to be great. And the potential is absolutely there. So I am fascinated to watch this defense this year.

44:26Ollie Connolly:I mean, they should be dominant. You've put that front four on the field. And as you mentioned, you can roll in Nick Herbig, who may be the most underrated player in all of football. It's just like get off the ball, bounce, dip and rip, sub-rush it. Probably as good as it gets in the league. You mentioned Highsmith too, Benton. So the front four is unbelievable. And that's before you get to Harmon, who they take in the first round, and we'll see if he can give some in-out versatility. The thing I've always butted heads with them about is that it's just not creative enough with the personnel you have.

44:58Ollie Connolly:It really is. We roll out the same guys doing the same stuff and we'll out-talent you. And they keep getting away with it because they have an unbelievable amount of talent. It just feels like they're leaving stuff on the table. They were just a little bit more chaotic, a little bit more interested in stuff like moving TJ Watt around. We watch how many of these defenders where Myles Garrett is lining up, doing the basketball crossover over the center that these teams go and hunt matchups and the seal's like no tj does his thing over and over again lines up in the same spot hits the same move and if it hits it hits if it doesn't it doesn't i just wish they were more forceful in trying different more creative things and when you get a guy like jalen ramsey who is like we can put him anywhere on the field at any time he's in la he's playing dime linebacker he can play in the nickel he can play at safety they have every opportunity to be as creative as they want in the front in the secondary and I just know in my bones they will roll out the same system over and over again Jalen Ramsey is one of those guys that I buy camp hype I do buy that they're gonna get the the last like great year from Jalen Ramsey because he is just an all-time great but also gonna be as excited and ready to make it count he is just one of those players it is what it is that like we've seen some players like this in NFL history that are in the Hall of Fame that their first year in a new spot every time is awesome.

46:12And I know he's getting older, but I think they'll know how to use him. When you say you butted heads with the Steelers, is that like in your own head or you're actually getting grief from them?

46:22Ollie Connolly:Getting grief. I've written about Terrell Austin a couple of times and one of them was complimentary and he was more upset with the complimentary one than he was the one where I tried to go in at him. They've done stuff, which is all the stuff I wrote about in that Rex piece you mentioned of kind of the macro trends of defensive football. They've tried to keep up with some parts of that, which I think is good and admirable, mostly in like when you call stuff, essentially. But the under the hood things, the changing the design, the defense is just the exact same as it's been now for 10, 11, 12 seasons.

46:54Ollie Connolly:And I'm all pleading with them. And that's where Tara Austin got upset. It's like, I think you can be even better. You're excellent. But there's more here. And they just refuse to do it. Now, do they ever get personal with you? Like, who do you think you are? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I love that. But you know why they're they're responding because they know, you know, ball and it does hit. And they obviously know an incredible amount of about football and have the reasons for doing what they do. And but I think it's because you're hitting a nerve that they they have to think about these things. And that's why they're responding.

47:28All right. We we're getting towards the end. So let's let's do a team from you that you just need to have in this show.

47:36Ollie Connolly:interesting is the bengals okay because their entire approach the offseason it was lou's fault it was luke we're not going to do anything we'll draft shammar stewart then we'll mess around with bring him into camp we're not going to give trey hendrickson an extension everything that went wrong last year was luana rumo and i'll go then we'll fix it and i i don't buy that premise in slightest i i i guess i'm hoping for like the old luana rumo not fix but like i was talking about that just not trying harder, but something new. Like they're doing things in a different way. There is some new blood.

48:11They're saying Shamar Stewart's having a great camp, but is that because the tackles for the Bengals can't protect? We don't know. We will see. They do have, it is a young defense, but yeah, I'm hoping just for the sake of like the entertainment of the NFL, I like the Bengals being good and I want the Wesleyan brothers to be happy that that is the way it happens. But maybe that's not convincing enough. It certainly isn't for you. that you don't think the talent's there no i don't think the talent's there and it's just

48:37Ollie Connolly:frustrating when you are so clearly in a championship window and it's just like can we get something to support burrow in the passing game well it's not going to be the run game well it's not going to be the offensive line can you at least get some kind of complementary defense either we have a loaded secondary that takes the ball away so we can go into arrowhead and beat them in a postseason game or our secondary's cooked but we at least have a front and it's just there's nothing there and to not even try and make some aggressive moves that i just find so frustrating and i'm a big al golden fan i think he's a fantastic coach but even his like great defenses has been i have so many players i go package by package throughout the game and that's kind of my special source you can't do that in the pros it's tough to just roll package by package because there's such you don't take trey hendrickson off the field in the pros he's just better than everyone else on your team so even the thing that makes him a really great coach is just difficult to replicate at this level and even more difficult to replicate with that roster when it's just pretty clear who should be on the field and who shouldn't be and they're really counting on their rookies like they need samar stewart to hit and he wasn't a guy that you looked at that thought that you thought immediately like oh that's going to work day one demetrius knight is a second round linebacker that they really need to hit i know you have your your doubts on him all right we're gonna we're gonna jam in at least one more team should it be the ravens or the cardinals who who do you want to talk about more the cardinals uh like my most fun beloved team in the league i think why is that but the fascinating element of them and i wrote a long piece people go read about jonathan gannon is this weird headspace he now exists in between the jonathan gannon i think he is like at heart and the jonathan gannon he had to be last season to get through a season in which he had zero talent on his defense outside of buddha baker and he's rolling out a cfl roster and him and the staff are getting together we being like how on earth do we cobble our way through this and they run the wackiest defense including brian flores in the league probably that we've seen in like a good six seven eight years instead of just the different stuff they're throwing out every week really really creative and then they put all the investment in the front this offseason and the creative stuff was really successful for them last year it was different people couldn't keep up with it they confused some of the best quarterbacks in the game over and over again without having talent and my thought coming into the season is well is it better to persist with that stuff with more talent you're confusing people you're wrecking shop by design and then you have better players executing or does he revert back to saying because they ran in Philadelphia the most passive mundane defense in football and it was we have eight dominant pass rushes and we'll just roll through and no one can keep up and we'll break the sack record is he just going to having put all that investment in the front roll back to the blandest most boring Jonathan Gannon defense ever or has he had this kind of like ayahuasca trip and now he's kind of into the cool, creative, advanced Joseph, Brian, Flores, both.

51:22Ollie Connolly:Well, it's got to be a mix of both, but I think the talent's not good enough to just rely on it, and you're leaning a little more heavily on the creativity. And I think it's a great way to think about great coaching and great defenses. It's not being able to be creative and just do the most with least, like, one time. It's, all right, how can you adapt the next season, your plan, to your new players? How can you do it season after season after season? It's a young staff too. So I think of them in their third season. And I think what they've done has been impressive overall. Nick Rallis, their defensive coordinator, who named his son after Kaiser White.

52:03And Kaiser White doesn't have a job right now. I mean, what's that? First of all, can we get Kaiser White a job? What's happening, Holly? We should get it. Can he not be on the coaching staff? Nick Glose. He's always been one of my sneaky favorite players. I'm not exactly sure why. I just like the way he played. I'm confused why he doesn't have a job. But yeah, it's that, it's that maturation. I think it's, it's such a fascinating team. I think on both sides of the ball, but, but especially defensive, like where they go in year three. All right, let's wrap with the Ravens then because like Zach or in his first year with the Ravens takes over as defensive coordinator and there was this narrative, D and P shows up and, you know, I think the bigger thing was Kyle Hamilton, you know, kind of changes where he's at on the defense and helps to prevent some of the mistakes that were happening.

52:52And it was interesting. This offseason, I noticed Chuck Smith, another one of their assistants, almost unprompted, was kind of like, stop giving Dean Peeze so much credit, more or less. He said it without saying it, to be fair. Like, these are coaches that are smart about it. He was like, Zach's the dude. Zach is, you know, the reason why it turned around. Like, he kind of was saying everyone's giving Dean Peeze a credit. Now, you've got to be careful. I went and checked. Dean Peeze is not employed. by the Ravens officially anymore. He is like a consultant. He might like help a little, but he's not part of their coaching staff.

53:24But his son is Matt Pease, which is just very NFL. But Zach Gore's back there. Chuck Pagano's back there. And more importantly, I do think it's the best defensive back room around Kyle Hamilton. I kind of think of Hamilton as the fulcrum. It's the best room around him since he's been in the NFL. And we're just waiting. Like what? Ravens fans, I know they're thinking, why is this year going to be any different than any other? To me, the reason would maybe be year two of Zach Orr. Tell me if you think this can happen. And the defensive backs kind of having that year two leap, maybe like Mike McDonald did as the coordinator for the Ravens too.

54:01Ollie Connolly:The defensive back field, I'm a little bit more worried about than you, I think. I'm not quite sure all the pieces fit together cohesively. It's really fun to think of, oh, we're very versatile. Kyle Hamilton can play anywhere. Malachi Starrs can play. It's like, well, it's third down. We're just going to line up who is stood where. It's like really fun to have the flex piece until you just got to play for a game to beat the Bills in Buffalo. So, OK, who stood where? And they feel more versatile than they do. Like, we just have great players in each spot to me. I'm sold on Jair Alexander getting through the entire season and being anywhere near the player of old.

54:35For some reason, I'm buying the Jalen Ramsey thing for him, too. But it's a fair point. There's a reason why he only got a$4 million contract. It's a huge, huge risk. That's fair to point out.

54:45Ollie Connolly:Their big turnaround last season, I don't want to bore people on this show with the talk of communication systems on defense. Trust me, I understand how boring that is. But that is what happened last season is they moved Kyle Hamilton back, completely remade the communication system. They couldn't line up last season. That was like the main issue. Zach Orr was running someone else's defense incorrectly. They moved Kyle Hamilton back. They stripped it to the bare bones. They switched how they communicate. They put it into three phases rather than two phases. All of a sudden, hey, Preso, the defense is really good.

55:12Ollie Connolly:So that to me is just dumb. And you can roll forward with the end of the season being a true representation of what it will be going forward. And they can, I think, just out-talent people. I think they're so explosive in the front. What they can do with moving Hamilton and Starks around is exciting, even if they've got some man coverage reservations on third down, probably more so than most other people. So I don't see any reason why it wouldn't again be one of the top 10 defense in the NFL. I just wonder quite where the ceiling is and exactly who is going to be on the field where in the key spots.

55:43Yeah, Matt Abouike, who was good last year, but maybe not as good as he was the year before. Travis Jones, like how they play up front is obviously massive for this team. Adafi Owe, who's in a free agent year. Kyle Van Nooy is still there, one of the most underpaid players in football. And, you know, when you think about that Bills game, I'm glad you point out, like they will just have to stop them. They did give up, what was it? I think three touchdowns in their first four drives. One was a short-ish field, but the defense was the bigger reason they lost that game. And yeah, I think them improving this year is the best hope they have.

56:18I think they're going to be my Super Bowl pick. So I was hoping you would support me in that, and it didn't really feel like it.

56:25Ollie Connolly:No, I think they can be very good. The most interesting part of them to me is Roquan. Roquan was pretty terrible for almost all of last season, honestly. And he got a major name bump on being just like fine and a down. No, he was like flat out terrible for most of the season. The communication issues were his issues. They had to take a lot of the calls off him because they couldn't get lined up properly. So if they fix some of that towards the back of season, he can get back to even 80 % of the play he was at the true peak of his powers. Then that would be pretty transformational for them. And I, you know, I'm, I'm open about it.

56:55And okay, that makes me feel good in a way that to me, I'll view positively that like there is a ceiling for Rokon Smith to be the best version of himself, which makes this defense way better. And yeah, I like to pick something that I'm going to want to be rooting for too. So last year it was the Bills to win the Super Bowl, which I felt like had a pretty good shot. Didn't quite get there in the end. But this year it's like I don't need another Eagles Chiefs. Eagles are fun to watch, but I don't need another.

57:22Ollie Connolly:I think I've picked the Ravens four years in a row. I don't think I've ever picked the Ravens. Really? I don't think I've ever picked the Ravens. So that's why I feel like this is going to be my year. It's going to be your year too. Ollie Connelly putting out some of the best content in the game. Again, go ahead and subscribe to the Substack and listen to the podcast. The Read Optional. Thank you, Ollie. Appreciate you. Thanks, Bob. All right. We will be back. It's a little different this week. 40s and free agents will be dropping in your feed. We're going to be talking some AFC West, me and Daniel Jeremiah.

57:55That's on Friday. And then we got a little extra episode. We're going to go talk to some of the players, talk NFC South and talk with the Saints. And yeah, like when we're working for an entirely new company, football's back.

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