Cut to the CHASE: 2025 NFL Awards Predictions and Live from Seattle with Julian Love

25:13Tractor Cito? No, actually, that's an interesting one, though, because, I mean, Derrick Henry is, like, everything that science tells us suggests that Derrick Henry should decline. I will also never say that to his face, which I feel or in public. You're talking about seeing Hampton in person. Oh my God. Yeah. I guess that's my question for you though. Is there no concern about the tread on the tires? I mean, sure, a little bit, but he is like the cliche, he's just built diff. He is truly built diff. Built diff? And I was looking at it from built different, you know. Is that what the kids are saying?

25:54It's what Austin Gale says, yeah. Built diff. And he's influencing my, you know, patois or whatever. Another person in the 30s? Yeah. I hang out with a lot of 30-year-olds. So, Derek Henry. I was looking at this from sort of a looking at the last six or seven winners. Generally speaking, Offensive Player of the Year is now not a quarterback, which is great because it's confusing to have an MVP and also an Offensive Player of the Year. That was a thing for a while. Patrick Mahomes, Matt Ryan, Cam Newton did that. It was weird. So now these are, generally speaking, skilled players, or at least they have been.

26:30That's the best non-quarterback award. Right. And generally, they've been on really good teams. So if you look at it, like Saquon probably got it last year because he was on a better team. Christian McCaffrey the year before that, the 49ers were really good. Justin Jefferson, Cooper Cupp, the Triple Crown. Derrick Henry won it with the Titans. They weren't that good, but they did win 11 games that year. So I'm just looking at the Ravens. Obviously, you know, I love the Ravens. They're just so good on offense. Last year, Derrick Henry had 1 ,900 scrimmage yards and 18 touchdowns, and Lamar threw 40 touchdowns.

27:03What if Lamar just throws 30 touchdowns and Derrick Henry scores 30 touchdowns? You know what I mean? Then I would win our fantasy league because I still have Derrick Henry. Who won in the playoffs? I don't remember. Nobody remembers. So I'm going with Henry. All right. Jackson, who you got? Yeah, those are both considerations. um saquon's the favorite but i just i just don't see that's weird i know i know and i was confused by it i find it very unlikely that yeah i mean not that he won't be good again just that i can't see voters giving it to him right you're going to see some regression even if he does get the same workload but historically you don't see guys get that many carries two years in a row also the eagles passed on a lower percentage than any team in the nfl in 11 years every other team that's been And anything similar to that has seen big-time regression towards the league media in the next year.

27:55And he just doesn't catch passes in that offense. So I think that's the worst money on the board. But I did actually consider a super long shot in Devon H. Ann in Miami. Yeah. Wow. And the reason for it is, like, he destroyed the outer margins of efficiency as a rusher his first year. 7.8 yards per carry, NFL record. his first like real start he had 240 yards and four touchdowns and then greatest day of my life yeah yeah yeah and then the right and then the next year when offense went to hell he had 78 catches and in games with Tua healthy he was on pace for 104 so like if you do bet on Devon Echand who's plus 5 ,000 by the way that's a 50 to 1 payout like it's also a bet on Tua's health but if he's there then all you need is 80 percent of his rushing efficiency as a rookie and 80 percent of his past volume as a sophomore and you're looking at like a ladenian tomlinson marshall falk christian mccaffrey type season so 50 to 1 i love that but he's not who i picked i went with jameer gibbs okay thank you for that long you're welcome monologue on devon a chan i just love devon so much i mean gibbs you know kind of similar argument i feel like to danny elite offense elite player yeah there's not well and does it i would say to poke a little hole in it does the coordinator change concern you at all with gibbs sure yeah yeah but i also think that there's a chance that um that helps him because last typically when you see really efficient players in a split workload in the backfield that efficiency drops off significantly when they're full-time players but when david mcgomery was out last year that efficiency stayed the same It was just double the production.

29:44And I just can't see him getting a 48 % snap share again this year. I think it's going to be closer to 60, 65. I do wonder if they use him as a pass catcher a bit more, too, with the interior offensive line changing, perhaps. All right, so Defensive Player of the Year. I went with a player you should not bet on. But I think, again, just thinking about what he means to this team and this defense that I think is going to be very good. I went with Aiden Hutchinson, returning to the Lions. When he went down with an injury last year, he was... I'm very curious about the players you guys choose to boo and not.

30:23It's so random. Like if it was, you know, a Ram or a Niner, I would get it. Okay, so he was... When he went down with the injury, he was first in pressure rate, first in pass rush win, and... On days for like 30 sacks. He was on pace to be, he was going to be defensive player at that point of the year last year. The defense actually wasn't even that bad, honestly, in the second half of the season. You come back, they can't be as injured. They were the most injured defense in football last year. He's back. They've added some reinforcements, a little worried about the defensive line depth because there's some injuries there already.

30:59But I think on the back end, they're going to be healthier. That's going to create time and opportunity for him. He is still very clearly the guy in this defense. and I think, you know, the story is good too. My only concern would just be coming off of the injury, but I don't think it's like a super tricky one. I don't know, but yeah, I feel like the injury makes me a little bit worried, but if he's anything like he was last year, I think he takes it. Yeah, I had him as well.

31:33Should we just talk about Devin Witherspoon instead? Maybe we should just... I should just ask Danny the question first. If a Seahawk were to win it, who would it be? Leonard Williams. Leonard Williams. Is he the – yeah, I think that's right. What do you think? Leonard Williams. Yeah, Danny. Well, I would say it depends on what Witherspoon does, if he has a lot of picks. Yeah. And just, like, the style that he plays with. Obviously, you know, trench guys kind of – they're just in there doing their thing, and you don't really notice them unless they're getting a sack or a pressure. but Witherspoon is you know he has among all players in the NFL like the dog levels higher than is he lower than anyone in dog levels in the NFL right now?

32:18If we did a dog ranking that should be like a sponsored Lenny's opinion on the dog ranking Dog of the Week He's just the weight It's actually a great idea. Lenny's Dog of the Week award. I like that But you had Aiden Hutchinson as well I did. I imagine for like the same. Seven and a half sacks in five games. I mean, yeah. And also, I'm pretty high on the Lions defense. I had them sixth. Some of the injuries are a little scary early on with the defensive tackles, but I still feel like they're going to be a top ten unit. I mean, if they can stay healthy. Last year it was just actually crazy what happened with them.

32:54And the other thing, I was spitballing this in my head, and I don't know, maybe you know this answer, But in terms of pass rushers on good teams, playing with leads late in games. Yeah. Because teams are trying to come back. You know they're not going to run. Aiden Hutchinson can just tie it on and freaking go. Like, that's the exact type of player he is too, right? Like, he's one speed, 100 % all the time. And when you're, like, playing against a team that's trying to come back, they're just dropping back, dropping back, dropping back. Will there be opportunity for the pass rusher? Yeah. And the player with the most sacks usually wins.

33:29Yeah, right. That's kind of my logic there. What do you think? Yeah, I mean, Aiden Hutchinson's the favorite. He's not going to win it. It's going to be Micah Parsons. Really? Yeah. Micah Parsons. Yeah, I think so. I think there's... Also, don't act... He's like the second favorite. Don't act like that's such a... Jackson's leaning back in his chair. Oh, you guys picked a favorite? My guy had Parsons as the favorite. Oh, okay. Okay, wow. Yeah, no, I think... Cool guy. I think the FU energy is going to be off the charts with everything that's going on with Jerry right now. I think he's looking to show that he's the best player in the world.

34:09I think that team is going to be much better this year. You know, of course, assuming Dak stays healthy. So, yeah, I think it's Micah Parsons. I mean, other... It's a lot of pass rushers, obviously. Miles Garrett is always going to be in the mix. TJ Watt, Nick Bosa, Verse. These are Vegas, not me. I know it's a lot of MC West. As my sneaky pick, I wrote Dexter Lawrence, just because I think that defensive line is going to eat, and maybe people will realize he might be the best defensive player in football at this point. He's definitely up there. Let us wrap with the main event. MVP. Not a very spicy pick on my part, but I feel like the obviously correct one is Lamar Jackson.

35:01Yeah. Who I voted for last year. Got a lot of nods in the crowd here. Just because the, as you said, the FU energy of not winning it last season. I think we all expect this team to be a wagon. We've just been talking about the offense and how good they will be. I was a little concerned when I saw Isaiah Likely's tight end got hurt because I think he's a really important part of what they're going to do but it looks like it's not too serious um Ben Solak who does my show a lot last year correctly predicted Josh Allen and he talked a lot about you know like the narratives going and how much that matters and look Josh Allen was I think it was very close and they were very clearly the two best quarterbacks in football to me so you have to meet a certain level of play to even be part of this conversation but I do feel like this year the narrative is going to, the narrative aspect of it is going to swing in his favor because of what happened last year.

36:00So Lamar is my pick. Danny, who do you have? I picked Josh Allen. To repeat. Yeah. Just look. Interesting. I mean, Lamar is one of those players. We were talking about this before the show, like the LeBron thing where it's just, you kind of get bored of the same guy being. LeBron should have like 12 MVPs. So you picked a repeat. Well, I mean, Lamar has won it twice. Right? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, no, but you're just saying that. You just said Josh Allen. Well, I just think people are sick of him. And Josh Allen, like, it's more of a narrative thing. And, you know, honestly, if the Bills go out there and they look like they're going to be really good.

36:34I think the other thing that you could use as an argument for Josh Allen, not that I necessarily would use this, is Lamar has a better surrounding cast around him. Right. You know, and Josh Allen is going out there and playing with, you know, not superstar-type skill players. And the other thing I think is just stylistically, Josh Allen, he scores a lot of touchdowns with his legs. He does the craziest runs you've ever seen in your life. And Lamar does it too, but he doesn't get into the end zone for some reason. He always like slides. Is this fantasy brain? It is a little bit. A little bit of fantasy brain?

37:09It's narrative-based. No, no, I hear you. I think that's fair. I think because at the end of the year, people will say number of touchdowns, number of yards. They look at those kinds of stats. Jackson, do you have either of our choices? I do not. No, wow. No. One thing I do want to say about Lamar, I definitely thought he should have won last year also, and it kind of speaks into what led to my pick, which is this voter fatigue. I mean, Lamar Jackson had to have statistically the greatest season that's never won an MVP last year. No doubt. Right? And, you know, I agree with you. I think he's going to come out absolutely the same way, you know, what I said about Parsons I think you're right he's going to do that but I do think voters want something new and I think they want to say that they voted for something new and I think my pick was a huge victim of things that had nothing to do with him last year and this election is going to make my wife very happy I went with Joe Burrow and I think the reason for it is like what what he did last year I mean he took a flamethrower to the league but that defense was was terrible and they went nine and eight they really missed the playoffs and it's not like oh yeah you had a good offense but you're still losing by 10 20 points every game there's a lot of close losses and you flip two of those yeah they're an 11 win team maybe winning the division and I think that with the best passing you know best receiving core in the NFL a defense that's not going to be any better he could put up 2021 Patrick Mahomes numbers and if that gets them into the playoffs I think voters are going to want Joe Burrow to win MVP he's going to throw a lot because defense is going to be bad again and but they have the they've had a normal offseason on offense at least and that's her it's a good case for him I also I mean there's a guy you might have heard of named Patrick Mahomes who I think we should probably also throw in there as a comeback season kind of thing.

39:13Jane Daniels, I'm a little bit skeptical on just because I'm not... Maybe it's this Terry news in my brain right now. I think he's going to be really, really good. Herbert is another name that maybe... CJ Stroud, I'm worried about the offensive line. So, yeah, I feel like our three picks outside of Mahomes, very safe picks. We picked the three of the four best quarterbacks in football. Got any spicy ones? The spiciest one I thought of was Stroud. I don't know. I can see it. I think people forget that going into the Christmas game two years ago, the odds-on favorite to an MVP was Brock Purdy. And I think coming on...

39:54Where are you going with this? I didn't say he was going to be MVP. He wanted something spicy. You guys are wrong. Clearly the crowd wants to weigh in, so maybe we should take some of the questions we got from them. Do we have them... I think we have them written down. Oh, they're right here. Hard Knocks is back, and so is the official Hard Knocks podcast. This year, the award-winning HBO original Hard Knocks training camp heads to Seattle to follow the Super Bowl champion Seahawks. Go behind the scenes with the team as they make another run at a title. Get unfiltered access to the personalities and challenges that define a championship team.

40:30Watch the official Hard Knocks podcast on HBO Max, YouTube, or listen wherever you get your podcasts. and watch Hard Knocks Training Camp with the Seattle Seahawks on HBO Max. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help you answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities.

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41:46Ooh, okay, we got a Seahawks question from Blake Walsh. Blake. Do you think Reek Wollin will play well enough this year to earn an extension? Short answer is yes from me. what do you guys think yes

42:05Jackson yes I just think it's going to be really expensive so he better be really good yeah the cornerback prices went dramatically up this year after like stagnating forever yeah I think that I also think the defense is going to be so good sorry I just saw the picture of Lenny that I think he will benefit from being surrounded by talent and he'll be put in good positions because And second year in the McDonald's system. I mean, that's where we see players take off. This one's for me. Maria asks, what's your favorite moment from Around the Horn? It's definitely not when I found out we weren't getting Shohei Otani.

42:44That was a good one.

42:50Gosh, there's so many. Honestly, my favorite moments in Around the Horn were the moments that weren't actually shown on Around the Horn. We would just be between segments shooting the s***. And I love talking TV with Tim Kalashaw, who's like my guy. So I would say that. That was my favorite moment. Those were my favorite moments on Around the Horn. Another Seahawks question from Jim. Who takes the biggest leap on this year's Seahawks defense? Biggest leap. Byron Murphy? Yeah, that was the first name that I came up with. Byron Murphy, right? Yeah. Yeah, we were talking with Greg Bell, who's a great Seahawks beat reporter on Cigar Thoughts a couple weeks ago.

43:33And he was like, man, the difference between what Byron Murphy was doing on the field and what actually showed up in the box score was massive. And I tend to agree. And I think playing next to Leonard Williams and with maturation of Boya Mafe, who would be my answer if it wasn't Byron Murphy, and Chenin Wilson is going to create a lot of opportunity for him. I think we see that leap. Yale asks, I watched a segment where you're talking about Friday Night Lights. Which NFL players do, he says, Vince, Saracen, and Smash remind you of. I'll just do Saracen. Do you guys watch Friday Night Lights? I don't.

44:11What? What? You? I totally watch it. Oh, my God. But I'm going to let Mina answer the question. Matt Saracen, you can actually answer this based on a description, is like the backup quarterback who then becomes the main guy, but then he's like really sensitive and ends up just becoming an artist. I mean, I know that. Steve Young, kind of. I mean, there's a little bit of Gino in the story. There's been a little bit of Gino in him, I feel like. personality wise he's probably a little more like Justin Herbert in my experience okay Patrick on a scale of 1 through 10 what are the chances of the big dumper being MVP

45:00pretty high so 10 is the highest 6 6 I'll go that's so good 60 % chance as a catcher. What do you want from me? I think six is probably about right. I'm going to say 99.

45:20I've watched so much Mariners this year. I know so much. I'm going to do another Mariners question to keep this up. Pat asks on a similar question. This is a different Pat. On a scale of one through ten, also put the same way, weird. How good are the vibes now that Gino is back? Ten. Ten. On a scale of one through ten, I would put that at about a 15. Yeah. Danny? Yeah, yeah, easily. My Mariners group chats are going off. Going off. Yeah. I have those. I just don't contribute a lot. We are in a Mariners group chat, and Jackson or Danny rarely contributes to anything. I'm saving it up. Yeah. Okay.

46:03Micah, Micah maybe? asks, what is more likely to happen, Byron Murphy getting Pro Bowl or JSN getting 1 ,300 yards? Yeah, I think JSN because I think Pro Bowl at Byron Murphy's position is really hard. It's just so deep. Defensive tackle is so stacked right now in the NFL. I mean, JSN could have like a 40 % target share this year. That as well. I feel like he's just going to command so much attention. Okay. John asks, what round would Lenny be picked for the puppy bowl? What round? First overall. Mr. Relevant. Well, Lenny's an older dog. He's at least 14. So I feel like he's like a Brandon Whedon.

46:51First round, yeah. I know. Did I ever do the Lenny voice when you were on the pod? Did I do it at the last live show? Is that before I abandoned it? I do remember it. Do you remember this? Bring it back. You guys know the story of why I stopped doing it, right? So I used to do, for those who are new to the podcast, OGs, shout out. I used to do five questions at the end, and one was a rude question in Lenny's voice. Just like a really disrespectful question. And I didn't tell them beforehand what I was doing. And I stopped it the day after I had Matt Hasselbeck as a guest. Oh, no. Oh, no. Not that he wasn't a jerk about it, but I was just like, I can't do this.

47:37I can't look at myself in the mirror after asking Matt Hasselbeck a question in my dog's voice. It was not my finest moment. So you're going to do one? Yeah. What kind of tease is that? Everybody leave me alone. Sounds just like him. Just trying to be a dog. All right. Sue asks, what's more likely? Sue from South Korea. Sam to become the next Baker or Milrow to become the next Russ? Ooh. That's a good question. That's a good question. I'm going to say Sam as the next Baker because that's a more realistic goal. Russell Wilson is like the best quarterback in franchise history. How about you, Danny?

48:21I mean, yeah, sure. But it's definitely Milrow. Yeah. Yes. Yes, absolutely. We can dream. I have heard good things about him from training camp. Yeah. So, you know, that's all we need. Not confirmation bias at all. I'm not searching his name on Twitter. No, I mean, yeah, we see quarterbacks take the Baker Mayfield jump all the time. Geno did it. It's certainly possible. I mean, Sam did it last year. I just really want Milrow to be the quarterback of this team moving forward.

48:56Emma from Green Lake asks, who would you say is the GOAT Seattle men's pro athlete? Griffey. Griffey. It's Griffey, right? Is it Griffey? Who's on the Mount Rushmore? Ichiro? Okay, now Griffey? No, I mean, I think the best at what they did is probably Walter Jones. But as far as if you're factoring in like star power, yeah, it's Griffey. Peyton? Gary Payton. Gary Payton, for sure, for me. Yep. Yep, absolutely. Gosh, I mean, Ichiro, you're definitely considering there. Shout out to Ichiro getting in the Hall of Fame this year. Beast mode? Yeah. Yeah, Marshawn. Another, the other athlete that I've ever been tongue-tied around was Marshawn Lynch.

49:46Yeah. Did I tell you guys this? So, last year, or no, was it last year? It was two years ago because I was six months pregnant and trying to hide it. So I was working the Home Run Derby, waddling around. I was co-hosting with Kenny Main. And I thought I was like, nobody can tell. And Bobby Wagner walks up and is like, congratulations. I'm like, well. It's very obvious. But anyways, I went back to my hotel afterwards. And I was staying in downtown Seattle. And I was looking outside. And I was like, is that just Marshawn Lynch standing on the street? and I walked up a little closer and I was like oh my god it is and he was just I won't say what he was doing but he was chilling outside and then I just sat there in the hotel lounge watching as every passerby had the exact same reaction like walks by like what and he's a really introverted guy as everybody knows so I didn't know if I should walk up to him but I was like hey man like really nice to see you like just you know huge fan and he looked like couldn't believe he had been recognized he was like shocked anyways sorry that was my Marsha and Lynch story I feel like he's just probably the coolest Seattle athlete of all time to me he has like some of the most iconic moments in Seattle sports and I remember I think to me the apex of cool was at the the Seahawks Super Bowl parade.

51:21He's on the duck, riding the duck with the drum and drinking fireball. I'm like, there's no higher. The people's champ. You can't be cooler than that. I mean, of all the people that we're talking about, Mount Rushmore, he spent by far the least amount of time in Seattle, and we're still saying he might be one of those four. May asks, what are your go-to routines on NFL Sunday or snacks? um i actually my sundays are now no longer fun no they're fun they are fun but they're not i'm working pretty yeah intensely and um i guess sometimes people ask this and i i probably have never explained on my podcast the way i watch is i usually have the multiple screens with an eye towards we already kind of know what the big games are that we're going to talk about the next day and I will be taping a couple at the same time because we don't get the L22 until Monday morning.

52:17So I try to get through at least seven games on a Sunday. That's a lot and I'm up late. I get the advantage of Mina and Nate Tice just texting me their football thoughts on Sunday night. I'm just learning about football through them. What about you? Same deal. just watch football for like 12 hours straight. And then I usually have three. Everybody's like, same. You know, we're normal people now. I think I have like three screens up. I think I have like four or four and then like a bigger game on like a regular TV. Just taking notes. We record on Sunday nights. You record on Sunday nights, right.

53:03Are you watching more than I towards fantasy? Yeah. Because you're going to, yeah, right? Yeah, yeah. Interesting. How about you? Yeah, well, we're about to find out. For the last 14 years, I've been writing all Sunday long, and I don't really know how to watch football like a normal person, but I'm setting down the pen this year. I'm going to try a year off. These people can't wait for me to stop writing. Sundays are going to be awesome. You suck. No, it'll be great. So I can just watch a game. So I'll let you guys know next year what the routine is. Let me ask you guys one more question before we bring on Julian Love.

53:46And that is, yeah, a Seahawks question. Because we haven't really talked that much Seahawks. I've been saving that for Julian. What is, I'm not going to ask you for like a record prediction or anything like that. But what is the number 10? Just say 10. What is the number one thing you're excited to see from the team this season? It can be a player, it can be a unit, a position group, a coaching thing. You go first, Danny. I think the run game is really what I'm excited about. Obviously, the defense is going to be fun, but I'm just, you know, they really made a commitment to Kubiak and his scheme and, you know, doing their thing, and they got rid of their quarterback, they got rid of their offensive coordinator, and it's kind of all to, like, get this run game installed.

54:35They really want to run the ball. So I'm excited to see whether that comes to fruition. I'm really excited about Kenneth Walker this year, Charbonnet obviously too, but the run game. How about you? I'm excited to watch a defense that scares the s*** out of people. Because I think that's what we're going to see in year two. I think last year they were learning the language, and this year we're going to see those dudes get weaponized. Well, that's a really good segue to somebody who just walked in. All right. Before we bring up Julian, thank you so much to Danny and Jackson. Everybody, a round of applause.

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56:31For a limited time, download the CallShe app and use code FC to get$10 when you trade 10. K-A-L-S-H-I. CallShe. Trade on anything. 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see callshe.com slash regulatory. Can we get a round of applause for the great Julian Love?

57:03Hey, what's up? It's so nice to meet you. I'm coming. Middle's okay for Julian? All right, cool. You got a mic there. How are we doing?

57:20Julian, I have a lot of questions for you, some about yourself. but I want to talk about Seahawks defense. I don't know if you caught that. Just as you were walking in, we were all talking about how excited we are to watch this year. In large part because of what we saw last year and the second half of the season after week 10, Seahawks defense was top five in like everything. Of course this season, top five in three and outs, but top five in EPA per play, yards per play, all the nerd stats and such. What clicked or changed in your mind halfway through the season? Yeah, it's kind of crazy. We're going to the first Rams game right before our bye week.

58:01And Mike comes into kind of the leadership meeting with some of the defensive players. I'm kind of going over the script, and he just says, Mike, our head coach, and he just says. Casual. Casual. Mike. McDonald, yeah. He's like, you know what I envision? Kind of he has his talking cadence. I envision just like why not us be the best the rest of the year

58:25and I'm like okay sounds good to me he's like forget what happened before you know the first seven weeks of the season can we be the best defense this last whatever weeks of the year and it just kind of you know it gave us some life and defensively we set out to do that I feel like you're joking no I'm dead serious Why doesn't every coach just tell their defense to be the best defense?

58:54You know, but there were some changes in personnel, the midseason trade for Ernest Jones, the linebacker. I mean, how much did that change the defense? So that was big. That was probably the biggest thing that, you know, happened personnel wise. We just have we're struggling, you know, in certain run fits and just, you know, Mike, it's tough. It's tough because you have two guys who you signed to the team at that point. You know, they were free agent acquisitions, two backers who were playing. And then it just wasn't, it just something wasn't clicking. And so then they go and get earnest. And from day one, it was just different.

59:29Everyone's vibe with EJ is, we were just on the same in court. And yeah, I can't remember what his first game was. It might have been, it was the week, it might have been LA game or the week before. Like, literally, when he got there, it just changed things. And so, yeah, we just clicked, and we were going. It did seem a lot of it stemmed from fitting the run, as you said, because that was, like, the past defense was actually not the issue, you know, so much in the first half of the season. It was that run defense early on, giving up explosives and then tightening that up. It's also a trend with Mike McDonald defenses at this point, right?

1:00:03Like, it's what he did at Michigan. It's what he did in Baltimore. People forget at the beginning it wasn't that pretty at first and then made some adjustments, and then year two, they were the best defense in the NFL. I was wondering if you could speak to, because you played in a lot of schemes at this point, pretty wide variety. I mean, Wink is about as far on one end in New York. I mean, Martindale, Patrick Graham, who's a guy I've gotten to know. What would you say makes the Mike McDonald defense so effective? Yeah, so going back to the corners I've had, I think before this season, talking about continuity, since college in nine years, I've had eight D coordinators.

1:00:47That's crazy. So the numbers aren't good. I might be the problem. And so that's one thing. And then Mike, I mean, he just understands. I think defenses are all the same. It depends on what you have in your package. If you're a little bit blitz heavy, if you're playing more in drop coverage, if you're a man. Everybody has the same calls, pretty much, different verbiage. It's just how you execute them, how you deploy them on game day. That's what I think makes Mike special. I've had some... Wink kind of has a similar system. It's the Baltimore-style DPs. Mike, I just feel so confident on game day that he's going to call the right stuff.

1:01:30He might say in the headset, Hey, Julian, drive this dig. They're about to throw. I'm third down. I'm like, all right. and I blindly just drive a dig and more often than not he's right it's really incredible kind of his football mind and it's a lot of prep that goes into it one thing that made I think Seahawks fans excited about the hire was that he had had success in Baltimore against the Kyle Shanahan tree which before really gave Seattle a hard time and Shanahan, McVay it just felt like a like a yearly exercise in getting tortured by those two guys what but but but we saw that turn around again you guys played the Rams so well right and what do you think it is about like this defense now or his style of defense that is successful against that scheme I think it's just changing I think it has tools uh it has a certain cadence to it that's adaptable I think kind of you know I experienced a little bit of that between the rivals in my first year out here in 23.

1:02:32When you're going into division games, you're like, man, these guys kind of know where we're going to be in. Which is tough. I mean, it's tough as a player to kind of just try to be your best and try to win. But with Mike, I mean, we're just, we're evolving. I think second San Fran, we had a whole different vibe what we had for the first San Fran game. And then the Rams, we played them well this year on defense. That first game was the start of kind of that run for us. And Arizona's Arizona. No, you know what? You say that, but before Arizona played you, they were rolling. They were rolling, yeah.

1:03:05Did you see what they did with the Rams? Yeah, they were rolling. And that's a really scary run game. And those tight ends are really difficult to handle. Yeah. And then they looked awful against you guys. Yeah.

1:03:20I credit that first Arizona game to, like, Leonard Williams. That was his coming out party. They were getting after the quarterback like crazy that home game. But, yeah, I mean, they, you know, James Conner, Trey McBride, very legit players. Marvin Harrison's going to be going to take out a complete next step this year. So they have the players, but I don't know. We just have the confidence that really our D-line kind of won those Arizona games. And so that's something that we know that we have. You had a career year in a lot of ways, leading the team in tackles, second most passes defense, to any safety.

1:04:00If you like my dork stats, you were one of only three safeties to be top 10 in DVOA, success rate, and yards per pass. When it's contract time, get the dork stats. I get you. What do you think it was that for you this year, because you've been in the league for a minute now. We talked about you played a lot of defenses. Do you think your role or do you think the nature of the defense played any part in it in addition to obviously continuing to grow? Yeah. It's tough to pinpoint. I think Mike put me in a position to succeed. He also put a lot of pressure on me. I'm out there covering receivers a ton.

1:04:36It's not common anymore for safety to be doing that. So I'm in the mix. I'm in the fire. But I just believe my ability. I think, you know, I think I've been really consistent at a high level in the league these past three years. I feel like I'm at the top in terms of just production. I'm playing football. I think I'm a pretty well-rounded football player. that's what that goes into. Can you speak more to the position that he put you in though and what you were asked to do? You talked about a little bit there but I think it's really interesting. Yeah so I started the year as a free the field safety I'm kind of interchangeable in a situations you know you have a spoon outside reek outside say there's a slot I'm down guarding the slot it's very common right now for safeties to be guarding you know slot receivers or down you know in a slot you see Kyle Hamilton having success Brian Branch it's it's becoming common and across the league because we can also fit the run or safeties.

1:05:31And so I was in that role. I was pressuring a little bit, which I don't get a lot of chances to pressure, which I love. And then it's just so interchangeable. I think I'm lucky because I have a great D-line who gets after it. Shout out to Big Cat. That's my guy. I'll always shout him out. Unbelievable player. Couldn't believe he didn't get more recognition last year. We can dive into that whenever you're ready. He was on my all-pro belt. Yeah, we have some chats about it. But then, you know, I have just killers around me. I have Reek and I have Spoon, guys who just are ballers. And so it frees me up.

1:06:06And Mike just, he understands my skill set. I move well in space. I tackle well. And I'm decently cerebral as a player. And so he feels confident to put me in good positions. Decently cerebral. Decently cerebral. Well, you spoke about some of the guys around you. I think something that really jumps out when looking at a lot of the DBs in Seattle is the versatility. Right? You were a former college corner who then played free, strong, different positions in the back end. Kobe Bryant was a nickel at the beginning, I remember, who cemented himself more as a safety. Witherspoon is a nickel, one of the best nickels in the league, but he can also play outside.

1:06:43And now you have Nick Amonwari who's like, I don't know what he is, man. I hope you can explain it to me. He's like, is he a strong safety? Is he a nickel? Is he like a money backer? So how do you see all this shaking out this year? I think we could just be multiple. I think Mike likes that. You know, Kobe Bryant was a Thorpe winner in college at Corner. Obviously, I played Corner and had some success. Spoon is just a dog. And then, yeah, Nick, man. I'll talk about Nick. First of all, this guy is just goofy as a person. Yeah, I'm giving you the T on Nick. I'm not going to give you the humility side of it.

1:07:23You know, he grew up in a different era of college football right now. But when you look at the dude, I think a picture was circulating him next to me. You got to avoid those. Don't get your photo taken next to him. I had like the Derrick Henry, Mark Ingram comparison. I'm like, all right. Is he 6 '4", 6 '3"? 6 '3", 6 '4". And yeah, all of 6 '3", 6 '4". Crazy. Lanky. Obviously, his combine numbers are crazy. It's just a raw football player. I think the same could be said about Spoon coming out. You saw kind of a raw football player, somebody who went hard. Technique might not have been great, but just went.

1:08:03And that's Nick. I mean, today hit another pick in practice. Really? A diving one. And so it's exciting because we can all just do different things. I can line up in slot at nickel. Spoon can rotate back. He did a few times last year. and we could just keep spinning the wheel, just keep offenses guessing. Personally, I'd like to see Emanwari getting after the quarterback. I don't know what that – what's that looking like? Because he – that is a scary proposition. I mean, Witterspin also is amazing. Yeah, Spoon's on the bus. Nichols, like you said, blitzing Nichols, whatever. But, Eman, you're going to see some fun stuff with him this year too.

1:08:38The dude has dip. He's quick. He has bend. I mean, you're going to see some fun stuff, and he should get after the quarterback for us. you you mentioned leo williams maybe not getting the credit he deserved last year do you feel like this unit is starting to get recognition as one of the best defenses in the league or we're still having to educate people i think we still got to educate people a little bit uh yeah and i think uh there's no better way to do it than just a go and do it show week in week out from the jump whatever week one is that we're we're trying to be something different um and leo I don't know what's going on, but I got to get his name out there more or something.

1:09:19For the year he had, it was a disservice, kind of how some publications did him. Took over football games. You don't see that that often from a guy at that position. So that's the defense, where there is a tremendous amount of continuity, by the way. I mean, that also in and of itself is just so special that you're returning almost everyone. You're adding Manwari, Demarcus Lawrence, obviously. offense it's a whole new offense yeah um so I did want to ask you a couple questions about that if you don't mind because you're obviously out there in practice like what have you seen so far from this Clint Kubiak offense because it is that this to me is going to be the big surprise I think of the season it is I think that's kind of something we have kind of in our back pocket um it's just I mean this offense is just so much more cohesive than what we had going on these past few years you could just tell.

1:10:11I mean, obviously a lot of the players are similar. You have some new pieces, like, you know, obviously Sam and Cup. But K-9's still going to run the rock. Zach Charbonnet's still going to run the rock. And Kubiak has it so layered. They're keeping you guessing. They're changing your tendencies. And part of it is, in this whole process of growth, Mike's in those meetings saying, hey, this is what some defenses do when they see this, yada, yada. And so it's just like a very cohesive kind of vibe right now. It's interesting because I talked about how you guys have had success against the Shanahan offenses, but he's kind of not necessary.

1:10:46You know, there's definitely, I mean, you talked about unpredictability, I guess. So we're not going to see a quarterback sitting in the gun the entire game. Defensive lines teeing off on him. Yeah. Justice for my guy, Gino. Justice for Gino. He was in a bad spot. Bad spot. No, you don't need to comment on that. But do you think folks are underestimating this skill group? For sure. I know, I mean, I'll start with Jax. I mean, he kind of has been getting pigeonholed into this kind of slot receiver, slot receiver kind of vibe. He's so complete as a receiver. I don't know what they're doing over at Ohio State.

1:11:22They're just cranking out guys. And Jax might be the top dog. Yeah, I mean, just route running, hands, catch radius, yards after catch. He is everything. And he's, I mean, you know, he's going against Reek every day, going against Spoon every day, and they're in constant communication, like, this is what you did that I liked. This is what you got to do when this happens. And then Coop, I mean, Cup is just going to be something special for us. That dude is just a workhorse. He's in early every day. He's late. He's out late every day. And he's just, I mean, he just knows ball. It's kind of fun to be able to be around him.

1:11:57And then K9, I mean, he got to be one of the top three, kind of freakiest athletes at running back right now in the league. And I feel like he hasn't even hit his potential yet. Obviously keeping him healthy and out there. But some of the stuff he does is, I play with him, is like Saquon-esque. Hmm, Saquon-esque. Hmm. All right. Now I want to ask you some more questions about yourself, not just the Seahawks. You and I both had sons in the fall winter of 2023. Yes. I remember yours because I remember people were like, is Julian Love going to make it to the game? Do you remember that, right? Yes, I remember it.

1:12:40I want to ask you the story behind what that was like because I feel like it had to have been crazy. But my first question for you is what is, so he's what, 18 months, 17? Yeah, well, 19 months, yeah. Okay, so we're in a similar situation in some ways. What is more difficult, defending a Matthew Stafford hole shot in cover two or trying to get your son to eat?

1:13:05You know, I can't give up defending the cover two whole shot. I can give up trying to get him to eat. My dog is eating really good because this kid's just throwing stuff. My dog just sits there underneath him. He sits right underneath. The whole time. And he just goes the... Oh, yeah, I love that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's great. It's just a drop, yeah. Yeah. The best is, too, when you try to feed him, and now he's doing this a little bit, and the food goes flying. Wait, but no, no. I want to go back to his birth, because it was during this, what, it was like week 14 or something crazy? Yeah, it was crazy.

1:13:41So, let's just say, he was due December 11th, and that's kind of heating up in the playoff. We were getting in that mode. We were winning some games, and we had, like, a few road games. I think it was, the first one was, like, we were at Dallas, a Dallas game. like of course the doctor's appointment right before is like the baby could come this weekend i'm like all right let me fly across to dallas freaking out keeping people on standby to let me know nothing happened next week we fly to san fran same thing this could be this weekend nothing now the baby's late um and then we have a monday night game against philly and uh you know i'm in the rotation i'm excited philly i don't like yada yada um and so i'm playing monday night you know the baby my wife's way overdue um and i have a career game on monday night uh yeah that was a little casual you're like oh we had a monday night game against philly you picked up yeah it's twice won the game yeah come on thank you thank you so you're like a A little extra motivated maybe?

1:14:44I think I was. I was in a different mode for sure. I mean, that was just a completely life-changing week. So that was the front end of it. And then it was Wednesday. We're going to be induced. They said, come back tomorrow. I'm like, all right. Thursday, go in. So I'm not at football all week. They were very nice about it, as they should be. Yeah, right, yeah. I was like, hope so. So then we go in, and the baby was born Friday. Wasn't at practice all week. And we were playing at Tennessee, obviously, on Sunday. And so, baby, it was one Friday. I was in the hospital Friday night. And Saturday night, evening, kind of stayed around most of the day, Jodi Allen, I took her plane.

1:15:27It was a fancy plane.

1:15:31And an assistant coach. And they flew me to Tennessee. And I started Sunday morning. No practice. Not a walkthrough. just a quick, hey, these are the plays for the week. Played decent. I mean, for sleeping on a hospital sofa cot thing. Oh, Lord. I played pretty well, I thought. I did not know how dad sleep was. So then just a chaotic week. And then I got defensive player of the week that week for the Philly game, and I got a Pro Bowl the next week.

1:16:04What's been your favorite part about being a dad? I just, I don't know. it's weird because I feel like I'm a kid and I have a kid. I would imagine most parents feel that way. No. And so, I mean, like, he likes riding a bike. I'm like, yeah, I'll ride a bike. He wants to go to the park. I'm like, yeah, we go to the park. It's nice outside. And just like doing the kind of simple things. I'm like, me and my wife are like really, we're homebodies. We've been together since high school. And it's just fun just to be kind of us three hanging out. And so I think just that that is exciting. And then I'm really excited because I get out here this weekend.

1:16:40I've been at the hotel for training camp. And like to get him to run around with me after practice. Yeah. It's like the dream. Oh, yeah. And so I'm really excited. It's such a great age. Yeah. I can talk and stuff. Wait, I want to go back to that Monday night game really quick because it was such a memorable game. Yeah, if you can go back. Yeah, we're like, if you insist. I'll pull my arm, I guess. For those who have forgotten, it was the infamous Drew Locke game, Gino on the sideline. Walk me through the game-winning pick and what was kind of going through your head when that happened. Yeah, so obviously being in the NFC East for a few years, thankfully I knew those guys.

1:17:19I was just coming off playing them a bunch of times. And so in that situation, that moment, I mean, you know they're going to A.J. Brown. He's a guy. And at the time they didn't have Saquon, so that's their go-to guy for sure. And so, yeah, I'm just rolling to the post. I see that back foot hit, and I'm just hauling. And then I see the ball kind of sailing. I'm like, wait, I can get this ball. And I just go up blindly. It's like raining. I'm like catching like this. And Trey Brown was playing corner, and randomly, if you guys remember, his foot hit my foot. Yeah, I remember that. And that had to be like something else.

1:17:59I was just living right, I guess, because I got both feet down. There's some speculation if I got both down, but I did. And then came up with it, and yeah, I mean, it was the rest of the history for sure. I love it. I'm going to ask you a question I always ask any time I get a DB on the pod. Who would you say is the most underrated wide receiver in football? Oh, that's a great question. Most underrated wide receiver in football? Hmm. I think, I'm only going to butcher his name, I think the slot receiver for the Bills, number 10. Shalish Shakir? Yeah. He's good. Probably gets some attention because he's playing with Josh Allen, but he gave us some problems last year.

1:18:39I think he was one of the few receivers who I felt like got the best of us just because he was playing really hard, and he was a good player. Hard to tackle. Hard to tackle. I think he might have had 100 yards, which is like I don't know if a lot of receivers had that against us. What is, completely changing directions here, a hobby you have that people don't know about? That people don't know about? Oh, man. So some people know I like to golf. I'm not very good, but I like to. Video game days are over. The baby's around. Don't have time for that. I don't know. I like movies. I'm a little bit of a foodie.

1:19:19I like to get out to some spots. But I shoot it pretty straight. TV or movie recommendation for the crowd? Movie recommendation? Any of you watched that you've liked lately? TV? I mean, I'm a sitcom guy. I think the best show out was Abbott Elementary. Okay. We like that. Obviously, very popular. But it's the best show out for sure. I feel like there aren't the main shows that are just like, make you smile and laugh these days like that. Love Island? Did you guys watch Love Island? I didn't watch this season. I heard it was a little trashy. I couldn't do it. It's a major time. I think the UK is probably the better vibe.

1:19:54Yeah. It's a big time commitment. It's like more than football, the amount of hours. You're just like, oh, my God. It's always on. I need Red Zone. I do it every day. Love Island Red Zone. Did I just come up with a million-dollar idea? Only a couple more questions for you. We were talking about Mike being a very brilliant defensive coach, just mince, being a good teacher. What is something that maybe the average Seahawks fan doesn't know about him, what it's like to be with him in that building? Hmm. Good question. He is a good golfer. I've gotten out with him. So he's a good golfer. I think he, it said so much about him that like, he's a smart guy.

1:20:40He's smart. He's intelligent. He's cerebral. He doesn't love that. He's like, I'm more than that. I'm funny.

1:20:51and so that's kind of unpacking who he is as a person is pretty unique he's super competitive super competitive he's in there at 6am he told me today that he feels like he can beat anybody on the team in a race I'm like what are you talking about but he said but I get to pick the distance and so he's like 5k I get anybody in this team I'm like I could beat you in any distance what are you talking about uh three miles four miles I'm sure I got you who is the fastest is it woolen uh yeah probably now yeah yeah but if it was a 5k 5k it's not woolen probably he's more of a sprinter uh I don't know there's some receivers that can go Cooper probably could go.

1:21:44Yeah. Yeah. Okay. He could be like a mile runner. People want to hear that. MVS, pretty fast. MVS is really fast. Yeah. Rika, though, is definitely the top dog speed-wise on the team now. Last question for you. Real opportunity here to pander to the crowd. How would you say Seahawks fans are different from Giants fans? Oh. All right. I like that one. Setting you up. I could pander to you for this one. Alley-oop. Oh, my gosh. I was probably booed for more than I was cheered for at MetLife Stadium. No. What? I watched them boo Eli Manning off the field. They retire. It was crazy over there. And, you know, I have some family out here.

1:22:30Some people knew that. And so when I was in New York, I loved playing here. I got a chance to play here one time, twice. One was COVID. Loved it. I'm like, this is fun. Because you guys are just positive, but there's none of that negative crap. You guys keep it real, and you just support the team no matter what. Win, lose, or draw. There's always love. People are always rocking their gear. There's a pride in being a Seahawks fan. Well, there you go. Hey. Along those lines, give this guy a round of applause. Thank you for coming out.

1:23:10And yeah, thank you guys so much for coming out tonight. This was a ton of fun. I get to do these live shows every now and then, but honestly, nothing compares to coming back to Seattle. It is absolutely my favorite place to do this. Appreciate you guys. Thank you so much for listening. And thank you for coming. Have a great night.

1:23:44This episode is brought to you by ChatGPT. Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons Podcast. Have you guys heard about ChatGPT work? It's the new way to use ChatGPT for bigger multi-step projects. And when you need more than just answers, give ChatGPT work access to your apps and files, and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides, and structured reports. Get started at chatgpt.com by selecting work mode available on Plus and Pro plans.