Minter of Discontent: An AFC North Preview

32:52So we'll see how it shakes out and who gets to play and how healthy. Obviously, his health has been a massive question mark going back to college. But if he's able to play a lot, yeah, he and Drew Sample would be a nice start to some of that 12 personnel stuff that you're talking about in terms of making people respect you in the run game. You have to prove it if you're Cincinnati. That isn't going to happen for you. You've not been that type of team. and teams are going to question your commitment to wanting to be that type of team. And they'll make you be that type of team until your quarterback buys in too.

33:20That's the other thing. You can be that type of team and have mild success and lose a couple games and Joe Burrow is going to be like, I'm out. Let's go back to what we were doing before. Teams are just going to force you to win that way over and over again until they prove probably half through half a season that they can win that way. So it's big questions. I think they still have enough talent to kind of get by and be a good offense. I'll be fascinated to see what it looks like at midseason and where everybody's head's at kind of with the whole thing, assuming everybody can stay healthy, obviously.

33:44So, yeah, it's probably one of the more fascinating things to watch once the regular season starts around the league right now. Totally. Bengals offensive line, also great continuity. I've been riding the – or blowing the horn on the Bengals offensive line. It's actually fine now because I feel like that narrative of them being awful just stuck after Joe Burrow's early success and everyone just kind of kept saying that. I believe that. However, didn't love seeing Orlando Brown Jr. get smoked in the preseason like that. That one's because, and I don't think he was, I do think he played fine last year at the end of the year, but I did love, that's something I'm monitoring because I didn't love seeing that.

34:26Well, it was Brown and Rise Nerd. It was like, we just started to believe guys and you're going to come out here in the first couple of reps and have some ugly plays. So I think Fairchild is on his way to being a good player. I liked him in the pre-draft process too. uh ted karras is solid at center you know there's going to be physical battles that get him but you know generally speaking you take him over most center play in the league chargers would go for this guy right now um the you know i think even the rookie depth i'm really intrigued about connor lou yeah and when not that it'll be this season hopefully but and then mims could be one of the better ascending right tackles in the league right now so you know i think there are questions it's not an elite group but it's a group with less weaknesses this is a weak link position group i think in general like offensive line we're usually talking about how low the floor is for specific players rather than oh you have two guys with an elite ceiling yeah but if the other three suck you're probably still bad so i think the fact that this group doesn't have anybody like that right now makes me feel better especially considering the direction they're going offensively i think that can be really helpful to them too if there are more under center drop backs or things like that that could maybe be helpful to them as well so it's a group in general offensively, I feel pretty good about it.

35:34If they did have to pivot and go back to how they played in the past, they probably could still find moderate success, but because of where the defense has been at, they've had to be the most elite offense in the entire league in order to have any semblance of success. Hopefully, that changes this year, too. I do wonder, by the way, if they have to hold on to Gesicki in part because they need T.T. Higgins' insurance. This is just a completely different offense when he's off the field and he's struggled to stay on for the full season. All right. You mentioned the defense. Let's get to it. bigger changes here uh up front particularly boy mafe is in dexter lawrence the biggest literally the biggest change in the nfl maybe um jonathan allen uh they drafted cassius howell linebacker remains the same get to that uh and then on the back end you had dj turner dex hill breakout last season as actually like one of the better quarterback duos in football safety was an issue.

36:33So they went out and they signed a competent veteran safety, Brian Cook from Kansas city. They also had a Kyle Dagger who made a couple of nice little plays in the caught my eye, uh, the preseason. Um, all right. So I'm just going to start with my 30 ,000 foot take. And I want you to, I think this seems gonna be much better in past defense. They don't have to, well, the numbers are interesting. The FTN Almanac. I was curious, Aaron mentioned this to me so i read about it like they were way better in the second half of the season but ftn according to the research teams that improve in the second half rarely stick like that yeah improvement however they also added a lot of players so i do think that can mitigate that to some degree um all right yeah they were 30 second dv in the first half 13th the second half whoo um so we can talk about that but i generally my premise is this and i want to run this by you i think this is gonna be a much better past defense.

37:26I really do. You can't add that much talent up front. You know, mafia is not a star, but he's a good player. They added a lot of good players. I kind of like ashes. How old to Dexter Lawrence is a stud. The back end corners are awesome. We'll get to that. Cook is he's a player. He's a veteran. He's he's a solid player. However, I do think the run defense is still going to be a major issue. This was a team that could not tackle to save their life. And I do worry Cook helps, but I do really worry that at some point they're going to regret not upgrading at linebacker. It's a huge question mark because Al Golden has shown us kind of who he wants to be, right?

38:05If there was ever a defensive mind that was going to lean into blitzing and sending people and trying to be confusing and all this stuff, it would have been last year's Al Golden, right, when he just didn't have the horses at all. So at least go down swinging. Nope. One of the lowest blitz rates in the entire league, one of the lowest, obviously, pressure rates as a result of that in the entire league. but they just didn't send them. And they're not going to probably this year either because they went out and they said they did all the things that a team that's not going to send them will do in the offseason.

38:30They added tons of talent to their defensive front, said we need guys that are going to win 1v1s. We have hardly anybody right now. So they went out and they added Boy Mafe. They added Cassius Howell in the draft. They added Dexter Lawrence in a trade. They got Jonathan Allen in here. They basically said everybody who's playing snaps for us next year, like we want you to, we want to have at least other options from you, if not just pure upgrades. So now we see, right, Shamar Stewart, Biles Murphy, these guys will still play. They will still be a part of their plans, but they are not putting all their eggs in that basket.

39:03They have basically failed so badly through the draft to draft defensively that they've had no choice but to go out and be the biggest spenders on defense in the offseason. Could that work? Probably to a degree, at least in terms of raising the floor from worst defense in the league to better than that. I agree with you because now they have guys that actually can win as a pass rusher up front when they do decide not to send everybody. There are two big questions to me. Dexter Lawrence, is he elite Dexter Lawrence or is he just good Dexter Lawrence? Because if he's elite Dexter Lawrence, now it's to every play and everybody else has 1v1s.

39:41In this defensive system, that will matter a lot because they're all looking for 1v1s. That's what they're trying to create so they may sim but they're simming to get to 1v1s up front so if lawrence can change the math it helps everybody else be able to eat the other question is because this is not a defensive coordinator who's going to send them and use your linebackers as weapons demetrius knight and barrett carter have to make a lot of plays in space and let me tell you last year they were two of the worst space linebackers i've ever watched so second year for both of them now knight's older as a rookie so is this the year it comes together are they a little bit better maybe there's moments you know but those guys have to basically be able to do that in space and because they couldn't last year it allowed tons of yak against these guys and they just got killed by underneath stuff so that has to be better this season i um long said i really like when teams build a linebacking groups by putting a rookie next to a veteran or a young player you know like i just i yeah can't have two rookies and they and the bangles were left no choice because their veterans were washed completely washed wilson right but i the bet that these two at least one of them makes leave it's a bet man they also made a big bet i just pulled this up because i want i wanted to get the draft picks right.

41:05Cassius Howell was pick 41. Jacob Rodrigues was pick 43. And Josiah Trotter was pick 46. So that's something, if either of those two players looks awesome this season, I have to think that's one that might be talked about. And I like Howell, so maybe he is impactful and it doesn't matter. But that's just something to monitor there. I was surprised they didn't add a veteran linebacker, you know just and it doesn't have to be one of the you know they need to go get levin lloyd but they're i was surprised they didn't try to add someone um i will say though if this offense is as good as it should be and it should be top eight minimum right they might from a game script perspective it might not matter that much um in part because like you talked you talked about and the front is completely revamped, and the back end should be quite good.

42:01I mean, at least better. The cornerback duo, one of the great splits in terms of teams attacking defenses was at the Bengals where, hold on, I pulled this because it made me laugh. They were third in DVOA versus receiver split wide last year and 32nd versus tight ends and 31st versus running backs. I love it when you can just tell the story of a team through like splits like that right that's great every offense on earth knew who to attack and who to avoid because the corners were awesome dj turner and dax hill like they they they've really dax uh after cam taylor brit got hurt they had him play full-time outside dj turner was excellent really really a talented young duo and cook again really does help shore up what was a massive massive problem last year with this defense.

42:57So I do think this defense should be good against the pass. But my concern is like, what happens when you play Buffalo? You know, like, I don't know. What happens when you play Baltimore? You know, you're in your own division. We'll get to them in a second. So I just, I feel like this defense is going to be better. The pass defense is going to be better. But I just do worry that there's still a glaring weakness. That's all. Better for sure. the depth is still don't look just don't close your eyes type stuff but I really like Brian Cook for them I like somebody who can buzz down and erase the middle of the field with pure speed at that position obviously as you mentioned they really need that he'll run the alley and hit people Jordan Battle will 100 % do that not a great athlete not exactly a playmaker necessarily but smart player communicator will run the alley and hit people you need to be able to play from depth and tackle in this defense.

43:51Obviously, that was a big weakness in the past. Still feel really tough on the depth, like I said, but maybe Takario Davis could give you a decent third, fourth option at corner eventually, the rookie third rounder. I thought he was overdrafted. Josh Newton kind of disappointed last year when he played. I thought Turner could be a star, and if he can take the ball away, that would help, obviously, their defense a lot. They kind of – them and the Bears were the slowest time to pressure teams in the league, meaning that, like, It took them forever to pressure the quarterback, but the Bears led the league in turnovers, and then there was the Bengals.

44:23So if they are going to be even a little bit better there and they get some takeaways, that would help them quite a bit. And I think they've raised their ceiling and ability to do that. So it's an improved group for sure, and I think that that will be enough for them to – well, I'll save my prediction for how they're going to finish in this division, but they should be. As long as Burrow's healthy again, I think they will be back in the mix. Take a quick break and come back. talk about the team I imagine you're debating with the bagels. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy.

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46:39Sign up for your$1 per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com slash network. Go to Shopify.com slash network. Shopify.com slash network. All right, we're back. Talking, of course, about the Browns. No, I'm just kidding. The Ravens. Let's flip it and start with the defense. Here. I assume you watched the Ravens Eagles preseason game or at least some of it. This is why I want to start here. Jesse Vinter just came out guns blazing in the breeze. This is to be one of the funniest tapes because I just didn't. There were a few defensive coordinators who just decided to go YOLO and some of them were like completely unsurprising.

47:29Of course, Brian Flores is going to britz the hell out of Dax Venture. but I did not foresee Jesse Minter deciding to turn it the F up in the preseason with his defense and that's without the starters I've been very optimistic about this Ravens defense but that to me raised some interesting questions which is not only do they have some really cool depth that I thought you saw in that game there might be some little tweaks to this defense scheme wise from what we saw with LA and I'm not trying to read too much into a preseason game but But I guess let's just start from the top line. Do you share my enthusiasm for this Ravens defense, anticipating that they bounce back in a pretty big way?

48:11I don't know. And that seems like a really cop-out answer, but it depends so much on two players, three players. Who are the hinges for you? I mean, Nandi Matabuike, coming back from what some thought was a career-ending neck injury, is he anywhere close to the same player? because I think that that's really important for them. Kaleis Campbell is still a helpful player. Travis Jones is really good, especially for a nose tackle as a rusher. But if you're talking about difference makers, he needs to be that. Trey Hendrickson played 26 % of snaps. He's older. Last season he played 26 % of snaps. He has these back slash core muscle, all these kinds of injuries.

48:51Are those truly a thing in the past for him? Is he able to be peak Trey Hendrickson that we saw two years ago? Is that the same player? and then mike green i think is the other player who just because they there's nothing outside hendrickson on the edge like there's nothing in terms of pass rush ability right now does mike green get better in year two after this massively disappointing rookie season um is that better i'm not a zion young guy so i don't i don't necessarily think that he's going to give them that passage he might be an okay player as part of the group but i think the only yeah get against the run maybe some like phone boost so maybe he can kick inside maybe it can be a situational like rotational piece, but I don't think he has the upside to give you the type of pass rush you need that maybe green can provide a matter of week eight can provide.

49:35So the big thing for the Ravens for years has been the pass rush, not being good enough. I give them credit for going out and making a lot of moves to make it a priority and address it. But there are still a lot of question marks here as there are when a team's trying to fix something that's been a weakness for a long time. Rarely do you just like crush it in one fell swoop, but there's a lot of questions here still going into the year that will determine how good they are to me. I know there's other players. you probably have questions about fulcrums wise, but to go back to Matt Abouke, I agree, right?

50:01If he's 80 % and above, you're feeling pretty damn good. Top 10 D tackle in the league. And Travis Jones is really good. Like, Clay Scamble will still give you good reps. I think, though, this connects to what I was saying earlier about the preseason. I swear to God, I'm not trying to read too much. What if Jesse Minter leans into chaos? That was just, you know what I mean? like I because like it comes from LA very high simulated pressure rate which Baltimore of course has used this Mike McDonald he's Michael Donald tree guy team that didn't blitz a lot um you know had a lot of success when they would put the three pass rushers on the field and kick Tully inside which I think they could do with maybe Tavius Robinson or Zion Young but like what if this isn't just a hey let's get four let's get pressure with four team like what if this isn't a front that is more Flores-y?

50:57Like, what if the change-up here, understanding that they have a very strong defensive tackle group, is finding ways to get one-on-ones for Trey Hendrickson with simulated pressures or overloads? What if he's finding ways to not just send Kyle Hamilton, but some of these other second - and third-level defenders? I just... I was talking to Solak about this, too. again, Jesse mentor defense, we think ton of zone, but what if he looks at this group and is like, Hey, I've got the best man, big nickel in the league in Hamilton. I have Wiggins who's a press man corner. What if I actually change things up a little bit?

51:46I don't know. I just kind of, I was not convinced of that, but after I was thinking it through a little bit more, he has the pieces here, I think, to evolve his defense a little way, I think, in ways that could be interesting. Because I think while there are questions with guys coming up from injury and there's some aging players, Roquan Smith and Marlon Humphrey that we've got to talk about, there is enough talent here for him to try some different things on defense from what we've seen. Definitely enough talent for that. I think it would require like a little bit of a skill set change for some of the guys.

52:23But you mentioned Hamilton. That's a great starting point, right? I mean, one of the moves I like that went under the radar, I think, was adding Jalen Hawkins. Oh, I love this. Okay. You knew what I was going to say. I love this. Yes. Talk about it. I think he just gives you something you were missing defensively a little bit. And that almost everybody nowadays, I think you want to have three safeties. Certainly, Minter wants to have one. and it's especially helpful if one of your safeties has this really versatile skill set, which Kyle Hamilton does. So if you want to play him down, you have the option to play him down, but you don't want to be so predictable that he's going to go down all the time and the other guy's going to, you know, Malachi Starks in this case is just going to be sitting there high.

52:59You also probably feel like Malachi Starks, who I thought had better, some better corner traits, honestly, than safety traits in some ways. You also want to probably want to move him around and do some things with him so enter when you have a guy who can play some linebacker and like cal hamilton can and play on the edge can play a lot of different roles you get the opportunity to like have a guy back there as opposed safety that can be sort of a rangy ball hockey cover type of guy that keeps the lid on everything can make some plays on the ball while you do the fun stuff with the other guys up front and yet he's not like totally deficient when you want to change it up with him every once in a while also but for certain packages and looks for minter specifically you need a guy like Hawkins.

53:41So I love that addition. I think that opens up some, could we see Malachi starts using a different role this season because of that, at least from a few snaps, that'd be pretty fun. Do they have optionality if Marlon Humphries just cooked and, or he just is injured again, you know, could they put somebody else in the slot? That would be interesting too. So there's just more ways they can play. See, I thought Marlon Humphries looked better outside last year than he did in the slot. So if you have Kyle Hamilton as your big nickel, then you can kick Humphrey outside opposite Wiggins. Again, it's like a matchup thing, right?

54:14But even having those types of options puts the Ravens in pretty unusual territory. I mean, between Hawkins, Starks, and Hamilton, that's a pretty talented group of safeties. And like you said, Hawkins also brings a lot of Brazil. You saw that in New England too. So, yeah, I think Jesse Minter really has some interesting tools at his disposal here. You know, Hamilton gets compared to James a lot, right? Derwin James. But I think outside of him, this is a better group now and helps cover up for deficiencies at linebacker, right? Because I don't think Roquan's cooks. I really don't. I think he doesn't take on the run the way that he used to.

55:02and doesn't have quite the same sideline-to-sideline speed. I think he's still a very smart player. He's still decent in coverage. Numbers back that up. But outside of him, it's thin. So I think just being able to live in Big Nickel, which should be the base for this team, is really helpful. I don't know. I think they're just talented. There's questions, like I said. Awuzie would technically be your corner opposite rather than kicking Humphrey outside. second linebacker. And then much does hinge on two aging players in Hendrickson and Matabuike. But I just generally think part of the reason I have optimism is those aging players that I mentioned, all of them, they're not like being asked to carry an entire group.

55:52Like Travis Jones and Clays Campbell are really good. So the rest of the secondary is really good with Humphrey. So I feel really good. I also feel really good about Jesse Minter, who was my pick for the coach of the year. I just think that dude has it. And something about seeing those Ravens back guys come out and come flying. God, there was like a corner. Do you remember his name? You, Keon something? Was it Chandler? Did Chandler Rivers? No, it was not the nickel. Keon Martin. Oh, Keon Martin. Holy mackerel. That dude was flying his ass off that game. They got some crazy dudes. And Minter's guys are always going to play crazy.

56:31And that's where I come back to Humphrey. And I think the biggest thing, you have to be able to fly around. You have to be able to tackle in this defense. It's like so critical because they're going to drop and play in space a lot. And they're not going to play man-to-man necessarily all the time. So you've got to be able to come up and tackle people. Cam Hart, Tarheem, still, you think of these guys like those aren't household names. But they tackled and they flew around and they wanted to play some physical ball. And, you know, I think Humphrey's got to be able to tackle. And that's going to be the biggest thing.

56:55And tackle numbers have fallen off. The athleticism's wane. So that'll be my big question with him moving forward. The Ravens offense to me is a bigger mystery here. Not just from the Declan Doyle, everybody's new play caller. He's 29 years old. He comes from Chicago. The assumption and we've seen, you know, Lamar didn't play in the preseason, but Lamar's going to be in her center. It's going to look more like Chicago, wide zone, play action, all that jazz. Fine, right? Who's going to be on the field? That's what I want to know, because this is a team that has used 11 personnel, three wide receivers, like the lowest rate in football or close to it.

57:36Patrick Hart is gone. Isaiah Likely is gone.

57:43What personnel groupings is the Ravens offense in 2026 going to measure in? Do they love Jacoby Lane, the rookie phenom, so much that he gets on the field with Zay Flowers and Rashad Bateman? is Matthew Hibner, the tight end, who's been flashing. Can he play credibly next to Mark Andrews? Do they like two backs? I genuinely don't know, John, because there's so much change. And we'll get to the offensive line in a second. But just purely talking about the skill players, the Ravens, you could set and forget it. 21, this percent, 12. I don't know what this Ravens offense is going to look like right now.

58:24yeah very hard to tell based on looking at their group you would just think okay mark anders there's no way you're counting him to play 100 of snaps the way that his career is kind of going at this point germ smith is a block only guy who was like a tight end three and i know it was a good room last year for the bears but he brought over he knows obviously the declan doyle like what declan wants to do so he's brought over some of that he's going to play but a lot kind of hinges on matt hibner who has had a pretty good priest a pretty good offseason so far i'm very intrigued by him i mean could it be like we get like 15 tight ends from this class that have like good years just because they're playing even if their individual skill sets aren't amazing um it is it is back to the question we said before the linchpin of how you want to play offensively or how many different ways you can play offensively is defined a lot by what you do with the tight end position and they're in position to do a lot in the run game maybe with the tight end position is that going to be good though and how much does mark andrews contribute to that a lot of people have thought mark andrews would be long gone by now in baltimore that his tenure was over and they've continued to say no we want you back we want you back we want you back is he want to buy into this role and have a career renaissance uh you know kind of late in the game here would be very interesting to see.

59:40I think that they are still going to play a lot of 12 personnel, but I would agree with you that even though he coming from this Ben Johnson space, where obviously they use a lot of 12 personnel, I would agree with you. They haven't really built the roster in a way that makes you think, oh, clearly this team's going to be heavy personnel, 12 personnel to every team, and they have all these young wideouts they like, so maybe Declan Doyle is going to zig, whereas the guy that he worked with before is ag, I don't know. Jacoby Lane, is got to be one of the more hyped rookies in recent history. And obviously he looked awesome.

1:00:17But, you know, it's a pretty – It's an interesting group, right? So if he is – Because Rashad Bateman is the X, has been the X in this offense. Zay Flowers, they move around, just got paid. Lane would hypothetically be competing with Bateman. that's it's I mean like do you try to get all three of those in the field or is there another player that you want in the mix I imagine that would be your one two three I don't even know how you would necessarily configure it though the Bateman by the way I did see had some comments about how he's being moved around a bit more which is something that intrigued me personally because I actually think that could serve him well to be more in the slot for example i think everybody's gonna move around that's my guess here i am really torn on this one because jacoby lane i thought had crazy talent when i watched him in the pre-draft process but he was so inconsistent he dropped the ball all the time he would mess up routes he would get in like these it was kind of pickens-esque i think that was who i talked about him being like compared to pre-draft but without like enough of the high-end stuff i think there were games where you'd be like oh my gosh this guy's like unbelievable i thought he was way more talented yeah i mean some of the catches were crazy but like there was definitely like a lot of inconsistencies and i found myself frustrated by him like not seeming to always know the routes and you know just sort of some of those things so talent wise if they can get him to buy in obviously that would be huge because i think he's got a ton of talent i really liked elijah surratt for all the reasons i didn't really like jacoby lane and he's had a good preseason too that's just been kind of over it's like the casey conception boston thing i'm sure we'll get to in a little bit where like who's having the better preseason you know I think obviously in this case Lane has gotten more buzz but Surratt's played pretty well too and so I am really interested in what he brings to the offense I would rather see those guys play than Devontae's Walker we'll see how it shakes out in the season um Zay Flowers and Bateman are probably gonna be your top two but again if you want to play 11 I would be really interested in this also if you want to play 11 but you kind of want to do a little 12 stuff is Elijah Surratt helpful to you like does he he's a bigger body he's played across the board yeah lane are all that's a huge receiving group maybe lane blocks for you maybe anyway i'm i think it's going to be pretty fascinating to see what they decide to do with this personnel i mean i was going back and watching some ravens reps and just like patrick card was so fundamental to this offense kind of crazy um they have a lucas scott is their fullback but yeah i the line we should address because that's the news of the day Danny Pinter was in line to start.

1:02:57He was carted off today. They did sign Ethan Posich, who's still recovering from Achilles, but is on track to play. That signing now looks to be pretty key. Tackles of strength. They revamped the guard position, drafting Vanga Ioane, which is the chalkiest pick of the NFL draft. And then they brought back old friend John Simpson, who had a bit of a down year last year, but has been, you know, at least a reliable veteran guard.

1:03:29You know, the center obviously is concerning because we just postage is coming off of the injury. I tend not to be terribly worried. I mean, we haven't even talked about Lamar Jackson, but I kind of felt like last year, the fact that he took a million sacks had a lot more to do with Lamar Jackson than anything and his health. And if he's healthy, I don't I'm not too worried about the interior of this offensive line. yeah i i'm worried about it but i agree with you that it's probably in a better place than it was last year because i think the guard play was so bad last year that there's no way you can be as bad this year joana is going to have growing pains of a rookie probably um although i feel really good about him i absolutely loved him as a prospect you know if it is post-it which it seems like it is not at this point now um there's real limitations there you know from even from an evaluation perspective just how they might want to play like i just don't know that he's that guy for if you look at the guys who now assuming the offense is going to be similar to what the run schemes have looked like in the past that athleticism at this position has been really valuable and i i don't know that in year 11 coming off injury see that he's kind of declined from being that guy and he already has like a different body type too so questions there and then john John Simpson's a mauler.

1:04:51He definitely can catch people at times, and you like things about him and the temperament that he brings, too. One of those guys they probably feel never should have left in the first place just because of the mentality of the player. There are physical limitations, athletic limitations here, too. Definitely a phone booth-type player. So I think that they're probably not amazing, but they should be better than last year. I know some people are really high on Linderbaum and think that's just a loss they can't get over. I actually don't think Linderbaum was that great last year in pass protection.

1:05:20I think ultimately your scheme is – I probably have a little bit of a different opinion on Linderbaum. I think he's a fine player, and there's things he can really help you with in the run game. But in terms of your dropback offense, I don't think that's going to be the biggest loss in the world. At the same time, I don't think that they upgraded to like stars yet either. So I think it'll be a group that's okay, but probably we're still asking questions about and maybe aren't quite on the level. Now I will say this, if the offense is similar in terms of the past game designs to what Ben Johnson ran in Chicago, that group has helped out a lot.

1:05:53So we'll see if it ends up being similar. Yeah, I think that's what I'm interested in seeing. If they come out, we see that under center zone blocking offense that we all expect. How does this group play together? What does it look like? I think the tackles can certainly execute that. That's where you obviously would have liked Linderbaum more so than the drop back game.

1:06:19The Ravens have been really good at that, Even as though their offense has been... It's been a lot of things in Lamar Jackson's time, but when they have executed the under-center zone blocking stuff, it's looked fine. Derrick Henry's not as efficient as he's been at times in his career, but I don't think showed any meaningful signs of decline to the point where you start to worry about it. Um, so I, I, I think, you know, the, I, I, I don't want to brush over the Lamar down year because I just, and I don't want to say, well, he was hurt and let's write that all off. But like so much of it was because he wasn't moving well, like the sacks, the lack of escapability, the unwillingness to run the way it changed the way defenses play.

1:07:14So I, he seems perfectly healthy. He has been around this off season, which is different. So I don't want to like look at this with two rose colored glasses, because like I said, there's a lot of moving pieces in this offense, a lot of unknowns, but if Jackson is back to even like 80 % of what he was in 2024, it's like, again, it's going to be fine. Jackson's had a different offensive coordinator two other times in his career where they changed. Do you know what happened those seasons? He won MVP in 2019 in his first year with Greg Roman. when he won MVP in 2023, his first year with Todd Munker.

1:07:51This offense also is great for him. I've been doing, can Jalen Hurts do it? Can Jane Daniels do it? Everybody talking about it because everyone's moving in this direction. We already know he can do it. Lamar, he's great at throwing. He's an incredible play-action quarterback. He's incredible at throwing over the middle of the field. He's incredible. I'm not worried about that. You're exactly right on that. That's a key point, I think. He's the most adaptable quarterback in the league, And nobody talks about that. Why do we not talk? I mean, he is truly, no matter what system you put him in, no matter what you ask him, he figures it out.

1:08:25And he plays it not just a good level, an MVP level. I have no reason to believe that won't happen if he's healthy again this season. So I could not feel better about Lamar. Especially the middle of the field aspect. Like those are his best throws in his arsenal. So going back to college. Yeah. So a lot of moving parts there. New coordinator could look a little bit wonky at first as the offensive line, you know, the center's coming back like right where it's easing. We'll see how that goes. But I think it should be fine. Life insurance is one of those things that's easy to put off because it doesn't feel urgent today.

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1:10:19Tonight, La Quinta. Tomorrow, you shine. Book your next trip at LaQuinta.com. Terms and conditions apply. I like things my way. My coffee, my schedule, and my treatment. So I talked to my doctor about self-injecting with the Vivgard Hytrulo Pre-Filled Syringe, which contains F-Guard Tegamon Alpha and Hyaluronidase QVFC. It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space on my time. It's my treatment, my way. Visit VivGuardMyWay.com. That's V-Y-V-G-A-R-T MyWay.com. And talk to your doctor about VivGuard Hattrulo. Brought to you by Argenics. All right, let's finish with the Browns.

1:10:59I spent a decent amount of time on the offense on Tuesday because this is the quarterback competition. i guess we could start there um i just can't fathom getting horribly i could tell you're excited about this tv segments where people like it has to be this i'm like who not who cares but like i can't fathom having like a strong emotion about this yeah and i'm with you i don't have one either you know i think shadora probably throws a little bit better than watson i'd rather see him yeah no because what's if watson plays well what happens what happens you have to sign but you know there's no point he's not gonna play there's no point and even what's playing well at this point is like him getting the ball out quickly and being like a point guard because we're i i you saw in the preseason game he looks the same that he did before the injury he's not going to push ball down the field he's he he you can see him passing up throws that he made earlier in his career so maybe it's more efficient maybe it looks a little better maybe the ball comes out fast fine but like what's what's the point i agree not much point uh and i don't know that either of these guys are going to be the answer long term i mean obviously watson won't be i don't believe that sanders is either so i don't think it's so much lost if you don't play sanders but from a process perspective no clue why you wouldn't play sanders just to figure out what you have you did draft him even if you apparently don't like him you know gabriel looked awful so you know how would does he ever mix figure into this mix you know i know they were saying on other shows let's do like taylor green does he get in this mix i'm go ahead i don't care like by the end of the season let's see it all you know why might as well but the whole story of the season for the browns is quinchon judkins denzel boston casey conception harold fan and spencer fauna like that's the season those four guys before people started dunk on me for saying that the browns for corvick away I legitimately like all of these young.

1:13:04Well, the line is still TBD. And we can talk about that. Yeah. The skill players, though, are fun, man. Like, you took two receivers in this draft, and it looks like you hit on both. I liked both of them. Bannon Jr. is awesome. We already saw that. Judkins was extreme. Dylan Sampson, who was, what, fourth round last year, was super useful as a third round back. Um, to me, you know, I'm not like just saying it'd be like Boston Concepcion. It's over. You got AJ Brown and Devante Smith here or whatever. I'm just saying they look promising and fun and they look so far like they did in college. Uh, the offensive line.

1:13:49So if the big question is like, can this offense be appealing to a young quarterback next year? The real question is probably the offensive line. You talked about Spencer Fano playing left tackle. They changed a lot. I'm still not quite sure what the exact configuration will be. I mean, Titus Howard's going to play right tackle. Okay, better pass protecting than run blocking. The interior is going to be some mixture of Zion Johnson, Elton Jenkins, better as guard, but they've got him playing center. Tevin Jenkins, who's struggled with health. So I don't really know how that's going to shake out.

1:14:31but I do think, yeah, I know. I think if Fano looks good, then you feel pretty good about next year. Yeah, that's the key because nobody else here, I mean, you would love if Zion Johnson's potential was finally recognized here. Surely that's actually a reclamation project, a reclamation project that they would probably say, this one kind of matters to us. That'd be really great to have him, especially with what they signed him for, like that they could get him. But I mean, it's the biggest Zion Johnson fan ever coming out of college. I absolutely loved him. I have given up hope. I have thrown in the towel.

1:15:06And that last year was the final nail in the coffin for me with that. Jenkins, obviously, older and some injuries. Tevin Jenkins, I think, probably, or Elton Jenkins, that was. Tevin Jenkins, probably a stopgap type of player, more viewed as. And Titus Howard, obviously, you know, an older player as well going into year eight. So, you know, they're still looking for the long-term pieces. Maybe Austin Barber, who I think was the third round pick for them, gets some chances at right tackle this season, too. We'll see. And Howard's had some injuries in the past. And so maybe he looks like he can be a reasonable star.

1:15:37I thought he could be like a decent starter type of player in the league. I like that pick, too. I was a little lower on Fano. His first game was interesting. There were some good things. There were some things that I think will get him into trouble against better players. But, you know, the season's all about developing him. I thought Conception was the best receiver in the draft in terms of like the star potential upside. If Tate was a little safer, those two guys were easily my one, two in the class. Boston, I really liked. I like Boston. He grew on me a lot through the process. Both those guys, I think, will be studs.

1:16:08So I'm excited about the pieces just like you are. We got to see it in real games. You know, I don't want to get too over the top about it. But at the same time, like, it's just good to have like young offensive pieces. And Harold Fannin is one of the most interesting because at first glance, you would, you would be like, is he actually fit where the league's going at this position kind of thing. But then you watch him last year, like he actually blocks, like he gets after people and I don't know whether he's going to have to do it a ton and he might always need to be like in the right offense for him.

1:16:37But I think there's a little more to him than meets the eye too. Actually don't even know. I guess Jack stole. I think they're second time with Joku gun. Yeah. I don't know. No clue. I do love Fainan Jr. The other thing I'd like is Todd Bunkin. I think he's a really good play caller. And I think we already saw that. He seems to have found his favorite new toy in Concepcion, who's gotten a lot of the Zay Flower comps. Zay Flowers comps, pardon me. And I think if he uses him anything like how he used Zay Flowers in Baltimore, that's a total win for this offense.

1:17:17maybe well I was going to say we're talking about the Steelers quarterbacks I mean I think Mason Rudolph would be better in this more productive for them than the quarterbacks on the roster I really do yeah I agree I agree that's crazy but I agree the Sanders internet came after me last year and at this point I'm like fine it's fine I have said I would rather see him than Watson okay but it's just what we saw like there just doesn't it's still he didn't show any sign of speeding up which was the thing I wanted to see he has a better arm he's willing to at least he attempted some good throws in the game but yeah it's I think and this is what I said on Tuesday for me the only question is like Can you ensure that you're developing these young players right now with the quarterback play to set things up?

1:18:18The defense should be very good, again, even after losing Myles Garrett. Jared Verse is in opposite Alex Wright slash Isaiah McGuire. Mason Graham, I thought, showed some flashes and improvement as the year went along.

1:18:38Malik Collins is still hurt. That sucks because he was really good. Uh, car, especially during your defensive rookie of the year is now going to be paired with Quincy Williams reuniting with, Oh, by the way, the new defensive coordinator, Mike Ruenberg from last seen Atlanta, uh, back end, very fun trio of safeties, grant up at Ronnie Hickman and Emmanuel McNeil Warren, who they drafted. Uh, and then corners, you have Denzel Ward, Tyson Campbell, and then I guess miles hard and probably gonna play nickel. Um, so I mentioned the new defensive coordinator, you know, this was such a distinct defense with Jim Schwartz, right?

1:19:10Played so much single high, particularly man coverage. I think the first question is whether or not it'll look the same without Schwartz and without Garrett. Rutenberg coming from Atlanta and New York kind of think it will. And I kind of think that's fine. I do wonder if maybe they'll turn up the blitz a little bit more without Garrett. but on the back end with Ward and Campbell and these safeties, they have the horses to do it. Yeah. I am so curious to see what schematically things look like because this was such a, I mean, every, Bozger changed everything about this team. Like, right. I mean, they were the fastest time to throw against the Browns.

1:19:50Like they're fastest. They were, you know, one of these teams that you change your scheme for, you change what you did in protection and Jared versus a really good player. He just isn't that type of player. That's why the Rams were willing to move on from, him even though they love him is because he just doesn't tilt the way that miles care tilts tilts game plans and so how much of a ripple effect did that have everybody else we're going to see I know the most important player on the defense this season to me other than verse and swessinger if we just say those guys are going to be who you expect them to be is mason graham because they obviously took him really high that's a really valuable pick I think you know that's a fine pick it was kind of my take at the time I don't think he's necessarily in the ilk of players who typically get drafted in that range at this position but maybe that was like that doesn't mean he won't still be like a helpful player for them i think he looked as last year he can be a solid player for them i don't know how high the ceiling is mccullins you mentioned is hurt emily collins and you know he was really good last year he's older and he seems to toggle between atrocious and great seasons like crazy so i don't know what to expect when he comes back but it's not a group that's like devoid of pass rush talent now that they've lost a mouse garrett they still have some guys they just don't have the tilter and if Graham and verse are beasts together and Collins comes back and provides something they'll still be a pretty dangerous group but I don't think they'll be on the level of what they where they were last year and I think Quincy Williams could add something to that if they decide to live more in the pressure world last year if you want to buy what Atlanta did they were like a really versatile diverse move people around Quincy Williams could could he be the guy playing the Caden Ellis role if they do something like that yeah I think there's a world which that happens I just don't know that it's like I feel like as confident about as I did you know coming out of watching Atlanta last year that they'll be able to replicate those things so definitely a good group I don't think they'll be quite as dominant as they've been with Garrett yeah I took them out of my top 10 but I think that they're I have them in the 10 to 15 range so it's still a good defense um you know whether or not they're great Graham is a great I think a really good player to focus on.

1:21:56But I do, I think swings on Jared verse a little bit because, you know, like he in LA, it's so funny, man. When the trade happened, the Garrett trade, he was almost talked about like as a throw him, which is such a contrast from how he was talked about his rookie season as like the next great pass rusher I personally feel the truth is somewhere in between closer to being great than the throw. He's certainly not throwing. So I don't want to I want to walk that back a little bit. He's not miles Garrett. So I think the question though is, is he a top 10 to 15, maybe 10, let's say 10 pass rusher in this league.

1:22:41And I actually think that's a little unknown because I think his game, it felt like it flatlined a little bit last year. You know, it's very oriented on power, obviously. Yes. Which is unusual for that position. Very unusual. And I think my question for him is like, is there another level to be unlocked? Because the other thing in LA he benefited from was playing behind next to very good. The rest of the Ramsey's line was very good. They're not elite. There was no Miles Garrett, but like Kobe Turner, breeden fisk boona ford byron young's really good group he didn't get double teams that much so i do wonder if he can in this new situation be the kind of player maybe that like his rookie year foretold i don't know i think that he is a very good player i'm 10th in my edge rankings i think oh i said it and you're probably thinking like oh right there yeah okay yes for the edge guys yeah 10th i my biggest thing with him is he is a pocket compressor so people are going to see these pop these pressure numbers and they're a lot of them are proximity pressures now those can still be valuable but he has not cleared the blocker on a lot of his pressures necessarily he's compressing and so he's therefore close to the quarterback but there's a blocker between him and the quarterback is that as threatening a type of pressure as pressures that have cleared the blocker and are impending hits on the quarterback to me probably not so some of the pressure numbers for him when you watch the tape you're like hmm yeah this is valuable the most value that this position could provide is by truly beating fully the guy and hitting the quarterback whereas a lot of the time with verse he is providing more of a compression type of pressure that works really well when you have the other pieces on the defensive line to compliment him i don't know that they have all those pieces right now, but could they get them?

1:24:42Yes. He's also a monster against the run. He's so physical. He's a tone setter. He's an emotional leader, intangibles through the roof. So there's a lot of other things that he brings that are really valuable. What the Rams looked at is they just looked at him and said, to be a pass rush in this league, to get to where we're going, when we have the opportunity to get the best guy, even if he's older, we're willing to throw you into that deal, put you in that deal, even though we'd love to keep you just because his upside, what he provides in terms of the 1v1 stuff is just so much greater and when we get in the playoffs every year we talk about it with the teams that why did the bills not get to the finish line why did the the ravens not get to the finish line they didn't have chris jones the chiefs had him it makes such a difference and they just think they found that caliber player with garrett obviously you know that's why they were willing to do the deal and the browns are going to get a good player but just not the same caliber stylistically so different and you talked earlier about like how the Browns with Garrett face the most quick throws, quick game in the NFL, that's going to change.

1:25:41And so it's going to, and that kind of also cuts back to the man coverage question. More is going to be asked out of everyone else on the Browns defense, even though I believe verse is a good player. And I think they're still going to be great in run defense structurally. That's interesting because they played a lot of heavy boxes. And we'll see if that continues with Robert, but yeah, I think it's just everyone else kind of has to be a little bit better to sustained top 10 play from the unit and we'll see. I think they've got young talent. Obviously the I've mentioned a lot of the players. I like, I like the safety group.

1:26:15I do like McNeil Warren. He was a struggle bus in the preseason. I went back and watched his reps just specifically out of curiosity. And he, he was definitely the bright lights like he, he, which made sense, small school of that, but like he was taking some bad angles. He had a real bad on the explosive of run a really bad play. But you saw why they're enticed by him, which is the athleticism. He moves different. He is big and fast and I think will be a good player. It just might take a second for him, but I'm still optimistic. Yes, he's going to be maybe one of the worst rookies, I would guess, but I think long term, there's still a future there to get excited about.

1:26:55Just an interesting one too because, again, they're very talented. Grant Delpit's such a beast and no one talks about him and Hickman's good. I mean, they don't need to play. They don't need to thrust into action right away, which is a privilege. It's a good team. All right. It's a good team, but it's not a great team. I doubt either of us have the Browns as our best team in the division. I'm going to go first here. It sounds like we're going to be different. I'm guessing based on the tenor of this conversation, we might end up with some different rankings. I am going to go Ravens, Bengals, Steelers, Browns.

1:27:31that's how i have it i thought you had the bangles above them i just was getting that vibe that you were you sounded so skeptical of the ravens in our conversation i'm skeptical of the o-line i think in some way especially if ronnie stanley goes down so that could derail things some but i still i just trust lamar so much mina that's the big thing like i just think he's gonna be good if he's healthy and if he's not healthy they're not gonna win so i'll be wrong but if he's if he's healthy yeah Yeah, I just think he's going to figure it out. He and Declan Doyle, I think enough of them that they're going to figure it out and be good enough.

1:28:03And I still feel like the Bengals have downside too, and I'm just tired of getting burnt by him, frankly. Joe Burrow misses every other season. I'm not getting burnt by him. So I just don't know what to think of them still either. So I think all these teams have questions, but I'm with you on the mentor thing too, and I'm with you on the Declan Doyle and Lamar Jackson thing. And to me, that is the biggest differentiator when you talk about quarterback and then coaching being the two most important things in the league. I think I'm more likely to bet on what I don't know fully, but I believe in in Baltimore in terms of how they built the thing than what I've seen and don't necessarily believe into that level, at least in terms of coaching with the Bengals and what I have way more questions about with the Steelers too over them.

1:28:47So yeah, actually my struggle is more between Bengals or Steelers for 2-3. Really? Because I think the Bengals floor just ends up, The Bengals floor just ends up being crazy low all the time. Like, but they're either like, it's just, but I, I, I ultimately don't believe in the Steelers. I actually have to like doing this exercise was higher on the Steelers than I was before. Cause I was like, I really like this receiver group. And I think this defense should have been top 10. I just feel the quarterback is just a limiting factor and it might be a limiting factor that doesn't end up showing itself until, you know, postseason facing the wrong team.

1:29:22It is. But it is what it is. Yeah, you've got to to the best in the division. My biggest curiosity with the Steelers is just they have been, I think, schematically and I've been saying this for years. I know people don't like to criticize Mike Thompson, but they have been schematically one of the most basic and behind the times teams in the league on both sides of the ball, really. and how much does just being a pro level group in terms of their scheme change with with some of the same players not all the same but a lot of the same players does that really dramatically change things or they kind of pass that point as a roster and is is McCarthy and Graham better but not additive enough to make a huge difference in terms of wins that'll be the big question at least there's change change is good uh where can folks check out your work this season yeah audibles and analytics is my sub stack it's a subscriber site so people can check out i got steelers bucks and then nfl podcasts that i do with ollie connelly we're gonna we're moving up this year this year gonna have a lot more content on there even more podcasts on there so excited about that this season and then you'll find all my written work and draft work too really deep dive draft evaluations podcasts and written reports on audibles and analytics that's my sub stack as well so that's where you can find all my content i will also be on the podcast you guys can check it out yes you can go check talking about the nfc west uh pretty soon so i'll put put that on my social so you can go check that out and if you don't already check out their podcast it is fantastic um thank you as always to my friends at omaha productions who make this show kirsten sebesky owens sailor jack foster tucker tashin i combined all of their names into one in my head uh and i also have my tv podcast david edis jr viewer discretion we are recapping two very good shows.

1:31:09I know some of these people listening are like, I'm not going to let you guys talk about Love is Blind. We are recapping Furious and Lanterns, both of which are awesome. So go check that out wherever you get your pods. We'll be joined next week by... Well, I'm going to keep recapping preseason, and then later, we'll be joined by some first-time guests. So stay tuned for a little bit more.

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