The Indy Project: Daniel Jones and Other Preseason QB Thoughts

26:59Ben Solak:I mean, he was hanging in there. He converted a third and long where he stayed in that pocket, a little bit of movement, and then he hit the dig. I think the Browns liked his ability to throw over the middle of the field a lot. I think they just looked at him and they thought he can execute Kevin Stavansky's offense. And I'm watching him and thinking that he's zipping the out route on third and down. And then he throws the pick. and it's tough because it was a combination of people's faults. You had two Browns receivers in the same place, essentially, one of whom was Deontay Johnson. Who I would not describe delivered stellar effort on this play.

27:42Ben Solak:However, Gabriel should have thrown the ball. There was a million guys. He should just throw it away. And then he keeps playing, and I thought he had a bad handoff that led to a fumble. But again, I thought he made a case for himself to be drafted where he was. I think that's how I would put it, right? Because people were surprised when he was drafted in the third round. It felt high. I thought watching him at Oregon, you could see a lot that would translate to this particular offense. I do believe that's what he put on tape here. I think where I come down on Gabriel versus Shador, Ben, is I think Shador is more talented than him.

28:29Ben Solak:I think he is. I think he's going to make more plays on his own. Like, obviously, he's going to do a little bit of scrambling and this and that. But I think he's more of a he's more creative. And I think, but I also think that Dylan Gabriel, I think Kevin Stefanski is probably going to look at him and think this guy's going to run my offense. Where did you come down on this? Now having a sample size of these two players. And it wasn't, it wasn't super Stefanski offense style, right? Like when Flacco's out there in week one, we're going to see like under center 13 personnel. Like they're going to go like full Kevin.

29:05There's, you know, there was a good amount of gun. There's a good amount of spread formations, right? Like they are, they are clearly willing to meet Gabriel somewhere where he's a little bit more comfortable. And then obviously they give him the menu of like, Hey, we want to get you on the move. We want to boot you. We like your ability to throw on the run. He's left-handed, which I think that, you know, Stefanski back in the Baker Mayfield days was like, Ooh, we're going to roll him out to his left. It's going to be so surprising. Like, I do think they like that. They can be a little bit wrong footed with the, the way the offense is built and catch guys, uh, uh, by surprise, restructurally, which is cool.

29:32I wish Gabriel were twitchier. Oh man. Like he had a, he, he, he managed the pocket quite well in this game. I thought he, He takes the right steps and he goes to the right places. He just, for a guy his size, you got to be quick, right? One of the things about Bryce Young, all the whole Steph Curry comp, Bryce has just twitch in his body, right, when it comes to the throwing platforms and it comes to breaking those pockets and escaping contact. Gabriel had a wonderful climb in this game on one of his early drives. Then he went to go scramble and just could not get the corner on a guy he needs to be able to get the corner.

30:02Ben Solak:I saw that. I was wondering if the hamstring was. So Dylan Gabriel, he was out with the hamstring, right? why he didn't play in week one. And when he went to scramble and he kind of pulled up, I was like, ooh, I wonder if that's hampering him to some degree. But, you know, it's not like he was lighting the world on fire with his legs in college. This is why somebody tried to compare him to Russell Wilson because another short quarterback, good arm. And I said, you can't do that because Russ's athleticism was not just a feat, like an aspect. It was the feature of his games early in his career. It's part, it's why, even though, you know, he didn't see them on the field or whatever, he's able to make it work to great effect.

30:45Ben Solak:He was incredible, right? Earlier in his career in Seattle. And Gabriel just didn't have that. He's just not, he's not as fast. But Sanders is taller. And I think that mitigates it too a lot. And no, Sanders absolutely is guilty of the same sins of, I'm going to make this high tier athleticism play, whether it's a throw or a run or a throw on the run. And you just don't have the facilities to cash that check, big man. Like that's just not something that actually is going to be in your game at the NFL level. I thought, right. I definitely also think that Gabriel settled in as the game went on. And again, you know, the Jihad Campbell start leaving the fields, right?

31:23And then the Drew Makuba start leaving the fields and different guys get on there. And obviously we play a little bit better. But I do definitely think Gabriel was very like jumpy, very herky-jerky to start. and then settled in. I thought played better as the game went on. He did have, I can't remember, it was a second and 15 dig that he threw. I can't remember who the receiver was, but it was right. It was a rhythm throw. It was hold the linebacker in place with my eyes and it was throw right off his shoulder. And it was just like, all right, if you can reliably do that, then we can access this area of the field that the Browns are going to be desperate to work middle of the field, right?

31:54That's the juice of the Kevin Stefanski offense always has been. That throw there to me, the Cedric Tillman out cut route. If you can get those intermediate routes open on time, right, could that ball out on time, get enough velocity on them to beat defenders. That's going to be viable if and when we see them play, which I think Flacco will hold that job for a while. But I think at some point the Browns will say, okay, we're two and nine. And we just want to see what the young guys have to kind of figure out where we stand for next season. And then you'll see, I think Gabriel in before Sanders would be my guess.

32:21Ben Solak:I think so too. I just looked up week three to see if they've announced what their plan. This is my game, by the way. We're going to, I'm going to Cleveland on Friday. So it actually has some juice because if Sanders plays again. What if you get the picket game? How will you feel? Interesting as well. I mean, let's be real here. One of these guys, if not more of them, are going to play for the Cleveland Browns this season. I think for Sanders, if you can put together a half a football where you just don't bail at all, you know i think that sort of development is going to be seen positively in the building um and what like what if kenny pig comes out and he looks worse than both of them you know i this is still open in my mind this qb2 competition and it's meaningful because they're going to play yeah pft is saying yeah flacco said i expect to play in the last preseason game and there's a lot of value in preparing to see yourself so you'll see you'll see a little broadway broadway no he's not broadway joe he's a different name is broadway joe what street is this relax you'll see this flacco flacco um okay let's take a quick break come back and talk about some offenses and whether we feel good or bad about them as you know managing maintenance repair and operations is never easy but for the ones who always rise to the challenge granger 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.

33:53Ben Solak:And because Granger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRANGER, click granger.com, or just stop by. 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. Watch the official Hard Knocks podcast on HBO Max, YouTube, or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

34:27Ben Solak:And watch Hard Knocks training camp with the Seattle Seahawks on HBO Max. Shohei Otani's interpreter was fired today. Ipe Mitsuhara ran up gambling debts to a Southern California bookmaking operation. The inside story of the biggest scandal in modern baseball. He was absolutely bananas, the amount of bets he was making. I've never seen anyone like it. From 30 for 30 Podcasts, this is The Betrayal of Shohei Otani. Presented by Gusto. New episodes available now. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. All right, we're back. I'm going to call this stock up, stock down. Going to throw out an offense.

35:07Ben Solak:We got some looks. Some starters. Let's start with the Bears. a couple Kayla Williams drives uh they've been I feel like the buzz out of Bears camp every time I'm on SportsCenter and they're talking about like it's Courtney Cronin talking with Bears or if I'm seeing something online it's like Ben Johnson is screaming at everyone it's disaster there I don't mean to like paraphrase uh like the vibes headed into this game were very shaky you know what i mean like in terms of what we were hearing then they show up it looks great that's how i felt i mean again they're playing the bills backups obviously but um to me this is the most comfortable caleb williams has looked as a pro comfortable and confident uh we got a little bit of a taste of the ben johnson caleb williams marriage and what that's going to look like under center, condensed formations, tight ends playing a huge part of it, the misdirection.

36:13Ben Solak:And Ben, I just felt very strongly that Williams, for the first time, not the first time, but certainly compared to last year, had total faith in the structure of his offense and also, notably, his pass catchers, which is something I didn't feel at all watching him last season. i was i was gonna make it through august without getting irrationally hyped about the bears i was gonna like i was gonna i was gonna slip i was gonna slip through the preseason i was gonna be okay i was gonna be like no like if they're good in the first two weeks then you can do it just don't don't preseason start buying bear stock because i love i love to be a year late on hype i think that oftentimes we're really big on a team in 2023 and then not something and then in 2024 a lot of what we expect actually comes to fruition and i'm gonna take a step forward I think the Bears are going to be quite good on both sides of the ball.

37:04And I think that their coach is going to make a lot of optimal decisions. And I think that they have some star talent. And I think that that looks like a sort of young team, right? Offensive line changes that can make like a big, big, big leap. Obviously, playing a couple of drives against the Bills, ones and some twos should not fully change that. However, as you said, precisely the way that it looked in terms of the timing and in terms of the aggressiveness and in terms of the trust and in terms of the comfort was extremely eye-popping. And to the Ben Johnson, you know, angry voice yelling point, like he has just always been like going back to the Detroit day.

37:40He was like a first time play caller, young nobody in 2022. And he was just reaming into golf during training camp practices, right? I mean, this is a guy who just, the way he gets the best out of his players is by putting a very, very high standard in front of them and letting them know about it. And while that certainly is going to lead to some like embarrassing days for Luther burden, the theory is that that's going to lead to improvement for Luther burden and for Caleb Williams and so on and so forth. I think that like that, the first play of that drive is just like a schemed up Colson Loveland under center play.

38:11Oh, this is so easy. Just okay. Get to a nice second and short. So that way we can go forwards. William sees a safety rotation and just screams that ball on time to cold. It's like, But man, that throw is just not as easy as that man just made that look. And if you have that level of natural talent and you have a coach who actually is precipitating it, drawing it out, creating a high standard is what we need you to do. Because Caleb still had that one late check down throw to the running back, which is totally out of structure, and he threw it from a bad platform. And the guy would have gotten deleted if it were accurate.

38:46Caleb still has this kind of like, I'm in the Pac-12, I can do what I want moments. but if he's being sharpened, if those are really, really diminishing at a fast pace, yeah, I mean, this offense is going to be quite good quite fast. The ball placement really jumped out to me.

39:02Ben Solak:I mean, you mentioned the same ball that he ripped to Komet, but the deep over to Loveland, that was also the Loveland, that was like on second and long or something. It was really long. I think that maybe they had had a penalty or something before that or a TFL or something. Perfect to set up yards after the catch. the uh the slant to Zaccheaus uh yeah is the Lomitian Zaccheaus permanently gonna be the best wide receiver three forever I love Lomitian Zaccheaus he's a great returner he makes he tracks the ball down the field he's good after the catch like his size speed it's not a leap he's one of my favorite players in the league literally bar not I think he's just such a delightful bee and every area you need him to be a bee he's the man um tight ends are gonna I mean this offense, Loveland and Kemet, I feel like are just going to be featured so prominently and so well.

39:57Ben Solak:I'm excited about it. Listen, pump the grade. Week one to get Minnesota. That's really challenging. I think it's possible that this offense looks better in the second half of the season than it does in the first half of the season. But first glimpse, very exciting. Okay. I wrote Bengals offense because we saw a lot of Joe Burrow last night. Really, I want to talk about the Bengals defense. I can't help but wonder if Joe Burrow wanted to stay in the game because he was watching the Bengals defense, thinking like, oh my God, I would have to. But he had a bit of an up and down debut. We'll get to the defense in a second.

40:38Ben Solak:I'm not worried about Joe Burrow. Obviously, Chase only played the first series and I don't think the offensive line was quite as bad as you know the highlight that's going around where Burrow takes it but first of all Burrow that's a really bad sack you're a knucklehead yeah it's terrible but the vibe coming out of this game from Cincinnati was pretty rough did you have any thoughts about the offense debuting before we get to the real problem yeah I think the important thing is that like they walked out against the Eagles and they were very clearly like doing the base offense. So it's okay. We get to throw Jamar Chase like seven times this game.

41:18They're walking out in a bunch of 12. They've got Drew Sample lined up at fullback. They're running ISO. They're running, you know, counter like they, they, I'm not saying they were trying to play left-handed. The script that they were using for this game was like, in my opinion, very clearly like a let's work on these things. And if this were, if they had showed up and an hour before the game, Roger Goodell had phoned down and said, hey, actually this game's going to count for the regular season record. I think they probably would have scrapped the game plan they walked in with and kind of put the real, not the real stuff.

41:46But again, like they would have put much more of the game in Burrow's hands than they did over the course of his time. They were trying to get Taj Brooks activated there on the third drive. Like this was three season. They were working on stuff.

41:58Ben Solak:Exactly. I think that they know that the Burrow Chase Higgins offense is what it is and i think we've seen this with the bangles that they want to get the tight ends more involved they want to get better at running the football you know and i don't know if bro was completely necessary for all of those that experimentation but i get why they did i mean i i don't think they they just intended to get the ball out of his hands super quick right on every There's no long developing concepts. This was just like, hey, let's get our point guard in there and let these guys cook. But it was, you know, there was some up and down moments.

42:42Ben Solak:The defense, though, was like red alarm, fire, just panic moment for me watching them. And after the game, they, I think it was Troy was talking about how, you know, well, they're, they, they got to pay Trey Hendrickson. I mean, I'm watching this and thinking what, what the hell does any of this have to do with Trey Hendrickson? By the way, like I love Trey Hendrickson. He's not a good run defender. So we should know. And a big part of two straight seasons of 17 and a half sacks is the way he participates in running plays as opposed to participating in pass downs. Right. And I think that, especially the second half last year, you saw that where, you know, he knew what he wanted, at henderson he wanted stats to to accumulate to be able to get a contract and that is completely defensible when you're the only guy on that defense who's really capable of making field tipping plays no this run defense thing is a everybody's not good everything is is is a problem and like i talked after pre-season one about how they're just like trying stuff and they are you know run blitzing and they're like making some structural choices to try to be creative dude this commander's game like they're playing just like they were supposed they're gapped out They were playing vanilla, we should be fine.

43:57We're rotating the safety down to the box run defense. And they just get molly walked. I mean, just get big boyed off the line of scrimmage. It is not good.

44:05Ben Solak:The linebacker position on this team right now is very concerning. Demetrius Knight is a rookie. But yeah, I want him to play next to... When you have the rookie linebacker and they're starting, you want them to play next to someone you feel good about. Logan Wilson it's just it's look it might look better as the season goes along there's a lot of young players I understand that but the early returns suggest it's going to be immensely painful at the beginning Jamar Stewart I mean you know just he by the way Stewart like his calling card kind of coming in was like okay well at least he's going to be good at run defense even if he doesn't know how to get to the quarterback.

44:56And the theory was like, as a goal, like as a penetration player, right? As a gut upfield disruptor, he will like cause problems and other people will go clean it up. He's when he's like, he, he was the unblocked play side end on the, on the Ja 'Cory cross game merit touchdown. He just like, he's unblocked. He just goes bananas. He just flies into the backfield. Like you could do that against Notre Dame. Cause it was going to be a red option, Riley Leonard. Like you got to go hit a lineman and somebody else can make the play for you. We got to, we got a capital D do capital Y you, your capital J job.

45:23Like you, this is the NFL brother. It really looked like they were like rushing the passer on everything. They are like, you brought the linebackers. They're, they're so bad in the first level. Like they just do not have got like Joseph Osai and, and Chris Jenkins and McKinley Jackson. And there's, you know, I we've seen some TJ Slate in this, this preseason. We haven't seen BJ Hill, but like they don't hold the point of attack at all. Like they are just consistently, it's not just losing and run defense. They can't condense any space. That's how you get the Will Shipley screenshot. That's how you get the Chris Rodriguez.

45:58There's so much air in the first level. The first tenet of run defense is close the space, make no daylight. We have to slow this back down. They're getting free space in the second level. It's crazy.

46:09Ben Solak:I don't think it's plausible to trade Trey Hendrickson for a bunch of defensive linemen and linebackers. That's like fantasy football. thinking it's not fancy football obviously but you know what i mean it's like but if there was something on the table i would seriously consider it because they're so they're just going to get run on man like it just i mean we don't even have to do the commander's offense i there's nothing to talk about there we can do it briefly you know you don't want to talk about bill people were posting that touch i'm like why are we looking at bill look at these Because there's so much fantasy hype for them right now.

46:48Ben Solak:I mean, they were just completely bodying the Bengals front seven. Yeah, I mean, you know, we go stock up. We got a nice little Debo jet sweep. I was like, oh, okay. That's what we're in for tonight. That's good. I think they're going to pay Terry. So, you know, that sounds like it's winding down a little bit. You know, I wish he had kind of was on the field during the offseason. But, you know, I think midseason form, I guess, kind of reminded me of what we saw last year. Not really much. I will say I'm, again, Bengals. I do feel really good about the commander's offensive line depth right now, watching those line, because, you know, Tunzel didn't play in this game.

47:31Ben Solak:They're pretty deep now at tackle. And I think that's exciting if you're a commander's fan, for sure. Okay, let's move on. In a contracting business, you're either growing or you're grinding. Success is no longer about hard work alone. It's about using AI to accelerate impact. Service Titan is the only integrated intelligence that seamlessly automates your entire workflow, from first call to final invoice. Born in the trades, built for visionaries ready to stop operating and start automating. Service Titan. AI for the trades.

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48:40Ben Solak:Before the season even kicks off, everyone's making predictions. Who wins the division? Who makes the playoffs? Who's lifting the trophy at season's end? On Kalshi, America's number one prediction market platform, you can trade those predictions in a live market. Will Pittsburgh qualify for the playoffs this season? Right now, they're trading at 40%, meaning a$100 trade would pay out over$250 if they clinch a playoff spot. On Kalshi, you're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house. And as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position. Trade the draft pick, the game, and more on Kalshi.

49:16Ben Solak:Download the Kalshi app and use code TRADE25 to get up to$500 in bonus credits when you trade$25. K-A-L-S-H-I. Kalshi. Trade on anything. 18-plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Call She products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see callshe.com slash regulatory. Let's talk about the Seahawks. Yeah. Stock up? I think you got to be stock up. I mean, like, I was pretty bottom of the stock for this offense in general, and so I can only really go up.

49:52But still, that was, you know, Clint Kubiak is good at what he does, man. They got well coached, and they understand how to be successful in this sort of a scheme fast. Like this is, you know, it, there's other offenses with first time coordinators across the league where you can see a lot more procedural issues and I think a lot more execution problems and Seattle's on it right away, which is nice to see. Yeah.

50:14Ben Solak:So, uh, the click Hubiak offense, so the Seahawks, uh, played their starters for, I think one drive. Against the Kansas city starters for the most part, not Chris Jones, but right. He didn't play. I don't think. No, no. Jones was out there. And then I think McDuffie didn't play either. Okay. But otherwise there were, you know, real NFL players on the field and they've kind of bodied them, man. Like it was 21 personnel, the fullback, Robbie. I don't know how to say his last name. I'll look it up. They are using him. Under center, the outside inside zone running game, just absolutely moving bodies, misdirection back there.

50:55Ben Solak:Easy completions off the play fakes for Sam Darnold. I think. the thing that is, gives me the most optimism of all of this was just watching how good the offensive line looked in this system, right? Because I've been saying this all summer, this Seahawks offense goes as far as the offensive line takes them in run blocking. Really believe that the whole approach has been predicated on the idea that if we throw in, you know, first round guard, Gray Zabel, who looked fantastic, by the way, and we run a different offense with better coaching, commit to this run game, we can build everything off of it.

51:40Early returns suggest that they're capable of it.

51:44Ben Solak:Now, these are the types of offenses that tend to look good in the preseason. I mean, you know, so you don't want to overreach here, but this one drive was definitely uh promising for for the kubiak offense so robbie boots is pronounced like boots it rhymes yeah boots without the b which i think is a delightful name for a fullback the uh zabel you brought zabel i thought the the center the undrafted guy out of north yeah yeah yeah he stood out to me a little bit because i've always been an old with teamy guy but I thought that Sundle had himself like a very clear performance as to why he's stepping into that center role.

52:27And when you have an interior that you trust on the hoof and you trust on combos, like that's a very, very big part of making this sort of a running scheme successful is those guys climbing to the second level being impactful. And that's where I thought Sundle was at his best specifically in this game. I also thought it was significant that it looks like Barner is going to be the guy who's more so running in the first team tight end, the 11 personnel guy over Elijah Arroyo, which I think is definitely the right move. I thought Barner had a very impressive rookie season and is an impact player as a blocker at the tight end position so again if you want to get this running game working you're dedicating the resources to doing it with with that interior front no Kenneth Walker as well so this was also Sharpener he's obviously a great running back too but you have a chance to have even more juice at your ball carrier spot so to me like check check check check check check obviously like when this offense was in New Orleans last year they had their two unbelievable games against the Panthers and the Cowboys.

53:17And then you run into an Eagles team that's like calling fronts to make the running game a lot harder. And even before, because they had offline injuries in that game, and that was kind of the beginning of the end. But eventually you're going to run into a team that has walked in with a game plan to say, okay, you're not going to run it on us. Sam beat us in the dropback game. And that's where my doubt has always been with the Seahawks offense. And obviously that remains, but it's nicely proof of proof of concept. At least you're going to be able to put defenses in that position and make them make that choice.

53:42Ben Solak:I actually think week one is just a fantastic litmus test for both the Seahawks and the 49ers in that regard, right? Because, again, we know the Seahawks, they've made it very clear what their vision is on offense this year, which is very, you know, under center, running the football, heavy bodies on the field, outside zone. the Niners this entire offseason has been about stopping that this was our weakness bring back Robert Sala we're drafting run defenders we're trying to improve at the line of scrimmage all right let's see right you both really want you both had glaring weaknesses CX could not run the ball the Niners couldn't stop the run week one baby let's see who comes out because we we know what it's gonna look like right you know and um I think uh yeah it's gonna we're going to learn a lot about these teams very early from that game yeah the other thing i will say it was the top of my notes and i've looked right past it i want to talk about sundell you know who looks extremely healthy abe lucas looks extremely healthy and that is the the story has always been hey our tackles are good enough and well you know we'll help our interior we'll solve the problem whatever and that just hasn't been proof proven a lot because lucas has been either unavailable or playing banged up lucas looks like lucas i remember from 22 rookie season 23 whatever Lucas looks back and that's very nice to see Let's do the Jets J-E-T-S Tough initial outing for Justin Fields Thus far Jets fans are starting to panic a little bit Where are you at?

55:14Ben Solak:The stat line is ugly Where are you at on the Jets offense? Do you think Fields is going to be Benched at some point? What's the panic level? it's a it's a one like this to me is like a classic preseason panic spot where like was it good no is it stocked down absolutely however you go and you want like you put the film on that game the giants first string defensive line is out there and they're just ruining everything and and jets fans say oh but like you know the giants can do that to us like so on so forth no like this giant's defensive line man yeah it's gonna be like this is gonna look this way for a lot of teams including some good teams you're gonna play some worse offensive lines and you're gonna be able to run the ball very more effectively i opened i missed this jets giants game completely i only heard about like oh aaron glenn is furious my mom is here this week she's a jets fan she's like oh my gosh aaron glenn's pressure going crazy then i put the film on i was like oh this wasn't nearly as bad as i thought it was going to be they had execution problems you know they had some operation issues that's the stuff that are that like will really kill you if that's still going on in september but then they're right they're they're trying to run the football they're trying to be super option oriented and there's just one play it's rakeem nunez rochez or ro Robinson harris the next play it's abdul carter the next play it's brian burns like it's just one guy's getting in there being the grain of sand in the operation the theory of the jets offense is going to be that we're gonna be able to run the ball with this offensive line with this quarterback with this tandem of backs against most defenses i still buy that theory even though against the giants absolutely like you know they're having trouble getting it going fields still got to be better throwing the football down the field but was for as bad as the stat line looked like the the reps and opportunities were not that high and they're you know as we knew it was going to be a problem with this team if Garrett Wilson's not open right now the second pass catching issue is is glaring yeah guys weren't really open and some of that had to do with him having to hurry his throws because of the Giants offensive line some of that had to do with guys just not being open this is not Justin Fields apologia I am skeptical about him having a great passing season um but I'm just I I echo your belief that this preseason game was a little bit um i really thought it was going to be like disastrous and i was like oh no they're just like losing up front he wasn't like missing wide open guys over it was just um yeah yeah to me i feel the same way i did before which is just going to come down to whether or not they can build like a formidable rushing attack braylon allen man whoo boy vision i was just writing down like watching him i was like okay we feel good about this the contact balance the tackle breaking ability the bursts all there the sooner they get to we're gonna get breeze hall seven catches a game because we want to get braylon allen seven more carries a game the better this is gonna be this this this this team should get legitimately like 25 plus touches to their two backs over the course of a game but for breeze who like we forget breeze's rookie season he had like 75 catches like It's got to be through the air for Brees so you can open up space for Allen.

58:10Totally agree.

58:11Ben Solak:The Raiders. This is a stock up for me. 100%. Week one, you know, Ashton Gentry had the three carries for negative one yards. This performance, backups I know, felt like Chip Kelly kind of opened the book a little bit more, letting them know, which that was cool. Like, we got a little bit of a preview of some of the things I think that they want to do with Geno and with this run game and with these tight ends. Geno, in the pistol for a lot of this, by the way, is something I kept taking note of. You know, just, he's going to give these guys a chance downfield. And when it's Brock Bowers, good things tend to happen.

59:00But Gentry was the story of this game.

59:04Ben Solak:Obviously, the truck strict run went viral. I think what jumped out to me on that, Ben, was everybody blocking. Yeah. Even the Thornton and Tucker were getting in the mix there. There's going to be a commitment to the run, not just from just having Jenty, but I think this entire offense, it's going to be creative. The skill players have to block. I've been this big part of this, right? And I think a lot of, I think defenses are going to have a really hard time with this group if they're able to run the football like that. Yeah. An enormous change from the Chip Kelly that NFL only fans saw in the mid 2010s to the Chip Kelly you're going to see now is that the running game is going to be right.

59:53Ben Solak:You just said NFL only fans. And I was like, what? Uh-oh, excuse me. NFL exclusive, exclusive NFL fans. Only NFL fans. It looked like there was like an only fans. uh the only difference between jim kelly now is that the running is giving a lot more diverse a lot more multiple and like you said critically is going to include uh skill position players right it no block no rock you're gonna have to be involved in the blocking schemes and with i think with uh uh jacoby myers always been good in that but with thornton and tucker looking like they're the only other two the only other two starting receivers that was a legitimate question i had because i really thought that jack basher's gonna get quickly into this lineup in large part because of that value that he brings.

1:00:31And he's been stuck on that depth chart, being out by that fourth round rookie. So far, it would seem in Thornton. The Thornton thing is weird to me, though. They keep getting him these one-on-one targets outside. And he just isn't. I know.

1:00:43Ben Solak:Do you know how the go ball to him and Thornton was looking back too much? Or he wasn't able to run through it? I understand that in camp, he's been extremely active and eye-popping. In the two preseason games, my only visual exposure to him, I'm kind of like, I don't see it. We seem to be struggling in live game action. Anyway, I'm sure they'll figure that out as the season goes on. But the amount of tackle breaking ability that they bring in Gentian Bowers and even Jacoby can do it. But then the speed that you bring in Tucker and Tucker and Thornton, plus a guy like Chip. Yeah, this is just going to be a big handful to deal with.

1:01:14Like there's too much unique skill position talent with a good OC for this not to be a problem, even if there's offensive line shakiness.

1:01:21Ben Solak:I still like Mike Mayer, the tight end too. He had the really nice touchdown grab. He's got really good hands. He, I think, has got to work on his blocking ability to be a huge part of this offense, to fulfill the 12 personnel dreams that I think we all have for it. But I am optimistic. Like, they don't need three receivers to make this thing go, is I guess what I'm saying. Bowers, I mean, come on. Like, he's just insane. That catch. That vertical catch, yeah, yeah. Him and Gino are just going to feed families this year. I'm so excited for it. First three routes for Geno were all vertical balls up the sideline.

1:02:02Two of the three calls were four verticals. All right. Chip knows exactly where Geno's bread is buttered. We're shooting. We're throwing the football.

1:02:10Ben Solak:Also, better outing for the offensive line, which to me, you know, if I have concern about this Raiders offense, they mix things up. You love Colton Miller in a little bit. Jordan Meredith is starting a center. JPJ is playing guard after some offseason confusion on my part. I thought they looked good, but again, backups and all of that. Okay, a couple more. Let's talk Patriots. Patriots played starters, some of them.

1:02:41Is Efton Kism what you thought Jack Besh was going to be? Is it Kism or Chism?

1:02:47Ben Solak:Chism, Chism, Chism. I don't know which one it is. I only watch these games on tape, so I don't know. Okay, stock up, stock down. Patriots offense. I think generally stock up. I don't think anything was, was super spectacular. I think that the fact that this wide receiver rotation is where it is, where it's like, I understand there's injuries, right? Kyle Williams is not available, but we're walking out in the first couple of plays and it's, it's Keishon booty and Matt Collins. And you're just like, like, are we going to do this again where we don't have the receivers necessary to cash the Drake may checks.

1:03:16Like the, the, the DeMario Douglas miss in the intermediate level of the field is such a good example where it's like, Oh, maybe the ball too high. I don't know. That's a five, eight receiver and it's catchable in a tight window. I feel like we need to be able to expect our receivers to make some plays for our quarterbacks here. I do not feel any better about the state of the wide receiver talent. Again, understanding that Diggs is not available and Kyle Williams is not available and hopefully that's going to improve. But I think the line is fine enough. I thought Will Campbell had himself a totally acceptable day.

1:03:47They had Ben Brown in the left guard instead of Jared Wilson who had some injury and they also want to see which duo they like better and while I like Jared Wilson as a prospect I think I prefer having a veteran player or at least a more experienced player next to Will Campbell than having two rookies on the left side and then I continue to think that May is just like it he had his bad moments get the Brian Flores defense everybody does but May to me just continues to be like extremely on time the arm talent is clearly there he understands the offense well like they're going to be good not good they're going to be better than they were last year the wide receiver talent's going is at the ceiling.

1:04:19Ben Solak:Yeah, I agree. I think people maybe are getting a little bit over their skis with this team because there's still a work in progress from a roster standpoint. The receiver room is still has a lot of question marks for me, but my takeaway from the preseason was the building blocks they have chosen look good early on. Um, you mentioned Campbell who I thought played well, the offensive line is going to be Morgan Moses and played right. He's that's going And I've also looked for on the right side. It's Ravion Henderson. Very exciting. Young man. I am very optimistic about him. The touchdown run, I thought, you know, because he had the big return, obviously week one.

1:05:04Ben Solak:He's so explosive. His top end speed is so impressive. But I really do believe he can run between the tackles. He's obviously not like, you know, power back grinder type, but he has like the vision and burst, the ability to get skinny, makes the right reads back there. And the patience too. I thought the timing on the touchdown run was really nice. So I'm really interested to see where that backfield shakes out. I know I, I, me too, because I, it does. I know you don't want to make the Jameer Gibbs comparison, but it does really have that feel of the Gibbs Montgomery, where Gibbs just start getting more and more of the snaps as they realize he can do more.

1:05:44Ben Solak:I kind of think that's how it's going to play out with. Yeah. And Stevenson can catch passes too. Like that was like, he's a 230 odd pound back, but he's always had soft hands. And so if you want to, you don't have to do this early downs, late downs, right? You can do this where you're giving Travion Henderson first and 10 carries between the tackles. And I think that given his juice, that's justifiable. The Stevenson issue is the fumble issue, right? Where he just put the ball on the ground so many times. And so I wouldn't be surprised if this is, you know, whatever, 50, 50, 60, 40, whatever you want to call it some like decently even split of usage early and then if stevenson starts putting the ball on the ground again like henderson could it's very it's very possible he just takes over this backfield period depending on how stevenson does with ball security yeah that's going to be one where i think much like a lot of these it's going to look better later in the year at the beginning potentially but yeah i'm optimistic with the running back group optimistic about the young players um really quickly also from the game that i had this weekend the young charges receivers trey harris and keandre lambert smith pretty excited about what we saw did you see the um herbert deep ball to k yeah that was like the oh the phantom rolled up you know he also he threw him a 1v1 in the end zone when there was like a read on the opposite side but he wanted to give him the one-on-one it's like all right we trust the fourth round rookie a little bit yes we do um you mentioned some concerns about the niners offensive line dominic pooney might have a pcl ben barch is still out with an honest ghost industry at left guard and so they're playing the seventh round rookie there he had a really tough time against the raiders defensive tackle room which we're talking about the raiders defensive tackle room right now uh they have no backup left tackle right spencer burford is the backup left tackle right now because they They are paper thin on the offensive line and they're dealing with August injuries.

1:07:33It's worrisome.

1:07:34Ben Solak:The thing that everybody was concerned about with this team is I remains concerned and perhaps grows ahead of week one. I'll hit that again closer to the season back next week. Later this week, we're doing the AFC South final divisional preview. Now that we know that Daniel Jones is the quarterback, a little bit clear, Ben go check out. Ben has a story on ESPN.com talking about his training camp visits. So everybody should go check that out. Otherwise, I'm sure we'll get you on again before the season starts. So thank you for coming on, Ben. Whoa!

1:08:18Ben Solak:Close your eyes, exhale, feel your body relax, and let go of whatever you're carrying today. Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-CONTACTS. Oh my gosh, they're so fast. And breathe. Oh, sorry. I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800-CONTACTS.com today to save on your first order. 1-800-CONTACTS.