We’re Almost Dak! An NFC East preview

31:06Not only that, his offenses have not been stellar. So I'm very curious. This is the great mystery, dude. I don't know how that translates directly. But the offensive line, as you asked originally, the talent's there. The girth is there. I keep saying that. Sorry. But they're big. I mean, and so they're going to be. They have a type. They have a type. They're going to be physically imposing. And so Dak loves that, I know. They're going to cram it down your throat. And so, but what does that lead to on the back end? What does that look like with the rest of the offense in production throughout a whole season?

31:42The Schottenheimer thing is like the great mystery here. I saw, I can't remember what show it was, but somebody was saying, well, you know, Brian Schottenheimer loves to run the ball. And I thought, well, we don't know that, actually. Because, like, it's varied so much at different spots. We'll go back to Seattle. I think that's what they're thinking of. But Brian Schottenheimer was the architect of let Russ cook. And then Pete Carroll stepped in and said, uh-uh, this is not working right now. There was reasons for that that were justified. But it wasn't his decision to go back to running the football.

32:14um so I think like there's still some questions about who Brian Schottenheimer is as a play caller who he is what he's going to do with this offense when he was hired he gave his press conference where he talked about how he wanted to modernize it and he wanted to use more motion and this and that okay cool like I just I've actually kind of said pause I I want to see what this looks like sure but he has good pieces to work with starting of course with those two we haven't even talked about the quarterback I mean Dak Prescott you know he struggled at the beginning of last season. There was a few reasons for that.

32:44He's had a lot of injuries. He's two years removed from being one of the three best quarterbacks in football. I think we know who he is at this point in his career. Aggressive, accurate, not super mobile. There's certain parts of the field he likes working. I think just, you know, I, you know, like this is not a big mystery at this point with Dak Prescott. And I think this is certainly the best receiver group, even compared to when Gallup was great. This is an unbelievable duo. I may be overbuying it, but I'm interested in seeing how George Pickens responds, too, to being around a dude, because he just hasn't been with a guy like CeeDee Lamb.

33:27Yeah, you wonder how that has affected his temperament of just having, you know, there's Alpha in the room already. So you can kind of go be, you know, wear your shysty, Go do your thing. But when the ball comes on 37, back shoulder, I just need you to pluck it. I need you to win the jump. That's it. Yeah. Okay. Defensively, I think there's some changes here with Dallas. Demarcus Lawrence is gone. So you're looking at an edge opposite Micah Parsons of either Marshawn Nealon, who was their second-round pick last year. Donovan Ezraku was the guy they picked this year. who's a very technically refined, undersized pass rusher.

34:07Dante Fowler from the Commanders, by the way. He was decent last year. Opposite Micah Parsons. Inside, it's still Mozzie Smith and Osa Digizua, who got paid. The linebacker group they overhauled. It's still not great. Kenneth Murray Jr. That deals, yeah. Yeah. Jack Sanborn, who I'm telling you is going to play because he was decent in Chicago. Corner, it was really tricky because there's so many guys coming off of injuries actually there was more holes than i thought when i was looking at it because i was like i don't like trevon diggs what's his status deron bland is he gonna play inside or outside they did draft another guy coming off of injury and shavon revel jr i don't even know the nickel is maybe land maybe israel mcquamu and then the defensive coordinator is a big change uh matt i'm gonna start with the i think just the question you have to start with this Cowboys defense.

35:05Do you think there's any chance they'll be better at stopping the run? Yeah, just because they were basically at the bottom. And so there's only where to go is up. I mean, they, you know, rushing yards allowed, they were, I think, 29th per game. Touchdowns allowed, they were dead last. And it's kind of, it was a sneaky bad unit. I mean, yeah, they were 7 and 10 at shows. but they were they were just a very injured last year a lot of the guys i mentioned man overstone injury really it sucks because he would be such a answer to so many problems yeah so um yeah you're now you're you're playing chicken with your franchise uh edge rusher which is i mean as we speak every second he's just getting richer but it doesn't make sense But, okay, so, yeah.

36:00For the run defense. The Ebert-Fluis effect, I think, will have some positive impact on this defense. Go on. They, for the longest time, they were always this four down front. You know, when I played, I was with the Giants in the division. You know, they had, you know, Monty Kiffin and stuff. But they were always a four down front, and they liked to move. And they used DeMarcus Lawrence. They used maybe lighter bodies inside. They called it a pirate stunt. They'd crash the three technique at the end and they'd bring a linebacker. They were trying to fill gaps. And then they transitioned into, hey, we're just gonna play kind of a straight four down front and we're gonna move Micah Parsons around.

36:38Use him as like a pass rushing weapon like a hammer. The Eberflus influence, I think, is gonna make them really more gap sound. And which is gonna allow, I think, just predictability. Because you just didn't know what gaps guys were in last year. and that led to so many explosive plays. They, I think, they have been lacking in size. I think Mozzie Smith needs to kind of step up, but I think he is what he is at this point. But I think at the very least, if they play more sound in the interior, that's going to allow them to just be in manageable third down scenarios. And so that gives you a chance to get off the field.

37:22They just couldn't get themselves off the field. And that was something that you're just like, you're pulling your hair out because, yeah, they had a lot of injuries, but there was a lot of self-inflicted things that they did to themselves. Yeah, I think the case for the run defense being better does start with Matt Eberfluss doing a better job of coaching some of these players, the linebackers in particular. Again, it's not a group of world beaters. But Jack Sanborn in the Bears defense was actually pretty good before he got kind of edged out because they they paid some guys who were also good but um that could kind of be the whole what this all hinges on to me speaking of the ever flus defense you know i do like osa digizowa who's been very good for them it's a really good pass rusher yeah i think has the opportunity like you know iberflux defense has always had really good pass not always but the really stud pass rushing three tech is such an important part of their four down front and you go back to indianapolis for example with buckner and i think osa could be really really important to them um i also think you know one of these other edge rushers you know so demarcus laurice barely played last year marshall nealon was injured so and then the other corners were injured if one of these guys as a roku who i liked a lot i mean michael parsons is so outrageously double teamed all the time yeah there's such opportunity here for whoever gets to play opposite him.

38:50I do worry about, yeah, he was the second most double-teamed edge in the NFL, of course. I do worry about all the injuries on the back end. You know, I don't know even who, like, Diggs is right now. I don't know. I hate to kind of say the same thing I said about the commanders, but, like, I think the best case for the Cowboys is that the offense scores a million points and that the defense gets to get after the quarterback. I like the Kyrie Elam signing. you know he's kind of on up and up in Buffalo and he has a lot of potential but he's kind of going to get thrust into this thing right away which I couldn't see your face I don't know about that but yeah but ultimately if they can generate pass rush that'll be less pressure and then we'll see where the Duran Bland that led the league and yeah injured last year but yeah we'll see Two years in a row, he had like a zillion interceptions.

39:47Unbelievable, you know, magnetism to the ball, which is funny. You know, I've sent a lot of discourse about how do you judge corners just because the best corners don't get thrown to. Yeah. But a guy like Bland got, you know, has so many balls come his way and he's, to his credit, picking them off and deflecting them. But how do you judge the effectiveness of a corner if no one's going towards him? So it's just a fun macro conversation, but they definitely don't have a stud with Diggs not being back full health. But if they can generate some pass for us, that'll take a lot of pressure off them, especially early in the season.

40:28As you're kind of gearing up, offenses are generally behind defenses earlier in the season. So defense have a lot less to install. Younger players can kind of be injected into the defense and just kind of you can put them in on third down. and hey, you do this, go see ball, hit ball. And that allows you to kind of, you know, jump out on teams early in the season. So we'll see. All right, Dallas Cowboys, take a quick break, come back. And let's do the Giants next. What does it feel like to have a better laptop like the Dell XPS powered by Intel Core? With a premium design that's thin and light, it feels smooth, very smooth.

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42:24Learn more at visit.kpmg.us slash velocity. All right, so the New York Giants. I had them in my top 10 defenses, by the way. Got a little bit of heat for that. So they're different from the teams we just talked about. The offense is, of course, a bit of a mystery because we don't know how long Russell Wilson is going to be the starting quarterback. So I think that's kind of the most important lens through which to talk about this offense is, can it be, can Russ be good enough in it to fend off jackson dart or are we going to see jackson dart super early so to remind folks who he's working with the rookie sensation malik neighbors wanda robinson darius layton uh jalen hyatt zach pascal theo johnson and daniel bellinger at tight end tyrone tracy devon singletary pretty similar to last year i think that the offensive line uh is going to be andrew thomas john yernian and Schmitz Jr.

43:37than maybe like Evan Neal or Greg Van Roen. I think they've been talking about Evan Neal playing guard, Illuminor. Yeah, Evan Neal's on his last leg. Once you get bummed down from tackling a guard and you're not a shoo-in on this line specifically. Listen, I love Greg Van Roen. I play with him. He's a great guy. He's an older vet. I think they would prefer Evan Neal with his body style be the guy, but him not being the guy at this point says a lot. But yeah, this is the same offensive line that they're returning, however, that basically exposed Daniel Jones, which I think they're, you know, in a weird macro sense happy about, is that, you know, he's kind of, they got him off the books.

44:22Obviously, we wanted him to succeed long term, but now Russell Wilson is playing behind that same, like they didn't do anything. And this is, you know, a 7.5 % sack percentage, which is like 20-somethingth. And it's the same off the line. I think there's that clip going around. Obviously, OTAs, you know, running around in underwear, where Abdul Carter, Kevon Thibodeau, and sorry, what's the other? Brian Burns. Yeah. Brian Burns gets to the court of getting Russell Wilson all at the same time. You know, like, wow, that's amazing. That's an incredible jet pass package. But that's the offensive line that they're trotting out there to protect Russell Wilson, who, by the way, is no longer a mobile escape artist like he was for all those years.

45:14And so you said it. The clock is ticking on. When do you pull the trigger on Jackson Dart? Because all the reports are he's got a chance. And so does that with, you know, there's an avalanche coming at Dave Hall and Sean that was coming last year. I'm shocked it's two years. Can I say it too? I feel like Joe Shane has been like, wow, he's really crushed it in the draft. I'm like, he built this offensive. It's an expensive offensive line, by the way. These are high draft picks. These are free agents that he signed. And it's been horrible. Andrew Tuchel is the only good player. at this point maybe schmitz takes a step maybe you know but i've not been great as you're not here for the joe shane redemption whatever's happening but anyways um i think the question of like can russell wilson is this going to be would just be like really really bad so look some of us they have a horrendous schedule and it might not matter even if he is plays decently they might just have you excuse me i'm sorry i'm interrupting have you seen their first nine games yeah it's really it's Not a lot of wins there.

46:24It's crazy. I'm praying for it. But in a vacuum, I think the group of receivers, you could actually see Russell Wilson pairing decently. So Russell Wilson in Pittsburgh last year, second in QBR on throws league-wide over 20 yards, 25th on throws under 20 yards. That is not a sustainable formula for success in the NFL, well, but it speaks to what he does well at this point in his career, which he throws a beautiful deep ball and Malik neighbors, Darius Slayton. Those are players who get open. Maybe Jalen Hyatt. So there's the problem is just, I don't think he's going to have time to do it consistently.

47:07And I think the sack rate is going to be too high. There's just going to be too many three and there's, it's just going to be too inefficient. Tyrone Tracy check downs.

47:19I like Tyron Tracy. I like him, too. I like him, too. He's going to be in protection a lot, or they're going to jet him out, and he's going to catch a lot of balls in the flat, I imagine. But then that brings us to the next question, which is, like, do you feel comfortable putting Jackson Dart behind this? Well, there you go. I mean, that's just the progression of we gave Washington credit for being proactive. This is on the other end when you stand pat with something that was demonstrably not a good product on the offensive line production side. And ultimately, there are not that many quarterbacks in the history of the NFL that can overcome an offensive line.

48:01I speak from having played on eight different teams, a lot of great offensive lines, and when we weren't clicking, the offense didn't go. And when we were clicking on all cylinders, I was part of an offense that set the record in touchdowns and passing yards. And so this unit has to step up. But if you don't know if Evan Neal, this behemoth of a guy, can lock down the guard position, which he was originally not drafted to be, he's drafted to be a tackle. And your franchise tackle is the only part that's really just like solidified. And you've got an aging quarterback and a rookie behind him. And oh, wink, wink, Jameis sitting there too.

48:44Is Jameis still there? No. Yeah, he's still there. Yeah, he's still there. Yeah. But this is not a good recipe. And I think Malik Nabors will have something to say about that for sure. I'm excited to see him kind of take the next step. And I like the Darius Slayton sign. I think he has a lot of go left in him. But this unit has some issues. This unit's... It's not, I think... I like Kafka. I don't think it's like a, you can see a world in which Thomas is back. He's amazing. Luminor is competent. They drafted Marcus and bow. It was, I think going to be like a swing tackle for them. So there's a little bit of depth there.

49:32Maybe Schmitz Jr. Takes a step. I think John Runyon was playing hurt last year. So my feeling is if the offensive line can just be like in that 15 to 25 range, you know, there's enough there with the pass catchers you got a creative play caller like you could it's not like you know david carr right for when jackson dart plays um but you know you just you don't want him playing behind this offensive line against some of the better pass rushers in nfl context matters um week one washington week two dallas week three kansas city week four la chargers then philadelphia and denver philadelphia again and then san francisco uh that's pretty brutal out of the gate so the optimistic case i keep saying case the to turn this conversation around.

50:37Let's turn that frown upside down, Giants fans. Defense.

50:42So I got into this a bit on the defensive pod. If you're an offensive court, put yourself in the brain of Cliff Kingsbury or whoever you're gripe against this group week one. The first person you're thinking about is Dexter Lawrence, who is arguably the best defensive tackle in football. You could make a case for him being the best defensive player in football, to be honest. Dexter Lawrence last year was the most double-teamed player in the NFL. He was double-teamed 75 % of the time, according to True Media. So you're thinking, all right, we got to allocate resources to stopping Dexter Lawrence.

51:23Oh, no. They also have Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeau. They added Chauncey Golston, too. I missed that. That was interesting from the Cowboys. I didn't catch that. I just, I got like some blowback for saying this could be a top-ten defense, but Marshall, that is a nightmare. It's a nightmare. You're the offensive lineman. What would be in your head going into a game against this defensive front? Stay at a third down. That's it. What are they going to do on third down? The packages. That's what I'm saying is that, like, those guys are all, like, amazing. All four of them on the field at the same time is hellish.

52:13But we're staying at a third down. Or we're staying at a third and long. Excuse me. Dexter Lawrence makes that difficult on the early downs. He just doesn't move. You hit him and you just kind of, you're like, oh, okay. But we'll see. Abdul Carter, you know, he likes to jet upfield or kind of dip. He has a lot of good bend. I think he and Brian Burns give tackles problems on, you know, like man blocks. They kind of do that J.J. Watt thing where they take a gap and they'll take a chance sometimes. And so if you get some splash TFLs early and that gets people behind the chains, that's definitely possible.

52:56but you've got to run at this defensive front. You, you've got to stay ahead of the chains. You know, that their run defense wasn't great. And so ultimately this is, they're also looking to get in, get you in the third down because yeah, they're going to eat you alive. But this is, you know, you go into the giants games thinking, all right, we're going to have to control the ball early downs. A lot of screens, a lot of quick passes to kind of see where they're at, see where they line up. Cause I mean, I mean, I imagine they're going to – Thibodeau's going to be all over the place. I mean, they're just – they could end up doing the spaghetti on a plate thing if they wanted to.

53:34But I love pass rushes because they can close games out. But you've got to get to that situation first. Yeah. You've got to get there first. And I have questions about that, their run defense allowing them to be in those positions. Yeah, that's where you start thinking about who's going to be on the field when and, you know, in terms of run defense. like abdu carter is a little undersized do you want cape came on fibido like i know yes maybe he hasn't lived up to where he was drafted but i still think he's a pretty complete player he's actually very dynamic solid against the run um and so i actually wonder if that's going to get him on the field a little bit more than carter year one maybe i don't know be interested in seeing or maybe you play carter off the ball a bit in uncertain packages but yeah you got to be able to run the ball on this team um shane bow their defensive coordinator likes to use light boxes they They were not horrible against the run last year, but without Dexter Lawrence, things kind of fell off.

54:29But you just can't be in third line. Average. Yeah, sorry. 5.6 yards per play. I'm signing up for that all day if I'm an offense against this defense. The pass defense is, I think, improved. They brought in two vets, Javon Holland and Paul Sinodebo. You know, because I think, like you said, they're going to get a lot of quick game. So it's just going to be a lot of tackling. Limiting yards after the catch is going to be paramount for them to avoid or to improve upon last year. But honestly, I feel pretty damn good about this unit. I do. I think they're really, I mean. I understand optimism. I understand it.

55:14And, you know, you like to think that coaches' sensibilities kind of trickle down to the players. Well, Brian Dayball is a desperate man. So maybe they play desperately with that, you know, hair on fire kind of energy because they need it. You imagine even if they're playing decently well, but they're one in six, one in, you know, it's like this could go poorly really fast for them. And so where does the team go from a morale standpoint, from an output standpoint? and that's assuming on the other side things aren't also falling apart so I get the optimism from the pass rush explosion ability but they got to get in those situations yeah I think that's the other thing that's like right there if the offense is bad you know and the defense is going to have to play the run a bit more like they're not going to have those up like we were talking about the optimistic case or the hope for the Cowboys, which also, which has a worse run defense, honestly, is like, well, they may not have to, maybe the offense can put up some points and they don't actually have to stop the run to that.

56:24I think that could be an issue for New York for sure. Because I do think this offense is going to struggle. 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 anything 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. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy.

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57:36Receive two times O rewards points and save$10 when you purchase a pair of Rain-X Latitude wiper blades. They will even install them for free at O 'Reilly Auto Parts. Okay, the Philadelphia Eagles, the big bads of the division, just all-star team on offense. You know, really running it back. Very few changes other than guard. Steen, I think, is going to start. Tyler Steen has played for them. Otherwise, very few changes. The biggest change, and I think probably the one worth talking about, is offensive coordinator. So Jalen Hurts gets another coach. Kellen Moore is out. And they went internal.

58:18Kevin Petullo, who I think there's good, and from the outside at least, there's pluses and minuses to his resume. He's worked with Hurts a long time. He's been their past game coordinator. So there's that familiarity, which is, again, Hertz has had so much turnover. I think there's definitely a six coordinator. Crazy. Definitely a benefit. He also, I would say more than just familiar with Hertz, he knows these receivers. He knows what they're good at. He knows how to use them. But he's also Nick Sirianni's dude. And, you know, I think that there was a benefit from going outside the building. last year.

59:02So I think there's, you do run a little bit of risk if you don't want Sirianni's, you know, Eagles fans a little bit, he's a really good, I think, CEO type coach, but we've seen when he, the Eagles offense has been better when he's hands off. Yeah. So that's it. So I think like, I mean, what do you, how, how big of an impact do you think that the coaching change could have? Cause it's really the only change we're seeing. Yeah, I mean, again, this six coordinator, Jalen Hurtses, but the fact that it is from in-house I think is a huge world of a difference from before. He's just slowly, steadily ascended the ranks in his production as a quarterback.

59:44You know, I just watched F1 last week, incredible popcorn flick, summertime movie. and these guys are controlling beasts of cars and he's got the beast of all engines and on these offensive weapons and he's recognized the super bowl you know the playoff run was something but the super bowl he recognized as his light went off he's like i can be a playmaker within a game manager managerial role if that makes sense like i am just managing all these weapons and then he takes the deep shot, puts it on the money to basically, you know, ice the game. And you're just like, he's, he's got it. He's figured it out in this system, in this role.

1:00:32And they're returning everybody. They're returning everybody. And, you know, health will be the only issue if anything pops up. It's just that. I mean, they got Lane Johnson back, who is defying age. He's incredible. Cam Juergens, who we had questions about, you know, placing a guy like Kelsey, has stepped in incredibly well. You've got all the legislation about the tush push. Well, guess what? It's back. And so they'll have, again, a stellar third and short, fourth and short offensive system. And, you know, hopefully he bought A.J. Brown a couple books for camp that he can read on the sidelines.

1:01:15They're in position with him at the helm. They know who they are. I think he was struggling to find his fit. He's such a stoic guy, his calm demeanor. You love him as a quarterback, his demeanor. But I think he was finding his place in such a wild city and a wild situation with having this team that Allie Roseman has built. But he's coming to his own. And he's taken to me, he's like on that 1B QB tier where you're leaning on him to help you go win games in this offensive system. I like the fact that the coach, the pass game coordinator, Kevin Patool, he knows Jalen Hurts' strengths and weaknesses really well.

1:01:57Because I do think he is a specific type of quarterback, right? I always find him interesting. There's a litany of reasons why he is kind of a perfect debate topic, because it's like, how much credit do you give the quarterback versus the offense versus whatever? but I think um the other thing that I've always found interesting about him is like he has weaknesses but he also does a few things at a higher you know the top three level right the quarterbacking the deep ball for example and I think having a play caller who's just very tuned to the things he does well is really important and isn't trying to force him but also is giving him better answers Kellen Moore against the Blitz last year was like a huge transformation for this offense um i think like as an eagles fan there's only two things you're really worried about three things outside of uh losing lane johnson if he's injured decline at all that's massive the splits with him without him are really dramatic saquon got a lot of wear last year you know p and And then, you know, this is not a deep receiver group.

1:03:07The top two are outrageous. But behind them, you're looking at Dotson, Terrace Marshall, Johnny Wilson. Like, it's not – you really can't lose them. An uncharacteristic down here for Dallas Goddard. I think he makes kind of a bounce back. I can see that. He was on the milk carton a little bit last year. He was banged up as well. but he was a weapon that normally is featured in this offense. I mean, you've got A.J. Brown and Devontae Smith, but the tight ends are used a lot in this offense, and he didn't seem like, and the tight end position specifically, didn't seem as pivotal last year. That's a great point, and I think that could be a case for them, like, you know, avoiding any little regressions, because it wasn't, I think that's the other thing people forget about the offense.

1:03:59It wasn't perfect. They had injuries last year at times. Brown was out of the lineup. Goddard, you know, and I think having Saquon in this dominant running game allows them to avoid, you know, fluctuations in the passing game. They don't matter because they can just put the ball in the green, you know, in Saquon's hands. But I think, yeah, having Goddard bounce back would be enormous for them. One more thing is I'm interested in seeing Jalen Hurts as a runner this year because I thought last year he was mostly a little bit disappointing or you really saw that lack of explosion until the Super Bowl in which he suddenly was decided to decide, but I know he's had injuries as well.

1:04:43But I think if he can run, if his rushing ability looks more like it did in the Super Bowl, that's such a significant element to this offense and it impacts what they do in the run game so much. It impacts the way defenses play them. So that is something I think. I am not terribly worried about the coordinator change. I'll just say that. I don't know. Yeah, it's not. You talk about Jalen Hurst getting the keys to the Ferrari. I mean, so is Kevin Petulo, right? Like, you literally could not be given a better set of tools to work with. Defense is where there's more change. A lot more change here on this side of the ball.

1:05:18Josh Sweat is out. Milton Williams is out. So you're looking at, I've been told it's Mora Ajoma. I said his name wrong. I said Ajomo. and then you know you got nolan smith jay licks hunt uh i missed josh uche signing with this team josh uche signing this team uh linebacker is stacked uh zach bond is amazing kobe dean who's coming off the injury but they drafted jihad campbell who i absolutely adored trotter jr uh and then the the corner safety group is a little bit different um cj garner johnson's out i think andrew mucuba might start for them at safety and then opposite quinion mitchell who was outstanding as a rookie uh looks like keely ringo is in pole position and then of course cooper de jean was incredible last year at nickel of all of the chain and then vic van geo remains the defensive coordinator at the god of all of the changes on defense which one concerns you the most or which one do you feel like might be the most impactful?

1:06:22Listen, Josh Sweat to me was a huge missing piece for them. He kind of elevated his game from that position for them that, you know, he was highly regarded coming out and just kind of floundered for a while. He's always fast, really explosive. And then he made some incredibly impactful plays for the Eagles last year. And so that production, I think, is going to be interesting to replace. I like the Uche signing. He has really, you know, long arms. The Patriots drafted him for a reason. He's a guy who sets the edge, very versatile, can rush consistently. But again, I'm wondering about the just straight, dominant, third down, edge rushing production.

1:07:13And to me, that'll be where this defense kind of takes another step because does that Zach bond locking him down was you know it was an incredible thing he's just a great story out of New Orleans with his all-pro and he was just he's one of those guys you know when I was playing you see him on film and you wouldn't pay attention to him at the beginning and that he'd be at every pile he he'd be calling out screens he'd be doing everything kind of like not this is not a comparison to Keekly but you're like, oh, he's everywhere. And so he makes you pay attention to him. And so his production is just off the charts.

1:07:50And then I definitely like to see where the second, the next year progression for Quinone Mitchell is. He was an incredible rookie story as well. And so they, listen, I think their defense will be stout. It feels less explosive up front right off the rip, but I don't think that they need that as much, knowing what they have on the other side of the ball. That's big, right? We've been talking a little bit about complementary football with all these teams, and I've said the commanders, the offense can compensate for the defense. The Cowboys, the best-case version of this offense. The Giants, the defense will suffer from the offense, likely, even though I think they're really good.

1:08:34The Eagles' defense, I mean, on the other side of the ball, you've got the Monstars who are just going to run the ball for, put together the long – you barely got to be on the field half the time. So even if we're like picking nets and we're like, oh, you know, do they have a dominant edge and Keely Ringo offenses might go after them. The truth is for the most part, they're going to be in excellent situations as a defense. I think we agree. These things don't happen in a vacuum. Yeah, for sure. I'm intrigued by Nolan Smith this year. I think down the stretch, they really him and Jalen Carter playing on the same side of that pass rush really i mean carter's we haven't talked about him he's you know at times looks like one of the best the best players in the nfl i would say um and obviously he gets double a lot too and a lot of attention is paid to him and i think nolan smith really benefited from that last year and i'd be interested in seeing if like he can build on that um you know as he's kind of added his to his pass rush repertoire and i think built strength as well in this league um so he's the name i'm looking at i thought you know hunt flashed a little bit at the end but yeah it's it's a little it's it's like deep but not entirely proven but it might not matter because of they'll have time to figure things out figure out who their best rushers are on the uh the off-ball backer uh standpoint are they expecting giah campbell to be available this year?

1:10:01Yeah, so Jihad Campbell was like my favorite player in the draft. I was obsessed with him, and I cannot wait to see him play. It seems like we're going to see it, actually. I mean, I think pretty early, rather. So as of one day ago, he has been posting workout videos. There we go. They said that they thought he would be ready at some point during camp, I think around the draft time. And I mean, that was a big part of why he fell as teams were very concerned about his availability. They didn't need him right away. They don't need him right away, so they don't have to speed it up. But I mean, I just think he reminds me a lot.

1:10:44Just I'm so excited to watch it. You know, it's funny too. Like we talk about pass rush and I think he actually adds to the rush. In a way, we saw Bondu at times. I think they have, he has some similar skill sets in terms of his ability to be versatile and play on the defensive line and also rush the quarterback. But I think that's another element to this pass rush. You know, it's like they have all these – Vic Fangio has all of these options. He can figure it out. You know, okay, who are we getting after the quarterback with? I would say actually Ringo might be my bigger concern in some ways, the defensive line, just because, you know, he's obviously going to get targeted a lot in the – you know, given the corners he's playing with.

1:11:25but I think Vic won't hang him out to dry. Yeah, he's, I mean, the performance against Kansas City was incredible from a play caller standpoint on defense. He really, I mean, he leaned into, hey, we know that there's going to be some leakage on the front, and Pat Mahomes, of all people, is going to throw us the ball. He's going to have to get to a point where he's going to take a risk. Now, he takes risks all the time, but he's going to have to take an outsized risk for the moment. And he did just that, and Vic Fangio is just incredible at inducing those moments from what seem like very foundational, straightforward looks.

1:12:06And he gets guys in different positions, but there's not a ton of exotic stuff that he brings, like a Spagnuolo. He's doing very fundamental things, but very sneakily having guys play under coverage, you know, underneath kind of deep crossing routes and, and sitting in zones that, you know, where they weren't pre-snap and then they're somewhere else right after the snap. And, um, I look for him to actually absolutely cover guys like Keeley Ringo up, um, and then let them do what they do best, which is, you know, be athletes and go get the ball. So similar question to wrap this up, that we had on offense, like who's the lane, John, like who is the player on this defense that they really can't afford to lose for any?

1:12:49Is there a player that they can't afford to lose? I think it's either one of the interior defensive tackles. They're not particularly deep behind Jalen or Jordan Davis. And, you know, they're going to have to shuttle them out, so there will be guys that are getting a lot of playing time. But if either one of those guys goes down injury-wise, they lose a lot of stoutness up the middle. And if we're talking about edge rushers who aren't spectacular, but coming into their own, but not stud guys yet, you need a really, really strong interior. So they have that now, but they are not deep behind those guys.

1:13:28Yeah, I think Carter's the one. I mean, he's the best player on the defense, so it's kind of like the answer. But I think the depth matters. I'd be worried if they lost Quinion, though. They did bring in also Adoree Jackson. you've got Eli Ricks, but you know, it's not, you know, and this is, I mean, like who, who, no one in the NFL is deep at corner. So I'm not like, you know, I'm just saying like, you know, that would be tricky for me, but yeah, I think Carter, um, I wonder what Carter's defensive player of the year odds are, by the way, I feel like he could get a nice, nice bet there. Cause he really is, uh, I feel like the superstar on this defense.

1:14:09I would have, Zach Bond would have been a concern for me, but I think the G. Head Campbell draft pick mitigates that to some extent, but yeah, I mean, there's a spot that, that Baltimore Ravens sweet spot where you're, you're picking at the back end of the first round and people are like, how they got who, like they let, how did this guy fall to them? So they're, they're how it runs. It's just sitting pretty. All right. I think I know what your rankings are, but one through four, how do you have the NFC East shaking out? Philadelphia Eagles. I think the commanders are second, but I think they take a step back.

1:14:45I'm having a round nine wins. Cowboys are on their heels, but seven wins and then Giants. Maybe we get a QB change week seven, eight, nine. I think that's rounding out the NFC East. Again, NFC East, the same team has not won, has not repeated since 2003. What? Right? Right? The same division winner has not repeated since 2003. So my prediction is going against the odds. But it's stacked. I think it's a pretty safe bet. Yeah, I'm right there with you on the rankings. Although I'll say I'm maybe a little more optimistic about this Cowboys offense than I should be. I just, I'm talking about something.

1:15:34My cousin Robert played for the Cowboys. I'm a fan of Bomani Jones. I'm off that narcotic for a long time, so I will happily watch as you huff and get hopeful. Listen, I work at ESPN. I talk about this team a lot, and I couldn't get off the narcotic if I wanted to. Marshall, before we wrap, let folks know where to find you, what you're up to these days, what you're working on. MNewhouse73 on all platforms. I'll be doing some college stuff. Stay tuned with that. And then hopefully some weekly NFL coverage as well. So a lot of things kind of in the works, but excited to be a part of football season again.

1:16:17Excited to have you back on the show. We'll have to get you back on, of course, once the season begins. And that is it for this week. We're going to be back on Monday with another Power Hour. We took a little break from the Power Hours. This one is with my friend Chris Long, your friend as well. And I'm going to London. I think I'm in London by the time this is hitting your ears. So I'm out of the country, but I will be back. There's no break in the podcast. Thanks to, in large part, the fine folks at Omaha Productions, Kirsten Zabecki, Anthony Jimenez, Owen Saylor, Jack Foster, Tucker Tastien.

1:16:49Also, everybody go check out Quarterback, their new show. I saw some spicy Kirk Cousins quotes floating around. I'm all in on the Kirk Cousins story. I saw Joe Burroughs shopping and TikTok and Fits. I was like, okay. It's that time of year.

1:17:14This episode is brought to you by State Farm. No two football players are exactly alike, and the same is true off the field. That's why State Farm gets to know you, so they can help personalize coverage for your life and budget. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.