Training Camp Primer! Questions We Want Answered Before Week 1

22:54So it was a relief to find out that the woman that, you know, he had this collision with was able to leave the site with relatively minor injuries. It seemed like she was more shaken up than anything, nothing so significant that she had to be admitted to a hospital. And I think that for Shanahan to hear the news at like 40 stitches, you know, all these breaks in his face, his hand, The severe concussion, I mean, it does open up the question of just kind of what kind of condition he'll be in to start the season. And I think that the other thing you pointed to, I think that this is probably just like endemic to just where things are right now in our social media culture, right?

23:27Where there has to be, there's just a very natural conspiratorial reaction, I think, to news stories like this. I don't think that the situation between Diana Rossini and Mike Vrabel helped in that regard for this. and it's not to draw a direct parallel. I just think that that just kind of speaks to where fans' minds are at whenever they hear that something, you know, drastic or dramatic has happened with a member of a coaching staff in the NFL. And I think that there's, you know, I've seen maybe some reporting. I'm not sure if it's been substantiated across multiple platforms yet that, you know, he may have been in use of a cell phone at the time of the crash.

24:04Sports Illustrated, yeah. Yeah, so, you know, that obviously opens up some concern about just like, you know, distracted driving. And, you know, for me, is that that hits home for me, both as a parent and as a coach of teenagers, right? You know, trying to make sure people are navigating the road safely. I think that ultimately where I land at is glad that he's okay. You know, I don't necessarily want to shrug off some of the big reactions on social media. Why didn't we know this beforehand? It seems pretty clear that maybe the 49ers have just kind of asked us local beat reporters that when they, you know, maybe kind of access some of these police reports and put two and two together that, hey, because he's going to be limited, we'll put out a statement on it.

24:44Details seem to be emerging from there. So it doesn't necessarily seem like much of this was hidden. It just seems like the attention on it was delayed. And if he's going to be in good enough condition to coach the season, I think that we'll ultimately be able to kind of put this story behind us.

24:59Diante Lee:Yeah. According to the athletic drugs and alcohol were not believed to be involved. And even that Sports Illustrated story that said he was holding and using a cell phone at the time also said that the other driver was deemed to be at fault because she swerved in to Shanahan's lane. So again, this is kind of, I don't want to say like developing story, like Gail, gossipy and rumory, but there are more details now that are coming out about this and we'll find out if it's worth kind of having another conversation. But yes, get off your phones if you're driving. I think that's number one. Do not be looking at your phones while you're driving And to your point about the social media landscape, I logged on earlier today, Deontay, before the pod to make sure I'm not missing any breaking news.

25:45Diante Lee:And all I saw were posts about whether men are allowed to get pedicures or not. And I logged right on. I'm right there with you. I am right there with you. You don't need this. This is not healthy. You don't need this in your life. Let's just fire up the mics and talk some football. So there you go. Go touch grass, as always, is the lesson whenever you log on. All right, let's take a break. We come back. We are going to talk about touching grass and training camp and headlines that if you are a fan of a specific team, you want to read between now and week one. It's a way to look at some of the questions we want answered during training camp when we come back.

26:23Evening, buyer's remorse.

26:26Diante Lee:Buy a new car? I'll be moving in. Let's get started. Sorry, I think there's been a mistake. I bought it from Carvana. You what? Yeah, great price. I even have seven days to love it or return it. So there's no... No, no buyer's remorse. More like buyer's rejoice. I guess I'll let myself out. Congratulations. I mean it. Buyer's rejoice. Buy your car today on Carvana. Limitations and exclusions may apply. See our seven-day return policy at Carvana.com. This episode is brought to you by Whole Foods. It's hot out there, folks. Whether you're planning a family road trip, backyard barbecues, or a watch party, you'll find everything you need to beat the heat with the quality you expect from Whole Foods Market.

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27:22Diante Lee:Terms apply. All right, we're back on the Ringer NFL show. So I just mentioned the exercise. It's very simple. If you are a fan of a certain team, we came up with headlines you want to read between now and week one. Deontay, you lead us off. What do you got? I think in this exercise, one of the biggest things I had to check myself on is like, let me not be lazy and just find five quarterbacks who I think have interesting storylines and just say, oh, fans would love to hear that they're on fire at training camp. But I will offer this one up to start with because I think that this would have the biggest implication on just what the Super Bowl picture would look like.

27:57I think if we see a headline that says Lamar Jackson, Declan Doyle on fire to start training camp. New look offense is moving the ball up and down the field. Anything in that realm, I think, would immediately change or just open up maybe some new conversations on, hey, I think we all know that Jesse Minter is a great ceiling raiser and floor raiser for a defense. There's questions on what Declan Doyle is going to be as a play caller, just what the shape of an offense is going to be with someone like Lamar Jackson entering his 30s, approaching his 30s, and what, you know, I guess the interminable Derrick Henry as a running back, as your lead back is going to look like.

28:33So I think if we got news that with this addition, maybe of an under center run game, maybe taking some things off of Lamar Jackson's legs, given what he looked like last year when his struggle to scramble around, if he's able to pick stuff like that up quickly, knowing that there's not an obvious number one, you know, can't guard him wide receiver on this roster, I think that people would be fired up to know what that Ravens offense would look like.

28:56Diante Lee:This is interesting. I had a Ravens one down too. So it was less about scheme on field performance and more about feel and vibes, Deontay. I had down Ravens bets energized by Minter's new, fresh approach. So I think this conversation lets us know there's a lot going on with the Baltimore Ravens at training camp this summer. Like Deontay said, you have a new scheme offensively. You have a new offensive coordinator for Lamar Jackson. You got a lot of moving pieces on the offensive line. You have, like you said, I wouldn't describe the best pass catching group in the NFL. I like say flowers. Apart from that, you look around and go, is there enough here?

29:39Diante Lee:Can they do more with less because of the quarterback, because of the scheme? That's interesting. And then I was just thinking about Minter. And I think Bill Walsh, I can't remember if it was a 10-year rule or a five-year rule or another number. But basically, he said, you don't want to coach in one place for longer than X amount of time because the messaging gets stale the demands are too high larry bird thing yeah oh is it a larry bird oh yeah i think that's a larry bird thing yeah i think he never once he moves to being an executive i think he had some kind of quote about um i'm paraphrasing here that like he didn't feel like a head coach could maintain a locker room for longer than like a half decade at a time that it's or that's the the likelihood that your voice goes stale after about a half decade just leaps up exponentially on a year-to-year basis.

30:25Diante Lee:Okay. This explains why I Googled Bill Walsh, five-year-old Deontay, and I couldn't find it. But now when you Google stuff, you don't know, then it's going to give me some summary on a 10-year-old. I'll say, you know, Gemini is going to give you conflicting stories. It might be a long year for the Ringer NFL show. Your voice struggling a little bit to do some of this research. Okay. Larry Bird. That's why I have Deontay here to correct me. So John Harbaugh did not abide by that. He was there for 18 years and you definitely felt that staleness in recent years. And I think that's a part of the reason why they went to a new coach and now you have a new voice and a new approach and change and freshness.

31:02Diante Lee:And it's just like, how did the Ravens take to this? Because they have a lot of vets on that team. Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews, Steve Flowers, Ronnie Stanley, Roquan Smith, Trey Hendricks. I mean, I could Kyle Hamilton. You can go on and on. There are guys who have kind of been around, whether it's a shorter amount of time or for a very long amount of time. And I think if you're a Ravens fan, you really want to embrace the idea that these guys are having a great time with this new coach who it seems like expectations are high. Everything you hear about him, it seems like is pretty positive that Jesse Minter, you know, I remember us having conversations in the winter or, you know, about, Hey, who are some of the head coaching candidates that really look interesting.

31:43Diante Lee:And I think he was on the top of a lot of people's lists. So Raven's interesting for a number of reasons, Deontay, this summer for sure. 100%. I mean, I think that this is, they are not necessarily at a crossroads year. I think that last year probably qualified a little bit more of that because of, you know, the John Harbaugh element that kind of loomed over the late season. Is he going to stay or not? But this is 100 % a pivot point for this team. You know, they made some moves, changed some things around with their roster. there is the Lamar Jackson extension that's going to be looming throughout this season.

32:15Diante Lee:Only signed to 2027, man. That's crazy. Quarterbacks don't go into the last year of their deal very often. So yeah, and when you have a cap hit that high, you almost can't. So it's like, yeah. Yeah, that is a very interesting storyline. The storylines are going to be abound, I think, especially for a team that has Super Bowl aspirations and has just come up short, you know, repeatedly over the last few years. And they're still among the favorites. I mean, you go on FanDuel, I forget their third, fourth, fifth, something like that. Yeah, top five. Top five in Super Bowl odds. So Raven's a good one to start on.

32:44Diante Lee:All right, I'm taking some low-hanging fruit here, Deontay, because we haven't discussed this. I know this has been discussed in your group chats. I know you are excited about this. Here's the headline. It's official. Aaron Donald is back with the Los Angeles Rams. So I feel like the other 31 fan bases, there's already some fatigue with the Rams hype, but I'm sorry. A lot of it is, you know, Your team should be making more exciting moves, okay? And trying to add the best players in the league. So that's not our fault that they're doing stuff. But Aaron Donald appears to be seriously considering a comeback to play with the Rams.

33:21Diante Lee:And Miles Garrett, Sean McVay was asked about it already. And he was kind of like, if he decides he wants to do it, we're going to make it happen. So it's not official, but it really felt like this is probably going to happen. Aaron Donald, 35 years old. I was looking up when he last played, just trying to jog my memory, 2023. First team All-Pro, eight sacks, 16 tackles for loss, 23 quarterback hits, top 10 in pressures for a defensive tackle. We know by all the workout videos that the man is staying in shape, Deontay. I always like to look. When he's got the dumbbells and he's getting ready to lean back for the chest press, I'm like, what number?

34:00Diante Lee:How do they make dumbbells that big? That is not at my local gym that I'm paying$12 a month for. When you get over 40, Deontay, your whole algorithm is like, you must lift weights, you must get 10K steps. So I'm like, all right. Absolutely. Let me make sure I'm doing that. But I'm not pushing the same weight as Aaron Donald. But this is exciting, Deontay. Aaron Donald, Miles Garrett potentially on the field together, two of the best defensive players of all time. I don't think that's hyperbole. Certainly two of the best defensive players of our lifetime. and I actually think we're going to read this headline at some point in the next month.

34:36I mean, I think if there were any likelihood that it wasn't going to happen, the Rams would be pouring cold water on it as to just not give anybody any false pretenses about what's to come the rest of this preseason. But it does seem like everything is kind of marching right up to that headline that you're describing. I think that really the decision seems to be very much in Donald's hands, right? Like that's just kind of my read of the situation is that, hey, after doing all this, working out and training, if he feels at 35 that he can ramp his body up to a degree where he feels like he can still be maybe not 2020, 2021 Aaron Donald, but can still be some facsimile of that version of a player in spurts, that he'll be back.

35:18And for us as content people, there's nothing more than I am looking forward to than seeing a third down where Miles Garrett and Aaron Donald are standing next to one another. That photo alone, we will be looking at two Mount Rushmore-esque producers over their careers. I mean, you just don't get enough opportunities with that.

35:38Diante Lee:Yeah. You don't get any opportunities with that. That's going to be rough. I know. I feel like we should just preemptively apologize to whoever is doing that. I'm with you. It feels like the timing of this is interesting. I don't know many vets who want to do training camp. And again, look at Aaron Donald. I don't know that that is completely necessary for him to participate in training camp. Is he like, I want to get a couple of weeks of practicing and I want to play the whole season. Is he like, Hey, let's keep in touch. But this is, you know, why don't I join in October? Why don't I join in November?

36:09Diante Lee:I don't have 17 weeks in May, but I can give you eight in the regular season and the playoffs. Does he just, is he like, no, if I'm going to do this, let's do it. The whole season. Yeah. The way I always do it. Yeah. And I don't have to play 80 % of the snaps, but I want to be part of the team from the beginning. And if we need to ramp, you know, ramp it up a little bit or keep me on a snap count, I'm probably going to be yelling at you. But, you know, I understand that that might be smart. So it can go in a number of different directions. But man, like I looked at his age and I'm like 35, like I'm, you know, we're going through this exercise now where you go through all the rosters and teams and try to come up with your analysis.

36:46Diante Lee:Like there's plenty of 35 year olds still playing in the NFL, Deontay. He's not 43, he's not 45, 35 years old for one of the most impressive physical specimens we've seen here, it seems perfectly reasonable. And man, it would just be fun the first snap to see what kind of stunt are you using? Or are you just like, hey, you whooped the left tackle, I'm going to whoop the left guard here. Let's have something on the other side where the center can't slide. I don't know. The possibilities are endless, but it would be a lot of fun certainly to see that. All right. What do you got? What's the next headline next headline says Dak Prescott C.D.

37:25Lamb say they've never practiced against a defense that makes things this tough I think that that would be a just an absolute you know watershed moment for a Dallas defense that has clearly been the anchor holding this team where it's been at you know right on the fringes but not necessarily truly in the playoff to contender conversation I think that you know there's a lot banking right now on Christian Parker as a play caller right it's It's pretty rare for a guy who does not have play calling chops entering a gig for there to be as much hype and expectation about what he's going to be in terms of changing the way that we should expect a defense to play on a snap by snap basis.

38:04And a lot of this does, I think it is founded in, you know, his history, both in Denver, you know, developing the defensive backs there. You think about the time in Philadelphia that you get two rookie DBs and Cooper DeGene and Quinone Mitchell. and they instantly look like they need to be in the top five, top three conversation at their positions right off the bat. That's certainly something that should give you a lot of hype coming into this gig. But I am fascinated to know when it's the third quarter and you haven't been able to stop the run for the entire first half and you've got to have an adjustment, what is he actually going to look like?

38:38And I think that if we get any kind of early inklings that he is able to strike a balance with this very interesting collection of young guys who have not proven themselves, veterans who have been banged up and have struggled trying to move from one scheme to the next. Like, what is the style of defense that he actually lands upon that is going to give them the best chance to be successful? And is he a fast enough play caller? Does he have a clear enough vision of defense to be able to get these guys all on a court to start off, you know, this preseason and going into week one?

39:07Diante Lee:All right, we're on the same page, Deontay. I had very similar. Iron sharpens iron. Cowboys defense winning its fair share of battles at training camp? Because I think you've nailed it. This was a very good offense last year. They've been a very good offense. Basically, anytime Dak Prescott has stayed healthy, but the ceiling is going to be determined. I think they're going to be good again this year in 2026, but the ceiling is going to be determined by whether that defense can be any good. They actually don't even have to be good. I'm talking mediocrity, competency, because we still don't talk enough about how they traded Micah Parsons and the year after they traded Micah Parsons, Deontay, they had literally the worst defense in the NFL.

39:45Diante Lee:I mean, I know I've said it a million times, but it's like, I would just still be in, you know, it'd be so infuriating if I were a Cowboys fan that that was the case last year. So Christian Parker feels like one of, you know, sometimes there's those coaches who it's like, everybody seems to just say positive things about them. Like anyone who has crossed their path that like Mike McDonald was kind of like that. I felt like before he went to Seattle and Christian Parker feels like he's that kind of guy. So, but I don't know, is the talent good enough is my question. Like, let's say, you know, how good of a job does he have to do?

40:16Diante Lee:Let's say you put a league average defensive coordinator on the Cowboys. Like the talent to me is probably below league average, right? Like you kind of need the coordinator to do more with less. I would think if you got a replacement level to average defensive coordinator, I think that best case scenario, you'd expect them to be in like the 18th, 19th, range, right? I think lower even, I would say. I think that that's possible. I do think that poor health, poor health has been such a weight on this defense. I'm trying to imagine if Deron Bland is healthy and back to the level of corner, even if he's not getting the pick sixes that he did in his best season, I still think that he can be a good enough zone corner.

41:00I think you add a Kobe Durant, you add a Jalen Thompson. I think that that back end is just enough for it to just not be the kind of abject disaster it's been at its absolute worst. And maybe you are right. Maybe still you're probably talking about the 23rd, 24th best defense in the league. I think that if Christian Parker is as he's built to be and he can get this defense, like you said, it doesn't have to be a top eight in DVOA, a top eight in yards allowed or points allowed per game type of defense. If we're just in that 13th, 14th range and the offense delivers again by being another top three to five offense, that should probably be enough.

41:39I mean, especially in the NFC where obviously the top cluster of teams are very, very formidable, but there's plenty of opportunity, I think, for you to make it in as a five, as a six, as a seven seed in a wild card. I think that that's about best case scenario for Dallas. And knowing what you have on offense, you should feel like we can go on the road anywhere in the NFL. And if our quarterback is having the right kind of day, we should be able to get to the fourth quarter within a possession. And that's really all you can ask for. I think a lot of times we're not an obvious Super Bowl favorite going into a season.

42:12Diante Lee:Yeah, I've got the bar even lower. I feel like 20, 21, 22, 23, if their defense is somewhere in that range where it's like, all right, this is going to be defense that's going to win you games, but they're going to kind of do enough to give the offense a chance. Yeah. You know, because again, last year, they just, they couldn't do it. I mean, they were last in the NFL. They were terrible. He didn't have a chance in some of those games. The margin for error was so slim on offense. So yeah, you say 13-14, maybe that's the upside. If you can get to 22-23, that might still be good enough. You just kind of need to get out of that basement.

42:46Diante Lee:And maybe they have enough talent to do that. I mean, they made a lot of changes. Six new starters, I think. The rookie Caleb Downs, it feels like there's a lot of pressure on him to be good right away. But I'm with you. If you're a Cowboys fan, I don't care about what the headlines are on offense unless there's a big injury. I kind of know what I'm getting there. It's all about, I would rather see the offense struggle and have Dak Prescott coming out saying, yep, those guys this year, man, they're not, and there was some of this in the spring already, but you take it with a grain of salt. You really want to see in training camp when it's competitive, those guys winning their fair share of battles.

43:20Diante Lee:So we're on the same page with the Cowboys. All right, let's take a break. We come back. We got some more headlines we're looking for during training camp. This episode is brought to you by Searchlight Pictures. More than ever, American needs a laugh, enter the Super Troopers to the rescue. The cult comedy classic returns in the most offensive installment yet with Super Troopers 3, a debaucherous bachelor party, an over-the-top wedding, a dangerous drug smuggling ring. All of them are threatening the troops' future. Fill your leader of cola and roll up to the multiplex with Super Troopers 3, only in theaters, August 7th.

43:55Diante Lee:Get tickets. Meow. All right, we're back on the Ringer NFL show. All right, Deontay, I got one for you. Deja vu, Colin. Caleb Williams shreds Bears defense once again. This is one you want to read two, three weeks in. Here's what you want to happen. Your favorite Bears writer is basically tired of writing the same thing every day, that Caleb Williams is on fire, that the ball's not touching the ground, that he just has such a feel for what Ben Johnson wants to do now that he's in his second season because the Bears are a tricky team to project for 2026. For Caleb Williams, it was so exciting last year.

44:35Diante Lee:They had a top 10 offense. The highs were so, so high. Yet I think it's fair to say there were inconsistencies. There were times you watched them and go, all right, he's got to clean that up. Oh, he missed that throw. Accuracy, all those things. So if I'm a Bears fan, I just want to read about how Caleb Williams has taken yet another step because his ceiling, like there's a best case scenario this year where Caleb Williams is in the MVP conversation. And if you can get some little inklings of that in August, I think that with Bears fans, they're already over the moon, but I think they would be even more so, even more hyped for this coming season.

45:12I mean, he was on my list of, you know, headlines you would want to hear. I think that mine was more so like Caleb Williams is consistently meeting that 70 % completion rate that we've heard out of Chicago since Ben Johnson was hired. Right. And that's I think that for him, his big thing is like this is even in consideration of throwaways, maybe, you know, broken plays, stuff like that, where you might adjust the completion percentage. Ben Johnson still expects for you to hit that 70 % mark just on every throw you're making. And if we get any type of inkling that Caleb Williams, as we approach, you know, as we approach the end of training camp, you know, next week or so, that he is dicing defenses up in that type of way, dicing the Bears defense up in that kind of way on a consistent basis.

45:54I think that the energy around Chicago will definitely swell, especially in the NFC North where we have a lot of teams that are competent or better, but none that really look, that clearly look like they should be taking a step forward. even with Green Bay's talent, you know, you think about Tucker Craft and Michael Parsons being out for at least the first month of the season being on the players unable to perform list. There's an opportunity if Caleb Williams is hot to start this year that Chicago can, you know, clearly identify itself as a team that you have to take seriously on a year-to-year basis now because of their head coach quarterback combination.

46:29So I think my eyes, Bears eyes, and I think anybody in the NFC's eyes will be trained on what the Bears offense is going to look like as we approach this year.

46:39Diante Lee:Yeah, the division's tough to project. The team is tough to project because they really, if you look at some of the turnover numbers I was looking at, they had basically, they benefited from turnovers more so than every team but one in the last 10 years. Like it was some of the, you know, the turnover EPA was some of the biggest we've seen in recent memories. So you say, all right, that's not something that generally carries over year to year. You mentioned the accuracy. Expulsive run rate. That's another thing that's not always sticky year to year and they were one of the league's best. So a lot of their success, I think, will be found in metrics that are very hard for you to guarantee will be the same from one year to the next.

47:17Diante Lee:And yet, like you mentioned, you're like Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams, kind of feel good about that. Good about that for the future here. So you mentioned the accuracy. I was looking at PFF. They do the adjusted completion percentage where I think they take away the throwaways and the spikes. and Caleb Williams was 35th out of 35 for them. Now he attempts high degree of difficulty throws. There's no doubt about it. And he makes some high degree of difficulty throws that no one else is making. And he's so good at avoiding sacks and he's so good with his legs. So I'm not saying this isn't me saying, oh man, I don't buy it.

47:49Diante Lee:But that just feels like an area where man, if he gets better at that, now you add that in that consistency with all the other stuff. Now you get to that point where you're really talking about him in another class of quarterbacks. All right. That was the Chicago Bears. All right, Deontay, do you have any more for us? Any other headlines you want to see? I'll start with the defending champion Seattle Seahawks. I think that a headline I'd be looking for is Mike McDonald says Brian Flory might bring a brand new look to this offense. Run game still looks strong. I think that that's really what Seattle is banking on, right?

48:23You think about Kenneth Walker being on the way out. You think about Clint Kubiak being on the way out. And truthfully, the explosive plays were what buoyed this offense, especially early in the year. And I think that as they sputtered, you saw less explosive plays and their turnover luck start to go in the opposite direction on the offensive side of the ball. I'm not of the opinion that the only way you can win with Sam Darnold is to win in spite of Sam Darnold. We've seen, I think, him at his best, especially if you think of the NFC Championship game, Yeah, he had to win that game for him. You know, I think that his lows will still remind you of New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, Sam Donald.

49:02But I think that his baseline now is at a place where as long as you have something in the run game to support him, he can probably get you over the finish line. And I think that that was really probably the impetus in bringing in an offensive coordinator like Brian Fleury, who comes from the Shanahan tree, which Mark McDonald has been kicking the crap out of since he's been an NFL play caller on the defensive side of the ball. So clearly he sees something in Fleury's approach to maybe generating explosive plays that makes him feel good. So I think if we leave training camp with news out of Seattle that they're able to mash the ball on the ground, they're moving the ball against what might be the best front seven in football in Seattle, and that that's got Mike McDonald feeling excited about the future of this offense, I think that would be really, really good news.

49:46Diante Lee:I feel like Seahawks fans are loving this, Deontay, because normally when you win the Super Bowl in such dominating fashion, you are automatically the it team for the next year. Everybody's just like, all right, that's the team to beat. But the Rams, they're stealing the headlines. Miles Garrett, and oh my gosh, they're going to be the team to beat. And the Seahawks fans and the organization, they get to just, all right, sit back. Oh, winning the Super Bowl, you know, wasn't enough, guys. Everybody's still picking the Rams. whether it's true or not. And I think it is partially true. It's not one of those totally made up things.

50:23Diante Lee:There is some truth to it. I got to feel like this is great for a coach to like, all right, I don't think I'm going to have that much trouble motivating my guys given some of the conversation happening around the NFL. I mean, I would add to that by saying that not only have we spent so much time talking about the Rams, I think that there's also been a lot of conversation where people presume that San Francisco will be more stable from last year to this year. sometimes in the conversations that we have about whether or not Seattle can continue to contend or be at the top of the NFC this year the way that they were last season.

50:55So yeah, if you're Mike McDonald, who doesn't seem as much to be a rah-rah guy, but if you were ever looking to try to, you know, access that style of coaching, we are certainly providing all of the quote-unquote bulletin board material that an NFL head coach would like to, you know, motivate his guys with.

51:11Diante Lee:You know, you just leave the TV on, ESPN in the cafeteria. Turn the volume up for first take and get up. Maybe you print out a little article and put it above the urinal. I'm guilty too. You want to take my end of off-season power rankings where I had the Rams first. Print those out. Those are definitely out there. I've been guilty of it just like everyone else. What an honor, Deontay, would be if something you wrote made its way to the Seahawks practice facility above the urinal. I mean, that's what we do this for, right? 100%. I would love nothing more than a player or a coach to pull me to the side and be like, hey man, you guys pissed us off enough.

51:49You specifically pissed us off enough to be able to drive us to get to what we wanted to achieve. I wouldn't take that as an insult at all.

51:56Diante Lee:Yeah, Brian Fleury, just one of the like, I don't know that if he walked, if he knocked on my door right now, I wouldn't know if it was him or, you know, the Amazon guy. And this guy is just going to be directing the offense for the defending Super Bowl champ. So yeah, I am curious to see what the reports are with that offense this summer. All right, I got one for you, Deontay. Mendoza's progress has Raiders rethinking quarterback plan. If you're a Raiders fan, you don't want to be watching Kirk Cousins on Sundays, but it feels like the Raiders have just been telling anyone who will ask, and this goes back to the draft.

52:32Diante Lee:Remember, Daniel Jeremiah and Charles Davis had the back and forth. They have been very explicit that Kirk Cousins is starting the season and we're not throwing Mendoza out there until we're totally sure he's ready. And maybe that's a fine plan. No issues with it. You don't have great wide receivers. I don't know about the offensive line. We'll see. It might not be the best environment. So maybe you do that and maybe that's the best for Mendoza's long-term development. But also, it would be fun if you're a Raiders fan. If Mendoza's just like, nope, I got this. I'm picking this up. I'm making checks at the line.

53:07Diante Lee:I'm pointing out what the defense is doing. I'm having extra sessions with the wide receivers at 6 a.m. before practice even starts. And they're just like, he's improving too much. He's progressed too much for us to keep him off the field. And we're actually not worried about him developing bad habits because he's so coachable and so into this. So I think if you're a Raiders fan, even though you know, I think we feel pretty strongly that Kirk Cousins will be the starter to begin the season. the quicker you can move to the Mendoza era without his progress being impeded or him developing bad habits the better because that's what you're most excited about 100 and I think the most foolish thing you can do in football is to speak about your quarterback situation with any certainty right like especially in the position that that Vegas is in right like I I liked what Kirk Cousins looked like in the first two months of the season I didn't think he was going to be you know a playoff quality quarterback, but I thought that his 2025 looked encouraging if we were judging it up against what it was throughout the 2024 season.

54:10But this is still a 37-year-old who tore his Achilles not that long ago and I think has clearly shown some regression in terms of his reaction to pressure. I think that that was a big reason why it was clear that Atlanta needed to move on, is that he just doesn't react very well to pressure, very similar to what it was early in his career. Some of those bad habits are starting to rear their heads again. This is a guy that's not mobile. So now you're talking about trying to operate an offense with a guy that doesn't have the strongest arm, isn't a play extender like that, and isn't mobile enough for you to draw up some creative play-action game around either.

54:48I think that they might not have much of a choice in the matter on how things ultimately play out in Vegas, and they might have to go to Fernando Mendoza at some point.

54:57Diante Lee:Yeah, you're absolutely right about that. It would be a good exercise to go back to like the last, you know, 10, 20 years and be like, all right, this is what team said about their quarterbacks in April, May, June, July, August, when it was an uncertain situation, what actually played out during the regular season. So we'll see what their plan is for the Raiders. But yeah, I think we're on the same page that you want to see Mendoza out there sooner rather than later if you're a Raiders fan. All right, Deontay, I got, let me give you one more. And then I know you've got some quick hitters that we can finish on, but I got one in Denver.

55:31Diante Lee:How about this one? Chemistry between Knicks and Waddle highlights big day for Broncos offense. You're smiling. This was on your list. Me and you right here. I think mine was like, I think mine was a little more dramatic, right? I was like, Davis Webb and Bo Knicks are combining their efforts to shut Sean Payton out of taking the wheels back on this offense. But I think we're on the same page from a chemistry and offensive perspective. Yeah, because the Broncos are another tricky team. You know, offense was good last year. Not great. Wasn't the engine that kind of drove the team to its success.

56:05Diante Lee:But I was looking at this. I believe that they're bringing back all 15 players on offense who logged at least 300 snaps last season, which is just like basically unprecedented. continuity. And not only that, they're adding Jalen Waddle. So I'm like, oh, is their offense going to be a lot better? Well, then you have the other side of that. Sean Payton's giving up play calling duties to Davis Webb. Bo Nix is coming off of multiple ankle surgeries. But man, Waddle's numbers last year with that quarterback situation were really impressive. I was just looking at yards per route run, 12th out of 117 wide receivers last year.

56:43Diante Lee:And he's only 27 years old. Like this, he really could be kind of a swing player in the AFC playoff race. Yeah, I think to me, like there's a, there's a short list of receivers that I trust in this league, irrespective of quarterback that you could say, we can feed you a hundred, 120 targets. You're still going to be one of the most efficient guys. We could still build, you know, the most explosive parts of our offense around you as a featured player. And I think that Jalen Waddell is on that list of guys, right? Like not a perfect receiver, but somebody that you can definitely take the top off of a defense with, somebody who gives you the threat of yak ability.

57:19We saw that in Miami. And I think that if you are a Denver optimist, and I think I've been over the last two years, in spite of, you know, what questions I have on their quarterback, you've got to look at the potential of adding Jalen Waddell as a manufactured touch piece in this offense as maybe that last ingredient to really turn this team into a true Super Bowl contender.

57:42Diante Lee:Yeah, Bronco's always interesting with Sean Payton. It's easy to... I was making fun of him all last summer for his propaganda tour, and then they had an amazing team. So the team's usually good. You're not sure how good or how they're going to get there. But yeah, Jalen Waddle's one of those where if you don't really follow the NFL offseason too closely and you sign back on as you get ready for your fantasy draft or whatever, you're like, oh, that's pretty interesting. Jalen Waddles now with a team that won a lot of games last year. All right, Deontay, I think you have a quick hitter or two to finish off with.

58:14Diante Lee:What do you got? Yeah, we'll wrap up with this one. I think this headline would be, let Cam cook. Fans go crazy as Cam Ward dices up the defense. You know, I think that for me, like, this is a subplot maybe for the 2026 season because obviously Tennessee is not in the playoff conversation. and not a team that we're thinking about really making any kind of noise in 2026. In spite of, you know, changing their staff, they've added a little bit more talent. I think that a lot of people who are just interested in like what rookie receiver Carnell Tate ultimately looks like, can he be a wide receiver?

58:48One, that was a big conversation for him coming into the league. But everything for this team, I think, is just about setting the table for 2027 and beyond for Cam Ward as this team's franchise quarterback. I mean, you just think about it for the people who do go back and watch like the All-22. to, I think you think about your first impressions of those games if you're watching them on a broadcast angle and Cam Ward looks kind of messy in the pocket and, you know, his arm angle is changing all the time and he's whipping throws sometimes that are laying right in the breast basket. Sometimes it seems like, you know, they were, you know, a defender was one stride away from a pick six, you know, like there was just a lot of volatility.

59:24Diante Lee:Across his body, those became a staple towards the end of the season. Roll to your right and then throw it to the other side, line type throws. Exactly. He loved those. Or roll out. Now I'm rolling out to my right, then I'm whipping out and I'm rolling back to my left, and then I'm just flinging a ball 40 yards down the field, right? Like there was 100%, you know, a kind of reckless, what are we looking at here kind of aspect to his game that I don't necessarily think is endemic to the way that he plays. I do think he will take chances, but it doesn't always have to be as wild or away from structure, totally away from structure as we saw in 2025.

59:56And I think that there's just going to be a question of, can Brian Dayball step into this building and strike the right balance of cutting Ward loose in a way that makes him feel confident that he can make whatever decision he wants to make from the pocket while also giving him enough legitimate options within structure to where if guys are open it's tied to the way that Ward plays or his eyes need to be that there's an enough of a foundation in terms of pass protection where he can just do something more sustainable than we saw because I I don't know if we ever really got more than a string of like 10 or so dropbacks in a row last season where we could legitimately evaluate and say, okay, what are we actually seeing from Cam Ward as a rookie quarterback?

1:00:37I think that this training camp is going to be a major step in either direction for us to be able to get an inkling of what Ward is going to look like as he, you know, kind of gets towards, you know, the middle of his rookie deal when we would typically expect to see these young quarterbacks tend to take a step forward.

1:00:53Diante Lee:Yeah, you saw some highlights. You're right. But it wasn't like, oh, here's a full game or two full games back to back. So we couldn't even get a half. No, it was a roller coaster. It really was an adventure where you could see the talent. You could see kind of the physical attributes, but it was messy. And sometimes it's really messy for a rookie quarterback. And then they come back the next year and you're like, all right, playing quarterback in the NFL is hard. It's hard under those specific circumstances. is, but he has something to him. But a lot of times I'm with you after year two, you know, if you don't, if it's still messy after year two, now you're starting to have some of those very difficult conversations.

1:01:32Diante Lee:And if you're a Titans fan, you're like, shoot, man, this isn't what it was supposed to be when we drafted this guy high. So yes, the Titans are not the most talked about team, but they are interesting this year because you want to see what Cam Ward looks like there in the AFC South. The only other one I had was Neighbors increases workload, optimistic about week one return. And yeah, it's not really that fun of a one to talk about. It's just like he's not on the PUP list. And this is one of the biggest injuries to monitor in the NFL with the Giants, Deontay, because they need Malik Neighbors.

1:02:04Diante Lee:Because if Neighbors is your one, and now you're saying, all right, Isaiah Likely, Darnell Mooney, Darius Slayton. Now it's like, all right, I can talk myself into it. If you take Neighbors out of that, and it's just those other guys, now I don't love this situation. I mean, I would say, even with the healthy neighbors, I'm probably looking at this wide receiver core as a below average one just because he's not really surrounded by very much. I think while I am as much of a believer in Isaiah Likely as you are, you just can't guarantee what he's going to look like as a high value, excuse me, high volume, number one tight end.

1:02:38Yeah. And then, you know, it's not neighbors' fault and it's really not anybody's fault. I think this is just a timing thing, but that cluster of Braxton Berrios, Juju Smith-Schuster, and Odell Beckham Jr. all being brought onto this roster basically within the same day, within hours of each other, I think. I just remember just reading that string of tweets and I'm like, what the hell is a wide receiver room made up of these cast of characters supposed to look like in 2026? And that's not even talking about Calvin Austin and I think they have Darnell Mooney on this team. There's just like these duplicitous skill sets.

1:03:15I'm not exactly sure what a Matt Nagy offense looks like separate from Mahomes because it's been a while since we saw that. In the end of his time in Chicago with Mitch Chubisky was not the most inspiring either. So there's so much that we don't know and so much of this offense that I think is really leaning on neighbors being available, being explosive, and being the lead character for this offense. I just don't think that you can string together a functional style of a modern offense without having a guy as dynamic as neighbors as your receiver in New York.

1:03:45Diante Lee:Yeah, it's one. Now, they did get good news. Like I said, he's not on the PUP list. So that tells you it's not like, oh, they're sure he's going to miss the first four weeks of the season or anything like that. So now he can practice a little bit. They can kind of ease him in and you see what he looks like. But if you're a Giants fan, you want positive reports with Malik neighbors after having those multiple procedures. Again, he tore his ACL in week four, and then according to The Athletic, had another surgery in the spring to remove scar tissue. So the Giants need him if they're going to be a relevant offense in 2026.

1:04:16Diante Lee:All right, those are the headlines we're looking to read. There's going to be practice observations. There's going to be depth chart notes. Unfortunately, there's going to be injuries. Are there going to be hold-ins, hold-outs, trade reports, all those things coming our way in the next month? It's going to be fun as these teams all get back to their facilities to practice in preparation of the 2026 season. His name is Deontay Lee. Deontay, thank you for joining me. Thank you to everyone for listening. Thank you to Christopher Sutton for producing. Stefano Sanchez on video. And additional production supervision by Conor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgopal.

1:04:54Diante Lee:I'm Shil Kapadia. We'll talk to you next time on the Ringer NFL Show.

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