Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: WVUA FM, Tuscaloosa.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: And whOa, whOa, whoa. We are back. You are listening to the student section NFL. I'm your host, Jalen Brooks. I'm with my two co hosts, Connor Rolls and Tanner Thompson. We're ready to underway with some NFL knowledge and talk about it. But first, how are you guys doing?
[00:00:33] Speaker C: I don't even got to say it this time. You all know it.
[00:00:36] Speaker B: Do they?
[00:00:38] Speaker A: What do they know?
[00:00:39] Speaker C: Actually, I think you're right. I'm doing quite so today. There you go. I just had to say it.
[00:00:43] Speaker A: Okay. I'm also doing pretty good. Pretty good. I wouldn't venture as far to say swell.
[00:00:48] Speaker C: Why not?
[00:00:49] Speaker A: I don't know, man.
I did not expect you to say why not? I thought we were going to move past this.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: No. Tell us how you feel, Tanner.
[00:00:57] Speaker A: I don't know, man. I'm a little tired. It's been a long day. I'm so excited to do this, though. I don't want that to be misconstrued. I cannot wait to talk some NFL football with you guys.
[00:01:07] Speaker C: As am I. I'm excited.
[00:01:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:01:10] Speaker B: Well, there's a lot of big games that we saw this past weekend, but let's go ahead and talk about the one that wasn't even primetime but I think was probably the biggest game that was played that night, Cowboys versus Eagles. Let me get you opinions. How do you guys want to react to that?
[00:01:25] Speaker C: It was a disastrous way to end the game, in my opinion. Even as an Eagles fan, as a Cowboys fan, I feel like the way it just ended with the pass interference calls with it rough in the passer. Was that Hassan Reddick rough in the passer now?
[00:01:42] Speaker B: I believe so, yeah.
[00:01:42] Speaker C: The holding with Eli Ricks, I mean, throughout the whole game, the holding with Eli Ricks and then the clock management by the Dallas Cowboys was horrendous. So it was a weird game, but I do agree it probably should have been a primetime game.
[00:01:56] Speaker B: I think so. I mean, even though it started at 03:00 right?
[00:01:59] Speaker C: Yeah.
03:00 p.m.. Central.
[00:02:02] Speaker B: Yeah. I like the game, but like you said, I think I texted a friend. I was like, this game perfectly represents the NFC East.
I don't know. It's fun to watch, but at the same time, it's just absolutely messy and just horrendous and a lot of mistakeS. But to your point, to your credit, it was a good game, but it probably should have been the prime game, if you're asking me. But the thing I want to bring up is, like, if we start looking at the Eagles side of things, because I know, Connor, you're an Eagles fan. We did see some things that worked pretty well, like the Eagles running game. They still got over 100 yards. We saw some things that they were kind of like, switching things up. For instance, we ran the inside zone week, which is kind of like, which, as you know, in the weeks past, the Eagles run a lot of inside zone. And so if you don't know, for a lot of these guys that don't know the Cowboys, they don't really stack the Bucks against the Eagles as much because Jalen hurts, brings so much attention. And so when they run the inside zone week, I think Kenny Ganwell, that second possession of the game, he got a touchdown. But that was a perfect example where you see Jason Kelsey kind of fold to the outside and take on that playside linebacker while Lane Johnson cuts out that kickout block. And we saw a lot more of just schematic, like, a lot of puzzles being, like, puzzle pieces being moved around.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: This guy knows ball, man. No, that was crazy.
[00:03:21] Speaker B: That was.
[00:03:22] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:03:23] Speaker A: Talking about the crack block and the pulling outside. Also, dude, Jason Kelsey, I cannot believe how athletic he is at center.
[00:03:30] Speaker B: He's looking like a fullback.
[00:03:32] Speaker A: It's crazy.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: Like, what is he, 35 years old now?
[00:03:34] Speaker C: Yeah. It's funny because I don't know if any of you all seen that documentary with the Eagles, Eagles chief Super bowl thing, but he's talking about how he can barely stand and play with his kids for so long before his back.
[00:03:45] Speaker A: Locks up, and he's doing this every.
[00:03:47] Speaker C: Sunday and just pulls and levels a linebacker levels DN. And I think my favorite thing from Jason Kelsey, and we're going to get back to your point after this.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: No, keep going.
[00:03:57] Speaker C: Was just.
[00:03:58] Speaker B: I'm all about.
[00:03:59] Speaker C: I know it was after we scored, I'm pretty sure, or it was something. Jason Kelsey was on the ground, and he kind of got kneeed to the face oR, and then, you know, quick cutaway into the commercial break, and all you see is Jason Kelsey holding the DB and just screaming in his face. And I'm just like, what?
[00:04:15] Speaker A: I don't think he's retiring, man. You don't think he is?
[00:04:19] Speaker C: I think he is retiring.
[00:04:21] Speaker B: He's got so much energy. I think all those guys do, even up until the last couple of years.
[00:04:26] Speaker A: If you watch that, the Kelsey documentary. Are you talking about the.
[00:04:29] Speaker C: He watched that dude.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: Yeah, he was. I mean, he died. It seemed like he barely came back. Yeah, he barely returned to the game of football. And again, it's still crazy to think about that when he's one of the fastest moving centers in the league, still at this. I mean, dude, the way he can climb to the second level, the way he can chip, he's changed. Whoever's at news, it's crazy.
Again, all the concerns for him coming out of college were little, light, obviously athletic, but you had to worry about that a lot, especially with how the game was played. I don't want to say it's changed drastically, but when he was drafted, you wanted heavy guys on the line that were either going to take care of somebody in the run game, take one, know, be solid in the pass. Now, I mean, with the complexity of run offenses, you know, shout out like Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVeigh, stuff like that, you never know who's going to go where to set up a lane for the running back. And when you have one, just a team full of obviously Lane Johnson. Probably the best, the best right tackle in football.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: Brandon Brooks the year before he retired.
[00:05:35] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:05:35] Speaker A: Brandon Brooks. And now you've got Peters too, who's playing right guard right now.
I know Dickerson's at left.
[00:05:43] Speaker B: Tyler Steen was the rookie got the start last night.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: Tyler Steen did.
[00:05:46] Speaker C: Yeah, he got the start. Actually, Tyler Steen kind of saved the game because that was awesome.
Later in the game when we were trying to run out the clock, it was like our last position.
[00:05:55] Speaker B: He got that fumble back.
[00:05:56] Speaker C: Yeah, DeAndre Swift ran into AJ Brown and then Tyler St. You guys had.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: Three fumbles but none lost, right?
[00:06:04] Speaker B: It was a weird stat like that.
[00:06:05] Speaker A: I think Cowboys had two fumbles, one lost, and I think you guys had three but didn't lose any of them. Which good for you guys. I guess that's still a concerning stat.
[00:06:12] Speaker C: No, it's a very concerning stat. Hey, we'll take it.
[00:06:15] Speaker B: I know we will. But at the same mean, just to go back to your talking about Jason Kelsey real quick, I also think just a little tidbit, Tanner, if you didn't know, the Jason Kelsey draft story is kind of an interesting one. Jason Kelsey, I'm pretty sure during the draft process he's already a smaller guy like Jim mentioned, but he got appendixitis, appendicitis.
[00:06:40] Speaker A: He had his appendix removed.
[00:06:41] Speaker B: Like it was something like that. He had to get it removed or something so he couldn't eat or anything. So he was losing a bunch of weight and he still did the NFL draft combined and a lot of people.
[00:06:50] Speaker A: He ran a four nine three, I.
[00:06:52] Speaker B: Think something crazy for a center, which.
[00:06:54] Speaker A: Is faster than Jake Bobo. By the way, shout out Jake Bobo.
[00:06:57] Speaker B: We love him.
[00:06:59] Speaker A: That's pretty funny.
[00:07:00] Speaker C: Who had that insane catch a few weeks ago.
[00:07:02] Speaker A: Yeah, that was awesome, dude.
[00:07:03] Speaker C: But you mentioned Jason Kelsey, how athletic he is and how in the past all the O line was supposed to be like just big monster to obstacles to move. But if you look at the entire Eagles O line, you have the left guard and the right guard, who was Cam Jurgens to begin the year, are two very athletic centers in college who switched to guards, right? So, I mean, that's already just athletic specimens right there. When you look at the tackles, you have six. 8310 Jordan, my Lota, who was a rugby star. And you have Lane Johnson, who I don't know if any of it's seen his pictures.
[00:07:36] Speaker A: Just a freak.
[00:07:36] Speaker C: He has.
[00:07:37] Speaker A: Absolute freak.
[00:07:39] Speaker C: His diet, 272 80 and it's insane.
[00:07:41] Speaker A: It's unreal.
[00:07:42] Speaker C: So the way the Eagles have revolutionized the O line in general, just to have big freaks of nature just manhandle grown men and get out the way they get out is insane.
[00:07:55] Speaker A: They're making the league realize, man, that you have to invest in the mean. The trenches are a big, I would venture to say the biggest reason that the Eagles are succeeding the way they are right now. I think if you had to put it on any position group, you put it on the O line and the D line.
[00:08:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:12] Speaker A: Because the way that offense is mean, the passing concepts aren't bad, but I mean, as you guys have talked about earlier in this year, is it who's the play caller? It's not Ben Johnson.
[00:08:23] Speaker C: It's Brian Johnson.
[00:08:24] Speaker A: Brian Johnson. Again, it's been somewhat of a stagnant offense, play calling wise, but what makes it so hard to beat is when the offensive line holds up for so long and then Jalen Hurts has elite escapability to extend the play. And then, you know, guys like AJ Brown, DeVontae Smith, who are going to figure out a way to get open given enough time.
You can't guard that at the end of the day and then just a completely dominant run game. But yeah, man, especially in the defensive line, you guys are averaging. I just looked it up, but I think 3.3 sacks a game.
[00:08:58] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a lot.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: Averaging over three sacks a game is legit for the NFL.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: And that's one thing I want to say that goes a lot of credit to the Eagles general manager, Howie Roseman. Oh, yeah, he prides himself on every draft. That's why I know a lot of people, a lot of fans, Philly fans were upset him not drafting a receiver in the first round right when he did it was one of the worst ones. But the reason is, is because he spends so much talent, so much time developing the offensive line and defensive line side of the me. Just. This is just for my entertainment. Do you guys think you could handle Lane Johnson's diet? So this is his diet. He eats five scrambled eggs, one avocado, three sausage links, 212 ounce ribeye steaks, one sweet potato, one baked potato, and three Greek yogurts, two protein shakes and two orange juices.
[00:09:46] Speaker A: In a day.
[00:09:46] Speaker B: I think he does it twice.
[00:09:49] Speaker A: Twice?
[00:09:49] Speaker C: Twice in a day.
[00:09:50] Speaker A: In a day, he has four.
[00:09:51] Speaker C: No, I don't think that.
[00:09:52] Speaker B: Can't. So, you know, I said, like, he eats one steak, one in the day, and the other one like that, he'll split the two protein shakes. Two protein shakes, one earlier in the day, one later in the day.
[00:10:02] Speaker A: Right, but that's the total amount.
[00:10:04] Speaker B: Okay, sorry.
[00:10:05] Speaker C: I thought he said twice a day.
[00:10:07] Speaker B: I misunderstood your question.
[00:10:09] Speaker A: That guy, he can't be able to move if he's eating that much in a day. But part of me wants to say, like, yeah, just because I enjoy eating food a lot. But I don't know, dude, I'm 100%.
[00:10:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: It's easy for me to say that, but I feel like after I get through the scrambled eggs and one steak, I'm like, oh, my God.
[00:10:29] Speaker C: I don't know if I could really get through a steak and be like, okay, let me eat some more, because I know a steak, it depends how, if it's fatty. It depends if it's fatty or not, because I know there's a lot of steaks where you have to cut off the fat and you barely get any meat.
[00:10:43] Speaker A: I have to imagine he's eating pretty lean steaks.
[00:10:45] Speaker B: Yeah, he's probably going to.
[00:10:46] Speaker C: But let's get back to thing.
[00:10:49] Speaker B: I didn't mean to cut you off. I wanted to bring up the Eagles defense before we moved on and started talk to the Cowboys. What do you do?
[00:10:56] Speaker C: Something you wanted to say, our secondary man?
[00:10:59] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. You can go.
[00:11:00] Speaker C: Bradbury. Darius Slay, Kevin Byard. All I picture is Shaq in a Celtics jersey. That's all I can picture.
[00:11:08] Speaker B: Not to rag on you guys, but since you guys kind of ragged on me a little bit when the trade happened, one of my top concerns was the age. And I was just saying, I think it kind of showed last night.
[00:11:18] Speaker A: Chuck Clark would have changed his team.
[00:11:20] Speaker C: Chuck Clark, man.
[00:11:20] Speaker B: Who knows?
[00:11:22] Speaker C: But one thing I think is really going under the radar. Yes. I know this year, which I don't really get because Sean Desai has a great week, like Miami Dolphins that comes out against Washington and Dallas and just like the worst passing defense in the NFL. But, I mean, next year we get some help. We get Isaiah Rogers back.
[00:11:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:41] Speaker C: From suspension, which a lot of people don't realize. We made that move.
[00:11:44] Speaker B: Yeah, because it's kind of low key. Because isn't he suspended for gambling or is it a gambling?
[00:11:50] Speaker C: Gambling. So, I mean, I feel like we can move on from Avante Maddox, and.
[00:11:53] Speaker B: That'S also next year. Pretty huge for our special teams because isn't he one of the better kick.
[00:11:57] Speaker A: Returners and punt returners?
[00:11:58] Speaker C: Yes, he is. So I'm excited about that. But I know you said about some before we move on to defense, actually, I know you brought up and, you know, we've had our Brian Johnson complaints.
[00:12:09] Speaker B: Yeah, he's looking better.
[00:12:10] Speaker C: I'm looking at the stats right now. Points per game were second in the NFL. Yards per game were third in the NFL. Points per play were six. Yards per play were eight. Third down conversions were number one. Fourth down conversions were number one. I wonder why touchdowns per game were number four. The only thing that's a little bit middle of the pack is a red zone scoring percentage. But that's our biggest problem with Brian Johnson because we want to get down to the red zone and call a QB draw with the quarterback with the hurt knee. And so it's like, yeah, let's.
[00:12:40] Speaker B: Because you look so good up until a certain point and then it's like, what happens? It looks like a trainer wreck every time defense.
[00:12:47] Speaker C: Now, anybody want to chime in?
[00:12:48] Speaker B: Because I.
[00:12:50] Speaker A: Go ahead.
[00:12:50] Speaker B: I just wanted to say the main thing I took away from the defense know, as Tanner mentioned, the know our defensive line, you got Brandon Graham on the outside, then you got Fletcher Cox. And then next to Fletcher Cox on the inside, you got Jalen Carter on the other side, you got Josh wet.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: Right.
[00:13:06] Speaker B: And I just mean, it goes to show just how impressive together, how crazy this defense and overwhelming they can be. You saw it in one of the last possessions with Brandon Graham when he got that huge sacks.
I think he was going up against right tackle Tyler Steen.
[00:13:22] Speaker C: No, Tyler Steen's on us. On the Eagles, not Tyler Steen.
[00:13:25] Speaker B: I'm sorry. Tyler.
[00:13:26] Speaker C: Tyler Steele.
[00:13:26] Speaker B: Tyler.
[00:13:27] Speaker A: Tyler Smith.
[00:13:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:29] Speaker A: Talking about the Cowboys.
[00:13:30] Speaker C: I know there's a steal.
[00:13:30] Speaker A: You're talking about the Cowboys. It's Tyler Smith.
[00:13:33] Speaker B: No. So that's the one. Tyler Smith is not who I was talking about. But you are right. He is on the Cowboys. He's the guy who went up against Jalen Carter, right. I'm blanking on the Cowboys, right? It's. I want to say it's Tyler something. It's Tyler S. I can't remember the last name, but if I have it wrong in my.
[00:13:50] Speaker C: I thought it was Steele. Steele.
[00:13:52] Speaker B: Yeah, you're right. No, you're right.
[00:13:53] Speaker C: It's Terrence Steele. Terrence Steele, he was getting abused by the whole game, by Hassan Reddick. Brandon Graham. I know Josh sweatlined over there a couple of times, right?
[00:14:02] Speaker B: And one of the things that was interesting, Brandon Graham, when he said he got that sack, he saw that the whole game. Terrence Steele, he continued to go in a quick set, just basically meaning Steele would literally jump out laterally instead of going vertical with his pass set and trying to get into the body of Brandon Graham, just trying to stop his momentum as a ball rusher. So up until that whole play into the game, Brandon Graham recognizes it, plants to the left, acts like he's going to the outside, and then cuts back inside. And that's where you saw Brandon Graham get that sack. And we kind of saw it again later in the game when him and Jalen Carter both got that last, put that exclamation in during that comeback.
[00:14:41] Speaker A: Man, what gets underrated with, I guess not underrated. What gets forgotten about in terms of defense?
The defensive line, man, they contribute so much to pass coverage.
I think that the defensive line was doing your secondary a lot of favor.
[00:14:59] Speaker B: And I think that's why even now, ESPN, I think they have the Eagles, even though they're eight and one, they're ranked 7th best team in the NFL. Because I think, to your point, I think that defensive line is kind of showing. Maybe the Eagles.
[00:15:13] Speaker A: Exactly. I think the problem with that is they get exposed.
Dallas is an offense, a good offensive line. They kind of always are. If they have a few plays where they handle the defensive line at least a little bit, then it leaves your secondary to have to figure it out and actually have to play tight coverage. Know, let's say four or 5 seconds, and that's not easy. You know what I mean? If you got a five second play or anything north of that, then one, somebody's going to get open. But I don't think that secondary is fast enough to hang with these guys.
If the defensive line can't get to the quarterback quick or at least just make know, do something, pressure him, get him outside, make him move off of his base, and maybe towards the end. Maybe that's what it was, that the quick strikes kind of happened a little bit more often, took the defensive line out of the game, and it made the Cowboys a little bit more successful in that last drive.
[00:16:05] Speaker C: So before I say anything about the D line, because I have a lot of praises to say, I guess I do want to go back to that ESPN thing because I saw that and I'm looking at, I'm, I'm dumbfounded right now. I'm looking.
[00:16:17] Speaker A: Oh, that list is insane.
[00:16:19] Speaker C: Seven Eagles are seven, eight and one, the best record in the NFL. Six is the Dallas Cowboys, who we just beat. Five is the Miami Dolphins, who we just beat. And I'm like, okay, the Bills have looked terrible this year. What, they're five and four and they're ahead. The Chiefs, granted, they don't look great, but I guess, okay, the Chiefs can still be up there, right? The Ravens are up there. I can see that you're fine with those. But the Jaguars, the Dolphins, the Bills and the Cowboys, all four of those teams should be nowhere near the Eagles, in my opinion.
[00:16:51] Speaker A: I think I'm okay with the placement of the Jags. I'm not okay with the placement of the Bills.
I think it's more about that the Eagles should be. The main problem is that the Eagles shouldn't be seven. I think I'm okay with the placement of the Jags and teams like that because, again, the Jags, six and two, five game one streak, they're absolutely balling. Just, the main problem lies just in Philly being at seven.
[00:17:15] Speaker B: Yeah. A team that just went to the Super bowl and currently has the best record.
[00:17:18] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah. And again, the reason for the Chiefs being maybe a little bit higher than we would think is because they're, what are they, seven and two now?
[00:17:27] Speaker B: I don't think six and two.
[00:17:29] Speaker A: Six and two, maybe, or maybe they're seven to one.
[00:17:30] Speaker C: I think they have two.
[00:17:32] Speaker A: They have two Broncos, Broncos and Lions.
And again, they have the record to be up there, but they have the consistency as a performer to be there, even though maybe this season, you want to say that again, a team like the Ravens or the Eagles or something like, say, a team that may be outperforming them technically on the stat is the Chiefs when it matters, they perform at the end of the day, and especially this is a really good defense that the Chiefs are operating with this year. So I think that's probably why they've kept them at the top for so long, because, again, they've consistently performed a good defense. They trust that the offense is going to, and I get that, return to.
[00:18:14] Speaker B: Form and I get that. But at the same time, my argument, the counter, the rebuttal would just be, I think the Eagles have proven since last year and this coming into this year with the record that they're still being kind of consistent, right? Absolutely.
[00:18:27] Speaker A: And that's kind of like, how I meant to draw is like, that's the reason the Chiefs were up there and that should apply to the Eagles as well.
[00:18:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:34] Speaker A: There's no reason they should be sitting at seven when they've only had three total losses in the past two seasons.
[00:18:39] Speaker B: Right.
[00:18:39] Speaker A: I mean, it's wild.
[00:18:41] Speaker B: Now, you said a name earlier that I accidentally meant when I meant the other player. But Tyler Smith, I think he's right. Guard.
[00:18:48] Speaker A: I thought he was attack.
[00:18:51] Speaker C: He played guard because I know he went up against Jalen Carter.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: Right.
[00:18:53] Speaker C: But he did a really good job.
[00:18:55] Speaker B: That's what I was going to say. If you want to go back and watch a pure old school matchup against a defensive player and offensive lineman go, just focus on that battle because, oh, my God, that was a battle the whole way through.
[00:19:08] Speaker A: That makes sense.
[00:19:09] Speaker B: Tyler Smith at one point just manhatled Jalen Carter and then the very next play, Jalen Carter gets that sack. And so before we head to break, I just wanted to mention, Jalen Carter right now is the highest graded rookie with a 90.6 in the NFL. And the closest rookie next to him is Puka at 82.6.
[00:19:31] Speaker A: Wow. Isn't that crazy? Before we go to break, I do want Tyler Smith and Jalen Carter. I think the reason that we saw a little bit more of a dog fight there than we're used to is because one Jalen Carter, his best ability is power. He has a lot of really good abilities, but by far his best ability is power.
[00:19:47] Speaker B: Right?
[00:19:48] Speaker A: And Tyler Smith coming out of Tulsa is a freak. Just absolute freak. The only concern was the penalties and the mental mistakes, but the Cowboys have done a really good job of cultivating him fast because he had to come in early when Tyron Smith went down his rookie season and Tyler Smith actually balled. And since then, I mean, he had all the physical traits that you would ever want in an offensive lineman. And I think that's why that he could fare a little bit against Jalen Carter is because he had the power to match. I guess he wasn't going to get physically overwhelmed every time like Jalen Carter normally does to guys on the line.
[00:20:21] Speaker B: And you're, uh. I think Tyler Smith, like, played a little bit in the preseason and that was the thing that we were seeing, that he was struggling with those tiny mistakes like penalties and offsides and all.
You're the, if you're the Cowboys or the Eagles, you got to be proud of both rookies last night. Absolutely did an excellent job. And last thing before we had the break, I don't know if you noticed, but you said how Jalen Carter is know for the, the sack, the sack that he got on to close the game. He used Fletcher Cox's signature double hand swipe to get inside. So it just goes to show that.
[00:20:53] Speaker A: Nice.
[00:20:53] Speaker B: He's learning a little bit more moves from the good old future hall of Famer.
[00:20:58] Speaker C: I would think 1000%.
I do have one thing to say before we move on. The Cowboys are always going to Cowboy. There's always going to be a clock problem, right, Dax? Always going to make a crucial mistake, like stepping out of bounds on a two point conversion.
[00:21:11] Speaker A: That was brutal.
[00:21:12] Speaker C: There's always gonna be.
[00:21:13] Speaker A: That was so brutal.
[00:21:14] Speaker C: Penalty problems. The Cowboys will never be a top team with Mike McCarthy as a head Coach because of these things.
[00:21:20] Speaker A: They have all the talent in the world, man.
[00:21:21] Speaker C: But Mike McCarthy, I swear we saw this ESPN stat. The top received like the players with the most receiving yards. They were all former Cowboys.
[00:21:28] Speaker A: Yeah, that was hilarious. I was like, also shout out CJ Straub for that.
[00:21:31] Speaker C: Yeah. There's no way you can be Dak Prescott with all these weapons and can never win a single playoff game. Yeah, I just wanted to end with that.
[00:21:40] Speaker A: No, you're right.
[00:21:41] Speaker B: I can't say it any better. As an Eagles fan, I 100% agree.
[00:21:43] Speaker A: This is an Eagles podcast, man.
[00:21:45] Speaker B: You are listening to WVUA 90.7, the Capstone and we are going to get back with part two of our show. Let's go ahead and talk about some of these amazing rookies that we got going on last night or two. Was it last night? Yeah, Sunday, yesterday.
[00:22:25] Speaker A: I don't know if it was no.
[00:22:26] Speaker C: Night, but last night was Monday.
[00:22:29] Speaker B: We're obviously.
But CJ Stroud, Sunday, game of his life. Best game of his young career so far.
What did he deliver?
[00:22:40] Speaker A: What was 475 on 30 for 42, I believe.
[00:22:43] Speaker C: Sadly, he was on my bench in fantasy.
[00:22:46] Speaker B: Yeah, you missed out on 41 points.
[00:22:48] Speaker C: I had a rough.
[00:22:49] Speaker A: Yeah, he was starting in my lineup.
[00:22:50] Speaker C: So I actually, I was like, man, CJ Stroud, he's played good. I wouldn't say great fantasy wise. I have Joe Burrow, who is coming to life playing against the Bills, who don't have your Davis White. I mean, yes, they have Jordan Polyer and Micah Hyde, but Russell Douglas has cornerback one right now. It's like, yeah, who just came in? I'm probably going to take Joe Burrow, who still put up like 20 something.
[00:23:13] Speaker B: Points, one of his better fantasy games.
[00:23:16] Speaker C: But then you have CJ Strat on my bench, just 41. That triple option that he had was.
[00:23:23] Speaker A: I still can't tell if that was like a design triple option.
[00:23:26] Speaker C: I don't think it was because.
[00:23:27] Speaker A: But regardless, it was sick. It was awesome.
[00:23:30] Speaker C: Yeah, no, I don't think it was because normal. It's a normal read option. And the DN kind of crashed. Weird, I guess you would say. And he handed it off and the running back bounced it outside because there was no outside help.
[00:23:40] Speaker A: Right.
[00:23:40] Speaker C: Then all of a sudden CJ Shroud just sees him running like, might as well turn it into a speed option at this point. So it was still really cool to see.
[00:23:48] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:23:48] Speaker B: You can tell like this team is like, compared to other Texans team, it feels like this one has a lot of fun playing with each other.
[00:23:54] Speaker A: Absolutely, man.
[00:23:55] Speaker C: I feel Ryan's does, man.
[00:23:58] Speaker A: I think they've got an underrated skill position group a little bit. I think coming in the season because name wise and experience wise, there just wasn't a whole lot to look forward to outside of Robert woods, who had ten years probably under his belt.
[00:24:12] Speaker B: Tank Dell, only because he's talking about experience, perspective.
[00:24:16] Speaker A: You had Robert Wood and then I think Nicole Collins had like 70 catches in his career. And then after that you had Tank Dell, John Metchi, Noah Brown and Noah.
[00:24:25] Speaker B: Brown, who had himself a day yesterday.
[00:24:27] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.
Tank Dell and John Metchi. John Metchi hadn't caught a ball yet, I don't think.
[00:24:35] Speaker C: No, he has.
[00:24:38] Speaker A: Beginning of the season. Sorry, not before this game.
[00:24:40] Speaker C: No, he has his first got catches last year. No, wait, are you talking about just this season?
[00:24:45] Speaker A: I'm saying coming into the.
Coming into this season, that's how recovered at. But I mean, Nico Collins, one, he's really come out of his shell and a lot due to CJ Stroud. CJ Stroud is an incredibly accurate passer. And one of the things I like most about CJ is that a lot of people talk about Tua and what makes him a good player is that he throws a catchable ball. Like a very catchable spiral is consistent. He's going to float it in there. And then compared to guys like Josh Allen, who sometimes reels back and throws at 80 miles an hour and it goes right through somebody's hands. And that's like, objectively, that makes it harder to catch for the receiver. So there's something to be said for CJ Stroud, who has what I think is a perfect balance of catchability, but also if he needs to force it into a tight window, he can. Like we saw in the, I think it was the touchdown winning drive on the, it was a post or a skinny post From Tank Dell. He gets in between the single high safety and the guy that he just beat low. I mean, that's an impressive throw. He did a lot.
[00:25:41] Speaker B: And what's impressive about that throw, if I can add on to something?
[00:25:44] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:25:44] Speaker B: The way he progresses during that throw, I think that's a lot of things.
[00:25:49] Speaker A: Mechanics are so good.
It's undeniably so smooth.
[00:25:55] Speaker C: You want to start playing quarterback, you put on tape, you kind of want to show him just his mechanics because he's one.
[00:26:01] Speaker A: He's so smooth and he has somewhat natural throw power. Like there's not an obvious.
Has to have some weird motion to be able to muscle it in because he doesn't feel like he has to. He trusts his accuracy so much that he knows where the windows are that he can fit it into. And again, it always looks so easy for him. And like you said, with his progressions, man, he gets that ball. You see Hitch.
[00:26:24] Speaker C: Hitch.
[00:26:24] Speaker A: Then he goes, Hitch one, not there. Hitch two, not there, and then sets his feet, strike no matter what. And again, it's always a pretty spiral. The touch balls are just amazing to watch. And again, I'm gushing about CJ Stroud when there's a lot of debate between the Panthers quarterback and CJ Stroud, but, I mean, he deserves a lot of this. He is. He looks like he was in college in certain points, and that was the main concern with him, was that the skill positions are too good, the system's too good, and there's the whole narrative around Ohio State quarterbacks, and that's exactly.
[00:27:02] Speaker B: What I was going to bring up coming into the draft. We saw a lot of narratives around. One, the cognitive test.
[00:27:08] Speaker C: Cognitive test, which I guess matter anymore.
[00:27:10] Speaker B: I'd never thought that was a thing, because I always thought that in my personal opinion, there's always a difference between.
Some people just aren't test takers. Yeah, some people just can't sit in a room and take a test.
And I don't think that should hinder. Well, I guess it could, should hinder his draft status a little bit. But I think what he's been able to prove just settles everything and also, like you just sAid, he had that narrative of him going to Ohio State having all the good weapons. I don't think you can argue that anymore. That last game, CJ Stroud, his 147.8 passer rating is the highest single game passer rating by rookie quarterback in NFL history. Wow. His 470 passing yards are the most passing yards by a rookie in a game in NFL history. He's the youngest player ever with at least 400 passing yards in a game. And he becomes the 6th player in NFL history to record at least 450 passing yards and five touchdown passes with no interception. Also, by the way, what's even crazier about this? 470 yards, five touchdowns on 71.4% completion.
[00:28:11] Speaker A: Yeah, that's elite game. And the Tampa defense isn't great, but it does not matter how you spin it. That's an NFL defense at the end of the day.
[00:28:20] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:28:20] Speaker A: And he absolutely diced them up. And I think I want to say he's lucky because again, I really don't want to take away from his performance. He's been such a good quarterback, but working with Bobby Sloick, I think has been a really good foundational thing for his career. Bobby Sloick is the new offensive coordinator for the Texans, but last year he was the passing game coordinator with San Francisco. And apparently Demiko Ryan's very set on having Bobby Sloick join him in Houston. But again, think about Bobby Sloak, what he's done with what he did with Brock Purdy last year. I mean, he's made Jimmy Garoppolo, who now looks like a unplayable quarterback after a few games with the Raiders, and Brock Purdy, who's kind of only shot down as the season's gone on. He started out hot. I mean, he had these guys being very good quarterbacks for all of the regular season. And obviously with the Niners the last season when they lost in the playoffs, it was because they just didn't have a quarterback. And the year before that, I believe it was Jimmy Garoppolo on like a minute 32nd, had to have it. Touchdown. And I'm not going to lie when I see that. I'm like, he's not getting this. This is Jimmy Garoppolo, man. He's not simply not going to make this play.
But again, he made those guys look really good for the whole season. And I think that helps CJ Stroud a lot. To have somebody who is one creative and also aggressive, who allows CJ to be able to push the ball down.
That that shows the trust that they have him and have in him this early on, and you see it in how the players talk about him, too. It is clear that they love CJ Stroud in Houston.
[00:29:58] Speaker B: I think they have a franchise quarterback, they have their head coach, and I think they have their culture.
[00:30:02] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:30:03] Speaker C: Oh, 1000%.
[00:30:05] Speaker B: What's even scarier, I think they still have a first round pick this year, because do they have two this year?
I think they had two this year, and they traded one away to the Cardinals.
[00:30:16] Speaker C: I can't remember what they traded to the Cardinals, but I know it was a.
[00:30:19] Speaker B: They traded in 2 seconds, I want to say, for the Will Anderson or CJ Stroud. They traded a first round pick. It wasn't their own. It might have been their own, actually, to the Cardinals.
So the Cardinals could go back and take that.
[00:30:39] Speaker A: Away. Yeah, they traded away that pick to the Cardinals, but they did trade with Cleveland. I don't know how or when, but they have Cleveland's pick.
[00:30:46] Speaker B: Yeah. That's for the Watson trade. Yeah.
[00:30:48] Speaker C: Watson. Watson.
[00:30:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:50] Speaker C: I forgot they got a bag for Watson.
[00:30:52] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, that was.
It's still paying off.
[00:30:55] Speaker C: One of the worst trades, I think Cleveland.
[00:30:57] Speaker A: Oh, one of the worst trade and then signing.
[00:30:59] Speaker B: Dude, I think they definitely stole 180 bank robbery.
[00:31:04] Speaker A: What was it guaranteed? 180,000,000 guaranteed.
[00:31:07] Speaker B: Watson was 232, 30. Way off.
[00:31:09] Speaker A: Pretty sure, yeah, it was 230 fully guaranteed?
[00:31:11] Speaker B: I think so. It's like something up there. It's definitely 200 something.
[00:31:14] Speaker A: Unreal.
[00:31:15] Speaker C: And then, I don't want to say he looks unplayable, but he doesn't look like Watson.
[00:31:19] Speaker A: And even then, it's just regardless of how he played, it's still just a scummy move from an organization.
Give a guy with what he faced the most guaranteed money ever without playing a season before. I mean, talk about a Browns move, man. Like, that is textbook.
[00:31:37] Speaker B: I mean, but at the same time, I'm not trying to play Devil's advocate, but that's essentially what I'm doing.
[00:31:45] Speaker A: That's a crazy thing to preface. Please continue.
[00:31:49] Speaker B: But like I'm saying. No, I'm just saying if you're the Browns, you've just been know, looking at their history and then the turmoil that they're having with Baker Mayfield, you have a team that's kind of built to win now. You don't want to go back to where you just were in the upside down, my analogy for it.
[00:32:07] Speaker A: But that's fair. I mean, they had to make a gamble.
[00:32:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:09] Speaker A: And it was a heck of a gamble.
[00:32:11] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:32:11] Speaker B: So that's the only reason I say that. But let me talk about another rookie quarterback, Will Levis.
He just got announced today from Mike Vable. He is now the starter, I think, here through on out for the rest of the season. Right. Looks like the Tennessee Titans have found their franchise quarterback. I want to get your opinion. I know we talked a little bit when we weren't on air. Tanner, you had an excellent breakdown on his throwing motion, how he processes his. Let me, if you want to speak on that.
[00:32:38] Speaker A: Sure, man.
With Will Levis, there's a lot of positive going around for him. And again, I'm not going to say I think it's somewhat deservedly so, but I think that we are going to see the problems come in very soon. In my opinion, as of right now, he had an electric game against the Falcons in his debut.
[00:33:03] Speaker B: Made Hopkins look like a top ten receiver. Absolutely.
[00:33:06] Speaker A: And again with the Steelers. This was his first defensive challenge in my opinion. The Falcons defense has some guys in the secondary, but this was his first defensive challenge, especially from a defensive line, I think. And again, like how I was talking about with this throwing motion, it is completely designed for power and for release timing. It's, I don't want to say robotic, but that's essentially the goal. It is supposed to be one motion that, again, it generates a lot of power and it is a quick, it is a fast release at the end of the day, but that does create some accuracy problems when he's not a natural thrower, if that makes sense.
This may just be a eye test thing for me, but there are some guys that you watch that are natural throwers of the football. You know what I mean?
Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow. I would say absolutely. These guys, they understand the balance between making some changes. Aaron Rodgers, I think probably the best example ever. But again, they understand the balance of what it takes to deliver an accurate ball every time and to have your own personal feel and what works for you, but then also to be able to make some changes to your motion, to work on timing, things like that. Like Josh Allen talks a lot about how he changed his release a lot to be able to be more accurate because again, he was focused on power and trying to light up defenses by throwing it 80 yards down the field. But again, that motion is really important. Will Levis's is defined by compactness, if that makes sense, and that can put you in some trouble when his touch throws have looked pretty solid so far. But man, it really screws him on some easy stuff. And I think you saw a little bit of it in this game. I think it'll probably start to show up a little bit more as he plays, more as teams get film on him in a professional setting. But, man, against this Steelers team, man, there was four or five turnover worthy balls for the game, at least maybe six for the game. But there was three turnover worthy balls on that last drive where they got close to the end zone. And then there was the actual interception, which still wasn't a great interception, but I guess he had to push the ball down the field. They needed a touchdown, but, man, there was three balls on that drive that should have been intercepted.
[00:35:29] Speaker B: I will say the offensive line didn't help them much. Not at all.
[00:35:32] Speaker A: And again, it was their first real test against a really good defense with TJ Watt and Cam Hayward and Alex Highsmith. These are really good defensive linemen. And he, in college wasn't that great against pressure, if I remember correctly. And I think again, like I said, their turnover problems are going to show up and I think the easy misses are going to show up soon. But as of right now, people have.
[00:35:58] Speaker B: Like a Pro Bowler wide receiver for him to throw to.
[00:36:00] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly.
[00:36:01] Speaker B: Crazy.
[00:36:02] Speaker C: Exactly. The one who just struck the record.
[00:36:04] Speaker B: Oh, I think. What's his name?
[00:36:07] Speaker C: Oh, was it AJ Brown?
[00:36:09] Speaker B: Oh, that's the guy.
[00:36:10] Speaker A: That's the guy.
[00:36:11] Speaker C: But the thing, I do agree with what you were saying with his whole compactness, because my biggest fear coming out of college was, yes, he has a rocket arm. Yes, he can throw the ball a mile, but when you need to throw over a linebacker and get it over the linebacker and underneath the safety, those little touch throws, intermediate throws, that's what I was always worried about was just, can he loft it over?
[00:36:36] Speaker A: Because that's exactly. And that's like a feel thing. That is a purely instinct thing, and that can be different for everybody. But if you're so set and having this same motion every time to generate speed to get it out quick, and again, those are good things, but there's so many nuances to the game of football and there's a million different throws you have to make. And I believe that he can, but that release makes it a little scary.
[00:37:04] Speaker C: He's got to tweak a little bit because it is way too compact to actually do stuff absolutely consistently.
[00:37:11] Speaker B: And I 100% agree with you guys. And before we head to break, I just want to mention last night against that battle between Will Levis and Kenny Pickett, who would you say is the better quarterback from that battle?
[00:37:21] Speaker C: Can I choose C?
[00:37:26] Speaker B: But yeah, Tanner, I know we talked.
[00:37:29] Speaker C: About this to Joshua Dobbs, Aiden O'Connie or whatever.
[00:37:33] Speaker B: I would take both of those guys.
[00:37:34] Speaker C: Same thing.
[00:37:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:35] Speaker B: But I know, Tanner, you talked about this a little bit last week, and I know we're about to head to break, but just to bring it up, what we talked about just real quick, Kenny Pickett, man, I think you're right. I think a lot of the fans were voicing their frustrations on Matt Canada because of how bad Kenny Pickett has been. And I think one thing we saw from this past game, Matt Canada is no longer upstairs. He went to the sideline, and for the first couple of possessions, you saw that Steelers offense kind of moving along. I mean, I think was the second possession they got that touchdown.
[00:38:04] Speaker A: Yeah, I think so.
[00:38:05] Speaker B: And it looked like the move was working out. But then as the game went along, Kenny Pickett started looking like Kenny Pickett. And unfortunately, if you're a Steelers fan, you're hoping he can recover and find his way in this league. But for now, we're going to head to break. And when we come back, we're going to talk about Joshua Dobbs, his Vikings reunion, and just other news around the league. You're listening to the student section, NFL W V UA 90.7.
[00:38:45] Speaker A: Tuscaloosa, you.
[00:38:56] Speaker B: And we are back. You are listening to the students section on WVUA 90.7, the capstone. And we're about to get underway with our third and final set of topics.
Joshua Dobbs, let's talk about him. Minnesota.
[00:39:10] Speaker C: I know it's kind of like a.
[00:39:11] Speaker B: Baker Mayfield story, how Baker was that free agent got cut and then he awesome made his debut with the Rams, like the next couple of days right after no time with the team. Joshua Dobbs. Then he get traded. What day? I want to say it was two days ago.
[00:39:23] Speaker C: It was on Tuesday.
[00:39:26] Speaker B: Tuesday?
[00:39:27] Speaker C: Yeah, it was on Halloween.
[00:39:28] Speaker A: Monday or Tuesday.
[00:39:29] Speaker B: Still doesn't get. Probably doesn't get over there till a couple of days later. Really doesn't get to spend much time with the team and their offensive sets.
[00:39:35] Speaker A: Right.
[00:39:36] Speaker B: I know he still wins the game.
[00:39:38] Speaker C: He mentioned how he hasn't practiced a snap with the starting lineup. He never got a snap from the center. He said that was all for next week. But then Jared hall got injured and he comes in and just balls out. I got to pull up the stats real quick.
[00:39:53] Speaker B: That does need to be mentioned. Jared hall, the backup quarterback for the Vikings. Now that Kirk Cousins is out with Achilles tear, he goes down. I want to say almost immediately in.
[00:40:02] Speaker C: Quarter one, I thought it was a concussion. Oh, no. Jared hall goes down with a concussion.
[00:40:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:07] Speaker C: I thought you were talking about Jared Hall. When he said Achilles. I was like, no.
[00:40:10] Speaker B: Yeah, no, my bad.
Yeah, Joshua Dobbs kind of gets just thrown in there, but, hey, he figures it out. And the Vikings, weren't they down like 14, like 140? Then they come back.
[00:40:23] Speaker A: Was it really 14 zip?
[00:40:24] Speaker C: I don't know.
[00:40:24] Speaker B: I don't know. Don't quote me on that because I don't know. But I know that they were struggling at first, and it kind of seemed like a comeback win.
[00:40:30] Speaker C: I think. I think they were struggling with Jared hall at the QB room, and then he got injured, and then Josh Jobs comes 20 for 30 for 158 yards and two touchdowns.
[00:40:40] Speaker A: Josh, the.
[00:40:41] Speaker B: He had some tough plays that kind of made you like, oh, you kind of felt bad for him because he's just a couple of fumbles and that weird, you know, when he starts taking off to the right, and then I think he's trying to throw it, but then it slips out and then it's a fumble. It was some weird. It was some weird turnover. He had a couple of those, but.
[00:40:59] Speaker C: His escapability was crazy.
[00:41:01] Speaker A: It was really impressive.
[00:41:02] Speaker C: It was one of the last few drives.
No, it was the last drive. It was the last drive. I don't know how many timeouts they had left, but it's like third down, second down, and he's getting sacked. And he breaks out of the sack and runs for the line of game. Plus, I think it was like three or four yards. He gets it, and then the very next, a couple of plays later, he rolls out to the right and throws a strike. And I'm just like, what is going on?
Ankle biter, man. I called it. I said, with Josh Dobbs, they're going to be a tough team to beat.
[00:41:31] Speaker A: Shout out to pastronaut, man.
[00:41:33] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:41:34] Speaker A: Get it. You said what, the pastronaut?
[00:41:37] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:41:38] Speaker A: Aerospace engineering degree.
[00:41:40] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:41:42] Speaker B: Okay.
That was a good. First of all, that was a good one.
[00:41:47] Speaker A: I want my flowers for that.
[00:41:49] Speaker C: Over my head for a second.
[00:41:51] Speaker A: It flew over his head.
[00:41:52] Speaker C: Flew over my head for a second. Well done, astronaut.
[00:41:58] Speaker B: Anyway.
[00:42:01] Speaker A: Oh, God, what supreme lack of coordination in this podcast right now or in this radio show. Okay.
[00:42:07] Speaker B: Yeah. I thought you were trying to make another joke.
[00:42:10] Speaker C: I didn't know what he was going on about, but moving on to the Falcon side, right? Arthur Smith, man, I saw a thing on Twitter. You look up Arthur Smith. First thing to pull up. Arthur Smith, terrorist. And I mean, oh, my God, that's really extreme. I know it's pretty crazy, but you spend the fourth overall pick on Kyle Pitts, one of the top prospects of tight ends we've seen in highest tight end.
And then you draft Bija Robinson at seven this year when you had an A thousand yard rusher last year.
[00:42:43] Speaker A: Right.
[00:42:43] Speaker C: And your quote is, when they're off.
[00:42:46] Speaker A: The ball, they create a lot of opportunities when they are away from the ball.
[00:42:52] Speaker C: Interesting.
[00:42:54] Speaker A: Taking a running back at seven in today's league is already a bit of, a bit of a strange thing to do because of how running backs are valued. So for one, and also like you said, to have a 1000 yard rusher on your roster, literally from the last season, to have him on your roster. If you take a running back at seven, you're saying when you have the 1000 yard rusher, you clearly you don't need the help at running back. It's not a necessity, but you have to assume that they're thinking, all right, best player available. This guy can be a focal point. This guy can change and win games for us. That's why you take somebody like him at seven to then just use him as know as window dressing for the offense constantly.
[00:43:37] Speaker C: Oh, look, Bijon's out there.
[00:43:38] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:43:38] Speaker A: And the same thing with Kyle Pitts. Like there was some touchdown they had where it was tight end two, throwing to tight end three and Kyle Pitts was blocking for just, it just doesn't make sense. And you almost have to wonder if it gets to a point where teams are going to recognize, all right, the ball's not going to Kyle Pitts here because he's going to use him as a distraction.
[00:44:01] Speaker C: You know what mean? Like when does it not become a.
[00:44:04] Speaker B: That's maybe, maybe he's just truly, maybe.
[00:44:08] Speaker C: They'Re waiting for them to be like, okay, he's a distraction now and then. Throw him the ball.
[00:44:12] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:44:12] Speaker B: Got him.
[00:44:13] Speaker A: We got him.
[00:44:15] Speaker B: Well, yeah. Also another thing I wanted to bring up. I think I saw like a stat online. I didn't have time to verify it, but is it true that Bijon Robinson hasn't gotten a touch inside the Five?
[00:44:24] Speaker C: Nope, he has one.
[00:44:26] Speaker A: That is sanity.
[00:44:27] Speaker C: Singular touch inside the five yards and.
[00:44:30] Speaker B: A running back that's probably the highest drafted.
[00:44:32] Speaker A: He's elite in between the tackles, dude. He really is.
[00:44:34] Speaker C: He's elite anywhere on the football field.
[00:44:36] Speaker A: He's a really good football player. And is it bold to say he.
[00:44:40] Speaker B: Reminds me of like a shades of Adrian Peterson?
That's not why he runs.
[00:44:45] Speaker C: So I would say it's not very bold to say that, but at the same time, he doesn't really get the ball. So we don't really.
[00:44:53] Speaker A: Sure from the.
[00:44:56] Speaker B: Very small sample size that we have.
[00:44:58] Speaker C: We'Re saying that in week eight, as the 7th overall pick, that one overview.
[00:45:03] Speaker B: Shot of him scoring that touchdown, we.
[00:45:06] Speaker C: Got that one shot and they're like, all right, we don't need to see anymore.
[00:45:09] Speaker A: Yeah, we're good.
[00:45:10] Speaker B: Are you sure he's not sick?
[00:45:15] Speaker A: Wasn't there an investigation into that?
[00:45:17] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't think things came out about it.
[00:45:19] Speaker B: We're probably not going to hear about it.
[00:45:21] Speaker C: They probably just said that. So fantasy owners would be like, okay, thank you.
[00:45:25] Speaker A: So fantasy owners would shut up.
[00:45:27] Speaker C: Probably, yeah.
[00:45:27] Speaker B: But speaking of coaches, there's a lot of new coach news going around the league right now. Let's talk about the Raiders. We talked about it last week.
[00:45:35] Speaker C: Josh McDaniels, fresh air.
[00:45:37] Speaker B: Exactly. Josh McDaniels is finally out that door, and now they have a new head coach, the interim head coach. I know it's their linebacker coach. I'm blanking on his name.
[00:45:45] Speaker C: It was Antonio Pierce. And I mean, from what I can see in the locker room videos and stuff like that, they are vibing. Everybody bought in.
[00:45:52] Speaker A: It seems like he's the opposite of Josh McDaniels in that Josh McDaniels was the guy where you're like all cook. He'll cook up a pretty good offense for us. You know what mean? Like that's what you're looking for with Josh McDaniels, with this guy, with Antonio Pierce. I think he was ASU. I think he was ASU when ASU had all those recruiting issues and they lost a bunch of really good players. And I think he was like at the center of that, which is pretty left. Well, I'm saying that he got in trouble, like rules trouble at ASU for some recruiting know, and also that kind of adds into the Raiders culture a little bit, I guess, if that makes sense. You know what mean? There's, they've had a lot of guys that have gotten in trouble for legitimate legal reasons, and so to have a guy who's not afraid to one, just be upfront with players.
[00:46:45] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:46:45] Speaker A: Be upfront with players and just in the sense of he wants to be as the word I want to use, I probably shouldn't use, but he's a bad dude, if that makes sense. He's a guy that you don't want to mess with as a player. You have to respect who he is from a personality standpoint. Josh McDaniels was not that I don't think he ever has been ever in his career and again.
[00:47:10] Speaker B: Or when his tenure as the Broncos head coach.
[00:47:13] Speaker A: Exactly.
That's why I say he's the opposite, is that Antonio Pierce offers the culture. He offers the ability to just change how the team feels day in and day out. And then Josh McDaniels probably contributed more from a football standpoint. But again, we don't know that. To be sure. At the end of the day, I.
[00:47:30] Speaker C: Think we do know that, because we.
[00:47:31] Speaker A: Got to give Pierce a chance.
[00:47:33] Speaker C: The product they're putting on the field, it doesn't look like a good football team.
[00:47:37] Speaker B: I heard two different stories on how Josh McDaniels got fired. I think one's funny and probably unrealistic.
[00:47:42] Speaker A: Yeah, I know what you're talking about.
[00:47:44] Speaker B: First one, just real quick, is him dressing up as Mark Davis for his Halloween party.
[00:47:47] Speaker A: Right.
[00:47:47] Speaker B: And apparently that was.
[00:47:49] Speaker A: And that's how he let him.
[00:47:51] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. And then he bottomed Chinese food, and then you're fired in the Chinese.
[00:47:55] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:47:56] Speaker A: It was a note that he said, you're fired, hotshot.
[00:47:58] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:47:59] Speaker A: Hilarious.
[00:48:00] Speaker B: So, I would love to believe that's a true story, even though I don't wish for anyone to get fired, but that's just hilarious. The second one, which is probably more realistic, I heard that during a team meeting at some point.
[00:48:09] Speaker C: This is the one I heard.
[00:48:10] Speaker B: I heard the team meeting Antonio Pierce was making a comment on, even though they're doing bad and terrible. But think of this team like the New York Giants because they beat the undefeated Patriots. And apparently, after that meeting, Josh McDaniels pulled him to his side and said, don't you ever talk about the Patriots that way.
[00:48:28] Speaker A: So if that is insane, that's what I heard.
[00:48:31] Speaker B: It's the case, and that is true. I 100% Am taking 85 million in depth.
[00:48:38] Speaker A: Get him out of there.
[00:48:39] Speaker C: I do want to bring this one up.
I know we were supposed to talk about Bill Belichick, and if he's supposed to be fired.
[00:48:46] Speaker B: Yeah, that's next.
[00:48:47] Speaker C: But is the Patriot way really a good way of playing football?
[00:48:51] Speaker A: I mean, they got six championships.
[00:48:53] Speaker C: Tom Brady. Tom Brady.
[00:48:55] Speaker A: Okay, listen.
[00:48:56] Speaker C: The best quarterback.
[00:48:57] Speaker B: Listen, before you answer that, my thing is, I think the Patriot way was the blueprint, and then Tom Brady used that blueprint but put in his own, because Tom Brady's a charismatic guy, and I think.
[00:49:13] Speaker C: Yeah, okay, but the reason I say.
[00:49:15] Speaker B: That is because he's made it fun for players like Gronk. Like, I think a lot of players really love playing with Tom because he made it fun. But if you take Tom out the Patriots way is just nothing but like.
[00:49:27] Speaker C: That'S what I'm saying.
[00:49:28] Speaker B: Not anarchy, but Tyranny is what I'm saying. That's why I'm making.
[00:49:31] Speaker C: But it's like, I'm going to read you everybody underneath the Bill Belichick tree right now. Nick Saban, who is a great college football coach. Yes, but in the NFL he was not great. I mean, 15 and 17 record. Matt Patricia, 13 and 29. Josh McDaniels, eleven and 17. Al Gro, nine and seven. He wasn't really long. Joe Judge, seven and 15. Brian Flores, 16 and 22. Jim Schwartz, 29 to 51. Romeo Cornell, 32 and 63. Eric Mingini, 33 and 47. And Bill O'Brien with the best record of them all, 52 and 48.
[00:50:07] Speaker B: That's crazy. You said the best record of them all.
[00:50:11] Speaker C: It shows a lot how you really can't hire a Bill Belichick guy and expect them to do great anymore.
[00:50:17] Speaker A: Right.
[00:50:17] Speaker B: Compared to someone on Shanahan's.
[00:50:19] Speaker C: Yeah, like Shanahan, Andy Reid, like that kind of line.
[00:50:23] Speaker B: It goes on and on.
[00:50:23] Speaker C: Yeah. Listen, a lot of success.
[00:50:25] Speaker A: Listen, I understand the coaching tree. Know, I think that gets talked about a lot because of the success of the Shanahan Tree. For example, there's so many guys that have been very successful head coaches out of there. But to a certain extent, we shouldn't use that as a means to quantify Bill Belichick's coaching ability and how he has done it with the Patriots. At the end of the day, I'm.
[00:50:51] Speaker C: Not saying he's bad. I'm just saying he might be a little overrated.
[00:50:54] Speaker A: A little overrated? We can't say.
[00:50:58] Speaker C: I know we can't overrate six championships, but as soon as Tom Brady left.
[00:51:03] Speaker B: I know what you're point you're arguing. I think if anything, it's just that his coaching.
A lot of players don't respond to that type of coaching anymore. Yeah, I think that's if anything.
[00:51:14] Speaker A: And also, again, six championships doesn't come from Tom Brady. And don't get me wrong, Tom Brady is unbelievable. Best, greatest quarterback of all time. But a lot of these games he doesn't have to, especially in playoff paths. He did not have to have super high production from an offensive standpoint to win these games. Dude, the last championship they won was against the Rams in 2019. That Rams team was a historic offense. They were killing teams all year. And the way that the Patriots ran their defense for the entire year was different. From what they did in the Super bowl, when they got to the Super Bowl, Bill Belichick recognized that. I forget which team it was, but a certain team, maybe in the Broncos, that held the Rams to far less points than any other team in the league. And so in the however many weeks, it was two, three, something along those lines. Two weeks. I think he coaches the Vic Fangio cover six to the Patriots, which stopped that Rams team, essentially, because what the Rams did was stack one side of the field. But what cover six does in terms of the safeties, it's a half on one side of the field. So a safety covering half of one side of the field, then the other half is covered by two safeties covering quarters. And that's supposed to know the bunches. And what teams especially do nowadays is try to stack one side of the field, unbalance the defense. But he taught that to his team in two weeks and held the Rams to three mean three points. That is a historic offense.
[00:52:39] Speaker C: I didn't say, of course, he's a defensive mind genius.
[00:52:43] Speaker A: Right, right.
That's what made him an elite head coach. That combined with Tom Brady. Obviously, Tom Brady deserves a lot of the credit, but he is one of the best defensive coaches ever, if not the. I think you can confidently say he's the best defensive coach ever. And to get six championships out of that is insanity.
[00:53:01] Speaker C: Yes, he's had a great defense ever since we can think of. Even now, he still has a great defense. But without Tom Brady, that offense is pitiful. They don't move the ball whatsoever. They have had a carousel at quarterback that you drafted, Mac Jones, who was supposed to be the Tom Brady replacement. He looks egregious under this playstyle.
[00:53:19] Speaker B: His best season was this rookie season.
[00:53:20] Speaker C: And he was a Pro Bowler because he was a substitute. So I'm saying, of course, the Bill Belichick defense works, stuff like that. But if you don't have a Tom Brady on the offensive side of the ball, who doesn't have a Julian Edelman, a Rob Gonkrowski, a Randy Moss, Danny Amandola, I mean, sure, Danny Amandola, Wes Welker, James White, all these types of players. I feel like Ramondre Stevens is better than James White right now, but I'm still saying there was a lot of. Tom Brady has a lot to take credit for when it comes to that offense. And I mean, you need both offense and defense to win the Super Bowl. And if you like, we see now two and seven patriots who have a great pass rush in Matt Judon, who have good corners with Jack Jones now apparently JC Jackson's back. We have this entire Kyle Duggar still playing good. The defense is really stepping up, but they have no production from the offense whatsoever. So I'm saying you can't really expect the Billabella check way to win if you can't get points on the and.
[00:54:21] Speaker A: Obviously, you know, it's harder to do that when you don't have one of the best quarterbacks ever. But again, for what he does, for what his responsibilities are as a head coach, he has done that perfectly for almost his entire career, and he still does it today with the Patriots. That's why the Patriots get sneaky games against the Bills and the Dolphins, because they match up so well defensively and they give them surprise wins, like ankle biting wins. I guess we like to say on here, but yeah, I don't know. I think it's easy to take away from what Belichick did, but I think it's still unfair because the NFL is so complicated and you can't expect a coach to be responsible for having an elite defense but know not being able to get an offense going.
[00:55:00] Speaker B: Yeah, and I think you guys both made some great points and unfortunately we're out of time and I would love to keep this conversation going, but to close it out, let me just say the rumor on Bill Belichick right now is that there's two rumors, actually. One, if they go over, they lose this game, that Bill might have to be stepped down and handed over to interim coach Gerard Mayo. And the second rumor is now, with new ownership, the commanders are looking at possibly trading for Bill Belichick, if I'm going to let that sit with you. So we'll see what happens, but tune in next week. As we come back, you are listening to the student section NFL on WVUA 90.7 Tuscaloosa.
