NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 40s and Free Agents: Gregg's Top FA RBs and DJ's Senior Bowl Takeaways

Episode Date: February 3, 2026

Gregg Rosenthal and Daniel Jeremiah return with fresh reactions from the Senior Bowl as Daniel shares what stood out while evaluating prospects up close. Gregg follows with his latest free agent rankings and insight into how teams may attack the market. The discussion then turns to the Las Vegas Raiders new head coach and what the move could mean going forward before closing with a roundup of the latest coaching hires across the league.NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Welcome back to 40s and free agents. I'm Greg Rosenthal, joined as always by Daniel Jeremiah. He is off the street, beaten the path, you know, evaluating all the draft prospects for the NFL network. He was in Mobile all week and he is back in San Diego, but in like a guest room or something because he broke his glass desk. Still don't know what happened. Great mystery.

happened to the glass desk, but I am in a, I'm in a guest room, which used to be my daughter's room. So the desk that I'm operating on right now, very much for like a 10-year-old. And it's a little, it's a little slammed in there. Wait, what did happen to your glass desk? You get, you get too angry when you're watching. Look at this blanket. So she was a kid, it's like a burrito. So you kind of fold it up like it's a burrito blanket. So that's what I'm sitting on. That's what I'm sitting on right now, Greg, because it's maybe the most uncomfortable office chair that's ever been, Yeah, and you can check out this great production value at some point on the NFL YouTube channel, too. They're putting it up there.

But yeah, you were at the Senior Bowl. We're going to talk a little bit about what you saw in Mobile, some prospects that stood out to you. We're going to start previewing the real rankings that people care about, the free agency rankings. I mean, this draft stuff, half of them aren't even going to work out. We talk about real deal pros in the top 101 free agency ranking. So we're going to go over my running back rank. I actually, we're going to play a little segment. You don't even know this.

You can help me with my rankings. I'm trying to sort out different tiers and maybe we'll get your feedback. And then we're going to look at some of the coaching hires too. Let me just hit you with this real quick. So the draft is late April, right? Yes. So I have to rank player. You rank players.

I rank players. So the draft is in late April. My list came out, what, two weeks ago? When is free agency start again? March, March, March 10th, something like that. I should know this. Any chance we see those rankings before Freedians? Well, they like to drop it with maximum impact right before the scouting combine.

So we're working hard on it. We're going to be at the scouting combine along with you, DJ, talking to people and getting all the buzz. But yeah, that's why people got to listen to 40s in Freedans. We'll be previewing them here. But can we drop some, though? Like, I know the overall 100 101 comes out. But I think 40s and free agents can offer is, hey, maybe we take positions. Okay.

And kind of roll out as we go. That's the value add here. And by the way, everybody that I talk to. Next week we'll do tight ends. I like that. Okay. Yeah, everybody I talked to at the senior bowl, like they love 40s and free agents. They're rocking with us on this thing.

So good job, right? They just like that you give me a hard time every time. No, but they think you're smart. I mean, they didn't say it, but I think they think it, you know. Maybe I'm just projecting there. I don't know. Now I feel uncomfortable. because you said something nice about me for the first time on this show.

Let's talk Senior Bowl, where I wish at some point, I really am going to try to catch up to DJ, because I can do multiple things. You know, I can do free agency and the draft. But DJ is the expert. And we're here for your takes. And I watched some of the coverage. I read some of the coverage.

Hit me with maybe a big picture takeaway from the class that was at the Senior Bowl. Yeah, I think that there's things you can take away from these All-Star games. is kind of like a microcosm of being the bigger, broader draft class. And the strengths, usually at these end up being the strengths of the overall class. And so to me, it's a really good defensive line draft, especially on the perimeter with edge rushers. We had some really good guys down there. T.J. Parker from Clemson is an example of someone who's in my top 50 was just outside the first round range. And, you know, as well as he played all week long, very much looked like a first round caliber player.

you've got Harris from Michigan who had a really, really good week. Edge Rusher, who, again, was just outside my top 50, probably vaulted himself in the top 50. Zion Young from Missouri, another one, just a whole host of really solid edge players. And then, you know, like Lee Hunter was one. I took a bite of that apple before the Senior Bowl of like, man, I really, really like this kid. I know he's not getting as much buzz talking to some folks, but kind of planning my flag on that one. He had a really good week at 320 plus pounds of defensive tackle out of Texas Tech. So across the board on the defensive line, I thought it was really good.

Offensive line-wise, Ian Achor, the tackle from Arizona State was in my top 50. He looked like, you know, second round pick all day long. And Greg, usually these guys that we say are locks his second round picks at that position. They get elevated and sometimes find their way into the first round. But not as deep on the offensive line. So that was kind of like the first takeaways. And then quarterback-wise, sometimes you see guys really kind of separate themselves and vault themselves up.

I thought, you know, there's some solid performances. Garrett Nussmeyer had a good week out of LSU, but he's not the biggest guy in the world. Cole Payton from North Dakota State flashed a little bit, but he hasn't played a ton. So a lot of, I would say a lot of question marks still on the quarterbacks. And that's going to expand beyond this group into the overall draft. I want to follow up on something he said with Nussmeyer. And it might go for T.J. Parker, too. Yeah.

That guys who have a great sort of profile coming off, like a great year in college the year before, you know, their final year for the draft, I feel like get overlooked a little. Now, when you go back to watch Nussmeyer, like a couple of years, you know, two seasons ago, do you see the hype, the reason for the hype? Because to me, with him and then T.J. Parker

would be more of an example of a guy who might get taken in the first round. You mentioned the edge rusher. If they can show that level of production at a big time school, they showed that they can do it. And you always talk about drafting off the peaks, kind of what they can show. So like, how do you balance that when they're coming off maybe not as productive a year? Yeah, it's a good point. I would say, first of all, when we make, you know, the comparisons and in discussions like this, quarterback is totally, I think it's by itself. So, you know, I just think that's a unique discussion with them where, you know,

more track record and kind of the trend line is maybe more important there at that position, whereas like T.J. Parker not having a, you know, as productive as good at the season this year, but I can go back and watch him last year. Max Clare is a tight end from Ohio State this year that had okay production, but the year before he was at Purdue where he was the focal point of the offense and you could see all the good stuff. So I think those positions are a little different than quarterback. Quarterback, usually you want to see guys that are that are kind of climbing and ascending. But I go back to my notes on Nussmeyer before this season. And to me, you kind of remind me of

like Andy Dalton type player, like someone who's a day two pick, who's got a, you know, he's got a shot to be a starter in the right spot and the right system. And I don't know that I'm really, you know, coming too far off of that. You know, he helped himself overall with this last week. But it wasn't like, T.J. Parker, I thought, was a top 15 pick coming into the season based off the way he played in 24. And then this year, I was like, nah, he's probably more of a second round pick. And now he probably fought his way back into the discussion in the back of one. If that, that makes sense. Quarterbacks is kind of its own island over there. I guess it's also like what, what level are we talking about? Ben, people could argue a little bit

about Drake May's final year at UNC or even Caleb Williams is. But like, I think the year before that for both of them were even better. That was they played at such a high consistent level. I mean, we're talking about Heisman Trophy, you know, for Caleb Williams, like played an elite off the charts level with a long track record. Whereas we talk about

grade the flashes, like the high points of players. At quarterback, it can get a little bit trickier. Like, you've got to have at least some track record of playing at that higher level. Whereas a defensive tackle who just flashes a couple of plays, you're like, okay, we

can dream on that. Like, that's what he can be. Let's let's go on him. Whereas like Drake May played like a, you know, a top five pick the year before. Caleb played like the, you know, a once a decade type player the year before. That's a little, little more track record there. By the way, it's funny. I've noticed with these GM situations around league, people trying to take credit now for liking Drake May that Minnesota really wanted to trade up for Drake May and they didn't get them. And the Giants and Joe Shane, they really wanted to trade up Joe for Drake May. May and they didn't get, it was like, yeah, I could have, I could have told you Drake May was great. And Drake May would have been the number one overall pick in a lot of these drafts.

I think he would have been in the Kyler Murray draft or the Bryce Young draft or the K.M. War draft or this, it's like you don't need to be a genius. I'm not giving you credit for trying to trade up for Drake Me. Yeah, I will say that in those two instances, I had talked to people in the high ups of those organizations before those drafts. At least I can confirm this is not some revisionist history. No, I believe it. They were both very aggressive in trying to do that.

It's just they weren't going to, they weren't going to trade off of, you know, where they were up there to with New England and wisely. So it's just another reminder, though. This is a great reminder of where, where you pick is not always as important as what year and what the crop looks like. You know what I mean? Like that, not all top three picks are the same. I mean, to come into the draft that year and it was, man, we have, we had daily kind of discussions

and heated discussions about, you know, okay, well, Caleb's played kind of falling off. And Jay Daniels had this unbelievable year. And then you got Trach May, who's his prototype, you know, those all three of those guys, however you want to shake them up, I don't know that there was a, you know, a wrong decision to be made between those three. Whereas this year, it's like, man, there feels like there's one guy and then a lot of wishing and hope him. And you said how, you know, Caleb Williams was coming off such a high peak, Heisman trophy, all that.

But he didn't do one thing in college? And that's beat too late. He got hurt. Didn't he get hurt in the, or is that? He didn't get hurt. They put up 40 points and they gave up 15 points in the last four minutes and lost 45 to 44 or something like that. You know what's amazing. And I'm pretty sure this was the matchup.

Kalen Bullock got run over by Tajay Spears in that game. And I think it actually, that one play helped Tajay Spears climb up a little bit. And it actually pushed Kalin Bullock down a little bit because, you know, there was, I want to say the Utah game as well where he, had some issues tackling. And then it turns out, Caitlin Bullock pretty good, pretty good. Probably shouldn't punish him for one bad play. He's been incredible.

And you know who played about the end of last season? Tadje Spears, I think it's going to have a nice solid. Worked out for everybody. That's the two-lane coverage for today. I did do some homework on the Senior Bowl before we moved on, mostly just like reading your article.

And do you actually write the stuff or does someone help you? Can you? So truth, truth be told, like the top 50 lists in the mock draft. I write all on the Senior Bowl. I, Dan Parr is there. Editor Gordon there. So I will go find Dan in the press box in between the first and second practices on Thursday. And I'll have my, just my, you know, my roster stuff. And so I'll just go, all right, Dan, let's rip through these guys. And then I dictate to him. This guy, this is what I liked. And it ends up, he flowers it up a little bit based off what I tell him there. But it's a

the in-part production. Well, you hit on a lot of the guys I was going to ask you about anyway. Zion Young, by the way, got the MVP of the game played great. The other question would be on Malachi Fields, who it sounded like you liked. I noticed you had them in the top 50, the big wide receiver from Notre Dame. I looked at the consensus board. I don't know if you know that website where it's just kind of averaging all the, it's just for a normie like me to get a feel.

I can understand what it means. Just to get a feel of like what the consensus is at. You were higher going into this senior bowl on him than consensus. He was in the 60s or something like that. You already had him in your top, top 50. Big dude, like for a team that is looking for a wide receiver in this draft, tell me a little bit about Malachi Field and what you saw in person. Yeah, 6-4-218, so ideal size.

But he can, you know, he can get off press, which is always a good thing when you're a bigger receiver. Do you have either the quickness or the strength to be able to get off the line of scrimmage? He does that easily on tape. He did it really well at the Senior Bowl. He made some spectacular catches. His pit game is going to be the highlight tape that everybody's going to watch the plays that he made in that game, including an incredible one-handed catch. Then he goes in the week of practice, makes a diving catch down the field.

He was clearly the best receiver there. I mean, it wasn't even close. And he's built like a power forward. He's incredibly smart. He interviewed really well with teams. And when I was talking to the guys at Notre Dame about him, I was like, tell me, can give me a story about him? Like, just tell me about him. And they said, well, I think it was, I remember the opponent.

I can't remember the opponent who it was. So they had an explosive play. And they got down inside the 10. And there was a timeout on the field. And so he walks over to the sideline and he walks by the offensive coordinator and goes, you know what to do. And he said, okay. All right. So they throw him, they throw him just a jump ball and he scores.

And he's like, yeah, apparently he did. That was the right move. But just a very look at just like kind of the subtle confidence of a guy like that. and someone who I think is an all-day top-50 pick and is going to be in the conversation in the bottom of the first round. Love that. And yeah, look, I'm a basic.

I like focusing on the skill positions. That's all asking about because we're going to be talking about these guys for a couple of months. Why did you haven't put March 11? Is that when your list comes out? That is, I believe, the first day of free agency. Okay. It's also my anniversary.

So I'll be able to remember that easily. Congratulations. How many years will it be? I got married in 2000, so I would always know how many years I've been married. So pretty easy. 26. Okay. Okay.

And you're done with the kids, right? You know, your oldest is now almost out of the house. I'm done. Yeah. All this youngest. I got the empty nest. I mean, that's why I got the access to the guest bedroom here. It's what a world.

DJ is going to have with like the second, second teenage years of just the empty nest. It's going to be fun. Let's talk rankings. the real rankings. Let's debut some rankings in terms of free agency. Let's talk running backs. It is an awesome group in free agency this year. And in general, people say it's easier to find running backs. And I do find that to be mostly true in free agency, but it's not like that every year. It just happens to come up this year that it's not only fun at the top, but then you can also get whatever flavor you want as a backup, which is what most teams do in free agency. I thought

this was a good week to do it because one of them is starting the Super Bowl, Ken Walker. And, you know, there's a great three-pack at the top of free agency. And maybe Cowboys fans would think that Javante Williams needs to be in that three-pack, but I'm not putting them there. So my top three, and I'm curious how you would rank them. Right now, it's a group. It's a cluster like your drafts. It's Ken Walker, Kenneth Walker, you know, where we've seen just the creativity,

the explosive ability, really rare movement. Travis E. TN. who's coming off of a really nice season for the Jaguars. And if you look at his production, it's really been pretty consistent three of the four years of his career. And then Brees Hall, who's always been consistent. You know, producing as a receiver,

a little less so this year, but that was more because of the people around him. He actually had his high for rushing yards this year. So slightly different, but actually I think a lot of similarities between those three. and kind of shaking them out. I did unfortunately kind of see what other people are thinking,

and I think I'm going to be different than consensus on these three guys. Wow. Those are three really, really good players. I think there's going to be some recency bias that's going to help Walker in these rankings, but I would actually do it in the reverse order that you just gave them to me. Yeah. I would go Breece Hall. I would go E.N.

I would go Walker. Breeze Hall, he's a big playmaker. And yeah, I usually don't do this, but I just have to be real. I saw some of the other early list. And yeah, Brees Hall is up there. Like he's going to be, I think, in the top 10 overall free agents. He's a dynamic player. To me, Kenneth Walker, maybe I'm just falling for the flashes a little bit.

But who moves like him in the NFL? It's pretty special the way he can make people miss in space. and sometimes maybe it's the blocking assignments that haven't been always clean, that they trust Charbonnet a little more. He's the one that intrigues me the most, and maybe you're right that it's a little bit of recency bias, but if you want big plays, all three of them can do it for you, but I think Kenneth Walker has still like a little on-tap potential there.

I want to do some on-the-job homework here. what was the, I would love to know what the carries were from these three guys, like from a usage standpoint during the year, I'm pulling it up right now. This year, it was very similar between the three of them. They were, ETN had 260 carries. Yeah. Brise Hall at 243. Kenneth Walker at 221.

Yeah. And Kenneth Walker, you know, this year was, it last couple of years really has been consistent in terms of, you know, he'll catch 30, 40 passes a year. It was a little less so for Breece Hall. When you look at the total production in terms of yards from scrimmage, you know, like Brees Hall's in the 1400 range, three out of four seasons, ETS around there. Kenneth Walker is slightly less, but not really much, 1,300 yards this year. The thing about ETN that I like, I think he might be the safest pick of the three. If you watch what he did this year, and I went through a lot of his run, it's a lot more inside runs and breaking tackles than you think.

He was a touchdown scorer this year. And if you go through the rushing touchdowns, like they're inside runs where he is breaking tackles in addition to the big plays. And then the thing that he's given you is he's the primary receiver on a lot of his touchdown. He scored 15 touchdowns this year. It's outrageous, seven of them catching the ball.

And like the plays are designed for him. And Liam Cohen does a great job. You got to give credit to the offense. But he is beating, you know, the linebackers or the safeties one-on-one. sometimes it's it's the scheme, but it's like, hey, you're, you're going to go be that guy, either on a wheel route or different types of routes in the red zone. And so you can use him a different, a lot of different ways.

To me, he's probably the safest pick of the three. Yeah, I don't know there's a wrong answer, though, to be honest. I think they're a little different in how they're utilized and what their strengths are. To me, I watch the Seahawks every week, you know, doing that, doing that show up there. So I like Kenneth Walker a lot. I just, to me, Charbonnet has better vision. Charbonnet has kind of better feel as a runner, a little more patient. But Kenneth Walker, what he did in the last game that we saw, the most recent view of it, the move in the hole to be able to make you miss was outrageous.

You know, just showing you that's the, that's the athlete that he is, like the, you know, kind of an electric player. But I think it's just a pure, you know, vision feel runner. I would, you know, I would probably have him third on this list. Yeah, he, he doesn't always go to the hole that's blocked. So I think around the NFL, he might be third on this list because. he's a little more unpredictable than the other two. Dynamic is heck, though. I mean, really.

There is something, you could make the case after Bajan, in just in terms of pure jaw-dropping, like, movement explosive ability to kind of make you miss it and open. There aren't many running backs in the league that are better than Kenneth Walker. So all three of them are really intrigued. Yeah, again, this would not be a slight on any of these three guys. I think it's, I think whichever one of these guys goes to the better, you know,

system offensive line play callers going to have the better future. I'm just, I'm curious to see with Breece Hall with a legitimate passing game to kind of free some things up and loosen some things up, I think you see more of those dynamic runs he's capable of. My prediction is he's going to remain in New York Jet ultimately in that they will tag him because they have the space. The franchise tag for running backs is just not that much.

It's $11 or $12 million. I think in a one-year deal, at a position where you're worried about the long term. I think they'll think, let's just not have to worry about that position. I could be wrong. And the Seahawks could think the same with Kenneth Walker. We'll find out. I'll be a little surprised.

The Kansas City Chiefs should be in on all three of these guys, by the way. Yes. The reporting was that they did not want to give up a third round pick, I believe it was for Breeshall during the season. Some of their fans were upset. I think it made sense not to give out the pick. So Giovante Williams. Yeah, give us some more names here.

Javante Williams is next. he's sort of in a category of his own looked like a different player to me coming off of a really serious injury I thought he had his best year this year I mean he's the old phrase a rolling ball of butcher knife it is tough to get him down

and I think he fits that cowboy system well wouldn't surprise me if they bring him back so to me he's a solid fourth and will probably have a pretty nice overall ranking and after that then I get into the back is it a bowling? Is it a bowling? Is it a bowling ball of butcher knives or rolling bowl of butcher knives? It could be either way.

What about a bowl in a china shop is a similar? Something like that. I love what Giovante Williams did. After that, then to me, it's guys who are going to be like one B guys. So it's the different flavors. And these are in order. It's the kind of more physical backs. And I would put it in this order, Rico Dowdell, you know, had a pretty solid two years there with the Panthers.

Tyler Al Jir, who's been a great one. Bajah Harris, who's coming off the injury, but obviously was an intriguing pickup. Look good before he got hurt for your charges. And J.K. Dobbins. And so that's one flavor of kind of one B. And then Kenny Gainwell and Rashad White, who I think are really low on you're low on Gainwell. See, when I actually sort all these guys, I think Gainwell's going to actually be the top of all these backups. But when I was presenting it to you, I kind of wanted to give you, I thought that these guys were kind of one B's behind the.

the Javante Williams and the three above. But I do think Gainwell will be fifth overall. I think from a pay standpoint and who's going to be valued the most, I think that you could put Gainwell up there with Javante Williams. That's fair. I tend to agree. Team MVP for the Pittsburgh Steelers this year. And I think Rashad White is an underrated player.

Like he's not a perfect player, but he blocks. He is unreal on passing downs. And he's a pretty good runner. They were more effective running the ball with him this year at times. than with Bucky Irving. And then, you know, your guy, Najee Harris got hurt for the Chargers last year. But that's a good,

depending on what you need at running back, like that is a really deep, good group. All those guys are going to make my top 101. Yeah, no, that is a really good group. Yeah, to me,

those last two names, to me are more interesting than, I know Dattels has played well, Algear, Harris, Dobbins. You've got injuries. You've got maybe not the most explosive guys there. I would be more intrigued with the game well, white combination up there with Jvante Williams.

Okay. I like that. You're helping me do the ring. I agree. Gainwell, if it was my team, and that is how I should do it, because who knows? Maybe they'll call me someday. Don't make somebody else's mistakes. That's what I was told very early on. I could be the next quest A dofamenta, having 17 different articles dissecting what went wrong when my tenure as an experimental GM blows up in my face.

Yeah, I've been, I've been in the player bubble. trying to get 330 plus guys watch for the for the comment but I have noticed that every time I go I'm a you know NFL.com we got the athletic ESPN.com there's a lot of Minnesota Vikings. It's a lot of Vikings. It's a lot of Vikings. It's a lot of Vikings talk. And then just for for those who are completists out there deeper down the list, just some names that will be available. Isaiah Pacheco to me just hasn't looked the same post injury, not the complete type of player, probably not going to be making by 101. Nick Chub, Kareem Hunt, Jaliel McLaughlin, Brian Robinson, Jerome, for just some guys that

will be added to teams as depth. I tell you what, you know what, interesting one in that list to me, and maybe it's because I just see him twice a year in the AFC West, but Jaliel McLaughan, every time I'm in a stadium when he's playing, he makes a play. Like he just, there's a little something to him. He's not a throwaway. Including in the NFC championship game. I need to check that.

He might be a restricted free agent, but I have him written down. Let's take a quick break. We're going to go over the new coaching hires and just what impact that could have in the offseason before we get out of here and let you get back to evaluating all those players. Well, we've done it. DJ, the NFL has successfully filled all 10 head coaching jobs. Even if the 10th one is not confirmed, it is expected that Clint Kubiak will be the next Raiders' head. head coach based on all the reporting at NFL network. If you just add up the different reports from Ian Rappaport and Tom Pellisero,

it sure sounds like Clint Kubiak essentially chose the Raiders over the Cardinals, which I don't know how that's going to make Matt Lafleur, I mean, a Mike Lafleur feel because that ultimately was the 10th job to get filled. It kind of did feel like it was the 10th most attractive job and that Mike LaFleur was the 10th guy to get hired in a crop of candidates that didn't get. everyone that excited around the league, but they were the last two to get filled. And we're going to go through a few of them. But why don't we start at the end if you have any thoughts on just like now what those two

teams are going to be looking for. Obviously, Kubiak, we presume, did it with the knowledge that he gets to pick his quarterback at number one. Yeah, I like the, you know, I like to move there. And the decision between Vegas and Arizona would have been a very easy decision. and not just saying that personally, but just being around the vast majority of folks in the league this last week. It was clearly, you know,

hey, Vegas can be an exciting job because you've got a chance to get the quarterback here with Fernando Mendoza coming up. And I know I saw this discussion. I think it was Dan Patrick with Rich the other day. And DP, who I love, was talking about, I don't know if the Raiders are positioned to take a quarterback right now because the offensive line's so bad.

And he invoked like the David Carr. situation when he went to Houston. And the pushback I would have on that is I think it's that, you know, that's solid reasoning. But we have a team playing in the Super Bowl, as you know, that rebuilt four-fifths of their offensive line in one off-season. I can't imagine if they would have said, we're not going to take Drake May the year before because their offensive line was in tatters when, in fact, it was rebuilt within 24 months. Like, that's not the biggest hill to climb as it used to be.

So the Chicago Bears went from a bottom five offensive line to a top five to eight offensive line from Caleb Williams' first year to his second year. They have a functional left tackle already, which is probably the hardest piece to find in Colton Miller. And then they've got some other promising players that are young, Powers Johnson and Glaze, like they've got some ability. You go out and free agency sign one or two, you draft one or two.

That bad, terrible, awful offensive line, you also upgrade the offensive line coach. that's not a, to me, there's no compelling case for them not to take a quarterback. And so that's taking a coach discussion and flipping it right back to the draft as I like to do, Greg. But that's where I stand on that one. No, that's how we want to look at this discussion and like how these teams are going to build. I think just from a roster standpoint, the Raiders before adding Mendoza, and now we can assume they're going to, you know, could be 32 out of 32 in terms of total talent. They do have a left tackle and Max Crosby.

So they have two premier, you know, Colton Miller, I don't know if you call him a premier player, but a very good left tackle. It's a top 10. He's a top 10 left tackle. And in the last year, I think someone would argue when he was healthy, like even better than that. Like he's one of those tackles kind of like Garrett Bowles who's getting better and better as he gets older. And so those are a couple players. But defensively, you got a long way to go. But you have Brock Bowers.

You have Ashton Gentie in place. I'm with you. I just think for, first of all, I can see why you got so far in this career because you were like, oh, that's a very strong argument. It's a reasonable case because you're talking about, you know, someone you respect and in David Patrick in all. I don't know, Dan Patrick. He doesn't know me.

It's not a good argument. I never buy that argument. Always take the quarterback. Don't over, you should always be taking quarterbacks until you get one. Forget about what's going to be there. I think that same argument, though, works for running backs. Sure.

I agree. I agree with that. But I have a friend. You always say how you. hear from people in your life who like the podcast and you heard that in Mobile, that makes me feel good. The 40s and Freedans. Of course they love move the sticks to, maybe.

My friend Adam, who hosts the Saints Block Party podcast, you know, for half the season, before they saw what Tyler Shuck could be, they were all in that boat too. And he loves this podcast. He loves how much grief that you're, but they were like, oh, the Saints can't be taken a quarterback next year because they won't be ready anyways. They got to, you know, just get back. Like, no, you always take a quarterback. when you can take it.

And so they're going to. And that's why I think the Cardinals are in such a difficult position. I mean, Michael Fleur is bold, but that division, it just it's life-changing money for a coach, too, to get that five-year contract, whatever the money is.

And I don't think that can be dismissed. Or you might never get an opportunity. You want to take a swing. But they are really pushing uphill to be in that division against those three coaches and to not have a quarterback, it's going to be difficult. Yeah, and I don't know what really the identity is.

I don't know. You look at it and say, well, but they're great here. I mean, they got a stud tight end, you know, a really, really good tight end. You got a couple interesting offensive linemen, but I don't think that they've, you know, hit the level that they need to be at consistent. There's just a lot of homework to do there.

And then there's just the kind of the mess you're in with Kyler Murray. I almost wonder if it's worth it to say, we've got a new voice in here. Like, do, let's give. give Kyler Murray another shot. I just don't know where you're going to, you're not going to get a more talented quarterback than him this off season.

I feel very confident in saying that. You can, and I don't think that you're going to be an attractive landing spot for somebody like a Malik Willis. He's going to find playing time somewhere else with a more desirable setup than that one. So I don't know. I'm curious to see what they end up doing there with the quarterback. Like they need to find someone that's going to fill that scheme.

And I am curious from an evaluation. like putting yourself in the mind of the front offices. At some point, and Kubiak is essentially an offshoot of, of this larger tree. Obviously, the son of Gary Kubiak, who,

you know, once, you know, worked for Mike Shanahan. Gary Kubiak, of course, gave Kyle Shanahan his first offensive coordinator job in Houston.

So those two were working together. And then they were all together in Washington, the Shanahan and Kubik. There's just, it's all, It's all mixed together. At some point, isn't it diminishing returns because you're all looking for similar skill sets and similar players in terms of the type of players that you're going to get? And especially inside this, I mean, the division is just crazy that how similar it's going to look between Shanahan McVeigh and Mike LaFleur.

Isn't it going to be harder to get these guys in the draft with the types of traits that they want? I think there's so many people running that now. that it goes so far beyond that division. I mean, I would say at least half the league is running a similar offshoe of offense. And they've all put their own little stamp on it, maybe even two thirds of the league is doing this stuff. So I think you're all competing for the same players. It's why it was fascinated to see McVeigh be the first one to kind of deviate to go get two big guards and to then say we're going to run duo and we're going to be a downhill.

We need to move people off the line of scrimmage physical type team because I think some of that was scarcity of like trying to find these ultra-athletic wide zone offensive linemen that can that can move like that we're all we're there's a very limited pool and we're all swimming in it here so i think all these guys who've had similar training and background and family connections um i think they've all tried to put their own little spin on this thing and clay kubiak is coming from you know a situation where he gets that guy gray's able you know he in the first round and and they made put on this earth to play in that offense. Right.

And then see ya. Like he's no longer there. Like he had a nice year, but he has been bouncing around. Talk about, you know, you always talk about quarterbacks who have a new coordinator every year. Like, he just has a new job every year. San Francisco to New Orleans. He was in Minnesota to now the Raiders.

It's going to be difficult. Flying through, you know, some of the other coaching hires that are most recent. Todd Munkin takes over that Brown's job. they're $10 million over the cap. I don't want to repeat kind of the overall preview for these teams that we did. But imagining, you know, with what you know of Todd Munkin, like, what do you think they're going to be looking for? Because they have an entire offensive line to replace.

They're going to need to figure out their quarterback situation. Like, what does a Todd Munkin Andrew Berry collaboration look like? Well, it's going to be starting with a blank slate. I mean, you know, from an offensive standpoint. They've got some key, you know, some key positions filled with the tight ends, who's a stud and love Judkins, the running back. But they have so many other pieces to fill in, including an entire offensive line. They kind of build it however they want. And to me, I always look at guys of, you know, what would it look like?

What would the build look like? Okay, well, where has he had the most success and what did that scheme, player profile, you know, roster construction look like? Well, we won two national championships in college at Georgia, where they were the biggest, baddest, bully on the block. So to me, trying to build up size and physicality and then using that to kind of be the basis of their offense. I think that's probably

where they start, which would mean you're looking at offensive linemen and free agency as you're trying to play matchmaker Greg, I think you're looking for bigger, you know, powerful guys. You look in the draft, I think I had them taken Caden Proctor from Alabama, who's 350 plus pound tackle. They could keep DeWan

Jones healthy. He's a, you know, he's a mountain of a man. Like I think big, is probably the way they go there. And I think on the quarterback, I don't think you, I mean, I don't know, maybe I'm reading into it. But like the first piece of content you see is him embracing Shadour and talking about how he wanted to draft in Baltimore.

That's the first introduction that you get to him. As someone who's already been in this building, you know, under Frady Kitchens in a forgettable era, for his introduction and that to be a part of the introduction, feels to me like he's going to get every opportunity to be that guy this year. And then, you know, however this year goes informs what you do with all your picks in 27.

I think that's right. I think he'll be paired with some sort of veteran option. But as we went over last week with the free agent quarterbacks, you get pretty quickly to probably a backup as a veteran quarterback option. There's not a lot of high tier options out there. I'm going to put you on the spot and throwing a tough one at you because Jim Leonard was hired in Buffalo to be Joe Brady's defensive coordinator. We didn't talk about the Joe Brady hire.

but ultimately he was the coordinator. He's going to change some things in how the building runs, but the offense, yeah, he was there. And so I'm thinking more about Jim Leonard, who's been kind of a hot name. Maybe the average fan doesn't know him too much, but he's been in college and then been under Sean Payton

and Vance Joseph in Denver. Like, that's going to be interesting. I don't know if you have any thoughts of like the types of players or what changes maybe from a McDermott defense to a Jim Leonard defense. I think just maybe speed. You know, just thinking about Jim Leonard, you know, it's an attacking group that they had there in Denver,

but that was a very, very fast defense. And I don't know that, you know, you look at Buffalo's front seven. They've got a bunch of solid players, but there's no real, you know, fast, fast balls coming at you. So I would guess maybe just trying to be a little bit more dynamic with that group at the first level and with the line by position,

just getting guys who can really, really run. That would be my guess. of what that might look like. Yeah, and we're learning, like, with some of these hires, what they're going to do, what they're not going to do. We were already hearing Kirk Cousins, you know, despite the connection, or maybe because of the connection to Stavansky, they're not going to keep him in Atlanta.

They also don't have, you know, a first round pick. So they're going to have to be very active in free agency in terms of what they want to do, addressing the offensive line in different offensive positions. Jesse Minter hires Declan Doyle as the offensive coordinator. In Baltimore. more. Why do you think that's a fun one? Well, I just think you're taking somebody. Is he the same age as Lamar, I think,

isn't he? Right? The same age. And someone I honestly, I've never met. I don't know. I was asking about him at the senior bowl, just the people that have been around him. And it was all really good feedback, just bright young guy and kind of grouping him with Udinski and like two guys who were just kind of ahead of their time a little bit. And the timeline of things being so young and, you know, progressing through their careers. But he's creative. I thought they did a great job, you know, to get a chance to learn under Ben Johnson.

And the job they did with Caleb is he just got better and better and better throughout the year. I'm curious to see how, you know, how Lamar takes to that and how Lamar enjoys being coached by somebody literally his own age. And like, we assume that he's going to take a lot from his experience under Ben Johnson last year. But yeah, it's becoming a trend. like Sean Manion getting this job with Philadelphia, very young. You mentioned Udinski. Sheel House is now going to be elevated to the offensive. Can I say one thing about Sheel House, by the way?

Yeah, please. I talked to someone who was in the interviews with him and said they were like blown away. Like he was, he said, you can make a case of the best, the best interview, like the most impressive guy. Literally it was just at the end of the day, just doesn't have enough experience. So I think him, and I haven't seen it if it's been reported yet, but, you know, if the Fleur get in the Arizona job, I'm assuming he will just kind of slide into the coordinator's role with the Rams. But he's, this is a one year.

And if you're a Rams fan, you got him for one year because what I heard, how impressive he was, he'll be a head coach next year. Wow. Yeah, they haven't officially announced that. They did officially announce extensions for Sean McVeigh and Les Need. Well deserved. Gosh, that was 10, they were in there 10 years. I saw that.

in the little clip. It is really crazy to think about the hiring of McVeigh, and he was the shield house of his era where people were like, who? Remember the boy band coach. That was the knock-on. They just hired somebody from a boy band to be their head coach. He's too young. This is idiotic, and they're just trying to sell L.A. and Hollywood,

so they got this good-looking young kid who has no business being a head coach, and it's like, you pulled everybody right now, and he would be number one on the list of the best head coaches in the NFL. And Les and him have shown, look, sometimes an arranged marriage can absolutely work because Lesneed was with Jeff Fisher for a number of years with the St. Louis Rams and wondering how that combo was going to work. And here they are in the mix each and every year. Like we're in the mix each and every week, DJ, I got to go to the Super Bowl. I mean, they probably have you doing studio stuff this week.

Are you going up there? No, no. I'm in the cave trying to get players watched and just trying to work. hard, but you enjoy that boondoggle up there. Get yourself a little sourdough, a little soup, soup bowl up there. Get you go off the wharf, get yourself some, some clam chowder. I mean, it's not a boondoggle. We have about 20 guests lined up over three days, Wednesday to Friday on NFL Daily. So yes, who's your best one? I mean, Justin Jefferson in terms of just who's the best player.

Was he pitching old spice? What's he pitching? I'm sure he's pitching something. Jackson Dart is is a fun one, but the, There's a lot of good ones. Might have to have Malcolm Butler on for like the fourth time. Malcolm Butler is always around. He's Super Bowl week. He's going to pop in there. Like Larry Brown, Malcolm Butler.

Oh, you know which one I'm excited? Actually, I don't think Malcolm Butler is on the agenda this week. It's a little bit of a random one, but I'm very excited that Bo Jackson is going to be on the show. Whoa, you guys got the Ohio State running back on there. That is awesome. Oh, the other one. The great video game player, the great super technical ball player. Bo Jackson. But I believe we're on the docket. You know, we don't quit. We're going to be back

next week. And yes, let's break down another free agency position. Let's talk about what's, what's happening in the draft. And we'll talk about the Patriots, having done it again with a second year quarterback being Super Bowl champions. How about that? Maybe. Looking forward to next week, buddy. This is fun. Really is. Yes. I kind of like the new environment here. You know, I just feel like I'm in a kid's room talking to someone who looks like a kid. And I just, I think it all kind of comes together. I mean, looking like a kid is the nicest thing you said to me all day. All my kids tell me is how old I look.

You know, I'm... No, you look, you look fantastic. You look at a kid who stole his dad's watch. That's, that's it. That's it for 40s and free agents. This week. We'll see you after the Super Bowl. This is an IHeart podcast.

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