NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Camp Takeaways For All 16 AFC Teams

Episode Date: August 5, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Nick Shook to discuss training camp takeaways for all 16 AFC teams. The guys start by going through the teams in the AFC East (1:17) and following that, the teams in the AFC North (12:34). Next, Gregg gives props to the players inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024 (25:24). For the rest of the show, the duo give their takeaways on the teams in the AFC West (26:50) and AFC South (36:01). Find out the guys’ thoughts on training camp position battles, who’s standing out, news, and overall storylines on this new episode. Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Welcome to NFL Daily where we don't need a photo finish to determine our champs. I'm Greg Rosenthal and beyond lucky today to be joined by Nick Shook, who is going to help us crank through an entire conference of Camp Notes. I love shows like this. Ooh, Shookie. I got to admit. I'm still buzzing from that 100 meter final.

What a, what a sporty event, 10 seconds every four years. Like, that is just pure adrenaline. I think it's awesome. We pass over 1,200 days just to wait for those 10 seconds, and boy, are they thrilling. It really is. I'm not even kidding. Just to have that much meaning and that short of time, in the way that thing finished, it was electric.

But I know a lot of people are watching the Olympics this time of year. And that's where we come in, shook. I love these shows because if, forces me and you too, I know, to kind of go through each team and find what the beat writers there are saying and find out what's happening in practice. Because I know if you have normal jobs, you don't have time for this. So we're going to hit all 16 teams in the AFC. We'll hit the NFC on our next show with Jordan Roderig. And yeah, I'm excited. Let's start off with the Bills and the AFC East. I'll lead the way here. A lot going on with the Bills. The thing that

probably sticks out to me the most is the receiver group. And I think we're at the point where we can trust Khalil Shakir. He's not a wide receiver one in the traditional sense, but he to me is going to be the guy who's on the field the most for them. And then a little bit of a surprise, maybe early in camp, is that Marquez Valde Scantling might be out of their top four receiver rotation. There's an undrafted guy from a year ago, Tyrell Shavers, who's maybe ahead of him and other guys, you know, Chase Claypool, KJ Hamler. And yeah, you think about this team was going to play two tight ends a lot and they have their four receivers who are going to be Shakir and Coleman and Samuel and Mack Hollins, your guy. And yeah, it looks like MVS might be the guy on the

way out. Yeah, I'm not surprised by this though. I mean, if we saw what his trajectory was like in Kansas City last year, then this is a team here that threw a bunch of spaghetti at the wall and are hoping something stick in the absence of Stefan Diggs. You know, they drafted Keon Coleman to kind of hopefully replace him, but not expect as much. They're going to do a committee type approach at this receiving core. And for MVS to not be in that group, I mean, if we looked at what he did last year and where he was going, not a huge surprise, especially if they like somebody who's cheaper, who's undrafted, that sort of thing.

Right. A couple of position battles I find interesting. Demar Hamlin right now, I mentioned a couple weeks ago, getting starter snaps. And the other two guys, he's competing with Mike Edwards and Cole Bishop, who's a second round safety, a rookie, are both her in there week to week. So that might have been Bishop's job, but it's interesting. Demar Hamlin might actually be an NFL starter this year. And then I've kept an eye on just the returning veterans that were hurt last year.

It seems like so far, so good for Matt Milano and Von Miller. Of course they're going to say that at this time of year. But we also heard them saying it wasn't going so well. And so Milano off the ACL, Miller off just a disastrous season. That's one other thing that stuck out. And then Ray Davis looks like they're back. backup running back just for the fantasy heads out there making some plays. Yeah, and that's going to be interesting, too, because I think that's actually a sneaky

pick. Not that James Cook isn't going to be the lead guy because he is, but my issue with the bills in previous years was that they didn't run the ball traditionally well. And, you know, once we had the changed offensive coordinator last year and Joe Brady took over, it became kind of apparent that they could run the ball that way. And James Cook value increased late in the year. So if you have a backup who's going to get a decent amount of carries, then hey, keep an eye on him. I'm not much of a fantasy head myself. At least my friends would tell you that, but they're going to run the ball better in a traditional sense that they did the past. Yeah, we're going to draft, do a mock draft on the show later this week with Claybon

and the fantasy guys at the NFL, Marcus Grant and Mike Floreo. I'm looking forward to that. All right, let's go to the Patriots. I was about to say my Patriots. I'm not there yet. Man, they have a lot of questions. Let's start negative with them. I mean, they're rotating Chuck Sikora for kind of a guy who struggled with the Steelers, Kaden Wallace, and and Verdarian Lowe as their three tackles. And none of them are playing well. None of them are healthy. And they don't really have any other option.

Calvin Anderson's another journeyman who's also hurt there. And I think it's going to make it hard to evaluate this offense. That position alone makes me like drop the expectation level for this team like a couple wins. You know, anytime I have to hear Vardarian Lowe's name mentioned in a sentence, I get a little nervous if that's taken as a serious opportunity for him, not because he's not, you know, a decent player, but that was a guy that when I saw him in the combine, I was like, okay, potential there.

And then, you know, he flew under the radar and was not notable for a reason. I mean, it's hard to play offensive line at a high level in the NFL. And if you find yourself in a position where you're considering somebody like that, I get nervous. I get nervous because you're supposed to be blocking for a rookie quarterback, at least eventually, maybe not right away, but eventually.

And if you have any sort of weakness there, that's going to hurt his development as well. So it just kind of makes me feel a little bit uneasy about the entire offense in the direction that they're going. Right. It makes me think it's going to be, Jacoby Brissette. Although, you know, I'm someone who I track every, you know, camp report. And for the most part, it sounds like May started picking it up

towards the end of the week that the offense in general has been picking it up towards the end of the week. So I think it was a rough first week for May, not a shocker, but it's getting better. The other thing I wanted to hit was the receivers there. I don't think Juju Smith-Schuster is making this team. I don't care how much guaranteed money you have. And Javon Baker, who a lot of people loved coming out of the draft, like is living up to that hype, making a lot of plays that camp and it really seems like their top four are going to be two rookies jvon baker and jalen poke and then demario douglas who popped last year that's his nickname too and then kj osborne has

been solid for them and that's probably their top four and that means juju gets cut weird team weird team yeah that i mean but they're in that transition phase right now where we don't know what to expect from with the new head coach and they've got a young quarterback and they're going to have a veteran probably start in his place and and you have a bunch of different names of the receiving corps that you look back and think well there's no clear number one but there's some potential there. Jalen Polk is with potential. And Javon Baker, like, if you saw him at UCF,

the kids just stud. I mean, people watching camp are like, this guy has the most juice. Like, I, you don't want to get too carried away, but he has transitioned it into padded practice. He's getting open. He's a part of their first team.

So, like, Juju's not. Tyquan Thornton, I don't think will be either. And that's fun. If you're going to be bad, at least be bad with rookies. Let's go to the Jets. First team offense struggled quite a bit. in camp. Their center has been struggling, like can't snap the ball, and Rogers is getting

all over them all the time. It sounds like it got a little better the last few days before we're recording this. And the thing that stuck out to me the most is that their offensive line was finally together on the field late in the week. And that's like the first time the Jets have had an offensive line that's been healthy in, I don't know, the Robert Sala era. So cross your fingers, But on paper, it's a good offensive line. They could be six deep. They have a good swing tackle. And for now, a bunch of guys coming off big injuries like Vera Tucker, it's like, okay, Tyrone

Smith, they're getting back on the field, and for now they're healthy. So that to me is everything. Well, I mean, AVT, when he's healthy, is a very solid guard. And that's when he went down last year, it was one of the big losses that you looked at and you went, oh, no, they're not going to recover from that. The Tyron Smith acquisition on paper makes a ton of sense because you're thinking that's good value for a veteran. He's a stud, but he doesn't stay.

healthy. So to back him up with Olu Fushanu from Penn State is a big move, in my opinion, because you have to pretty much prepare to lose Tyron Smith at some point. And that's the beauty of what they did in the off season. They knew. Like a lot of teams do this in the off season. They look at it and go, eh, we're fine. Starting five is fine. In case of emergency, we'll figure it out. The jets have been burned enough that they now understand that they have to prepare for that emergency. Not saying that that's like that across the board, but they're still in a better spot than they were last year. So you do have to feel encouraged about that. You just hope that Aaron Rogers stays healthy. Yeah. And, you know,

Mike Williams has in practice, and that's not like a shock. He's coming off a torn ACL, but, you know, we're getting closer to the season. Malachi Corley is a bit of a mystery box. You know, I think some days they think he looks pretty good. He's a rookie who's maybe pretty unrefined. And then you have Alan Lazard is maybe in a big role if those guys aren't there. So I think the offense has been a little up and down. They lost one of their starting corners, Michael Carter for a couple weeks,

but it sounds like he'll be ready for the season. Tariq Cohen retired. Oh, sad to see. He was back and retired. This has happened a lot, so that was sad. And then, you know, one thing I noted was Will McDonald was their first-round pick a year ago. And he went into the off-season wanting to add weight, and he couldn't get on the field last year. And he's still a backup, even though they got rid of Bryce off.

And even though Hassan Reddick is holding out, he's still behind Chris Clemens. And he didn't add any weight. He's 235 pounds. So that might be a first-round pick that has taken a little while to get going. Yeah, he's not a Vernon Goldston necessarily, but when you spend a first-round pick on a guy like that, and it makes you think, like, did you add to an area that you didn't need to add? Was it a best player available situation? You hope that he puts it together, but would be a bummer if they don't end up getting any sort of production

that they would expect from a first-round pick. Yeah, right now I'm not getting a lot of time. All right, let's talk Dolphins. Tyree Kil got paid since we last talked. That was something I thought could be simmering, and it wasn't at all. I give credit to the dolphins who are paying their top guys a lot of money. I think they now lead the NFL in terms of the amount of money they pay their five highest paid players. So they're a very, like top-heavy team.

And that includes some defensive players, like Bradley Chubb, at least, is in there. But he got paid. They just pushed a lot of guaranteed money from the back end of his contract into the next two years. So that's the perfect way. They're not paying him huge guaranteeing money until he's 34. But he is the number one player in the NFL, according to the players out there. How about it? I don't know if you watched that video, but that meant a lot to him, and I get it.

Like, he was into it. He was into it. Yeah, I mean, I can't argue with them. The player-voted thing tends to have some pretty big discrepancies from year to year. Guys who get hurt fall out of consciousness among players. You saw, you know, Joe Burrell fall into like the 30s. But Tyreek, I mean, it's hard to argue with him. Guys had over 1,700 receiving yards in each the last two seasons.

It's a guy you pay. And good on the dolphins for not tacking on more years. And instead, finding a way to make him happy while staying within the realm of possibility. yeah i thought this to a tyreek thing had a chance to be a distraction and a problem and i was wrong going into camp i should i should always remember contracts for the most part are overrated to talk about and and the salary cap is a myth let's not forget the salary cap is not totally a myth but you if you want to keep them you can a couple other things from from camp chop robinson reportedly in the one-on-one's just unblockable like who knows if it'll be good on running downs but unlike will

McDonald, for instance, I think Chop Robinson is going to have a role right off the bat. And notice, you know, OBJ is still not practicing. That's kind of like a thing that we've gotten used to. So everyone's penciling into the third receiver role and he should be that.

And Braxton Barrios, you know, might not even be a lot to make this team, but man, is he ever going to be healthy? And then I noticed Mike McDaniel talked about, you know, with Johnny Smith there and a couple of their additions and a rookie, like, I think they want to feature the tight end a little more too. So that could be something just to keep keep an eye on at Dolf with

it's interesting personnel wise though because like they they did make some changes of the position last year and you move on from you know a handful of different tight ends and kind of just cycle through and you rely so much on the receivers that if you could actually add that element that would make that offense that much more dangerous and and now that Tua got paid we don't talk about that anymore but we still have to evaluate who he is because he didn't get paid quite as much as some of the other quarterbacks and that's kind of sign that you know we'll see where he is. He said, you know, McDaniel said it was all about what you emphasize and they're emphasizing in practice according to the practice reports throwing to tight ends more and they're

deep as hell is running at running back like Jalen Wright is popping off long runs and he might be like their third or fourth running back that they're a fascinating team. I feel like they have one of the highest ceilings but also a shaky floor if things go go wrong. All right, AFC North. Why don't you kick us off? All right, let's start with the Cincinnati Bengals. Joe Burrow is back in camp and he's looking good. The offense is looking good and he's hooking up with guys not named T. Higgins or Jamar Chase. He found Trent Nurdwin for a touchdown at the end of a long 11-on-11 period in practice this weekend. Overall, you know, this team, if you look at the offensive line,

that's what's going to matter most because you got to keep Burrow healthy. And on that offensive line is a guy who's very familiar to you coming from New England and been in some other stops, Trent Brown. And he just was recently cleared to practice. He has not fully participated with them yet. but that's going to be a key part of this offense because you know you have Orlando Brown on the opposite side you get both Browns and both tackles.

If they're healthy, that's going to do a huge job to help Burrow, who's not going to be the same immobile quarterback that he was at this time last year, but again, this offense starts and finishes with the Bengals. And frankly, you know, you look at their numbers last year, they were pretty solid without them. They went four and three without them

and five with them as a starter, but they lacked the juice down the stretch to get over the hump. Jake Browning did a bang-up job, much better than anybody anticipated, including myself. But again, this starts and finishes with Burrough. So being able to protect him is huge. And on the defensive side of the ball, you know, you're relying potentially on

some young corners because they spent, you know, they invested in DJ Turner a couple years ago and now he's going to slide into a prominent role. But you also got guys like Daijan Anthony. You know, he's a youngster. He could end up playing the nickel. He's been seeing a good amount of snaps in camp so far. You know, some the people there have said he's looked pretty good,

especially in sub packages, dime packages where you have more defensive backs on the field. If you can find strength in the secondary, that's going to go a long way toward making this team a legitimate contender because we know what you have in Burrow, but if the defense can actually make some plays and create some turnovers,

then suddenly we're looking at a real beast in the AFC North. Yeah, quietly, Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson, their two best defensive linemen and two of their best defensive players are out, and it's like a week-to-week injuries where they don't think, you know, there's no risk that they're going to miss a season, I mean, miss anything into the regular season,

but they're out right now. And Trent Brown, that always worries me. This is a guy, and who knows, maybe he's a veteran who is ramping up slowly to the season, but you just never know if he's going to be on the field or not. But the positive there is, you know, I've read a lot and heard a lot that Marius Mims so far it doesn't seem like he's having that long adjustment to the pros,

that he is blocking out the sun and he's blocking out. Now, they're backup pass rushers because the starters aren't in there, but supposedly he's looked really good. and my guess is he's just going to start week one over Trent Brown potentially, unless they're worried about Trent Brown being upset with Trent Brown tends to do. I do want to say before we move on from the Bengals, though, Andre Yoshavos, this is a camp story I'm buying. I think he's their wide receiver three.

Paul Dainer of the Athletics said he's been the best receiver in camp, including T. Higgins. And Joe Burrow even said it, Andre is going to have a big year. So this is what camp is all about to me, is you thought, okay, that's Jermaine Burton, who's a rookie. That's going to be his role. But this is a physically talented guy who's in his second year. And it seems now like it'd be a shock if he is not the third receiver in a real part of the offense. This was a guy that I loved in Indianapolis before the draft a couple of years ago.

And when they snagged him, I thought, ooh, that's a good long-term play. Because he's got the physical tools and he's obviously got the brain. He's an Ivy Leagueer. You just need some time to get your feet underneath him. So why does he get ahead of Jermaine Burton going to this camp? because he has that first year under his belt. Granted, he didn't play a ton of snaps, but he did get some live bullets and has some experience.

And then you get into year two, when you start to settle in, you get comfortable, the rookie wall is no longer an issue. I would love to see him because he's a legitimate contributor for them. Yeah, I think he's going to. All right, let's hear your next team. All right, we're going to go over to the Browns, and I'm going to express some concern about this team.

And the reason is, look, I know it's early in camp, but any time you get a number of guys to start on PUP, I get nervous. I get real nervous. And right now the Browns, both are starting tackles are on PUP, Jed Wills and Jack Conklin. We obviously know what Jack Conklin went through in a season-ending injury last year.

You got DeWan Jones there, so you shouldn't be that nervous. But I also think about the long-term plan. Does Jedwill stick around after this year? They just re-signed Conklin to an extension. So you think maybe DeWan ends up taking the left side, but that's not where he's experienced. But if we're thinking this season, all right, well, both guys are on PUP right now.

Let's hope that they get off of that before long. You don't have to start week one with Hakeem-Denogy at left tackle because we know how that went for the Bengals right tackle in the past. It's not pretty. And then you go down the list, Nick Chubb, who's getting closer, but he's still on PUP as well. I get a little worried about that. And then Dalvin Tomlinson, another guy on the back side, you know, on the defensive side of the ball in the interior.

A guy who really played well for them last year, and they do have some depth there. They added Quentin Jefferson. They have Moherst. They drafted Mike Hall. But anytime I see a number of guys with that PUP next to their name at this point in the season, I get a little worried. And it's not even anything to do with Deshaun Watson, who apparently has been shown off the arm strength. But we already know that this is a big year for him and that we can't necessarily be. confident in where he is health-wise until he proves it.

So big question marks on the health side early in camp for the Browns as they return from their stay at the Greenbrier. Right. They're back in Cleveland as of Sunday. Their starting corner, Greg Newsom is also out for a number of weeks. There was some news on the chub front that Mary Kay Cabot of the Akron Beacon Journal now, I think, or Cleveland Plainty. It's hard to keep these screen.

Yep. that he could be activated during camp which is interesting because I kind of thought he'd be a PUP guy into the season so that'd be good to have him to start. The question though is this is like if you activate him in camp does that mean he's actually ready or is that just like the next step in the acclamation?

Like I fully don't expect him to be good for the first few weeks just because of the knee injury head. Now I guess you could move him to IR so it's not that huge of a deal. You lose the people. PUP status that you could have for the season. There's a certain amount of IR spots.

So I would say this. They would only activate him if they thought he has a chance to help them in the first three weeks of the season or so. So that's a positive sign if it happened. And they did get Jerry Judy back at Team Drills Sunday. They did get Miles Garrett back at Team Drills for the, both of them for the first time all camp. So, yeah, they've had a lot of injuries.

I have a hard time. Browns fans think I hate this team because I hated the Deshaun Watson acquisition. And yeah, like, that's a problem. I do think if you're a Browns fan, there's a lot. Like, this is a really good roster. And on the Watson front, I think this offseason's gone as planned. He had a scheduled day off, but he's basically doing almost everything at camp. And it's just the injuries.

Other than that, like, all they need is average quarterback play. We saw it last year. Like, that's all they need. and I think so far, so good for everything. It's just they've got to get everyone around them healthy. Let's hear about the Steelers. All right, the Steelers. The big headline is one that's been dominating

the beat writers focus for most of the last week, which is that Russell Wilson, a little bit of a lower body issue, listed as calf, kind of limited him a little bit in practice going into this week and, of course, turned all the attention to how many snaps is Justin Fields get versus Russell Wilson. Mike Tomlin was pretty adamant that no matter how, hard Wilson wants to be, or how bad he wants to be out there, that he's not going to, you know, just let him force his way out there, which is great. That's the structure that somebody like

Russell Wilson probably needs at this point in his career to really be, you know, his own safeguard. But I do sit back and think a guy that's been mobile for a lot of his career was good at extending plays, any sort of lower body issue. I get a little concern and it just makes me wonder, how do we see Justin Fields get worked in this offense? Because at some point it's going to happen. And if this is the way, it's unfortunate, but it does open the door. Yeah. So Wilson hasn't been taking first team reps, but he has taken seven on sevens, and he was ramping up his individuals.

And when they asked Tomlin about it Sunday, it did sound like, I think the team drills are coming maybe after the break. I think they have Monday off, and then maybe he's coming on Tuesday. But they got a proof of concept, and supposedly as the week and a half went on, Fields was more and more comfortable

and had some really big days where the offense dominated. there was one red zone session where they said he had six straight touchdowns. And then Russell Wilson steps in for one snap where he hands it off. And you know that's killing Russ when they're scoring six touchdowns without him. And then it really struck me. Tomlin talked about the running back, just how impressed he is right now that Jalen Warren and Najee Harris are kind of the leaders, the tough guys of this team.

And they're playing a lot of two, three tight ends, and they want to run the ball. And it's Arthur Freaking Smith. And they're saying read option. They're saying pistol. and which quarterback would you rather have run that offense? It's Justin Fields. It's Justin Fields. So I think this is a story.

This is something. All right, let's wrap up the AFC with the Ravens. Looks like the defense is balling in Baltimore so far with the Ravens. A number of defenders are really standing out. Adafay Oway, a guy who had a really good year a couple years ago, has been pretty disruptive in camp. I'm really excited to see if they can actually get that turned up. Because look, they lost Mike McDonald, the defensive coordinator.

They lost a lot of defensive coaches this offseason. It was a bit of an exodus, not because the Ravens were bad, but because they were so good, other teams wanted them. So how can they kind of sustain that momentum going into this season? That's going to be key, and especially on the back end. You got veterans back there in that secondary now. You got Marcus Williams. You know, you got Eddie Jackson back there as well.

Those are guys who have a lot of experience making plays in the back end. If the front four and the back end can work together, then we're not even going to be thinking about Roquan Smith or the loss of Patrick Queen. Who cares if both sides are doing that well? So a lot of good signs from the Ravens defensively in practice so far. Trenton Simpson, that's another guy who's going to get a bigger role this season. Curious to see how he takes advantage of this camp so far, so good on their end.

And that's going to be the key because you know your offense can put up points. Like we can sit here and talk about year two with Todd Munkin all day. And you know you have Lamar at quarterback and he's going to be electric. But it's all about complimentary football. And if that defense can be nearly as good as the offense, then they're going to be just as good, if not better than they were last year. And they're going to be a tough out. Yeah, I look at them, and they've got three offensive line positions up for grabs, which is a little crazy.

It looks like it's Andrew Vorey's at left guard. So far, this mountain of a man, Daniel Filet, is at right guard, but that's open. It's going to be my brother, Roger Rosengarten or Makari at right tackle. But I'm not worried. They always figure that stuff out. You're right. I actually think I think it's fair to expect the offense to take a little step back because they were just so good last year. But I do think the defense can make up for it, even without Mike McDonald.

Their cornerback, Nate Wiggins, their first round pick is, to me, one of the key guys in the division. There was a stat that they tracked him as the fastest player they've ever tracked during practice earlier this week. And so he's just like pure speed. Can he hit? Like, we'll see. They usually coach that up a lot.

But I'm into the Rashad Bateman summer. Like Rashad Bateman, January, March, OTAs, everything. It keeps happening. he's supposedly having a good camp and he's healthy. So it's all happening. And then one last note on the Ravens and we'll take a break after this is John Harba said on Justice Hill, I see him as a starter.

I think he's going to play a lot. And obviously he's not going to play as much as Derek Henry, but just something to put in your pocket there that they think that highly. And Derek Henry, not always the best on passing down. So Justice Hill might be in the mix quite a bit. We're going to stay in the mix. We're going to go through the entire.

AFC South and the AFC West After the break Hey this is Matt Jones I'm Drew Franklin And this is NFL cover zero We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different Did you see the Colts pretzel

That was my other big takeaway from that game? What was that? Oh my! We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get Listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL.

Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team-building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day.

Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a die-hard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Back on NFL Daily, we're cranking. We're speeding through. Did you do track?

You looked like a guy that would have done a hammer throw or something like that? No, no, I was never fast. enough and was spring sport what was your spring sport did you have a baseball I was a baseball okay I was a pitcher and a corner infielder until I tore my shoulder playing football and it was all over I was gonna say that surprises me as someone who was you know on your softball team no I'm just kidding you could hit it a long way now Shook and I actually played similar roles I think on the team we were very solid role players we weren't the best players on the team but we were

rock solid starters that you could depend on to to get on to make smart plays in the field and that's what that's what being a team's all about nick yeah you know we stepped up we did our job we we sprayed the ball around the field we drove in runs i've not mess I'm messing with you uh I did want to hit before we hit the division just very quickly um they had the hall of fame ceremony on Saturday our good friend Colleen Wolfe was there of course and that's why if you're missing Colleen on the show we she is going to be a big part of the show every week but like a lot of the reporters like Steve Weish they're traveling all over the country right now so looking for it to when they all get back. But after a rain delay, they had the ceremony. Julius Peppers

in very satisfying to me to see how his career arc worked as someone who was there at the beginning of his career already covering football. People, I remember you chumps who were saying like, oh, this guy's overrated or he doesn't try hard enough. And it's just a reminder of how toxic the media can be because that dude busted his ass and had an incredible career. It's so many offensive linemen say he was the toughest person they've ever had to block. And so it was very cool seeing him in the Hall of Fame. Dwight Freeney, Andre Johnson, who was just all class and a total awesome first Houston Texan to make the Hall of Fame. He'll always really have a special place in those fans' hearts being the first. Patrick Willis, who I'm glad got in because I'd rather have a

really high peak rather than the compilers. And he had such a high peak before injuries took him out. And then Devin Hester, Randy Gradisher, and Steve McMichael getting in from the Veterans Committee. So congratulations to all them and their families. I love that Canton weekend. Let's move on to the AFC West. I'm going to lead off. Let's talk Chiefs, okay? All right.

To me, there's some like similar stories here that I remember from last camp. Denerick Prince, he was kind of a buzzy guy last camp. And then he didn't do anything in the season. in is like, oh, is this guy the RB2? Like, who is this random dude? He is playing exclusively with the first team. Him and he's, you know, him and Pacheco. But it's a clear drop-off to whoever's behind him, like Clyde Edwards-Alaire.

So this guy's got to make the team. He's probably going to be the backup. And then Justin Ross. Every year we get to this point in the season, and Chiefs fans love Justin Ross. You don't need Justin Ross anymore because you've got big-time plays going down the field. But it's almost like this team is too set up. You're just looking at the margins for new stuff.

Yeah, because they're so good. But the thing about Justin Ross is he ends up not being the most important Justin of this receiving court by the time the season actually arrives. That ends up being Justin Watson, not Justin Ross. I would love it if he was, but he just hasn't gotten the volume of targets that he would need. But it is interesting when you talk about the running backs because this is a team that has thrived on being able to rotate guys in and out and find roles for them going back to 2019 when they came back to beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl. So to see a new name included in there, and it's not just Isaiah Pacheco's show,

that's good. It does disappoint me though that Clyde Edwards-Halear has faded into the background because of where he was drafted and how much people liked him when he first came out. Well, they re-signed him. He'll probably make the team as like their third back. He had some moments in the Super Bowl. It's just, yeah, they're going to go younger and really

look like Prince. So that's a guy that's now going to get drafted in fantasy leagues. The other deep ball narrative that's been there, I mean, it's day after day after day. I read these great reports from Pete Sweeney of Arrowhead Pride. Every single day, Mahomes is bombing to market. Keith Brown and Xavier Worthy.

And some days they hit three or four or two or three. And some days they don't hit as many. But the fact that it's what you emphasize, that is coming with the regular season. And John Gruden, in Chief's gear at practice yesterday, or Sunday, rather. I don't know if he's part of the team, if he's officially part of the team,

but he's wearing Chief's gear and he was there. So that's just something to watch. They obviously used to coach together. Andy Reed and John Gruden, he might be back in the last. league. All right, let's go to the Raiders. Pierce, Antonio Pierce has been saying that the running back position is wide open, which is surprising

to me. I thought it was Amir White. They have an undrafted free agent, Dylan Laub, someone to watch a little bit in the preseason. And then the quarterback battle, supposedly it's just been mostly bad from Minchu and Aiden O'Connell. I'm pulling for O'Connell. The reports were Saturday, which, you know, was one of those practices with fans and the owners that, you know, Mark Davis is there, that Minchu had a much better day and maybe he

edged ahead for the first time, but we still got a little ways to go there. It's weird because if you looked at it on paper going to the season, most people probably thought, yeah, this is Minchu's job to lose, even if it's still Gardner Minchu. And yet we're not seeing much of separation so far, which I'm not surprised about because Minchu to me is a plus backup who's going to do everything he can to avoid ruining games for you, but he's not going to go out there and win games for you. And O'Connell has probably more of a higher yet unknown ceiling and has the experience of playing with them in the backside of last year. So it's, it's kind of an intriguing battle. It's not an exciting battle because the outcome, there's no high peak there. There's

nobody you're pulling for who you're like, yeah, he's going to win us a Super Bowl. So I'm concerned, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see a little bit of back and forth of that position this year. Yeah, Jacorian Bennett, second year player, looks like he's emerged as the starter opposite Jack Jones. I think the tight ends have been as advertised and they're going to play a lot. Supposedly the third receiver who I liked last year. Trey Tucker has been pretty rough. And Tyree Wilson, a top 10 pick who did nothing as a rookie, very quiet camp again. This is according to Vic Defour and Deshaun Reader the athletic that I just don't know if

it's happening for Tyree Wilson. And Raiders fan, I'll tell you what I see. I'm going down there on Tuesday. We're not doing a ton of content, but I will have at least one interview and talk about what I saw at practice. So I'm looking forward to that. And, yeah, I'm actually kind of high on this roster. Check out Mina Kimes' AFC West preview.

I did it with her, and we did 15 minutes. This roster is pretty good, except for the quarterbacks. Go ahead, sorry. That's just the disappointing part about it, is if you look around, you're like, this could be a team that could contend for the division. Like on the defensive side of the ball, you see some studs. I mean, well, I mean, because the chiefs exist in the division, but you know what I'm saying.

They could make it at least interesting. And then you come back to quarterback, and you just think, this is going to be the thing that holds them back. Right. The Chargers, sort of the opposite. The quarterback's going to be lifting everyone up, at least when Justin Herbert gets back. You know, I hit that injury that Herbert had

at the beginning of our last show and nothing new on that front. Easton Stick, no surprise, has reportedly struggled against the starting defense a couple of days. Although maybe it's more about the defense, because the Rams had a joint practice with the Chargers on Sunday and supposedly couldn't get anything done, like turn the ball over every other snap and couldn't block anyone.

Now, they have a lot of injuries up front, but the pass rush for the Chargers playing well, you know, they go pretty deep in terms of their pass rush, but I think offensively it's going to be tough getting anything productive done with Easton Stick as your quarterback, and Quentin Johnston is hurt again, might be minor. Ladd McConkey's been in and out of the, practice because of injuries the last few days.

So this is a team, I think, that's happy. We're still, what is it? We're five Sundays away from starting the season. They need that time. Yeah, and, you know, I would be too concerned necessarily at receiver when it comes to Ladd-McConkie because I think you just need to get him healthy. And if he's healthy, he's out there, he's going to find a way to make good place. It's nothing major.

He's been in and out. Like he, but he then he came and played one snap and then he was out again. So that's never a great time. So get him healthy. You have time to get him acclimated and get him healthy. Quentin Johnson, the other hand, the pressure has to already be on because he did not have a notable rookie season at all. And he was known more for failing to come through in the clutch

than actually producing. So to know that he's hit another bump in the road is not exciting for them. But defensively, man, you talked about, you know, that the Rams couldn't do much against him. Well, look at the defensive coordinator. I mean, that's the guy who was the mastermind behind Michigan's defense who ultimately the college football playoff national title and Jesse Minter. So if that could be the strength of their team this year, I'm cool with that. And then you let Justin Herbert make the plays that he makes and hopes that the receivers on the other end of the pass is, you know, catch the ball. But if the defense is the strength, that's actually really exciting because that's not

something that we're necessarily used to with the charge. No, they need it. I mean, they need to just get closer to average. I think they're getting a really good camp out of Christian Fulton, who starting and supposedly had a good day. Our Rams correspondent, Jordan Rodriguez said he kind of shut down Cooper Cup throughout the day on Sunday. Let's go to the Broncos.

Bo Nix has taken first team reps and four out of the last five practices. Sean Payton compared his ability to avoid sacks to Drew Breeze on Sunday. There it is. You knew it was coming. I think we know which way that that's going here. I thought Stittam had a chance. Maybe he still has a little bit of a chance, but I don't think he has much of a chance. The Nixisance is here.

This is going to be the way it was going to go the whole time. The first sign was Zach Wilson falling out of the rotation. Now you're here. Okay, here's the thing, though. He could have just stunk. There is a world where, like, everyone watching, practice is like, man, Nix is not ready. And that doesn't seem to be the case. You know, so that credit to him for doing that. You know what I mean? Like, Zach Wilson's first camp, no one would

have said like, oh, this is going the way we thought it was going to go. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. And I think a lot of that has to do with what Bo Nix has between the ears. He's got a ton of college experience. Basically, that was the big question. Is like, could he get the job done? I think he fits into what Sean Payton does. So I'm not at all surprised to hear him start making Breeze comparisons because you know that's going to be his guy. Yeah, a couple other just little notes there. Adric Estime. Is it Estime or is that he pronounced it? It is Estimate. Yeah, a lot of love. And Javante Williams, Peyton says, is a totally different player. So he's either gassing up Williams to try to trade him or maybe that's your one-two punch. I think Estabay is going to do something this year.

That's your Thunder and Lightning and Estimate is the Thunder. That's a big back and he runs hard. He's not the fastest. He's not the most explosive, but he'll run guys over. It's the perfect compliment to Giovante Williams. You can make a nice little backfield. there. Okay. Yeah. Listening to Payton's press conferences, I don't think he's a Greg Dulcich guy, not his guy, who they always want the guys they brought in. It makes sense. That's why they brought him in for a reason. And then Levi Wallace, who's competing was probably the favorite to start at cornerback, is going to miss a couple weeks, and that's a thin position for them. We'll wrap up the AFC West.

We already did. I didn't even notice. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that?

Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody?

Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team-building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision-makers, and share the insights

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roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a die-hard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score,

this podcast is for you. miss it listen to the move the six podcast on the i heart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts let's go to the afc south all right we're going to start with the jacksonville jaguars where cornerback christian braswell is having a good camp he's standing out but he also had a rough time against christian kirk which points to what i really want to talk about which is this revamp receiving corps with the jaguars they added a ton of a talent in the offseason. They let some talent go as well. But Brian Thomas has been turning heads and they're going to depend on him a lot, I think this season. You get a top three of Kirk Thomas and

Gabe Davis and suddenly Trevor Lawrence has multiple options to go to. You add in Devin Duverne, who's got experience from Baltimore, who can be a bit of a field stretcher at times. I love this group. Now, beyond those first four, you get a little concerned. You don't want to be relying on Parker Washington that much, even when he did step up occasionally last season. But I like this top four. It's a big year. Trevor Lawrence just got paid, but it's still a big year. Because of the way they finished last year. They cannot afford to struggle out of the gate again. So getting these new additions in there and acclimated is going to serve them really well. And then, you know, of course, like I said on the defensive side of the field, you know, Braswell, a 2023, 6th round

pick. If he's standing out in camp, that's going to go a long way toward helping their depth. And you already know what you have in Mr. Joshua Heinz Allen, a guy who we've already highlighted because of his name change. So I'm feeling excited about this group. I think that there are some question marks. There's some, there's some holes that they've passed with veterans. You know, you got Ronald Darby back there as well. And I don't feel necessarily great about that but Tyson Campbell got paid recently you got Andre Sisko back there that's still a group that I kind of like and if you get some depth contributions from guys that you didn't expect then you're looking better going into a pivotal season for Doug Peterson I hate that I'm saying this

about the AFC South but there's just a couple of teams here I don't know what to say at camp because I went through the camp notes and it happens they haven't had devastating injuries although their offensive line right now is banged up but it doesn't seem like they're long term injuries. Tank Bigsby better, according to SI's John Shipley, having a good camp. That's good to note. Their rookie kicker is killing it, Cam Little. And otherwise, I see like Gabe Davis has a couple good days. Brian Thomas has a couple good days, but then a couple quiet days. The offense definitely got better after I talked about how they were really struggling early in camp. And that's fine. It's a, it's push and pull. They don't have a lot of huge headlines. They don't have a lot of big

position battles. They're like looking for a third edge rusher. But quiet is sometimes okay in camp. So I'm not like looking any differently that it's been a quiet camp and definitely arrow up. It sounds like for the offense over the last week. Yeah, they need it. You're right though. That's very true about a lot of this division, which is why I'm going to go to a notable news item coming from Tennessee, where the Titans lost DeAndre Hopkins to an E-issue. He's going to miss multiple weeks. That would be concerning on the surface. But those who know the Titans fairly well understand that Trayland Berks has not produced at the level that they expected. And this could open the door for him to either prove it or lose it. Because look, if DeAndre Hopkins isn't out there,

you were drafted to replace A.J. Brown. And you were so unproductive, they went and got DeAndre Hopkins last year. So now they've spent some money elsewhere. They've added other talent in the offseason. So now we need you, Trayland Berks, to step up. And so far, we don't really have conclusive results. But we did hear them talk a lot about it yesterday, about how the fact that it's going to give him a chance to prove himself. It's just, look, we've got five Sundays till the first you know till the regular season they didn't pick up his fifth year option already they know he's got to prove it right now so this is going to be an important month for him and whether he can actually carve out a role with this team or not never was a big

burks guy coming out of college no i did think as a rookie though he did more than i expected very disappointing second year i think if you could carve out the right role for him he can be valuable calvin ridley has reportedly looked really good i think they're going to use use a lot of two tight end sets. Again, I can say that about a lot of teams. Josh Wiley, I believe it is, making some noise. Him and Chigga Conco, that's a bit of a battle. So you don't need, you know, you don't need Traylon Burks to be awesome.

You just need him to be a contributor. But he was wide receiver four before this injury, which says a lot to me. One last name I'll say in Tennessee is Devondri Sweat, who was a very polarizing draft pick. and immediately with the starters and by all accounts immediately making a lot of noise at camp and so that was a guy that felt like

as boom or bust as anyone in this draft and so far I think they're really happy with what they've seen I think he's going to start day one I think we've kind of fallen out of the era of the classic gap plugging nose tackle they still kind of exist but not in the same way that they used to this guy fits that mold

I was just blown away by the picture that was posted of him next to Jeffrey Simmons making Jeffrey Simmons look small and Jeffrey Simmons Oh I didn't see that that is wild Yeah, this dude is a unit. So if they can actually plug gaps consistently with him and if he's actually living up to, you know, the notes so far that he's with the starters

and he's making plays, it's going to be a huge boon for them on that defensive side. Yeah, and I think with Levis, it seems like more good than bad. There hasn't been a lot of like hot takes from people there just kind of as expected, making some plays, making some boneheaded plays, that's Will Levis.

All right, let's go Texans. Actually, let's, all right, we'll go Texans. I was going to go Colts, but we'll go Texans next. Look, we know that. the story of this team right now, right? It's, it's C.J. Stroud and this entire offense. But what I'm thinking about is what they did in the defensive side of the ball, because we can spend all day talking about, well, they got Stefan Diggs in the offseason. They look great offensively. You know, they gave Nico Collins money. Taint Dells coming back from injury. That's all cool.

But I need to know how your defense is going to play in key situations. And Aziz Al Shire is a guy that I thought was a super sneaky edition in the offseason. And so far, he's proven his worth in camps. I mean, he's been very solid, especially in the red zone. He's stuffed the run. He's done pretty much everything you would ask him to. He's a guy that came from San Francisco spent last year in Nashville. Somebody that wasn't really appreciated that much, I don't think.

And maybe it was because of the situation in Nashville last year. But now with Houston Texans, I think he's got an opportunity. Not necessarily to become like a pro bowler and all pro and pop like that, but make some key contributions at the second level where I thought they were their weakest. And now he'll play alongside Christian Harris and maybe serve a big role because we'll pay a lot of attention talking about Will Anderson and about DeNeal Hunter. But I think this second level is going to be the make or break part of this defense and really what's going to make Temeco Ryan's unit into something good or not.

Yeah, and I have so much faith in Ryan's ability to coach up that group. That was his position and he's done it. He did it last year with lesser talent. I'm with you. I think Kamari Lasseter has been one of the big stories in camp. If I could pick two camp hype bunnies that I featured on this show that I believe is for real, it would be Yoshavos with the Bengals and Lassiter with the Texans, just because the people I trust that are there that are really smart football,

people are seeing it day after day. And they're saying he is matching up against this great receiver trio, and he is really holding his own. And, you know, of course, they didn't play him in the Hall of Fame game. Like, he's a locked in starter as a rookie corner. You're going to have ups and downs as a rookie corner, but so many rookie corners come in and they get barbecued in camp. And the fact that he's come out and everyone's really impressed with how he's looked.

To me, that's a really encouraging story out of Texans camp. Yeah, I mean, he's ahead of Jeff Okuda on the death chart right now. Oh, yeah, for sure. That's a good move. That looks very good, and that fills out that secondary. And a good sign, Damien Pierce Revival. Didn't play in the Hall of Fame game. I think they like what they're seeing right now.

I'm going to make one note on the Hall of Fame game since I was sitting in the press box and sat through that storm and got drenched on the way out. And I also ran into Colleen, so that was fun. We got to talk for a minute in the press box. But... The Bobby Sloick offense looks just as good as it did last year. I know it doesn't show on the scoreboard, but when Davis Mills was in there early, I was like, oh, baby.

Like, he looks comfortable. They're moving around in the pocket. He is not a statue. He's designed rollouts. He's navigating. It's breaking away. He's delivering the ball. He didn't play very long, but I just sat back and thought, man,

they are picking up right where they left off and they don't even have Stroud out there. I love the idea of this offense this year with Sloick. He's going to be getting head coaching looks before long, and especially if they produced this year. So it was a good sign. Hot take. They have the best quarter. quarterback room in the NFL.

Oh. CJ Stroud, Davis Mills, and Case Keatim. I mean, if you have to go one through three and you're not like overly waiting, one as obviously one is by far the most important. But you've got a top 10 quarterback at least at one. And then Mills at two, Keatim at three, that's pretty strong.

I'm just saying, not many go three deep like that. That's all I'm saying. Hey, you know what? Let's not forget Camp Arm Tim Boyle, who I have to tell this story. The head official at the game, on Thursday night. I actually left his mic hot for a little bit and I caught a part of a conversation he was having with Tim Boyle. Let's just say it was hilarious and it was not that you would expect

from an on-field conversation. Okay. Okay. We'll have to keep that a secret. All right, let's wrap this thing up. Colts. We're done. Nick Shook. One more team. All right. So a lot of expectation for the Indianapolis Colts and Anthony Richardson and so far not exactly as great as you'd think. At one point during a recent practice, he went two for five in the 11-11 period. We talked about this. You know, he had moments of inaccuracy as a rookie, and it's more about his ability to make plays with his legs and his feet, but I am a little concerned about that. It could be a sign for the defense. Could say, yeah, the defense is playing well, but I know it really comes down to Richardson. So we'll keep an eye on that. And so far, that's got

to be my biggest point, just because I think that the whole season hinges on him. You don't want to have to turn to Joe Flacko. You don't want to have to unless you absolutely need to. So it's all going to come down to him and whether he can establish a rapport with A.D. Mitchell, so far, A.D. Mitchell's looked good in practice. And I expect nothing less. You know, I know he slid in the draft and maybe it was people were concerned about, you know, the way he presented himself as maybe that was why he slid. But I'm not worried about that. He was a baller in college. I would love to see. I'm a little worried. I'm a little worried, Chuck, at least in terms of like fantasy, because supposedly he's been, you know, a little

quiet and Pierce, you know, Reggie Wayne is gassing up Pierce that like this is the first time he's had to compete. And for now, it seems like that's Pierce's job. They'll need them both. But I think to me, from what I'm hearing, Downs is the clear, too. They're playing them outside. They're playing them inside. It's going to be Pitman 1, Downs 2, and the other two guys get in the mix, and the tight ends get in the mix.

And that's fine. Mitchell's a rookie receiver. But I guess I've gotten a little more Pierce hype than I expected this game. That's fair. I just wonder, you know, in evaluating Alec Pierce so far in this career, he's had a lot of change in quarterback,

and I think that hasn't done in any favor. And I just wonder if, like, is that the reason why I'm not fully sold on him yet? No, he's never open. He's never open. The opportunities he got, they weren't good. So maybe if they become good, then he'll prove himself. No. And, you know, we hit the Samson-Ebacom injury.

I think they're deep enough to withstand that. You know, they've moved at practice. You know, they have a couple holes on the defense, especially at safety. Julian Blackman, who's good. They moved him recently to free safety. And when they asked about possibly adding someone, Shane Steichen, more or less was like, Like, yeah, that might be something we do. So there's a couple big-name safeties, you know, relatively big-name experience

safeties out there, starting with Justin Simmons. I think they might be the number one Justin Simmons team. So that's just something to put in your pocket. Yeah, that void, that makes sense. Yeah, keep an eye on that. I like that. All right, we did it. We hit all 16 AFC teams.

That was fun. We're going to do the same on Tuesday's show. I'll do it with Jordan Rodriguez, talking about the end. NFC. In the meantime, you know, you can watch the Olympics a little. Watch some inside training camp live, though. We're on all day on NFL Network. Hey, come watch the Tulane Green Wave on Twitch. We just got a big win over Oklahoma last night.

Yeah, you got to check out, Shook, on Twitch, playing with the Tulane Green Wave. That was a lot of fun. We will be back again on Tuesday, the NFC, all 16 teams with Jordan Rodriguez. So for Nick Shook, and for Nabil, helping us out, producing this show on a side. Sunday evening. We'll see you next time.