NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Players We're All In On and Latest Training Camp News

Episode Date: July 31, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Nick Shook to discuss news from around the NFL, including Russell Wilson returning to practice in a limited role (1:00), Matthew Judon's contract dispute with the Patriots (7:15), Caleb Williams and the rest of the Bears' starters not playing in the Hall of Fame Game (10:05), and more! After the Break, Will Brinson of CBS Sports joins Gregg to give you their list of players that they are all in on this season (18:54).  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're always grinding our face off. I'm Greg Rosenthal and Beyond Lucky today to be joined by Nick Shook, who's going to do some news with me. Also excited, Will Brinton will be joining me a little bit later. to talk about players we're all in on for 2024. I'm all in on Nick Shook this year. It's a big year for Nick Shook. I mean, look, every year in this time of year,

we set expectations high and we want to live up to those expectations. It's not quite a chip tracker. It's not best shape of my life, but the potential, making the leap happening right here, right before your eyes. I love it. Nick is rested, hopefully, had a little time off,

little boys trip, which is nice. I think that's the only time off he's had all season. And yeah, we're going to keep you busy today and all season long, Shook. You're going to be doing the news a lot with me. You're going to be doing a lot of the prime time games with me. And yeah, let's get right into the news. All right. We start in Pittsburgh where Russell Wilson was back on the field today. Shucky, he did some individual drills, but it was still Justin Fields. with the first team. It feels is at a nice little run here to start training camp with the first team.

Other news there, unfortunately, Roman Wilson, their rookie wide receiver, left practice with an ankle injury. We haven't gotten severity of that yet. Mike Tomlin didn't sound incredibly enthused about it, so we'll have to wait and see. But for a third round rookie pick, he expected to be a bigger part of the Steelers' plans than most rookies would be. Yeah, it's a big bummer for me personally because he was one of my favorite picks in this entire draft and especially how he would fit in Matt Steelers receiving core. I thought he's a great compliment to George Pickens. He was a sneaky good receiver at Michigan for those who paid attention to the Wolverines. So it's a bummer. He hears it on a cart, you know, early in camp. But then again, we don't quite know yet. So until we know, we can hold out hope that, hey, look, you got a month. Let's say you can come back in a month. You're going to miss some of those rookie reps. But hopefully there's enough of a runway there where he could come back. Just just keeping my fingers crossed. that the worst doesn't happen. But when it comes to Fields and Wilson, you know,

if we were sitting back a month ago, which we were and saying, when is Justin Fields going to end the conversation? Because Russell Wilson is the starter as of right now. Well, he just got quite a jump on that process by getting all this opportunities with Russell Wilson out. And even today, Russell Wilson, according to those who were there, wasn't quite moving

a lot. It was more about passes than moving around. So they're treating that really gingerly, which is going to keep the door cracked open for Justin Fields, could affect this whole thing. Yeah, it's always tricky to know which minor injuries to talk about it this time of year because you just don't know how they're going to last. I wanted to choose these two because, A, like, Wilson, who's been quite durable is getting up there in years and a soft tissue injury like this to start your year. It's not just

that he's missing reps. He's a veteran, although it's a new system and he's letting Justin Fields get those reps. And I'm sure he's not feeling that comfortable about that, which is maybe why he's forcing getting back on the field too early. When you see these types of injuries with veterans, often reoccur. And I know we got a while before the regular season starts, but that's a concern. And then with rookies, they just miss that time that they can never get back. So you hope, even if it was something where he's back, Nick, before the regular season, I can just hear the 2025 puff piece that's like Roman Wilson. I never quite got back up to speed after missing training camp. And it's especially interesting to me, just because they don't have any receivers.

I can't believe they went into training camp with pick-ins as they're won. Okay. And then Van Jefferson, Calvin Austin, and Roman Wilson as their 2-3-4. It's one of the worst 2-3-4s in the league. All of those guys have chances. I think Van Jefferson,

maybe the ship has sailed on him. But it's a tough situation, I think, for the quarterbacks in Pittsburgh. This offense, where they're having a lot of new pieces on the offensive line, too, which are promising. But it's just a lot of question marks for Arthur Smith to deal with. Yeah, I mean, it's a pivotal season because you have Arthur Smith there, you know, putting a new offense and you have so many young pieces that you're going to be counting on.

And so when you lose one of those, that's obviously going to hurt you. But on the flip side, I often wonder, we, you know, the puff piece that you just referenced. Well, we also hear the piece at the end of the season, which is, oh, man, I really hit the rookie wall around week 12. Does a month off or however long he could miss? Does that prevent you hitting the rookie wall? Is this the second half resurgence? Is this a making the leap candidate going into 2025? Anything's possible.

Okay. I mean, it worked for Odo Beckham, his rookie season. I think that works more for the next guy we'll talk about. Arden Key, who's a veteran who suspended six games for PEDs. Now, occasionally there are guys that come back from the PED suspension, and they're never the same, and you wonder, hmm, what's the cause and effect here? I don't know if that's going to be the case with Arden Key, and he's a guy who's a key pass rusher, not a superstar.

But I think it's a nice spot for veterans. to miss six games of the season and then assuming he's healthy just come back in and be kind of like a mid-season replacement. Yeah, it would be nice to get some reinforcements during the regular season that are fresh because they had a month and a half off. It's interesting with him though because

his career trajectory, like he came out of LSU as a guy who was always going to be a first round pick but there were concerns about his effort level and he's been fighting those this whole career and he's actually put together a pretty good career. Never quite what a lot of people thought it would be but maybe you get that six weeks off. You're like hey, I'm refreshed, I'm rejuvenated. I'm going to give

full effort for the first time. So Arden Key, I should have mentioned, is on the Titans now and had a nice season a year ago, you know, has been previously with the 49ers and the Jaguars. And their defense, to me, has a lot of questions. Not a defense we've talked about a lot. They're hoping they get the full Harold Landry back. But Key was kind of their second best edge rusher. So that's a big loss for the Titans. And just on the topic of suspensions, I do want to note, Rishie Rice has not been suspended and Jordan Addison has not been suspended. And I did ask around a little bit about this. I just think it's fair to say that no one knows when it comes to suspensions. But I think it's fair to say that the chiefs who probably earlier in the off season just assumed that this guy's

going to miss time now aren't so sure and are wondering if this potential suspension is not going to come until 2025 because the NFL would rather let the legal process play out and it's going to end up taking that long. So it's just, just something to watch there. You don't need to comment on that, but it's something to watch that. We've kind of assumed Rishi Rice is not going to be there all 17 games. I'm not so sure about that and the same is true for Jordan Addison, but it still, it still could happen. The NFL is extremely unpredictable when it comes to suspensions, but sometimes they do wait until the next season. I want to mention a potential holdout as we're taping. We're reading a report from ESPN's Mike Reese that teammates of Matthew Judon

did not see him on Tuesday. And that's coming off a story, Nick, that I don't know if you saw the video of Matthew Judon at practice on Monday conducting a holden, basically. He had been practicing, but then they put the pads on and he didn't put the pads on. And he was just on the side of practice. And you wonder if he relayed this plan to anyone else. else ahead of time. My guess is no because Gerard Mayo goes over and talks to him. And with all the reporters there and everything like that, like Judon gets worked up. They have a conversation. Mayo stays calm, but Judon really gets worked up. He goes inside. He comes back outside. Then it's another conversation with some front office people that are there. Again, Judon looks, you know, unhappy to the

people that were there. And then it sounds like he wasn't at work Tuesday. So it's just one of those things to me that I can't imagine happening. I'm not saying it's that bad or good, but you wouldn't have seen this under Bill Belichick. It's a new day there in New England. And that's their first reaction as well. This is very unpatriot-like. It's also kind of, it's just getting messier

because he arrived by saying, look, I'm here, even though I'm not happy with my contract, because I signed on the dotted line. It's a commitment that I made. And in the same breath said, but I don't think that my contract matches my value. Then he's participating. Then as soon as the pads come on,

and his greatest asset, which is his health, is suddenly potentially threatened by, you know, the full contact practice, he's sitting out. But most of these instances, guys stay off the side or they stay inside the building. They don't come out. He's sitting on a flipped over trash can right next to his teammates doing their drills,

just chilling, making a scene without doing anything but sitting there. And of course, that's going to irritate Gerard Mayo. So the fact that he went out there and did that, you had to think this was all kind of planned. And it was him making a statement. So the fact that we got to this next point now, not a surprise. He's turning the screws a little bit.

He's only due $6.5 million, and he's one of their best players, but he's coming off a really serious, difficult injury that caused him to miss basically all of last season. So it's a tricky spot, but I just have noticed Gerard Mayo to start camp, speaking to the media, you know, was okay with Devon Godshaw, also had a public displeasure with his contract, talking to the media about it.

And Gerard Mayo was like, hey, I want to let guys be able to voice their displeasure, he's going to be more of a player's coach and really rely on that relationship. And this is just just the first example of like, okay, but that's being tested. Most coaches would not allow that much from the players. And it'll just be interesting to see how he handles this. I was a little disappointed, Shuki, how the head coach of the Bears, Matt Eberflus, is handling the Hall of Fame game because Caleb Williams is not going to play.

Not that I really blame him, but I just want to watch that game and want to have some fun. I know you're going to be there. Are you excited for a little Tyson Baygeon? No, but I was excited to see Caleb Williams. I mean, at least get a series or two out of him. You know, it's pretty common that coaches will treat the rookies with kid gloves, especially massive investments like Caleb Williams. But Caleb also went out on record yesterday saying,

look, I think these reps are really important. And he used the word paramount twice. It's paramount to my development. And this is where, you know, I feel like I need to improve and just seeing the, the shells and everything else and making decisions and all that stuff. And, you know, even though joint practices are becoming more and more popular in this new world of training camp in which they don't do two days and everything, the games

you still can't replace live bullets. Oh, he's going to play. He's not going to get that in this game. It's just a bummer. So this is where the Hall of Fame game is probably rooting for that idea where there would be an 18 game regular season and a two game preseason, which could happen someday.

It could. It might not. Because then the Hall of Fame game is only the third preseason game. The problem the Hall of Fame game has still is like, the Bears have said they're going to play Caleb Williams. They think it's important. He might play two preseason games. The problem is just if you're going to pick two, this isn't one of those two. He might even play three. It wouldn't shock me. But my guess is going to be he'll play next week. He'll play the week after that. Maybe a decent amount,

like a quarter and a half or something. But unfortunately for the Hall of Fame game, it is the fourth week of the preseason, which otherwise we've eliminated. We haven't eliminated Tyson Baygent, though. I thought it was interesting. I don't know if you heard this earlier in the week. It's Tyson Bayesian talking about his off-season and his off-season training. I was too busy grinding my absolute face-off in the off-season.

What was the hardest grinding your face-off thing that you did? June 19th, shout out to one of my best friends, Derek Gallagher, one-mile burpee brawl jump. Hour and seven minutes. Let's go. Burpee, brawl jump. Burpee, brawl jump. One mile. You know, I might not be

getting better necessarily at football when I'm doing a workout like that. However, just the mental edge that it gives me finding out, you know, what I can endure versus what the next man can endure, in a sense, gives me a little mental edge when I show up to things like this and people start complaining about our schedule. I can kind of have somewhere in the back of my head that I've done things far worse than this. Chuck, I wanted that quote for you. I don't know if it's the first time you heard it. As a person who treats his body as a temple, what do you think of the burpee broad jump move.

I don't know if at the temple it's closer to a gas stop rest station. Come on. It's looking good. We've been there. We've been there. If you've played football at, you know,

basically the high school level and beyond, you've been in those situations where you're running distance and you're thinking, how is this helping me in football? Like, I'm dying out here. Why am I running a mile after I just ran 2100 yard dashes?

You're in your conditioning test and you're just sweating and dying. But it does increase that intestinal fortitude, that mental strength that you need to play. So Tyson Bay, agent's going to be on the sideline. And Caleb Williams is throwing for three touchdowns. And he's going to be like, this is great.

But you know what guys? Burpee broad jump mile. Throw me in there. I'm tough than all these guys. I mean, Tyson, okay, I thought you were going to you were going to slag on him a little bit because, yeah, trainer Twitter did not like it. They're like, you're not getting anything out of this.

No, it's true. But it's like, calm down. I say calm down trainer Twitter. They're just testing himself mentally. It's like, it's okay. How many passes can you throw? You're also not going to hurt yourself doing that either. Like, it's totally fine.

I support you, Tyson Bayesian. I love that hairdo. Hey, you outplayed as an undrafted free agent, the number one overall pick in the draft as a rookie last year. I would say he was better. And he's probably their backup. Brett Rippin is the other guy in that room, which... No, that's Tyson Bayesian's backup job.

It feels weird. I want to absolutely grind my face off. Let's wrap up the news before the speed round. Just mentioned quickly, John Kaminsky of the Lions, who's a key part of their rotation tour. his MCL, it sounds like he will miss the season. He could be back for the playoffs, was the initial report. And yeah, just a little risky.

We've talked, I talked about that just on the last show, that DJ Reader, little, you know, coming off a huge injury, a lot of boomer bus players, and that's a guy that they really relied on. So tough news, especially for John Kaminsky and the Lions. And then finally, Mike Rable has been working with the Browns, Shook. This isn't breaking news or anything. We've known this since the start of camp, but we haven't addressed it here in an uncertain role

where I think he's kind of like just helping them as an advisor, maybe a little bit of an advanced scout working on the next opponent, but also helping them with tight ends. What do you think about Mike Rable as part of the Brown staff? It's pretty badass, actually. You know, if it was a different regime, if it was a Hugh Jackson regime, I'd be worried because there would be, you know, egos clashing and insecurities

that might lead to in fighting. But this is stable. Kevin Stapansky's been there for a while now and bringing another mind like Mike Vrable who I thought was one of the more underrated coaches in the NFL and didn't deserve to be fired because the Titans tore down the roster around him. I think it only helps the team. Plus, you get

cool highlights of Mike Vrable sprinting in races against James Winston during practice. Who doesn't like that? It's embarrassing. Not that Vrable isn't an athlete, but he's getting up there in years. He's a big guy. And the sprints, it's close, but yeah, no one no one's ever accused James Winston

I guess of being in like an Uber athlete. That was part of his charm, but you got to be Vravel. And good job by Kevin Stafansky and that Browns crew. This is where being a good dude and having relationships pays off because you can't, Mike Vrable is going to help that team. That is a great coaching staff already. And they just signed a contract extension and you said it. They're secure in where they're at. And I love that move. He will absolutely help them. Let's do the speed round, Randy Chavez. Zach Wilson appears to be out of the starting quarterback rotation. Shook, it looks like it's just Jarrett Stidham or Bowknicks now in Denver.

And my reaction is, gee, what a surprise. Couldn't see that coming. It's a surprise to Steve Weiss who was trying to honk about Wilson a couple weeks ago on this show. Chase Young, fully back to practice, which is great coming off of a neck surgery. Kendry Miller, they're running back that they took in the third round, who was supposed to be their backup really hasn't practiced at all at Saints camp. And Chris Olave left practice with a hip injury. That is a thin receiver group shook if Chris Olavi is not out there.

Yeah, I'm not excited about this because that offense was very uninspired last year. And Chris Olave, any sort of injury or Nick along the way, I'm worried about it because they need to have everybody healthy in order to get them to where they need to go offensively since they never got there last year. Right. It falls off a cliff. He's supposedly been having a great camp, rather. We don't know if it's serious. Trayvon Diggs back on the field from his torn ACL, so that is great.

Happy trails to Rashad Penny. Really an exciting runner when he came into the league with Seattle, just too many injuries, and he hangs it up. He was with the Panthers at 28. Kareem Jackson is on the Bills. The Falcons have sold out season tickets for the first time in 20 years. Kirk Cousins gets it done in a way that Matt Ryan and Michael Vick never did. What is happening here?

Yeah, what? We spent all this time. complaining about them drafting Michael Pennex and everyone in Atlanta is just like, no, I'm buying tickets, baby. We believe in Kirk. We watched quarterback. He's our guy right there. I'm shocked by that stat, but I love it and I love the hype. Finally, kicker battles have been decided. A rookie, Cam Little, is the kicker in Jacksonville over Riley Patterson who has been cut. And the only rookie on the Minnesota Vikings, or rather the only kicker on the Minnesota Vikings, Nick is, can you name it?

It's a rookie kicker from Alabama. His name's Will. Is it Reichard or Ricard? Yeah, he's a dog. He's got a leg. He's been clutch kicks when he was back at Alabama. And they finally get an answer there. I'm excited.

You did it. I would not have been able to name him 24 hours ago. But it's over now. College football guy. And yeah, nice like having a couple of kickers on decent teams being rookies. I think that just adds a little something to it. Thank you, Shook, for helping out with the news. And we are going to take a quick break here.

I will be back on the other side with Will Brinson. We're talking about players we are all in on. And oh, yeah, Randy. Ooh, I like this. It's great. Keep this. Oh, yeah. Hey, this.

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

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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. And I've been excited about this next guest ever since we were texting over the weekend about Raphael Nadal and Carlos Alcarez and realized like, oh, I need to get Will Brinson on this show. One of my oldest colleagues, friends in the business,

he was back at AOL fan house in the aughts, early internet days. It's Will Brinson of CBS. What's going on? what's up Greg we've been doing this for a long time now haven't we we're closing them on a I mean it's like a decade and a half the business keeps changing

there's like corporate mergers but you're still kicking CBS senior NFL writer I'm here yeah and one of the best dudes if anyone has followed Will's career funny and knows his stuff and has a very manly beard that

I wish I could grow a beard that good but I just realized it wasn't ever going to be that good So I'm just permanent stubble because I look even older without it. Well, I mean, you, you, I think, I want to say we talked about this at the maybe like right before,

no, right before COVID, no, you were like, all right, I'm out on the beard. Every NFL writer has a beard now. And then COVID happened. Yeah. And everybody, you know, everybody grew facial hair. I think that, I mean, I like mine. I would, you know, I probably,

I've got some other physical stuff I'm going to work on before I work on shaving the beard. Keep the beard around, you know, mask, it masks various attributes on my face. That is one of the great things men have. Women just don't. The beard can just cover up whatever you want. I love that you not only, you know, texting me about tennis, and we love connecting about that,

but you suggested this idea for a show. And I'm just like, okay, we got to get this done, even before Will gets back from his vacation in Dallas. And so you phrased it as just guys. were all in on for 24 and you set the parameters no rookies and I don't know if you said any other parameters that I didn't listen to

but it's just guys we are pushing our chips in the table there are guys for 2024 and maybe we'll track this through the season and see which group of our guys are better but since you came up with the idea Will I'll let you start off okay so I think too

like I was sort of thinking about this And I don't think that you should necessarily have to, you know, go way off the board for guys you're all in on, right? No, it can be superstars. I have one on my list, a super duper star, yeah. Yeah, yeah, I do too. And I'll start, let's start with the super duper stars. I think you need to start at the top. You start with the big names.

You sort of work your way down. Honestly, like the impetus for this sort of came from, you know, whether it's draft kings or whether it's, you know, our pals of an underdog like Josh Norris and Hayden Winks. I do great work over there, but doing best ball drafts and sort of saying, like, taking a stand on players and who I really want to be in on. And one guy I'm really, really in on, and this is like a no bleep Sherlock move, but I do think he's undervalued, especially if you look at maybe like the MVP markets. Okay. As well, Josh Allen.

Oh, my gosh. Is this your super different story? Yeah, that is. I mean, I guess it takes, you know, two of us, you know, 20 years in the business to figure out that Josh Allen is good. But yeah, I wrote it the same, but you go on. I'm glad. I'm glad. No, no, I mean, I think like I have, you look at like my exposures in these

drafts. I think he's my, maybe my highest exposure of quarterback. And I think there's a little bit of, uh, 20, 23 Patrick Mahal or 22 Patrick Mahalms, excuse me, where, you know, Stefan Diggs is traded in the off season. He goes to Houston. Everybody's wondering, can Josh Allen be the guy without a true number one receiver? I think people are out of the bills. People want to be out on the bills. They've been wanting to be out on the bill since last offseason

with all the digs drama that was circulating in July. And now you have the situation where Josh Allen is like the fourth or fifth guy in terms of odds for MVP. I saw 9 to 1 in various spots. He's behind CJ Stroud. Greg, that's insane. I see a list where he's even lower than that to me, which is absolutely crazy, yes.

I didn't know. I don't know what the official spots, like what you're good. This is why we got to have Will. on more often because, as you know, I'm an employee of the NFL and I have to sign a piece of paper every year that says, I can't gamble. That said, I'm on a show every week that picks games and we pick scores and game day view. And so we can talk about it. And you're more of an expert. And yeah, it's insane to me that he is behind guys like Stroud, Lamar, Herber, love, pretty. I see in one. And all your points are great.

And I think there is something about the public going so in on the bills last year. And they were burned. And so you don't want to do it. But it's so funny that you wrote him down and you mentioned 22 Mahomes because that is it to me. Because sometimes MVPs are about narrative. And the narrative is going to be like, oh, it's Josh Allen without Stefan Diggs. And he's going to take a step back, just like everyone expected Mahomes to do in 2022. without Tyree Kill.

And yet I look at this group and I like this wide receiver group. I like the combination. I like that he's not forcing it. And more than anything, I just like the point of Josh Allen's career that he's at. He reminds me a little of Ben Rathesberger when Ben Rathesberger was a little bit older,

Will. And I think it was where Ben Rathesberger finally married up for a couple years, his physicality and his strength was still there. He wasn't old, but he was just smarter. like he was a better quarterback because he was smarter and it took him a while it takes a lot of quarterbacks a while to get to that point and i think josh allen is at that point now it's a sweet spot for like one or two years where his physicality is still all the way there and his mental side

has caught up and he just feels like a guy that one of these years is going to win an MVP and this feels like that year to me well it is the narrative thing is exactly right you lose digs people like you know you and i know we'll get i i'm a good way to assume you have his tight end on your list, too, Dalton Kincaid. No, I know you like Kincaid, so I just stayed off him, yeah. Yeah, I, I, I, I think Kincaid is going to have a monster year. And you talk about the 22 chiefs, what do they do? They said, Bahalm, you lose Tyreek, but you know what?

It's okay because you have Travis Kelsey. Well, guess who's going to be Josh Allen's Travis Kelsey? It's Dalton Kincaid. You also have Curtis Samuel, who had his, and I realized, like, people, you know, like, hyping up Curtis Samuel, whatever. He had the best year of his career in 20s. 20 with the Panthers, when Joe Brady, the bill's offensive coordinator, was Carolina's office coordinator.

Speak to me. Didn't even think of that. Yeah. Mac Collins is getting buzz. And look, I like Mac Hollis. I don't think Mac Collins is going to be a game changing wide receiver one. But no, but he's a deep threat. Like, he's a cheap, deep threat.

He's like when the chiefs go out to get MVS, right? And bring him in, NBS on this team as well. Chase Claypool getting hyped and somehow. Okay, you've gotten too far, Will, you've gotten too far. This is like, you know, we learned this. model Congress. Like you want to stick to your strongest points of your argument. You've got to know when to stop.

And when you get to Mack Hollins and Claypool, that's where you got to stop. But Shakir, Samuel, Kiann Coleman, Kincaid, Knox, Cook. That's six good pass catchers. You can't, it, again, it reminds me of Kansas City in 2022, except they have better pass catchers, but more that they have continuity on the offensive line. Sean McDermott's been saying it all offseason.

This is the best offensive line. that the bills have ever had in their tenure, and they have great continuity. So I'm totally with you, and I know you love Kincaid. So that's one too, where I think he'll be the number one receiver in the league, and it's a great point on Joe Brady and Samuel.

I'm just into it this year. I guess I've given away my MVP pick of the year. I'm going to go less of a star here, but still a star. Let's go big names first. I'll go Drake London. Okay, I'll start with that. Yeah.

Okay. I actually forgot Drake London didn't even break a thousand yards last year. I just think of him as a top 10 to 12 receiver in the league. And I know if you're in fantasy, you did not feel that last year when he ended up with like 902. And he is the ultimate tape over numbers guys. I wasn't even that high on him going into the draft. I think I had him fourth or fifth in that class.

I think I'm going to be proven wrong. When you watch him, there's just so many times that he is just absolutely bodying cornerbacks. and he can run slants, he can run digs, and people say he doesn't get open. Like, maybe deep down the field he doesn't get open. Our friend Matt Harmon talks about that, but he gets open in the short areas. And where is Kirk Cousins good? Over the middle of the field, that's where he wins in the intermediate area.

And you think about his offensive coordinator, Zach Robinson is there, and they're going to use Puka. I mean, they're going to use Drake London like Puka. And he can make enough plays after the catch. I know this isn't a perfect stat well but yards per route run it's just it's a stat I have some issues with

but it's just an efficiency stat when you look at the yards Drake London has two of the top 10 marks since 2013 in that stat in the last 10 years he is in the both of his seasons are in the top 10

and you look at the other people on the list it's like Odo Beckham's best year Devante Adams' best year and Drake London's two years in the NFL So he's been extremely efficient, and he just passes the eye test, contested catches, that offense. And there's no second receiver. I know Kyle Pitts is like a second receiver, but he's the only real wide receiver there. He seems to be underdrafted, underappreciated, whether we're talking fantasy or not.

I'm just in on him having a total monster season. I was definitely trying to find the stat. I saw it yesterday on Twitter. I thought it was Hayden Winks. Maybe it was Matt Harmon. And one of the, all these guys, maybe he's Ian Hardin's, I don't know. There's a lot of guys doing great work in the fantasy space. You're right, yards per route run, not a perfect stat.

But the one stat I saw is that, again, I would attribute if I could, but on Drake London was that he leads the, or he's like top 10 since like 2011 in terms of commanding targets. And it's like basically how many targets can you pull based on your routes run and based on your time on the field, which is insane because he was in a, an Arthur Smith offense where there are no targets to be had. Like Johnny Smith got all the targets for the Falcons last year. And now you have Kirk Cousins. And Greg, I don't know if this, I don't know what to do about this Achilles thing.

You know, when we first started this business, we didn't know what to do with ACLs. Now it's like ACL, you're just stronger and better, sort of like Tommy John. The Achilles thing worries me a little bit with the quarterback because you've got to push off. But if Cousins and Rogers come back, cousins, I mean, Cousins is such a massive upgrade for this offense. And they're going to pass a ton. Like, Zach Robinson is a pass first.

You know, the Rams all pass a ton. So even if cousins and Pennix, if he plays, like even if Cousins isn't totally cousins, they're got just the volume is going to be through the roof. You're going to go from one of the heaviest run offenses to the heaviest pass offense.

I love it. And it just to, I throw out Darnel Mooney too as like, you know, somebody who can stretch the field and open things up underneath a little bit for for London there as well. And I just think there's a lot of weapons there, but London's going to be the alpha in that offense.

So I'm in my middle of that. I like it. Okay. I love you throwing some Tulane love. There might be some coming up in a little bit. All right. Give me someone else. You're all in on your guy.

All right. This is, I think this is, I'm here for it. Speaking of speedsters, 99 percentile, in terms of the 40, he ran at the Combine, an elite athlete, a guy who was unbelievable in Alabama before tearing his ACL. late in the season. Now getting just, the, the hype train is starting to build as Dan Campbell, aka PC principal, types up Jamo, Jameson Williams, emerging as this new extra, like, option on the Detroit Lions, a guy who is an absolute, like, lightning bolt down the field, but I think

can command some more, like, sort of manageable targets closer to the line of scrimmage, but also it was just a perfect compliment to Amaran St. Brown and San Leporta. The Lions, I believe, played 14 of 17 games indoors or like under a route this year. This offense is going to go

just be electric. And I think a JMO, if Jamo becomes what they believe he can be. And again, Dan Campbell usually pretty good about, you know, he's a hype guy, but he's pretty honest. Within this offense,

like Jared Golfson, MVP, Sleeper as well. That's going too far for me. Jameson, William, So I'm shocked he is getting drafted in like the 10th round of fantasy drafts. And this conversation isn't all about fantasy, but for the skill guys, it obviously applies. Teams tell you how they feel with their actions. That's the most important thing.

Like I was surprised how in on the Ravens, I mean, how in on Rashad Bateman the Ravens were this offseason. But then they gave them money and they didn't sign anyone. I was like, okay, that proves it. Same thing with Detroit. They didn't need to give Jameson Williams money. He wasn't eligible. But they let Josh Reynolds go. they didn't bring anyone in

and you look at the way last season ended they started to trust him his last two games of the season which were the NFC championship game and the divisional round game he ran more routes in those two games I'm so glad I was I was prepped for a different show to talk about

Jameson Williams and I never used it you always use it that's a lesson for any people you know that are trying to get into the business like prep will never hurt someday you'll use it or anyone who's in school like if you study, you're going to be better at the test. It will happen eventually that it will come in handy.

And so, yeah, he ran more routes in those two games than any other in the biggest spots ever. And you think about their biggest drive of the season when they needed to come back against the 49ers in the NFC championship. He caught a deep comeback. He also had a big time drop. He also caught an absolutely crazy touchdown that no one will ever remember to cover the spread probably or at least, you know, make them kick an onside kick.

I don't remember what the spread was at that game. So he was out there. being trusted in the biggest moment. So yeah, they're telling me with their actions. And I mentioned that draft class. I had him rank number one. And I wasn't the only one. Our friend Mina Kimes had him rank number one. Just we, you know, he was coming off in ACL. We've learned he maybe wasn't as mature as he needed to be. But I think he's there now and they trust him. So I'm totally in. He's a post-hype sleeper. That's another one. What did you call Dan Campbell, by the way? The PC principal? What is this? Yeah, South Park, um, they replaced, uh,

They brought in a new principle at one point, and he's the PC principle. He's like, you know, he's like very politically correct. But he is a spitting image for Dan Campbell. Well, yeah, Dan Campbell politically correct too. And generally I'm on board with almost everything he says and does. But he did have Hulk Hogan at practice doing like a promo the other day, not as PC there. All right. I'm going to go.

Let's do a non-skill player. I'm going to go Devin Witherspoon. Obviously, this is not out on a limb. that he was a rookie of the year finalist, I guess they call it now, with NFL honors, which means he came in the top three of votes. But I do think when they're doing the cornerback rankings at this time a year ago, a year from now, that it very well could be Soss Gardner 1, Devin Witherspoon 2. I'll never forget that Pete Carroll compared him within weeks of having him on the roster to Troy Palomalu, just that this guy has instincts and smarts,

anyone I've ever coached, which Pete Carroll's saying that is just insane. So I think for a player like that, who's obviously physically talented, but he's also going to win just mentally, that first to second year leap is going to be huge. He even improves so much during last season. So he can do man. He can do flex zone. He can really do everything. I know he's not Kyle Hamilton. He's a cornerback. But with Mike McDonald, I think he can use him in a bunch of different ways. He can travel with wide receivers like he didn't a year ago. And I just

love the Mike McDonald fit. I just I think he could be a guy where it's like week six and you're like writing one of those articles well. And it's like is Devin Witherspoon a defensive player or the year candidate? Like I could just absolutely see him having that type of year. And he's going to let you know about it too. He's going to talk about it, which is great

in the proud tradition out there of Richard Sherman. Well, you know, we talk about the Lions. The Lions wanted to draft Devin'Witherspoon. And he made sense as like a Dan Campbell guy, Brad Hall is a cornerback tape watching Savant, self-proclaimed. And this guy, like, he's almost like too physical in the run game for his own good because he just pops people.

Yeah, it's a little like, can he survive this long term? But he should be fine for now. Yeah. But I know, he'll be fine. And I agree with your take on Mike McDonnell and how like a smart player who is versatile, Yeah, it's not the Kyle Hamilton thing, but like if you're a really intelligent football player who can be versatile on the defensive side of the ball, Mike McDonald is going to utilize you in as many different ways as possible, and it's going to help you flourish. You saw that across the board with all these Ravens guys, whether it was the guys on the defensive line, you know,

whether it's, you know, Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen developing or whether it's, you know, Kyle Hamilton and those guys in the secondary. Obviously, a lot of great players on that Ravens defense, but I think I'm excited. Seattle is actually flying under the radar. I had D.K. Metcalf on the longer list of guys that I put in there. Oh, okay. Well, I mean, while we're on Seattle and not to switch back to the skill position, guys, but like Ryan Grub out there is really interesting, Greg. You're all in on Ryan Grub.

Maybe. I might be all in on Ryan Grub. And I mean, I don't know if it's like, like I don't have heard people say how much of it is Kail and DeBore who is now to Alabama or how much of it is Grub. And, you know, you can wonder, well, they did have three, you know, wide receivers with, you know, Gillen Polk. You know, you have Joe McMillan, of course, and the Rob of Dunezay, you have all those three guys, but it's like, oh, man, that sort of sounds like D.K. Meckham, Tyler Lockett, and Jackson Smith & Jack went to me. So I feel like, it feels like, you know, if you want to be all in on somebody, too, I mean, I wouldn't dare take the quarterback in the Seattle Seahawks from you. But I feel like he could have a career year as well.

You could, and I'm trying to be careful. This is a daily show, Will. And I'm trying not to just... You know what I'm talking about Jeter Smith five days a week? Right. I'm trying to not repeat takes and support, but yeah, I'm very excited about everything offensively there. Really just about that whole team.

Like, their week one game is Seattle, Denver. And that's one of the games. I think it's a late game that I'm most excited to walk. just because they're both just so I have no idea what I'm going to get out of the quarterback situation with Denver that I'm actually curious and then that Seattle team I think is just going to be so exciting on both sides of the ball.

Can we get a can we get like can the if can we get like a camera on Russell Wilson for that game? I mean just like it's supposed to be Russ's like second revenge game against Seattle. Seattle got there and somehow he's not even on the team. I think at this point you know Tyler Lockett

and D.K. were at his wedding and And the guy who fired him, well, I guess John Schneider's still there, but Pete Carroll's not there. I think he still has a lot of love and affection for Seattle in a way that he definitely doesn't for Denver. All right, we got to just like a couple, like, let's go quick. Right. Pick your favorites or go fast on a couple of more that you got. I got three running backs. I'll give you four, but one of them I think was on your show.

Can you be all in for all of them? I mean, this might be stretching the bounds of it. go for it. Javante Williams, RICO Dattle, and Trey Sermon. It's Tray Sermon and J.K. Dobbins season again. I refuse to believe that Tray Servant and J.K. Dobbins won't emerge from the depth chart maw that is holding them back and develop into, I do think like those guys as late flyers will end up being really good.

Daven's running as number two. But then like Dowdell, why can't Rico Dowdell just be the new Tony Pollard who does all the work for the Cowboys offense and then Zeke Elliott like stumbles in from the five yard line because Jerry Jones is demanding it from the luxury box and then Javante Williams just the way that Sean Peyton's talked about him and this is a guy

who's incredible at Carolina early draft pick you know Sean Peyton said it takes two he said it takes two four years to really repair that surgery and if you think about you know the type of he's not Alvin Kamara I mean nobody is in terms of that physical skill set but he is a really

good receiving back when he's allowed to and he can a little more physical than Kamar in that run game. And I think you're going to see them lean into that run game because you've got a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix who's just blatantly going to start 17 games. Yeah, he's one player, Javante Williams, where the preseason I think matters a lot. There's really not that many that would be

fantasy football relevant or have a chance to start. But he is one that I want to see just how he looks because it's always that second year coming off the ACL. And yeah, I thought Dobbins, if I wasn't just looking like a guy who was a homer after he was on the show on Tuesday. Yeah, he would have been my pick. That's why I asked him on, because I've heard

he's a great guy, and I'm really big on him, and he looked great at practice. So I think those are good picks, and Dowdell is definitely the guy to shout out in that backfield. I would go, Taj Spears is my last one, where just his change in direction is crazy. He was fifth last year as a rookie in PFF's

elusive rating. They weren't such bad run blockers, and now you bring in Brian Callahan and his dad of course, who has gonna set it up that running game in a much better way. Like he was close to top of the league. I think top 15 like yards after contact, really good hands.

You just watch the, you watch like a highlight reel of Spears last year. It's like a snuff film. It's, I don't think people realize how good he was, how many people. I know he's a Tulane guy and they blew it by taking Kendrae Miller over Taj Spears in New Orleans.

Miller hasn't been able to get on the field, but I'm all in on him. I'm all in on Drew Trankel, by the way, while I'm here too, just as having a big offball linebacker season if I want to get really nerdy. The Chiefs fans out there know how good he is. Pete Prisco, by the way, all in on Will Levis.

Because Levis could be the next Josh Allen. Hmm. I train, Pete's been on a heater with these quarterbacks. I don't know what happened. He was in a cold streak. He's been hot lately calling out these young quarterbacks. So just worth mentioning, he's got a good article interviewing Levis, talking to Callahan, and about that offense

and what they want to do. and how those guys are playing. So I'm sneaking in on the Titans this year. I do think the Titans are going to be much more box office and entertaining than they've been in a while. And Levis is the guy that I've fallen for over and over and usually been like half right. Like they're, oh, they're fun and they're kind of good.

It's like Cutler or Tanna, like, but he's a much more exciting version of those guys. So I do think they're going to be fun. Good shout to the article. I know you're writing articles, CBS NFL, NFL, writer, got some teams in and out of the playoffs, a big preview team coming up in terms of best and worst case scenarios for every team. And yeah, one of the best to do it, Will. Appreciate you. Always fun, Greg. All right. For Will Brinson, that's going to be it for today.

Really looking forward to Thursday show, Bo Wolf's going to be on to, we're going to talk some Eagles. We're going to go over all the news around the league. Thank you to Nick Shuck, too, for taking care of the news for me at the top of the show. Until next time, we'll see you tomorrow.