NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Post Preseason Takeaways from All 32 Teams

Episode Date: August 26, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Nick Shook to help put a bow on the preseason. The guys run through all 32 teams and give you their takeaways for each team as we shift our focus toward the new season. We start with the AFC East (1:08) and a discussion about Drake Maye's play, followed by the AFC North (13:10), AFC South (20:36), and AFC West (27:50). The NFC discussion starts with the NFC East (33:25), followed by the NFC North (45:29), NFC South (51:05), and wraps with the NFC West and a break down of a weird  situation for the Rams heading into the new season (59:26).  Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. on a preseason Sunday night taping, getting it to your ears on a Monday morning. This was fun, these three weeks together, Nick, but I'm ready for the real stuff. Yeah, I mean, it's always great to spend time talking football with you, Greg, of course. But I think we're both ready for the games to count and the games to matter and for us to not have to dig down to the bottom third of the roster to glean some insights from these games.

Yeah, it's not a hot take. You know, our bosses, bosses, bosses, boss's boss, Roger Goodell agrees with us. I mean, he's been trying to get rid of this third preseason game. And a broadcaster I was talking to this or texting with this weekend said, yeah, there is literally no lower form of sports entertainment. Then I think the live third preseason game for most teams. And I say most, Nick, because not all. We just watched the Patriots and the Washington commanders play on Sunday night football.

And Washington didn't even play their backups. They were going straight to the third string. but we did get some spicy Drake-May, Jacoby Brissette quarterback battle. I'm not just leading with this because, you know, I grew up in Massachusetts. Are you sure? Are you sure? Because I feel like there's a little bit of Patriots background here. I'm just messing with you.

First of all, it just happened. We've been kind of leading with the games that just happened. But this one, come on. This was the most relevant, I think, game result, anything that really happened in this preseason week, because I've been banging this drum that the more the coaches talk, the more the practice reports come out, the more I think Drake May has a chance to start week one. And then he comes out after Jacoby Brissette gets a shoulder injury. Brissette was only going to play one or two series anyways, but he gets pile drive because of an offensive

lineman mishap. And I'll get to that in a bit. Drake May comes out there and he makes about three to four plays on a touchdown drive immediately that make you think, wow, this is a kid that maybe needs to play right away. Let's listen to his touchdown throw. It's got to win football games. This is throw football. Pressure again. Fires.

He's got to be in to the end zone. And in for the touchdown. Kevin Harris made a man miss. And the third year man at South Carolina takes it to the end zone in a very nice drive. Executed by Drake May. That's right, Shuki. 11 plays 88 yards.

And that touchdown throw might have looked simple. It relatively was simple. But the arm strength gets that ball there before the defender who was all over it. And he showed great arm strength, Drake May, throughout this game. And that drive in particular, I want to point out the scramble he has on third and 14 to start the drive. It's just not a play that any Patriots quarterback has been able to make for a long time. And Jacoby percent would not make that play. It took great athleticism.

And then two really nice crossers. There's one to Jalen Polk, one to DeMario Douglas, both which showed really good pocket feel, really beautiful passes that were kind of next level passes. That combined with the touchdown and the two-minute drive he ends up having at the end of the half in Gerard Mayo's comments not only during the week, but also on the sideline to Melissa Stark where he said, all right, Drake came in there and showed me something. He said this is a competition. Now Jacoby Brissette isn't 100%. I think he has a legit chance here. and what we'll see in the next couple of days, what Gerard Mayo does. Yeah, it's a bit of a twist because we heard Alex Van Pelt talk about Jacobi Bresed is basically the starter earlier this week.

And obviously, that's not the decision that falls on his shoulders, that falls on the head coach more than anything. But then Drake comes out and produces. And this is why you draft a young quarterback. It's not just because your franchise has no hope, but because you want the young horse in the stable who's capable of doing these things. This is the modern quarterback, the athletic quarterback that can extend plays that has the arm strength to squeeze it into a tight window,

and then let the guy do the rest like he did in that touchdown. So it's all coming up for them, but it is also against third stringers. So it's like, yeah, grain of salt. But Greg, I will say, I know people have worried about this receiving Corps in New England for years. I kind of like this top three. I kind of like this group a little bit and call me crazy.

But Jalen Polk, I think, is going to surprise people. I like the idea of Kendrick Bourne being in the mix at some point. I like DeMario Douglas. And Tyquan Thornton's the Speedster that they never really used. If Drake May really has that arm that you think he has, then maybe you're able to capitalize on that. Maybe this is the start of a new era for the Patriots. Well, he has it, whether he can make the right decisions and be accurate enough.

Look, he went 13 for 20 in this game, 100, 26 yards, in a touchdown, had a long touchdown on a broken play at the end of the half taken away. That was in the two-minute drive. But that two-minute drive is where he made another couple nice throws to the outside where he really showed off his arm strength. Poke ends up with two catches 33 yards. You mentioned Taekwon Thornton. He's surprisingly earned a starting job.

job. So I did not expect that. It's going to be Thornton, Polk, and Douglas, I believe, to start the season. Polk and K.J. Osborne are maybe sharing some snaps. And there's some location. Osborne. Osborne's the savvy one, I think, in my opinion, because he was a guy who was underappreciated in his past. And I think it's actually a good fit in that core. Because it's going to be a committee group. Like, there's not going to be, maybe Polk ends up being that guy because he was just such a dog in college. But it's going to be a committee group where they're all going to rely on each other's strengths. And you're not going to have to just target one guy. It's just like, all right, let's throw it to this guy here. He can do this. Let's do that. And I like that idea with

Drake May because it's just like a young group that's kind of figuring it out together. That's good for a team like this. Yeah. And Javon Baker had a couple targets in this game. Don't don't forget too. I know people, if they happen to watch the game, we're thinking, uh, you want to mention the punt punt right in the middle of it. Well, yeah, Drake may had a couple bad throws there too, but this offensive line could not have played any worse. It makes you worried, you know, if you're a Patriots fan or if you just like seeing decent football about whether this offense

is going to be operable at all. Here's some numbers for you. Eight penalties in the first half by the offensive line. That did not include the play where Jacoby Brissette got steamrolled because one offensive lineman pulled and ran into another offensive lineman

on that play and the puller didn't get to the edge. I don't know if he would have gotten there anyways. that didn't look cohesive, and he got Jacoby Brissette hurt. It also didn't include the play we're going to listen to now, which, again, was an offensive lineman error. Watch this. Get the side city soap. There goes to shoot.

Kick it off. No big deal. Let's just go ahead and throw this ball for a first half. What the heck, man? He's on a roll right now. Nobody wake him up. So that was starting guard City So stepping on Drake May's shoe, which flew off before May went kind of three quarters and got a nice first down.

Nice play by him. And then to top it all off, Nick, so got hurt late in the first half. Yeah. The offensive line, it was a totally different group in terms of where they lined up. Everyone moved around suddenly. O'Wenu is at right tackle. O'Korifor's back at left tackle. They're moving things around.

They didn't. And whatever they tried out tonight, I do not think that's going to be the offensive line. They tried out week one. but that just shows you, like, they're trying all sorts of new combinations at this point. It's a bit of a disaster. Yeah, that's a bad sign when you're trying combinations that frequently in the preseason when you're on the cusp of the regular season. You kind of want those guys established and you're starting five set.

And maybe some of those guys don't play in week three. Meanwhile, the Patriots are just shuffling guys around and trying them out like it's a scrimmage and it's, you know, July and you're playing high school football or something. And, you know, I get it. They needed reps. And they wanted to try out this rookie lady Robinson who supposedly looked good. And then you put Owenu at right tackle is not his strongest position. Part of it is they were missing their left tackle, who is now going to be Verderian low.

So I think that'll settle it if they get him back. But, man, I both think Drake May should start, and I both think it's going to be a bit of a fiasco for whichever quarterback is out there. But give me the May chaos versus whatever the Jacoby chaos. Yeah, I just, it's a departure from what the Patriots were before. I mean, the Patriots were a team that would take an offensive lineman, that people would scratch their heads and think, Why did you take that guy? And then they would develop him into a stud. And they're just not that team anymore.

And if you look at the construction of their top five, Vedarian Lowe, CitySalle, like Chukes Okorafor who did not have a good time in Pittsburgh before, like these are guys that are not proven at best. And like the Cole Strange pick in the past, everybody laughed at it, including the Rams. And then I was like, well, trust him. They develop linemen. And that, you know, he was on PUP and everything. But that also hasn't panned out either.

So it's like, is this not a good situation to put a rookie quarterback behind. No, they haven't invested much. they didn't spend anything on the offensive line this office. No. That was a mistake. All right, let's move on. We're going to go through all 32 teams. Most of the teams will be quicker because look, preseason week three, there weren't a lot of big takeaways from the games themselves. So we're going to mix in some game talk, but mostly just little notes. Some teams are going to have much,

but we just wanted to get everyone a little bit of news to start your week, just kind of where these teams are at. I'm going to go to start with the bills. Looks like Ray Davis, Tyron Johnson might be 2A to B at running back. we've talked about their wide receiver group. They might need a quarterback in the next few days. Mitchell Trubisky got hurt in their preseason game. And so they got to feel a little dicey going into week one, maybe looking for a backup for Josh Allen.

Yeah, you know, it's not good when you sign Anthony Brown and immediately toss him into a preseason game. I mean, just days after signing him. That's when you're grasping at straws. I always feel bad for those quarterbacks. That does happen more often than you think Matt Brown is. another one. You just get signed and you just put them right out there. It really shows the second half of these games don't matter much. Dolphins, I think it's under the radar. All top,

all of their top four receivers are hurt right now. Tyree Kill's got a thumb injury. I don't think it's going to be an issue for week one, but he hasn't been practicing. Jaylon Waddle's been out for a little while now. River Craigoff got hurt. OBJ still, every week I mentioned, still hasn't practiced. Like Mike McDaniel is, you know, uncommitted to that. They did decide, though, on a backup quarterback, Schuyler Thompson is that guy. Mike White was cut on Sunday, Shooky. Yeah, they only have two quarterbacks in the death chart now. That speaks of the chargers of about 10 years ago. Is that okay, Greg? Is that enough for this team considering to his injury history? I know he played all the games last year, but a little concerning.

You'll get a third to put on the practice squad. Yeah. You know, in their perfect world, maybe it would be Mike White. Now, he has a big salary. So I don't know. know how that works. I don't even know if he's eligible. The rules are strange these days for practice squad, but they'll have to find a developmental guide to have. But Skyler Thompson outplayed him. Keep an eye on the running backs. I think in the next couple of days, I'm going to be doing a cut down day show with Evan Silva. And they're a team that maybe they could trade one of their running backs. They have so many, maybe a Jeff Wilson, if anyone who wanted to give up. And then one thing I just noticed, just tracking the team, this team just hasn't been on the field.

that much. Like their starters have not been on the field that much on either side of the ball very often. Like their defensive line, offensive line, different players in the secondary, just haven't been on the field. That would make me a little anxious if I was at the offense. I mean a little bit, but they're also speaking super lofty about like their goals of getting to the Super Bowl. Maybe they're just comfortable with what they have. I would feel uncertain about the receiving court because they just are all banged up. And that's a concern going into week one. But again, we know what this offense is. We know what this team is. Defensively, I would like to see a little bit more cohesion with the starters and everything considering you have a new dc and anthony weaver but

you know we'll let it play out yeah well we'll see what happened jets uh had a joint practice this week with the giants i think they got a lot of confidence out of that shook they just kind of beating up on the giants Aaron rogers has had a quiet preseason like just media wise which that's not enough that's good uh change but by all accounts he's dropping bombs he's looking sharp and I was really looking for that in this last five, six weeks. What kind of reports? And he's passed all those tests. Yeah. In fact, I saw somebody write a piece, I can remember who it was about how Robert Saul learned to accept Aaron Rogers for who he is. And so, you know, it's all rainbows and sunshine right now. And as long as he stays healthy, they should be a good team.

And again, this is a team that I don't need to see much from the preseason, just stay healthy, get to the regular season. Yeah, they're counting on Mike Williams and Alan Lazard, really, to be factors here. So that's something to keep an eye on. Tack McKinley might be a nice story here. Love that pick up. Falcons first round pick. Had a nice preseason game.

And I think he's going to make this team by all accounts. Let's go to the NFC North. So the Steelers all but confirm Russ Wilson as their starter, I think, because he barely played in their second preseason game. He went two for two. And they also sent him out to do the coin toss all by himself. this is what is what you get on an NFL. Put that captain's patch on your chest. I mean, they're not going to send him out for the

coin toss by himself. He's got to be the starter, right, Nick? I mean, I would hope so, unless it's one of those teams that just designates a random captain every week, and sometimes it's the long snapper. But no, I think he is. And the thing is, with that game, Justin Fields again, just, you know, there were times where you're like, oh, okay, maybe. But ultimately, the greater picture didn't give me any reason to believe that he would actually challenge him. Yeah, I think he had a chance to win the job by playing better this month. We've talked about the offensive line issues that they've had in terms of

injuries that got in the way. But Fields just didn't take that chance. Cuez Watkins was playing deep into the fourth quarter. That's probably a sign he's not going to be around. Cordoa Patterson, still around. I mean, that's why Russell Wilson only threw two passes. Through one nice deep crosser to Pickens. He had one other throw.

I think it was also to Pickens. And then CPAT goes for 31. Like, he's still a legit player in the NFL. Let's do it. Right up the gut. In classic Arthur Smith, Atlanta Falcons fashion, It looked like it came right out of that team right through the middle, untouched for a touchdown.

I mean, he might be the second best wide receiver on their roster. Yeah, Cordarelle Patterson. I contend this is the worst wide receiver two through six in the NFL. I don't even know if Steelers would disagree. Van Jefferson, Calvin Austin, Roman Wilson, who hasn't been healthy,

whoever else, like forget it. Nick Herbig is a beast, by the way. Oh, he's had such a good preseason. Oh, my God. He's been just a problem cause around the defense. defensive side of the ball. He could be like as good as Alex Highsmith soon and that could already be the best pass rushing trio in the league if urban delivers. Let's go to some big news from the Bengals on Sunday, Jamar Chase practice. So the Holden, I don't know what it accomplished.

We'll find out. There was no one talked on Sunday, but he's out there practicing. This is kind of that week. Remember, I think I made the over under of Trent Williams reporting. I think today, Sunday or Monday, like that is pretty much the time I would expect players to end these holdouts and the hold in is over. So that's good news for the Bengals. Yeah, I would imagine Monday when you start your game prep, you know, even though you're a week ahead of the actual game prep week, you're in the dead week right now, but it's a good week to like get acclimated before you start the work. That makes sense for him. I mean, they've basically already said they're going to handle it. It's just a matter of him showing up and he will before long. So yeah, Eric Roberts tells me,

I said 36 hours was my over-under for after Trent Williams would show up in terms of when their game ended. We are approaching 24 hours, so I need this thing to happen Monday afternoon or else I'm going to be wrong. The bingles also, yeah, they were running Chase Brown with the starters more than Moss, according to Paul Daneer of the athletic. I thought that was interesting. Dax Hill, the converted first round safety, has won the starting cornerback job.

And according to Paul Dainer, that's pretty nice camp for him over DJ Turner. Miles Murphy, their first round pick from a year ago, who really hasn't done anything since he's been drafted, is going to miss a month. Let's go to your Browns, Nick Shook. I thought it was interesting. Andrew Barry said he sounded hopeful Jedrick Wills and Jack Conklin will be available for week one. Both of those guys coming off really serious injuries have not touched the field yet.

And again, we're now less than two weeks away from the first kid. kickoff. Yeah, they've been in a bit of an offensive line crisis this preseason. They had like multiple tackles lost in a game. So I think they learned their vulnerability of the position already. And maybe this is them saying, hey, look, these are guys that we know what they can do. They're coming back from injury. We're just going to give them the entire preseason in camp and everything else to get ready and then just slide. I just get a little nervous when guys don't practice at all. And then suddenly they're just going to play. Like that's not the only guy in this roster that says going to do that. The same thing is true with Dalvin Tomlinson, who has not

practice, but has assured everyone he's going to be ready for week one. How do you just get ready? It wouldn't be me. I don't know. Greg, Greg Newsom is another one, really good cornerback. Nick Chubb is not going to be one. He's expected to be put on the PUP. There's also the in-season IR list where now you can put them on the in-season IR list on the day of cutting down, and it won't count towards like the total amount. You can put two guys on it and you can just carry them into the season so they could do that with him if they wanted as well. And then some buzz that DTR, D.T.R. Dorian Thompson could be dealt. I kind of figured Tyler Huntley would be the odd man out, but they are the one team that has too many quarterbacks. They actually have like, I mean,

DTR and Tyler Huntley would upgrade at least like five backup situations. They would, they would be better. They could be a two in a bunch of places. It's very interesting how they've used them because James rolls out with the, you know, presumed starters, even though it's not the actual starters. And then it's been either Tyler Huntley or DTR, depending on the week. This week, it was DTR first, then Tyler Huntley. But I think that's an audition. And you know what, Greg, we already talked about this team, but I'm just going through my head real quick.

Where would he be a fit? Throw him to Miami. Why not? Throw him on that death chart. They only got two quarterbacks. Throw them over there. Miami could be one for Tyler Huntley. Yeah, I think there's a couple out there that it's the backup quarterback situation.

Takey, I think Baltimore is one of them. Let's go to them. You know, they have Josh Johnson as their backup, which just that's the full plan. I don't know. Owen Wright was going to make the team as a third running back. He broke his foot in the preseason finale, so that's tough. I just look at their roster. They're quite thin at running back behind Justice Hill and Derek Henry and quite thin

at receiver. So they're a team to just watch, see what Eric DeCosta does in the next few days. I think they're not done picking up some veterans. Isn't that annoy you as a Browns fan? They always pick up someone like this week that'll end up making the key play. Oh, they've been doing it for years. They've been doing it for years.

They did it with a clowny a few years ago. They do it every year. They get somebody and added to that group, usually it's on the defensive side. But the downside is Keaton Mitchell being on PUP because he was a guy that really popped last year that I thought that could really fill out that room. And if he's not going to be available, then,

yeah, suddenly you're looking down the list and thinking, oh, all right, we've got to find somebody here. We'll see what happens with them. I am excited. I mean, they are playing a football game in 10 days, if you're listening to this on Monday. That's a beautiful thing. Fortunately, before we take a break, some sad news from the Ravens, rest in peace to their offensive line coach, Joe D. Alessandris. He's been their offensive line coach since 2017. He was with them in training camp, still coaching. He left the team. There's a few weeks ago now with what John Hart, Barbos said it was an acute illness and the news came out that he passed away. So rest in peace to him, just really well-respected guy had been with the team for for eight years, had a long career before that, beloved by his offensive linemen. And yeah, that's tough for the Ravens. And we're just going to take a quick break, rest and peace to Joe Dia Al-Sandras.

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 in 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 is 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 diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level,

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Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Back on NFL Daily, hitting notes for every team. And look, it's the third preseason week. Some notes are better than others. I see on our shared doc. Nick, you wrote the note, could Tim Boyle beat out Case Keenan? How about that?

Yeah. And the reason is, I saw the first Texan preseason game in person. That was in Canton of the Hall of fan game. And Case Keenom did not look good. And every Texan's game I've seen since then, he does not look very good. He looks old. He looks like somebody who kind of can't do it anymore.

Not to say that Tim Boyle is better, but Tim Boyle has looked a little bit better this preseason. And if they're going to trim that room down, if it was me, going off this tape, not a lot of tape, but this tape, I'm taking Tim Boyle over Case Keenum. Hey, that's a hot take. Yeah, sometimes I'm listening to the other team podcasts, like, around the NFL. And they'll be like, a couple of them that have needed quarterbacks be like, we could, couldn't we, just going to get Case Keenham in here and have him be our backup or trade a seventh for case keep because they recognize the name and I'm just thinking like, I mean, he is 36 years old. These guys don't stay the exact same forever.

There's a reason why he's falling down a little bit. But a beautiful career for Case Keenum, if for some reason he didn't make that team, as Chris Wesleyan would often say on the around the NFL podcast, let your free Case Keenum flag fly. Let's go. So this team has two many wide receivers. Who goes? Noah Brown, Robert Woods, John Mechie, Xavier Hutchinson is a good young player. I think one of those guys, maybe the veterans, although Brown isn't 100%, gets like a sixth or seventh round conditional pick or a pick swap, just because there's too many. And I think one of those guys, Noah Brown or Robert Woods could help out a different team.

Yeah, I mean, they have like 11 receivers in the roster. Like, Quintes Cephas is on this roster. And actually, like, made some place. Honestly, Metschies look good in the preseason. Hutchinson, I think it's looked pretty good. Like, most teams, like I said, like those two guys would be wide receiver two and three on the Steelers. I think that if I had to trim him down, Ben's Coronics gone. Stephen Sims can go back to Pittsburgh.

Okay, I get it. I get there's some at the very end that aren't great. Kim Acres looked really good. He's going to make the team. Yeah. So shout out to him after those injuries. Let's go to the Colts. I don't have a ton on the Colts because we talked about them on Thursday night.

I did talk going into the precinct who's going to play cornerback for this team. It looks like it's going to be Juju Brent and Jalen Jones as the outside cornerbacks. On Sunday, they had a relative surprise early cut. Ronnie Harrison, who's played a lot of football. I believe he was with the Browns. And writers with the Colts were pretty surprised about that because he's gotten a lot of snaps. But otherwise, don't have a lot to see on. Yeah, they've taken an interesting strategy at safety.

like Nick Cross came out of nowhere to be the free safety last year. So seeing Ronnie Harrison go. I mean, Ronnie's bounced around since he's been with the Browns. So not super surprising to me in the grand scheme of things, but with this team, it is a surprise. Yeah, and they got relatively good news that their back of running back, Trace Sermon could be back for week one. I'm really interested in watching this team that Colts Texans game

is in my number one position for week one. But we'll get to that in our preview show in just a week and a half. Jags. Okay, so they did the thing that the Patriots did on Sunday night, but looked better doing it. And I love this when this happens, starters versus backups or starters versus third string. There's just something cool about that. It's like, hey, let's just see what happens. You're supposed to look great.

And they did. Trevor had some absolute dimes to Evan Ingram in the end zone. Ryan Thomas Jr. had another big play. Trayvon Walker is just like lighting up the Falcons backups like he's back in college. But it was kind of fun. I like seeing when the starters come out and look like starters. Like the Patriot starters, I mean, they got a lead, but it wasn't nearly as convincing. No, it's fun to see like the superiority of a starting NFL player versus like a bottom of the roster in camp NFL player because like the difference is just pretty significant.

But I'm also like, let's not do this to an extreme degree because then fans are going to be like, look how good they were in week three of the preseason. We're winning the Super Bowl. Although in fairness, yeah, you're absolutely right. The couple throws Trevor had were just into small windows and it was like, those are pretty throws. John Shipley, if you didn't listen on Friday, got me more excited about this Jaguars team, including a little hype on their rookie kicker. This rookie kicker, Cam Little, that they drafted, has just been piping field goals. And he did it in the preseason game too. Let's go to the Titans who played on Sunday. Will Levis. They had the thing going to starters versus the Saints backups

and their first teamers rolled. I felt like most of their offense was screen passes to Pollard and Spears, and they just kept working over and over. So it was relatively light work for Levis, but he was efficient, got them into the end zone. Mason Rudolph has definitely won that second quarterback job. I kind of think Malik Willis might be done in Tennessee. Yeah, he just has not looked good.

I know he has two touchdowns to his name in this game, but he has not looked comfortable or like he's taken any steps forward since he ended the league. And when it comes down to cut down day and you've got to make room on the roster, sometimes guys like that end up on the chopping block. Okay. And I've been mentioning to you guys,

we're putting all these shows up on YouTube. We're working on improving that experience too. And I want you to be able to watch the all 22 of my guy, Thomas Odecoia, from the Netherlands, part of the international player pathway program with one of the greatest hustle plays I've ever seen in NFL history.

I don't care that it happened into the preseason. Let's take a look. He's going to be circled in the video that you see, but also talk over it because I know some of you aren't watching. So this was a field goal that came up short, late in the first half. And yeah, if you're watching, Odecoa is circled, a tight end, Samson Nakua, Puka's brother catches it, weaves his way about 170 yards back and forth down the field. And Odaquia somehow runs him down.

He ran over the field. It was the very last play of the first half. So he saved seven points. I mean, that's just getting it done at least. I know they don't need to use a roster spot if they put them on the practice squad. But come on, just put him on the active roster just for that. Nicholas Petit Ferrer, his teammate, a starting tackle in this team.

Watch his body language in this video because this tells you everything you need to know about football players who appreciate the hustle and effort of their teammates. He was fired up. They just returned this all the way down to the two-yard line, He's so fired up that his teammate kept him from a touchdown. Gives him a big hug, slaps him on the helmet. That is the camaraderie that you don't get in any other sport. Now, that said, I was disappointed because Walker, my son, was watching this thing live,

and he starts screaming. I'm in the other room putting together these notes and everything. He just starts screaming because that would have been the play of the preseason easily. Puka Nukua's brother, you know, traveling on the final play on a kick six, and he was robbed by a great effort. All right, let's go to the AFC West. Broncos, they didn't even play Bo Nix in this game after naming him the starting quarterback. Zach Wilson had a very Zach Wilson game where he was protected.

It was like he was back at college. And so he had some big numbers. Jared Stidham spoke afterwards that he was pretty upset that he knows he's a starting quarterback in this league. Sean Payton said that he's keeping all three quarterbacks, but not always the most reliable narrator. It wouldn't shock me if Stidham was dealt for like a late round picks. swap or something either.

Talked his way out of Denver because he was upset that he didn't have a job. No, I don't think because of what he said, just because, you know, do they want to keep all three? Maybe they do. That's what Sean Payton said that they'll keep all three. I have to caution just a little bit here. And you already said it, but I'm just going to double down. The whole Zach Wilson, when he's protected, he looks like he's back in college.

I got a text from an esteemed Broncos fan that you and I know that said that they have to keep him on the roster. They have to find a way to keep him. Let's just be a little careful because we know the good and bad of Zach Wilson. They're going to keep them because, as Jordan Roderig said on the show that we do, Sean Payton wants to show like, I can fix him. He's the hot guy that I can fix. And so he's going to try to do it.

Probably has a backup. You know who fixed a tough situation? Justin Herbert, what a weird story that popped up with the Chargers that Justin Herbert, Dan Founce's wife, Dan Fouts' son, and some other Chargers players that Dan Fouts did. did not reveal, but he did reveal the rest of this story on the Chargers preseason broadcast. We're all trapped in an elevator together in Dallas. The fire department had to come and get them out through the top and, like, go over to another elevator.

Sounds pretty crazy. But according to Dan Fowles, Justin Herbert showed great leadership in that elevator. It was very calm, cool, and collected and kind of took charge. I love that. And, oh, by the way, he's fully recovered and looking good at practice, that matter. Yeah, he's good at practice because he's obviously not playing the preseason. But wow, you know what? That is what you look for in a franchise quarterback.

It's not the plays in the field. It's whether you're trapped in an elevator and he can lead everyone to safety with the assistance of the fire department. Good job. Good on you. Okay, so here are some of the team that could go get one of these quarterbacks that we're talking about that could be available from Cleveland. Easton Stick through he completed 45% of his passes this preseason. so yeah not good not look any better in in the third week against you know the backup to the backups against dallas uh the raiders tyreek mccalister if the samson nakua play wasn't the

highlight of the weekend it was tyreek mccalister going ham on a couple long touch i never heard a tyreek mcalster before kind of a receiver return man but he's on my roster now he had a couple nice plays for the rave yeah yeah and that's how you're in a job sometimes back in the day victor cruz did the same thing with the giants but i do want to go back to the charges real quick because Greg, a name that everybody knows, but everybody thought it was done for a year ago because he was a scouting intern with the Ravens. Tony Jefferson is back on the football field

and he had the best game I've ever seen from a player in the preseason. 14 tackles, forced fumble, two interceptions and a sack against the Cowboys. Not single-handedly changed the game, but prove to me that in a game in which you're playing against a bunch of backups or alongside a bunch of backups, you can still hack it. I think he earned himself a roster spot with this game.

Yeah, he's got to be in his 30s there. some great. I think he's 32 years with the Cardinals, had some moments with the Ravens, and yeah, now he's back. He could have made that team. One thing I noticed with the Raiders, they're counting on, a couple offensive linemen, kind of like the Browns that are coming off an injury. Colton Miller just got off pop, but they do think he'll be ready for week one.

Jackson powers Johnson. Their rookie may not start this season because he's coming off of an injury, but he is back on the practice field. Finally, in the AFC, the Chiefs, I just feel like it's. It's every week right now that we're talking about. Their fullback, Carson Steele, the latest projection at the athletic for their roster had them only keeping two running backs. And then Carson Steele kind of being the third running back as a fullback.

I feel like they could use a veteran there. They could maybe use a veteran at cornerback two where Andy Reid publicly said no one really stepped up in that CB2 spot and it might just be a little bit of a rotation, which isn't the end of the world. These guys have some experience. but I think they were hoping for a different outcome. They also draft ahead of time to plan for these situations. So we've seen this before.

They let talent leave and then they kind of have to committee it until one guy emerges. So I'm not surprised. But, Greg, you are telling me, though, that the guy that I spent hours of my life writing about, LRZ himself, Lewis Rees-Zamett, is not going to make the team? From what I've read,

I don't think he's been that close throughout to making the team, but he'll definitely be on the practice. They made an investment to him. He's just playing football for the first time in his life. And this might be a multi-year project. And I think they're all in on going for it. I don't think he's going to get picked up by another team or something. So he's still with the right organization, but I don't think he was quite ready. And they gave him chances as a returner on offense, but it didn't happen for him. Look, it's hard to make the Chiefs roster. Cadarius Tony helped win them

a Super Bowl and as a former first-round pick, I don't think he's making their roster either. All right, let's go to the NFC. Let's start with the Eagles. Big news out of Philly. I think it was the last day of camp. It might have been the second to last day at camp. Nick, Jalen Hertz has finally thrown an interception. He made it that far into training camp without throwing an interception.

Pretty remarkable because the reporters there have said, like, he's thrown deep plenty. It's not that he's been like totally unaggressive. just been rock solid and keeping the ball out of harm's way. I like that. Maybe it's the first sign that this team's going to figure out what they couldn't figure out last year and actually get back on track. I mean, it's just camp. It's just practice, but that's where you look for the initial signs of how things might go. I've been to camps where things have been pretty disheveled and then watched that team struggle. That was the 2019 Brown. So it's better that they're on the positive side. Yeah. And our guy, Bull Wolf, who was on the show earlier and his

PHLY podcast for the Eagles, he said the defense actually picked it up. up there. The last week and a half gave a lot of trouble to Jalen Hertz, but he was still playing well. That was more about the offensive line. And now they have a new wide receiver, of course, in Jahan Dotson. The most notable thing in their preseason game, Cooper Dejean out there playing a lot, blitz in a ton, could work his way into having a role early for the Eagles. So nice that he did kind of get off the mat here. Maybe they'll work them in slowly, but they almost have too many cornerbacks, which considering where they were last year is a great problem to have. Not not as great, I think, at edge, where Nolan Smith was out there deep into the game in

preseason week three. That's a first round pick for Howie. One of those that people like me are like, he did it again, Howie, but those Georgia defenders haven't really come through in general. Jalen Carter, that's an exception. But the rest of them, not just for the Eagles, I just mean around the league, haven't really totally come down. I think you'll see a step forward from Jordan Davis too. But I would agree in that. It's also funny because we're obviously not talking about them yet, but they'll be up soon. It's like the, it's a very great comparison between two teams that are either too deep at corner or not deep enough. The Eagles and the Cowboys, Division rivals.

Well, let's go. The Cowboys, they lose DeRondland, right, to a foot injury. And Jerry Jones goes on record as saying, we feel great about where we are at corner. We're fine. And I'm thinking, are you sure? Because, like, you're not Eagles fine when it comes to cornerback. I'm a little concerned about that. I know I've talked about Andrew Booth, and he had another.

nice preseason game to wrap it up. But if you're relying on guys that. No, he did not. No, he did not, Chucky. He got torched on like a 78-yarder. I don't know what he did the rest of the game, frankly, and I wasn't paying close attention, but he gave up that bomb. That was the one explosive play that Easton Stick had in the game where the charges were like, we're opening up and throwing it deep. Yeah, there's a lot to keep track of. So they like this kid, Kaelin Carson. He was a third round pick. And this is why I'm glad sometimes you're reading these reports. I'm listening to Jane Slater.

They really liked him first week, second week, third week at training camp, just saying like they really think they have something here. They've started some young cornerbacks and done well with it. Anthony Brown was like a sixth rounder who started out of North. He's the guy. Booth will be depth. I think that's why Jerry Jones said that. Then again, Jerry Jones kind of like Sean Payton,

not always the most reliable narrator of his own team, like if they picked up a cornerback. But good call getting that bland news out there. I mean, that's huge. A pro bowler getting foot surgery. I think it's been a rough camp for the Cowboys in general, just everything going on. Here's one sign that it was rough, not just that Tray lands through five interceptions in that game. They've added three defensive linemen in the last week or two that will make their team, I think.

Yeah. Linval-Joseph, Jordan Phillips, they traded for. And then Carl Lawson, I guess I don't know if he's going to make their team, but I would guess it's just kind of like a sign that like things aren't going as planned when you're signing three guys who are going to have roles for you in mid to late August, you know? Well, I mean, we know that they had a quiet off season and they let some talent leave and they didn't really replace it. And it's almost as if they're like, well, let's see what we have. And then if we don't like what we have, we'll just go get some veterans at the last minute. Because that's exactly what Linvald Joseph was. That's what he was for the Eagles last year.

It's the same thing. It's just like, hey, we need some depth. We lost some guys. we need some help. Let's go sign this guy. Now, in fairness, like, that can work. I just pointed out how the Ravens make it work. So I'll give the Cowboys the Benefit Doubt. They have been excellent at drafting and spotting cornerbacks and offensive linemen.

But in this case, it's Kaylin Carson at cornerback that, yeah, he's going to play a big role. We'll be watching them week one with Tom Brady as the announcer against the Browns. Like, I think this kid is starting. Another player that should be starting, Giants, their center, John Michael Schmitz. got hurt in their final preseason game, the offensive line for the Giants has not played together one single time in training camp or the preseason. That seems bad. And Evan Neal, who was their top 10 pick, who I do not think would make this team necessarily if he wasn't a top 10 pick was playing a bunch in this game and then got hurt. Again, he's a backup now, but it's just,

it's just kind of a bummer. And I've been hoping this offensive line can just produce decent offense. I think it is going to be better, but they haven't been totally healthy. Yeah. To quote Pete Campbell from the great series, Mad Men. Not great, Bob. Not great with this team right now in the offensive line. Look, anytime, and this is no shout at him directly or intentionally, but anytime Jermaine Illuminaur is your starting right tackle and your first round pick can't beat him out, that's a concerning sign.

Oh, I will take offense here. First of all, another great International Pathway Program story. You may think I'm just a fan of the IPP players. I am. It's cool. Like our friend Henry Hotson runs this program. I shouldn't say he runs this program, but he assists in this program, and they're finding these guys from all over the,

he's had a good career. He was a very useful player for the Patriots, and he was playing his best football of his career last year for the Raiders. That's an upgrade. He's like a starter. He's a big time. He's a starter. He's a starter that I don't feel great about,

at least in the time that I've paid attention to him playing. That's what I have to say. He's a starter that's an upgrade for the Giants, and it's probably better than the average start. It's a low bar. a long time. How dare you? You're in some life-changing money,

be happy for them. Names you may know that probably aren't making the Giants. Alan Robinson is on the Giants, but I don't think for long. And Isaiah Hodgins, who was like their wide receiver too a couple years ago.

Yeah. I don't think. So I think the team is deeper, at least that wide receiver. But that did not help them necessarily in the joint practice against the Jets. It was a lot of thinking and dunking.

not a lot of big plays from Daniel Jones. Here was Soss Garner after that joint practice asked about Daniel Jones. What was your opinion or takeaway on Daniel Jones? He's a good quarterback. You feel me? I thought I was about to pick him off today. I had a little Clow rep. He had looked at the last minute to try to throw the check down to Juan Dale.

You know, I thought I had to pick, but he kept it. Me. Man. The competitive periods, it was very competitive, man. It was great. Like, I had fun out there today. You know, I don't really know what to say. It's, it really, you got to see the facial expression

him look off to the PR guy at the end. Get me out of here. You can just hear whatever he was going to say going through his head. And then he sort of laughs and he's like, oh, I shouldn't say that, but I should say something. And I love Soss Gardner because he keeps it real, but he has learned a thing or two. I think actually two years ago, that might have gone differently. Yeah, he probably would have buried Daniel Jones. It has not been a fun preseason for him, a fun camp for him.

And he's coming off of injury. and I try to give him a ton of grace, but he's also got a lot of pressure because of the contract and it just doesn't look good right now. So for Sauce, a guy who would capitalize on Daniel Jones struggles, what is he going to say? He looked great. He really challenged me.

No, it was competitive. It was a good way. Good job, Sauce. Finally, the commanders, the team that in front of me is cementing, and this could end up looking bad, a victory over the Patriots, you know, stopped Joe Milton on a key fourth down. The preseason is nearly over as we're taping this.

Exciting. What's happening in commanders? You want to know how bad an owner Dan Snyder is that even like the thing that he did to try to curry favor and to try to do the right thing for once, which was honor Sean Taylor. He, Dan Snyder, did such a bad job at that. That the statue, if you want to call it a statue of Sean Taylor that he made, the remembrance that they had of him that they put up feels so subpar that the new ownership run by Josh Harris, Josh Harris, is actually replacing that statue.

I've never heard of such a thing. They're replacing the Sean Taylor statue that went up only two years ago. And it's got to be one of the most popular things Josh Harris has ever done in his life coming in, I guess, a distant second to just buying this team and taking it away from Dan Snyder, which made not only the commanders fans happy, but like anyone involved with the NFL happy. Yeah, I think the bar was so low that anybody with, you know, just a grip on reality is going to come in and go, all right, I'll do this, I'll fix this, I'll fix the Sean Taylor statue. I'll be the most love guy in town. Worst, second worst statue I think I've seen

made outside of, what is it, the Ronaldo statue. That one was just horrible. It was just like a bust. I don't think it was a full statue. The Sean Taylor one was also very bad. I pointed out, I don't like that the Peyton Manning statue says the sheriff on it outside Lucas Oilfield. I was like, no one called him the sheriff until John Gruden called them the sheriff and had Monday Night Football make graphics about it like 10, 12 years into his career. And no one called them that that much nationally after that. And you're going to make that the statue? That's a product of our social media age, Greg. We're way off topic.

Commanders, look, they didn't play anyone in this. game. I think people thought when they traded Jahan Dotson, oh, they got this third round pick, Luke McCaffrey. He'd be the third receiver, but the reports there are, he has not really been in the mix, was a little injured, hasn't made much of a big impact. So they could be looking for different wide receivers, but it's Diami Brown and a load of, how do you say it? Zakias. Alameda Zakeas. Yeah. Alameda Zakias. There you go. There you go. I like the presence of Jaden Daniels on the sideline, just doing the interview with Melissa Stark. I was just like, I'm going to enjoy this guy's presence for the next 15 years.

I hopefully, yeah, I hope his career goes that long because he's off to a hot start and he's just a fun guy to watch and I can't wait to see him grow into that role with the team. I mean, it seems like he's already pretty built for it after coming off of a Heisman trophy winning season. But obviously the NFL is the next level up. So let's make these games count and really start to test him because I'm excited to see what he can do. Yeah, commanders, their first game, I think it's against the Bucks. They're one of the teams I want to see the most in week one just because, I just want to see what this all looks like.

I really have no idea. On both sides of the ball, it'll be interesting. All right, we're going to take one more break, and we will wrap up notes on all 32 teams with the last three divisions. Done with the preseason. Yes. What's up, everybody?

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That would have been more fun to talk about, but we don't. Football gods, they took it from us. Yeah, we do have a wide receiver injury to talk about. That's not excited. Purple Daily is a podcast I listened to. Judge Zulgad does a great job on that. He said something, which surprised me, which is that it was unclear if Jordan Addison would be ready for week one.

He's been out here for a little bit, and they're going to be careful with him coming back. We'll see. A lot of these injuries, they don't have to put a report. You don't really know, but it's just something to keep an eye. I think they're deeper at receiver than people realize. I think Jalen Naylor is going to be a decent player. Tristan Jackson's had a great camp. But that ties into another thing he said just kind of summarizing all of camp that he saw so far

and even these last, you know, a couple weeks without JJ McCarthy there, that Darnold in practice has just been very unpredictable, like a. roller coaster. Like, it depends on the day. Sometimes it can look really great. Sometimes, especially when there's pressure in his face, you're just not sure the decision-making process. And that's his career. So it's like, I don't think you can expect that to change. Yeah, I was going to say, color me surprised, because I'm not. I mean, it's Sam's career in a nutshell. So that's kind of a bummer. But that's what they got. So here we go. But I think the good could be really good. And I think the team around him being really good could be enough in a in a different sort

of Jacoby Brissette in Cleveland sort of way. Maybe he's not even at that level, but that if the team around him is even better, that it can lift him up. I think that's possible. Keep an eye on them possibly making a couple trades here. Lewis Seen was a high draft pick. They, you know, they just traded Andrew Booth. Seen is another guy, a first round pick from that same draft. It was Cressie's first draft. He could be done there. Caleb Evans might be a guy who's played for them that that could get traded. There's a couple names there. The Lions, Nick, you were thrilled to watch Jake Bates go through the motions on a kick

for the first time. Yeah, so we've talked at length about how his UFL career has propelled him to the NFL and he's hitting bombs. He had a field goal attempt in this game where you could tell he was like, yeah, you know, this is routine, I'm going to hit it. And he just didn't strike it well. And it just went wide right. And he immediately just went up to his teammates.

He's like, yeah, I screwed that one up. I'm sorry, guys. I was just like, oh, he is human. All right. I don't want to hear that because I mean, I've got a lot of stock in on Jake Bates. We don't even know for sure if they don't pick. I mean, they could still pick up another veteran kicker. I don't think so.

I think it's going to be Jake Bates. I do think they're going to pick up a wide receiver. Right now, Colton Pouncey on the Athletic wrote, wide receiver four for them might be Isaiah Williams, who is an undrafted rookie free agent. So just rather thin there, even at the wide receiver three position, it's not great. Let's go to the Bears. The Bears traded a couple sixth round picks.

One was a pick swap. One was a straight six. The straight six goes to the Seahawks for edge Darrell Taylor, and the Browns send them defensive tackle Chris Williams. Any thoughts on just them being so active here trading sixth round picks before the start of the season. I think they're trying to bolster the back end, at least of the defensive tackle group by going to a team that has this super deep at defensive tackle and needed to move a player. The Daryl Taylor thing, I think I liked more just because I think he'll be in a better position

to make an impact. But it's, again, it's a rotational depth. And I think that's what Eberflus is going to want to do with this defense. So why not stock it up with some players that they liked? Yeah, it just tells me, like, how big this year is. I know it's not that aggressive. They're six-round picks or even just a pick swap, but hard knocks. You do kind of think about that this is Ebro-Fleuze's third year here in polls. Like, they need Ryan Poles, their GM. They need some proof of concept. And so these are the types of moves I think you make in a year three that like we're

ready to win now. Like we don't feel comfortable with the depth they had. And yeah, Chris Williams was a guy. I believe they had some familiarity with from a previous stop. Iber Fluse did in Indianapolis. so he knows the player. Green Bay is looking for a backup quarterback. That's another team that could look for one of these veterans that are out there.

As much as I love me some Michael Pratt, I don't know if they could feel that comfortable with him or Sean Clifford week one. They kind of need a veteran. Yeah, and I think if they choose between the two, it's Clifford. And bummer for us, you know, Pratt fans and everything. But I think they choose Clifford and they'll probably be in the market. It just, you can't go into a season with high expectations without some sort of like semi-reliable backup. And I don't think either of those guys is right now.

Well, I mean, look, they did it the whole seat. They did it last year with Clifford. So I guess they could do it again. It's possible, but he really struggled. Maybe they only carry one quarterback, I think, is possible. And to see if both those guys slip through waivers. They also don't have a kicker. It's Anders Carlson versus Greg Joseph and everyone's been losing apparently.

And Marshaun Lloyd and A.J. Dillan, their backup runbacks have both been out. for at least a week, two weeks in Marsha and Lloyd's case, so they might need some help in terms of just some running back depth if they don't get back. Let's talk something encouraging. Let's move to the NFC South about Bryce Young. Did you get a chance, Nick, to see any Bryce Young highlights because Bryce Young played a football game this week,

and he looked pretty good at it. I see what you wrote in the notes. You described it. Stick play, rolling left improv to Deontay Johnson. Hey, man, look, this is why he got driving. where he did. I mean, he's a playmaker. He's a shorter guy, but he's a playmaker. And you get him out of the pocket, that's probably where he's going to thrive. They were so lost last year that any sort of improvement is going to make me excited about them, not from a team perspective,

but just I want to see Bryce make some strides, because you don't want to see the number one overall pick wasted, especially when it was a pick that they acquired by trading a pick that ended up being Caleb Williams. Like, that could be massive egg on their face if this doesn't work out. So, all right, Bryce, let's figure it out. Let's do some things like this. I want to see highlights. Yeah, so he only played one drive. It was a touchdown drive. he was very clean on it. It was against the bill's backup. So it's another one of those situations.

But again, rolling left, improvising, showing a little bit of creativity and arm strength, actually getting it to Deontay Johnson. Chuba Hubbard started in that game. And the thing that really got me is I'm watching this drive and I'm like, wait, Jordan Matthews just caught a pass? Wait, Jordan Matthews just got another pass and it's a touchdown? Like that Jordan Matthews?

And yes, Jordan Matthews is converted to tight end. and he caught some passes for the pan. He was playing first string because they've got so many injuries there. They had two tight ends out there. Okay, I like it. They have two converted tight ends on that team, Greg. They also have Felipe Franks on that roster.

Okay. No, it's the home of converted tight ends. I don't think he's making it. This team is thin in a few places, insanely thin an edge after Jeddevi and Clowny. It's crazy. I think their defense could be a bit of a mess. Terrace Marshall is getting shopped per Joseph person of the athletic.

So that's a wide receiver that could be available. He actually made some, they did the thing where they tried to showcase him in the preseason and it kind of worked because he had a bunch of plays in the preseason. So I bet someone will give up something for a second round pick from a few years ago. But not much. Whenever you're trading these guys, it's kind of like cutting them. You're going to get a day three pick at best. For the bucks, let's go to.

Tampa. Gailin McMillan had a crazy highlight from Baker Mayfield. That was just awesome. He looks like the wide receiver three for this team over Trey Palmer. That's kind of crazy because they were pretty high on Trey Palmer last year. If anything, I like the depth of this group. I don't know how it's going to play out without Dave Canals calling the plays. We'll see.

But I mean, Godwin, McMillan, Evans, Palmer, Sterling Shepherds on this roster. I kind of like this group. And if you get that type of production from a rookie, good on you. yeah i don't know if it's um the contrarian in me you know dan dan danansis of course uh my friend uh always would call me a contrarian and i'd push back against that you're in a tough spot because if you're saying you're not a contrarian you're a contrarian and i think like the the part of me that's looking for stories people aren't talking about let's put it that way with the bucks is like i've gotten excited about this this buck's team i think they could be kind of frisky i'm into that

week one game against the commander, just because I'm like, what are these teams going to look like? Everyone's a mystery going into week one. That especially includes the Falcons who didn't play any other starters at all in the preseason. So not a lot to talk about there. Kevin King, we talked about a nice story after being away from football for a couple years. It looks like he's really going to make this team. Ray Ray MacLeod is probably their third wired receiver. And I didn't, I didn't realize he had solidified that, but that seems to be the case. And Taylor Heineke, another quarterback that could be traded, I would think he'd be high on the list of these quarterbacks for teams that are looking for just someone to step in. Like, Taylor Heineke and a Matlafleur offense? Sure,

why not? Like, let's put him in Green Bay. I don't know, man. He's a little too wild, I think, for a Matleflore offense. Might drive Madden's sane on the sidelines, but he will, he'll get a look somewhere because of his experience, not because of the way he's played this preseason. Chargers, he was a little better after that first game, Heineke. But we've seen it, we've seen him play a lot at the NFL level. Like, we know who he is. He can be a backup, at least better than some of these backups out there.

The Saints played on Sunday. There was a report, I believe from s.i.com, John Hendricks, I hope I'm getting that right, that they're looking for tackles. Not a surprise. They should have been looking for them all off season.

In related news, Trevor Penning struggled on Sunday. His coach said that he's slightly ahead in a competition for the starting job. Police Fouan. was playing in this game. I don't know what you want to say about the Saints. Tell me something.

I don't really have a lot to say. That's very positive because of what you just described. I mean, you got Eric McCoy at Center. You got Caesar Ruiz, a guard, and then Patrick Lucas, you know, came over from Chicago. I don't know, man. If the offensive line, look, you know me. Football purist, traditionalist.

It starts in the trenches. And if you're worried about tackles in week three of the preseason, you're headed toward an ugly year. at least somewhat ugly. So I don't know if there's not going to be a magic bullet that's just going to fix this. Trevor Penning has struggled since he entered the league. That's disconcerting for me because I was really hoping that this would be the year that he would actually start to figure it out because they need him.

And if he's not doing well, it just doesn't bode well for what your offense is going to look like, especially an offense that loved to just lean on Alvin Camarron until he was no longer available last year. Either that or Derek Carr just throwing down the sideline to A.T. Perry all game. Right. And A.T. Perry had a ton of drops. I don't think A.T. Perry actually is in the top. four receivers for this team based on him playing late into this game.

Sedgek Wilson is the three there. They're thin. Rashidjaheed hasn't been that healthy and on the field. I do have some fun stuff for them. One, Juan Johnson was back. He had a really, he had a serious injury, he had a surgery that he was coming back from, and he's healthy enough to play now,

so that's a good sign for him. Number two, don't cut Charlie Smith Saints. And if you don't know who Charlie Smith is, he's another IPP guy. He's from Ireland. He had never kicked a freaking football in his life until, I believe, a couple of years ago. Maybe it was only a year ago. It's insane.

And there's video of him hitting a 65-yarder at practice. You better not cut him because some other team might actually pick up Charlie Smith. And you don't want to lose him. He's going to be a folk hero in Ireland. I love it. He won't be as big a folk hero, though, as Spencer freaking Rattler, who came in. Here we go. And he was pushing the agenda on Sunday.

Let's watch one of his dimes. for the Saints ending in a touchdown. I love a good slot fade that's put on target. It gets me going. I mean, there was no window there. He came in. He sparked this offense. He played the second and fourth quarters of this game.

Jay Canter played the first and third, and Rattler just looked better. And you did it, Dennis Allen. You let Rattler have some moments in front of the home crowd. That was enough. That was enough for me for him to be the backup. And if he's not the backup, it doesn't even matter. He's the guy that fans are going to be calling for if things go south.

Because he is not a normal fifth round pick. He is talented. And I know he had a bad second week of the preseason, but he had a great third week. That's what we're focused on. We've got the agenda to keep in mind. I like this kid. I mean, I don't need to see him start that many games, but maybe by like week 15, if they're not in the playoff picture, week 16.

Oh, God. Something like that. I'm envisioning that scenario. it means for the Future of the Saints, which is like a coaching change in the end of the Derek Carr era. And oh, God, he's a talented young player. So it was nice to see it because there was a couple really good plays in there and in this preseason. All right, let's wrap up with the AFC, or rather the NFC West. A couple just tough items for the Cardinals. Zay Jones suspended five games for violating the personal conduct policy. And then Darius Robinson, their first

round pick, who was playing a position that was already thin, already a little injured. on the edge for the Cardinals could be hitting IR to start the year after suffering an injury. Desmond Ritter also suffered a concussion in their preseason game. I don't know if he's going to even make the team. That injury, unfortunately, is lesser than two other guys who are going to play big roles for them. Yeah, so this is a team that like, because they didn't have Colorado last year, I'm just already thinking like, well, they should be better this year. You're two of Jonathan Gannon, but not a couple of good news items for them going into the dead

week before the regular season starts. Luckily, it's a 53-man roster. You'll find ways to try to replace some of those things, but it's not good. It's a bit of a bummer. Yeah, Robinson, kind of a tweener, but should have been a good run-stopper at the very least. And they're just missing talent. And then they've lost a couple big players, BJ O'Jolari and then Darius Robinson. So that's the thing. You never know which teams are going to get the injury bug, but sometimes it's the really bad teams. It just like makes the bad teams worse, which is, which is a bummer if you're the Cardinals. The most surprising news I think I saw on Sunday was about the Rams and Ernest Jones. I want to use the wording of our colleague, Jordan Rodrigue, who had this from a source,

the Ernest Jones situation, when it first came out. She wrote, they've let their starting not inside linebacker and team captain Ernest Jones know they are open to trading him per source. Jones has started since his rookie year, but now enters his fourth season without a contract extension. So I saw it, you know, said in one place is that like Ernest Jones can seek a trade. That almost makes it sound like Ernest Jones asked to seek a trade. And Jordan and she followed up later in the day that there's a difference between, you know, a team making it known they're open to the possibility of trading him or the player or camp asking. Ernest Jones came out after. It's like, I didn't ask to seek a trade. And so I don't

know anything about what's going on here. I didn't ask Jordan, like specifically if she knew anything. That got to tell me if it's confidential anyways. But you only do this if you're about to bench the guy. Yeah. Which is surprising because he's a team captain. played a big role for them, but they must love this kid Omar Spates. I didn't know who Omar Spates was until a week ago, but Lesneed talked him up as he's definitely making the team. And the only thing that makes any sense is

they're trying to trade him because they don't want to bench their team captain. Because if you're not benching him, why would you go through all this and annoy everyone? I'm sure that some members of the team are going to be annoyed by this. I think it would be a combination of spates rising and proving that, hey, maybe I'm the better option, and also a change of defensive coordinator. You know, Rahim Mors is not there anymore. And sometimes some guys are just not their guys.

They were the previous coordinator's guys. And that just might be what it is. It just doesn't fit as well. We don't know. Right now we don't know. But it's probably a combination of the two. And I think you're right with we're going to trade them because we don't want to bench our team captain. Right.

And Shula's been there, but you're right. It is different. He's in charge. And he was just a position. before and he wasn't, you know, Ernest Jones position coach. So a lot of weird stuff with the Rams. I don't think they're entering the season the way they would want to with Nakua missing so much time. Alarick Jackson, their starting left tackle has been suspended two games. That came out since we last talked. They have a lot of injury concerns. Their right tackle,

Rob Havenstein, their left guard, Jonah Jackson. So that's three-fifths potentially of your offensive line that could be missing week one. And the Alarck Jackson, news. Like, I don't know if they knew that was coming, but he's going to be a free agent, too. So they've just kind of had a lot. That was a personal conduct vote, uh, conduct, uh, violation by Alarick Jackson. Yeah, we had a, uh, a number of suspensions on Friday. One, including the rare time serves. So you're suspended, but you already served it because you were on the exempt list last year. But as it pertains to this one specifically, and you add in the whole, uh, Matt Stafford, like we were concerned about his health as of like a week ago, like not moving with the most

momentum into the regular season. At least he at least he looked better at practice. He seems to be okay. All right, final two teams here. 49ers. Just want to note Ricky Pearsall, where is he? He showed up for four or five practices, then left. Like right now, if you're going to play a game, Jacob Cowing has got to be ahead of Pierceall in the mix. A lot of Jacob Cowing hype. A lot of buzz. Rookie under undrafted free agent and keep making plays of practice in the preseason. Who knows? But, yeah, Pierceall hasn't stepped up. I was watching their preseason game a little bit, and the hops George Kittle showed on a catch over the middle

because they played their starters. Purdy was out there. I mean, that looked awesome. I remember the George Kittle from two years ago when he kind of looked broken. He was playing hurt for two straight seasons, and then he looked better last year, and he looks even better now.

So that's just something to watch. He lost like 30 pounds this off season because of the injury. He was a core muscle injury or whatever it was, and he lost a ton of weight. Maybe he just feels more lighter on his feet. Well, I think he added most of it back or all of it back because he wanted to be able to block and everything.

But yeah, he seems healthy. And in that game, Leonard Floyd and Yatur Gros Matos left with injuries, it's unclear how serious they are, but they're both key players at a pretty thin position. They have a third round rookie Dominic Poonie who's going to start at guard

and the people, the tape heads, like Brandon Thorne out there who are watching. He looks good. He looks good. I don't know. know if you saw that cut up that I think Thorne put out, where he essentially gets beat off the first initial step and then is able to reset and swivel and re-engage. He basically lost, his defensive line I want to get the offensive line of his hands off. We're not going to get too deep in the weeds here,

but he gets his hands knocked off and is able to reset at an angle, re-engage, and completely shield the guy off to where the quarterback never even had to worry about him. Usually that's a blowby, and that's a sack or a pressure. Not with him, though. He looks good. That's awesome. And they could use an upgrade in talent in terms of their offensive line. They get by, but they actually might have two new starting guards this year. Brandon Allen and Joshua Dobbs, it's the battle for the backup quarterback. It's actually unclear who's going to win it. I think they're going to keep both.

They've been burned before by not having a bunch of quarterbacks, but it's not clear that Josh Dobbs is the backup over Allen. They both have had moments. Hufunga might start the season Tala Noah Hufunga on the PUP list and he has not practiced yet so that's just something to watch with the 49ers

and then finally the Seahawks they had an injury in their final preseason game Gino Smith played one drive and had like three incredible dimes on the drive to Daxon Smith and Jigba and D.K. Metcalfe so all the hype that he got in the training camp was seen by myself

in this offense. That was exciting. And they also traded a cornerback Michael Jackson for a seventh round linebacker from the Titans Michael Barrett. I only point that out because their offball linebacker positions banged up and reportedly hasn't looked great in camp. So that shows a little bit of desperation that they're trying to add to that position. Yeah, there's not a lot of depth there. If you just look at the chart right now, you know, you let Jordan Brooks go. And it just seems like, yeah, yeah, let's add some depth here. Let's get another body in here that we think is a decent player. Right. They brought in Tyrol Dodson from Buffalo, who's barely played in his career. And then who was the other linebacker that they brought in, Jerome Baker, who's rarely

healthy and hasn't been healthy there. And so that's a key position. That's their starters. That's a key position in Mike McDonald's defense, too, if you think about, obviously, his track record. So that's probably keeping them up at night. I have to admit that I had a dream. I wouldn't say it kept me up at night, but it was part of the dream that the Seahawks offensive line was just awful. They couldn't protect Gino's. So even in your dreams, you're worried about Gino Smith's future. I guess so. I mean, a lot of things happen in my dream. Sometimes there's just like a huge wave, you know, from the ocean. It's coming at me. And it's just, it's going to crash at some And you can't run.

No, you're just there. You're just waiting for it and you're just prepping. You're just getting ready. It's like a tsunami. You're not going to get out of the way of it. What does that wave stand for? I don't know. We should analyze the dreams here on NFL Daily.

Have a whole show. Yeah, you could let me know at NFL Daily podcast at gmail.com. I mean, I had a dream the other night that I was playing high school football and we're in the state championship, but I couldn't get my equipment or get to the bus on time. And it was a long dream and it was very stressful and I woke up very upset. You know, was it a bad dream? Shucky, doing these final preseason games with you. It was fun doing these Sunday night shows during the preseason.

No more games to recap, but we will have a fun week last week before really our regular week one season schedule. Start to have Patrick Claibon and Cynthia Freeland in the studio to do some power rankings on our next show. And shook, yeah, this was a pleasure. I can't wait until we're doing the real thing. Sunday night, week one, September 8th. I will see you then, buddy.

Until then, see you next time. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters.

We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.