NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Secret Weapons For Every NFC Team

Episode Date: June 16, 2025

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Patrick Claybon and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic to give you the secret weapon for every NFC team. The crew goes through the NFC East (03:17), followed by the NFC North (14:45), NFC South (28:11), and NFC West (39:10).  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.

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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Welcome to NFL Daily, where school is out for summer, but the NFL is not. We're here in the Chris Wesleying podcast. video. My name is Greg Rosenthal. This is Jordan Rodrigue of the athletic and Patrick Claibon of NFL Network. A man, you know, we're counting down, Greg's built for television, not podcasting. Yeah, just no, Greg's gassing me up unnecessarily while he's just, he's got my

favorite fit on, right? Oh, yeah. I love that jacket and it, it kills every time. It's, it's very old and I almost got rid of it because getting a little faded and whatnot. Um, but yes, this is the reason why you need to subscribe to the YouTube channel. The last time I asked for people to subscribe and leave reviews on iTunes and Spotify, the people did it. So thank you, people, for doing that. Thank you, people. I noticed it.

And yes, I referred to schools out. My kids are out of school. That was, wasn't that like the best day of the year? There was nothing in adult life, I feel like, that can replace the feeling of being a child on the last day of school. That's at least how I went through. I don't know if you were the same, Jordan. I grew up in Phoenix.

So walking out of the school. school at any time felt like getting hit with a wall of the sun. So that's pretty much my core memory of all of those times. But yeah, then it was like swim team and taking my radio flyer wagon to the library and filling it up with books because it was too hot to go outside. So you got to sit in and read all the time. I recently discovered a TikTok trend of people who were accelerated students. They were the gifted children. Yeah. Who grow up and realize that, you know, it was unfair to place these expectations on them. I was not one of them.

Some of us didn't have to wait to be adults to be told that they were failures because I was a bad student. And so, yeah, not being in school was great for me. And the only thing that comes close as an adult is finishing my taxes. Whenever I finish my taxes

and tax season is done, that feels like the last day of school. That is a good feeling. That is a good feeling. I'm with you. I'm just kidding. Whoever's listening. And look, I think you could be a great student and be pumped that the school year is ending.

Certainly my daughter would fall into that grade student, but I mean, she could not be more excited because the thing you kind of forget about kids is those kids work hard. Imagine us having to go to work at like eight in the morning being told what to do and shuttled around for like seven straight hours for what a lot of people is like intense concentration where they're putting on this whole other like, I'm not going to. got to say personality, but you got to focus, you got to behave, you got to do the whole thing. You got to like, it's a lot. So then to the relief of that is amazing. We are not going to have that same relief at the end of this show, but we are going to feel like we accomplished something

because we did the AFC secret weapons a week and a half ago, maybe more. And I was, it's just been bothering me. It's like, we got to close that circle. We can't just leave that open ended. The people need to know who are the NFC secret weapon. So we're going to put two minutes on the clock. We got Chris Bobona here on the producer ones and twos for this episode. So big, big spot for Chris. And we will start in the NFC East with Patrick Claibon and the Dallas Cowboys. The Dallas Cowboys frequently, uh, the, the target of constant consternation. And that is the secret weapon. Oh. Chaos and the star itself, not just the, the glorious facility in Frisco, but the star on the helmet and all the attention it provides. Interesting. Uh, constant contract

dispute discussion on and on a lot of it as we note on this show unnecessary and counterproductive but I think it is the perfect spot for George Pickens and it's something that I mentioned last week on the show about the camp success and his relationship on the field wise with Dak Prescott and the way that it looks right now but this is the perfect situation where somebody being energetic bombastic impossible to take your eye off of in Pittsburgh fundamentally looks different when your vision is diverted in so many different places as it is in Dallas, including by ownership itself, that I think it honestly makes a perfect landing spot for a very, very talented player. You're saying they are built different. Yes, I am. They kind

of are. It goes along with one of my pet theories from the previous decade when I always said the Cowboys are never good in the off season where they're gassed up the whole off season. They start reading their own clippings. They're over, they end up like believing like their own hype and then they disappoint. It was this back and forth thing. Now, Mike McCarthy helped change that a little bit, but I do like the Cowboys a little bit more coming off a bad season. I am not as young as I used to be, but sometimes I still come across terms that I need some explanation for fan cam is one of these things where, and I might still get this wrong, but if you're at a concert or something and you put an isolated camera with your phone or whatever on

like one person in the band and you basically just follow them around with your phone and create like reels and it's all over. Patrick is making a skeptical look. That's not my interpretation. Is that, is that right? My interpretation of a fan cam, which would be probably like a couple of years old and I don't know if things

have changed would be like an edit. Yes. Of a particular person. It just would be like 30 seconds of Carlos Alcarez doing cool things in life and on the tennis score and that's sort of their fan game. I feel like we're all saying sort. We're all in the ballpark. Yeah.

There is one person in focus. near the garage. But George Pickens needs one. Okay. And I love this for him because he is so perfect for this. He plays football like a WWE figure. I love how entertaining he is. He is, he's electric. And regardless, like, I just think he's perfect for this spotlight. I absolutely agree. And he's going to make them even more box office than they already were with Dak Prescott coming back. I'm going to go with the New York Giants. And my secret weapon for them

is going to be their offensive line. I thought it got overlooked last year that when Andrew Thomas was out there, and that's a big piece here, and he's got to get back healthy, he's working his way, he's starting to do more things on the field, and he's coming back from that injury.

When he was on the field, they had the first capable New York Giants' offensive line in about six years. They weren't amazing, but the difference between one of the worst in the league to average or slightly better an average is solid. And they have a lot of is a huge difference. And they have a lot of continuity with John Runyon, a third year player in John Michael Schmitz. That's maybe a question mark area at

center. Germain Illuminaur was solid enough at right tackle. And I just think with an okay enough offensive line, you can let what's a pretty good skill position group, not great at quarterback, but the running backs and the tight end and the wide receivers are pretty good. They can be supported by that offensive line. Yeah. It has to be a cohesive unit. And everything, everything works together and it uplifts the entire roster. Yeah, I think it makes you even more eager to play

the rookie quarterback, Jackson Dart. I think it makes you more eager if you're Brian Dable, knowing that, okay, this is the time we have the healthy line. And also, by the way, they've been going against who I think will quietly, maybe not so quietly, be one of the best defensive

lines in the NFL, this upcoming season, regardless of whatever happens on offense, they'll have been practicing against Have you seen the training camp? Yes, they look amazing. I know, I know. It's OTAs. I know, I know.

But like, oh my God, they look incredible in terms of just all of the different looping and stunts and games that they can play. And there's so many different skill sets. And that helps your offensive line get better. And it makes your quarterback better as long as you don't kill his confidence. It makes your quarterback better. Well, that's the issue is Russell Wilson was not protected amazingly, I would say, in Pittsburgh.

But it wasn't like league worse either. He tends to make offensive lines look worse. and he will be the the week one starting quarterback. I don't think that's a hot take. No, it's not. I just thought, man, if someone said that to me,

my heart would break. If someone said that about me is like a description. My heart would break. You know, Jordan, we think she makes offensive lines look for. We just hold on to the ball. Even at his best,

I think he, that was just, and he was a great player, but I just think he makes it harder on offensive lines and other quarterback. The biggest weapon in his arsenal is the deep ball.

And it's, it's going to take. It's going to take a little bit longer, and half a step means a lot. So, you know, Russ, that's what happens. Thank you for landing that plane and making my comment not sound as rude. Jordan, you are up with the Eagles. Well, gang, we all know what the real secret weapon of the Philadelphia Eagles is. There she is.

Hey now. Okay. In all seriousness, how do you come up with a secret weapon for a team whose weapons are all so plentiful and so obvious? So I've sort of gone with a theme here. Next guy's up, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, out of nowhere, dot, dot, dot. Again, Tyler Steen is starting right now at right guard. He was a frontrunner last season before a combination of injuries, and Mackay Beckton's emergence kind of took over.

And so now this might finally be his time. Stoutland University rolls through yet another developmental player who might be a core player for them. Terrace Marshall reportedly has also been super impressive this spring. They do need like a three at four-ish at receiver right now. They have obviously a stacked one and two, but a three and a four. And he popped at times in Carolina, especially for his explosive playability. But obviously they were a mess when he was there and at quarterback had all kinds of issues.

So these are two players where I think we're going to be saying once again, the main secret weapon of the Philadelphia Eagles is, how did they do it again? That's testing because they have struggled at that spot for what it's worth. They've brought in a lot of Terrace Marshall-like players, guys that were maybe drafted high on other teams. Johan Dotson is one of them who has that number three spot. And they haven't usually like panned out. Like you still have to be a good NFL player. Just sprinkling Howie sauce on you isn't going to work.

But maybe it will. It definitely has on the offensive line. He certainly has the traits too. I think he has the traits and they have the like the infrastructure around that position group. And then also that offense in general to set up. player who's kind of flashed the traits but never quite caught on in his previous stop for a lot of different reasons a lot of them environmental as well has the traits to really step forward and i i do think too it's stoutland university but it's also just the eagles university in general of late and that

would be it would be another feather in the cap for that that era of the panthers if if terrace marshal is able to be successful or it's like we all start looking back at you know looking back at mat rule and what once was like hey what was what was that going on there is we've got multiple quarterbacks signing huge extensions and guys being successful. Jonathan Mingo would be a big case if he could succeed

in Dallas. You're not hearing a lot of Mingo pop. In fact, I think your guy, George Pickens, is kind of replacing him. I like that. They have a lot of young players that need to step up. Steen is a perfect example. Morrow Ojimo is a guy

who might be leading that group in Snap. Certainly Jordan Davis has been there. But he's going to be a guy that really matters. Like Nolan Smith has to kind of take what he did in the playoffs and make it translate. So it's a sneaky, like, young team for a team that just won the Super Bowl. And it sounds like Jihad Campbell is going to be ready in August. So that's still late, obviously. That's not totally ideal.

But the fact that he has so much potential and is such a fit with Vig Fangio in this system, I think there's a lot of a bright potential there. Terrace Marshall also feels like a departure, at least in the, in the AJ Devante era, physically at that number three spot. it feels like something different. They do have that huge draft pick from a year ago, Johnny Wilson, who's a departure from almost any wide receiver in the history of the NFL. He's like six foot nine.

Ania Smith also, they say, you know, it's looking okay in the offseason. All right, Washington, you're up. The Washington commander's secret weapon. And again, when the change was so significant and there was the glaring rookie of the year, Heisman trophy winner, you have to go off the books. But they're not collectively examining the team and the coaching staff. the secret weapon of the commanders is almost. Adam Peters and the 49ers had so much success almost.

Dan Quinn had so much success almost in the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. And then you go down Cliff Kingsbury, Brian Johnson as the assistant head coach in offensive quarter almost had that success in Philadelphia, had to lose his job. The team goes and wins the Super Bowl without him. And collectively, this group of individuals who, almost had so much success come together, recognize the places where there were shortcomings, and maybe things didn't necessarily line up, and they have the biggest franchise turnaround that we've seen ever, in my opinion. I haven't said, going back to the, who is this guy,

Kurt Warner on the cover, Rams, like this was a laughing stop, like fundamentally top to bottom franchise. And this group of almost came back and did something real that has made me a believer. let's freaking go. Someone put NFL films music behind that. The whole time my jaw is like hanging on to the floor because I'm sitting there and I'm like, this is a column, this is a column, this is a documentary narration.

Cook, Patrick, Cook. Like this is, I want to run through a wall. I don't even want to talk anymore. I was just going to like, tell me, you know. Like be a jerk and make a joke or something, you know. Make a joke, right. She's absolutely right.

Would you say all this almost, help make them try harder last year. Yes. Well, no, honestly, because I would use it. Why are you like this? No, I really would use it as a point to support my agenda, right? Where it's like, oh, you know, these folks can't do this and can't do that. Like the circumstances are what actually change for a lot of people.

And even if you don't necessarily have that success, as long as you get opportunity, you're in a position to have success. And I think this team proves it. Oh, I was just using his words. Oh, I know. But in a joking way, I don't believe that. I think you're on to something, too, because when you're saying almost, like, they are all extremely successful and have been successful for a reason. It's not like the 49ers weren't successful.

It's not like all the people you mentioned haven't reached a level of success and then coming together. Like those cliff teams, we talk about the fall off all the time, but what about all the starts? Hey now. Let's talk about the Chicago Bears. It was hard for me to come up with a secret weapon because I feel like nothing about this team is secret. They're just, they're on front street. They're one of America's teams, I think, that are just going to get covered in the year 2025. But you know who has been hiding in the weeds this off season?

Who, Greg? Dennis Allen. Dennis Allen. For good reason. The very embodiment of the Peter Principle. You know who Dennis Allen is? A great assistant coach. One of the better coordinators in a long time.

And you know what his specialty is more than anything. Alienating people. Now, that's the Peter Principle thing. Not so good in the big chair. he's been very good as a coordinator. He consistently makes a difference with his guys in the secondary. I think he is ultimately a defensive backfield coach. And no matter what, even as a head coach with the Saints,

he made that group work. And I think him inheriting this incredibly talented secondary is a little bit of a secret sauce. Not that Matt Iberflus wasn't great, but he's going to be able to bring out some new qualities. Tyreek Stevenson, I think, is a very up and down player who can be better. And you look at the rest of the group with Jalen Johnson and Kyler Gordon. Then you have Bayard and Bristker at safety.

It's a nice group that I think Dennis Allen can maximize. Yeah, it's a nice group. It's a group that's ready to, I guess, sustain sort of this high level of play that they have been playing at, even despite potentially at times chaotic and dysfunctional years and backslides and questions on offense. I really like when a really good coordinator gets. another shot at being a really good coordinator post fail, usually failed head coaching stuff. Like Dennis Allen with the Saints. Yes.

And we're going to get to, Mattie Eberfluse again, in Dallas, I think he's going to be great there. But it's interesting. I think that this was one of my favorite secondaries to watch at the beginning, especially the beginning of the season last year before Dequan Brisker got hurt. And Kyler Gordon is one of the best players right now, one of the best young players in the league. And I just think that this has so much potential. You know what I forgot? Jonathan Owens is on this team.

Yeah. Mr. Simone Biles. He always pops up for like a fun handful of plays. Just as like your sixth or seventh defensive back. Yeah. He makes plays. And again,

like I have fun at Dennis Allen's expense. But like that collectively what has gone wrong in the Dennis Allen era of New Orleans couldn't have been done alone. Right? There were multiple hands. Group failure. Woo!

There were multiple hands in that. And yeah, sometimes you take responsibility away from somebody. They can focus on the things they're actually good at. He's the anti-shot. Shoddy, got to be better as a head coach than he was as a coordinator. Dennis Allen has proven he's better as a coordinator. This is a hot take

sorry about this to put this in everyone's brains. But for some reason he really reminds me of Edward Norton. Like he looks like Ed Norton to me. I can't explain it. Is there a particular Ed Norton character or Ed Norton himself? Young Ed Norton before

the soap. Like just he kind of just the way. I don't know. It's like something about the the face structure, I have no idea. I have no clue. A little bit, but if I'm Ed Norton, I'm not thrilled with this comp. Detroit, you're up, Jordan.

I mean, this is one of our great actors here and sticking them with Jenner. But I'm an advisor. I just want to see something. Okay. Okay. Tate Radledge is the secret weapon. Again, a team that has so many weapons that are so obvious, one of the most important things that they're going to have to be able to do is get this offensive line up to speed despite a couple of personnel losses.

Tate Ratledge is really important for this reason. The Lions are going to decide between Tate Ratledge and Graham Glasgow as their future center, even beyond this year because Frank of Frank Ragnos in retirement this spring. Glasgow might have an early edge because he's more experienced and Jared Gough might still need some help at the line of scrimmage. Who wouldn't want someone taking the burden of pressure off of the quarterback's plate and letting that quarterback just sling it around? But Rattledge was an awesome pickup who will immediately compete at the guard spot and potentially, could win the long-term starting job at center if the developmental process continues to stay how it has been in Detroit. And he's smart. He's a multi-year starter from Georgia. He can be mean

as hell, according to scouting reports, but also his teammates love him and love rallying around him. Who does that sound like to you? The recently retired Frank Ragnow. I do worry for his sake in terms of the competition at the position. If all of the attrition in Detroit leads them to try to go with something familiar and try to have less change and a guy that Jared has at least played with a little bit versus like you look around the coaching staff and now

the roster and you start to see that those number of departures kind of add up. Also he's a rookie and a guy who people are not expecting to go in the second round. I always do suffer a little bit of whiplash this time a year with guys who holes were poked in Ratlitz. There were very

differing opinions about his quality as a prospect. A lot of people thought he is a day three type of guy. They obviously felt different. I trust their opinion. But taking them before people expect late in round two and pushing them into this spot, that's, that's not easy. I will say, I trust the Lions evaluation process about their offensive linemen.

I trust their coaching process with their offensive linemen. And I'm not saying he's going to start at center immediately because like Patrick said, I think there would probably be some nerves. You want someone who's been in the offense a little bit to actually be doing that in the short term release. But I think this kid's going to compete, really. I really do. And I think that Brad Holmes

knows that and identifies those traits in him. The other secret weapon that has to be a secret weapon, but we'll see if it is, is if Dan Campbell can keep that knack for identifying coordinators because he did really well the last time he had to replace coordinators. And those guys are both gone now

in head coaching jobs. Yeah. And if Ratledge, by the way, doesn't win the center job, he's probably starting a right guard. So either way, he's going to be in a big spot for a great offensive line.

Patrick, you got the Packers. Well, the Greenback, Packers did something that they have not done in forever and drafted a wide receiver in the first round, but the secret weapon is Tucker Kraft. It's a player that we've seen multiple years and a guy that had a lot of action in designed, specifically designed plays for the tight end, you or you scheme him up and not as much work out there in the route. Well, that peck injury that he had last year in the off season kind of limited his ability to be ingratiated into the offense. And even then, there were seven touchdowns for Tucker Kraft. I think we see an explosion

for Tucker Kraft and opportunity, the guy who had 70 targets last year where all the attention gets devoted outside and even more so now where I believe there's more of an opportunity and Tucker Kraft becomes the secret weapon for the Green Bay Packers in 2025.

Shout out to NFL films as Greg Kosell who I remember coming out, thought Kraft was if not the best tight end, like the second best tight end in this class, thought he was a better prospect than Musgrave, who goes earlier to the same Green Bay Packers team. And I feel like his breakout got a little slept on, nationally, like to put up 700 yards

as a second year tight end, and then you don't need to be a scout to just see him with the ball is kind of magical. Like, he is going to have a great career. And Musgrave could be healthier this year too and kind of give them a nice 1B where that's a lot to deal with for defense.

There have been a few players, because you expect, when you cover this sport in this league, you expect everyone or most people to be like massive humans, right? And extremely athletic. There are very few people that have rendered me sort of speechless and like, oh, you are much larger than expected.

Julius Peppers was one of those people when I got to meet him for the first time and totally was like stunned by just how you could move like that at that size. And watching Tucker Craft warm up last season pregame, he is not a tight end. Like you know that that position is massive already stereotypically, but like he is not that. He's something else. He's different. Like it's, it is scary to see how. how well he can move with the ball at his frame

and sometimes hard to pick up, I think, on the broadcast. But in person, you're like, no, you're not actually supposed to be able to do that at your size. Also, named after your dog. Yes, he was the, what, 22-year-old Tucker Kraft is named after my 12-year-old dog. Okay, maybe not. You're right about body tip.

I do feel like an impressive looking tight end in person is maybe more impressive than any position. I always put up Kyle Brady, former Jet and Patriot as the most impressive NFL person. that I've ever seen. Mine were both from covering college football. Obviously, the first time I saw Cam Newton, I thought it was a different.

Another one that got me. Yeah, stunning. Standing on somebody else's legs behind him, but it was actually one person standing on a pair of legs. In Kelvin Benjamin, I know people will make weight jokes. But it was before the bowl game against Florida State, there was media availability.

And I saw Kelvin Benjamin. It felt like the large, I've interviewed Shaq multiple times. Kelvin Benjamin is gigantic. Interesting. It's a colossal person. That's a clip. That's going to be clipped out.

Calvin Ben. Miles Garrett is another one. It's an obvious one. But yeah. Yeah. Like stunning. Yeah. This should be on our naming guys.

Naming some guys. You'd be great with that. Remembering some guys. Remembering some dudes. Naming impressive looking guys in person. But it's not weird. Let's go to the Vikings. And mine is sort of ephemeral, but I believe in it.

I think the timing of this Vikings team of, where they are in their team build and where their players are is going to be their secret weapon. I think of Kevin O'Connell, who's 34 and 17, like in three years, year four of him and Quessie coming together. And then you look at the combination of continuity, youth, and experience. And I just think it's tough. Sometimes you don't realize your window is there before it's gone. And they are at a really interesting window where obviously JJ's at his peak and should stay there. but Jordan Addison is still there and has developed. Their young players in terms of their offensive line,

like Donovan Jackson, are being helped out by the veterans, Derisaw, who should be in his peak, and you still have Brian O'Neill and you bring in their free agents. You can support this young quarterback in J.J. McCarthy with a lot of players, obviously, on the defensive side. You don't know how long Brian Flores is going to be there. You don't know how long Harrison Smith is going to be there. Like Cashman and Grenard, these guys who got there,

They now know the system, Van Ginkle. Like, they have been there. I just think if you look at the roster overall, it's not too young, it's not too old, and it's not too stale, it's just right. Minnesota Vikings. They're the Goldilocks team. I really believe that. Like, it's a perfect, it's a perfect combination.

It suits JJ McCarthy's hair as well. Yeah, Goldie lettuce. That's part of it. Like, in theory, you would want your quarterback, I guess, to have more experience. But I think of a one minute. He's even in a better situation than he would have been as a rookie because he's been there and he's learned how yeah well the floor for this entire team is so much higher because the way that

the roster is constructed to your point Greg like even if he struggles there's enough help everywhere else to sort of paper over that long enough for Kevin O'Connell to get in and do the thing that we know that he does and has done consistently since he became head coach and before that when he was a coordinator and that is reset recalibrate the quarterback get the quarterback on the right track and I just think that when you look at this entire roster on paper, you think this is a make or break year. But I don't think that's true because you look at the ages and you look at the contracts. And I don't think this is a maker

break year for them or like a boom or bust situation based on the severe veteranness of some of the players. Because on the other side of it, they've got the quarterback on the rookie deal. And so they can keep loading up. They can keep stocking up like this and continue to be like a hybrid young old team. And there's a lot of guys where we haven't fully seen the vision come true yet for them. So that's just house money. There's the Vikings that we know that we can trust that and count on that they will execute to a high level. And then you've you've got like your Dallas is right off the edge. You've got J.J. McCarthy.

And you juxtapose that with Justin Jefferson. Like at the top of the game in the top of his career right now where it's like we know what we're going to get. And anything we get from these guys is just money. I don't think it's make or break in anyway, but I've just had the experience of like doing those articles, like best rosters in the league every off season. And they just don't stay together long. Like there was this,

I thought the Falcons roster was going to be set for a while. I thought that Eagles roster with Carson once was going to be set for a while. And you realize like in terms of a complete roster, all the position group, it really only lasts usually like one or two seasons with the coach. And I think this is that season. But that's fine because they will have to reload. There are going to be players who are who age out of this roster,

quite frankly and overly bluntly, but there will be. And so they can still reload, and that's the entire point, is like they're in this very cool hybrid now and then type of build. But now is a time where Brian Flores there, go win a Super Bowl like now. I think they are in contention to represent the NFC and get there. Let's take a quick break. We will be back with the NFC.

Hey, this is Matt Jones. Now I'm Drew Franklin. And this is a great. 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?

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Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Back at NFL Daily, it's everyone's favorite division. It's the NFC South. It's Jordan Rodriguez with the Atlanta Falcons. Yes, my secret weapon for the Falcons is that most of you, not you guys, but most of you are still sleeping on my. Mike Penix. And yes, I mentioned this on a previous show. I have heard the hand ringing about the dynamics in the quarterback's room and what's it going to be like to have Kirk Cousins looking over Mike Penix's shoulder the entire time. And I got to tell you, I don't give one fig about any of that. I think that this is an ultra-confident young man who throws the hell out of the football, who this entire coaching staff on the offensive side, on the defensive side, and specifically with the plan for this offense moving forward, they are running the entire ship through what. he can do and how he can unfold the layers of this passing game and run the offense and

in a very multiple way. I think that this is one of their advantages is that if the general population is sleeping a little bit on Mike Penix and has a very limited sample size, I also think other teams are going to be sleeping on Mike Pennix and certainly have a relatively limited sample size. I bet he will go through struggles just like any young quarterback will. but the composure and the confidence and the amount of football that this young man has already seen, I just think it's all uphill overall long term for him. And I think he's going to have a great career. And sneaky, not as young as most second year quarterbacks will be 26 this year,

which I think is an advantage for him. He's seen more football. He's more mature. He is one of the biggest X factors of this entire NFL season. Reminds me a lot of Jordan Love going into his first full season. Just that the talent's all there. I think the streakiness might be there. The upside is there.

I don't know how it's going to go. We haven't seen the downside of the streakiness to the extent that Jordan Love showed it. And again, Jordan Love, a much younger player at the time. Maybe his college career before his last season. Yeah. Just. But if you put together a season like that at Washington and then carry it through into what he showed at the NFL level, that's not two full seasons, but that is two seasons where you're not seeing that streakiness.

Yeah. And if we go back in hindsight and look at the outcome. for DeBoer. We look at the outcomes for, you know, his receivers. Although Mick Mellon had a nice push late in the season, apparently Michael Panix Jr. was carrying that entire operation. That dude. It's true. He makes me very excited to watch Atlanta Falcons football games. Now, I have gotten too enamored with quarterbacks off a three to four game sample size at the end of their rookie year before. So I just want to see it. I just want to see it again. I've been earned. Patrick, you got the Panthers.

I am looking at the Carolina Panthers where obviously there's there's guys like Jalen Koker who would be seen as a secret weapon, but there's so much discussion about Jalen Koker being the secret weapon that he can't be the secret weapon. So I'm going to go back a couple drafts. I'm going to go to a player who was underperforming in Ikea Kuanu. Oh. He had a great bounceback season. And now the Panthers are going to be in position to sign Iquanu on a deal where based on

his recent success is going to be a great value for them, probably not for, for Ikea Kuanu, which is rough for him. But it puts them in a position to get that position locked up in a place where a lot of teams aren't able to do that. And we saw the way that tackles were flying off boards and teams were taking chances on guys. They can get a guy who's a proven player who's shown growth within this coaching staff and have them for a while and figure out the rest of the roster.

Obviously, the defensive side of the ball needs a lot of work. But a lot of reasons to feel great about the offense. It'll be interesting if they try to sign him before this season. They should. Because he has that fifth year. option. And you're right. They could be locked down. They obviously still feel good about their right tackle. Taylor Moten, one of the more underrated, you know, tackles in the league for last handful of years. So that's, that's a great way to start an offense. And their offensive line is

is so much improved from a few years ago. Yeah. Overall, I think their offensive line is a bit of a secret weapon for them as well. Last year, they looked outstanding. And they have continuity coming into this other season, Austin. This next season, Austin Corbett is going to be healthy. He's dealt with some really bad injuries over the past couple of years. Taylor Moten, one of my favorite people and players all time to ever cover is still kicking and still doing the dang thing at such a high and consistent level. One of the most slept on tackles in the league, I feel. But yeah, I like this offensive line. I like it for Bryce Young, who is always going to need that extra protection just because of his size and his physical frame. This is going to be

exciting, I think, just in that perspective. And they need Icky to step forward because it was so bad the first couple of years and they were trying to make it work, make it work. And now it finally looks like he's gaining confidence similar to the quarterback. And I did hear the camp story of Bryce as well as J.C. Horn verbally beefing and sparring. Honking. I would like them to escalate that to Cam and Josh Norman. Oh my God. That's when you know. To recreate the picture and then they could put both pictures up in the facility. That's when they're going to go. They'll go 15 and 1 that year or 15 and 2. Josh Norman was bald. I mean, that would not be a fight. I feel like you would win. And the picture, the lasting photo of that is so epic, it's Cam smiling as they're fighting.

And he's so confident in the fact he's like, I've got like a hundred pounds on you. It's just amazing. I also like that offensive line made Chuba Harvard like a star. Yeah. And they could do it for Rico Dottle. They could do it for Trevor E.N. Just just stop somebody. Try to sneak 13 guys out there.

So let's do the Saints. I told you that for the Bears. Dennis Allen could be their secret weapon. And what if I told you that the Saints secret weapon is Dennis Allen not being there? So like he is a secret weapon for both. Just the improved vibes and the feeling of something new

is enough to make some veterans who maybe weren't loving football as much last year as they used to re-engage with the sport on an exciting level. So just removing that that vibeless atmosphere and improving it with Kellen Moore. Him not being there as their secret weapon, just a removal.

If I were going to have this section, I would say the Saint's secret weapon is someday and somehow trying to live up to the floor of Greg's standard for this team and the weight of disappointment when they let you down every single year. Well, not me. how about the true Saints fans? I mean, this was one of the most consistently successful team for, you know, 14 years

and they just let it kind of rot. I just, I'm not even sure you are aware of how your voice changes when you talk about them. I think that's their secret weapon. I am probably harder on them. It's changing that. I feel bad because the last time you uplifted Dennis Allen

and made me feel bad for my collective years worth of Dennis Allen jokes. Yeah. And so I felt that I need to step in and it was all to set up this. You didn't know it was a two-part joke. A few days later, a little nugget for the people paying attention. I do believe in it.

I do believe in it. I do believe that that defense. I don't know if Brandon Staley is going to build up his name again. But I do think there's enough good players on this defense, including in the secondary, to be much better than they were a year. Another failed head coach who I think it will be a dang good coordinator and was a dang good coordinator, despite the fact that he had all the stars in the world still had to install a brand new defense through COVID. I think he will

refine himself in New Orleans in that role. As long as because there's still some continuity in the building, obviously, the people that were there for all segments, success and failure, as long as there's an honest accounting of what went wrong and who was responsible for it and why.

Would you say they're still a looming? I agree, but that's the off-season and I had some issues with their off-season, but ultimately you look at this team and almost every team can do that. But if you squint hard enough and make a best case scenario of a lot of these different position groups. They should be a lot more fun to watch this year.

Let's wrap up the NFC South with your buccaneers. My buccaneers. Yay. Amika Abuka. I said before the draft, he was one of my favorite receivers because it was versatility and his pro readiness. And he kind of reminded me on both of those phases of Chris Godwin when he was coming out and emerging in the league. That's one reason why I loved this match with the Bucks.

And now Baker Mayfield is up here at the lectern talking about Amica Abuka, the rookie receiver, who the Bucks obviously drafted this year and his versatility and that they can plug him in anywhere and that he already has this trust developing with him. And when Baker says it, I actually don't believe that that's an off-season trope. When you think about Baker's personality, you think about Amika Buka's personality and just his overall traits and his readiness. And I love this. And I think this is a secret weapon for them because he will have to be ready to go. I think having him ready to go will be a major reason why this offense does not lose a step out of the gate despite dealing,

onboarding a new O.C. in King Grizzard and the Lizard Wizard. And the fact that Chris Godwin will still need a little bit more time to get back from last year's injury, it's a win, win, win for everybody that Emeka Buka is ready, and he's a secret weapon. Kind of looking at the offense in general, he's a great example of, I think, a secret weapon for them, which is just great depth at the skill positions, that they don't have two great receivers. They have four to five really promising ones. Jalen McMillan was a really good third, third Receiver. Let's not forget about him.

I think they feel really good about their running back position. They've been saying they think Sean Tucker is a starting level running back. Dennis Allen certainly does. Right. That's why they were maybe willing to let go of Rashad White last, like in the offseason. But Rashad White's still there and Bucky Irving's still there. So they're very deep at a lot of positions. Yeah.

And it's an offense where it does put a lot on a Mecca to be the secret weapon considering like Chris Godwin brings so much to the table, especially. after the catch and hopefully he comes back and is able to get healthy but there's no reason to doubt like this particular group of players and Mike Evans still doing it

where you feel great about the offense and it makes you realize how fun this division is going to be despite its detractors who may carry a podcast. I mean Sterling Shepard was out there making big time plays. I'm not a detractor in the playoffs.

They are deep. I'm not a detractor. Baker Believers over here. I did see him on Chris Sims' quarterback rankings in a special tier of like guys with big hoses or something and it was him and Herbert.

I'm sorry, what? Eight and nine. That's a word we used to use. But it's not weird though. For arm strength and it's not weird at all. Arizona Cardinals, Patrick, you're up. You can't even give you a bono to smile with that. And then he forces it.

It's a Jordan Shrek back there from Brooklyn. I do think because the Arizona Cardinals right, stylistically. We've talked about the embodiment of the search bar and I had to find a player for the secret weapon that I was talking about because I recognize that they've had free agents and drafts at the position, but Zaven Collins, a player who was kind of one of those kind bomb head scratchers a year after a kind bomb head scratcher where they had Isaiah Simmons that didn't really know what to do with them. So they draft the biggest middle linebacker they can possibly find out of Tulsa and play him kind of out of position. And John,

I think Gannon has come back in. He played at edge and was great against the run. Obviously, you don't want a 270-pound dude out there trying to cover people. And so, like, that's a place where he's going to struggle. But there's so many pieces on this franchise that were misutilized and underutilized. And now in year three of this new regime combined with the rookie class can be put in better positions along with the free agents to give us something to believe in in the desert. There's no question that the Cardinals on offense and on defense have to take a step

forward and sustain through an entire season versus one side or the other, in this case last season, it was the offense sort of petering out after the midway point. I think that this team is a really good example of when good coaching in almost every level, especially right now on defense, because that was where they were so depleted meets good drafting and talent identification. To your point, Patrick, it's not just about finding traits and throwing them on the field, which was so often what the Cardinals used to do under previous regimes, but they're actually being developed. There are players on both sides of the ball that this coaching staff is developing. I think that it is a real, um, very like substance forward way to team build where they're at

right now, but none of it matters, really, unless they all collectively take this next step forward. And if they pick the right guys to, to come in and help them, because so many of their starters and defense were not on the team a year ago, Clay is Campbell, Dalvin Tomlinson, Josh Sweat, maybe Will Johnson, the rookie, but man, they have a lot of talent. I am going to, I don't know if overrates the right word, but kind of wish fulfillment, pick them to do very well this season because I want to see it happen. I just want to see a little bit of a shakeup.

They have so many interesting players and coaches. Like be a real content. Make the playoffs, win the division, stuff like that. It could happen. That's a precipitous fall for somebody in the West. The West is fun. I love the West. I live with it.

I know people like, you guys talk to the West too much. Oh, we don't. No. Let's talk about the West. Let's do it. We got the Rams. A team, I think like the Bears, to me, it was harder to come up with the secret weapon

because we obviously put them on Front Street with adding Devante Adams and talking about all the different ways that this is like a go time year. And then I looked back in the secondary and I thought about the cams. And I'm talking about Cam Curl and Cam Kitchen. So Curl was a really good play.

for Washington and came over to the Rams and I think translated his skill set well. And Cam Kitchens was a third round pick for the Rams a year ago that played pretty well in his rookie season at free safety. And I thought they were a good example of a secret weapon in general for the Rams, which much like the Kansas City Chiefs, I think they've done a good job not using that many resources in the secondary and getting good enough to good play in the secondary. I would say the chiefs have done it

at a higher level, but the Rams have kind of been like the poor man's having that sauce where it's not huge money going to these players and they've coached them up and they've gotten by

without spending huge, huge resources in a spot where a lot of teams are. And Cam spelled backwards as Mac. Okay. So let me remind you of Jalen McCullough, who is the undrafted free agent safety, who led the team in interceptions last season at the start of the year

and through most of the season. Cam Kinchins, third round pick out of Miami. Oh, I always just say kitchens. My bad. Then ended up matching his pace. One minute. The secondary is thin at corner.

They really are liking what they're seeing from Emmanuel Forbes right now in sort of this like reboosting his confidence project that they've taken on. And you've seen this in the past. I actually had him comp to like a Leonard Floyd, obviously very different players, positions, all this stuff. But the complete loss of confidence, a complete failure at the place that drafted him high, and then regaining that confidence, with good coaching, a good scheme over in L.A.

The coaching staff is sort of seeing proof of concept with that, with Aubrey Pleasant, really taking Emmanuel Forbes under his wing. They are still thin on the outsides. And I think that their safeties are one of the strong points of this team. And to your point, Greg, they don't invest a lot of resources in that group. I think especially with Forbes, a lot of people got to realize that putting, there's not many people on the planet that are going to look great as a rookie against AJ Brown. I understand people talk about body types and all these other things. And you mentioned

Mac and it made me realize what does a gearhead say when the Rams are in cover two that it's dual overhead cam. Jesus. Hey now. Jordan sold it for you. I mean, she sounded like you said something terrible at that. I thought it was clever. It was clever. I just, you know, it just took a, it was a journey for me. But thank you for pointing out the end in Cam Kinchin's name. Literally never knew that. To this day. Yeah. I thought, I thought it was Kitchens. No idea.

I had no idea. And I apologize to that. Sorry, Cam. Seattle. I think it's fair. He does cook. There you go. You got the Seahawks, Jordan.

Yes, I have a Seahawks. I think they're a secret weapon. And again, it's really kind of hard to figure out. It's not really a secret. But the second year of this defense under Mike McDonald and defensive coordinator, Aud and Durday, adjusting some personnel up front and at inside linebacker, really, last season really helped with one of their biggest issues,

and that was their run defense early on. Once that came along, they finished 11th and points allowed, eighth in defense of EPA, and in the back third of the season, they were truly a formidable group. And I love what the secondary can do. They've got Spoon, Rick Wollin, Julian Love, and Kobe Bryant as the safety pairing, and then now they're adding Nick Eman Worry. And I think that Nick Eman Worry, in tandem with Ernest Jones,

who isn't necessarily going to be your side-to-side cover linebacker all the time, but is so great blitzing and is so great against the run. That allows a Nick Amin-Worry to kind of move up and back to and fro, the line of scrimmage, being that second hybrid linebacker who can help against the run but also can cover the middle of the field. This defense is so much fun front to back, and I really think that's going to be their secret slash not-so-secret weapon this year. Yeah, I think the history of Mike McDonald's,

informs us so much. We shouldn't just expect a total copy of what happened in Baltimore. But in Baltimore, there was some early struggles. They finished out that first year strong. The roster looked good going into the second year. And they were lights out,

maybe the best in league, certainly one of them, his second year there. The way they finished last year makes you believe that he could do that again. Because Patrick, I think personnel, the floor should be top 10.

Personnel, I do think him and the coach, like, top five, top three. Like the players are there and the coaches there. And normally they were willing to make those changes within that first season. And we saw that. And so many times people in teams and franchises wait to the offseason to do that. But I think the staff is very introspective and its ability to self-evaluate.

And so they saw where things were working like the coaching staff on the roster position group by position group and made those changes where they went ahead and did that. And now they can focus on the next thing, which is. a reason to believe. Yeah. Shout out like to Rod Dutz and who's like a good player. It got rid of him in the middle of the season. And obviously that worked out great with Ernest Jones coming in.

Yeah, absolutely. Sign an extension this off season. The whispers at a camp, at a mini camp, they are saying they might blitz spoon a little bit more, which I think is great. He was incredibly impactful when he did get those opportunities. And they have enough defensive backs now to keep these rotations going and keep the continuity there while still moving people in at the quarterback and taking them away from the defensive back field.

I remembering wrong or did he essentially end Tommy DeVito mania by doing such a thing? Devin Witherspoon just blitzing his face off her. Was that Daniel Jones? Might have been Tommy DeVito. That's what I did it at Tommy DeVito mania. Yeah. One of the failed experiments in New York. Uh, yes.

Yeah. I think it was Devin Witherswood. Our favorite meme. That Monday night came for some reason by Wetherswood just sticks in my head. All right, 49ers. Wrap it up. The secret weapon for the San Francisco. 49ers is a new shortened approach by Jake Moody, who was coming back.

This is secret. This is great. He was coming off of an ankle injury last year that was also maybe came back a little bit too early, is 72% on his field goal percentage for a team that lost by an average of 3.4 points. And so ultimately, like, we know the margins are very slim, especially for that 49ers team. Last year, dealing with the injuries and they've got all the departures. but if Jake Moody can make 85% of his kicks, the circumstances look a little bit different in this West

that's a jumble where we think everybody can do better than maybe they're ultimately going to. Well, what if I told you? Yeah, I love that, but he's got to go win that job because it's a little under the radar. They brought in Greg Joseph recently, who's had his moments in the NFL, I guess, and we got a full-blown kicking competition at 49ers camp.

Get ready. Woo-hoo. Secret weapon. The unique thing about kicking competitions is they don't just end in training camp. Somebody misses a few kicks during the season. The kicking competitions last forever. Maybe that's a secret weapon for the 49ers. Isn't training camp just more fun to cover if there's a kick in competition? Those are stats you should be tracking.

Those are stats you should be charting throughout the course of training camp. One time I was covering Graham Ganoe, who was always very honest and like very relatable talking with media. and he was in a kicking competition and at the time actually with Harrison Butker who they then cut and he had a kick that went wildly to the right

of the goal post and I happened to And I happened to make a note of make a mention of that in my practice report and he marched up to me on the sideline and said that wasn't a shank

and then showed me what it actually looks to shank I appreciated the teaching moe put you on shot to Graham Gnganne Yeah, Graham Gineau. Shout out to the group of individuals I was walking behind on Canal Street last February in New Orleans, all wearing Bukker jerseys. Don't know if that was his family or just big fans, but either way, it was like seven Bukker t-shirts and jerseys.

I think that the different approach to his kick that Jake Moody is taking really, brings home a truth that some of us have to learn at times, that it's not the size of your leg, but the way that you use it. Thank you for ignoring my take. And also, technique is important. I think people look at a kicker or miss and they're like, ah, this guy's in his head. You know, I'm an expert.

I've watched six episodes of Dr. Phil, so I know what human brains do. And this guy, his brain is bad. I'd like him to become a great kicker because I have a great nickname for if he has a fan base, the mood swings. Oh, like that. Leg swing, you know, mood. I like that.

I can imagine that if he was a buccaneer just being in the corner as one of those little fan groups that they do. It's like 15 different fan groups. Look, 49ers fans. You also have a healthy Nick Bosen, Kristen McCaffrey on the field, which it's the off season,

but that always feels good. That is a little dose of optimism for you. On this Monday, wow. I slept here. It's going to be a, Big week. I can't wait for this next episode. I am going to be listening to it immediately.

It is the first NFL daily, which I will not take part. Patrick Claibon hosting. You guys hear that? Greg has single-handedly been carrying this shit. No, that's not true. It's true. But really looking forward to that.

So it's going to be Patrick in the studio. Next time will be Wednesday. Football's back. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, 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 Six podcast on the I Heart. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast.

Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet, we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football. podcast on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL, visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more.

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