NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Takeaways from Every Preseason Week 2 Game

Episode Date: August 19, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Nick Shook to take a look at every Week 2 preseason game. The guys start the show with a discussion about the Raiders naming Gardner Minshew the starting quarterback for the Raiders (02:30) before running through Commanders at Dolphins (09:52), Jets at Panthers (14:40), Giants at Texans (17:20) and Falcons at Ravens (23:38). After the break, Gregg and Nick talk about another great start by Caleb Williams against the Bengals (26:11) and then discuss Rams at Chargers (32:42), Vikings at Browns (38:10), Seahawks at Titans (42:20), Bills at Steelers (46:03), and Buccaneers at Jaguars (55:02), The show is wrapped up with Packers at Broncos (58:16), Cardinals at Colts (1:05:18), Saints at 49ers (1:07:10), and Lions at Chiefs (1:12:20). 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. preseason games, 30 teams to talk about, and we're almost done with the preseason. I'm excited for this one. I actually had to remind myself that week two is the important week in preseason this week, because it used to be week three back in the day when we had four preseason games, and I'm sitting there watching some of these games last night going, oh man, the whole bill starting defense is out there for a considerable amount of time.

Oh yeah, week two does matter, so we do have some good things to talk about. It lets be real, though. It used to be every team having the same playbook, and now it's different. Some teams take week one seriously. A couple teams are going to throw some starters out there in week three. I think the Titans are on that bandwagon. The Jets might be. We'll see.

But it's a grabback, and half of these games, not a lot happened. And so what we're going to do is go through all the preseason stuff that did matter. We're going to hit all 15 games. But for the games where it was backups playing, we'll also hit news from those teams. and so you can feel up to date with 30 teams in the league. Sorry, you know, Eagles and Patriots. You got your treatment on Friday show. Although, we have heard that Drake Bay is practicing better

since that performance that he's eased up. He's got confidence. So there's some Patriots for you. You look surprised, shook. I mean, I'd just like to hear a rookie quarterback gaining confidence, especially a rookie quarterback that has drawn the consternation of the media symbol that covers them. So good for them.

Yes. Yes. It is a trend. that these rookies who the first couple weeks of training camp seem like they're struggling. Adi Mitchell is another one we'll get to with the Colts that towards the end of training camp in the middle of preseason, they kind of get their legs underneath them. They get the confidence that they belong at this level. We belong at this level, shook.

I mean, when I said football shape, I just mean it. Like, I'm ready to go. This is the seventh week of NFL Daily. We love everyone that has been with us every day on this journey. And yeah, with this week of the preseason now, wrapped up. I just feel like it's time. The season could start tomorrow and it would not be soon enough. But let's get to some of the fun stuff. And because it's the last item of news that happened, I want to start with Raiders and Cowboys from Saturday night because of the news

that came out on Sunday that Gardner Minchu will be the week one starter of the Raiders. I got to say, Nick, this is the worst game in NFL history by a quarterback. I think that ever clinched a starting job. Gardner Minchu, like, he played so bad in this game, and that was enough to win the starting job. I hate to start so negative, but it really stands out to me. Yeah, I had the assignment of covering this game, which, by the way, thanks you, thank you to the schedule makers, the preseason schedule makers, who decided that 10 p.m. kick, 10 p.m. Eastern would be ideal. Really stuck it to me on that one. But we're sitting back watching this game, and I'm just thinking, my God, if anything, I'm losing confidence in Gardner Minchus's viability as a starter in this

offense. I mean, I know that the Luke Getsy offense, you know, frustrated a lot of people in Chicago. I know it's preseason. It's going to be fairly vanilla and everything else. But there was no flow. He did not seem comfortable. It was either a shot play, a big run by Zemir White, or nothing in between missing guys, not looking comfortable. And I was sitting there just thinking, there's no way he's clinched this job. In fact, play them into week three, because I need to see more. And then Aiden O'Connell went out there and threw a pick six in the second half and that just kind of blew everything up. Yes, when I went back and watched the game and at least their dropbacks, you know,

that pick six. I was like, oh, well, that's the moment where this quarterback competition ended because O'Connell, I was at the practice. I've talked to people who have been there, has not looked comfortable in this offense at all, has been very hesitant. And so at least Minchu, you kind of know what you're getting. But yeah, it was tough for Antonio Pierce coming out of this game to have to announce that Minchu was the guy because he was sick.

He didn't want it to go another week. He wants to be sure. He wants to prep that guy for week one against the chargers. But yet, like I said, the worst game that's ever clinched a starting job in the history of QB battles. Minchu, under 50% completion. Minchu, five drives for three points in this game, under five yards per attempt. And the tape was just as bad as the number is just not pulling the trigger. There was a couple times I saw open receivers on the all 22.

and he just plays. It's just vibes, baby, with Minchu. It's just kind of running around and making some plays. And a couple times he'll make some. But it did make me think, like, yeah, it looked okay in a Shane Steichen offense for a while last year, but it might look a little different in a Raiders offense. But he's at least played a lot in the NFL. He's been a week one starter before. And I think this was just more about Aiden O'Connell losing this job. And you could hear it. Antonio Pierce might have, they might have announced that Minchu had the job on Sunday. Sunday, but Pierce sounded different on Saturday after the game. Which it ended well for both, gentlemen, right? And it just didn't, and we'll look at it, we'll evaluate. They both had opportunities. Aiden had 20 attempts and Mnchu had 21. So, by the balance, and as we can get it, and we'll look at it. Obviously, you saw what our plan was tonight, throw the ball around,

let these guys showcase what they can do, and we'll talk about it. It's not good. It's not good. Here's the thing, Greg, like when you put that pressure on two guys in week two of a preseason game and nobody's really separated themselves, you're kind of studying yourself for failure when you're dealing with Gardner Minchu and Aden O'Connell. And that's essentially what we got. And then you add in the mix that, you know, maybe this offense isn't really hitting a rhythm yet with Luke Getsy, who's a new O.C. in Vegas. And this is the product that

you get. I feel bad for AP because, you know, now he's the permanent head coach. He's not just the interim head coach. And you can hear the frustration and really just, well, this is what we got. By default, Gardner Minchew's our starter. We'll go check it out. But they both had an opportunity and neither really seized it. We'll go with the more experienced guy. I will always believe that they wanted Michael Pennex. It didn't happen. O'Connell's just been frantic. And he said, why are you spending so much time on the Raiders to start?

So the Raiders aren't relevant. Hey, the Raiders are one of the most popular teams in the NFL. And all these teams are relevant before week one. That's why I love them. Like, everyone's a beautiful baby that you just don't know how this season's going to go. A couple other notes from this game in these two teams. Tyree Wilson, the top 10 pick of the Raiders from a year ago, who just reportedly has not shown much at training camp just looks like a guy.

I'm going to talk about some players that could change teams or free agents on our next show with Jordan Rodriguez. Tyree Wilson is one I could see just getting dealt for like a seventh round pick or something just because it's not working. And then for the Cowboys, they played all their backups. I wanted to point that out that these were the Raiders starters versus the Cowboys backups and it still was going this poorly. But the big news this week to me with the Cowboys was they've elevated two rookies to the starting lineup on the offensive line. one by necessity because of injury. That's Tyler Guyton. But again, he looked good in this game.

He's a talented kid. He's going to be out there week one against the Browns and Miles Garrett. So that's fascinating. And then Cooper Beebe, a rookie guard center, is playing center for them now. So it does look like they've pushed these two rookies into the starting lineup. And that's exciting. It's just we'll see if they hit it. But they also have a rookie edge, you know, named Marsha Neeland, who's made some good plays, too, in run.

defense. So the youth movement in Dallas. I would also like give a tip of the cap to Trey Lancaster putting on a better show in week two than he did in week one. Picked up some yards with his feet, put together a couple of nice drives, looked a little more confident. Still a little, you know, haywire from here to there, you know, every once in a while hit the throw. You don't know where it's going. It's not like he's going to compete for a starting job, but it's fine. He looked better than he did before, so that's good. Honestly, that's great because it felt pretty dark at the end of last week in Dallas.

He started wondering, like, it's even going to be on this team for sure. And I know they'd like to develop at least him through another season. And I have to mention, I know it doesn't matter. It's the preseason. But it mattered to Brandon Aubrey that he hit a 66-yarder in this game. Let's listen to the call because I thought this was kind of wasted on the preseason, but I got to say, the Cowboys enjoyed the hell out of this one. This is officially a 66-yard field goal.

He drills it, doesn't have enough. Oh, man, it's 66 for Aubrey. This is the end of the first half. Holy cow. Oh, that is awesome. If you watch us on YouTube, you can see all these highlights. Please do, you know, like, subscribe. Even if you're just audio people, you're old like me, just go to the YouTube and like it and subscribe it and, you know, help shook and myself out here.

But I love how much they celebrated that. 66 yards. He might be coming for Tucker's crown, not just the record, because that would have tied it. It was regular season. Maybe the title of the best kicker in the league. Who knows? Look, that would have been good from 69, maybe 70, maybe 70.

And it was the most electric moment of the preseason, in my opinion. I just happened to glance over as I was writing my notes off of the whole Minchu O'Connell disaster. And I'm like, is he spotted behind the midfield logo? And then he kicks it. And I'm like, oh, my God. And I checked the, you know, the stats. I'm like, that's good from 66.

That's why I tweeted in all caps. A kicker just made a 66 yard field goal. I know it's in a dome in preseason, but let's celebrate this, even if it doesn't matter the record book. I mean, Mike McCarthy was celebrating it. He was loving it. And let's move on to our next game. We can't spend that much time on each game here, Shooker.

We'll be here for two hours. Let's go to Washington, Miami. So it's take two for Jaden Daniels. I did go back and watch, you know, all of his dropbacks. What you get with him was just calm and poised. He had two long field goal drives. Nothing fancy.

But a lot of throws to the outside, he's just so comfortable, even going to a second, third read to the outside. And I know they were mostly short throws. But he just looks like that dude. And he's just one of the stories to me of the last month of just everyone who's watched Daniels at practice, everyone that was at the Dolphins, Washington,

joint practice said how well he did too. And he just, he's had a level of comfort, frankly, that I think exceeds on the, at least on the practice field and in a way in the preseason any of the other rookie quarterbacks. I don't know how much that means, but I think it's a good thing if you're a commander's fan. I mean, it justifies what he did at LSU and winning the Heisman trophy. You know, he traveled a long road just to get to the NFL. He was at two different schools. He had a ton of playing experience in college, and it's kind of showing right now, not to mention the athletic gifts that he has. They translate to the modern game of football. This is the type of quarterback that a lot of teams

seek. And I think Washington's got one. And as long as he can stay healthy and they can protect him and kind of surround him with an offense that will insulate him properly with, you know, talent and a bit not putting too much on his shoulders. Then I think they're in a great spot. It's really encouraging to see a kid like that step into a preseason environment and handle it with poise. I haven't seen a quarterback, and this is going to sound like I'm making a crazy comparison, but I haven't seen a quarterback handle live bullets like that that comfortably since Joe Burrow did when he was a rookie with the barrels. So very good start for him. Well, I will point out it's a limited sample size.

But he has not played as much as the others. He's played, what, three drives? They were all good drives, though. Thinking of which, there's a quick note on preseason games and how many guys can get on the field, 19 different commanders were targeted at least once in the passing game in that game. That's wild.

The funniest moment, you said Daniels has to stay healthy, but the best moment in that game to me was when he did not slide and get down quick enough on one of his runs, and he took a hit. It wasn't a massive hit. like some of the ones he took in the SEC, but he took a hit. And he was on the sideline. And he immediately turned to Dan Quinn, who was right there and started apologizing.

Now, after the game, we heard from Dan Quinn and Daniels that he probably turned because Daniels was barking at him, like upset about him not getting down. And they laughed about it. But Daniels has reportedly been put on double secret probation from Dan Quinn, which is an animal house reference. So he's definitely like your uncle, Dan Quinn. He's made a top gun and animal house reference in back-to-back weeks, which I like. Well, I mean, it fits the way he looks, you know, bald guy, got that goatee going. You know, it fits. Okay. One thing to keep an eye on with Washington, Jahan Dotson, seems like he's really battling for the second receiver job,

maybe the third. That's something to watch as a potential trade. I listened to Ben Standig's podcast. And he said there's just been something a little off with Dotson all off season and how last year ended and new coaching staff. So that's just something to watch. And then for the Dolphins, a couple good signs this week, Tua looked great in his one drive. No surprise, but he looks like Tua, which is cool to see comes out five for five. Jalen Phillips came off the Pup list this week. And it wasn't one of those like, hey, I'm going to do some individuals and slowly ramp up. Like he was practicing a lot. That's huge for them. If he can actually contribute in week one.

And then OBJ, still not practicing. Still on the pup list. I just like mentioning this because I keep seeing people insert OBJ. It's like, oh, this three receiver set and OBJ, it's like, I don't know. Is he going to be a factor on this team? Like, if you gave me over under 500 yards,

I would say under because I just don't expect them to necessarily play football that consistently. It just hasn't happened enough. It's going to open an opportunity for a guy by the name of River Craycraft who made a nice play in this game. you know. Yes, that was a beautiful throw and catch, especially the catch by Craycraft on the touchdown. Braxton Berrios is on this team, fighting for a spot. Who do they have? Washington

as like a younger receiver. We hit the dolphins a little bit last show, but it's a very exciting offense to look forward to for week one. Nate Tice, our friend, noted just how crazy their shifts they're getting and their motions already in the preseason, some of their really short ones with the tight ends. And you know Mike's cooking up some stuff in the lab that the reporters can't quite report on until it starts. So I'm excited to see them. Let's talk a little Jets Panthers. All right. Jets Panthers was a game we don't need to really go over. Backups versus backups. So I will mention just what I read about them this week in the joint practices that everyone who watched them said the Panthers offense actually kind of got it done against the Jets defense. So if you're looking for

positives. They're not playing Bryce Young in the preseason, which is a little surprising. Them having a nice day, Terrace Marshall, Jonathan Mingo, having some big gains against the Jets defense and Young by all accounts. Jets reporters, Panthers reporters, kind of maybe winning the day if you had to decide,

okay, that's something that wasn't happening last year. Well, it's good for Mingo too because he had a really rough rookie year. He had about as rough a rookie year as Quentin Johnson did. And if he can get back on track, that would be a big boost for them. You know, they spent some time revamping their receiving core. They went and got Deonti Johnson the offseason. But if you can get Mingo to produce alongside Bryce Young with Dave Canales overseeing the whole operation,

then they could finally get out of this nightmare that they were in under Frank Reich last year where they had no direction offensively, no creativity, no chance of really moving the football very often. That would be a huge step forward in the first year of Dave Canales being there. But we'll see. Now, I'm sorry. I know you've tried to go back and watch as much as this as you can. I went more like notes on some of these because Adrian Martinez and Heasley versus Plummer, Jack Plummer, and Luton, that's peak preseason. I felt like I didn't need to see that.

I had a buddy at the game. He lives in Charlotte and he goes, ah, I left the Panthers game before I got to see Tino Martinez playing, like, you know, making a reference to the old baseball player. And I go, you mean the former Nebraska Cornhusker? You bite your tongue. Right. Look, these are all players. who are better at playing football than I will be anything I ever do in my life. But in terms of application to our job, didn't feel as relevant.

Tack McKinley had a moment in this game. He's supposedly going to make the Jets team. He's on the Jets, by the way. Malachi Corley, which I think a lot of people were excited about, third round pick for the Jets, maybe being their slot guy. He is clearly behind Xavier Gibson on their depth chart. So that's a guy that, you know, on draft day you're like, oh, yeah, slot him right in.

But it sounds like you might take a little while to get. going. And then Olu Foshanu, their first round pick, they're kind of cross-training him at left tackle and right tackle, but that's a good thing. It shows their offensive line is actually healthy right now. So he's been a left tackle. That's what he's going to be as a pro, but he's playing a little right tackle right now to be ready in case there's any injury. So those are good things. I think the Jets have had overall a really nice training camp and stayed healthy on offense. Let's get to the other New York team. Texans Giants. This one was interesting because both starters played, C.J. Stroud versus Daniel Jones. The Giants played their starters the whole

first half. What were your takeaways here, Nick, from Daniel Jones's first action off in ACO? Well, it's a little rough. I mean, two interceptions is never something that you're happy about. And this is a year in which the Giants kind of need to produce. They need to be much better than they were last year because of how far they took a step backward last year. It's not a good start. But it's also shaking off some rust. He hasn't played in a long time. And he had a long road of recovery to get back on the football field. So I'm not going to sound the alarm bells yet.

But then again, I'm not a Daniel Jones believer. So this does not surprise me very much at all. And if you look, you know, what else they have behind him? We don't need to be, you know, back in a Tommy DeVito situation again here. So hopefully he gets back on track. Right now and should be back before the start of the season. But right now, yeah, it's Tommy DeVito. So this is one where I am glad I went back to watch his draft.

drop back because I saw the highlights. I mean, you couldn't have scripted a bigger freaking disaster. To come off in ACL, his first throw goes right into Derek Stingley, the Houston cornerbacks bread basket. Stingley can't bring it down, but it could have been an interception. And he has a screen pass. His next throw, I believe, maybe it was two throws later, is just one of the worst pick sixes you'll ever see falling down in the end zone just can't be thrown he just throws it up it's a gift wrap pick six and then later in the first quarter he under throws a deep ball which was just a bad throw so he said it afterwards one bad decision one one bad throw and that's intercepted too this time by stingley who might be ready for an all pro year like he just it looks awesome but i did watch the rest

of the first half. And granted, it came against the Texans' backups. But he had some dimes the rest of the game, actually. He had a long, nice throw to Darius Slayton, and he had a beautiful outrout that everyone noticed how insane to catch, how acrobatic it was from Malik Neighbors, and we're going to watch it here. But if you're watching it on YouTube,

I want you to look at an opposite hash throw, and Daniel Jones had about three of these in this game and that was a nice a nice ball by Daniel Jones. Jones down the sideline. Neighbors a leaping grab and a tiptoe to get his feet in. That's a first down. And that's a tip your cap play.

If you're a Texan, you just tip your cap to a guy. I'm making a great play. You just tip your cat and you see why they talk about Malik neighbors the way they did. That is just a sick sideline cat. Malik Neighbors is so good. He looked so good in this game. But yeah, they protected Daniel Jones in the second.

second quarter. And he was way more aggressive than he had been the last couple years, which is kind of like the younger Daniel Jones, the one I wanted to see. So considering how completely awful his start was, I actually thought it showed a little something that he came back and spun it like a quarterback should when they're protected that well against backups, but he did it, you know? Yeah, that's the frustrating thing with Daniel Jones is that he has those flashes and you see the armed talent and you see the potential. It's just not consistent. But I will say, I don't know what it is about the Texans. They played an extra preseason game because they play the Hall of Fame game.

And in the Hall of Fame game, Colin Johnson was making the same catches down the sideline, almost identical to what Malik Neighbors did there. So Texans, I don't know what it is about attempts along the boundary, but stop getting mossed. Of course, there are some rookies that come in and you want to say, oh, the preseason doesn't matter. It's like it matters if every single practice report says Malik Neighbors is dominating everyone across from him and dominating the target share.

And then you can just see him pop. You're like, okay, he pops. in the same way on an NFL field like you expect. I'm not saying he's going to have 1,500 yards, but it's not, I think he might have a chance to have a Jamar Chase like rookie year just because of all the targets that he's going to have and he's so talented.

His worst play, and he was killing himself whereas he didn't come down with an acrobatic catch early from Jones. That was Jones's second pass. But on that play, like he dusted Stingley, who's so good. And even that, I was like, that's impressive.

This kid's going to be awesome. Yeah, and the Giants, they haven't had a big-time receiver like this since Odell. So, like, if you can actually slot that into their depth chart and count on that. That's a huge step forward from a roster development standpoint, even if everything around them

is still pretty fluid. And watchability. So let's not, let's just wait a little bit on Jones. I'm not pushing the panic button. Jalen Petrie was everywhere in this game. It was nice to see C.J. Strau just play football. He was just all class, all calm.

He was good. That was about it. Like, he got a little bit to Stefan Diggs, a little bit to Nico Collins. Like everyone got involved in this game. So I've looked at this death chart in watching these Texans games and I'm trying to figure out

what their receiving room is going to look like. And I look at the stats, and I see John Metchy had six catches for 68 yards in a touchdown. And I've been worried about John Metchy a little bit. I know his career got off to a rough start. Obviously, he had the cancer diagnosis, and it kept him out of football the first year. But it seemed like he's never really gotten back on track, especially with his pedigree where he came from in college. And if you look at their top six right now, I mean, you're looking at Tank Delle,

Stefan Diggs, Nico Collins, Robert Woods, Noah Brown, and then John Metchie. Six is like, that's right on the bubble there. But having a game like this could go a long way toward him, you know, getting back on track and proving that he deserves a roster spot. Yeah, I've heard the same thing in Houston, too, because some of their other younger receivers also have been, you know, making a push. You know, maybe Robert Woods or Noah Brown aren't locks for this team. They could be a, maybe their guys.

I'm going to write this down right now because we're doing a show about potential guys that could change. And, like, those are two guys that, like, maybe another team throws a conditional sixth four because they want to keep matchy. That was a big game for him. You're right. He's been through a lot. Also a huge injury, obviously, that he was coming back.

from when he got drafted before the leukemia. So it is nice to see he dominated. He had an entire drive all to himself. Michael McFadden, the Giants linebacker, who is a good player, got carted off in this game. So that is something to watch. Let's wrap with one of the games I think will be more quick before our first break. Let's just do Ravens, Falcons, backups a plenty.

No Michael Pennix. They said they've seen enough for Michael Pennix. They're just one of those teams that don't want to play guys in the preseason. The Ravens, the only starters they played, and I thought this was telling, were three of their starters on the offensive line. It looks like they've settled in on Andrew Vorhees, Daniel Falulele, who will be the biggest offensive lineman or guard, maybe, I believe in the history of the sport, and Roger Rosengarden. And they were playing, and they haven't maybe stood out. And Jeff Zizzarback, I don't know how to say his last name of the athletic. Like I said, they haven't really played that well in camps.

So that's just something to watch with the Ravens, but it looks like those are your three guys. Yeah, I'm tracking Vorhees just because he was a guy that came out with a ton of potential out of USC, and then he shredded his knee at the combine and missed his entire rookie year. It felt like a value pick, a long-term play, kind of a David Ajabo type play, and that hasn't really panned out either. But I'm hoping that it does for him just because he had so much potential coming out of college. I would love to see him get back to where he was supposed to be and then ascend from there. Well, it looks like he's going to be starting week one for one of the best offense in the league.

So he's got a chance. You mentioned Ajabo. I'm glad you did. devastating his injury history as a pro. He was a pick that the Ravens had and is coming off another season-ending injury. And he played his first snaps in this game in a long time and reportedly looked okay. So he is on the men. And then, yeah, just it's kind of settled with me, just how sick a safety tandem Justin Simmons and Jesse Bates could be. I know Justin Simmons wasn't quite himself in a decent, in a decent, different system last year.

And so we'll see if he's really lost the step. But man, that's a lot of smarts in the back end of this defense here for the falcons. I've got to give a lot of credit to the Falcons and Terry Fontno for acknowledging their weakness or being aggressive in the market. You know, they go make the Matthew Judon trade. They go sign Justin Simmons. They had already gotten bates a year prior and he balled out in his first year there. I mean, look, oftentimes fans sit back and say, we need to go get that guy, even if it doesn't

make sense, like, systematically. So good on Terry for going out there and saying, look, we're going to accrue talent, as much talent as we can to fill the needs that we have. Yeah, I think there are other teams out there. The Colts stand out where their fans are like, why didn't we get Justin Simmons? But they didn't. Uh, you know what we got to do? Chuck, let's take a break and we'll come back and let's hit Caleb Williams' second preseason effort after the break. what's up everybody daniel jeremiah here and i'm bucky brooks on move the sticks we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies coaching trends and how front offices construct winning rosters every week we study the tape talk to decision makers and share the insights you won't find anywhere else 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 math 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, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin.

And this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get.

Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Oh, yeah, we're back on NFL Daily. Some of these shows are short, like Friday's show with Silva. Some of these are long, but we're like packing it with so much goodness. Chalk full, chock full of info.

So much information. And this way you didn't have to watch the preseason. if you're out there, at least, you know, beyond... Unless you're a sicko like us. Yeah, unless you're... No, I mean, there are plenty of sickos, but pre-season's for, like, your own team. Although, I have a feeling people were tuning in

to check out Caleb Williams. That game was on NFL Network, I believe, live, and he's just must-see TV. He did it again. I know it was three straight, three-and-outs to start the game, like one or two, you know, misthrows and some bad runs from the running game, but then he got going and just had...

had a bunch of sick plays in the last two drives. Which one should we start with, Eric, behind the glass? Howie just bails out of the pocket here. And this is the toughest throw you can do. Throw into your left away from the arm side, right? And he does it. I mean, that is in the bucket, off platform, away from the arm side. That's the type of stuff at USC that was dropping jaws of scouts across the country.

And he does it effortlessly. And he's done it so many times. that is absolutely ridiculous him rolling to the left throwing up the left sideline contorting his body so that his shoulders are square enough to get that ball but that's just a ball that you know i went to a game with east and stick and stets and bennett this weekend and they're just playing a different sport no slight to them but just to see that ball fly out of the hand and go that far and it was a nice catch by a dunce. It just makes you realize what's possible for a quarterback like Caleb Williams. Yeah, it actually gives a lot of credence to the whole offseason hype machine that has surrounded

the bears because, look, I was in the camp that, you know, keep riding with fields and trade the pick and add talent. Well, they said, no, we're going with this guy who's superior. And I've seen enough through preseason games. Like, he hasn't even played the full game. And I know he'll run run into the bumps that rookie's run into. But like, that kind of stuff right there is special. Like, I'm not saying he's generational. I'm going to avoid that term, but that type of stuff is special and can change your franchise. So to see him in the preseason is great. I will.

I think he did more in college, the games I watched when I went back to what. Like, he did more than anyone I've seen since luck. So whatever you want to call it, like, it's going to translate. Now, does it translate to being multiple pro bowler? Does it translate to like a Philip Rivers level of achievement? does it translate to all-time great? Like, there's different levels to it. But it's got to translate somewhere on that continuum.

It's not going to not translate. Like, it's just not. How long and how much can he rely on the improv? Because he is holding the ball a long time. He is. He made some quicker decisions. But, look, that was a question people were asking about Aaron Rogers through, like, the first six or seven years of his career

while he was winning MVP's. And having some ups and downs, actually, and having some downstretching. too. So there are different ways to do it. Let's look at a play where Adunze did not keep his feet in bounds, but this was actually my favorite play by Caleb of the game. It was close to being a touchdown. Big run by Herbert. Now the big pass at seven-month in Redso. Williams trying to improud with those feet. Keep the play alive. To the corner of the end job. Williams Oh my God. Greg, Greg, I mean, along the sideline finds a guy open in the back corner of the end zone. Yeah, his foot was out of bounds, but wow. And that's arm talent right there, just ripping it down the sideline through the traffic, beautiful stuff. I mean, it's just crazy because those are plays that Mahomes pulls off. Just not many people in the history of the game have made plays like,

that and just the absolute and utter confidence and you saw this in the college you weren't sure how and we'll see in regular season play how much it translates like he is not even worried about the first guy coming through tackling him he's dancing with these pass rushers three feet in front of them and thinking what am i going to do not even thinking oh this guy could actually sack me he's just making them look bad and then make a throw like that and yeah two plays later if you know if you watch highlights you would have seen the ridiculous scramble touchdown that he had. So it's just play after play. It's exciting. I'm not crowning him. I don't know what is with like Twitter. People are like not what like don't enjoy this Caleb Williams like thing. Just enjoy it.

It's fun. It's football. Like this is how I felt watching Patrick Mahom start playing. I was like, this is going to be great for the next 15 years. I was right. Yeah. And it's it's panned out. Now I'm not going to be a bucket of cold water, but you did make a good note there that he does hold on the ball a little long. And I do worry about what that's going to look like when the pressure increases because I don't think this line's going to hold up quite as well in a regular season environment as it has against a vanilla defense in the preseason. He does, it's not that it's processing slow, but the hitching, like he's doing a lot of pocket hitching and I'm worried about what that's going to do. But if he can evade and extend plays like that,

we're thinking not only Patrick Bahams, I'm thinking a little bit of early Russell Wilson and the way that he used to extend plays. Sure. I like that. And yeah, I'm not expecting it all to be easy. This was against the Bengals backups. It took a while for their starting group to get going. So that's all worth noting. But the plays are the plays. And there's only so many people that I've ever seen that could make those plays. So you can see it with your eyes. It doesn't matter who's it's against. Kyler Gordon was back in this game, just very active for the Bears. Keep an eye, you know, with all these backups in the game for the Bengals, there wasn't a lot to take out of it. But keep an eye on Jamar Chase's situation. It's just been sitting around.

Like, it's about time. This is actually the week that it's kind of like it's about time to fix that. So we'll see. Yoshavash, I've mentioned on the show many times under you. He's really locked in as their wide receiver three. And then with Amarius Mims' injury, the spotlight's on Trent Brown and Trent Brown just has not been

a reliable player throughout his career. And just from what we've heard, he has not been on the field at Bengals training camp. He finally got back on then had another injury. And it's just, if a lot is going to be riding on Trent Brown and Amarius Mims to stay healthy. We'll see

if they can. Let's go to the Rams in Chargers, the game I went to, Nick Shook. I got to start with how the game presentation started. I went, I enjoyed the game. Okay, all right, review. Walker and I had fun. He really liked, he still loves it, even though it's the preseason. And like 30 minutes, maybe 15 minutes before the team was going to come out, they had already done their warmups, but they were going to come out for, you know, the real warmups the last time. They were like, about 15 minutes. till Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers come out. And I was like, okay, well, that's different.

I've never heard a team kind of announced that way, but maybe it's just the PA guy, just, you know, kind of having some fun. It's the first game. And then when they came out onto the field, when they introduced them, they welcomed them as Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers. Like, I don't know why that really got me.

It was like Alvin and the Chipminks. Like, I'm the, like, the lead singer. of the band, Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers, like, that's how big a deal is. And I kind of liked how weird it is. Cut to immediately on the big screen at SoFi, it's a letter from Jim Harbaugh to all his players about being in the locker room and what it means to be a charger. And this is kind of like a pump-up speech that sometimes they'll play in games like this, but usually it's not the head coach of the team. And it's this long letter written and read by Jim Harbour. And I'm just thinking like, this is weird.

This is a lot. This is like the cult of personality. But I'm also kind of into it because it's Jim Harbaugh and it's different, but I like it. I just think about the Temptations movie. Ain't nobody come to see you Otis. They're all here to see Jim Harbaugh and him wearing cleats on the field before games. Yes. And they needed it though.

Like they had no identity prior. They didn't. And they needed a change. And if they're going to go all in, we'll see what happens. Maybe it's their PR, like them trying to push the Harbaugh thing. Yeah. But I tend to think because I just want, like, how did this all happen? I tend to think it, if I had to just guess, and it's just a guess.

That Jim Harbaugh was like, I want, I want it to be said Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers when they call me out. It's very 2001 Super Bowl, like Patriots can announce as a team, Rams get announced it individually. It's like the opposite of that. Yeah. Yeah. There was kind, they did show a, there wasn't a ton in this game. They played their starters, which doesn't include Justin Herbert right now.

They sat a couple guys that are banged up, but pretty much play their starts. Very creative with the run game and Joe Alt, like, you know, double team blocks and the power and the duo and he's on the move. And they stuck to it. Easton Stick was bad. He is not it. Anytime there was anything positive going, he just threw a hope ball or he fumble the snap on the goal line or threw a bad interception. And I just, I don't know, man. I don't know how you can go to week one with him as your starter if Justin Herbert doesn't get back.

Justin Harbor watching him during pregame warmups, though, no limp, throwing the ball around. It was him, Harbaugh, and another one of the quarterbacks who were kind of warming up the receivers. Harbaugh's arm is not as strong as what it used to be, like a lot more zip on the NFL quarterbacks. But it was decent. Much better than mine would be, but it was hanging up there a little bit. I think it is telling that they went inside Luis Perez, former U.S. He didn't look really great either. But the fact that they went and grabbed him tells me that they realize, uh-oh, this might be bad

behind Justin. We better hope Justin stays healthy. Yeah, they're a team to watch, I think, at the quarterback position in the next week. Just who could shake loose? I don't know. Tyler Huntley, maybe, from Cleveland. Like, that would be better. Like, there's just some, there's some guys out there that would be better than what they have. They were playing DJ Chark and Quentin Johnston pretty late into the third quarter of this game. You want to read into that. That was pretty interesting to me, you know, with Luis Perez, you know, playing after Brandon Rice and Darius Davis, just that's a weird situation. And then I think it hasn't gotten a lot of attention that Matthew Stafford has a hamstring injury and just continues to miss practice

and is going to continue to mispractice. Sean McVease says it'll be fine for week one, but I'm a little concerned about my 36-year-old quarterback with a soft tissue injury, Rams fans. Yeah, I mean, I'd be concerned. Hamstrings can be tricky because they don't heal quickly. They can be nagging. You rush back too soon. You're going to get a bigger issue and he's not young. So fair, valid, but I'm not going to panic

until it starts to limit him on the field and then at that point, uh-oh. No, they put their announcers. They have like one of the best announcing teams with Mina Kimes and Andrew Siciliano, our friend, both of them are our friends

of course, they're both so good, and Andrew Whitworth. and then they have Sean McVeigh in the booth during the game. Did you catch any of that? I did not. I actually do want to go back and watch it, but I was trying to catch up with all these games.

I have not seen that yet. Yeah, and I was in the same boat, but I did see Aubrey Pleasant on the sideline, fire in his team up, really embracing being the head coach for a day. It was nice. I like that. I like what he did,

putting a spotlight on Aubrey Pleasant, which if you hear people around the league, like kind of talk about young rising talents, he has such a great reputation. Jordan Woodington, I think, is a real receiver. I think they have really good depth. He has looked like their best offensive player through two weeks of the preseason for the Rams.

All right, let's move on to your Browns. They played the Vikings. Let's go with the biggest news between these two teams that have happened since we started, which is just Stefan Gilmore's on the Vikings. That was the team that to me made all the sense in the world. The Panthers, I think, wanted him. They needed a cornerback.

I think Gilmore chose the team that's better and he chose a defensive coordinator he knows well in Brian Flores. Yeah, you know, look, we saw two veterans get signed this week, right? The other one being Justin Simmons. It kind of reeks of the old, like, Michael Strayhan sitting out of practice thing,

but sitting at a training camp. Well, that isn't because it's this portion too because training camp officially ended like this week. Now it just goes into regular season prep mode. Right. So you could step on a field and be like, all right, I'm here, I'm ready to prepare for the season.

I didn't need camp, and I'm going to ball out. It's a nice reinforcement for them. A team that on paper is a bit in flux, but could use some help at that position. So I like the signing for them. It's kind of a no-brainer. Yeah, they've been really injured, and I think they needed a cornerback

before they were injured, and then they got injured. I think that's a big move for them. I know that playoff game is in everyone's mind, at least Packers fans, when I threw out the possibility of Gilmore joining the Packers at one point. Yeah, he got smoked a few times in the...

It was the end of a long season, and he's a veteran. He played really well for the Cowboys for most of the last year. Yeah, also, speaking of corners with the Vikings, they made that trade, Nashan Wright from Dallas. Andrew Booth goes to Dallas. Andrew Booth had a hell of a game in that Raiders game, by the way. I know he didn't touch on it earlier, but he was fantastic. Yes, he was a great open field tackler.

Well, that's where the preseason... That's not what he's known for, by the way. I know. In the preseason, that's what it's for. like that dude was not a lock to make that team i think when that trade was happening but a game like that then you make the team yeah and that's what the preseason is for uh the browns are in a bit of a crisis with their tackles yep i didn't realize jeddrick wills i knew he started camp on the pupplest but he's still there and then his backup got her and then his backup got her

and they're starting right tackle jock conklin is still on an injury list so that's that's on a one. That's four tackles that are hurt. That's not good. I would expect them to make an addition if any of those are serious. Obviously, you have Duane Jones on the right side, so that's kind of a fail save for them on that side. But on the left side, Jed Wills, and you and I have talked about this, but Jed Wills is a guy who has never lived up to his first round billing, but still not having him is concerning. And then losing his backups is even more concerning. I mean, I've never been a Hakeemad Energy guy, but I've also never really been a James Hudson guy, but I would like to have either of them on the field as opposed to not. So we'll

No, yeah, that was... So, yeah, Hudson was a backup, and then his backup also got hurt. We'll see. They also made a trade. This is just a team that's been really injured in general. Yeah. Like, Jerry Judy's barely practice for this team,

Newsom, a couple other starters on the Pup List. Like, they're quietly top five most injured teams in the league, without doubt, maybe top three. They lost Senator Luke Whippler in the game against the Packers and had to go trade to bring Nick Harris back from Seattle, a guy that they had drafted, who suffered his own injury in preseason a few years ago. So they've made moves already

and they're probably going to have to make more. I think they've had a bad camp in general just because of the injuries. That's the worst thing that can happen. And then some off-field stuff, we hadn't addressed this on the show, Michael Hall, their second round pick,

defensive linemen, arrested for a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. He continued practicing with the team and actually played in this game. So they are continuing to employing. employ them and play them, and they said they're going to wait for the legal process to run its course with that, but that's just another thing for the Browns. And a decision that, you know, they didn't

have to make. Some players who are lower on the depth chart, they have a domestic violence charge, and there was some of the details that came out in the police report, they get cut, and it didn't happen in this case. All right, let's move to Titans Seahawks. Another backup's a plenty game. I know you watch some of it, Chuck. So what do you got for me? What was interesting from Titan's Seahawks? Slinging Sammy Hal, baby. Okay, okay.

We, back on the around NFL podcast, about a year ago at this time, I was flabbergasted that Ron Rivera was going to proceed with Sam Hal as a starting quarterback going to 2023. And there were glimpses at times where I was like, I see why he went with him. And ultimately the wheels fell off. We know what happened in Washington. Well, he seems to have taken a small step forward with Seattle.

Or he just doesn't care in his letting it rip because he had a heck of a game in Nashville. He's throwing passes down the seam, down the sideline, dropping dimes all over the field. Well, letting the rip was never an issue.

He lets it rip, that's for sure. But even navigating the pocket, he threw a beautiful touchdown pass to Esop Winston. I mean, dropped it in the bucket. You couldn't run it up there and put it in the guy's hand better than he placed it.

Overall, just a great game for him. And it excites me to have, you know, Sam Hal getting an opportunity to get those reps while Gino Smith is not playing during the preseason. Not saying I ever want to see them go to him, but for somebody who has already been through a lot in his short career, it was cool. It was nice to see. And by all accounts really struggled

to start training camp that the idea that there was going to be a competition was laughable because Gino came out hot and there wasn't going to be a competition anyways and he was how it was struggling. So that's good to hear. And I did go back because I wanted to find what happened during this week because they had joint practices and Titans and Seahawks played all their starters, obviously, in those joint practices, and that's where they got their work. Just a couple little notes there. Michael Sean Dugar, who does a really great job with the athletic, has noticed that like the Gino, JSN, Jackson Smith and Jigba, just the chemistry. He just believes it's been off the charts, the anticipation, the timing, the post-practice, you know, kudos that Gino is

giving to JSN. Just something to watch there, lock it, getting a little older. also there's been reports they're just really making a point to like throw it to decay even when sometimes the coverage dictates not to like he can still make those catches and decay is reportedly having a good camp and so you just might see a little

more of the target share I think for those two guys and maybe a little less Tyler Lockett who's getting a little older in the last year of his contract but either way that's a good problem to have like they are deep at wide receiver and I think they were lighting up the Titans because the Titans never have their cornerbacks practice

Legerius Sneed never practices, just like when he was in Kansas City because of his knee and Chidoby-A-Wuzzi has still been out with his calf injury so that they are a little short-handed in the secondary. Yeah, I'm curious in this depth chart. I would love to see if Jake Bobo makes this team. Oh, yeah. He was a fun guy to watch last year. Oh, yeah.

I think he's locked in at four or five. And that's a fun group. If you add him into that mix, that's a really fun group for Gino to throw to. He might have a real, you know, if he's four, he's only going to play if someone's hurt. But it wouldn't surprise that he'll have. a real chance to have a real role, like maybe replacing Lockett next year. I mean, that's a way to save some money if you think a guy like that can step up. Also, just a little housekeeping note, Arden Key, the pass rusher for the Titans' six-game PED suspension was overturned. You don't see

that too often. No, that's right. You know, the guys always say, I didn't do it. Here's why. Here's how. In this case, the league found the evidence compelling, according to ESPN, reported it. They actually weren't the first to report it, though. Jeffrey Simmons, the Titans defensive linemen, put it out there first. But ESPN confirmed it, and good news for the Titans there. All right, let's talk one of the games that I think was most interesting, Steelers' Bills. Let's talk Justin Fields. Okay, Justin Fields replaced Russell Wilson, who really struggled in this game.

And I get it. I'm driving that Justin Fields should start bandwagon here. but I got to say I went to watch this game after seeing everyone say that Nick and I expected like a good fields game and I didn't see it

I did have what you had some good fields and some bad fields that's every fields let's start with the good fields let's listen to and watch one of the nice plays from Justin Fields in this game

seven instead of a third and two Fields some pressure up the middle trying to get away from it and he does removing to his left throwing has his back for reception along the sidelines.

That is a sick play. He's about to get tackled. He gets out of it just because he's so strong. And then almost Caleb Williams, like, throws to the left with a lot of heat on a sideline route and gets to his receivers. And, yes, there were a few plays like that. But I saw you shaking your head.

So I think you're on the same page as me that it's still, he had a chance when Russell Wilson went out of that game to really say, this is my job. I don't think he quite went that far. Yeah. So that play specifically when I watched that live, I immediately got in the slack and let the guys on the desk know. I just saw the dumbest and most thrilling play of the preseason, which is Justin Fields pulling his best Eli Manning impression to break a sack and then get away and throw almost directly into coverage. It gets tipped and it gets caught in the sideline. But like I saw graphics being shared on

social media after the game comparing his and Russell Wilson's stats. And then at the bottom was like Steelers Mustard just three points. And that really tells you the story of what happened in this game. I know it's a preseason game, but it was a lot of what we saw in Chicago, and it was Justin holding on the ball too long, pulling his eyes down too quickly, getting panicked, acting frantically in the pocket, trying to make the best out of nothing and not really trusting his progressions. And it became pretty frustrating because he did miss an open touchdown throw at one point. He's still a supreme athlete. He still can extend plays and make plays with his legs, which is a big part of his production

in this game. But it's not consistent. It's not reliable enough to think that this guy can go out there and do that. on a weekly basis, it's more of the lightning in a bottle style of football that you never build your team around. And I was hoping that coming into Atlanta, or not coming into Pittsburgh, excuse me, after being in

Chicago, that he would be able to kind of take a next step with Arthur Smith as a O.C. And instead, I think it's, it might be a bad fit. And I'm worried about long term how it's going to play out. Okay, let's come down. We're in the preseason. Yeah, I know, I know. But on Russ's side, he doesn't have any time

to throw in that game. So it wasn't a good sample size for him either because that line doesn't look very good. No. Although it protected fields, I thought fine. Once he played Buffalo's backups. You hit the right point there, which is he was running from clean pockets. Like some of his best plays, and I get it, that he is exciting and he is the better option, I think, for a bad offense. And I also just think the offense itself looks like a total mess. And so the quarterbacks are part of it, but the protection, like their number two receivers van jefferson jalen warren left this game with a hamstring injury he might miss week

one that's really a bummer he you know he's i would say if he's not their best skill position player he's their second best behind george pickens like that's a huge problem for them but you know he left he left clean pockets and so even his some of his best scrambles were plays that when you watch the all 22 he had open receivers yeah and he didn't pull the trigger and that was well i think was similar between him and Russell Wilson that neither one of them were pulling the trigger. The difference was Russell Wilson just had very little protection, but the times that he did, he didn't look good. Before we move on from fields, we showed the good fields. I am going to show kind of my example of the bad field. And it is an option play. And Fields has nowhere to go.

And I think Buffalo knew it was coming and he's trapped in him to go for a significant loss and a change of possession. Joe Andreessen, a kid out of Buffalo, undrafted free agent number 44. led the way, but nobody was fooled on that play. So it's six to three at that point. Bill's late in the third, and they call a read option and doesn't feel the reason. He makes the wrong read. It was a touchdown if he just handed the ball off.

And that had just happened a couple of times. They wanted that score so desperately. I don't know if you watched for the very end, but they just kept going for it on fourth down in the red zone. They got there a couple times. And whether it was dropbacks, whether it was him running, Like, he was just sort of freezing.

Like, they wanted to leave with something positive at the end. That wasn't even the last time that he got close, and they didn't get it. And I think part of the reason Tomlin maybe wanted it, because maybe he wanted to feel us to just go win this job, do something positive because of the stink on the field after the Russell Wilson start. I mean, I get the offensive line was so bad. Project Jones could be a real problem with him. He got absolutely roasted a couple times at right tackle.

So that hurt Russell Wilson. But a couple times he did have a chance. Nick, I thought, in this game when you, when you slow it down, he just wouldn't let go of the ball, no anticipation on his throws, just waiting to see a guy open. And then he holds it on these two third and longs and ends up just dumping it down, which is not the old Russell Wilson, just playing it almost Sean Peyton like, just overly safe, just dumping it down and not really going for it. Yeah, the only time you ever got the ball out even relatively on time was when he dumped it down. And the arm's still there and everything, but like it's just, he doesn't

look comfortable. Another thing I have an issue with, and I know Troy Fittano not being able to play had a role in this, but Roger Jones is in his second year in the NFL, and he's playing on the left side, and then suddenly they're playing him on the right side. Like, I don't know if you remember the old Tristan Worf's quote, but playing right tackle as opposed to playing left tackles like trying to wipe your butt with the opposite hand. Like it's a little foreign and awkward. And that's not fair to do to a young tackle. I felt bad for him as soon as I saw him at right tackle to start the game because I'm like, this is not going to go. And Dan Moore has been graded poorly by PFF for years.

So, like, they're not going to be in a good situation against that Bill's defense. I wanted to write about how the Bill's defense looks so good. And then I'm thinking, that's the starters against an offensive line that's kind of patchwork and doesn't look very good. So I'm going to, you know, pump the brakes on that. It's just, it wasn't a good situation for Russell to show off anything because he didn't have time to throw. But then going back to Fields 2 real quick on that play that we just showed, this was the play that made me worried. Because this is a play that tells me this is a quarterback who's trying to go win a game or score on his own and not actually following the structure of the offense. It's a read option.

Just not seen the field. He never commits. You can see the field as a runner and a passer. Because the other fourth down play that they got stopped, he had time and just froze a little bit. So they're just not comfortable right now in Pittsburgh. No. It doesn't look like they're getting Brandon Ayuk, by the way. You know, it just, I think it's disappointing.

They also lost their center. One of the Herbig brothers, I can't. I don't know which Herberg is which. There's two Herbigs. It's Nate and Nick. They're both on the Steelers. One's a pass rusher. One was the starting center, but it sounds like he had a pretty serious injury.

Nate is the center. Nick is the linebacker. And they drafted a kid, Frazier, to kind of probably take that job anyways, and now he will be starting. So they're going to be young. We'll see. Maybe they'll get it all together. For the bills, they didn't play their starters too long in this game, right? They had Mitchell Trubisky.

They sat Josh Allen, but they played a lot of the other starters. Trubisky struggled and got hurt in the game, so that's a bad combination. Yeah, Trubisky looked bad. He actually was greeted by Steelers fans with the chorus of boost when they announced his name as the quarterback to store. Oh, gee, I wonder. He was like a backup that was fine for them. He was bad enough to get replaced by Mason Rudolph, and they realized how bad he was

because Mason suddenly led them to wins late down the stretch of the season. The defensively, the bills did play a decent amount of their starters for a little bit of time, but offensively it wasn't much. The only bright spot in this game was Ray Davis. Ray Davis is a dog, Greg. We talked about this last week. He's a nice little late round handcuff or just pick up. If you're not into drafting your running backs early, just take a shot on Ray Davis.

It's like what you said, West used to say. Preseason you can always tell when running backs are legit or not. Ray Davis is legit. Keep an eye on him. I thought it was interesting. I read Joe Basalia from the Athletic, his roster breakdown. Lyle Collins might not make this team for the bills. It's just a name out there that his career has been on the downslope,

but I would have expected him to make this Bill's team. And yeah, Greg Rousseau, who was the guy who was abusing Broderick Jones, could be in line for a breakout season. He's been a steadily rising good player, but reports are that he's been dominant at camp, and so I'm looking to him. Jags and Bucks played. Another backups game.

Mack Jones, looks like he locked up the backup job, which kind of was up. up for grabs because he reportedly hasn't looked that good in training camp with C.J. Betherd, but he played pretty well in this game, and Betherd didn't, and Betherd got hurt. So that pretty much ended that. Tank Bigsby's a second year running back who struggled as a rookie, who's had some nice preseason moments. And then I'm going to go to the joint practices and the reports out of that from Pewter Report.

And then John Shipley on s.a.com, who, you know, everyone just said Brian Thomas had a really strong joint practice showing just people just could not cover him. And so the combination of Brian Thomas going deep and then Gabe Davis actually being used kind of on intermediate routes has borne some fruit in the last week or two or so at Jaguars camp. I think that's Gabe Davis's greatest strength. When he was finding success in Buffalo, he was doing that. It wasn't him trying to stretch the field.

So I think it's a good complimentary duo there. Greg, Mac Jones, we know what Mac Jones is. And the duality of a Mac Jones football game is still wildly entertaining, both good and bad reasons. he's stumbling over himself in the pocket, but then he just rips a dime to Parker Washington, who, by the way, had a really good game, and I love the way that he's been playing this preseason

and carving out a role for himself on this roster as well, because they got some talent at receiver. But my God, it was just so fun to watch him play and actually just having fun with football again. He's not in New England anymore. He doesn't have the weight of a franchise on his shoulders. He can just go play football and enjoy it. So it was really nice to watch.

Yeah, he is the ultimate case, and I think Daniel Jones is another good one. to me, the number one test of, are you an NFL quarterback is, can you deliver all the time if you're protected? Because basically, all of them can. If you protect an NFL quarterback, like, they're going to be pretty good. Now, they'll just be like Dalton scale, like, right at the line good, maybe if they're a Mac Jones or Daniel Jones type of guy. But like, if you protect Mac Jones, he's actually, he's going to play well. And that's, those are the guys that have long careers and and can be at least in the league for a long time.

And Mac Jones can do that. Now, if you give him pressure, all bets are off. And I'll do some places. Yeah, watch out. He also might lose his mind a little bit. The Buccaneers are going to release Randy Gregory. That was weird, that entire saga. I don't know what happened.

They reportedly don't know what happened either, why he never showed up. I've heard some whispers that there's a team or two that want to bring him in, and maybe he knows that a team he'd rather go to. And so we'll see. rookie Chris Braswell reportedly had four sacks in a joint practice and they're counting on him to make some noise

and I think they're going to start him at this point and they're probably also going to start Tykey Smith at Nickelback so a little bit of a youth movement so those are two players to watch for the bucks we're going to take one more break we still have a few more games to get through Nick we have one more starting quarterback was decided on Sunday night I bet you can figure out who it was

What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots. from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow.

We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a die-hard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score,

this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different.

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

Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Back on NFL daily. During the break, I learned our hardworking producer, Eric, has a baby in his arms while he's producing. This is the type of extra effort that helps you make a team, Eric Roberts. I mean, you know, let's go. I mean, we're putting this show out on Sunday nights. We're trying to be unique by doing this, even in the preseason,

almost treating it like a regular season because, look, we have live football. We've been waiting for all offseason. And these questions that we had, Nick, back in May and June, and maybe we could have guessed the answer, who is the Denver Broncos starting quarterback. We probably would have guessed it right back in June, but we didn't actually know for sure until Sunday night, August 18th.

Who is our starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos, Nick? Bo Nicks. There we go. He's balling, baby. He's doing everything I thought he would do coming out of Oregon. He had another really nice game on Sunday night and kind of confirmed,

not that Stiddle was terrible, but just kind of confirmed that he's ready for the judge. and he's going to fit what Sean Payton wants and perhaps we'll support Denver's decision to spend a first round pick on him. We'll see, but good start for him. Now, we're taping this at a dangerous moment here.

I don't actually know that they're naming him the starting quarterback. I'm just assuming it because that's where it was headed. It was set up that way. He started this game and I don't know this for sure, but I bet Sean Payton did everything possible just break out the good stuff.

make sure Bo Nix was comfortable out there. He had the starters. He's going against the Packers' backups. The Packers sat like 30 guys and call all the best plays. Not that you shouldn't try to do that, but maybe game plan, just like a little bit more in the preseason that you wouldn't. To make your rookie play well, give him confidence because he's going to be your guy. And he delivered eight for nine, 80 yards, touchdown, 10 points in his two drive,

and then they just took him out. Would have been two touchdowns, but the first touchdown throw he had that he was about a yard past the line of scrimmage. It's actually a pretty impressive improvisational play where he just lost track of just where he was on the field. So that was a mistake. But otherwise, he got out of pressure and they diced them up. I mean, you can say it's against the backups, but a lot of times we don't see starters dice up the backups. They diced up the backups. Yeah. I mean, this is the right step for a Sean Payton tenure that has been fraught with issues since he arrived.

He showed up to a team that he did not, but the quarterback that he didn't want, that he didn't choose, and tried to make the best of it and then realized this was not going to work. Maybe, down the stretch, no. He like, tried to make the best of it. Well, also letting everyone know

this was not his guy. Yeah, and we're going to bench him because of money and it's going to cause a whole thing. And now they're on to, you know, clear skies and new beginnings with Mr. Boe Nix, who actually, you got to feel good for the kid because he started his career Auburn and then ended up transferring to Oregon and had all this playtime in college to really

develop because he never really developed at Auburn. And now you look at him the NFL and you're like, oh, that kid's seen a lot of action. And he looks more prepared than most guys at his age. Well, that's the benefit of him and Jaden Daniels being so old and playing so much college football that they can come into the league and they're just way more experience. It's almost like the four-year college basketball players versus the guys who are just, one and done that, yeah, maybe they have a lower long-term ceiling, but a lot of times they can come in the league in the NBA and, like, be a valuable role player right off the bat. And that's what in Bo Nix's case, I think the role he's trying to fill, not be a role player, but be just a

solid, steady quarterback. We'll see. I'm, I'm way more interested in this Seahawks Broncos week one game than I was like a month ago. I don't know why. I guess just, I'm just curious about both these teams. I want to see what it looks like. Bo Nix, very, very solid camp. Devante Williams, very nice camp, has had some juice. He's their starter at running back. Tim Patrick, there was some question whether he would even make this team. He's made some plays in the preseason. Riley Moss is going to lock down the job at cornerback, I believe, opposite Patrick Sertan. So he'll be, I believe, the first white starting cornerback in a long time because Cooper DeGine's been hurt, so everyone expected he's going to be the guy,

but actually it's going to be Riley Moss, who was beaten on a play deep at one point, but for the most part played well in this game. I'm not going to take much out of the Packers because they didn't play any of their starters, but this actually has made me more optimistic, Nick, about the Broncos than anything, is that all the Packers and Broncos reporters that were there at the training camp practice was like, oh, yeah, Denver kind of put it on them on both sides, especially the defense, that the Packers' defense, which has reportedly struggled throughout camp, like Packers' defense has been giving it to him pretty good, and now the Broncos' defense gave it to him

pretty good. And reportedly, Bo Nix held his own and did pretty well in the joint practices, too. Now, maybe it's the mile high air, or maybe the Broncos are just like a little more ready right now than we expect. Who knows? I don't want to draw too much from it. But if I'm a Packers fan, I'm like a mildly concerned. Well, yeah, because they're going into season with so many expectations after how they ended last year, and we don't take too much way from camp and preseason and everything else. But I just think from a Broncos perspective, it's really nice to see what Sean Payton could potentially do. Because last year, there were times where I was like, man, he's halfway to the country club. Like, this is the Mike Ditka and the Saints job for him. And yet now they look like they're

in a better position. So I'm very excited to watch them. And also, a tradition unlike any other, Seahawks, Broncos, week one. We're just going to make that an annual thing now. Okay. I like that. Look, Sean Payton's a Hall of Famer. He's one of the best offensive coaches ever, period. Yeah. I've been doing this since 2004. He might still be my, you know, him and Kyle Shanahan would be my number one, number one and number two, and Andy Reed, number one, two, three in some order.

Even last year, I think you could see that he could coach offense. Like, he just gets his teams to focus on the details so well. He's just a special coach. It's everything else that was going on. So we'll see. My guy Michael Pratt didn't really take advantage of his chance to become the backup quarterback. Both him and Sean Clifford have both been struggling, but Pratt with a fumble in this game couldn't really move the ball. Final score, Broncos 27 Packers 2.

I usually don't even give this final score, but that one is just a, you know, objectively funny final score, 27 to 2. Cardinals Colts. This was the game I have the hardest time taking. anything from, just because there's not a ton of reports from either of his teams during the week. There wasn't a lot of starters in this game. Trey Benson, the rookie running back of the Cardinals, I thought, had a bunch of really good runs, a really great touchdown run that was like, wow, this guy can cut laterally while really moving fast. So that was impressive. James Boyd of the athletics says the 80 Mitchell's really been playing better of late in that, this wide receiver three

job when Josh Downs gets healthy again. Maybe it will be Mitchell over Alec. years, who knows, it's kind of gone back and forth. Maybe they'll split it. I'm telling you, Mitchell, if you give him the runway, you give him the length of time he needs to acclimate, the kid is so talented, he's going to make himself a role. It's just, you have to have patience with him. And the good thing about the Colts is that what we learned last year is that they have plenty of patience because they lost their quarterback after a month and found a way to still stay competitive with Gardner Minchu. So keep an eye on A.D. Mitchell, in the long run, I think he's going to end up being a productive player. And all the criticism going to

the draft is just going to be, you know, an afterthought. I thought it was interesting. Odingbo was playing in the fourth quarter of this game. I had him on my top 50, three agents of 2025. Maybe I had him too high if he's playing in the fourth quarter of this game. Good pass rusher for the Colts, but a little further down the depth chart, maybe than I thought. Layatulatu, by all accounts, has just been awesome at their training camp.

I want to say more about the Cardinals. I need, I need more data. I'm not hearing enough about like Marvin Harrison Jr. I could hit you with their backup quarterback battle. It doesn't seem like it's Desmond Ritter, but there's not a lot right now. So give me more, Cardinals, reporters. I know you're out there.

I'm missing it. I'm not seeing it. So give it to me. I need more. And the fans, like, let me know what's going on, what's interesting there. Jodani Woods is a name at Tight End of the Colts. Just, again, playing in this game.

is he a lot to make this team just a name that I used to be pretty high on and hasn't been working out for him. I don't think he's in his tough spot because that tight end group also has Mo Allie Cox. Not the same guy. Kyle and Grayson was also sat in this game which means that that's their two tight ends

but yeah, I guess yeah, but he's down the list. Saints 49ers was our other Sunday night game. 49ers 16. Saints 10. Tayson Hill. They're really using him at running back. Like, for real, for real, and it looks good.

Like, and I'm digging it. Who would have thought that Sean Payton leaves and Taysam Hill gets better? I thought Taysam Hill maybe had his best year ever last year. And now that he's like a real running back, along with everything else he is, I don't think he's a tight end anymore, but you could still use him as a receiver a little bit.

Like, whew, I don't know, I'm into it. The best use of him in this game that I saw tonight, lead blocking for Jamal Williams around the left side and just getting into his assignment and clearing a path for Jamal to get a first down. I was like, yeah, we know he loves contact.

We know he loves to do a little bit of everything. So why not throw him out in front and lead the way? Yeah, some talk about is Jamal Williams definitely making this team, even though Alvin Camara has been hurt. Five for 32 tonight. So had a good night. That should help his case.

And yeah, Tason Hill actually scored a touchdown as a lead blocker as a fullback on a fourth and fourth in goal. Derek Carr started this game, seven for nine, 47 yards. You know, they did have a scoring drive. I asked my friend, Adam West,

from the Saints Block Party podcast, who was at the game, at that nice in-person, all 22, like me and Walker did. And I said, if you send me some notes, I was just going to read him on the show. We'll get his live reporting.

So here we go. I'm going to edit this somewhat, because he's a little too anti-Derry. Carr. The offensive line was better. It was mostly against 49ers backups, but yeah, Rattler had a shaky game. Some was on him, some was on his teammates. But I think the, the Rattler agenda of him potentially at some point challenging Derek Carr that was put on hold. Right now, Jay Canner has a chance to still be the backup. We don't know. They're pretty deep at linebacker, the Saints. That's a good thing to have. Adam says, no clue who the starting

safety is opposite Tyron Matthew. That's interesting. And then I did want to highlight this last point. Chase Young looks good and Brian Brissy is going to make the leap. And yeah, there has been like a steady drumbeat of Chase Young really wreck and shop and Brian Brissy I think is a really good second year player. So if you're looking for the strength, maybe the most interesting thing about the Saints is that defensive line actually could be quite good. Carl Granderson. You still have Cam Jordan in a little bit of a different role. That's a good group. I like Brisee because he doesn't fit the traditional mold of the detackle, but he's so fast that you can

win with that. He's not Aaron Donald, but what made Aaron Donald so good? Quickness, power, right? Brisees quick. So to hear that is good, I cannot wait to see him operate as part of that defensive front for this team because their offense still isn't very good. Like, I know

it's the preseason, but they have a hard time scoring. They had a hard time getting in the end zone today when they got to the doorstep. So if they need to lean on their defense more, it's going to start up front. It always starts up front. So that's exciting for them. Then again, sometimes you see starters out there and they really struggle and you're like, you know, Brock Purdy went two for six for 11 yards and threw one of the more curious passes

of the week that almost got picked off across his body. And I don't think anything differently of Brock Pretty after that performance. It's just like, eh, it's okay. I've seen enough. He was also playing with backups. I'm sure the 49ers wanted him to get some good work in and he didn't. So that's disappointing. but their big issue is who's not there.

Brandon Ayuk, we'll see. At this point, I think the big expectation is he will sign. And then I did think it was interesting. Christina Pink, the Fox sideline reporter, who spoke, I believe it was with Shanahan and said, said as much as like they're not worried about Trent Williams that that's going to be taken care of in time. And you are saying about the veterans skipping camp, basically.

I think there is a little bit of that going on. with Trent Williams. He's going to get some sort of raise. And I think this week is probably the week that he shows up. Whether it's early in the week, late week, I don't know. Don't hold me to it, but I think this is the week. And if it's not this week, it'll be early next week. I also want to just note quickly, the Saints, they would be on that list of the most injured teams too. Marshall and Latimore, where are you? Like, is this, he went out with an injury right at the start of training camp, hasn't been seen since. They've had a bunch of other players in and out, Rashid Jihad, Alvin Camara, been hurt.

Fugas hurt right now, although I don't think that's serious. So just a lot of key players, if you look at their starters, they're just been hurt. So that's worrisome for them. We are going to wrap up, Chuck, the only way we know how with the world champions. Chiefs, Lions, a little rematch, little revenge game for the Chiefs from the opener last year. I watched the Chiefs starters because they left Mahomes in for, what, three, was it three drives? No, two drives. And then Wentz came in and with some more starters.

And they racked up a 13-0-0 lead. But the never-say-die lions came back. Let's go. Let's see. Jake Bates had four field goals. Yeah. He's got to be their dude. Pile them up.

He's got to be their guy. The UFL story had a 55-yarder. He didn't miss an extra point, but hit a bunch of field goals. Hennon Hooker is maybe the Lions QB2. Let's start on the Lions because I have less to take. take away from them. He's played well in the preseason, and it's a battle between him and Nate Sudfeld. So you like to see that with the young quarterback. And then something that caught my eye this week with Dan Campbell was he said, we're dying, quote, we're dying

for someone to step up as a third receiver on this team. So, hmm, Donovan People's Jones had four targets for five yards. I don't know who their third receiver is. Maybe he's not on the roster right now. I mean, as much as I like Khalif Raymond, I don't see that being the option. Yeah, I mean, you look at this, actually, look at the depth chart and Doris Fountain, like it, Tom Kennedy's on this depth chart. Yeah. I think they see Raymond as like a guy who's going to be active. He's a special teamer, but he's not going to be the three. Look, DPJ once got to Cleveland and had a lot of hype around him and then suddenly the Browns just dumped him. And he went back to Michigan where he's from, where he went to college, all that stuff. And nothing's really come of it. So I'm concerned in terms

of depth because if you lose a guy, you're going to be pretty short-handed all of a sudden out of nowhere. Yeah, they miss, they're going to miss Josh Reynolds right now, who's the Broncos. And let's mention the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes. We'll get to what everyone was talking about first, but my biggest takeaway right now is that Xavier Worthy is their wide receiver won, and he's always open. And Patrick Mahomes found him open early in this game. could be a free play here. Mahomes going down the field. Worthy's wide open.

He's got the football. Dave, you're Worthy. Get it to the Lions 37-yard line. I just love that throw and catch because just haven't seen enough of those in the Chiefs offense the last few years. And Worthy also got behind the defense for a 39-yard touchdown from Wentz. And the commonality with those two plays is he's so open. And that first one's against zone coverage, too, and I went back to watch it, and he just does a little stutter step.

And these guys, they're just afraid of this dude, and he's just by him. And I think he's their wide receiver one. Maybe not in the Tyreek Hill sense, but in the, he's going to outgain Rishie Rice and Travis Kelsey in my mind, if he stays healthy. Yeah, and I don't want to sound like too cliche, but the stutter step description, that reminds me of Tyreek Hill. Like, I'm not saying he's the same guy, but that reminds me of what helps him get open. Like, yeah, he's fast, he's speedy, he's hard to bring down. Let's not get carried away. Let's not get carried away.

But that's what fits in this offense. That's what makes it go down the field, which they've lacked for the last couple of years and why they've become a shorter and shorter passing game and why guys like MVS struggled there last year. So you got that element back in there. Watch out. Yes, and obviously he doesn't have the physicality that Tyrant Hill does. He is going to have to avoid hits. He's just a smaller guy, but I said it in the draft process.

He played like a one because the attention was all on him and he would get open at the college level, at the highest level. Adi Mitchell was the two. And why can't that work? So far so good for Xavier Worthy, Chiefs fans have to be like really excited about him. They also have to be excited about the behind-the-back pass

heard around the world. Let's listen to Patrick Mahomes talk about, yeah, him throwing that behind-the-back pass. To Travis Kelsey. So we'll see when we get on film, but it's not something that I'm going to try to major in. It might be something that just kind of happens every once in a while. Well, you let it go.

What did it feel like? You know, it was low. I was just hoping Travis, it got to Travis. I knew it was kind of on target. It just was low. But like I said, it wasn't like I didn't do it to look cool. I literally did it as I was, like, pissed. I was like, why didn't you run that route like that?

And then it just worked out. Hmm. Major in. Hmm. Behind the back 101. taught by Patrick Mahomes. I tend to trust Mahomes. He just seems like a reliable narrator.

Look, we're in the preseason where you can just test out a 66-yard field goal just because, just for the hell of it. Why not test out the behind-the-back pass and then pretend like it wasn't intentional when it was. I mean, I believe Mahomes that it has to be a very specific situation that I don't think it's like a play call that you were planning to do that before it happened

and that I think he just was in a situation where it was going to work. And he does it at practice apparently all the time. Maybe not all the time, but he's done it before, including last week and in like a team session and it works. So it's part of his game. I can't wait until that's like in the regular season. That'd be awesome.

I'm thinking about when he wants through that pass, when he was basically parallel to the ground in the Super Bowl. And then they added it to Madden and everybody was upset about it being in Madden for two years. When's the behind the back pass? That's NFL street stuff, baby. We're going back to like 2004. You better watch out video gamers.

Here it comes. I can't wait for it. And, yeah, I can't wait for the rest of this week on NFL Daily. Thank you, Nick Shook, for breaking down all these games. These Sunday nights have been fun. We're going to do it again next week. It'll be more notes probably on every team than just on the preseason games because next week, less starters will be playing.

But, yeah, it's going to be a fun week. I have Jordan Rodriguez in the studio for our next show. And we're going to talk about some possible player movement coming up. We've got Patrick Claibon and Colleen Wolf the day after that. Meena Kimes and Kevin Clark are joining the show this week to do some over-unders. It's going to be a lot of fun. Thank you. We are off and running.

We are in football shape. Nick Shook's always in shape. You got that right. See you next time. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the game from Brigham.

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. Thank you.