NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Training Camp Takeaways for EVERY NFC Team

Episode Date: August 3, 2026

Gregg Rosenthal and Nick Shook take you around the NFC for a team-by-team recap of all you need to know from the first week of training camp for EVERY team in the NFC.NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Practice? With Nick Shook. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm in Los Angeles, in my garage. Nothing I would rather be doing Shook on a sunny L.A. Day early August than going over all the takeaways that we've learned from camp. You know, people can't be paying attention to 32 teams at once, so we do it for them and we break it down here.

That is the cross that we bear. And I don't believe you that there's nothing else that you'd rather be. Actually, I do believe you because you're a sicko. You're a sicko. We're all sickos. I love this time of year because I do love just seeing the machinations of these teams getting put together. And there's always stuff in this first week of training camp that surprise you.

So it's Sunday night football. We're doing it five straight weeks. So thank you to everyone joining us on YouTube. please hit that like, hit that subscribe button. And yeah, we're going to try to do this each of the next four Sundays after this at 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific. Give us your questions. And we'll start to take them during the show.

But the setup for today, I decided there's too many notes, Shook. So we're going to hit the 16 NFC teams tonight. And Patrick Claibon and I are going to hit the 16 AFC teams on Monday. And obviously, much love to most people are listening to us in their ear. We love the podcast. I'm a podcast. Oh, gee, that's what I go with. But let's start with Minnesota.

And let's start about the quarterback battle with the Vikings. And we'll go NFC North first, NFC West next. I thought those had the best stories. Kyler Murray started to make his move. We shouldn't be surprised about this. Shook, but I did think it was interesting. The first few days of camp, the reports were, hey, he didn't look great.

J.J. McCarthy actually, you know, maybe looked a little better. But Kyler Murray's getting way more first team reps. And on Saturday, Murray reportedly looked awesome. He's been more willing to push the ball down the field. And one thing I really found interesting were the notes that they're running a lot of pistol and shotgun when Kyler Murray's on the field and when JJ McCarthy's on the field. It's just kind of the same old Vikings offense, which means, to me, Kevin O'Connell's already

planning for this thing to be over. He's trying to make a hybrid Kevin O'Connell, Kyler-Murie offense, something that I find very intriguing. Yeah, this is not going to be one of those instances in which a team spends a day three pick on a guy. They're like, well, we'll make a package for Jalen Milrow in Seattle. Or we'll make a package for Taylin Green and Cleveland. No, this is, we are going to mold our offense around the strengths of Kyler Murray and add some wrinkles that we've never seen or haven't seen from the Kevin O'Connell Vikings in his time there because we now have a quarterback suited and capable of doing those things.

That's exciting. But none of this really surprises me because we, as you and I both agree and we've agreed for while now, this is Kyler's job, and it's going to be Kyle's job. And yet, like, Kyler does have to go out there and do it. It is interesting to, like, watch how it all goes down. And after the first few days, I was like, okay, they actually are letting this be

a real battle, but the difference on Saturday was apparently Stark, and if Kyler stacks a few days like that, I think his willingness to go down the field is accuracy down the field, and certainly intermediate is going to be what separates him from JJ McCarthy. I love hearing

from Purple Daily, and a lot of these reports, they're from the people on the ground. So I'll try to cite where they're coming from when possible. And Purple Daily is a podcast I listen to. And they happen to know that like, unless they're just pretending for the cameras, Kyler Murray, J.J. McCarthy, they don't say one word to each other when they're out on the field. And they're very different. Like, JJ hits a throw down the field. It's not like JJ hasn't hit some passes. Although on Saturday, reportedly he was very indecisive and just did not look good, had a really bad day when Kyler was working. Like, when he hits a big pass, like he's running, he's high five in

everyone, he's doing the JJ McCarthy stuff. Whereas Kyler, like, he's just not that guy and he's not going to pretend to be that guy. I don't think it matters if he's dot in Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson and the whole group, Joanne Jennings there down the field. Yeah, that's what was kind of funny and stuck out to me from our Back Together weekend coverage on Saturday as I'm sitting here monitoring it. Stacey Dales is in Egan, Minnesota, you know, with Vikings. And one of the that she noted was that Kyler's quiet. And that's exactly who Kyler's always been. He's not a raw, raw guy, but he's going to make a difference on the field with his play. So you can twist it or at least kind of pitch it as, oh, well, he's just a professional. He's just doing what he knows he's

supposed to do. That's just who he's always been. And I really don't think that that part is going to matter as much as long as he can be successful on the field, which I think he will be. Love everyone that's watching right now. Let's love Justin Jefferson, who's become pretty expert over the last few years at answering difficult questions of like which quarterback, you know, does he like playing with? And right now we just don't know who's the number one guy. So it's just all about having communication and connection with both of the guys until further notice. So coming out here and just getting work with both of them, talking to both of them, making sure, you know, we all understand and being on that same page. So yeah, it's a lot of connection, talking,

and just building on that. He's too smart to say anything that's going to get him in trouble and just something we're watching there. I'm excited to see this is going. But the pistol and Kevin O'Connell and how they're going to use the running game, very intrigued by that.

I think their running game could be better because Christian Derrissaw, their left tackle, reportedly looks way healthier this year. He is all pro upside and has not been himself for two years in a row. Got hurt, missed most of 2024. And even at this time last year,

like, was just a different guy. Was clear he wasn't 100% missed some of last. season and wasn't great when he was out there. So that's great news for them. And I think that's really going to help Kyler Murray, assuming he's the quarterback. Some other little things. I noticed there was a package that they had out there at practice where Caleb Banks, their first round pick, and Dominique Orange, big citrus.

And then rookie Kenny Gold Day, all in one package as rookies. An intriguing, like, young group. Brian Flores usually doesn't like to play rookies. But I think Gold Day, especially at linebacker, is going to play some talk that Ivan Pace might not even make this team right now, partly because of what Jake Gold Day could do. But interesting, kind of the youth movement there at a pretty veteran-laden defense.

Well, I think that when they selected Golda in the draft, I thought, God, that's perfect because he is one of those more athletic type of linebackers that will work perfectly in this sub-package-dominated world that we live in now, but also the exotic defense for Brian Flores. So to see them getting a lot of their rookies out there in the same package,

I think that could be a precursor of what's to come this year is they spent the office. season trying to get deeper and, you know, they were limited cap-wise. So I'm excited about what the potential is for that. And I'd like the fact that you brought up Christian Darrasaw on the idea of elevating the running game because you're creating more space, right? But at the same time, I think that the pistol involvement is really important here because think about the Ravens when they were with Greg Roman back in the day and Lamar Jackson's mobility. Kyler's not quite the same type of guy, but it was hard to predict where they were going to attack you on the ground. You could do the same

thing with Kyler and the pistol in this offense. And that running back room, which is headlined, of course by the return of Aaron Jones, but you also have Jordan Mason, DeMond Claiborne and Xavier Scott. I don't care that they're not necessarily the biggest names because if they're unpredictable, it's going to be that much harder to defend. So I'm up, I'm high on the Vikings. Velvet Thunder 94 asked, would Nick Shook beat Kyler Murray at Madden? Shook famously a gamer kind of works for Madden. I'm going to say yes. Yeah, you're going to be confident. Also like the question asking, if COC can't make it work with Kyler, like how many shots as a quarterback will he realistically get? So it's a good question. I think there's a world where

this season goes horribly wrong where Kevin O'Connell doesn't look great, but I think understandably, everyone in Minnesota is a big Kevin O'Connell supporter, even though I think criticism would get there. If for some reason they won six or seven games in a tough division, I think he has a longer rope than that. So my answer would be one more quarterback after this. Let's go to the Bears. We've got to pick it up. there's a three-way battle there at left tackle. It's Braxton Jones. It's Jedrick Wills. It's Akeem.

Amagadage, who's in the mix, too. So three-way battle there that could possibly be their left tackle. I've noted that Roma Dunzee looks healthy at camp. Everyone watching says his foot looks great. That is huge news for them. It's a lot of Khalif Raymond who came from the Detroit Lions with the starters, which to me is no surprise. I expect him to be there.

number three receiver. They also have a rookie Xavieron Thomas, who is in the mix. Kyle Monungai is their backup running back and is out right now with an injury. It doesn't seem like it's anything serious, but he's been out for three straight days. And they're really emphasizing the two-minute drill. They noticed that they were great at the end of games, but were

horrible in situations at the end of the first half. So Ben Johnson has really been emphasizing that. Not a lot of screaming headlines out of Chicago, which is good this time of year. It means things are on track in general. Maybe the thing that that's most talked about with the Bears is like,

how are you going to handle the increased expectations? Ben Johnson got a variation of that question this weekend. With Caleb, I don't know if you saw this, but Liam Cohen of the Jaguar said he, it's very easy to motivate his players because nobody ever talks about them. All he ever hears about is Caleb Williams. I'm curious what you think about another coach

throwing his name out there and whether you're dealing with the opposite situation here of hammering to your guys not to, believe the hype. Well, we're the number one regression candidates. So I think we got, we got plenty of motivation ourselves. We talked about Caleb in the past. He's used to handling a lot of attention. So I'm not worried about that. Oh, I love Ben Johnson. He's always ready. Is he reading Barnwell's articles? Because Barnwell is the regression candidate guy. He does that article. I'm trying to think where specifically, and if I'm in that room, I'm honestly going to ask that

question, he probably wouldn't answer it. Because, He's either reading FDN fantasy, like the almanac that we had Aaron Schatz on about it, or he's thinking Barnwell, like, he's into the advanced numbers if he's saying, we're the number one regression candidate. Also, I like that Liam Cohen is just blabbing again and getting him mad. Yes, thank you. Like, what is it with Liam? I know this is the NFC podcast, but what is it with Liam Cohen just prodding other coaches,

just talking trash all the time? Well, that was just like a, that was a stray fired at the Bears. We might, we might bring it up on Monday. show, but the clip is hilarious, actually. He actually asked a radio host to bring up NFL.com as they're on air. I like that he's thinking about NFL.com as kind of the ultimate, you know,

the ultimate media covering the league. What the hell? It's respect. And he's like, oh, you'll just find 40 pictures of Caleb Williams there. We have a question from Smalls HD asking is Kyler Gordon heard again? Yes, that is one of the injuries

at Barris Camp to keep an eye on. He has not been out there at all. T.J. Edwards, their linebacker also has not been out there. But to me, Kyler Gordon is a bigger concern because he's just been hurt way too often in his career. Let's go to the Lions where on Sunday they signed Devin White. I was like, man, okay, is that a bad sign for the linebackers that they have? Right now, they're starting, you know, middle linebacker, of course, is Jack Campbell, who's been a great young player for them, and they got him locked up long term.

And then on the weak side, it's Derek Barnes, who's not always been there or Malcolm Rodriguez. So now guys may be playing a little out of position. But it turns out, I think this signing was more about this fourth round rookie Jimmy Rolder, who has a serious injury and I think is going to miss a lot of the season. And so they're giving Devin White, the old Super Bowl MVP candidate for the Bucks a chance over there just for a little bit of depth. A lot of defensive questions, I think, for the Lions. Yeah, yeah. And this is a team that's learned the importance of depth over the last few years.

I think it's kind of held them back in their pursuit of a Super Bowl. But I think this is also just about trying to build out this linebacking court post, and this is crazy, Alex Anzolone, who they lost in free agency. Like, you got to fill it with another veteran. Did you know, Greg? And this kind of flew under my radar because he played for the Raiders last year. Devin White finished third in the NFL in tackles last year. Played all 17 games.

They had a terrible PFF grade, but he finished third in the league in tackles. That is wild. Chose not to trust the tackle numbers. but Jamal Adams, Devin White, still getting jobs out here in 2026 coming off that Raiders run that they had. Other than that, I just like hearing Sam Laporte is not just out there healthy, but he's out there making play. So that's great. Jemir Gibbs is holding in. And our insider, Ian Rappaport, said the talks for Jemir Gibbs's extension, not quite as active or close as the Bejohn-Robinson contract talks.

So I'm not sure what that means. But I think these two dudes are rightfully trying to reset the market. it could be a while. And I am noting that Sione Vaki is splitting with Isaiah Pacheco. And, yeah, if you're in fantasy leagues, there aren't many running backs that looked worse than to me. I'll respect to Isaiah Pacheco, who's been better than I ever would have expected,

but he was not great last year. So if you're telling me you got a young player, got a little more juice in his legs, like it wouldn't shock me if Sioni Vaki is the guy to pair with Gibbs. And, like, Gibbs can only carry the ball so much. Like this is going to be a run heavy offense. It's just something to watch there. Yeah, I don't mean to knock on Pacheco either,

but I vividly remember sitting at one of the Chief Super Bowls with fellow around the NFL, NFL. NFL.com writer Kevin Patra talking about Pacheco's running style, and we both looked at each other during that game. I think this might have been Niners Chiefs in Vegas, and we're like, God, he's fun to watch, but he's not going to last long. So the idea of him not look,

I think that there's just a shorter shelf life on his career because of his style of play. I would be. he's slightly worried about depth with the lions, with that considered. But Gibbs is going to get done eventually. Like, it's got to get done. He's one of the key parts of his team. I'm not worried about these Holdens.

There's a few happening around the league. Too lead, two lead below two, because the Chargers is another one. But yeah, depth is an issue, including at the edge spot where Derek Moore, their rookie that they're counting on to do a lot, is getting evaluated for an injury. That was a Sunday injury. We're taping this Sunday evening. So we don't know much about that. We'll see.

Greg Dorch right now is their wide receiver four, according to people. at practice is like a little thin there. And then we have a question that ties in with something I wanted to talk about, Jameson Williams and just asking how important he's going to be in Drew Petting's offense. I think like this is the year to take a big step for Jameson Williams. He's gotten better each and every year. And my answer to that question is massively important.

And so far the most consistent report for what it's worth, Chuck, I know it's early, is that he has just been awesome at practice. And he's a guy who's been more of a. body catcher throughout his career and that looks more natural now as a hands catcher. And I think you could really have two ones with Amman Ra and him and then a top 10 tight end in Leporta. And Gibbs, like, you are cooking with gas here. I still might take that skill position group over just about any in the entire NFL,

even if the depth isn't amazing. Yeah. You know, if you're choosing guys to make the leap or breakout or whatever, it might, however you might, you know, describe it. James and Williams, I think, is a fairly safe bet because he is a guy whose trajectory has just steadily climbed. Over his last two seasons, he's increased in receptions, targets, yards, games played. It seems like he has moved past some of the immaturity issues

that he showed earlier in his career and he's a wildly talented player. You don't spend a first round pick on that guy for no reason. So I love the idea of them having two number ones. This is all still going to build out of how they can establish the ground game and how they can protect Jared Gough. But if all those things they can figure out, which they didn't figure out very much or very well last year. If they can figure all that out,

then it's going to be an excellent situation for both JMO and Amun Rae St. Brown. Got a comment here that Isaiah Pacheco is going to be an all-time naming some dudes guy in a few years. Thank you to everyone who checked our little Easter egg random drop in the feed. I enjoyed doing that.

And that's a good call. Isaiah Pacheco is going to be one of those guys. Let's go to the Packers where Tucker Kraft is back at practice, not only not on the PUP, list, but literally out there, not doing everything at practice, but way more optimistic this early in camp. Let's listen to Matt LaFleur, talk about his tight end. I think he did a great job. I mean, it wasn't shocking to me. I think we're obviously taking it slow with him because

he's such an important player to us. But yeah, I think he handled everything great. Tucker said that he set a personal goal of being back for the joint practice with the Cardinals. Is that realistic from the team's point of view? Yeah, I would say so. But, I mean, he's got to hit all the benchmarks along the way. And if that's the case, then absolutely. Love hearing that. Love seeing that.

Sounds like a contract is coming soon. And that just builds on really the only big note. There wasn't screaming headlines out of Packers camp. To me was just Jordan Love looks in total command. Like he is that dude right now and he is dicing up their defense a lot of the times, Matthew Golden, very involved. He is clearly their ex-receiver, Jordan Love, like, says he's that. They're not messing around with any competition.

Like, it's all golden all the time. But that's probably been the most interesting thing, I think, out of their practices. So far, as just hearing, like, Jordan Love looks extremely comfortable in that system. And to me, he is a nice little dark horse MVP candidate. I think this is a best case scenario for the Packers at this stage, you know, early stage in camp. Because, you know, despite how much momentum they had, after acquiring Michael Parsons that started last season and how high we were on them for a while last year,

it ended with a lot of drama and just, even LaFleur acknowledged in the offseason, you know, guys maybe not being bought into their roles. The best thing that can happen for the Packers right now is that your quarterback looks good in camp, you avoid injury, and there's not a lot of big headlines coming out of there. Yeah, totally.

And on defense, they're figuring things out. We got a cornerback battle with the rookie Brandon Cise, Benjamin St. Juice, Karen Tine Val, and we'll see. Also, shout out to Zach Tom, who I believe officially, it definitely legally changed his last name to Zach Beko Bewele. I hope I got that pronunciation right. His parents are Nigerian, both of them, and he wanted to honor them by having his last name changed. Not sure why had been different before.

So that's going to be how we refer to the tackle, formerly known as Zach Tom, moving forward. So badass moved by a guy who was willing. one of the very best at his position and has looked healthy reportedly at camp, which is important. We got a kicker question early in the show as we wrap the NFC North. Ben asked that he's concerned about the Packers kicker situation. Why no competition for sixth round rookie Trey Smack? If he can't handle a camp battle, how will he handle NFL pressure? I just wanted to say Trey Smack.

I have been monitoring this situation. Shook, at one point in camp, they had three kickers. One was hurt. Havershick. who used to be with the Rams. They cut him. They brought someone else in. He didn't look good.

They cut him. They've had about seven transactions. Which just points out, I don't say everything on NFL daily because we hadn't pointed that out. I mean, you take a guy named Trace Mackie, you better just let him be your kicker and see what happens.

Hey, it's one less thing to figure out. It's one less thing to figure out during camp. If he looks good, then let it ride. Let the kid come in there with less pressure. I understand you're worried about the pressure of an NFL game, but if he's good at his job, he'll be good there too. Sorry, I took that too seriously.

Trace Mack hasn't gotten enough buzz on this show. Let's go to the NFC West, where the big news out of 49ers camp was the confirmation of Ricky Pearsall's injury late in career getting even worse. He is out for the season. We hinted at this on our Thursday show. It sounded like it was heading in this direction. So at this point, not a shock. But I can't help but think about Jordan Rodriguez saying the most important person for the, 49ers in camp was going to be their team doctor.

And we're not doctors. All I know is they recommended him to rest and rehab his PCL injury all offseason. Thought that would be fine. Three days into a training camp performance, which by the way, people on the scene were saying he was lighting it up. He was their number one receiver essentially. He's now out for the season. That's a rough start for their training staff who's had a pretty rough couple of years.

So just feel bad for Ricky Pearsall. They're not going to be able to trust him, you know, being a real factor. But let's pivot to kind of what this season's going to look like with Pearsall not there. It's a lot of this John Stribling. Probably going to be that Y receiver move around like in the slot. And it's going to be a lot of Debo Samuel who signed with the 49ers on a deal up to 7 million. I don't know what the base salary is. My guess I asked around is probably somewhere in the $4 to $5 million range.

So that tells you the expectations are medium for Devo Samuel. And yet, first practice out there, they say he had three, 20-yard gains because there's no one else to catch the ball. And they're going to need Debo Samuel, a guy that they didn't want, frankly, a year ago, who they didn't really want this off season until they had to get him. It's not a bad, like, emergency option shook, but it's a little disappointing a week into training camp that we're already here. You get the familiarity from his many years spent in San Francisco before.

we're going to Washington last year. So that's always an advantage and helps convince you to make such a signing. But you knew they made that signing with Pearsall in mind. Like this doesn't happen if Pearsall is healthy and doesn't suffer the injury or the aggravation that leads to his surgery, right?

But I will say this. I'm not really too concerned about their receiving core as crazy as that sounds after losing Peersall because on paper I still kind of like what's what they bring to the table. Now, of course, this is Factory and Debo is one of your top three,

which I'm a little about because I felt like he's 30 and he's starting to look his age. He did a little bit last year in Washington, although that was a nightmare, so I think that's a little unfair to him. But like, let's look at Mike Evans, Debo, Samuel, Christian Kirk,

Stribling, who was going to make his way to that top three. Kirk's been hurt since they won a camp. Stripling, by the way, was out on either Saturday or Sunday with a hamstring injury. Don't know if that's serious, but when it's the 49ers, you're just like, man, if they lose scribbling too. I try not to overreact in the first day or two of these injuries

because they might be back in two days, but it's a little concerning. You do mention Mike Evans, not to cut you off, but when we have Mike Evans to listen to, I'll let him cut you off. I mean, I'm 6'5, you know, I've got ability and I've done it throughout my career. But it's a thing you just talk to the quarterbacks about. Like, when I'm covered, I'm still, you know, pretty open. If you throw the ball up with some air and, you know, Brock do a great ball. So, I mean, that's what I'm, that's one of my biggest things in my game.

Does you finding it hard to overthrow you? No, I mean, he, he, Brock is super. It's a super accurate quarterback, so he hasn't overthrown me yet. It happens, but I mean, he's just super accurate. He's not wrong. When he's not open, he is open. And I have enjoyed hearing that he's looked apart so far at practice. If there's one person you can count on, it's Mike Evans.

Yeah, naturally. And, yeah, I mean, if you add him to that group alone, it's still better than it was last year. And you're, you know, hoping for a healthy George Kittle and a better passing unit overall. A healthy Brock Purdy. I mean, this is a team that made the playoffs. We went to the divisional round last year. They didn't have their quarterback for half the season. They didn't have Kittle for half the season. They didn't have Mike Evans on the roster. I still am just more optimistic about this whole group than I was probably last year, even at this time last year. So while it's doom and gloom with the loss of Pierceall, I'm still saying on the bright side of things here.

Got a question shockingly about Eli Apple. Eli Apple got released. Do you think you will retire? Yeah, it's probably the end of the road for Eli Apple, who will also be a good, naming some dude guy, because there was a weird period where Eli Apple was one of the most talked about people in the NFL for whatever reason. It just was. He was just one of those guys as someone who was an online editor that got traffic and he was always like fourth in the stack on ESPN. His mom would be saying things. He would be getting into fight. Yeah, things would happen with the coach. He was up and down. It was like, Eli Apple, he punched above his weight. I'm just saying in terms of attention. So we'll keep an eye on the injuries there. I noticed Romello,

Height also was out, who's their rookie edge player, but had been playing a lot with the starters. Keon White's had an injury there. Malik Mustafa, who's battling for a safety spot in terms of their starting position has also been out with injuries. So a lot of injuries, Kalin Black, their running back got injured a little bit and banged up. And he's been out. Jordan James has some broken ribs. It's just, they're not beating the substation allegation. despite, you know, them proving medically. I'm just, you know, tongue planted firmly in my mouth, but like, you know. At least Nick Bose is healthy.

That's good. Nick Bose is healthy. That's good. That's good start. Let's talk defending champs, Seattle Seahawks. Pretty cool that George Halani played in the Super Bowl pretty extensively. And he's actually been running as the RB1 alongside Jedarian Price. But I'm kind of combining a few notes here that as the purpose,

practices have stacked up. And these NFC West teams have been practicing longer. They're in pads now. They're really practicing out there. Every day we hear more, Judarian Price, Jeddarian Price, especially as a pass catcher. He had a long touchdown, deep throw, you know, caught down the field from Jalen Milrow. So that combines two of my favorite little nuggets that just quoting the people that are there, Shook, that the best two Jalen Milro practices of his short pro career so far have been like the last two. He's stacking days. I'm all in on the Jalen Milroo Drew Locke battle.

And I'm all in for like week eight. Sam Darnold's out for two weeks for whatever reason, like a sprained knee, but he'll be back. And we got Jalen Milro as our quarterback for the defending champs on like Sunday night. I mean, or something.

And he's making it happen. Yeah, you're halfway to channeling the spirit of Tony Sparano and trying to get them to run Wildcat with Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown. He's going to be throwing. He's going to be doing it all. He's going to be running. How about like Malik Willis?

It's a saying. He's going to be running. You know, he's got to be Malik Willis. That's a high bar. That's actually a relatively high bar to reach. Pretty good. Also, standing out, Elijah Arroyo, their tight end. It's looked better.

It's his second year. It's a tough position sometimes for rookies. And so both him and Torrey Horton, who were rookies last year, who's working his way back from injury, had a good day in pads. He's coming back from a broken leg. And, yeah, they're still waiting to see, you know, how long Nickyman worry is going to be out for now,

it's DeAnthony Bell in his spot. So just keep an eye on the defending champs. I'm loving me some Jalen Milrow. The least surprising news out of Rams camp, shook, I don't know why. To me, this was notable, but I just thought it was funny because at this time of year, everyone's like, defense is ahead of the offense.

Everyone's explained, like, defense, defense, defense. It's hard to block them, you know, because you're not in full pads. You're figuring out the offense, except for with the Rams, no matter how many talented players have on the defense, like the days that Stafford has been out there, the reports have just been, oh, Stafford's just cooking them. He's killing them. Like him, Puka, Devante Adams, like, it is not

fair. Stafford just looking like the MVP that he is. This is exactly what we should expect. I mean, I know he's in an advanced stage, but he's coming off in NFL MVP season. He's in an offense that he knows like the back of his hand. Familiarity reigns, whether it's the guys he throwing, he's throwing the ball to the offense that he's running. I mean, this is the team that should have the most positive momentum. It's not just because of the offseason that they had, but just because of the familiarity and the continuity, they should have the most positive momentum entering the new season

than perhaps any other team in the NFC, if not the NFL, because all the key guys largely are back safe for your change at right tackle, even more than the defending chance, because the defending champs, like we just covered, you know, you got a rookie involved in potentially trying to win the running back number one spot in Judarian Price. So it's like, Rands, they better be cruising.

They'd better be cruising right now. That like we're paying a little less attention. I think these are the two best teams in the NFL by a decent amount. There was actually a question. I'm going to answer it now. What the heck? We're talking Rams, but we'll get back to them in a second.

There was a question, and I think this speaks to what you were saying. Playing for the first time with nine of the 10 pass catchers, the entire offensive line he had, should Sam Darnel be considered an MVP candidate? And my answer is no, but because it's Sam Darnel and he's too up and down, I think if he plays like he did at his best last year for the whole season,

he's a top eight to 10 quarterback. He's not an MVP, but he's a, he's on QB Island. He's there. But it just points out they do have everyone back. They have basically everyone back on defense, too. I know Maffa left and you lose your starting safety, but everyone that is starting for them now was all on the team, it's incredibly deep.

And that's why, like, yes, the Rams excitement makes sense. But they do have questions, including at quarterback too. So let's go back to the Rams. Sean McVeigh, who, you know, is really focusing on the team as a whole. And as we heard from Jordan Rodrigue on our preview, Dave Ragone is really in the ear of Ty Simpson. Also, Stetson Bennett battling for that QB2 spot. Let's listen to Sean McVeigh. I thought both Stetson and Ty did a nice job.

We'll go back and we'll look at the tape. And it's always hard to feel because we're not tackling those guys. Are you really reading with your feet? Are you speeding it up if the rush ends up getting there? but the way that we want to be able to think about what's the best thing for Matthew and then how do we figure out what does it look like to be able to bring those guys along

and Dave Ragon does a great job with that room but I've been pleased with those guys I think they've done really well I mention it you know Stetson has really taken incredible strides done a lot of good things and I think Ty has improved tremendously from the spring until now as well it's the effusive praise for Stetson Bennett

I'm hashtag noticing you know it's like Jalen Milrow Jalen Milrow, it's a situation we're monitoring. Because Stetson Bennett winning this job to me would be cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. It'd be insane. And yet, we just heard that from Sean McVeigh. I asked J.B. Long, who does their games on the radio.

He's there every single day. He does the preseason games. And he also mentioned Stetson Bennett has made a huge leap forward. Just hashtag noticing. That's all. Noticing. I mean, that makes sense. He's been there longer.

I'm just, am I a small man figuratively, not just literally, to think like, hmm, is that say anything about Ty Simpson who's been? Well, look, how about this? How about maybe some of us

were in the camp that Ty Simpson wasn't a first round prospect? Yeah. And the Rams took him 13th overall. Like, maybe that's actually just going to prove to be right. Or maybe it's just going to take a little bit longer

to get his feet underneath him. Totally fair. And it's so early in camp. had some nice throws too, but a lot of rookies, especially in that offense, like, they're going to be swimming. It makes sense. So other notes, and this is directly from J.B. Long, I was like, you got any notes for me? He said Terrence Ferguson has been a force.

He's the second year tight end. They are so deep at tight end. Other teams want to run heavy tight ends personnel. They don't have five tight ends who can all play, like the Rams. And Ferguson's a guy who I'm really watching this year, so that's good to hear. He also mentioned J.B. that just Jalen Watson's size at cornerback. because it kind of changes their secondary. You know, McDuffie's going to get a lot of attention,

but Jalen Watson really gives them a new look. And then he said to keep an eye on Keegan Trost, who's their third round rookie. If he can kind of be their swing tackle, we'll see if Alarick Jackson, who's their left tackle, is suspended at any point. None of us know, but that's just a guy that could make them look a little deeper

on the offensive line than maybe some people realize. Your guy, Miles Garrett, by the way, out of practice. A lot of veteran rest days, but he actually has lower body soreness and he's going to miss Monday's practice he's been out for three or four days. I tend to think this is just like let's keep that car parked in the garage

during camp a little bit just with any minor even problems. Yep, and let's think of this too and this is way overblown but I'm gonna roll with it. Miles Garrett, big massage guy you know, like for the body maintenance, you know, the wear and tear

the toll on the body when he was in Cleveland. Maybe he's got to adjust to his new masseuse, you know? Maybe he's got to get this treatment plan in order there. Fair. And yeah, he's a guy who I think kind of like Stafford, like Devante, are just going to get some days off because they know how to do it. And it's a long season.

McVeigh, by the way, said that the arrow was pointing upward when asked if the arrow, where the arrow was pointing for an Aaron Donald return. At this point, we're going to just keep repeating ourselves. It's happening. Wait, wait, no, we're going to repeat ourselves. But let's make this fun for us because we're going to have to continue talking about it until it happens. So let's just start projecting when exactly it happens.

When do you think it happens? Like the second week of the preseason games. Like once the normal part of training camp is over and they're back at the team facility, you got about three weeks left until the season starts. That would be my guess. I'm going to go dead week between preseason and start with the regular season. Yeah, that would make sense too. That makes sense.

My producer, Eric, does not want to fly the comment. that Nick Bosa wants to be traded to the Rams now because he heard they had a fearsome white uniform but I thought it was funny so I'm just going to say it anyways. Also keep an eye on CJ Daniels. They always find a receiver and he could be the next late round receiver

that gets some noise for the Rams. Let's go to the Cardinals. Their offense, you know, since Jacoby Berset returned to the lineup was reported to be notably steadier. A lot of wide receiver pop here in Arizona. just with Marvin Harrison having some good days, Michael Wilson making big catches, Kendrick Bourne.

Harrison had a really big first day in pads. They were doing some 13 personnel where there's three tight ends on the field, and Harrison was the lone receiver in that situation. And so all positive, I think, for the first team offense so far. I love the idea. I love the idea of that package being rolled out in the red zone. Like goal line, just one-on-one fade to Harrison,

let him go win a jump ball. make the whole defense match you. So you're heavy box. You're thinking they're going to run the ball. It's going to be Jeremiah Love. No, we're putting love in the flat. We're putting Harrison jump ball, fade, corner of the end zone. Go get it.

This is the year, Greg, that we finally get some production out of Marvin Harrison, Jr. And the haters finally shut up. And maybe, just maybe, Joel Clatt gets a little feather in his cap for saying that Harrison was going to be a top five receiver in the NFL by this point in his career. He's not going to be a top five.

He's not even in the number one receiver on Steve. direction because the talent is there. I'm taking Michael Wilson over him. But I think they could both be very good. I think Marvin Harrison's a very good starting receiver. It's just the expectations have been so high. And he can get better. He can absolutely get better.

You're not happy. I love Michael Wilson, but wow. I love Michael Wilson more. Walter Nolan's another guy I really loved coming out of college. And explosive at camp and then he gets an injury, but they say it's not a long-term injury. I think he's going to be back in a few days. You mentioned Jeremiah Love.

I don't love this, Matt Lafleur. I don't know if he's in charge of the depth charts. They have to put out a depth chart with the Hall of Fame game going. And they listed Tyler Algier as the RV1. Of course they did. Of course they did. This is the classic. You're a rookie.

You got to earn your spot. You might as well put a swipe on this. It's stupid. It is stupid, but it's football stuff. Some things never die. At running back there, he's Jordan Love. I mean, Jeremiah Love has reportedly looked awesome and he's been splitting the RB1 reps.

James Connor is still not doing. team drills. So we'll see if he gets healthy. Trey Benson, meanwhile, who they drafted pretty high a few years ago, could be behind Bam Knight right now. So that's not happening. Another rookie having to earn his spot is Chase Basantis. He's not even getting a chance to win the starting right guard spot. And I do worry about the right side of that line in general. It kind of messes up an offense, I think, is good.

Otherwise is the right side of the offensive line. Josh Sweat, not sure if he's holding in, but I'm not, it wouldn't surprise. me. Like, they say he's hurt. They're not really talking about. He's on a PUP list. There were reports he wanted to get traded. Just, that's one to monitor. I think that's one where other teams might be thinking, wonder if we'd get Josh Schwett. They'd have to give up a lot. Where they would, who would be in the market for him at this stage? Who wouldn't be? Well, yes, but also, like, what's the, the price is going to be. That's a weird candidate because he's, he's not elite, but he's good.

He's really good, though. He's really good. He's making a lot of. money. Yeah, but they already paid him that signing bonus, which is also like why you wouldn't want to trade them if they're them. They'd take a cat. It makes no sense. But Green Bay, uh, who, where Jonathan Gannon is, who, who just signed him last year when he was in Arizona. That's true. It's good point. Yeah. That would be a fun one. It's not going to be Houston who signed Chedevi and Clowny on Sunday. We'll talk about that more on Monday, but I like that move. Him going back home. Uh, shout out to him. Also, by the way, the, the chart, the Cardinals listed B.J. O. O. O. Jalari as their third team edge.

like the fifth or sixth edge. So that was a guy who was taking pretty high. He's coming off an injury, but that caught my eye. If you're watching on YouTube, keep giving us these comments. We love you. If you're listening on the podcast, we're going to take a quick break. Behind every night spent making the kids' lunches, there's a lot of suspense. Will they finally eat the veggies?

Will the pasto survive the first bite? Will the lunchbox come home empty, half full, or come home at all? And will you finish episode 8 before you're done slicing the cucumbers? Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Craved Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.za for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. Let's go to the NFC East, and this is the part of the show where I will mention

groundbreaking, shocking, seismic news from CBS. that I needed to hit on this show, I couldn't wait any longer. The CBS Sports has put Tony Romo on leave. The wording was interesting. It was uncertain whether Tony Romo requested to be on the leave or was CBS's decision. Either way, that's what they're doing.

He was arrested for operating while intoxicated in Green Bay. The dash cam footage came out, and it's never going to be great. I don't think for someone when they get arrested like that, and it wasn't great. It's a tough moment professionally, personally for Tony Romo, maybe an indication of problems. And CBS's decision makes you wonder,

especially since they announced as part of the press release, Nick, that JJ Watt will be replacing him. This thing's going into the season. I wouldn't personally be surprised if Tony Romo never, announces for the for cbs again that's just my personal take no he obviously could be back in week five and with jim nance and i could be wrong but i i do wonder if this is it for tony romo and cbs it would be a yeah i mean we've seen these things happen before and and sometimes they

unfold in different fashions but you kind of can predict how things go what really not to treat this like a football player in their contract situation but the money usually has something to do with it and and that's they think the details that are going to have a big a big factor on how this plays out. But I think you're right. I think this could be the last we saw of him. It's crazy. And yes, they could potentially go after his money, you know, whether they could reach a settlement, you know, if he's got, who knows if he's trying to find treatment. You know, we don't know, and we don't want to speculate too much about that. But it's crazy to think back because I will always ride for Tony Romo in those first couple years. And to me, it was not about.

him guessing the plays. That was like a cool little parlor trick that got noticed a few times. It was about the combination of enthusiasm and the knowledge that he was able to talk about really clearly all at once. And he knew the current players. And what I think's happened is he got that huge contract and he doesn't know the players as well. And I think the lack of homework showed up. And it's like being a starting quarterback. Like you can't rest on your old laurels. And I think it's just, he sounded like a guy who hasn't done the homework. Got a comment about a long-time listener. Since the win Wes's Toasters Days, I love hearing that.

And I wanted to put that with Tony Romo here because me and Wes loved us some early Tony Romo. Wes would save one game after he'd watched the rest on Game Pass for like Wednesday night and just watch the full Romo game if he hadn't, you know, live, like have a glass of wine, maybe two, and just enjoy the Romo experience. That's how big of a fan that he was. So thank you, Adrian, who's been with us since the around the NFL days. We love you. All right, let's get to the Cowboys News. One thing I got from one of the local podcasts, and I'll mention it here in a second, is that Jason Barham, their rookie linebacker,

has been everywhere, has looked awesome. We had some of their analysts being like, he should be the starting middle linebacker not to Marvian overshone, which would be crazy. But you maybe just move overshone over a spot. And it really does feel like it's a youth movement there. And it's probably not going to be De Winters. I know we're getting deep here, but De Winters was a guy they traded for. And that's good depth. You need depth at a position that you just didn't have anyone at a year ago.

But a lot of Jayshan Barham hype. And this is the type of stuff I really get excited about. I do think it can carry over like a guy that just looks like. He knows what he's doing from day one. Here's a decent comparison with something that we saw become a notable figure with a different team in recent years. I remember the same stuff being said about Diane Henley with the Chargers.

And he's now a key part of the linebacking corps, right? And Barham's a player that was a very good player at Michigan who I thought lasts a little bit too long in the draft. And if this is one of the developments from Cowboys Camp, this is a massive win for Cowboys fans. A team that had to deal with one of the worst defenses in the NFL last year that just couldn't stop a nosebleed and contributed to so many of their losses. If you can get a guy like this to emerge as a rookie at that second level,

you've invested in the third level with the guy like Caleb Downs, this is a huge win for you. So these are very positive signs coming out of Cowboys Camp. Yeah, I love hearing that. And one of the things that really strikes me about their situation right now is just how healthy they are. I was at Dallas Cowboys Camp last year. and they were just like, man, we hope we can get Bland back.

We hope and get Chavonne Ravelle back. And then, you know, they're just going to be thrown right into it. And now I'm thinking, okay, Blan's healthy. He's starting. Ravel is healthy, but he's like their fifth or sixth corner right now. They don't even need him to do that much because they're just deeper at every position. They're using Caleb Downs as their nickel. In general, like their second, like, string running back.

That's decided that you have Giovante Williams as their starter right now. Jaden Blue versus, who is he? Phil Maffa as their second team guy. There's a lot of Jaden Blue and then their tight end Brevin-span Ford hype. It's really a deep-looking group kind of supporting that, that Doc Prescott.

What does he want to call them? Gotti, greatest offense in history or something like that. He was also wearing a Cowboys' Super Bowl championship t-shirt. Like, they're trying to get the expectations built up as much as they possibly can. They're also, like, pining for attention in a weird way. And even Jerry Jones had to explain why they didn't get a lot of attention in the offseason. But naturally, Jerry being the businessman, the salesman that he is, tried to pitch why exactly

that they should be getting more attention, even if it included what we discussed the other day, which is just tossing out ideas that maybe we're not done yet. It's coming from all directions here. Right. The barum note was from the DLLS podcast, by the way. I really like those guys in independent groups. So check them out. I always want to cite my sources.

And they were the ones saying that he has just been. awesome. Maybe he could be like the green dot player, which would be crazy. Maybe it'll be Caleb Downs. Either way, I think they're using kind of that Cooper DeGine plan for Caleb Downs. And for all that offensive line talk that we had, like all the guys are playing at their normal position so far. Tyler Smith's at guard and your guy Tyler Booker's at right guard. And so nothing too big. Jerry had those quotes about, you know, possibly trading for a veteran. and I found that interesting. I also think it's interesting that he said

they will consider tinting the windows there like they did at the World Cup. He's taken some notes from the World Cup at Jerry World. It's like, why did you wait so long, Jerry? So AT&T Stadium was first opened in 2009. It took 17 years mental math and the World Cup to consider this now. And complaints.

every single... Every year. ...year. And stubborn resistance to the idea until it was shown that it could work. Yeah.

They... He loves just talk and there was... He also had like a side session with reporters where he made it clear like yeah, if they traded for someone it wouldn't be someone minor.

It'd be like someone that they would pay and that the people on that podcast, at least the DLS podcast said and this sounded to me like something that was maybe like off the record, but then they just state as fact, like, there's no way they're paying George Pickens. They're just going to ride this out with George Pickens and see how it goes. Not just this year, but I think long term. Like, yeah. They're just going to go like one more

year and then try to trade them. They're not in a good spot in cap next year. As of right now, according to over the cap, they're projected to be 15 million over. Not a lot of room to work with there. I like the question about your T-shirt that I'm seeing in the chat. Is it a Bay, Ridge Series? Yes, it's Battle of the Bay. That was the Giants Athletics World Series of what year was that? I think that was 89, wasn't the earthquake? How old were you?

You were like not even born? I was negative. I was negative three. And you just like that because they're built like you, Mark McGuire and whatever is going on? This was a gift. This is a gift. I like this shirt. Graphic tease, man.

Because your muscles are all natural, right? You're not using performance enhancing. I get asked what I eat all the time. I get asked if I've on steroids, never taken a steroid in my life. Senator, Senator, I did not do steroids. No, it's protein, guys. That's it.

Protein. Well, and you just, you stick with it. You probably eat right. You care. That's what it's all about. Yes. It's been fun seeing Nick Shook's leadership journey as he takes on more and more responsibility

here with NFL Daily and NFL.com. Also on a leadership journey. A young guy, relatively. Jalen Hertz feels like. he's been around a while, but I have enjoyed hearing not just Jalen Hertz talk about it, but his teammates, some of the media saying like he's been a little different this year, maybe not so self-serious, a little lighter talking to other players a little more often. He was maybe more of the Kyler Murray camp where he's like kind of off on his own a little bit

and just so serious. And this year, he's still got like the quotes that he likes to say at the podium, but it's just been a little different, Jalen Hertz. Let's listen. Well, you know, I think that's something that, honestly, it starts from Coach Siriani and his message in his first words in yesterday's team meeting was about being together and being aligned. And when I was taking notes of it, I just, you know, thought about 100% alignment and zero entitlement. And so as a team, that's what everybody's pushing. 100% alignment, zero entitlement. He, like, writes down good T-shirt ideas while he's in a meeting.

Pretty good t-shirt. And it gets probably better than Mike McCarthy's tempered t-shirt, but that's for another topic on another day. I, this is no knock on A.J. Brown. But since they traded A.J. Brown, they have taken on a completely different identity. Vives-wise, like, it's like a million pounds have been lifted off of their shoulders since that trade happened.

They are all so optimistic. They seem to be so happy. And they continue to tell the world that they're aligned and they're on the same page, and this receiving room is awesome. I know Siriani talked about that at length on Saturday, and I'm just thinking, like, was it really that bad?

Like, that's kind of crazy. Well, I think defending the title is really hard, especially in Philadelphia, as they've shown both times, although the 2018 team in the end rounded into form, I thought pretty good. It's just a lot on you. I think it might be the weight of getting rid of Kevin Petulow, too.

Like, that was such a negative situation. And to flip it to a more, like, real football take, the offense being so different, and this is going to be a theme in the next two teams, is a real thing. People have said for years, like, no matter who the OC is, it's always the Jalen Hertz offense, you know, it's the shotgun. He's so comfortable in what he does. And all the reporters at practice, like our friends Bo Wolf and at the PHAY podcast, have been noting, like, you know, first day of camp, like all the the install stuff is under center. It's play action. It's getting the offensive linemen on the move.

It really looks completely different and that Jalen Hertz says and is acting like he is all on board. Now, things could always change when you get to the regular season, but even compared to previous training camps, it has been totally different. And I do wonder as the entire league starts to look the same, isn't that going to hurt the effectiveness of it? But, All the things Eagles fans have wanted, you know, the motion and the receiver's blocking and not as many one-on-ones for the offensive line, making it easier for them. By all accounts, the offense looks completely different. And so they're going to have some bumps along the road.

Supposedly, the defense is winning for the most part in practice. There's been ups and downs there. But I find that intriguing. It really makes me want to watch this Eagles team and just see what this looks like. Yeah, and it's good for Sean Manian to get an opportunity to kind of craft this offense, not in his image, but have control of it with working in tandem, obviously, with Jalen Hertz. The thing that I need to hear to really be convinced and sold on this whole idea is Jalen getting the ball out quicker than he did, because he's one of those guys in the NFL who held

all to do it about as long as anybody, him and I think he had one of the longest times to throw in the last couple of years, especially last year. If he can get the ball out on time and it's more of a timing-based offense, they'll be better than they were last year right away. That's what I need to know. Yeah. And we won't really know until the regular season start, but I do think there is value to the people that cover these guys every day. And the word that EJ used on that podcast, P-H-L-Y podcast, that I liked was he said, Hertz just looks lighter. And he means, like, literally, and you can see that. But they also say, like, that happens kind of every camp, he comes in a little lighter and moving better, but also just feels lighter.

And I like that out of a guy who's felt like he had the world on his shoulders at times last year. The offensive line also says, wow, this is easier for us, but there's been some timing. There's been some false starts. Sequin Barclay says this is a total offense and I've ever been in. Like he's usually been in more of the like gap scheme, the power scheme. And they're saying they're unique ways to get him involved in the passing game a little less blocking, a little more getting out in the routes. Lannin Dickerson talked about maybe he's the one guy. He didn't say this, but just from the outside that,

maybe a slightly more awkward fit. Like he needs to slim down. I think the other guys are so athletic. They fit this offense well, but Landon Dickerson has had to slim down. And some, you know, just rookie,

just keeping an eye on. We always do, Mikhail Lemon's playing with the starters. Haven't heard a lot out of him, but he's just like, he's taking every starter wrap. Eli Stowers, their second round in tight end.

On the other hand, like, hasn't been making a lot of noise there. I don't know if you're... Well, I mean, he's your pseudo receiver who's listed as a tight end if we go back to the draft

and when we talked about that. And that doesn't surprise me. I think that's a long-term play for them. So you'll probably see him get acclimated and work more to the offense in the back half of the season than right away, which is fine. Totally fine as a rookie. The idea of Landon Dickerson slimming down fits the kind of the archetype of what they went for for most of their linemen in the Jeff Stoutland days. Obviously, this is the post-Jep Stoutland era. But I like that.

What I really like, though, was Landon Dickerson telling the world that he went to Columbia to get stem cell treatment because he's focusing on his recovery. He said last year he rushed himself back a little bit too soon. He feels a lot better now. If that can be the case, because he did not have a good year last year, because he was clearly hurt throughout the year. They also dealt with some things with Cam Juergens. If he can be healthy and consistent and reliable, that'll be a huge lift for this offense.

Because while we focused so much on Jalen Hertz and A.J. Brown last year, what was lost in the shuffle was the fact that the offensive line just wasn't as good as it was last in previous years, the loss of Lane Johnson, Dickerson never being healthy. If they can kind of shore all that up, they'll be a better team offensively. Little concerned about Jonathan Grenard, who they traded for and gave a contract to at edge. He's got a peck injury.

And Vic Fangio, never one to hold his tongue. Indicated it was longish term. They didn't sound like they were going to have him much, if at all, in camp. So something to keep an eye on whether if that's going to happen, you know, extend into the season. A lot of good J-Lex Hunt talk, a lot of good Jalen Carter talk, a lot of defensive line dominating talk in Eagles' camp. So the commander's biggest note I have is very similar to the Eagles that everyone was asking for scheme variation and everyone was asking for a new West Coast. I mean, not West Coast, but when I think about Sean McVe and Kyle Shanney and I think about the West Coast. You know, McVe-Tree type of offense.

And that's what they're getting. Just like total variation, way more under center, way more motion, a whole lot of tight ends. Chig O'Concoe and Ben Sinat. another team basically doing what all their fans were asking for. Like, we'll see what it ends up looking like, but at least the reporters on the ground are like, this offense is so different. And it's, yeah, similar to Philadelphia, I think,

in terms of all the under center stuff and kind of looking like the McFay tree. There's got to be a breaking point where this just doesn't keep working for everyone. And we'll see if this is that are there. I don't know. I mean, there's been some trees in the past that spawned a ton of successful coaches that then branched off into their own trees.

I mean, but it's like half the league. And you're right. It's not everyone. Like Bobby Sloak with Houston didn't work. It doesn't work for everyone. But we'll see if these two new trees, Sean Mannion in Philadelphia and David Blow. A big shout out to the Blower hour,

as we used to call it way back in Cleveland when David Plow was playing backup quarterback for the Browns. What was another reference on around the NFL? The Blow Hards, I think was another one. Yeah, we're big David Blow fans, hoping for the best. But I think that the idea of involving Chigo Conquo,

which is why they go after him immediately in free agency, is not only because he's a rather frequently athletic tight end and a very skilled player, but it's the idea of giving Jaden Daniels somebody reliable to count on. What is the best friend for a young quarterback, usually a rookie quarterback?

It's their tight end. What did they have to lean on, whether it was Daniels or Marriota on the field last year? It was Zach Ertz. Having a playmaker like Chigo Concoa at that position, I think we'll really open up what is possible for this offense

and really keep Jaden Daniels on the field, which he wasn't last year. Yep, that's everything for this team. And so far, it sounds like he's having a solid camp, some mixed reports, but nothing, I feel like too notable either way. He's Jaden Daniels. He's going to look good while protected while healthy. Dan Quinn, for fantasy heads out there. And if you got any fantasy questions, you got any questions, hit us up in the chat.

Also, if you are watching live, and I love so many people are with us here, give us a like. give us a subscribe as you're watching. We appreciate you. We're going to come back each of these Sundays, like I said, and try to do it around 8 p.m. Eastern. We're also going live at the end of the Hall of Fame game on Thursday night. So join us then. Dan Quinn does not want to crown Bill Kroski Merritt.

And he kind of was getting prodded in that direction of like, isn't Bill your guy? And was basically saying, nah, really. And Rashad White has actually been getting as much, maybe even more of the first team reps. So it might be a 1A, 1B situation with those two running backs, and it might be Rashad White is the 1A. And so we're figuring that out.

We're also figuring out wide receiver. We've talked about this shook in the position battles. Traylon Burks is back on the field, but it's anyone's guess who are wide receiver 2, 3, 4. If I had to guess right now, it's probably Traylon Burks. And then Luke McCaffrey is in the mix. Antonio Williams is there. Just in terms of who is getting the fast.

I'm bullish on Williams more than. The average person I think would be. But of course, you know me. I'm pulling for Trailing Berks this year. So are they. They drafted him in the third round, and we need some of these guys to work out. John Bates, who's their blocking tight end,

is out a few weeks. And then Nick Allegretti, their center, who they cut Tyler Biotis for, is also out at least another week. So they're a little banged up in terms of their blocking. Let's go to the Giants. Some early notes there.

Cam Scadaboo is back. And reportedly the run offense has looked really good early in camp. You don't usually hear that in the first few days, but does that just mean it's bad run defense? They were one of the worst run defenses in the league last year, and then they trade Dexter Lawrence. That's usually not a sign.

I'll take it as some positivity that Cam Scadaboo has been looking good at practice. He's been full go, and he's full Cam Scadaboo. Yeah, I mean, obviously I do some dumb things here and there, you know, but I learned from it. You know, my coach talks to me, told me how he'd and I learn from it. And will I go do that backflit again? Probably not.

So, I mean, we live and we learn and, you know, we move on. That's different when game time comes around now? I mean, when game time comes around, we'll see what game time comes around. But right now, we're focused on training camp and we'll keep the backflips off the field for now. Translation. I'm definitely doing a backflip touchdown celebration to get the people going in week four. And I'm here for it. Second translation, I definitely got a talking to you from my coach after doing that.

But I do like, he's like, I'm going to do dumb things from time to time. I like a self-aware. I mean, he, if you tracked him at Arizona State, that is very valid. He definitely has done some dumb things. This is a news, but just thinking about the trio there, because Matt Nagy's gotten a lot of attention as the coordinator, but it's Matt Nagy. Brian Callahan is very involved there.

And then Greg Roman is very involved in the running game. Very interesting trio. I feel like it could be pretty additive. the Callahan Roman part of it, especially for the run game, Roman, you know. But it also could be a total mess. This could go either way. I'm not really sure. Yeah, you get a case of either too many cooks

or, like you said, it's additive. I think it's a great explainer for why the run game's been good early in camp. Yeah, that's fair. If you got minds like that, let's think about what did Roman do with the, with the Ravens? What did he do somewhat with the charges? This is the guy with the Niners. It's a history of creating excellent running games, so no surprise there.

I'm almost insulted how many people, like, listen to me when I asked for like and subscribe. Thank you. But why do you have to wait for me? Just do it. I love it. Isaiah likely is out there standing out, making a lot of plays. Otherwise, the offense, a little behind the defense right now. Not a lot of huge takeaways other than Odell Beckham hasn't made a lot of plays, but he's battling for that third receiver job.

It's Darius Slayton and Darnell Mooney probably for wide receiver two. Some Giants beat reporters called the cornerback position, been the most interesting battle right now. Deante Banks, maybe a little more in the mix than you would have expected. The former first round pick with Paul Sin Adivo. Greg Newsom is there. We'll see.

Just watching. Darius Alexander, their high third round pick. Right now, running with the starters at defensive tackle. A little surprising. Behind every night spent making the kids' lunches, there's a lot of suspense. Will they finally eat the veggies? Will the pasto survive the first bite?

Will the lunchbox come home empty? half full or come home at all. And will you finish episode 8 before you're done slicing the cucumbers? Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Craved Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. Let's wrap up the NFC with the NFC South and the Saints.

Let's go there. We'll get to the Crystal Lobby contract in a second. that's the biggest news. But on Sunday, a little surprised. Jalen Polk just retired out of nowhere. So that's it for the former second round pick. I hadn't noticed he wasn't in camp.

He just didn't show up. And they put him on the reserve retired list. Something strange there. It's always surprising when a player who was drafted that highly retired so quickly. But you can find it in the T-Leaves. You can find it in his brief NFL career that it probably wasn't headed in a good direction

in terms of long-term future. He was a second round pick. He lasted with the Patriots for a year, got traded for a sixth-rounder. They had to send a seventh rounder to get a sixth-rounder back with Polk. Sometimes this happens, and I have no information on whether this is the case or not, but oftentimes when this happens, when they're young,

it's because they realize they don't really love the game as much as they need to to be a dedicated and successful player in the NFL. It just shows how hard it is to scout. mentality. Mm-hmm. Because when Jalen Polk was coming out of Washington, the common wisdom about him

by the draft next was high floor, loves ball, like safe pick, you know, like sort of the opposite of what happened. And I will never forgive Elliot Wolf in his first draft at pick 34, where they were supposedly going to take McConkey

trading down to 30. to pick up like an extra fifth round pick. We got to move down three spots to get like a fifth or a six. And then explaining afterwards, oh, we had a bunch of, you know, we really like Jalen Polk. We had a bunch of receivers

just grouped in the same tier there, so we decided for value. Well, you value it wrong. You could have had that freaking McConkey. By the way, Cooper DeZine and like Camari Lasseter went off the board right there too. But if you were taking a wide receiver, Ladd McConkey was right there,

was the consensus guy. Yeah, hindsight's 20-20. I was saying it at the time. time, but you're right. I like Ladd coming out. I know. I did, I did too. Ladd was also at Georgia forever. White Patriot receiver joke too was there. The next West Welker. Let's go to our Chris Alave love because he's another guy. I had him number two behind George Pickens in that class, but I thought he was the safest one in that group. I had him ahead of Garrett Wilson, ahead of Drake London, which, you know, might be wrong. Wow, he had Pickens number two in that class.

I love Pickens back then. Interesting. And it's starting to look better. It was the off-field stuff as Daniel Jeremiah reminded me over and over. It's like, yeah, you can't just look at the tape. You have to evaluate everything, which is absolutely fair. With Olavai, that's a guy who loves Ball. He just had the injuries. So it's great to see him get paid. $31 million per year. Incentives can get him a little more on a per year basis, which to take him over Garrett Wilson, but right now he's behind. 52.6 million dollars guaranteed, which is relatively low. But even Chris Olavi spoke to it publicly that like, hey, we wanted to work out something flexible. I think this was a great win-win where every year that he's on the roster,

he gets more and more guaranteed money. And he just has to show that the concussion and his health issues is not a big problem. But it would go up to 77 and then even 90 million guaranteed if he's on the roster two years from now, which he absolutely should be as long as he's somewhat healthy. Really great success story and a really exciting one-two punch now with Jordan Tyson there. Yeah. I hope Tyson can stand the field. Obviously, he had an injury history at Arizona.

on us David, hopefully he can stay on the field and really make a great one, two punch, like you said. It's funny because when you think about Chris Alavi, sometimes really talented players kind of get lost in the shuffle when they're on bad teams. And this is kind of one of those cases. But if you look at his career stats, he's had an excellent run. Like three out of the four seasons have been a thousand yards. And he can probably thank Tyler Shuck emerging at the end of last season as a feather in his cap or at least a chip on the bargaining table there as he's negotiating an extension.

We're making this more of a slam dunk for the Saints. Let's think about the last six weeks of the season. He had two games over 110 yards. He finished with nine touchdown catches. Four of those came in the final three games. Those are all Tyler Shuck games. I can remember one of these games when they played against Tennessee, Week 18, where he just threw him a one-on-one ball.

He made a fantastic catch, and it was like, that's the Chris Olave, who was a star at Ohio State, who sometimes has gotten forgot about with the Saints. Hopefully, this contract is the first step toward the most prolific in I don't know, a prosperous period of his career with Tyler Shuck being his quarterback. I just like seeing guys realize their full potential. And that was like full of Lave. And it goes both ways.

Olave spoke at camp after signing the deal that he didn't say this, but I do wonder if he would have been as excited to get this done as fast as possible if it wasn't for how last season ended. Like he talked up Shuck in this team now, and he said this is the most excited I've ever been for a season. And I know that's easy to say, but he talked about previous situations like almost as if he didn't maybe fully believe in the quarterbacks there and you can just go go look at who the quarterbacks were.

And now he's like all in talking up shock, talking about this team, saying just the vibes being immaculate right now. So you love to see it despite losing, you know, Jalen Polk. Speaking, you know, guys who have had Star Cross careers because of injuries. Kendri Miller is back for this team kind of as they're running back three. so just keeping an eye on him. Alvin Camara reportedly looking pretty fresh, healthy. It's been a while.

For now, their Brian Brissie replacement. Brian Brisee is the defensive tackle that was injured and out for the season. Right now is a guy named Vernon Broughton, who is a third round pick, has barely played because of injury. And so just something to keep an eye on. They have some young players there. Kristen Miller was an early pick.

And then happy trails to Andrews P. Who has retired from the NFL. Good career. Made a couple Pro Bowls quietly while he was on the Saints, good versatility, good career, happy trails to the former saint, and briefly, a raider. Let's go to the Panthers who are maybe the most injured team in the entire NFL. They lost Chris Brazel, their wide receiver for the season. He was a rookie.

Nick Scorton is out for the season. Taylor Moten, their tackle. Scorton is an edge. Taylor Moten's a tackle. Taylor Moten is probably out for half the season. Turk Wharton, their defensive tackle, we have no idea when he's coming back. So that's all negative. How about Jonathan Brooks,

their oft-injured third-year running back, lining up wide and making plays down the field, I need something positive to talk about with the Panthers. Yeah, Brooks was a guy that they knew had health concerns coming out of college when they drafted him, and then they got worse, you know, upon arriving. But it would be a kind of cruel benefit in some ways

if Brooks ends up being healthy and making a difference in the same season in which they've lost so many guys to injuries that you obviously can't anticipate already. They have definitely had, I think, the most nightmarish camp to start because of these injuries. It just seems like every day something bad comes out of the Carolina camp.

Hopefully this is the end of that. Mitchell Evans was a tight end that's getting some first team reps that had an injury. It's not sure if it's serious or not. They're a little further along in camp because they have the Hall of Fame game on Thursday, so that's part of the reason they've had more injuries. You know, there was more team act,

Tetaroa McMillan on the inside because they were using Brazil on the outside. Does that change now that Brazil's here? It shouldn't, but I hope it doesn't. It's a little worrisome that the guy who's getting talked up the most is a guy named David Moore. They're nicknaming him vitamin D according to Canales, which you're shaking your head, Chuck. I mean, he's a veteran. He's 31 years old. I'm curious what the chat thinks about the vitamin D.

I think of it of, you know, Beyonce in that Carter's album, which I always say is underrated, but, you know, she says she says she needs that vitamin D, so that's kind of what I think. There's an entire song, yes. It was a single. There's another, but yeah, yeah, let's not do that.

Braising. Let's not do that. Yeah, let's not do that. David Moore, it's just like, oh man, here's a guy who's bounced around. If he's the guy that's popping up, that's not great. There has been a lot of Bryce pop, so a lot of positivity that he knows this system, that he's taking control of it. Canales, who always hasn't talked up Bryce in the past. I think he's been pretty honest saying he's really confident Bryce Young.

So there's something positive. We'll get to see them on Thursday night. Let's go to the Falcons who gave a big contract since we last taped. Matthew Bergeron, one of the most surprising veteran contracts I've seen in a long time, getting $60 million guaranteed. He's a guard, got almost $25 million a year. So he's one of the highest paid guards in the NFL. NFL. It came after the Kyle's pit, the Kyle Pitt extension, the Drake London extension.

Terry Fotton knows revenge. All these guys that Terry Fotton, I guess he didn't take pits, but all these guys that were like two regimes ago now getting extended, but that's big money before ever seen Bergeron with this new offense. A little bit of a risk there, but you got to trust the self-scouting. Yeah, and they also have a lot of money tied up in their guards between Lindstrom and now Burj Ron but look I mean if you believe in the guy and you think

that he's part of your future signing him is fine extending him is fine and it's a totally different offense we'll see like they're supposed to be doing more gap gap scheme they were like all zone last year maybe it's different yeah I would like to point out who flourished

in Kevin Cefansky's offense when he was a complete unknown prior he was a man by the name of Wyatt Teller a guard who came over from Buffalo with a day three pick trade involved and ended up being one of the best guards in football. So keep an eye on that. Okay, good call. And Bill Callahan's our offensive line coach.

And he was there in Cleveland at the time. Right. That Wyatt Teller became very good. So they could be trying to get out in front of it. That's totally fair. I'm watching this extension and Matt Ryan's extension. I mean, Kyle Pitts's extension, just as my first little test case because we haven't seen what, what is a Matt Ryan team going to be like?

Like, Bajon, we know we're going to pay him. Jake London, of course, you pay him. but like you've got to get these things right. Jack Strand, the undrafted rookie, is still taking first team reps. What a world. Cooper Rush is now working in the mix there, but Tua's not doing like anything.

So even though he got on the field, he's just barely doing some individual work. Michael Pennix is doing some seven-on-sevons, but they basically missed an entire week for these quarterbacks. We'll see if that changes next week. At linebacker, I noted Harold Perkins, you know, the well-known LSU guy, He's playing some inside linebacker behind Christian Harris.

I just thought that was interesting. Throw that out there. They have a collection of like former SEC like notables. Channing Tindle, Christian Harris, Harold Perkins. I love it. I love it for a team in Atlanta. Jalen Walker, who's, you know, a starting edge. But so far it's been Abukam, Samson Abacomom with the starters.

And then James Pierce seems like he's kind of getting soft punished or maybe they're expecting a suspension. not sure, or he's just not right, reportedly working his way back, playing with the deep backups. So after all those sacks last year, they have him on the third team, so that seems like a soft punishment.

That sounds like preparing to not have him this season and getting the other guys who are going to play more reps with the starters. Okay, that's a fair interpretation. A lot of 13 personnel, so that's three tight ends on the field reportedly in practice. So that's Kyle Pitts, Charlie Werner, and Austin, Super. A rare team. Back in Atlanta, baby. Let's go. A rare team that's pretty deep. Like, I like that. I like that trio. I like that trio. And we just wanted to send our thoughts and condolences to Jeff Ulbrook. Their defensive coordinator has been away from the team for all of training camp. It was announced since we last tape that his wife, Christina, passed away due to a bout with cancer. And so you just, you hurt for Ulbrook. And, you. You hurt for Ulbrook.

and you just are reminded how precious life is. And also just you never know what these guys are going through. He was the interim coach last year. He stayed with Atlanta. And, yeah, just sending our thoughts to him. And, of course, the Falcons organization said they're fully behind him whenever he wants to come back, if he wants to come back. And so that's why he has been away from the team.

Let's wrap up this wrap up of all the NFC teams with the Bucks. I kind of put them last because I didn't know what, I don't know what to say about the bucks. Do you have anything you want to say about the bucks right now? We talked so much about Vita Vaya and Baker. I was like, we've overdosed on bucks coverage. They don't want to trade via Vaya. I guess that's the big news when it comes to Vaya.

I think he's going to stay there in the end. And if for some reason he did get traded, I don't think it'd be until like the end of the month until guys are getting cut and offers got way better. But they're saying that they don't want to trade them. Do you have anything else that sparks your fancy with this Bucks team right now? They don't want to trade him, but they don't want to pay them.

We already know what happened with Baker. Vives are not good. It's a lot of attention on two guys' situations. I know that's unfair to describe the entire situation, but this is a team that's entering this new season with a lot of pressure on their shoulders, on Todd Bowles' shoulders after the way the last season ended. I like what they have in their secondary potential-wise.

Benjamin Morris and Jacob Parrish, I'm going to continue to monitor the situation because I support how Baker the approach that he took, I understand what he was saying. I think he was justified in that. The idea of trying to enter the 50 million club maybe slightly too lofty, but I understand the way the quarterback market goes.

The weird thing is even though I'm not a Baker fan in terms of like, I worry about it. Like I think that is his value for what it's worth. You know who's in that club? Jalen Hurts is in that club. And if Jalen Hurts is making that money, I'm probably going to pay Baker that money. So yes, I agree.

It might be a little lofty based on his reputation, but I think you're right. I just, when I look at the Buccaneers right now, I really need them to generate some positivity to push this negativity that they began camp with away. And you can do that with some fun preseason action or somebody breaking out in camp, but as it stands right now,

a lot of Bucks fans got on me for giving them a really low win total in my record prediction. Just saying. Okay, Jalen Hertz. Just for arguments sake, because I like to argue. Second an MVP in a season that he balled, out in a Super Bowl. And then had another performance

where he lit up in the Super Bowl. And then on top of it, our friends over at the Rigner Fantasy Football Show, I don't know if they've revealed the hot quarterback rankings yet, if they've gotten to the top. I got to imagine it's Jalen Hertz number one. And if it's not Jalen Hertz number one,

it's probably him in Burrow, one, too, in some order. Yeah. So. That's fair. Yeah. Baker's not very measured up. Are you checking me on making that

as my litmus? I'm just saying him versus Baker, he's got a lot of things that Baker doesn't have. He also can make a T-shirt. What? We can, let's see, Brock Purdy's in that club. Jordan loves in that club. Brock Purdy's in that club.

Every other quarterback in this club, you can look at their name and go, yeah, makes sense. Jared Goff is in that club. Based on what he's done with Detroit, you can also say, yeah, makes sense. The only guy. Like, okay, if I needed a closest comp

at the bottom of the 50 million range. Rood. Dealing Hurts making 51 a year. I can see Baker being in there as well. What about 100% dedication, zero percent perspiration? Wait, what was his, who's quote?

Alignment, something along those lines. 100% alignment, zero percent estrangement. If you've got any great... Altogether, no divorce. Right. If you've got any great ideas. Hit us up in the mentions.

Hit us up in the comments. Sorry, Bucks fans. I didn't know what else to talk about. A lot of a wide zone, by the way. There's a comment I've got, I heard Zach Robinson, who came from Atlanta. A lot of zone there. Is that good for Bucky Irby? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that could be good for Bucky Irving. That's fine. He can be a one-cut guy. That's fine. That's another reason why I'm not high on the Bucks, but I'll leave it there. Yeah, we'll see. A hundred percent dedication, zero percent elopement. I know that doesn't even make any sense at all.

We'll try. Well. Come up with some good slogans, send it to us. We appreciate everyone that was here. Good crowd, triple digits and growing in the chat. But let's make it even bigger on Thursday night for our next live one. We'll have plenty of shows, though, coming up. As we get going here, I know Eric Roberts doesn't want to do it, but he is producing this show right now next to SoFi Stadium.

And there's a situation there right now. He is updating me. he was updating us earlier. If he wants to talk, is he able to talk on the show right now? He sent me a video that is actually too hot for our live stream where people are doing like gravity bongs

and drinking and chugging. They look like a bottle of tequila. They were funneling some 40-40 mad dog. I think something like that. We did that at our Mardi Gras truck during a big bottle of old English 18. 100, yeah. Is that what it is? Like, you take a funnel of an entire bottle of Mad Dog at once, like forget the rest of your day.

Yeah, there's a music festival going on at SoFi Stadium. Hard summer. Yeah, hard summer. So there's literally music festival stages all around my building. The walls are vibrating right now. It seems like hard summer, though. They go a little harder than some of the other music. Yeah, I mean, you got to stay hydrated.

It is like 99. This is not your BTS or Taylor Swift at Sofi. No. They're going wild. 100% hydration, 0% exhaustion, I don't know. Yeah, you, way to end the show on that. I love it. So just stay safe out there, Eric.

And if you hit hard summer, let us know. You're obviously not watching right now. But if you're bold enough and 90 degree heat to just get after it for 10 hours in a parking lot, like you're harder than I am. Thank you, Eric. Let's get out of here. That was NFC. On Monday, we will be doing the AFC. Similar setup, my friend Patrick Claibon and I, getting you up to date.

We'll also continue our division previews this week. We are back to our Sunday through Thursday night. You know, shows, it's NFL daily. We're putting the daily and daily. We'll see you on Monday. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.