The Fumblerooski Podcast - Immovable Objects -Ep 242 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: February 2, 2024

How did big names such as Bill Belichick, Mike Vrabel, and Pete Carroll end up jobless among Head Coaching hires? Adan Wright and CJ Medeiros debate this as well as continue their Super Bowl coverage by comparing their defenses by position!

the remaining head coaching vacancies have been filled and we are going to break down this super bowl matchup by position on the defensive side this is the fumble ruski podcast here gentlemen broken up and the pass is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football. They're saying it's a catch. It's a catch. It's caught. To Gates.

Side line. Touchdown. Unbelievable. Swings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski Podcast. I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros. It's just us today, but we have a great episode planned. Back to the Fumble Rooski Podcast. I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros.

It's just us today, but we have a great episode planned. So here's how we're going to tackle these next two weeks. So we're going to start today, but we are going to compare both teams by position and go over which team is better in which spot. We're going to do defense today, and then on Tuesday for our next episode, we're going to go over the offensive side and who is better in each position at what spot. And then on Friday, of course, we have our NFL honors award ceremony review,

and we're going to do what we do every year, which is we compare our preseason predictions to what actually happened so that's always a fun one it's also it's fun to see how right we are and to see how far off we are because the league is just that unpredictable there were some some picks i thought were slam dunks and we ended up being so far wrong, it's not even funny. MVP? That one? MVP? Oh, my Lord. That was over in the – that was – we'll go over that when we get there. But that was over in the preseason when Joe Burrow got hurt.

I still think they – what could have been, the league needs the Bengals back because that rivalry between them and the Chiefs is so much fun. And the Bengals actually stand a chance of winning in the postseason. No offense, Bills. All right, we're going to go over first remaining head coaching vacancies. So they have both been filled. There were only two that were left, and that was by the Seattle Seahawks and the Washington Commanders. And there were some pretty big names left that are still left, by the way. Bill Belichick, Mike Vrabel, Pete Carroll. And there's a couple that I haven't mentioned that aren't there yet,

but none of them, none of them are, are, have been, have been, have been hired. And unless someone retires or if something wild happens, they're going to be jobless in, they're going to be jobless in 2024. And so the Seattle Seahawks, the Seahawks hired former Ravens defensive coordinator Mike McDonald. And the Commanders hired former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. Clearly these are, so these are two defensive minds. And they're occupying some situations that differ from the other. Starting with the Seahawks. The Seahawks, on paper, have a very good, young, explosive defense.

You can tell that team, just by their drafting the past couple of years, has been trying to reestablish their former legion of boom from earlier on in the past decade. Just between Tariq Woll and uh devin witherspoon they have some explosive they just they have some explosive pieces there so mike mcdonald's he did a great job on that baltimore ravens defense he has the pieces to work with um on the off on the defensive side here in seattle the only um The only part that he's unproven in is on the offense. What is he going to do with Geno Smith? Are they even going to keep Geno Smith? Will they

draft somebody? That's going to be something that will be worth looking at. The commanders, that's a defense that needs some turning around the good news is dan quinn has worked with an offense that has been explosive before he had regular season mvp in 2016 matt ryan and then he led them to the playoffs the next year with the same quarterback so he he's proven that he doesn't hinder the ability of an offense as a head coach as uh so he has that going for him problem is washington has their work cut out for him they have the number two pick in the draft so they might take a quarterback in fact i would go as far as to say they they definitely will whether that be caleb williams or jayden daniels they're taking somebody um but he's a defensive mind who's occupying a

defense that was brutal this year actually like absolutely terrible so that's going to be that's going to have to be something that they look at and they already they got rid of chase young and they got rid of uh what is it montez sweat yes montez sweat they traded him to chicago yes so a bad defense gets worse and they're going to have they're going to have to spend some money on the defensive side of the ball if they want dan quinn to turn this thing around he's a good defensive mind he's okay i know we all want to talk about that Green Bay game where he got absolutely slaughtered by Jordan Love,

but look at the bigger picture. He's had some pretty good Cowboys defenses. Not great. Sometimes they fall apart when it matters most, but they get to the points that matter most, which is something the commanders cannot say. So I guess this is a fine hire, and this is okay. CJ, what are your thoughts on all of this, just the hirings in general?

All right, so I'll start with Seattle. I don't hate the hire. I don't. The only person on our podcast that I know hates the hire is Justin Tucker. That's just because the Ravens lost a coordinator. But, I mean, the Seahawks, it goes beyond Woolen and Witherspoon, like you mentioned. They also have Kobe Bryant, Julian Love, and Jamal Adams in that backfield. And who could forget other guys like Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, and Jordan Brooks. So they do have a good young defense.

That part's not up for debate. The issue is, when you mentioned the offensive side of the ball, McDonald is unproven as a head coach. You know, he's one of those young guys, which the league seems to be trending towards, which is fine. But Seattle's identity last season was offense. I mean, you have a three-headed monster wide receiver, two really good running backs, actually three really good tight ends. But it all comes down to that question mark that is Geno Smith. You did mention that they could draft someone,

but will they start out of the gate even? Because I would assume at this point in time, quarterbacks are going to go off the board one, two, three, and those are the guys that I would be 100% comfortable starting day one. But I don't know where they pick off the top of my head, but I know they're not top 15. They'd probably have to trade back. And I, I think if they did, well, excuse me, I mean, trade up. Um, and if they were to get somebody who they wouldn't start year one, they have Gino Smith who can start ahead of him for a year

before they transition into that starting quarterback. So theoretically, they can do it. And it's not even just Geno Smith. They also have Drew Locke, who's a pretty capable starter himself. So if they wanted to just have a placeholder while this young quarterback develops, they could do that. They're one of the few teams in this league who could do that. You know, I hear you, and I think you raise a valid point.

However, when you look at these younger fellows, these developmental ones, I'll call them out by name, J.J. McCarthy, Michael Penix, and Bo Nix. Penix and Nix are old for rookies see here here's the thing right so maybe you could develop a guy behind uh geno smith right well let's take a look at my pennix as it sits right now he is 23 years old and by the time the season rolls around he will be 24 and Bo Nix is not that much better he will also be 24 by the time the season rolls around and let's just say they take a year to develop they're going to be starting at 25 and look I know quarterbacks are known for their longevity they're one of the most longest you know age the most longest lasting positions in the game that is true i mean probably second

only to like kicker but still though that i mean i think most people just rather a young guy but then again there's jj mccarthy who a lot of people myself included are not sold on but Seattle I don't think they're really in dire straits that they can certainly afford to ride out the rest of Gino's deal and still be competitive maybe even back into the playoffs a la last season's Steelers while doing it so So, you know, it's nothing too dire, but I want to turn the focus now to the commanders. Full disclosure. I don't like that hire. I really don't. Yes. Dan Quinn is a good defensive mind. Yes. You do need defense, but Dan Quinn really? really and but i mean just i i don't know i just i'm very on it i'm i'm not overwhelmed i'm not underwhelmed i'm just he's just kind of there i mean yeah commanders needed defense you can argue that but mike vrabel now look everyone could say you could take bill belichick but if the rumors are true that bill wanted to be the gm and the commanders

didn't want to part ways their current gm i can understand that but why wouldn't you get vrabel i would take him over dan quinn and and i know you mentioned the cowboys defense was good but only for them to collapse in the postseason and even head coach the only thing we know dan camp uh the only thing we know dan quinn for is 28 to 3 i think it's very eye-opening that these three head coaching candidates who have been veterans for years are not uh they're they're not not like all three of them are jobless if you were to tell them tell me one of them did like if bill belichick didn't make it or pete carroll mike vrabel any one of them individually i could understand but all three of them failed to land a job that seems doesn't that seem off you know it does actually it does and i don't know what's going on

i mean obviously the suits that are running the gms hat i mean that are running the front office and making position hires with gms and head coaches they obviously know more than we do but on the surface there has to be some explaining no because this is bad it certainly is i understand that they all three of them didn't have the best of endings but there's a lot that i feel like they should have had at least one more shot like you i under like you could have easily said that belichick, yeah, he wasn't that good, but he didn't have the best talent. GM Bill, but that's GM Bill. The only explanation you could have is that Belichick says that I want to be GM for whoever I take over for. But to that I say, weren't there other reports?

These are obviously conflicting reports, so maybe one of them is wrong. But weren't there other reports saying that bill was willing to cede his gm power to stay with new england but now suddenly he won't see he won't he won't cede that ground to anybody else there's something that feels weird about that either one of those reports was false or people just don't want Bill Belichick anymore. He's old and very set in his ways. He would be a short-term investment given his age. Yeah. I feel like Bill would be a good coach for a team that would win now, kind of like the Chargers, but they went with Harbaugh. There's nothing wrong with that. But I will say one thing about bill belichick i actually think that uh tom brady's father you know brady senior summed it up perfectly full disclosure i know that brady senior is an airhead bill crooked bill belichick hater

that doesn't know ball and just rides his son's coattails we all know this to be true but i do think he has some kind of merit when he said that Bill was a good coach, but it's just his interpersonal skills really need work. And today's young, flashy, social media savvy players might be a little scared off by that. That's what I think. And plus the whole GM thing, depending on what report you believe doesn't help pete carroll's kind of the same way but come on rable's not old which i don't know and even still i would have taken the enemy to you know the current uh offensive coordinator for washington over dan quinn but oh well we weren't expecting the commanders to be competitive

before and i don't know how much that's going to change now yeah um it's it's going to be a lot to it's going to be a lot to unravel the next the next few months and um it's not over yet there could still be something that happens maybe next year the cowboys actually get rid of mccarthy and they decide you know what let's bring in vrabel or belichick and belichick finally decides to give up his power as the gm um i've heard this other report that actually intrigues me a lot i'm not saying it's going to happen and i'm not saying it should happen but andy reed potentially retiring if the if the Chiefs win the Super Bowl, or even if he just retires, even if they lose this one, and then Bill takes over? I hope everybody knows that.

I hope everybody knows that if Bill were to take over, there would be the same results as Andy Reid. Yeah, absolutely. I hope people aren't falling victim to the recency bias that Belichick can't win anymore and that he's just incapable of coaching. Unless you're Marlon Humphrey. When he had an elite quarterback,

he was actually able to take his team to Super Bowls. Once he didn't have the elite quarterback anymore, then it didn't work out i hope people aren't actually that narrow-minded that they're going to say well if belichick takes over for andy reed they're not going to be very good anymore how'd that work with belt with brady these are nfl fans adam they are that narrow-minded. They are. Just look at our comment sections lately. That last one about Josh Allen. They can't handle the idea that maybe Allen cannot compete with Patrick Mahomes. These are just salty Bills fans.

Go jump through a table and get CTE yourselves, you frozen clowns. I'm sorry, but if you go 0- three against an opponent opponent it's not a good rivalry no one talks about no one talks about the packers and the packers and cowboys being a rivalry they've met up three times exactly they've met up three times in the postseason the last decade the packers won all three two of those three were close games oh they were close games so therefore it's a competitive rivalry. No. They lost all three of them. You lose, you lose.

It's just such a dumb argument. Exactly. Like when you put the L on the schedule, there's not going to be an asterisk saying, ooh, but it was a close game. It was a close game, so therefore. Moral victories don't exist in the NFL. Change my mind. Yes.

There are no moral victories. Well, the stats stats the stats are better he outplayed him no you do yeah i got a stat for you l you lost the freaking game it's ridiculous all right we need to move on we're going on to our player comparisons so each position in this super bowl matchup which one is better better? That's next. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast. No sign yet. Hamilton comes down with a football. They're saying it's a catch. It's in. Oh!

It's in! Sideline! Touchdown! Unbelievable! Swings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros.

So we have reached our player comparisons. Each position, we are going to go down the line. Today's going to be defense. Next week, it's going to be offense. So without further ado, we're going to start with the interior defensive line. So this is one where, so I think here's what I'll say. I believe the chiefs have the best player between these two, but as far as results go, I'm actually going to lead in San Francisco. What about you? When it comes to interior D-line, I think you are correct. The Chiefs have a better pass rushing defensive line. And you alluded to the player Chris Jones. Yes. Chris Jones is the best defensive tackle in the league.

However, his game has one glaring weakness. His run defense is at best average, which is one of the reasons why the Ravens lost to Kansas City was so puzzling because the Chiefs run defense. Here's the thing. The Chiefs defense, they're good, but they're overrated. They're fringe top 10 at best. And a lot of that is because they cannot stop the run do you want i'm sorry i was to say and it comes down to the fact i think just in the interior d-line but because it's chris jones and derrick noddy's pretty good in his own right. I lean, like I tilt towards Kansas City.

I'll tell you why I lean towards San Francisco. They're fifth in total rushing defense allowed, 97 yards per game. Do you know where Kansas City is? Probably terrible. 17th, 113 yards per game. So it's still fine. I mean, they're middle of the pack, but I would say if there was going to be an Achilles heel to this chiefs team, the run defense is not that good. The chiefs, they don't, they allow a lot of yards and that's a bad, that is a very bad

comparison. Excuse me. That's a very bad matchup between that defensive line and Christian McCaffrey, who's going to tear them up if given the opportunity. On top of that, the 49ers have a pretty good offensive line, and they're going to be able to push McCaffrey into some good yardage here um all right we're gonna move on to the pass rush right out of the gates i am giving this to san francisco right out of the gates now i understand why you think that but when you factor in everything yeah i'm just joking at san francisco there when it comes to star power when it comes to production kansas city just cannot match up be it through name power or be it through statistics they i mean their pass rush is okay but losing charles omena who i don't know if you saw like their left end

he's now out for the super bowl that in and of itself is going to hurt. So, but when, but when you consider that your bookends are literally Nick Bosa and Chase Young back in their Ohio state days, when they were eating up defense, it looks to be the same. You got to go San Fran, right? I don't really think that's much of a comparison. You absolutely have to. And I understand that Chase, that Nick Bosa hasn't had the best season he hasn't been the um he hasn't had been the had the defensive player of the year type of season that he usually does but he's still been a really good uh he's been a really good defensive end ten and a half sacks and then you have chase young who has seven in itself. So it's just a deadly combo.

And that matchup between the Chiefs tackles and those edge rushers for San Francisco, it's a bit of a mismatch there, isn't it? Yeah. And we remember what happened the last time Patrick Mahomes had a mismatch in the't it yeah and we remember what happened the last time patrick mahomes had a mismatch in the super bowl on the offensive line dude was running for his life which isn't his fault but it factors into the outcome of the game doesn't it yeah they did win 30 to 9 hey games are won and lost in the trenches. That's common knowledge.

That is correct. All right. We are going to the linebacking core. This one, I have to go San Francisco as well. Now, I think Kansas City has a solid case, but at the end of the day, the star power and just the overall ability doesn't stack up because Nick Bolton is very good. Willie Gay's very good. Drew Tranquil's very good. But if you put them all together into one player, I would still take Fred Warner and,

and the fat, and I don't know what you think of a Fred Warner's one guy. Okay. Then I see that. And I raise you Dre Greenlaw. That's right. In of itself. I'm sorry. That's a rat. Yep. raise you Dre Greenlaw. That's right. In of itself. I'm sorry.

That's a wrap. Yep. Dre Greenlaw. That's all you have to give at that point. Just the off-ball linebackers they have are incredible. Fred Warner is the best in the game. So there's really not much you can compare there. I understand that the Chiefs have gotten the job done,

but that doesn't mean you take away from what the 49ers do on their side because what they do is unbelievable. I mean, it's an incredible tandem of linebackers. We're going to go to the secondary this is an interesting one because you have algeria sneed and trent mcduffie who are who are both having career seasons but the 49ers always seem to put together some solid secondaries i know it hasn't been the best this year but i mean they hold their own right yeah i for this one i have to go casey and one thing that's going to hamper the niners is that uh talanoa hufanga got hurt earlier in the year

and let me tell you hufanga is very very very very scary as a strong safety and i just feel like a defensive backfield lost a little punch when he went down there are other guys like trevarius ward and logan ryan that yeah and uh the the name of their free safety whose name escapes me he's uh you know they're all fine but the chief yeah gibson that's it thank you and i just i look at the just the chiefs right and i see that tandem of sneed who of Snead, who I think has gotten a little overrated, but still very good. And Trent McDuffie, who has been looking like a home run selection. And Justin Reed at safety.

That's just scary. Because when it comes to overall production and lockdown potential, you would have to go with Kansas City. But that's no knock on San Fran. They just don't have – I know everybody says that having a big name isn't the end-all, be-all, and names are just names. Well, I have some news for you. They're big names for a reason. You know what?

I'll say this, and I'll give this a little bit of a spin because some of these defensive units are better than others. Let's look at the defenses as a collective unit. Actually, first, I want to give you this. Which secondary do you think is going to perform better against the others' pass-catching core? Because I might have to lean San Francisco. Okay, well, yeah, that's just because the Chiefs wide receiver core doesn't even stack up to San Fran's. Yeah.

I mean, that's literally why. That's not an issue of skill. It's an issue of competition. It's an issue of who they're facing. I agree. Yeah. yeah but um if they wanted to double team travis kelsey and get him locked down then i mean if you leave cadar if you leave cadarious tony open that's almost that's almost an advantage to san francisco yeah line up off sides gonna tip a ball right

into the hands of any defensive back. In all seriousness, I like Rasheed Rice. I think we're all saying way too much that that Chiefs wide receiving core is really bad, which I completely agree. But I think we're being a little unfair to Rasheed Rice, don't you think? Yeah. little unfair to rushy rice don't you think yeah sometimes and also sometimes mbs decides he can uh catch balls sometimes he listen if marvin if if marquis is if marcus valdez scantling was able to catch the ball like consistently he would be a significantly better wide receiver. That may not seem like a hot take,

but he has great route running ability. He has pretty good speed. He's an awesome deep threat when he actually catches the ball. I don't want to say he'd be a superstar if he could actually catch more consistently, but he'd be a pretty good wide receiver he's not he's still productive now but only as a wide ride receiver three if he could catch more consistently i you could argue he could be more on the level of a two a low end two but a two nonetheless he'd be a two i don't know how much better but we i think we can all agree he'd be better yeah um. But we'll get into the offensive comparisons later on. But these two defensive units, as a collective unit, not just by position, who do you think is better?

Just – wait, hold on. What? Can you repeat that? As a collective unit, which defense do you think is better? As a collective unit, I do you think is better as a collective unit i have to lean san fran i think san fran's front seven is better but i think the chiefs back four is better but i just think san fran just has too many like better players in general because the chiefs have chris jones trent mcduffie and they have uh legerius need but sam fran has nick bosa they have chase young they have fred warner they have dre greenlaw they have javon kinlaw and they have guys like logan and Gibson there, the safety.

I like when people mention, listen, I think it's a fair argument to bring up that if you have a great secondary, if you ask that unit to cover players for too long in one play, the explosiveness of the players around of players nowadays around the league especially the uh the 49ers if the pass rush cannot get uh if the pass rush cannot get to the quarterback and rush the rush uh the quarterback into throws then they're not going to be nearly as effective as they should be. Yeah, fair. So if you have a great secondary, that's awesome. Yeah, but the pass rush can dictate it.

The pass rush can dictate it a little bit. Yeah, that's what you're saying, right? Yes. Because I remember there was a case, this has actually happened to the 2017 New England Patriots, where the secondary itself was actually pretty darn good, but the pass rush couldn't get a lick of pressure on anyone. And sure, you can have a lockdown secondary, but once the play breaks down and the quarterback starts scrambling guys are going to get open which is why it's imperative to have like an in-your-face pass rush getting pressure on every play yeah because we're at the day and age where you don't just have it's very

rare sometimes it happens but you don't just have the the corner who's able to lock down wide receivers receivers are way too explosive nowadays and corners are good sauce gardener's a solid corner uh devin witherspoon showed some really good promise patrick sartan was all right there's some good corner and trent mcduffie in this match up algeria sneed the only problem is that if you ask for them to do too much they won't be able to do it if you're not able to rush the quarterback to make throws because he's just going to keep continue to buy time until the wide receiver loses them and if you have brandon iuk debo samuel and george kittle you're screwed. I'm just saying.

So if George Karloftis is able to get, and Chris Jones are able to get some pressure, then sure, I would give it to the Chiefs. But I might have to give the slight edge to San Francisco just because their front seven is that much more explosive. As a collective unit, everyone there, I think we gave that entire unit the advantage over the Chiefs. Yeah, I would say that as well.

I just think the front seven has a greater impact on the game than the back four. It does. It certainly does. But it also makes the cornerback position that much more valuable because it's harder to find elite corners in this league the better the wide receivers get the more valuable the the lockdown corner is which makes us that much more upset that the patriots did not take trent mcduffie last year i like christian gonzalez don't get me wrong and maybe if mcduffie was a patriot too he

would have gotten hurt just because the patriots i don't know what they i don't get me wrong and maybe if mcduffie was a patriot too he would have gotten hurt just because the patriots i don't know what they i don't know what it is i don't i don't mean to get into our own team i don't know what it is about these rookie these rookie players they almost always get hurt yeah there's a conspiracy theory called the foxborough flu where bill belichick will take rookies and stash them away on ir you know to keep developing them but frankly i just think it's the uh biased boston media trying to create something that's not there it could be i don't know i don't know either way i want these players on the field during that i mean there, Christian Gonzalez had a torn labrum.

That's not the Foxborough flu. That's just straight up. He tore his shoulder. But I do think about it. Trent McDuffie in 2022 during that draft. Jordan Addison in 2023 during this draft. You tackle two needs. You take a guard, the coal strain to the world

somewhere else in the draft and now mac jones has weapons maybe he's better than he is and you have the corner that you want who is who happens to be a superstar that's just that'll be my quick patriots take um either way trent m Trent McDuffie's a badass corner. And the Chiefs have a really good secondary. They both have great defenses. This was a good episode to kind of go over both teams. On the offensive side, it's going to be a lot more lopsided. Yeah, just because on the offensive side of the ball,

we know how the pass catchers are. We know how that running back is for the San Francisco 49ers. So it'll be a little more lopsided, but you'd be surprised at the spots where the Chiefs actually have the advantage in. So they do have their assets there. All right. That's all the scheduled content we have for today you have anything else to talk about before we end the show nah nope not really just thoughts and prayers out to our good friend justin tucker

because the ravens disappointed and they lost their defensive coordinator after Tucker swear they wouldn't. And they lost the game. Yeah. They should be in the Super Bowl. Oh, man. All right. Well, that'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us. We have new episodes out on Tuesdays at 7.30 p.m.

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